Mouse Extra

Personally, I will file this under the “I will believe it when I see it” file, but it is an interesting coincidence anyway. It seems several places in the Backlot area of Disney’s Hollywood Studios are undergoing some fairly extensive renovations in the coming weeks. Both the Backlot Tour and the nearby Studio Catering Co will be closed from the middle of February until Easter time for refurbishment. Disney followed that announcement with the statement that the Honey I Shrunk the Audience Playground is also being closed. And according to some, the refurbishments will be much longer than 6 weeks. Read: permanently closed.

It does seem strange that Disney will close all three places at once. They are all around the same area. Let’s face facts. They are some of the least popular spots in the park. Honey I Shrunk the Kids no longer has the appeal to kids that it used to. And, frankly, the Backlot Tour has been slowly dying for years now.

WDW News Today has a laundry list of possible replacements. A WDW version of Radiator Springs Racers, the oft-rumored Monsters Inc coaster, a Bugs’ Life Playground and a Ratatouille eatery are among the popular proposals. All make some sense considering any major changes in this area would likely be in an effort to increase the size of Pixar Studios.

I, for one, think there will be a day in the not too distant future where Disney will announce the closing of the Backlot Tour (and perhaps the other places mentioned) and replace it with an attraction or two based on Pixar movies. It’s quite possible we could see some of the proposed changes. It would take little effort, for example, to change the playground from Honey I Shrunk the Kids to a Bug’s Life. Ditto for the eatery. But I doubt the Backlot Tour is going down for the count now. Not with the extensive Fantasyland work and the Star Tours 2.0 on the menu. We may need to wait a year or so. I sense the next D23 convention would be a good place to start.

Today’s article is from Mike, contributing writer to Mouse Extra.

Jason Garcia of the Orlando Sentinel reported earlier this week that Disney’s Chief Financial Officer Tom Staggs claims the Mouse does not plan on using Marvel characters inside the Walt Disney World theme parks, but predictably leaves plenty of wiggle room for the future of Disney’s newest characters. 

But the real story here is not what they won’t do in Florida, but what they can do everywhere else in the world, including Disneyland.  And what Disney really wants out of this deal.

Walt Disney Co. Chief Financial Officer Tom Staggs told analysts that Disney will focus instead on using Marvel properties in its other theme parks, because of a pre-existing licensing deal between Marvel and Universal Orlando giving Universal exclusive use of some of Marvel’s best-known characters –including Spider-Man, The Incredible Hulk, X-Men and the Fantastic Four — in theme parks east of the Mississippi River.

Universal also has contractual rights to Spider-Man for theme parks in Japan.

“As we get outside of Orlando — and Spider-Man in Japan — we have an opportunity in theme parks and, over time, we’ll explore just how best to take advantage of that,” Staggs said in response to a question at a Bank of America media, telecommunications and entertainment conference in Marina del Ray, Calif.

As absolute as this may sound on the surface, notice that there is no mention whatsoever about what the future holds after these agreements run out.  My guess is that Disney is playing a very cool hand in an inevitable game of corporate poker. 

Universal is unlikely to want to continue to pay licensing fees to its chief competitor after the agreements run out.  And it would seem to me that they would be willing to discuss a buyout of the licenses so Disney can get their hands on their new characters as quickly as possible, and rid Universal of all the complication this deal could cause the.  Also, a lump sum from Disney would help the financial burden of all the changes that are on the horizon at Islands of Adventure.

If I were to read between the lines here, this could easily be interpreted as Disney really wants to buyout Universal and Staggs is being sent out to the media to position Disney as less desperate at the bargaining table.

Another form of pressure would be for Disney to start adding Marvel in a high-profile way in Disneyland, something Staggs all but admitted they plan on doing soon.

Staggs brushed aside another question about whether adding a character such as Spider-Man at Disneyland while it is featured at a Universal theme park in Orlando could create brand confusion. “People tend to space their visits out,” he said.

In other words, Disney is more than happy to risk brand confusion to get Marvel characters integrated into Disneyland, which would be perfect in the remaking of Disney’s California Adventure.  But it would also add even more pressure on Universal to accept a buyout at a reasonable price.  Well, at least reasonable from Disney’s point of view.

The website, theforce.net, has an interesting tidbit on their website. According to one of their sources, the 501st, a legion of fans dressed as stormtroopers, will be present at the upcoming D23 expo. They further indicate that they will be present for Jay Rasulo’s presentation.

 
This is an interesting rumor as it seems the most likely reason for their involvement would be a major Star Tours announcement. Rumors abound that D23 will be the site for the announcement of the next big WDW project. It is the first of these conventions so Disney in an effort to increase attendance might want to make a big splash or two at the first one. Secondly, Potter is coming to Universal and people seem to think Disney needs to respond.
 
The favorite rumor at the moment seems to be that Disney will announce the Fantasyland overhaul at the conference. The blueprints were alleged leaked a few weeks ago. Maybe they will instead announce Star Tours 2. Or maybe both.

Today’s posting is from Mike, contributing writer to Mouse Extra

For quite some time now, we have been hearing rumors of a major project that would change the face of the Magic Kingdom’s Fantasyland at Walt Disney World.  Everything from new and re-imagined attractions and eateries to an expansion of the areas entire footprint has all been part of the rumors.  But over the last 48 hours this story has really picked up steam and now it appears to include all of the above.

You can’t seem to find a Disney related website that isn’t covering this to some extent, but let me point you to a couple so you can get up to speed on the particulars of this rumor.  First, click here for a posting by Dewayne Bevil of the Orlando Sentinel’s Theme Park Rangers Blog.  He has published a blueprint of what this new Fantasyland would look like, however no one can seem to confirm whether or not these plans are actually genuine.  But the blueprint is the engine that has launched this rocket.  (Okay, I have been watching too much on the 40th Anniversary of the Lunar Landing!!)

Then I would suggest reading this morning’s posting by Kevin Yee over at MiceAge.com.  He does an exhaustive look into these blueprints and extrapolates from it what it may all mean.  There is a lot to digest here, but Disney fans should find this to be an exciting rumor and worth talking about even if it is all only an elaborate hoax by a princess-obsessed fanatic.

The highlights of the rumor include an Ariel dark ride that could well be the same as that going up in California, a “Be Our Guest” restaurant that is likely an audio-animatronics based eatery, and even a second Dumbo ride.  (I can’t believe it took 35 years to come up with that idea!)  This is a gigantic project with an undoubtedly enormous budget, so just on the financial end alone one has to question whether Disney has really green lit this project or if it isn’t just pie-in-the-sky stuff from hopeful Imagineers.

The one thing you will notice, and something most have been discussing, is that this new Fantasyland is clearly riding the coattails of the Princess franchise and therefore very girl-centric.  In fact, I would imagine boys over kindergarten age will find little to do here.  But to that I say, “It’s about time!”  The Magic Kingdom has always been mostly boy-centric and if the girls get one corner geared just for them then so be it.

As I am sure you have read from me a dozen times in the past, Fantasyland is not my favorite place at Walt Disney World.  In fact, I usually do everything I can to bypass it in order to save my ankles from the pain of what appears to be drunken stroller drivers, or worse, the stroller driver on a cell phone!!  So I need to hear from those of you who do truly love the current Fantasyland, and I know there are many of you.  I invite you to add your comments below and tell us what you think.  Do you like this idea?  Are you afraid of a change to your favorite area of the Magic Kingdom?  Are you giddy about the possibility of cutting the line at Dumbo in half?  Or are you concerned about seeing construction walls for years to come?

We have all been spending what seems like a lifetime discussing the possible new remake of the Star Tours attraction at Disney’s theme parks.  For years, rumors and speculation have permeated the Disney internet community.  And the rumors have only intensified over the past few months, as we seem to get closer and closer to an official announcement of what exactly is going to happen to this popular attraction.

We all are fairly certainly that some kind of change is in the works, but what has made us full of nervous excitement is what this new version will be about.  Late last week Theme Park Insider upped the level of excitement one more notch with a rumor of what exactly we may see.

As rumored, the rehab is about to start. And you know why? Because Tokyo Disney (Oriental Land Company) wanted their own version so they poured in some money. And George Lucas has been VERY involved. The new version sounds REALLY cool. Apparently, the original Star Tours was supposed to be updated every three years or so with a new film (ha!). So now, they’re creating a new 3-D film (yes, everyone will have to wear 3-D glasses). The new film will be set in the time between Star Wars Films 3 and 4 (so, after Queen Amidala’s death but before Luke finds Obi Wan and blows up the Death Star). But here’s the cool part — they’re saying that the ride will now have hundreds of versions, so guests will never know what they’re getting into….they’re going to film about 25 openings, about 25 middles, and then 25 endings, so your ride will never be the same…this is one way to make sure it stays fresh for MUCH longer. I can’t wait to see this.

Let me begin by saying that I can not verify this report, and have not seen anything similar to this anywhere else.  So this is an outlier, but what a great outlier it is!  Even if it is just an idea, it is certainly worth discussing.

The timeline of when in the Star Wars universe this new version would take place was the source of most of the nervousness on the part of fans, myself included.  I did not want to see a ride based on the prequels, and I don’t think anyone else did either.  But the possibility of Lucas using the attraction to further the popularity of the prequels was certainly a real one.  But this idea seems to bridge the two together.  A nice compromise if you ask me. 

And I can’t imagine anyone doesn’t like the random sequencing proposal either.  Re-rideability is at the root of what makes Disney rides so great.  This idea would be a revolutionary way of bringing that idea to a new level.  Who wouldn’t go back over and over again to see what else there is to experience?  If this is not true, Imagineering should take a look at this rumor and consider it for future projects anyway.

Disney officials have been very quiet about what exactly they are doing to the Magic Kingdom’s classic rollercoaster Space Mountain.  But according to this morning’s reporting by the Orlando Sentinel, it appears the queue may be getting a serious facelift.

The resort last week filed a construction notice thought to be tied to the Magic Kingdom’s indoor coaster; it calls for the installation of an “interactive queue” and audio-visual upgrades. The notice has touched off speculation that Space Mountain could be in line for an electronic-game-filled queue similar to the one Disney installed at Epcot’s Soarin’ in 2007.

Disney previous disclosed only that they planned on replacing the track, but that the ride would generally be the same.  However, many questioned from the beginning whether or not that was completely sincere.  To shut a hugely popular attraction for that amount of time for only a few barely noticeable upgrades didn’t seem to make sense.

But this does.  The queue at Space Mountain is long, dark, and very boring.  While the ride may stay mostly the same, making a top-notch queue could really make a difference to park guests.  We’ll keep you posted as more information trickles out