Mouse Extra

For those of you who have been under a rock for the last year (or maybe you were just hanging around Harry Potter Land at Universal), the Fantasyland changes are underway. Originally on the list of things to do were, a Beauty and the Beast eatery, meet n greets with Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty, Dueling Dumbos in a Circus tent, a major Little Mermaid dark ride, and pixie hollow for a meet n greet with Tink and other fairies. After the hubbud died down and people started looking at it, one thing jumps out. Thats a whole lot of princesses.

Ariel

I mean a whole lot of princesses. And perhaps Disney thinks so too. One thing they have stated is the original plans have been changed.

But, the question is to what. One very strong rumor is that the meet n greets (Cindy, Pixie and the sleeper) are scraped. In its place is yet another princess, Snow White. However, this will not be a place to meet her, but instead will be an indoor/outdoor roller coaster. A coaster, of course, will be much more broad based in its appeal. Little boys who may not be interested in making a birthday card for Sleeping Beauty or do some sing alongs will step on a runaway mine train.

Disney had not confirmed the nature of the changes or that the new Fantasyland will not be what was original planned. To me, this is a step in the right direction.

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

Apparently, the new concept rooms at the Caribbean Beach Resort have been popular. Finding Nemo and the Pirates of the Caribbean rooms may have been just the art. As noted by WDW Magic a few weeks ago, Disney has been sending out surveys about the possibilities of two new kinds of rooms: Princess Rooms and Haunted Mansion rooms.

A look at the concept art can only get one excited. Especially the Haunted Mansion rooms. Sure the princess rooms look cool with their Cogsworth clocks and genie lamps. But the Mansion rooms with the glow in the dark footprints on the ceiling and carpet, and the gargoyle lights are just plain cool. Best of all is the secret passage sliding bookcase to get to the bathroom.

I hope Disney carries through with this plan. I would imagine the Haunted Mansion rooms would be at Port Orleans. If I had to guess, I would put the Princess rooms at the Grand Floridian. And I think this could be a real hit for Disney, making these rooms ultra popular with corresponding rates. And it could pave the way for more. Perhaps Splash Mountain rooms at the Wilderness Lodge or Lion King rooms at the AKL.

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?