Oranges
09-06-2006, 11:29 PM
Here's a whole bunch of Disney rumors floating around the "World" right now. Some of them are pretty interesting. These were all garnered by ScreamScape. A lot have been confirmed, while others are still floating in the rumor pond. Note: Rumors are sorted by park.
MAGIC KINGDOM
Park News - (8/9/06) I’ve heard a few interesting rumors about the Haunted Mansion this week. They claim that the park is drawing up plans to install some kind of new gift shop to the exit of the ride. They may also be looking at performing some kind of upgrade or remodel to the Spider Room, though we have not heard anything about what might replace it.
(8/4/06) The daily parade at the Magic Kingdom will undergo some changes starting August 10th, which will be renamed Disney Dreams Comes True. They will ditch the snow globes from the floats and add all new music from a Tokyo Disneyland parade.
(8/3/06) Screamscape spies sent us an interesting story that Disney apparently was able to keep under the news radar. It seems that things got a little out of control inside Stitch’s Great Escape a couple of weeks ago when apparently in the middle of a show the Stitch figure, which will filled with hydraulic fluid, apparently exploded that fluid all over the captive audience. Hydraulic fluid is said to burn and irrate bare skin on contact, so the whole theater full of people had to be taken backstage to be cleaned up, given all new clothing and apparently comped them to infinity and beyond to keep the occurrence quiet. Of course this isn’t the first time something like this has happened with an animatronic figure... there was a famous incident on Jurassic Park in Hollywood where the giant T-Rex at the end of the ride barfed up hydraulic fluid over several boats before the problem was discovered.
(8/2/06) Disney has printed the official dates on their website for the Pirate & Princess Party upcharge events that will take place on select nights from late January to early March. They’ve also added a “new fireworks spectacular” and a Pirate & Princess themed parade to the list of event highlights.
(7/26/06) It seems that it’s time to remove all those little extras that were added to the castle for the Happiest Celebration On Earth which officially ends on September 30th. I have been informed that after removing all the HCOE decorations, they will repaint the entire castle as well as use this time period to build that special Castle Bedchamber room into the penthouse. The long rehab will actually begin on September 10th when they will bring in a large crane that will live next to the castle for the next couple of months, surrounded by construction walls at the base somewhere between Sir Mickey’s and the Fairy Tale Gardens, where the walkway will also be closed off. The HCOE decorations will be removed between September 10th to 13th and painting is scheduled to take from September 19th until December 5th.
(7/17/06) Sources tell us that a new updated version of the daily parade may start performances as early as August 10th.
(6/27/06) You can see photos and a video of the new Captain Jack face character working the crowds posted to the Inside the Magic forum. The voice is way way off, but he’s got the right look.
(6/20/06) I mentioned the rumor last year, but it seems that the proposed Disney’s Pirate & Princess upcharge event at the Magic Kingdom is rumored to have been approved and will kick off on select dates starting late January 2007 through February and possibly even extend into March. Guests can arrive at the park in their favorite Pirate or Princess costume and set off into Royalty of Adventure. Adventures planned planned for the special event include a search through the park for Treasure, pit stops at Pirate Adventure Coves or Princess Royal Courts spread out throughout the park for specialized training sessions like character meet and greets, scimitar training, dance parties, princess image consulting, learn to speak like a pirate, make up make overs and more. The rumors say that the price of a ticket to these special nighttime events will run you between $39 and $45 for adults and about $7-8 less for children. They may actually start to sell tickets and reservations as early as July 10th.
(6/19/06) A reader sent in a great shot showing off one of the new
single finger scanners being tested at a few of the park’s turnstiles.
(6/15/06) After checking with a few sources, it seems that the Magic Kingdom is currently testing several of these new single finger scanners at the park entrance. These new scanners are quicker and cause far less confusion to guests than the previous two finger version. This is currently just a test of the new system, but if it works as well as the reports seem to indicate, then you can expect to see it expanded to the rest of the parks in the near future.
In other news, a reader sent us a great link to the Windows Live Local overhead shot of the Magic Kingdom. This is a fairly recient shot compared to some of the other similar overhead images online today, and it not only gives you a good idea about just how much space is available inside the old Timekeeper building, but if you fly over to Fantasyland you can see just how much leftover space they have left where the old 20K Sub Lagoon used to be. Now it’s just a giant green lawn area, but there sure is enough room to put something large there in the future.
Ride Rehabs - The following information is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate.
Mad Tea Party will be closed August 21st & 22nd.
The Liberty Bell is now expected to reopen on September 22nd.
2007 - The Laugh Floor Comedy Club - (9/6/06) If your a fan of the Adventure’s Club at Pleasure Island then you might be interested to know that several of the same producers behind the AC show material are also behind the scripts for the new Laugh Floor and have encouraged many of the current cast to try out for the Laugh Floor job openings as well.
(7/20/06) The Cast Member news letter now lists the new Laugh Floor as opening to the public in January 2007. I’ve got to wonder if they may be able to hold soft previews over the busy holiday period as well, but it’s too soon right now to know. The theme of the ride is that after the discovery that human laughter creates more energy than human screams, Mike Wazowski had the idea to create a huge Comedy Club in order to harvest this laughter from large groups rather than from visiting one closet at a time. Roz isn’t convinces on the idea, so the pressure is on Mike to make it work. So guests will be entertained by a variety of digital monster comedians while a laugh canister and meter register just how well they are performing. From the sound of things, some of the characters may actually be controlled by live performers, as we’ve seen done with Crush at Turtle Talk, so they can interact and create jokes on the fly.
(6/9/06) Disney confirmed plans to open a Monsters Inc. themed attraction in early 2007 inside the old Timekeeper building. “Guests find the power of laughter in an engaging and interactive new adventure inspired by Disney-Pixar’s “Monsters, Inc.” as they match wits with the one-eyed hero Mike Waznowski and his friends.”
(5/19/06) Insiders tell us that the construction crews inside the old Timekeeper building are making quite a bit of noise as they are apparently ripping things apart and possibly sandblasting or pressurewashing the interior walls.
(4/21/06) New construction walls with messages stating “Imagineers At Play” have gone up around the former Timekeeper attraction this week.
(4/11/06) Looks like I may have spoke too soon last week, because some decent proof about adding a Monsters Inc. themed attraction called The Laugh Floor just dropped into my inbox over the weekend. Of course, this still isn’t 100% proof that this is what will replace Timekeeper, only that plans were drawn up for a possible Monsters attraction in Tomorrowland. Stay tuned.
(4/7/06) Ever since the rumor about a possible Monster’s themed attraction may be replacing Timekeeper people over at the Studios have been up in arms. I’ve heard several reports now claiming that any Monster’s themed attractions are all planned for the Studios, and I have to admit that it makes more sense to me as well, especially since the California attraction went into their Studios section of DCA. So if Monsters wont be taking up residence inside Tomorrowland... then which of the new Pixar Overlord’s characters would best fit instead? Why Pixar? Because for all intents, it seems like they are running the creative show these days. So what about a super hero themed Incredibles attraction? Lots of possibilities to think about.
(3/20/06) We’re still hearing rumors about a Monster’s themed replacement for Timekeeper, though this round seems more focused on the rumor that it may use the same technology as seen in Turtle Talk with Crush to create a virtual Mike. We’ve even heard of someone already working on their Billy Crystal voice impersonation skills. So I guess the question is, will this be used as a new show based attraction or as part of a new ride? Of course many people still feel that any new attraction based on Monsters would fit better into Disney-MGM Studios and that the Timekeeper replacement may be something else entirely. Admittedly, the Monsters attraction at California Adventure is in their Studio themed area of the park, so this does have some merit and the Studios could use a nice new family dark ride too. So right now I’m keeping my ears open… this wouldn’t be the first attraction initially designed to be able to fit into more than one of the WDW parks.
(2/17/06) WDW Magic is reporting that Timekeeper will close forever after February 26 as they start work on gutting the building for an unknown new attraction. I’ve heard about several different concepts pitched to replace Timekeeper over the years. Everything from other circlevision style films to moving all the Buzz Lightyear themed bumper cars from DisneyQuest in there, to an indoor ride themed to the little green aliens from Toy Story, and a few other wild stories. The latest rumor however was for a Monster’s Inc. themed attraction that might attempt to use some of the projection technology used in Turtle Talk with Crush. With the new Monster’s Inc. ride open at California Adventure seeming to be a hit, this certainly is possible if they deem that the Monsters Inc theme fits into Tomorrowland instead of the Studios. With Tomorrowland quickly becoming the new SciFi themed Fantasyland (Buzz Lightyear, Stitch’s Great Escape) I can see Monsters fitting in.
Future Projects - Rumors and Speculation - (10/11/05) I’ve got one more revamped existing attraction rumor that has come back after floating in limbo for years. After having a lot of success with it at Disneyland, could the Magic Kingdom be thinking about undertaking their own complete rebuilt of Space Mountain, possible converting the structure into a single track ride like the other Space Mountains around the world.
(10/10/05) With the 35th Anniversary of Walt Disney World looming on the horizon on October 1st, 2006 and the end of the Disneyland 50th Anniversary set to end in the summer of 2006, one has to wonder what may be in store for the Magic Kingdom next, especially since they kind of got the shaft this time around with Cinderellabration or whatever it’s called. While there has been talk in the past about something big planned for the future of the old Sub Lagoon site, most of the talk today seems to follow the rumored enhancements planned for Pirates to tie into the new films. That said, we’ve heard about a small batch of enhancements or rehabs of existing attraction buildings that could be possible future attractions. Note that these are all completely wild rumors at this point with not a single second source to back them up as anything more.
First off, following the trend of enhancing Pirates, we’ve heard that future enhancements are in the design phase to add new elements to the Haunted Mansion as well as the Jungle Cruise. For example, the Mansion at Disneyland has a history of upgrading the effects over the years (the new floating Leota table) or making slight tweaks to certain rooms (the major overhaul to the Attic) while the Florida version was always left alone. As for the Jungle Cruise, our source mentioned adding the new Piranha Attack effect that was added to Disneyland’s version in 2005.
Gazing towards Tomorrowland where they’ve already transformed two preexisting attractions (Stitch and Buzz Lightyear) our source talks about a couple of wild plans for the other two attractions left to be replaced: Timekeeper and the Carousel of Progress. Apparently some kind of new Monsters Inc. attraction that may use similar technology to Turtle Talk w/ Crush was being looked at for Timekeeper while something themed to the Incredibles was planned for the CoP building. Given the nature of the building, I’ve got to wonder if it might not be some kind of new animatronic show about the super-hero family instead of a new ride. If anyone has heard anything more about any of these projects or other new ideas, let us know.
DISNEY/MGM STUDIOS
Park News - (8/29/06) Big news for anyone planning a trip to the park between January and February: Rock ‘n Roller Coaster is supposed to go down for a lengthy rehab from 1/7/07 through 2/10/07.
(8/2/06) The latest word from our network of Screamscape spies is that Disney is finally taking the first steps to dropping the “MGM” name from the Studios. I know what you’re thinking... I’ll believe it when I see it myself too. But they have to stop using it eventually because with MGM ready to use the name on their own theme park elsewhere in the world, they are no longer willing to extend any contracts Disney has to use the name. That said, our sources tell us that the first steps are being taken, though we still don’t have a timeline as to when the park may get a new name. October 1st is always a good day for big announcements at Walt Disney World and with the end of the Happiest Celebration on Earth set for September 30th, I’m guessing October 1st may play a part in the rebranding of the Studios as well.
In other news, Disney has confirmed that the last performance of the Millionaire game show will be on August 19th. You can scroll down to read about Midway Mania, the ride rumored to replace it.
(6/16/06) I’ve been informed by a Cast Member that they were just told that Millionaire’s last show will be August 19th before it closes down forever. Can anyone else confirm?
(6/15/06) The character breakfast is expected to reopen around June 25th, but it seems that the plans to use Pixar characters has changed. Instead they will be replaced with the cast of JoJo’s Circus, a claymation looking show many people probably have not heard of and is old enough to be on the way out. (Personally, I know my boys, 2 & 4, can’t stand it.) It certainly doesn’t sound like anything I would want to pay the premium price of a character breakfast for either.
(6/9/06) I’m not sure how long they’ve been in the park parade, but I’ve added a new press photo of Lightning McQueen and Mater at the park. Meanwhile Disney has also announced a series of Playhouse Disney In Concert events starting in August that will include performances by the Doodlebops, The Wiggles, Johnny & The Sprites and Dan Zanes.
(4/4/06) It was confirmed to Cast Members that Lightning McQueen and Mater the Tow Truck would be added to the Disney Stars and Motor Cars parade later this month. The animated cars would also be pulling double duty for the rest of the day in a meet and greet area, most likely near the Lights, Motors, Action stunt show.
Ride Rehabs - The following information is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate as things are always subject to change at the last second.
Fantasmic is expected to close for rehab from November 1-8th.
Lights! Motors! Action is expected to close for at least a week shortly after Fantasmic reopens on November 9th.
Rock ‘n Roller Coaster will be closed for rehab from January 7th through February 10th.
2007 - Twilight Zone: Tower of Terror 5 - Rumor - (3/16/06) We’ve heard an exciting new rumor about another upgrade to Twilight Zone in the works. Our source tells us that Tower 5 will come out as a celebration of the Tower’s 13th anniversary in 2007. (Maybe on April 13th, 2007). One possible idea is to push the number 13 in all the marketing campaigns (13 Times The Terror / 13 Years of Terror) and attempt to bring up the number random drop sequences up to 13.
2007 - Jack’s Halloween Party - Rumor - (6/15/06) Sources indicate that plans are being pushed forward for a Jack Skellinton themed Halloween Party upcharge event after dark next fall.
(2/4/06) I reported on this rumor last summer but a new internet survey is making the rounds suggesting that Disney may be ready to finally add a Halloween event for a slightly older crowd to the Studios this fall. The text from the survey describes the event as: “For the first time, Disney-MGM Studios becomes the host for all things that go bump in the night with an all new Halloween Celebration. Join Jack Skellington, the "Pumpkin King of Halloween Town" from A Nightmare before Christmas, and a horde of Disney's most popular villains as they set about turning the Disney/MGM Studios into a nightmare of 1000 screams. Visitors will enjoy the thrills and chills of the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror and Rock 'n Roller Coaster, a colorful parade, and streets filled with ghouls and goblins. It's a Halloween party filled with Disney magic - only this time it's magic cooked up by the Wicked Witch herself.”
2008 - Block Party Bash - Delayed / Canceled - (6/21/06) The latest buzz from the mouse house is that any and all plans to bring California’s Block Party Bash parade to the park has been scrapped. The floats are just too big to maneuver in the Studios narrow streets. The push for an all new show for the Year of a Million Dreams celebration may have just been the final nail in the coffin. Can anyone else confirm that the plans are now dead?
(6/16/06) I’ve heard that the biggest snag to bringing the popular Block Party Bash parade to the studios is the fact that the floats are so large that there are some serious clearance issues that need to be dealt with on some of the turns. Apparently the biggest problem may be the Crossroads structure at the front of the park itself, where it was suggested that they either remove it all together or move it somewhere else, like outside the front gate. We’ve also heard that the park may now be planning to create an all new parade to fit into the new Year of the Million Dreams celebration.
(6/15/06) Sources at Disneyland claim to have been told that the Block Party Bash run in California has been extended through 2007, delaying any plans to bring the parade to WDW.
(4/4/06) We’ve heard that the VP of the park confirmed to Cast Members that a “new entertainment offering” was confirmed for the park in 2007, most likely referring to the rumored Block Party Bash.
(3/13/06) The new opening date for the Block Party Bash at the Studios is now April 2007. They also mentioned that the parade will continue to run at California Adventure through early January 2007.
(3/1/06) Insiders tell us that the rumored January 2007 opening date may be very difficult to accomplish due to the strain on the park’s staff just to get through the busy holiday season. They think that a March 2007 opening is much more likely.
(2/22/06) Screamscape sources tell us everything is still hush hush at this point, but prep work has begun to bring the Block Party Bash parade from California Adventure to the Studios sometime next year. Studies are taking place on how to deal with the larger floats and any possible modifications that may need to be made to the pathways and the parade storage building. One source claims that the new parade may start as early as January 2007.
(2/20/06) Sources tell Screamscape that the Studios will put on an all new parade in 2007 called Block Party Bash. I’m not sure if this will be the same Pixar character themed parade that is currently running at California Adventure or if this will be a new parade that may use the same theme. Anyone know more?
2008/2009 - Midway Mania - Semi-Confirmed - (6/21/06) It seems virtually a sure thing now that Midway Mania has been given the green light for both California Adventure and for the Studios to open in late 2008 or early 2009. The latest buzz from our insiders this week claimed that the ride may be a mix of Buzz Lightyear with Universal’s popular Spiderman dark ride, complete with 3D glasses and a large spinning car that will hold between 8-12 riders. In fact the latest article over at Mice Age talks a bit about the proposed new ride and how riders will be armed with a kind of X-Ray flashlight gun to reveal hidden animated scenes and effects. There is also reference to a new technology patent assigned to Disney that describes the effect.
(6/14/06) I’ve been hearing rumors about a new attraction designed for California Adventure called Midway Mania, and now the rumors have spread to include a second version of the attraction under consideration for the Studios as well. From what little I’ve heard about the DCA version so far was that it was to be a next-generation interactive shoot-em-up dark ride featuring several Pixar characters with a wild carnival style midway theme since it was to fit into the Paradise Pier section of the park, with an entrance right under the California Screamin’ coaster itself. I’m only starting to hear information about the proposed Florida version, but it sounded as if it could not only replace Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, but take over the rest of the connected sound stages as well. Earlier this season, the park VP also reported to CMs that a new family attraction would be added in 2008. At first I was thinking that it was finally time for Star Tours 2, but perhaps this is what he was talking about. Anyone know more?
(3/16/06) In other news, we’ve heard that the Millionaire game show could be on it’s last legs and retired by the end of the year. There are too many ideas about what could replace it right now though to take anything seriously.
2009-2010 - Star Tours 2 - Rumor - (6/16/06) From the sound of things, Lucas came to visit the park during Star Wars Weekends, though no public appearance was made. Apparently he was poking around the whole Star Tours area along with a group of Imagineers. From what our sources have heard, the plans to update the ride are active, but Lucas’ plate is full at the moment while they work on transforming the entire film series into a new 3D format as well as the final planning for Indy 4. So the new timeframe seems to indicate that we wont see a Star Tours 2 attraction for 3-4 years now. Of course, I’ve got to wonder if it wont be in 3D this time around now.
(6/15/06) Nothing solid has come out about the long in development Star Tours 2 project, but we’ve heard that plans are still moving forward at least.
(4/4/06) The park VP reported to Cast Members that a new “family oriented attraction” would be added to the park in 2008. Could this be the long awaited Star Tours 2 project or something entirely new?
(3/7/06) It’s been some time since we’ve heard anything about Star Tours 2... possibly the oldest rumor I’ve ever covered. Over the years I’ve come to take every rumor about Star Tours 2 with a grain of salt any longer, but our source tells us that the green light may have finally been given. Anyone know more?
(4/25/05) I think one of the oldest rumors that I had when I started this website years ago was that Star Tours would someday be updated to have a new ride film. This rumor evolved over the years to the Pod Racer concept from Episode I when the multiple ending idea and at Disney World they even went so far as to retheme the outside of their gift shop to an Episode I themed Tatooine building. But still no new ride... and after years of delays and rumors that Lucas and Eisner had just had it out with each other and the ride would never happen, I gave up on it. Now with Episode III looming on the horizon, that **** madman George Lucas himself made a statement at the Star Wars Celebration III event this past weekend, reported on ComingSoon.net, that Star Tours “will be getting an overhaul soon”. I doubt George concerns himself with the mechanical status of the ride, so I can only assume he may be talking about creating the footage needed for an all new ride film. Stay tuned!
20?? - E-Ticket / Narnia - Rumor - (4/7/06) While talking to the press this week about how Disney ties in their media properties to the theme parks, Bob Iger heavily hinted that The Chronicles of Narnia could become the next film project to become a theme park attraction.
(3/7/06) It’s only a rumor at this point, but we’ve heard that Imagineering is designing a major new E-Ticket attraction for the studios now, and this is not the Star Tours 2 project. We’ve heard a few rumors over the years that ranged from an Armageddon themed ride, to a copy of Journey To the Center of the Earth to a massive replacement for the Great Movie Ride that would rival Universal’s Spider-man ride. Anyone know more?
???? - Indiana Jones Attraction - Rumor - (3/7/06) Screamscape sources tell us that the park still wants to eventually add an Indy themed ride to the park, but give the huge capacity that Indy handles on a daily basis, taking the show down right now would just cause massive crowding problems throughout the park. However the park knows that the stunt show just has to be retired sooner or later, so the overall plan is to open a series of new attractions (Star Tours 2, an unknown new E-ticket ride and perhaps a new show) first before they attempt to create an Indy ride. Now here is the really good part. Apparently since there is no need to rehash old ride concepts all over again given how old the California ride is (1995), Imagineering is said to be working on a new hybrid design that will take popular elements from the California, Tokyo and Paris attractions to come up with an all new ride experience. I can’t wait to hear more about this one.
(5/9/05) While there is a chance that the Indy ride could still be built at the Studios, we’ve heard from a few sources that they are not planning on closing down the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Show anytime soon either to make room. Of course there is plenty of room over at Animal Kingdom where it could be given a new story. However... our sources tell us that there is still an E-Ticket attraction in development for the studios. It could be Indy, it could just be Star Tours 2 or it could be something completely new.
EPCOT
Park News - (8/9/06) I’m not sure exactly what is going on but we’ve heard a rumor that Disney may be doing some work upstairs at the Imagination Pavilion to reopen the former Imageworks area to test out some kind of new Kim Possible themed device called the Kimmunicator. Keep your eyes peeled.
(7/24/06) As we reported in May, the Living With The Land boat attraction will be updated to a new automated system and will no longer have narrators along with you. The original plan was to try and do this without any downtime, but it seems that was harder than expected, so the attraction will shut down for several weeks starting August 20th through September 17th. It also seems that FastPass will be removed from the attraction at this point in time as well because it wont be needed any longer. Currently I’ve been told the ride can run a maximum of 14 boats at a time, but due to staff cuts and just an overall toughness to keep staff working on the attraction, they were usually only able to run a maximum of 10-12 boats in the peak season. Once the rehab is complete, they will be able to run the ride at full capacity and there really wont be a need for FastPass any longer.
(6/26/06) I can’t back this one up myself, but a reader tells us that the Fire House display at Innoventions has an effect that sounds similar to the X-Ray Gun effect being talked about for Midway Mania at the Studios. Guests are given a special flashlight to point at a video screen to detect hidden fire hazards and when you find them, you can put the hidden fires out by pressing the button on the flashlight. Sounds similar in basic concept.
(6/16/06) Sources tell us that Epcot is now planning a new parade to fit into the new Years of a Million Dreams celebration. At this time I don’t know if it will start in the fall with the celebration or wait for the busy holiday season. This fits in with rumors earlier this year about a “Tapestry 3” project that was said to be in the works.
(4/13/06) There are rumors claiming that come October 1st, Disney may change the name of Future World to Discoveryland. If this sounds familiar, this goes back to the old Project Gemini rumors from a couple of years ago, which also included the renaming of World Showcase as the Global Village. Back then it was confirmed that Disney did file for trademarks for both names, but they are since dropped the filing for Global Village while Discoveryland remains an active item. On a side note, if anyone is interested the trademark for “SSE: Time Racer” is still active, indicating that perhaps there is some life left in the project.
Mission: Space News - (5/20/06) Disney has now opened a new tamer version of Mission: Space this week that has no spinning motion. However, they are still offering the more thrilling original version as well. Now when you approach the building you will be asked to decide between being part of the Orange Team (original ride) or Green Team (tame version).
Ride Rehabs - The following information is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate.
The Wonders of Life Pavilion (Body Wars) is currently closed.
2006 - Nemo’s Undersea Adventure / The Seas with Nemo & Friends - (9/6/06) The latest buzz from our Orlando spies is that Nemo’s Undersea Adventure is behind schedule by 2-3 weeks and the opening of the new attraction is expected to be postponed until early to mid November now.
(7/20/06) Disney has announced to Cast Members that the entire “The Living Seas” pavilion will be renamed “The Seas with Nemo & Friends”. I believe the new ride itself will be named Nemo’s Undersea Adventure.
(4/10/06) During all the big hoopla over the opening of Expedition Everest Disney confirmed two new attractions on the way for later this year. Epcot’s Living Seas will add The Seas with Nemo & Friends, “using technology that magically puts the staring characters of Finding Nemo amid the live marine life of the enormous aquarium.” Guest will board “Clamobiles” and venture off to meet with Mr. Ray and his class on a field trip, only to discover that Nemo has wandered off. While searching for Nemo guests will encounter Dory, Bruce, Marlin, Squirt and Crush, culminating in a big “musical finale”.
(4/5/06) Screamscape has been informed that the new Nemo themed ride that will replace the old Sea Cabs will not reopen to the public until sometime in October.
(11/30/05) Epcot has reopened The Living Seas attraction, as as rumored the Hydrolators have been removed and all guests enter and exit through the old exit area. The original entrance area and old Sea Cabs ride area is still blocked off by construction walls, as we wait for Phase II of the project to open in 2006. Meanwhile the rest of SeaBase (Alpha has been dropped from the name) has been rehabbed, repainted, and spit-shined though nothing major seems have been been changed from before to the attractions.
(10/25/05) If the latest rumors we’ve heard claim that when The Living Seas reopen, it could be an entirely different attraction all together. First off your path through the attraction itself may be reversed now, allowing guests to enter through the exit and removing the Hydrolators. With this change, also comes a new overall theme that may replace the whole SeaBase Alpha concept inside. The SeaCabs will return in a new form, with the track rumored have been extended into where the old pre-show rooms used to be, and it will dump the riders out through the old pavilion entrance area. More on this as we find out.
(6/27/05) The latest rumor about the new Nemo themed ride at The Living Seas comes from DLP.info where they’ve been trying to dig up information about the Nemo themed dark ride in development for Walt Disney Studios Paris. While the two rides will be different, they claim that many of the special effects planned for the Paris attraction will be built and tested out for the Living Seas attraction first. This may include several “wet-for-dry” effects scenes and some kind of special effect to take guests on a ride through the bubble filled East Australian Current.
(6/21/05) We’ve heard from a couple of insiders who confirm hearing that the attraction is scheduled to close down for the next phase of the rehab this August. They have also heard that this will involve the old Sea Cabs attraction and may actually result in the removal of the pre-show film to make room for the new attraction. It may not actually reopen until April 2006. Anyone else know more?
(6/16/05) I’ve received an interesting rumor today that talked about a possible rehab closure of The Living Seas sometime before the end of the year that would bring about a few more Nemo themed additions. Could this be a replacement to the preshow film about Seabase Alpha or perhaps the time has come to do something with the old Sea Cabs.
2006/2007 - Mexico & Canada Updates - Rumor - (7/25/06) At first I’ve got to wonder if these are just old rumors come back to haunt us, but everyone knows that Disney never throws out ideas forever. We’ve heard that a new Circlevision film may be added to the Canada pavilion sometime in the near future. The stories about the development of a new film go back a few years to when elements of the Canadian tourism department complained that the existing film was full of wrongful stereotypes of Canadian life and they wanted a new film to properly show off their country. Meanwhile on the other side of the lagoon, the old rumor about updating El Rio de Tiempo (River of Time) at the Mexico pavilion to have a small storyline featuring new hosts, The Three Caballeros. This was a rumored plan that went back as far as the Millennium Celebration as I recall, but dropped due to a lack of time, funds or just too many other projects on their plate to finish at the time. Why has it come back? Well certainly the addition of Nemo and friends to the Living Seas has generated all new interest in that pavilion so it couldn’t hurt to add the Three Caballeros to Mexico. Anyone know more?
2007 - Spaceship Earth Renovation - Rumor - (7/10/06) While it has been known that Seimens signed on as the new sponsor for Spaceship Earth awhile back, nothing much has come of this yet. However plans to make changes are in the works. We’ve heard that the plan is to reopen a new version of the Global Neighborhood area at the exit of the ride as well as update a few scenes inside the ride itself in time for Epcot’s 25th Anniversary on October 1st, 2007.
2008 - Soarin’ Expansion - Rumor - (7/17/06) The latest buzz from our insiders claim that any plans to add more theaters to Soarin’ are now dead. However... there may be plans in the works now to open an all new ride film called Soarin’ over America sometime in 2008 right now. Anyone know more?
(4/13/06) Screamscape was informed that while Disney has investigated what it would take to expand the Soarin’ ride and add more theaters, they have not yet approved any actions to do it yet.
(3/20/06) I’m still not sure I believe it, but I’ve been told that Disney bigwigs like Bob Iger and Al Weiss have been spending time in the parks over the last several months and trying to see things the way average guests do and they did not care at all for the length of the line at Soarin’ nor the mood of the guests packed in like cattle while watching FastPass riders sprint by. So they’ve asked for some figures to see what it would cost to add a third theater to Soarin’. It’s all under review right now, so perhaps it could happen, though they could delay it until they decide to premier a new film in 3-5 years.
(3/16/06) In the crazy rumor category, someone wrote in to tell me that plans are being drawn up to add a third theater to Soarin’ due to the huge crowds. I could be wrong here, but I’m going to call bogus on this one because they were dying to add a third theater to the California Adventure version right after it opened and never did. Disney knew all about the crowd problems ever since they opened the DCA version and they still made the design choice to build the Epcot version with only two theaters. This choice was made despite the fact that Epcot has a much higher annual attendance than DCA. If Epcot wants to solve some of the crowd problems on Soarin, it may be as easy as removing FastPass. I was at the park the other night when it was open late for one of those Extra Magic Hours. I was doing the child-swap thing and when the rest of the family entered the Stand-By line the posted wait was 70 minutes. Over the next 30 minutes you could see the number of FastPass ticket holders dwindle down to nothing and by the time my family came back out 68 minutes later the Stand-By wait time had dropped to just 10 minutes. Everything runs so much better when everyone waits in the same line.
2008/2009 - Wonders of Life / Universe of Energy Upgrade - Rumor - (3/20/06) There have been rumors for the last few years about Imagineering looking to create some new concepts for the Wonders of Life pavilion, but now we’ve heard about a blue sky plan that if approved could end up removing both the Life and Universe of Energy pavilions to create a massive new attraction. Of course… this is just a blue sky plan and I’m sure it will end up being value engineered down to just replacing one of the pavilions. If the Universe of Energy does close, we’ve heard that some of the dino figures may be transplanted over to Animal Kingdom. Add this into the rumors of DuPont possibly signing on as a major new attraction sponsor and something big could be in the works. Insiders say that we wont see any demolition until 2007.
(10/25/05) Screamscape has heard that the next big project for Epcot may be the demolition of the Wonders of Life pavilion to make way for a new attraction. Nothing is finalized yet however it seems, so they don’t know if the building can be reused for the new attraction or if they will need to just raze it and start over from scratch as they did with Mission: Space.
(10/25/05) As part of Epcot’s 25th Anniversary, we’ve been led to believe that yet another rehab to the Universe of Energy will take place. No one seems sure if this will just be another new “show” idea squeezed to fit into the existing attraction as they did when they added Ellen and Bill Nye or if they will attempt to upgrade the ride and effects from the existing ride story instead.
20?? - DuPont Sponsored Attraction - Rumor - (3/16/06) Screamscape has heard a report about Disney Imagineering types taking tours of a few DuPont facilities lately. Going back to November 3rd, we posted a rumor claiming that DuPont was close to signing a deal to either take over the old Wonder of Life pavilion or to build a new attraction on the site. Sounds like things are moving forward.
DISNEY'S ANIMAL KINGDOM
Park News -
Ride Rehabs - The following information is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate.
Nothing known at this time...
2006 - Expedition Everest: Legend of the Forbidden Mountain - (4/18/06) You can download a huge podcast from CoasterRadio.com from the opening of Expedition Everest. Check it out.
(2/20/06) After several videos that only offer the slightest tease of seeing the Yeti itself, we’ve been sent a link to what has to be the clearest photo of the Yeti we’ve seen yet. you can see the whole thing in detail here so you’ve been warned. If want to see a slightly blurry shot of just the Yeti’s head, then click here.
(1/28/06) I was able to take a few test runs on Expedition Everest yesterday at the passholder preview and had a blast. Click here to read my review of this massive new ride, see some photos and my own video.
(1/24/06) RCPro has posted a few new photos and perhaps the best video of Everest I’ve seen yet, taking from the front row. Check it out.
(11/16/05) A few stats about the coaster have also been posted, including a 44 inch height limit and a track length of over 4,400 feet. The biggest drop on the ride will be 80 feet and it will hit speeds up to 50 mph. The Yeti figure itself will also be very impressive and is being described as the “most mammoth and sophisticated Audio-Animatronic figure ever created by Walt Disney Imagineering.” The figure’s hydraulic motors combined boast the potential thrust of of over 259,000 pounds of force, “potentially more instantaneous power than a 747-400 airliner.”
Late 2006 - Finding Nemo: The Musical - (8/28/06) A reader has pointed out a video on ******* right now taken at the press announcement for the new show that features a few performers singing one of the new songs for the show called In the Big Blue World.
(7/20/06) The WDW Cast Member news letter has confirmed that the new Finding Nemo show will open sometime in November.
(5/20/06) Visit WDW Magic to see a few new photos of the massive construction going on to convert the old Theater In The Wild into an indoor venue.
(4/10/06) A little lacking in the name department, but Disney confirmed that Finding Nemo: The Musical would be added to Animal Kingdom’s Theater in the Wild before the end of the year. The show will be an entirely original production featuring all new songs of course, since the film had none, and a new story. The show will take place in the newly enclosed theater and use puppets, dancers, acrobats and animated backdrops.
(1/30/06) Walt Disney World - While the world’s attention is focused primarily on Expedition Everest, construction has started next door on the Theater in the Wild where the accepted story is that the theater will be enclosed and rehabbed much like what was done with the Lion King show a few years back. But in this case, with the screams from Everest’s 80 foot drop happening right next door, they really needed to do something here. Screamscape sources tell us that the new show will be themed to Finding Nemo, and use several large puppet figures controlled by human actors. More on this as we find out.
2006/2007 - Kilimanjaro Safari Upgrades - (8/7/06) It seems that a series of upgrades have started to appear at the Safari this month, with the promise of more upgrades to take place in the future. Now we don’t have any photos, but I’ve been told that Warden Wilson has been given a new airplane at the final scene. We’ve also been told that the bridge now moves a little more than before, and that they are testing a new wider 9th row added to the back of Safari #43. Unlike the 5-6 riders per row, this extra row is said to hold 6-7 riders, including some kind of “jumper seat” that sticks out on the drivers side. This is just a test right now, but if it works out, a 9th row could be added to all of the cars. Other future changes we can expect to see includes new “roofs”, a few script changes, leading towards a possible project big budget project (if approved) that would bring in many more changes. After all these years, it certainly would be a good thing to refresh the park’s iconic Safari ride.
2007 - Asian Restaurant - Confirmed - (3/1/06) Landry’s and Schussler Creative will open a new Asian themed restaurant inside Animal Kingdom that will be themed to fit the existing rural village of Anandapur at the Himalayan foothills of India or Nepal. Given the theme it sounds like this one may be placed close to Everest.
???? - Beastly Kingdom - (3/16/06) The rumors about revival of Beastly Kingdom are starting again, claiming that it will take over Camp Minnie Mickey and the characters Meet & Greets will then be dispersed throughout the park. Taking over this site may also mean the end to the Pocahontas and Lion King shows… though we’ve heard that Lion King could be moved and updated to inhabit a new venue in Africa instead.
Like before, the highlight attraction being talked about is a coaster style ride where you encounter a huge Dragon. I’m not sure what kind of coaster may be used here since the existence of Everest is sure to throw everything into a redesign, but the word “hybrid” was mentioned. I’m not sure what that means in Disney-Speak but in the coaster community the term usually refers to a water flume coaster like the nearby Journey To Atlantis at SeaWorld. The second E-Ticket ride in development is also said to be a dark ride concept as well, but I’ve heard nothing else right now. The kiddies are not being left out however, as a small assortment of kiddie rides are also said to be part of the mix along with a new show theater.
(3/7/06) Not only has the impact of Everest sparked some new thinking about the park’s hours (see above) but it seems that it has kicked off a renewed set of ideas on how to expand the park in the future to grow it into the park that it was always supposed to be. What does this mean? I’ve got two words for you... Beastly Kingdom. Based on the idea that Everest may have been the needed spark to drive up attendance and interest in this park, we’ve heard that the plans for Beastly Kingdom are being dusted off and make bigger than ever. One source tells us that the overall plan for the new area may include 3-4 small attractions, a new show and two massive E-Ticket attractions. More on this as we find out.
~Oranges
MAGIC KINGDOM
Park News - (8/9/06) I’ve heard a few interesting rumors about the Haunted Mansion this week. They claim that the park is drawing up plans to install some kind of new gift shop to the exit of the ride. They may also be looking at performing some kind of upgrade or remodel to the Spider Room, though we have not heard anything about what might replace it.
(8/4/06) The daily parade at the Magic Kingdom will undergo some changes starting August 10th, which will be renamed Disney Dreams Comes True. They will ditch the snow globes from the floats and add all new music from a Tokyo Disneyland parade.
(8/3/06) Screamscape spies sent us an interesting story that Disney apparently was able to keep under the news radar. It seems that things got a little out of control inside Stitch’s Great Escape a couple of weeks ago when apparently in the middle of a show the Stitch figure, which will filled with hydraulic fluid, apparently exploded that fluid all over the captive audience. Hydraulic fluid is said to burn and irrate bare skin on contact, so the whole theater full of people had to be taken backstage to be cleaned up, given all new clothing and apparently comped them to infinity and beyond to keep the occurrence quiet. Of course this isn’t the first time something like this has happened with an animatronic figure... there was a famous incident on Jurassic Park in Hollywood where the giant T-Rex at the end of the ride barfed up hydraulic fluid over several boats before the problem was discovered.
(8/2/06) Disney has printed the official dates on their website for the Pirate & Princess Party upcharge events that will take place on select nights from late January to early March. They’ve also added a “new fireworks spectacular” and a Pirate & Princess themed parade to the list of event highlights.
(7/26/06) It seems that it’s time to remove all those little extras that were added to the castle for the Happiest Celebration On Earth which officially ends on September 30th. I have been informed that after removing all the HCOE decorations, they will repaint the entire castle as well as use this time period to build that special Castle Bedchamber room into the penthouse. The long rehab will actually begin on September 10th when they will bring in a large crane that will live next to the castle for the next couple of months, surrounded by construction walls at the base somewhere between Sir Mickey’s and the Fairy Tale Gardens, where the walkway will also be closed off. The HCOE decorations will be removed between September 10th to 13th and painting is scheduled to take from September 19th until December 5th.
(7/17/06) Sources tell us that a new updated version of the daily parade may start performances as early as August 10th.
(6/27/06) You can see photos and a video of the new Captain Jack face character working the crowds posted to the Inside the Magic forum. The voice is way way off, but he’s got the right look.
(6/20/06) I mentioned the rumor last year, but it seems that the proposed Disney’s Pirate & Princess upcharge event at the Magic Kingdom is rumored to have been approved and will kick off on select dates starting late January 2007 through February and possibly even extend into March. Guests can arrive at the park in their favorite Pirate or Princess costume and set off into Royalty of Adventure. Adventures planned planned for the special event include a search through the park for Treasure, pit stops at Pirate Adventure Coves or Princess Royal Courts spread out throughout the park for specialized training sessions like character meet and greets, scimitar training, dance parties, princess image consulting, learn to speak like a pirate, make up make overs and more. The rumors say that the price of a ticket to these special nighttime events will run you between $39 and $45 for adults and about $7-8 less for children. They may actually start to sell tickets and reservations as early as July 10th.
(6/19/06) A reader sent in a great shot showing off one of the new
single finger scanners being tested at a few of the park’s turnstiles.
(6/15/06) After checking with a few sources, it seems that the Magic Kingdom is currently testing several of these new single finger scanners at the park entrance. These new scanners are quicker and cause far less confusion to guests than the previous two finger version. This is currently just a test of the new system, but if it works as well as the reports seem to indicate, then you can expect to see it expanded to the rest of the parks in the near future.
In other news, a reader sent us a great link to the Windows Live Local overhead shot of the Magic Kingdom. This is a fairly recient shot compared to some of the other similar overhead images online today, and it not only gives you a good idea about just how much space is available inside the old Timekeeper building, but if you fly over to Fantasyland you can see just how much leftover space they have left where the old 20K Sub Lagoon used to be. Now it’s just a giant green lawn area, but there sure is enough room to put something large there in the future.
Ride Rehabs - The following information is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate.
Mad Tea Party will be closed August 21st & 22nd.
The Liberty Bell is now expected to reopen on September 22nd.
2007 - The Laugh Floor Comedy Club - (9/6/06) If your a fan of the Adventure’s Club at Pleasure Island then you might be interested to know that several of the same producers behind the AC show material are also behind the scripts for the new Laugh Floor and have encouraged many of the current cast to try out for the Laugh Floor job openings as well.
(7/20/06) The Cast Member news letter now lists the new Laugh Floor as opening to the public in January 2007. I’ve got to wonder if they may be able to hold soft previews over the busy holiday period as well, but it’s too soon right now to know. The theme of the ride is that after the discovery that human laughter creates more energy than human screams, Mike Wazowski had the idea to create a huge Comedy Club in order to harvest this laughter from large groups rather than from visiting one closet at a time. Roz isn’t convinces on the idea, so the pressure is on Mike to make it work. So guests will be entertained by a variety of digital monster comedians while a laugh canister and meter register just how well they are performing. From the sound of things, some of the characters may actually be controlled by live performers, as we’ve seen done with Crush at Turtle Talk, so they can interact and create jokes on the fly.
(6/9/06) Disney confirmed plans to open a Monsters Inc. themed attraction in early 2007 inside the old Timekeeper building. “Guests find the power of laughter in an engaging and interactive new adventure inspired by Disney-Pixar’s “Monsters, Inc.” as they match wits with the one-eyed hero Mike Waznowski and his friends.”
(5/19/06) Insiders tell us that the construction crews inside the old Timekeeper building are making quite a bit of noise as they are apparently ripping things apart and possibly sandblasting or pressurewashing the interior walls.
(4/21/06) New construction walls with messages stating “Imagineers At Play” have gone up around the former Timekeeper attraction this week.
(4/11/06) Looks like I may have spoke too soon last week, because some decent proof about adding a Monsters Inc. themed attraction called The Laugh Floor just dropped into my inbox over the weekend. Of course, this still isn’t 100% proof that this is what will replace Timekeeper, only that plans were drawn up for a possible Monsters attraction in Tomorrowland. Stay tuned.
(4/7/06) Ever since the rumor about a possible Monster’s themed attraction may be replacing Timekeeper people over at the Studios have been up in arms. I’ve heard several reports now claiming that any Monster’s themed attractions are all planned for the Studios, and I have to admit that it makes more sense to me as well, especially since the California attraction went into their Studios section of DCA. So if Monsters wont be taking up residence inside Tomorrowland... then which of the new Pixar Overlord’s characters would best fit instead? Why Pixar? Because for all intents, it seems like they are running the creative show these days. So what about a super hero themed Incredibles attraction? Lots of possibilities to think about.
(3/20/06) We’re still hearing rumors about a Monster’s themed replacement for Timekeeper, though this round seems more focused on the rumor that it may use the same technology as seen in Turtle Talk with Crush to create a virtual Mike. We’ve even heard of someone already working on their Billy Crystal voice impersonation skills. So I guess the question is, will this be used as a new show based attraction or as part of a new ride? Of course many people still feel that any new attraction based on Monsters would fit better into Disney-MGM Studios and that the Timekeeper replacement may be something else entirely. Admittedly, the Monsters attraction at California Adventure is in their Studio themed area of the park, so this does have some merit and the Studios could use a nice new family dark ride too. So right now I’m keeping my ears open… this wouldn’t be the first attraction initially designed to be able to fit into more than one of the WDW parks.
(2/17/06) WDW Magic is reporting that Timekeeper will close forever after February 26 as they start work on gutting the building for an unknown new attraction. I’ve heard about several different concepts pitched to replace Timekeeper over the years. Everything from other circlevision style films to moving all the Buzz Lightyear themed bumper cars from DisneyQuest in there, to an indoor ride themed to the little green aliens from Toy Story, and a few other wild stories. The latest rumor however was for a Monster’s Inc. themed attraction that might attempt to use some of the projection technology used in Turtle Talk with Crush. With the new Monster’s Inc. ride open at California Adventure seeming to be a hit, this certainly is possible if they deem that the Monsters Inc theme fits into Tomorrowland instead of the Studios. With Tomorrowland quickly becoming the new SciFi themed Fantasyland (Buzz Lightyear, Stitch’s Great Escape) I can see Monsters fitting in.
Future Projects - Rumors and Speculation - (10/11/05) I’ve got one more revamped existing attraction rumor that has come back after floating in limbo for years. After having a lot of success with it at Disneyland, could the Magic Kingdom be thinking about undertaking their own complete rebuilt of Space Mountain, possible converting the structure into a single track ride like the other Space Mountains around the world.
(10/10/05) With the 35th Anniversary of Walt Disney World looming on the horizon on October 1st, 2006 and the end of the Disneyland 50th Anniversary set to end in the summer of 2006, one has to wonder what may be in store for the Magic Kingdom next, especially since they kind of got the shaft this time around with Cinderellabration or whatever it’s called. While there has been talk in the past about something big planned for the future of the old Sub Lagoon site, most of the talk today seems to follow the rumored enhancements planned for Pirates to tie into the new films. That said, we’ve heard about a small batch of enhancements or rehabs of existing attraction buildings that could be possible future attractions. Note that these are all completely wild rumors at this point with not a single second source to back them up as anything more.
First off, following the trend of enhancing Pirates, we’ve heard that future enhancements are in the design phase to add new elements to the Haunted Mansion as well as the Jungle Cruise. For example, the Mansion at Disneyland has a history of upgrading the effects over the years (the new floating Leota table) or making slight tweaks to certain rooms (the major overhaul to the Attic) while the Florida version was always left alone. As for the Jungle Cruise, our source mentioned adding the new Piranha Attack effect that was added to Disneyland’s version in 2005.
Gazing towards Tomorrowland where they’ve already transformed two preexisting attractions (Stitch and Buzz Lightyear) our source talks about a couple of wild plans for the other two attractions left to be replaced: Timekeeper and the Carousel of Progress. Apparently some kind of new Monsters Inc. attraction that may use similar technology to Turtle Talk w/ Crush was being looked at for Timekeeper while something themed to the Incredibles was planned for the CoP building. Given the nature of the building, I’ve got to wonder if it might not be some kind of new animatronic show about the super-hero family instead of a new ride. If anyone has heard anything more about any of these projects or other new ideas, let us know.
DISNEY/MGM STUDIOS
Park News - (8/29/06) Big news for anyone planning a trip to the park between January and February: Rock ‘n Roller Coaster is supposed to go down for a lengthy rehab from 1/7/07 through 2/10/07.
(8/2/06) The latest word from our network of Screamscape spies is that Disney is finally taking the first steps to dropping the “MGM” name from the Studios. I know what you’re thinking... I’ll believe it when I see it myself too. But they have to stop using it eventually because with MGM ready to use the name on their own theme park elsewhere in the world, they are no longer willing to extend any contracts Disney has to use the name. That said, our sources tell us that the first steps are being taken, though we still don’t have a timeline as to when the park may get a new name. October 1st is always a good day for big announcements at Walt Disney World and with the end of the Happiest Celebration on Earth set for September 30th, I’m guessing October 1st may play a part in the rebranding of the Studios as well.
In other news, Disney has confirmed that the last performance of the Millionaire game show will be on August 19th. You can scroll down to read about Midway Mania, the ride rumored to replace it.
(6/16/06) I’ve been informed by a Cast Member that they were just told that Millionaire’s last show will be August 19th before it closes down forever. Can anyone else confirm?
(6/15/06) The character breakfast is expected to reopen around June 25th, but it seems that the plans to use Pixar characters has changed. Instead they will be replaced with the cast of JoJo’s Circus, a claymation looking show many people probably have not heard of and is old enough to be on the way out. (Personally, I know my boys, 2 & 4, can’t stand it.) It certainly doesn’t sound like anything I would want to pay the premium price of a character breakfast for either.
(6/9/06) I’m not sure how long they’ve been in the park parade, but I’ve added a new press photo of Lightning McQueen and Mater at the park. Meanwhile Disney has also announced a series of Playhouse Disney In Concert events starting in August that will include performances by the Doodlebops, The Wiggles, Johnny & The Sprites and Dan Zanes.
(4/4/06) It was confirmed to Cast Members that Lightning McQueen and Mater the Tow Truck would be added to the Disney Stars and Motor Cars parade later this month. The animated cars would also be pulling double duty for the rest of the day in a meet and greet area, most likely near the Lights, Motors, Action stunt show.
Ride Rehabs - The following information is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate as things are always subject to change at the last second.
Fantasmic is expected to close for rehab from November 1-8th.
Lights! Motors! Action is expected to close for at least a week shortly after Fantasmic reopens on November 9th.
Rock ‘n Roller Coaster will be closed for rehab from January 7th through February 10th.
2007 - Twilight Zone: Tower of Terror 5 - Rumor - (3/16/06) We’ve heard an exciting new rumor about another upgrade to Twilight Zone in the works. Our source tells us that Tower 5 will come out as a celebration of the Tower’s 13th anniversary in 2007. (Maybe on April 13th, 2007). One possible idea is to push the number 13 in all the marketing campaigns (13 Times The Terror / 13 Years of Terror) and attempt to bring up the number random drop sequences up to 13.
2007 - Jack’s Halloween Party - Rumor - (6/15/06) Sources indicate that plans are being pushed forward for a Jack Skellinton themed Halloween Party upcharge event after dark next fall.
(2/4/06) I reported on this rumor last summer but a new internet survey is making the rounds suggesting that Disney may be ready to finally add a Halloween event for a slightly older crowd to the Studios this fall. The text from the survey describes the event as: “For the first time, Disney-MGM Studios becomes the host for all things that go bump in the night with an all new Halloween Celebration. Join Jack Skellington, the "Pumpkin King of Halloween Town" from A Nightmare before Christmas, and a horde of Disney's most popular villains as they set about turning the Disney/MGM Studios into a nightmare of 1000 screams. Visitors will enjoy the thrills and chills of the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror and Rock 'n Roller Coaster, a colorful parade, and streets filled with ghouls and goblins. It's a Halloween party filled with Disney magic - only this time it's magic cooked up by the Wicked Witch herself.”
2008 - Block Party Bash - Delayed / Canceled - (6/21/06) The latest buzz from the mouse house is that any and all plans to bring California’s Block Party Bash parade to the park has been scrapped. The floats are just too big to maneuver in the Studios narrow streets. The push for an all new show for the Year of a Million Dreams celebration may have just been the final nail in the coffin. Can anyone else confirm that the plans are now dead?
(6/16/06) I’ve heard that the biggest snag to bringing the popular Block Party Bash parade to the studios is the fact that the floats are so large that there are some serious clearance issues that need to be dealt with on some of the turns. Apparently the biggest problem may be the Crossroads structure at the front of the park itself, where it was suggested that they either remove it all together or move it somewhere else, like outside the front gate. We’ve also heard that the park may now be planning to create an all new parade to fit into the new Year of the Million Dreams celebration.
(6/15/06) Sources at Disneyland claim to have been told that the Block Party Bash run in California has been extended through 2007, delaying any plans to bring the parade to WDW.
(4/4/06) We’ve heard that the VP of the park confirmed to Cast Members that a “new entertainment offering” was confirmed for the park in 2007, most likely referring to the rumored Block Party Bash.
(3/13/06) The new opening date for the Block Party Bash at the Studios is now April 2007. They also mentioned that the parade will continue to run at California Adventure through early January 2007.
(3/1/06) Insiders tell us that the rumored January 2007 opening date may be very difficult to accomplish due to the strain on the park’s staff just to get through the busy holiday season. They think that a March 2007 opening is much more likely.
(2/22/06) Screamscape sources tell us everything is still hush hush at this point, but prep work has begun to bring the Block Party Bash parade from California Adventure to the Studios sometime next year. Studies are taking place on how to deal with the larger floats and any possible modifications that may need to be made to the pathways and the parade storage building. One source claims that the new parade may start as early as January 2007.
(2/20/06) Sources tell Screamscape that the Studios will put on an all new parade in 2007 called Block Party Bash. I’m not sure if this will be the same Pixar character themed parade that is currently running at California Adventure or if this will be a new parade that may use the same theme. Anyone know more?
2008/2009 - Midway Mania - Semi-Confirmed - (6/21/06) It seems virtually a sure thing now that Midway Mania has been given the green light for both California Adventure and for the Studios to open in late 2008 or early 2009. The latest buzz from our insiders this week claimed that the ride may be a mix of Buzz Lightyear with Universal’s popular Spiderman dark ride, complete with 3D glasses and a large spinning car that will hold between 8-12 riders. In fact the latest article over at Mice Age talks a bit about the proposed new ride and how riders will be armed with a kind of X-Ray flashlight gun to reveal hidden animated scenes and effects. There is also reference to a new technology patent assigned to Disney that describes the effect.
(6/14/06) I’ve been hearing rumors about a new attraction designed for California Adventure called Midway Mania, and now the rumors have spread to include a second version of the attraction under consideration for the Studios as well. From what little I’ve heard about the DCA version so far was that it was to be a next-generation interactive shoot-em-up dark ride featuring several Pixar characters with a wild carnival style midway theme since it was to fit into the Paradise Pier section of the park, with an entrance right under the California Screamin’ coaster itself. I’m only starting to hear information about the proposed Florida version, but it sounded as if it could not only replace Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, but take over the rest of the connected sound stages as well. Earlier this season, the park VP also reported to CMs that a new family attraction would be added in 2008. At first I was thinking that it was finally time for Star Tours 2, but perhaps this is what he was talking about. Anyone know more?
(3/16/06) In other news, we’ve heard that the Millionaire game show could be on it’s last legs and retired by the end of the year. There are too many ideas about what could replace it right now though to take anything seriously.
2009-2010 - Star Tours 2 - Rumor - (6/16/06) From the sound of things, Lucas came to visit the park during Star Wars Weekends, though no public appearance was made. Apparently he was poking around the whole Star Tours area along with a group of Imagineers. From what our sources have heard, the plans to update the ride are active, but Lucas’ plate is full at the moment while they work on transforming the entire film series into a new 3D format as well as the final planning for Indy 4. So the new timeframe seems to indicate that we wont see a Star Tours 2 attraction for 3-4 years now. Of course, I’ve got to wonder if it wont be in 3D this time around now.
(6/15/06) Nothing solid has come out about the long in development Star Tours 2 project, but we’ve heard that plans are still moving forward at least.
(4/4/06) The park VP reported to Cast Members that a new “family oriented attraction” would be added to the park in 2008. Could this be the long awaited Star Tours 2 project or something entirely new?
(3/7/06) It’s been some time since we’ve heard anything about Star Tours 2... possibly the oldest rumor I’ve ever covered. Over the years I’ve come to take every rumor about Star Tours 2 with a grain of salt any longer, but our source tells us that the green light may have finally been given. Anyone know more?
(4/25/05) I think one of the oldest rumors that I had when I started this website years ago was that Star Tours would someday be updated to have a new ride film. This rumor evolved over the years to the Pod Racer concept from Episode I when the multiple ending idea and at Disney World they even went so far as to retheme the outside of their gift shop to an Episode I themed Tatooine building. But still no new ride... and after years of delays and rumors that Lucas and Eisner had just had it out with each other and the ride would never happen, I gave up on it. Now with Episode III looming on the horizon, that **** madman George Lucas himself made a statement at the Star Wars Celebration III event this past weekend, reported on ComingSoon.net, that Star Tours “will be getting an overhaul soon”. I doubt George concerns himself with the mechanical status of the ride, so I can only assume he may be talking about creating the footage needed for an all new ride film. Stay tuned!
20?? - E-Ticket / Narnia - Rumor - (4/7/06) While talking to the press this week about how Disney ties in their media properties to the theme parks, Bob Iger heavily hinted that The Chronicles of Narnia could become the next film project to become a theme park attraction.
(3/7/06) It’s only a rumor at this point, but we’ve heard that Imagineering is designing a major new E-Ticket attraction for the studios now, and this is not the Star Tours 2 project. We’ve heard a few rumors over the years that ranged from an Armageddon themed ride, to a copy of Journey To the Center of the Earth to a massive replacement for the Great Movie Ride that would rival Universal’s Spider-man ride. Anyone know more?
???? - Indiana Jones Attraction - Rumor - (3/7/06) Screamscape sources tell us that the park still wants to eventually add an Indy themed ride to the park, but give the huge capacity that Indy handles on a daily basis, taking the show down right now would just cause massive crowding problems throughout the park. However the park knows that the stunt show just has to be retired sooner or later, so the overall plan is to open a series of new attractions (Star Tours 2, an unknown new E-ticket ride and perhaps a new show) first before they attempt to create an Indy ride. Now here is the really good part. Apparently since there is no need to rehash old ride concepts all over again given how old the California ride is (1995), Imagineering is said to be working on a new hybrid design that will take popular elements from the California, Tokyo and Paris attractions to come up with an all new ride experience. I can’t wait to hear more about this one.
(5/9/05) While there is a chance that the Indy ride could still be built at the Studios, we’ve heard from a few sources that they are not planning on closing down the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Show anytime soon either to make room. Of course there is plenty of room over at Animal Kingdom where it could be given a new story. However... our sources tell us that there is still an E-Ticket attraction in development for the studios. It could be Indy, it could just be Star Tours 2 or it could be something completely new.
EPCOT
Park News - (8/9/06) I’m not sure exactly what is going on but we’ve heard a rumor that Disney may be doing some work upstairs at the Imagination Pavilion to reopen the former Imageworks area to test out some kind of new Kim Possible themed device called the Kimmunicator. Keep your eyes peeled.
(7/24/06) As we reported in May, the Living With The Land boat attraction will be updated to a new automated system and will no longer have narrators along with you. The original plan was to try and do this without any downtime, but it seems that was harder than expected, so the attraction will shut down for several weeks starting August 20th through September 17th. It also seems that FastPass will be removed from the attraction at this point in time as well because it wont be needed any longer. Currently I’ve been told the ride can run a maximum of 14 boats at a time, but due to staff cuts and just an overall toughness to keep staff working on the attraction, they were usually only able to run a maximum of 10-12 boats in the peak season. Once the rehab is complete, they will be able to run the ride at full capacity and there really wont be a need for FastPass any longer.
(6/26/06) I can’t back this one up myself, but a reader tells us that the Fire House display at Innoventions has an effect that sounds similar to the X-Ray Gun effect being talked about for Midway Mania at the Studios. Guests are given a special flashlight to point at a video screen to detect hidden fire hazards and when you find them, you can put the hidden fires out by pressing the button on the flashlight. Sounds similar in basic concept.
(6/16/06) Sources tell us that Epcot is now planning a new parade to fit into the new Years of a Million Dreams celebration. At this time I don’t know if it will start in the fall with the celebration or wait for the busy holiday season. This fits in with rumors earlier this year about a “Tapestry 3” project that was said to be in the works.
(4/13/06) There are rumors claiming that come October 1st, Disney may change the name of Future World to Discoveryland. If this sounds familiar, this goes back to the old Project Gemini rumors from a couple of years ago, which also included the renaming of World Showcase as the Global Village. Back then it was confirmed that Disney did file for trademarks for both names, but they are since dropped the filing for Global Village while Discoveryland remains an active item. On a side note, if anyone is interested the trademark for “SSE: Time Racer” is still active, indicating that perhaps there is some life left in the project.
Mission: Space News - (5/20/06) Disney has now opened a new tamer version of Mission: Space this week that has no spinning motion. However, they are still offering the more thrilling original version as well. Now when you approach the building you will be asked to decide between being part of the Orange Team (original ride) or Green Team (tame version).
Ride Rehabs - The following information is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate.
The Wonders of Life Pavilion (Body Wars) is currently closed.
2006 - Nemo’s Undersea Adventure / The Seas with Nemo & Friends - (9/6/06) The latest buzz from our Orlando spies is that Nemo’s Undersea Adventure is behind schedule by 2-3 weeks and the opening of the new attraction is expected to be postponed until early to mid November now.
(7/20/06) Disney has announced to Cast Members that the entire “The Living Seas” pavilion will be renamed “The Seas with Nemo & Friends”. I believe the new ride itself will be named Nemo’s Undersea Adventure.
(4/10/06) During all the big hoopla over the opening of Expedition Everest Disney confirmed two new attractions on the way for later this year. Epcot’s Living Seas will add The Seas with Nemo & Friends, “using technology that magically puts the staring characters of Finding Nemo amid the live marine life of the enormous aquarium.” Guest will board “Clamobiles” and venture off to meet with Mr. Ray and his class on a field trip, only to discover that Nemo has wandered off. While searching for Nemo guests will encounter Dory, Bruce, Marlin, Squirt and Crush, culminating in a big “musical finale”.
(4/5/06) Screamscape has been informed that the new Nemo themed ride that will replace the old Sea Cabs will not reopen to the public until sometime in October.
(11/30/05) Epcot has reopened The Living Seas attraction, as as rumored the Hydrolators have been removed and all guests enter and exit through the old exit area. The original entrance area and old Sea Cabs ride area is still blocked off by construction walls, as we wait for Phase II of the project to open in 2006. Meanwhile the rest of SeaBase (Alpha has been dropped from the name) has been rehabbed, repainted, and spit-shined though nothing major seems have been been changed from before to the attractions.
(10/25/05) If the latest rumors we’ve heard claim that when The Living Seas reopen, it could be an entirely different attraction all together. First off your path through the attraction itself may be reversed now, allowing guests to enter through the exit and removing the Hydrolators. With this change, also comes a new overall theme that may replace the whole SeaBase Alpha concept inside. The SeaCabs will return in a new form, with the track rumored have been extended into where the old pre-show rooms used to be, and it will dump the riders out through the old pavilion entrance area. More on this as we find out.
(6/27/05) The latest rumor about the new Nemo themed ride at The Living Seas comes from DLP.info where they’ve been trying to dig up information about the Nemo themed dark ride in development for Walt Disney Studios Paris. While the two rides will be different, they claim that many of the special effects planned for the Paris attraction will be built and tested out for the Living Seas attraction first. This may include several “wet-for-dry” effects scenes and some kind of special effect to take guests on a ride through the bubble filled East Australian Current.
(6/21/05) We’ve heard from a couple of insiders who confirm hearing that the attraction is scheduled to close down for the next phase of the rehab this August. They have also heard that this will involve the old Sea Cabs attraction and may actually result in the removal of the pre-show film to make room for the new attraction. It may not actually reopen until April 2006. Anyone else know more?
(6/16/05) I’ve received an interesting rumor today that talked about a possible rehab closure of The Living Seas sometime before the end of the year that would bring about a few more Nemo themed additions. Could this be a replacement to the preshow film about Seabase Alpha or perhaps the time has come to do something with the old Sea Cabs.
2006/2007 - Mexico & Canada Updates - Rumor - (7/25/06) At first I’ve got to wonder if these are just old rumors come back to haunt us, but everyone knows that Disney never throws out ideas forever. We’ve heard that a new Circlevision film may be added to the Canada pavilion sometime in the near future. The stories about the development of a new film go back a few years to when elements of the Canadian tourism department complained that the existing film was full of wrongful stereotypes of Canadian life and they wanted a new film to properly show off their country. Meanwhile on the other side of the lagoon, the old rumor about updating El Rio de Tiempo (River of Time) at the Mexico pavilion to have a small storyline featuring new hosts, The Three Caballeros. This was a rumored plan that went back as far as the Millennium Celebration as I recall, but dropped due to a lack of time, funds or just too many other projects on their plate to finish at the time. Why has it come back? Well certainly the addition of Nemo and friends to the Living Seas has generated all new interest in that pavilion so it couldn’t hurt to add the Three Caballeros to Mexico. Anyone know more?
2007 - Spaceship Earth Renovation - Rumor - (7/10/06) While it has been known that Seimens signed on as the new sponsor for Spaceship Earth awhile back, nothing much has come of this yet. However plans to make changes are in the works. We’ve heard that the plan is to reopen a new version of the Global Neighborhood area at the exit of the ride as well as update a few scenes inside the ride itself in time for Epcot’s 25th Anniversary on October 1st, 2007.
2008 - Soarin’ Expansion - Rumor - (7/17/06) The latest buzz from our insiders claim that any plans to add more theaters to Soarin’ are now dead. However... there may be plans in the works now to open an all new ride film called Soarin’ over America sometime in 2008 right now. Anyone know more?
(4/13/06) Screamscape was informed that while Disney has investigated what it would take to expand the Soarin’ ride and add more theaters, they have not yet approved any actions to do it yet.
(3/20/06) I’m still not sure I believe it, but I’ve been told that Disney bigwigs like Bob Iger and Al Weiss have been spending time in the parks over the last several months and trying to see things the way average guests do and they did not care at all for the length of the line at Soarin’ nor the mood of the guests packed in like cattle while watching FastPass riders sprint by. So they’ve asked for some figures to see what it would cost to add a third theater to Soarin’. It’s all under review right now, so perhaps it could happen, though they could delay it until they decide to premier a new film in 3-5 years.
(3/16/06) In the crazy rumor category, someone wrote in to tell me that plans are being drawn up to add a third theater to Soarin’ due to the huge crowds. I could be wrong here, but I’m going to call bogus on this one because they were dying to add a third theater to the California Adventure version right after it opened and never did. Disney knew all about the crowd problems ever since they opened the DCA version and they still made the design choice to build the Epcot version with only two theaters. This choice was made despite the fact that Epcot has a much higher annual attendance than DCA. If Epcot wants to solve some of the crowd problems on Soarin, it may be as easy as removing FastPass. I was at the park the other night when it was open late for one of those Extra Magic Hours. I was doing the child-swap thing and when the rest of the family entered the Stand-By line the posted wait was 70 minutes. Over the next 30 minutes you could see the number of FastPass ticket holders dwindle down to nothing and by the time my family came back out 68 minutes later the Stand-By wait time had dropped to just 10 minutes. Everything runs so much better when everyone waits in the same line.
2008/2009 - Wonders of Life / Universe of Energy Upgrade - Rumor - (3/20/06) There have been rumors for the last few years about Imagineering looking to create some new concepts for the Wonders of Life pavilion, but now we’ve heard about a blue sky plan that if approved could end up removing both the Life and Universe of Energy pavilions to create a massive new attraction. Of course… this is just a blue sky plan and I’m sure it will end up being value engineered down to just replacing one of the pavilions. If the Universe of Energy does close, we’ve heard that some of the dino figures may be transplanted over to Animal Kingdom. Add this into the rumors of DuPont possibly signing on as a major new attraction sponsor and something big could be in the works. Insiders say that we wont see any demolition until 2007.
(10/25/05) Screamscape has heard that the next big project for Epcot may be the demolition of the Wonders of Life pavilion to make way for a new attraction. Nothing is finalized yet however it seems, so they don’t know if the building can be reused for the new attraction or if they will need to just raze it and start over from scratch as they did with Mission: Space.
(10/25/05) As part of Epcot’s 25th Anniversary, we’ve been led to believe that yet another rehab to the Universe of Energy will take place. No one seems sure if this will just be another new “show” idea squeezed to fit into the existing attraction as they did when they added Ellen and Bill Nye or if they will attempt to upgrade the ride and effects from the existing ride story instead.
20?? - DuPont Sponsored Attraction - Rumor - (3/16/06) Screamscape has heard a report about Disney Imagineering types taking tours of a few DuPont facilities lately. Going back to November 3rd, we posted a rumor claiming that DuPont was close to signing a deal to either take over the old Wonder of Life pavilion or to build a new attraction on the site. Sounds like things are moving forward.
DISNEY'S ANIMAL KINGDOM
Park News -
Ride Rehabs - The following information is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate.
Nothing known at this time...
2006 - Expedition Everest: Legend of the Forbidden Mountain - (4/18/06) You can download a huge podcast from CoasterRadio.com from the opening of Expedition Everest. Check it out.
(2/20/06) After several videos that only offer the slightest tease of seeing the Yeti itself, we’ve been sent a link to what has to be the clearest photo of the Yeti we’ve seen yet. you can see the whole thing in detail here so you’ve been warned. If want to see a slightly blurry shot of just the Yeti’s head, then click here.
(1/28/06) I was able to take a few test runs on Expedition Everest yesterday at the passholder preview and had a blast. Click here to read my review of this massive new ride, see some photos and my own video.
(1/24/06) RCPro has posted a few new photos and perhaps the best video of Everest I’ve seen yet, taking from the front row. Check it out.
(11/16/05) A few stats about the coaster have also been posted, including a 44 inch height limit and a track length of over 4,400 feet. The biggest drop on the ride will be 80 feet and it will hit speeds up to 50 mph. The Yeti figure itself will also be very impressive and is being described as the “most mammoth and sophisticated Audio-Animatronic figure ever created by Walt Disney Imagineering.” The figure’s hydraulic motors combined boast the potential thrust of of over 259,000 pounds of force, “potentially more instantaneous power than a 747-400 airliner.”
Late 2006 - Finding Nemo: The Musical - (8/28/06) A reader has pointed out a video on ******* right now taken at the press announcement for the new show that features a few performers singing one of the new songs for the show called In the Big Blue World.
(7/20/06) The WDW Cast Member news letter has confirmed that the new Finding Nemo show will open sometime in November.
(5/20/06) Visit WDW Magic to see a few new photos of the massive construction going on to convert the old Theater In The Wild into an indoor venue.
(4/10/06) A little lacking in the name department, but Disney confirmed that Finding Nemo: The Musical would be added to Animal Kingdom’s Theater in the Wild before the end of the year. The show will be an entirely original production featuring all new songs of course, since the film had none, and a new story. The show will take place in the newly enclosed theater and use puppets, dancers, acrobats and animated backdrops.
(1/30/06) Walt Disney World - While the world’s attention is focused primarily on Expedition Everest, construction has started next door on the Theater in the Wild where the accepted story is that the theater will be enclosed and rehabbed much like what was done with the Lion King show a few years back. But in this case, with the screams from Everest’s 80 foot drop happening right next door, they really needed to do something here. Screamscape sources tell us that the new show will be themed to Finding Nemo, and use several large puppet figures controlled by human actors. More on this as we find out.
2006/2007 - Kilimanjaro Safari Upgrades - (8/7/06) It seems that a series of upgrades have started to appear at the Safari this month, with the promise of more upgrades to take place in the future. Now we don’t have any photos, but I’ve been told that Warden Wilson has been given a new airplane at the final scene. We’ve also been told that the bridge now moves a little more than before, and that they are testing a new wider 9th row added to the back of Safari #43. Unlike the 5-6 riders per row, this extra row is said to hold 6-7 riders, including some kind of “jumper seat” that sticks out on the drivers side. This is just a test right now, but if it works out, a 9th row could be added to all of the cars. Other future changes we can expect to see includes new “roofs”, a few script changes, leading towards a possible project big budget project (if approved) that would bring in many more changes. After all these years, it certainly would be a good thing to refresh the park’s iconic Safari ride.
2007 - Asian Restaurant - Confirmed - (3/1/06) Landry’s and Schussler Creative will open a new Asian themed restaurant inside Animal Kingdom that will be themed to fit the existing rural village of Anandapur at the Himalayan foothills of India or Nepal. Given the theme it sounds like this one may be placed close to Everest.
???? - Beastly Kingdom - (3/16/06) The rumors about revival of Beastly Kingdom are starting again, claiming that it will take over Camp Minnie Mickey and the characters Meet & Greets will then be dispersed throughout the park. Taking over this site may also mean the end to the Pocahontas and Lion King shows… though we’ve heard that Lion King could be moved and updated to inhabit a new venue in Africa instead.
Like before, the highlight attraction being talked about is a coaster style ride where you encounter a huge Dragon. I’m not sure what kind of coaster may be used here since the existence of Everest is sure to throw everything into a redesign, but the word “hybrid” was mentioned. I’m not sure what that means in Disney-Speak but in the coaster community the term usually refers to a water flume coaster like the nearby Journey To Atlantis at SeaWorld. The second E-Ticket ride in development is also said to be a dark ride concept as well, but I’ve heard nothing else right now. The kiddies are not being left out however, as a small assortment of kiddie rides are also said to be part of the mix along with a new show theater.
(3/7/06) Not only has the impact of Everest sparked some new thinking about the park’s hours (see above) but it seems that it has kicked off a renewed set of ideas on how to expand the park in the future to grow it into the park that it was always supposed to be. What does this mean? I’ve got two words for you... Beastly Kingdom. Based on the idea that Everest may have been the needed spark to drive up attendance and interest in this park, we’ve heard that the plans for Beastly Kingdom are being dusted off and make bigger than ever. One source tells us that the overall plan for the new area may include 3-4 small attractions, a new show and two massive E-Ticket attractions. More on this as we find out.
~Oranges