Storybook Circus Soft Opening

Sounds like the secret is well out on the interwebs. The first of the Fantasyland expansion is now open...welcome back Dumbo(s)

While it hasn't opened officially, the first part of New Fantasyland at the Magic Kingdom welcomed guests Monday morning in an apparent soft opening.

Disney fans tweeted their excitement Monday morning as Storybook Circus let visitors in for the first time. Click Like For Disney World News Updates: It's common practice for theme parks to host unannounced "soft openings" to test new areas before any official grand opening. Hours and attraction operations never are guaranteed during soft openings, so while Twitter users reported the opening Monday morning, that could change at any time. In short, operations are in Disney's hands as it moves toward grand opening.

Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom

Would love to hear from anyone that's played the new card came via the soft openings in Jan. Sounds interesting.

In this role-playing game, guests become Merlin’s apprentice sorcerers and embark on a quest to stop more than 20 Disney villains – including Hades and Cruella De Vil – from stealing one of the four shattered pieces of Merlin’s crystal ball. Armed with spells in the form of special cards, guests search for the magic symbols that lead them to villains’ hiding places in Adventureland, Fantasyland, Frontierland, and Main Street, U.S.A. Once there, apprentices use magic keys to reveal a villain’s hideout and use spell cards to stop them in their tracks.

According to the game’s developers, the cards really are the secret weapons of the game. There will be 70 different spell cards available and guests will receive five complimentary cards when they play. Each card features a different Disney character that offers a spell unique to him or her. Guests can use more than one card simultaneously, casting multiple spells at a villain at one time.

One More Disney Day

Very kewl...Magic Kingdom & DisneyLand will be open 24 hours on Leap Day...and you can also win!!!

We love to celebrate the good life! Families spending time together, sharing hugs, giggles, smiles, and magical moments they will treasure forever in their hearts.
In 2012, we're celebrating Leap Day with One More Disney Day. For the first time ever, we're giving away a vacation every day from January 1 through February 29.
Enter each day for a chance to win a 5-day/4-night vacation at Disneyland Resort in California or Walt Disney World Resort in Florida!*
You're one more day closer to realizing a vacation dream come true for your family if you win.

runDisney surprise

Hmmm, what's it going to be?

Disney for Halloween

Had planned on making it down this year for a Not So Scary party but just couldn't wing it...I did find myself with 6 hours to kill last week while on business in Orlando...so where did I spend my time before the airport?  Loved the decorations down Mainstreet USA.

The Big 4-0...

Happy Birthday Walt Disney World!!!

Geeky walkthrus of the Fantasyland expansion

Came across this video this morning with some of the CG design tools being used for the Fantasyland expansion.

Tiki Tiki Tiki Room

Eeeek...hope we get to see the Tiki Tiki Tiki Room on our trip:

A small fire that closed Adventureland's The Enchanted Tiki Room Under New Management in mid-January is keeping the attraction shuttered. According to recent visitors to Walt Disney World, the Tiki Room will remain closed for at least another two weeks.

Death on the carousel

Death on one of the least likely attractions in December:

A 77-year-old woman with a pre-existing heart condition collapsed and died in December after riding the Prince Charming Regal Carousel in Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom, according to updated guest-injury reports filed with the state.

Ye Haw Bob

Every trip to WDW we try to do atleast one thing that we've never done...this trip I actually have two on the docket. 

The first is, I hate to admit, I have never been in the Hall of Presidents...this trip all have agreed that Dad get's to do this.  We've been to WDW around 20+ times and somehow this always gets missed.

The second is We have yet to attend a Ye Haw Bob performance.  We're staying at Port Orleans - Riverside on this trip and according to the crowd calendars on touringplans.com everyone else in the Southeast will be in the parks that week so we really have no excuse.  See you in a couple of weeks Bob!

New Castle Lighting

Can't wait to see this in person next month on our first 2011 trip (of many, we're APing this year).  Go to the link over on disneyparks to watch the amazing video:

When we announced, as a part of the Let The Memories Begin Campaign, that we would be projecting photographs and videos of our guests every night on Cinderella Castle in Florida and it’s a small world in California, many of my friends and colleagues responded with “Huh?” So I thought I would give you a clearer picture of what is going to be an amazing musical and visual spectacle this year.

Using high-power projection systems and digital mapping techniques that I don’t even begin to understand, the surfaces of these two beloved icons will be transformed through animation, photography and technical ingenuity. Using our guests’ photographs and videos as a starting point, and a WONDERFUL musical score as our guide,Let The Memories Begin will be a fanciful, imaginative, heart-warming and FUN look at the magical memories associated with a visit to Disney Parks. Here’s a look at what to expect.

Gingerbread

So what would you do with 1050 pounds of honey, 800 pounds of flour, 600 pounds of powdered sugar, 35 pounds of spices, 600 pounds of chocolate and 180 pounds of apricot glaze?  Build a 17-foot gingerbread tree?

Nice time-lapse video over on Disney Parks.

Noodle Station

It's official...the Noodle Station is really no more.  It's now called the Tomorrowland Terrace I actually enjoyed the Noodle Station on the rare 2 occasions I found it to be open.

Happy Birthday, WDW!!

Happy Birthday to the Happiest Place on Earth!

From over at the Disney Parks blog:

It’s rare that we post a “This Day in History” on the blog but this is something we thought you’d enjoy. On October 1, 1971, the Walt Disney World Resort officially opened, including Magic Kingdom Park, Disney’s Contemporary Resort, Disney’s Polynesian Resort and Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground. And on that day in 1971, William Windsor, Jr., was our record-breaking first guest.

Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party 2010

Great report over at Disney Every Day on this year's event.  This is the one hard ticketed event I've never been able to make but really want to go.

Have you ever wondered if it was really worth it to pay extra to get into one of Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Parties? I am asked that quite often and my answer is always a BIG FAT YES!

The Lunching Pad menu

It's designer hotdog time at the Lunching Pad in Tomorrowland.  The turkey legs are gone and now we gotz hotdogs:

three "designer hot dogs" to its menu. The taco hot dog is topped with ground beef, lettuce, salsa and sour cream. There are two versions of the reuben hot dog: one with beef, onions, peppers and melted cheese, another with more traditional corned beef, sauerkraut, Swiss cheese and Thousand Island dressing.

New Space Mountain soundtrack

Sounds like Space Mountain will be getting a new soundtrack soon.

According to the "Space Mountain Project Team," the new soundtrack will include "a zippy musical track, the whoosh of passing asteroids, and the rush of interstellar traffic."

PeopleMover

The Peoplemover is back...the Peoplemover is back.

As of today, Tomorrowland Transit Authority, the “super skyway” that allows guests a glimpse of a variety of attractions in Tomorrowland of Magic Kingdom, will be renamed Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover.

The ride opened in 1975 as the WEDway PeopleMover. It has been called Tomorrowland Transit Authority since 1994.

Tink's nighttime flight at WDW turns 25 today

One of our favorite events each night at the Magic Kingdom is watching Tink fly over to Tomorrowland.  Video is over on DisneyParks.com:

After Magic Kingdom Park opened in 1971, many guests asked when and where they could see Tinker Bell take flight. At the time, Tinker Bell had been flying over Disneyland Park in California since the summer of 1961, coasting through the skies from the top of the Matterhorn and over Sleeping Beauty Castle, preceding the park’s Fantasy in the Sky fireworks show. But, she had yet to make an appearance in Florida.

It wasn’t until 1985 that guests at the Walt Disney World Resort finally got their wish and it was announced that Tinker Bell would perform her first flight at Magic Kingdom Park. The guest response was immediate and a crowd of more than 60,000 showed up to watch the fairy’s inaugural flight July 3, 1985.

Couples path crossed at Magic Kingdom

Cute little story about a newly married couple realizing their paths crossed at Magic kingdom when they were kids going thru photos.