The Orlando Sentinel have recently run an interesting story stating that from September 27th that Disney will start a programme of closing down the nightclubs in the Pleasure Island district of Downtown Disney.

They claim that the aim is to make Downtown Disney an area more geared towards the family market. So it is the end for the BET SoundStage Club, Mannequins Dance Palace, 8Trax and three other clubs that have for years catered largely to young, single adults.

Personally, I’m fairly ambivalent as to the closure of the nightclubs, probably because I am one of the Disney customers who’s looking for entertainment that will feature to the “broader” market. Or more to the point, when I’m visiting Walt Disney World even if I had the energy, I couldn’t go clubbing because I’m travelling with the kids. That said, the nightclubs always looked a successful if not “typical” Disney venture.

“Right now we believe we’ve got a shortage of dining capacity and shopping capacity, so we’ll be adding to those areas, and we’ll be looking at some specialized entertainment options also,” said Downtown Disney Vice President Kevin Lansberry.

So what will happen with the area that the Pleasure Island nightclubs took up? Does this story add credence to the rumor of the opening of Disney’s Night Kingdom? Will this be one of the “specialized entertainment options” that Kevin Lansberry discussed? From what I’ve read, the answer is no. It looks like we could end up with more restaurants and shops.

There has been some progress at Pixar Place, with the main walled off area finally being removed. So we now have a small store selling Toy Story Mania themed merchandise and the Hey-Howdy-Hey Take Away counter-service/outdoor vending location. Also note that the store isn’t yet fully stocked, but is expected to be by the fall.

Most notable by its absense at this point is the Pixar Place meet-and-greet area, where you’ll be able to get your photos with the Toy Story characters.

Studios Central has some photos of the progress of Pixar Place that can be seen here…

Universal are bringing a little bit of Whoville to one of its resort hotels. The Portofino Bay hotel has a real treat for Dr Seuss fans with a bit of money burning a hole in their pocket. The hotel at Universal Orlando has created six Dr. Seuss-themed suites, with rates beginning at $529 per night.

The two-room suites offer a king bedroom for the adults and two twin-sized beds in the children’s portion of the suite. Access to the children’s room is through the adult’s room.

Wonderfully colored in the style of Seuss Landings at Islands of Adventure, the suites are decorated with well-known characters such as the Cat in the Hat, Horton and the Grinch.

Loews Hotels also have specially themed kids’ suites accommodations at the other Universal Orlando resort hotels, with the Royal Pacific having Jurassic Park themed rooms and the Hard Rock hotel continuing the musical theme in it’s kids’ suites.

Loews operates three hotels in the Universal Orlando resorts, including the 750-room Portofino Bay Hotel, the 650-room Hard Rock Hotel and the 1,000-room Royal Pacific Resort.

The company that are behind the Orlando Wheel project, Great Wheel Corporation, who have built Great Wheels and Observation Platforms in Singapore, Beijing and Dubai have announced that the have purchased 20 acres of land costing $38m, near International Drive at the Seaworld/Convention Center end of the strip. The Orlando Wheel that is rumored to be up to 400 feet tall will be similar to the London Eye, Europe’s biggest wheel standing at 435 feet.

The London Eye, is now the UK’s most popular paid visitor attraction.

an official announcement for the completion of the project is planned for Wednesday. The Orlando page can be seen at Orlando Wheel.

Disney have released a humorous little movie showing Buzz Lightyear floating weightless in space. As you may remember Buzz was sent into space in conjunction with WDW and Nasa.

To commemorate the opening of Toy Story Mania!, a new attraction at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida and Disneyland Resort in California, Disney Parks sent Buzz Lightyear on Space Shuttle Discovery. The action figure will reside on the International Space Station through Fall 2008.

Watch the movie.

The Candlelight Processional is an opportunity to listen to an excellent choir matched with a fifty piece choir and a guest narrator telling the story of Christmas. Details of the 2008 event held at Epcot’s America Gardens Theatre are detailed below.

Narrators for the Candlelight Processional 2008

Nov 28-30 John O’Hurley
Dec 1-3 TBD
Dec 4-6 Brian Stokes Mitchell
Dec 7-9 Virginia Madsen
Dec 10-12 Monique Coleman
Dec 13-15 TBD
Dec 16-18 Chita Rivera
Dec 19-21 Abigail Breslin
Dec 22-24 Steven Curtis Chapman
Dec 25-27 Edward James Olmos
Dec 28-30 Marlee Matlin

Dining Details

For an extra special treat, ring in the holiday season with a Candlelight Dinner Package, which includes dinner at a select Epcot® restaurant and reserved general seating at the American Gardens Theatre during the Candlelight Processional. For more information or to make dinner reservations, please call (407) WDW-DINE (939-3463).

Tier 1
Seating 1 - $27.99 plus tax & gratuity / (3-9) $12.99 (Lunch)
Seating 2 & 3 -$32.99 plus tax & gratuity / (3-9) $14.99 (Dinner

The Garden Grill Restaurant – Land Pavilion
Biergarten – German Pavilion

Tier 2
Seating 1 - $36.99 plus tax & gratuity / (3-9) $12.99 (Lunch)
Seating 2 & 3 - $42.99 plus tax & gratuity / (3-9) $14.99 (Dinner)

San Angel Inn – Mexico Pavilion
Restaurant Marrakesh – Morocco Pavilion
Nine Dragons – China Pavilion
Rose & Crown – United Kingdom Pavilion

Tier 3
Seating 1 - $41.99 plus tax & gratuity / (3-9) $12.99 (Lunch)
Seating 2 & 3 - $47.99 plus tax & gratuity / (3-9) $14.99 (Dinner)

Chefs de France – France Pavilion
Tutto Italia – Italy Pavilion.
Le Cellier Steakhouse – Canada Pavilion
Mitsukoshi Teppanyaki Dining Room – Japan Pavilion
Coral Reef – The Seas with Nemo & Friends Pavilion

Pixar Place is now up and running, so inevitably the rumor mill for new attractions/shopping outlets and eateries are starting to get talked about.

The guys over at wdwnewstoday.com have come up with some rumors (and lets be clear that they have stated these are rumors at this stage). That said, it makes for some interesting discussions.

Although Toy Story Mania only opened in May, there are whispers that there are further ideas for the new attraction at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. This includes some chatter around the Disney Imagineers coming up with new ideas for the ride and speculation around a holiday version of the ride planned for 2009 (not sure if they meant Holiday as in vacation or maybe a Christmas special). Also with Toy Story 3 planned for 2010/2011 you could see that the new characters in that movie could make the way into the ride.

The new shop, food service area and the “top secret” meet and greet spot for the Toy Story characters are all nearing completion. According to Disney, the waiting area for the meet and greet will feature something they “have never done before”, to quote an Imagineer. Also slated to debut on the street, around the same time in June as the other Pixar Place offerings, is the Wall-E interactive living character animatronic. Plans are to have the “living” character roam the street now through January 2009, where he will be put away until work is completed on the second phase of the Pixar Place project.

Already rumored for the next phase of the project is an interactive Pixar animation making attraction to fill in soundstage 1 and a smaller-scale version of the Car’s inspired Radiator Springs Racers attraction debuting Disney’s at California Adventure park in a few years, replacing the Studio Backlot Tour.  I have heard this particular rumor around other forums on the net.  Another rumor is that the Honey I Shrunk The Kids playground will become an It’s Tough To Be a Bug themed area. One obvious rumor is that there will be a Ratatouille themed restaurant, but up to this point it has been denied by Disney. Do you think that the rat theme might actually be putting Disney off?

WDWNewsToday summed up by saying “While most of these points are still completely rumor, many of these plans should eventually be executed. The current plan has the final pieces of Pixar Place (the Cars E-Ticket attraction) being put into place by 2013, with the minor pieces all completed by 2011. “

Disney World Orlando will soon be welcoming thousands of bowlers to Disney’s Wide World of Sports after announcing that they will be building a huge bowling alley at the sports complex. A bowling stadium of 160,000 square feet with at least 100 lanes, stadium-style seating, a restaurant and other facilities is planned to host the events. This huge arena is due for completion in 2011.

This has enticed the United States Bowling Congress to come down to Orlando for official tournaments. It also looks like there will be a tie in with Disney accommodation for a complete package during the players stay. Unbelievably, it is believed this development will generate $750 million for the region from 2011 to 2029.

Full story over at the Orlando Sentinel.

We were promised that a joint venture between Disney World and Google would bring us the richest 3D experience of the Orlando theme parks ever. Not only can you see the parks in 3D, but you can see photos and information about the attractions from the Google Earth application.

So, this is pretty easy to setup. Simply go to earth.google.com and install the Google Earth Application. Then simply search for “disney world”. Hunt out the yellow ears, click on them, and away you go.

Burbank, Calif. (June 5, 2008) – Walt Disney Parks and Resorts is harnessing the power of Google Earth™ to build an interactive, three-dimensional tour of Walt Disney World Resort that brings you one step closer to a true park experience. With direct links to Disney’s online travel-planning tools, Walt Disney World Resort in 3D will re-invent how people plan and book vacations.

Beginning today, Disney guests can use Google Earth, a program which offers a 3D digital model of the world, to virtually tour Walt Disney World’s four theme parks, as well as its 22 hotels and resorts. An overview of Walt Disney World Resort in 3D, along with instructions on how to get started, can be found at www.disneyworld.com/3dparks. Existing Google Earth 4.3 users can see Walt Disney World Resort in 3D by enabling the “Gallery” folder within Google Earth, or by selecting any of the 3D buildings within the resort.

“You know the phrase ‘next best thing to being there’? Walt Disney World Resort in 3D is going to deliver on that,” said Jay Rasulo, chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts. “Guests and travel planners can now explore our world with just a few clicks of a mouse, and they can book vacations while being immersed in what the destination has to offer.”

Disney’s digital mapping project, Walt Disney World Resort in 3D, will become the ultimate online travel guide for Walt Disney World Resort, integrating the Google Earth 3D experience with the planning features of Disney.com. Whether guests book through the Disney reservation center, a travel agent or online, nearly nine out of ten Walt Disney World guests use the internet to plan their vacations and Walt Disney World Resort in 3D provides the latest technology available to enhance that experience. From Google Earth, guests and travel planners can click on images of their favorite attractions and hotels to purchase tickets, make reservations, and map out the vacation that is right for their families – in 3D and with the click of a mouse. Disneyworld.com visitors can view videos and other information about viewing Walt Disney World in 3D at www.disneyworld.com/3dparks.

The depth and vivid detail of Walt Disney World Resort in 3D project makes this a unique, truly immersive experience within Google Earth. Visitors begin their virtual tour of Disney World with a stratospheric view of the globe, a starting point familiar to anyone who has ever used Google Earth. A skydive takes visitors past the flatlands of Florida to a view of the Seven Seas Lagoon in the Magic Kingdom. Guests can then fly through the streets and explore in and around the hotels and resorts, down Main Street to Cinderella Castle, from the heights of The Tower of Terror to base of the Tree of Life. To enter the virtual park:

• Download Google Earth 4.3 by visiting www.disneyworld.com/3dparks.
• Launch Google Earth and search for ‘Disney World’
• Click the Mickey Ears to open an info window.
• In the info window, click “Show Disney World in 3D.” Now explore!

“This is the most detailed 3D rendering undertaken within Google Earth to date,” continued Rasulo. “The work done here will provide a professional counterpart to the wealth of Disney images and 3D models from around the world contributed by thousands of volunteers. The difference Walt Disney World Resort in 3D provides is one of scope and interaction.”

During the project’s first phase, eight photographers worked for 10 days to shoot all the visible surfaces of Walt Disney World, including every building façade. A total 100,000 photos were taken in all; these became the start for some 1,500 3D models that populate the virtual tour. Walt Disney World Resort in 3D creates a new level of usability for vacation planners and makes detailed information about one of the world’s foremost destinations available to Google Earth’s 350 million users, furthering the Google Earth team’s goal of recreating the world as it really is.

About Walt Disney Parks and Resorts
Walt Disney Parks and Resorts is where dreams come true and magic comes to life. This segment of The Walt Disney Company encompasses 11 theme parks at five of the world’s leading family vacation destinations – Disneyland Resort, Walt Disney World Resort, Tokyo Disney Resort, Disneyland Resort Paris and Hong Kong Disneyland.  It also includes: Disney Cruise Line; Disney Vacation Club; Adventures by Disney; Disney Regional Entertainment, which operates the ESPN Zone sports dining and entertainment centers; World of Disney stores in New York, Orlando and Anaheim; and Walt Disney Imagineering, which creates and designs all Disney parks, resorts and attractions.   Walt Disney Parks and Resorts had approximately $10 billion in revenues in fiscal 2006. More information about Disney Travel on Demand and all of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts can be found at www.DisneyParks.com.

Google and Google Earth are trademarks of Google Inc.

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Contacts

Caroline Capers
Access Communications for Disney Parks & Resorts
415/844-6246
ccapers@accesspr.com

Beth Gardiner
Access Communications for Disney Parks & Resorts
917/522-3522
bgardiner@accesspr.com