Hello all!!! Hope you've had a great week this week! Just a "programming note" here. I am going to be away on vacation (anyone want to guess where?) for the remainder of the week. Expect blog posts to resume around Oct. 6th! For those of you who are going to miss me during my brief hiatus (come on, you know you will...lol!) you can follow me along on my trip on Twitter! You can find me at @RikkiNibs Will miss you guys while I'm gone!
For those of you who are going too, make sure you come say hi!!! You will be able to find me at these meets! I'd love to get the chance to meet ya!
Now, on with the show, as there's lots to talk about!
News
Magic Kingdom
- Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party has officially sold out for Oct. 31st.
- The Muppet Pre-Parade will be ending Oct. 2nd.
Epcot
- The new Givenchy store in the France Pavilion has opened.
- Future World's hours have been changed! Starting Oct. 3rd, all of Future World will now close at 9 pm. In the past, certain popular attractions remained open, but a lot of attractions that could be found in Future World would close.
Disney's Hollywood Studios
- It appears that the American Idol Experience will be having reduced performances due to the smaller crowds in the parks from Oct. 10th - Nov. 20th. New showtimes will be Noon, 1, 2, 4:30, 5:30, and 6:30.
- Some new details have been released this week about the next version of Star Tours. The new story takes place in between the two trilogies. Because of that, the Starspeeder that you are transported on will be the Starspeeder 1000, instead of the Starspeeder 3000. (Since the previous story took place after the original Star Wars movies). In addition, there will be 54 different variations for this new attraction. A new pilot, AC-38 (otherwise known as Ace) and a new spokesbot droid Aly San San (voiced by Allison Janney and how they came up with her name) will be included. Aly is expected to great guests in the terminal. Here is what each will look like:
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Aly San San |
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AC-38 (Ace) |
- The new trekking experience that will begin in January will be called the Wild Africa Trek. It also appears that this trek will conclude with a Taste of Africa experience.
General WDW News
- As was discussed in a previous blog post, next year's "Celebration" is going to be called Let The Memories Begin. For more details see below.
- This upcoming weekend is the inaugural Wine And Dine Half Marathon
- I reported last week that the pool at Stormalong Bay would be closed in January. That is not the case. Instead, it will be the pool slides that will be closed. The pool will remain open for resort guests.
- A tram with doors was seen today at Animal Kingdom.
Rumors
- It does appear that the Fairies will be leaving the MK when Toontown closes. No word on what park they will be going to, but if I had to guess, I would guess DHS.
- Speaking about the Fairies, a new Fairy, Periwinkle, (from the next movie) will be making appearances soon.
- Pete is expected to be making appearances soon. No word on which park yet.
- Wendy, Eric, and Bert will no longer be doing meet and greets as of Oct. 2nd.
- The Walt Disney World Christmas Parade should be shooting Dec. 3rd, 4th, and 5th. The 5th is only in case it's necessary due to unforeseen circumstances.