News and Rumors are gathered from various different sources. All rumors are rumors and are to be taken as such.
News
Magic Kingdom
Snow White's Scary Adventures is set to close for good on May 31st.
Storybook Circus will indeed be opening by late March with Dumbo, The Great Goofini and the Fantasyland Station of the Walt Disney World Railroad all being complete.
Epcot
Habit Heros, which opened earlier this month, has closed after poor reviews. It is expected to have a retooling.
General WDW News
Disney has officially released it's Mobile Magic App for the iPhone
Rumors
It's being rumored (a very strong rumor that certainly probably verges more on News than rumor) that the Boulangerie et Patisserie in the France Pavilion at World Showcase will be receiving a substantial expansion.
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This week, the in park game, Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom officially debuted in the MK. This project has been talked about at length before it's opening with a lot of speculation, because it was really unclear exactly what was going to be done. While testing has gone on recently, I've been holding off on this blog post until it was officially open, so I could get a well-rounded viewpoint.
I of course, want it to be known, that I have not seen this game in person, so I will be basing my opinion of the new game simply on the countless videos that I have watched online. (Thank you to those who shared their videos, making this blog post possible!)
I have been waiting with baited breath about this new enhancement to the parks for a while, having known about the project for a while. I've been trying very hard not judging a book by it's cover, without seeing the meat and potatoes of how the whole thing works. I've felt lately I've been judging things a bit too early and I am trying very hard to remember to have a wait and see attitude.
If you haven't seen this attraction in it's glory, here is one of the various videos that I watched to prepare for this article.
The one thing I've noticed off the bat, is this seems to be extremely popular with people. (At least right now. Not sure if that's because of it's newness or if it is because of the game itself.) Lines seem to be quite a few people deep and the playing cards seem to be quite popular as trading cards, with many people on places like Twitter asking if anyone has specific cards that they need that they are willing to trade with them.
Another thing I think is pretty neat is some of the technology used with this game. Some of these video screens meld right in with their surroundings! You can't even tell they are part of the game until you get right up on it. And the props they have in some of the areas also help to make these game regions meld right in with their surroundings too. I think that's a key to Disney building these "video game" attractions in their parks. The elements really do need to be unnoticed by the naked eye, to the average park guest. This attraction, much like it's predecessor, Kim Possible, do a great job of blending their show elements in with the rest of the scenery that surrounds.
I also really enjoy that Disney has chosen to use some of the more obscure characters. I mean, the whole game is centered around Merlin and Hades. (Not particularly common characters used today in attractions.) Plus you add characters like Yzma and Kronk from Emperor's New Groove, the Genie from Aladdin, and the 3 Fairies from Sleeping Beauty and you've definitely upped the geek quotient for Disney Fanbois. I particularly think it's nice to see the lesser known characters get some love, when they are often forgotten about. I'd love to see more of that, as the game continues through it's iterations in the future. (Wouldn't it be cool to see something like Robin Hood in the Frontierland section one day? Just please, for the love of Walt, do NOT add Stitch to the Tomorrowland section...)
I don't think everything is perfect with this new attraction, though. Something that I think that is a bit weak is the storyline. It seems like it has a lot of potential, but then sort of fizzles out as the stories progress. This, to me, is the most disappointing. With how neat the technology is, it is brought down a few notches with how disjointed the storyline feels. I get that this is a game geared towards kids, but given the fact that many of us in our 20s and 30s have grown up in the age of the gaming system, I would have hoped they would have made the storyline a bit more sophisticated. (I do have to admit, when watching the Jafar segment, I did think the Genie's portion of the attraction was quite funny!)
One final concern I have is with the attraction is the number of crowds it seems to be drawing, coupled with the fact that they did seem to put the game play areas in some of the more quieter regions of the park. I worry that those quieter areas are now, quickly going to morph away from those quiet havens we have all come to know and love into extremely loud, very crammed spaces.
In all, I think this game is a good distraction for many. It will help keep people occupied while waiting for a FASTPASS time to come around or it will help with a child (or adult) who may be getting a bit cranky to engross them for a bit. As for me, is this something I can see myself doing trip after trip? Certainly not. But, I will definitely be giving it a try on my next trip and who knows? Maybe in person, it will be a lot more entertaining for me than by watching the videos online.
What is your take about the new Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom? Is it something you're excited to try out? Do you think it will be something you skip? Make sure to share your thoughts in the comments section.
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News and Rumors are gathered from various different sources. All rumors are rumors and are to be taken as such.
News
Magic Kingdom
Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom is scheduled to debut on Feb. 22nd
Epcot
A new Italian food kiosk has been placed in the Italy Pavilion while the Tutto Italia is down for a refurbishment.
Rumors
Now the Fantasyland Expansion is scheduled to supposed to be done by 2014.
Kim Possible will switch to Phineas and Ferb sometime in June.
Tower of Terror 10 Miler After Party tickets are rumored to go on sale in April.
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News and Rumors are gathered from various different sources. All rumors are rumors and are to be taken as such.
News
Disney's Animal Kingdom
Finding Nemo: The Musical will be offering FASTPASS during the week of Feb. 15th - 22nd.
Kilimanjaro Safaris will be replacing the end scene. Little Red will not be featured anymore, instead the space will be filled with zebras. With that, the poaching storyline will officially be dead.
Disney Resorts
Caribbean Beach's Jamaica Pool will be down for a quick refurb Feb. 15th - 17th.
Bay Lake Tower's Pool Slide will be closed for a refurb from Feb. 20th - March 16th. The pool will remain open during this time.
General WDW News
Starting March 7th, the FASTPASS window will be enforced with guests now being allowed to enter 5 minutes early or up to 15 minutes late. Anyone who comes after that time will not be allowed to ride with FASTPASS.
Rumors
It's rumored that it's a small world may be receiving a NextGen queue upgrade.
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It had been tested a few months ago, but now it looks like Disney's FASTPASS is going to officially start being enforced.
According to the news that came out today, starting on March 7th, Disney will being enforcing the FASTPASS return window with a 5 minute buffer before hand and a 15 minute buffer after your FASTPASS time has expired. If you arrive anywhere outside that window, you will be denied access into the attraction.
My first and biggest thought was this is going to has have a HUGE impact on the way people are to vacation now, including myself. Before, many (yes, myself included) would obtain a FASTPASS for an attraction that we wanted to visit at some point in the day and then ride that attraction (after our FASTPASS window became available) whenever we got around to that area of the park again. It made it so we could be flexible with our vacation.
Now, however, I fear this spontaneity is going to be dead. Yes, of course, before I knew about the "loophole" that you could return at a later time, I did adhere to the FASTPASS return window. It wasn't the worst thing in the world, so I know it's something that I will be able to adhere to again. However, it was nice to know I didn't have to run halfway across the park because my FASTPASS window came up and I'd have to ride the attraction immediately.
So, while initially, it's something that I don't love...I am well aware it's not going to be the end of the world. It will be something that I will just have to revert back to the way I had been doing it for years prior to learning about the "FASTPASS secret". (The idea of using a FASTPASS well after it's return time window.)
However, this does bring me to my next worry and that is that this is supposed to be setting it up for the NextGen project, the rumored "schedule your FASTPASS from home" idea, which is something I'm totally against. It's one thing to get a FASTPASS in the park, but it's a completely other ball of wax to schedule the time, 6 months ahead of time (or whatever the beginning window will be), of when you want to ride a specific attraction. I completely respect those who are uber planners, but I am not one, nor do I think the majority of people who are traveling to Disney would be. I mean, Disney already has people who don't know how to use FASTPASS the way it is now, I can't imagine what it will be like if and when they roll out this idea. The new ideas that have been proposed under the rumored NextGen Fastpass idea are not going to be something that appeals to a lot of people in my eyes. A few select few planners will love the idea and that will be it.
Many Disney fans, are however, happy to see this change take place. I've seen a lot of talk about how this should have been done a long time ago. There are many that are hopeful about these changes, that they will make things easier for everyone...make it "fair" for everyone, including those who don't know about the loophole.
No matter whether you are for or against this change, there is one fact. It will be interesting to watch how this all impacts touring strategies in the future. Will FASTPASS be available for more attractions now later in the day? (Especially for an attraction like Toy Story Midway Mania.) Will the window get moved back in the future because of demand? Will the impact the Standby line in any way? These questions and more will, I'm sure, all be learned as time goes by.
So, that's my theory about the whole thing, but what's your take on this news? Are you for it or against it and why? Make sure to let me know in the comments section.
Also, if you like this article, I shamelessly ask that you spread the word! Share it on Twitter or Facebook...hit up the Google + emblem...just let others know about us here! Also, LIKE our new Facebook page! :)
News and Rumors are gathered from various different sources. All rumors are rumors and are to be taken as such.
News
Magic Kingdom
The Liberty Belle will be closed for a refurb from April 16th - May 21st.
The Superbowl MVP Motorcade is set for Monday Feb. 6th at 1:20 pm.
Barnstormer has been seen doing testing.
Epcot
Habit Heros is now open at Innoventions.
Disney Resorts
The Piano Pool at Disney's All Star Resort will be closed for a refurbishment from Feb. 6th - March 3rd.
Full room refurbs of Saratoga Springs should be completed by March 2013.
Full room refurbs of The Wilderness Lodge should be completed by April 2013.
General WDW News
Cape May Cafe at Disney's Beach Club will be down for a refurb from July 9th - Aug. 4th.
Rumors
It's floating around that the Kim Possible Adventure may be changing over to an Agent P Secret Mission based off of Phineas and Ferb.
It's rumored that pieces of the Storybook Circus area will soft open by the end of this month
The queue work being done at Peter Pan's Flight may not include a Next Gen queue
Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom is expected to open officially on Feb. 21st.
Queues that are scheduled for for modifications are American Idol, Star Tours, Primeval Whirl, Tower of Terror, and Dinosaur. These should be completed by October.
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