Thursday, December 29, 2016

Changes To Rope Drop At The Magic Kingdom

Beginning Jan 9, 2016, there is a new "rope drop" procedure at the Magic Kingdom.

The new format will allow guests to enter Main Street before the park officially opens, the post says. The show, the name of which has not been announced, will begin at the designated park opening time. "A Royal Herald will appear to deliver a proclamation and welcome a few familiar characters to the stage, officially opening the park so 'the magic can begin!'" the post says.

Supposedly, the train station at the entrance to MK will be undergoing a refurbishment. There is no word if this new rope drop format will be permanent, or if the old rope drop show at the train station will come back after the station's refurbishment.

Still, with this new format of letting guests all the way to the Hub, if Disney is smart, they'll open all the shops along Main Street. Just think about it. Captive audience, waiting for the opening of MK, and you have the Emporium, you have Starbucks, you have Jewelry store... what better way to get people to browse through the store and entice them to buy something!

Zz.

Wednesday, December 21, 2016

WDW Opens Passholder Entrance Line

All I can say is: Well it's about Freaking Time, Disney!

We have reports this morning that all 4 theme parks at WDW have separate park entry lines for Passholders.

The benefit begins Wednesday, Dec. 21, and is scheduled to run into sometime in January, a Disney spokeswoman said Tuesday. She said the option was designed as a thank you for folks who had purchased an annual pass.

The designated entrances will be at all four Walt Disney World parks, including Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney's Hollywood Studios and Disney's Animal Kingdom. Passholders should look for signage after going through each park's security checkpoint, the spokeswoman said.

This should be a win-win for many guests. Passholders tend to know what they're doing and can get through a ticket line quickly, unlike infrequent guests. Other guests will have lines hopefully will be shorter since the passholders are in line elsewhere.

This is going to be instituted for the peak busy season right now, but I hope they make this permanent. And how about extending this also to DVC members who do not have annual passes? Again, these are people who are familiar with the theme park and, presumably, know pretty well how to get through the theme park entrances.

Zz.

Friday, December 16, 2016

Crossroads Plaza Faces Possible Demolition

The Crossroads shopping plaza just outside of WDW (corner of Hotel Plaza Blvd and SR535) faces the possibility of demolition as part of the expansion of the interchange between SR535 and I4.

The Florida Department of Transportation plans to eventually reconfigure an Interstate 4 interchange at State Road 535 with a design that would require demolition of the shopping center.

Right of way acquisition for the project is scheduled from 2018 to 2022. So far, no construction date is scheduled.

We used to shop at Goodings regularly when we were there many years ago before we found a Winn-Dixie further down the street. Now, the only time we go there for is to dine at this wonderful South Indian restaurant called Dakshin. Not only is that restaurant conveniently located, but the food is good as well.

I hope they manage to do something to at least save part of the plaza and get this restaurant to stay. Otherwise, we will miss it and will have to hunt for a good Indian restaurant near WDW, which isn't an easy thing to do.

Zz.

Monday, December 05, 2016

The Death Star unveiled

Due to lucky timing at an EPCOT bus stop, I got this photo of the dome transformed into the Death Star. This was part of a special late night Star Wars event that reportedly sold out in 38 minutes.

M & M Shanghai style

Maquette of the real pair at the entrance to Disney Shanghai

EPCOT at night

Walked into a power outage and found the Rogue One sign. The dome will turn into the Death Star later, but we don't have tickets.

Morimoto dessert

The Cream Caramel with sesame air cake and Yuzu sauce.

Morimoto

Inside Morimoto at Disney Springs.

Here's looking at you kid

The Branzini sea bass at Morimoto. This fish was definitely food not a friend.

Not your ordinary beef

An appetizer of Waygu A5 beef at Morimoto. Reputed to be the best beef in the world.

Christmas tree at the Polynesian

Don and the Caballeros

Donald thinks they got his likeness right, and the two other guys are ok too.

Donald's Christmas stocking

Don has found the perfect stocking to hang by the fireplace, or somewhere in his Duckberg residence.

Gingerbread gelato

Christmas treat from the Contemporary

Contemporary Castle

Made out of confectionary products, part of a Frozen themed exhibit for Christmas.

Saturday, December 03, 2016

Tree of Life show

A series of 4 projected stories are shown on the Tree of Life at DAK. The 4 stories are separated by a couple minutes, then the series repeats after a little longer break.

Festive attire

Christmas tire seen at DAK.

DVC Wilderness Tree

The Christmas tree in the DVC lobby at Wilderness Lodge.

Wilderness Lodge DVC

Another view of the new DVC waterfront villas.

New Wilderness Lodge villas

These are new DVC cabins on the water at Wilderness Lodge. They will be similar to the villas at Polynesian, and probably will have high points.

Friday, December 02, 2016

Jingle Bell Jingle Bam

The Great Movie Ride transformed for the Christmas show at DHS. Scenes from a story about Lanny and Wayne saving Santa. Mostly projections on buildings with some fireworks added.

Jingle Bell Jingle Bam! Show

Large crowd waiting for the Christmas fireworks show at DHS.

DVC Merry Mixer

Big turnout for the Merry Mixer at EPCOT.

DVC Merry Mixer

The Disney movie trivia contest at the Merry Mixer.