2 Exhibits within the Innoventions Pavilion will close in January. Firstly, the "Think" exhibition by IBM will close on 1st January 2015. The "Test The Limits Lab" will close on 6th January 2015. Both exhibits have reached the end of their sponsorship, and no replacement has yet been confirmed.
Starting Monday 22nd December, "Surprise Mornings" will begin at Epcot. This is when a select number of random guests get to enter the park 1 hour before opening to ride either Test Track OR Soarin'. Once guests enter the pavilion in which the attraction is based, you cannot leave until the park opens officially to guests. Other attractions within these pavilions will not be open during the "Surprise Mornings". This will run between Monday 22nd December 2014 and Wednesday 31st December 2014, but excluding Tuesday 30th December 2014, when the park opens at 7am anyway for Extra Magic Hours. This "Surprise Mornings" has been offered in previous years at this time of year in an attempt to reduce stress on the attractions - As Soarin' regularly reaches 5 hour waits during Christmas/New Year,
This past week, a new entertainment offering has debuted at the United Kingdom pavilion at Epcot. The new Paul McKenna Band - a four piece acoustic band - will perform near the Crown Pub. This is the second band that plays in the UK Pavilion. Show time vary daily, so be sure to consult your times guide and map for information.
In the past year since it's release, the hit movie 'Frozen' has taken a large place in the Walt Disney World parks. The movie was an instant hit, with the fun and joyful music, great story-line, and the lovable characters - this movie then because Disney's biggest movie in a long time, and prompted thousands to flock to stores to purchase costumes and merchandise. Once Disney realised what they had on their hands - it was time to take quick action to bring Frozen into the parks.
The inclusion of 'Frozen' in the parks started with a small meet and greet in the Norway pavilion at Epcot. This turned out to be much of a bigger success than ever imagined, and it created queues in the area that it was simply never designed to cope with. Queues for the Norway attraction - Maelstrom - became longer and longer as more people visited the pavilion. Following the success of this meet and greet, and considering the queues that it caused - it was decided that Anna and Elsa would move to Princess Fairytale Hall at the Magic Kingdom. This helped with the queuing problem, but wait times regularly reached 5 hours. The next implementation of the Frozen property was in Hollywood Studios where Disney launched "Frozen Summer Fun". The planned "Rock Your Summer Side" event was quickly abandoned, and Frozen Summer Fun was imagined. The event which was pulled together in a matter of weeks, included a welcome parade, a new stage-show, and ice rink, a new merchandising location, and fireworks at the end of the night. The event was simply one of the best I have ever experienced - it is amazing how they can put it together in such a short space of time! The special event was nearing completion when Disney decided to extend the offerings for another month - much to the delight of park guests. The limited time event could not continue indefinitely, so therefore stopped on 28th September 2014. Be sure to check out our overview video by clicking here! The 'Wandering Oakens Trading Post' was kept and was moved to a new location in the old AFI building near the Backlot Tour. The Frozen singalong stage-show was also kept due to its popularity, and still fills the theatre to date. Following the success of Frozen Summer Fun, Disney announced the closure of the Maelstrom attraction in the Norway pavilion to make way for a new Frozen themed ride opening 2016. This sparked major debate about the closure of a much-loved opening day attraction. Many took to social media, and even the Norwegian government took action to stop the closure and changes to the attraction. But unfortunately, Norway had not funded their pavilion at Epcot since opening, so had no say in the changes. The attraction was closed, and is now undergoing the planned changes into a Frozen themed ride. Be sure to check back on Disney Magic for more information about this attraction as we get it! More recently, Disney has brought Frozen to the Magic Kingdom. The holiday castle lighting show (formerly "Cinderella's Royal Wish") was renamed "Frozen Holiday Wish". The new 9 minute lighting ceremony features Anna, Elsa, Kristoff and Olaf, with Queen Elsa using her "Frozen fractally powers" to cover the castle in over 200,000 twinkling lights!! The show is performed twice nightly - at 6:15pm and 7:30pm on non Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party nights and 6:15pm and 8pm on party nights. The 'Once Upon a Christmastime' holiday parade is also led by these major Frozen characters. This has also sparked some debate on the introduction of Frozen to this parade, evicting some traditional characters from their floats! During all of these events, Disney has introduced a wide range of Frozen themed merchandise, along with food and drink offerings. This has of course been very popular among guests, with some items, such as the Anna and Elsa dresses, quickly selling out. Finally, the ABC Christmas Day parade is also to be Frozen themed. This annual parade which is shown on TV on Christmas Day, is to be called "Disney Parks Frozen Christmas Celebration" and is to be filmed at Walt Disney World on the 8th and 9th December 2014. Some may consider the Frozen offerings in the parks have gone too far. Many are getting fed up of Frozen in the parks and fear that the property may become over used and may lose its meaning. I for one loved many of the Frozen offerings from the past year, but too fear that any other additions may take the 'Frozenisation' of the parks overboard. We would love to know your views on Frozen in the parks - do you think Disney is going overboard with Frozen? Do you want more? Let us know your comments below, and be sure to submit your view using our Google Form: http://goo.gl/forms/KJ4E8r56or. Be sure to check back on our website or social media for updates on this matter! There has recently been a lot of talk surrounding upgrades and changes coming to Epcot in the near future. These changes and new rumored additions take place in both the Future World and World Showcase sections of the park. I have outlined below some rumors for each area of the park and identified some more information about them. These rumors are from various websites along with my own research, and I should state the obvious - but these are rumors! If you have heard any other rumors for Epcot that haven't been mentioned in this article, be sure to let us know either via Twitter or using the commenting system at the bottom of this post. If we find credible sources of the information, then we may add the rumor to this post! Be sure to check back on our 'Rumors' page of this website for up-to-date information about all rumors we have heard about and their status. We will also be tweeting information about WDW rumors as we get them, so be sure to "follow" us on Twitter. Future World - We have heard very strong rumors about the addition of a new theatre facility for Soarin' behind the existing locations. This has recently been backed up by the filing of a permit by the Walt Disney Company for the Soarin' location. This permit was filed under the name "Project 87" which happens to be the number of seats within each Soarin' theatre. The Soarin' attraction in the "Land" pavilion at Epcot, has been extremely popular since its opening in May 2005, and still today regularly reaches queue times of 1.5 - 2 hours. The Soarin' attraction at California Adventure is about to undergo an extended downtime and refurbishment, which too suggests that changes and additions may be coming to the Epcot attraction in the near future. - The rumor surrounding a new film for the Soarin' attraction has been a topic of discussion for years. The installation of a California attraction was only meant to be a temporary solution, which would be replaced with a Floridian version soon after its opening. This attraction has been operating for close to 10 years and nothing has really changed. The rumors are that all Soarin' attractions around the world (Epcot, California Adventure and soon Shanghai Disney) will get a new 4K video entitled "Soarin' Over the World" or similar. There was some filming above the Walt Disney World Resort in April this year, which was thought to be for the new Soarin' video. Nothing has officially been confirmed regarding this, although it would not debut until after Shanghai Disney has opened. The installation of 4K projection technology and re-programming of the ride movement etc. would take time and would require the ride to be closed for a considerable period. - It has recently been advised that the Test Track attraction will soon be getting PhotoPass's next generation on-ride video. This will be linked to your account using MagicBand's and photos can be linked using any ticket media using the screen touch points. Test Track is expected to receive the same on-ride video treatment as Tower of Terror and Seven Dwarfs Mine Train have got already. - There has been rumor of changes to the Imagination pavilion for quite a while, although new rumors have recently surfaced regarding some ideas about what would replace the two current attractions - Journey into Imagination with Figment, and Captain EO. The biggest rumor that we have heard is that the Muppet Vision 3D attraction from Hollywood Studios will be making its way to replacing the Captain EO show in the pavilion. The MuppetVision3D attraction in the Studios is near an area rumored for further development, so may be put at risk by that. Figment would either be updated by keeping the same theme, or would too be replaced with a Muppets ride of some sort - probably using the same ride technology currently installed. It is unknown if the Imagination pavilion will undergo any changes in the near future, but these rumors sound feasible. World Showcase - It has recently been confirmed that a Frozen themed attraction will replace Maelstrom in the Norway pavilion. The budget for the new attraction and subsequent changes to the Norway pavilion is expected to be around $75 million. The project is suspected to take around 12-18 months, and is rumored to be opening in December 2015. The attraction type and ride system will remain the same, although the track and therefore ride, are rumored to be extended. The ride vehicles will change, and the queue is thought to be being redesigned during the ride closure. The Norway pavilion will also get a "Royal Meet and Greet" with Anna and Elsa. - For the past few years it has been rumored that a Ratatouille Ride will be installed in the France pavilion. This attraction would be a copy of that at Disneyland Paris, which opened earlier this year. The attraction would be a trackless 3D dark ride, with elements of dome projection. The budget for the Paris attraction was around $270 million. This attraction is quite large in size, so may not physically fit in the France pavilion at Epcot, although could be housed in a show building behind the existing pavilion. Nothing has been confirmed nor hinted by Disney, and this should therefore be treated as a 'pie in the sky' rumor. - The nighttime show at Epcot, IllumiNations Reflections of Earth is also set for an upgrade in the near future. A permit has recently been filed for communication system between the islands in the middle of the lagoon. The show is also set for upgrades of pyro, lighting - including new lasers. The show may also experience a whole overhaul in a couple of years time, although no details are currently rumored about this redo. Changes to the show are regular, with new features and changes occur on a monthly basis - recently a change in pyro colors and minor lighting upgrades and adjustments. General Epcot
- With the upgrade to Soarin' and the upcoming addition of the Frozen attraction in the Norway pavilion, it has been suggested that the tier system for FastPass+ selection may be removed. The attraction demand will change with the new additions and therefore Disney would no longer need to limit guests to only one Tier 1 ride. "Holidays Around the World" is a annual Christmas-time event which honors traditions in the World Showcase countries at holiday time. There will be some new entertainment offerings in Mexico, Morocco and China. According to Disney Parks Blog:
"In Mexico, guests will enjoy the songs and traditions of “Fiesta de Navidad,” featuring colorful dancers and mariachis, who celebrate the holiday customs of Mexico in an interactive, musical performance. A Moroccan storyteller invites guests to join her on a journey to experience the gaiety of festivals, holiday traditions, and celebrations that are like the “spice of life” across Morocco. And the China pavilion bursts to life with the vibrant Chinese Lion Dance, bringing good fortune and happiness to all in honor of major holidays such as the Lunar New Year and Lantern Festival." The "Holidays Around the World" will start on 28th November and will continue through to 29th December. |