The Winter 2010 issue of Orlando Attractions Magazine is now available for preview and pre-order. Feature articles in this issue include: • COVER STORY: A Whole New World Reimagined and expanded Fantasyland to deliver more magic than ever before. • Blast Off Into Superspace Disney’s Space Mountain reopens with new enhancements. • Star Tours II: [...]

“American Idol” winner Kris Allen and composer/pianist Yanni performed at the Magic Kingdom on Dec. 3, 2009 as part of this year’s taping of the annual Disney Parks Christmas Day Parade. Taping continues on Dec. 4 and 5 and will be aired on Dec. 25 on ABC. Here are a few photos of today’s performances, [...]

For the 2009 Christmas season, Disney has installed into the Magic Kingdom’s Emporium windows along Main Street U.S.A. the long out-of-view animated window displays based on the holiday favorite, “Mickey’s Christmas Carol.” Six scenes tell the classic story of Mickey Mouse as Bob Cratchit and Scrooge McDuck as Ebenezer Scrooge. These scenes were originally on [...]

Upon hearing of Space Mountain soft opening to guests yesterday after a seven-month refurbishment, I rushed over to the Magic Kingdom only to be denied a ride as the roller coaster was shut down for further maintenance and testing. I returned to the Magic Kingdom today at around 1 p.m. to find Space Mountain once [...]

At around 4 p.m. today, Space Mountain at the Magic Kingdom reopened for the first time to guests since closing for refurbishment in nearly seven months. Still in testing, the classic roller coaster remained open for roughly two hours before being shut down once again due to technical difficulties. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a chance [...]

The official Disney Parks Blog has release a new image from within Space Mountain’s newly-updated queue along with new information surrounding the ongoing refurbishment of the classic attraction. Most importantly, Disney has now announced that Space Mountain will officially be reopening on Nov. 22. Soft openings have reportedly already begun with cast members and guest [...]

Following our refurbishment update last night, Disney has posted this pair of images on their blog showing what the newly-enhanced interactive queue looks like inside Space Mountain at the Magic Kingdom. From disneyparks.disney.go.com: As you know, with any Imagineering project, the story comes first. And the updated Space Mountain attraction at Walt Disney World Resort is [...]

The construction walls have come down around the front of Space Mountain at the Magic Kingdom as its lengthy refurbishment begins to wind down. Bright green is the new accent color of choice, replacing the strong orange color closely associated with the attraction’s former sponsor, FedEx. New additions to the outside of Space Mountain include [...]

The world’s most beloved fairy, Tinker Bell, poses with her friend Terence inside Pixie Hollow at the Magic Kingdom. The pair star in the new motion picture “Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure.” Terence, a dust keeper, made his debut at Pixie Hollow on Oct. 21. Guests can also meet him at the Disneyland park [...]

Following on the heels of a number of iPhone apps that purportedly provide access to Disney theme park attraction wait times (through user submissions) comes Disney’s first official cell phone app called Mobile Magic. This app, however, will as of now not be available on the iPhone but rather compatible Verizon Wireless network phones. The [...]

In addition to being able to see Princess Tiana from Disney’s upcoming film “The Princess and the Frog” in her new show at the Magic Kingdom, Tiana’s Showboat Jubilee, little girls now have the opportunity to get made over like Tiana in the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique. Here’s a video of what a Princess Tiana makeover [...]

A host of Disney characters welcomed Princess Tiana this morning following her horse-drawn carriage ride to Cinderella Castle in the Magic Kingdom. Tiana is featured in the upcoming Walt Disney Pictures animated film “The Princess and the Frog” which marks Disney’s return to traditional 2-D hand-drawn animation. Today’s special welcome was a one-time event in [...]

The R&B group “Boys II Men” pose with Princess Tiana Oct. 26, 2009 at the Magic Kingdom. From left are Wanya Morris, Shawn Stockman and Nathan Morris. Below, they also pose with their family and Prince Naveen. Boys II Men are performing in Epcot’s Eat to the Beat concert series, a part of the International [...]

It’s a well-known “secret” that Disney’s annual Christmas Day parade is actually taped a few weeks before Christmas Day. This year, it’s being taped at the Magic Kingdom on Dec. 3, 4, and 5 (Thursday – Saturday). Registration is now open for anyone who wants to sign up to be part of the crowd and [...]

Princess Tiana and several other characters from the upcoming Disney animated film “The Princess and the Frog” will be part of a new show premiering at the Magic Kingdom on Monday, Oct. 26. After a music-filled processional down Main Street, U.S.A. Monday morning, Tiana’s Showboat Jubilee will premiere along the Rivers of America in Liberty [...]

Starting Monday, Florida residents will have a new option for annual passes to Walt Disney World. For $169, the Florida Resident Weekday Select Pass will allow access to all four of the Walt Disney World theme parks on weekdays, but with a few restrictions. The new Weekday pass will have the same blockout dates as [...]

We’ve attended Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party in the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World for the last few years and thought we’d bring you some of the highlights of the family friendly event. The Not-So-Scary event is packed with Halloween-time entertainment featuring Disney character meet-and-greets and dance parties, a special fireworks show and parade, and [...]

The Tomorrowland Transit Authority has always offered great views of Space Mountain. Now that Space Mountain under refurbishment, the TTA is allowing guests to take a peek inside and around the construction area: This bright green sign was added on Oct. 15, 2009, the night after I shot the full video ride on the Tomorrowland [...]

The Tomorrowland Transit Authority (TTA) recently received an update at the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World. It closed for refurbishment at the same time as Space Mountain back in April 2009. While the Space Mountain improvement is still in-progress, the TTA reopened within the last few weeks with added colorful, nighttime lighting (seen above). [...]

Here’s a very cool video from Disney’s official blog. The process used to create the video is called tilt-shift, or selective focus photography. This technique makes everything look miniaturized, as if they are miniature models instead of real objects. For the video, a series of photographs, taken one per second, were run together. First up [...]