Theme park and attraction news, rumors and videos.
This month’s new Disney Parks Wishables collection features some of your favorite friends from the Hundred Acre Wood – that’s right, this collection is inspired by The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh attraction at Disneyland park and Magic Kingdom.
Hosts Elisa Rodriguez and Quinn Roseboom bring you this week’s theme park and attraction news. On this week’s episode: [Read more…]
Christopher Robin (Ewan McGregor) is an adult who has lost his way in life and no longer knows how to do anything but work. But what happens when his childhood comes back to him asking for help? In the wonderful movie, “Christopher Robin”, Pooh (voice of Jim Cummings) takes Christopher on an adventure that brings him back to his roots and his more carefree days.
We were recently invited to the Walt Disney Studios lot to interview voice-acting legend Jim Cummings about his experiences portraying both Winnie-the-Pooh and Tigger for “Christopher Robin.” He spoke with humor, heart and a clear love for the characters and his work.
2018 has only just begun, and Walt Disney Studios decided to up the ante of the new year by releasing their full slate of films. [Read more…]
Yesterday the Casey Jr. Splash ‘N’ Soak water play area soft opened in the Storybook Circus area of New Fantasyland. The second spinner of the dueling Dumbos has been revealed as well but hasn’t soft opened yet. [Read more…]
By Kevin Yee
Fans of the original Winnie the Pooh movie from 1977 will find much to love about the 2011 movie, which shares the same name but has all-new content. It channels its predecessor in ways both small (the hand-drawn, not quite perfect animation) and large (the individual tics and attitudes of each character). [Read more…]
There are changes happening with some the characters at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Some will move, some will leave and some will arrive. [Read more…]
There are changes happening with some the characters at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Some will move, some will leave and some will arrive. [Read more…]
In Fantasyland at the Magic Kingdom this week, a few of Disney’s Imagineers and cast members held a test at Pooh’s Playful Spot, the playground located across from The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh dark ride.
Pooh characters were made available for meet and greets, but new queueing rules were attached. Parents were instructed, via cast members and signs posted around the area, to wait in line to see the characters while their children were allowed to play nearby in the playground. When the parents reached a certain point in the line close to the characters, they were asked to bring over their little ones so they could enjoy the meeting with Winnie the Pooh and his friends.
We received reports of this test being run on Monday and Wednesday, with Tuesday being a day for Disney’s staff to review how the previous day’s test went and make changes for the following. Throughout the tests, Disney has been video recording and surveying guests to get their opinion on how the queueing system worked out for them.
Improving wait times for children wanting to meet their favorite characters sounds like a great idea, but I’m guessing that this test may actually be for something greater. When Disney announced the upcoming Fantasyland expansion at the D23 Expo in September, they revealed that there would be a number of permanent princess meet-and-greet areas throughout the expansion. These will each involve an interactive/play area in addition to the actual character meeting area. In the announcement, Disney also emphasized the fact that the enhanced Dumbo attraction will feature a queue-less waiting system of some sort. The notion of magic feathers being handed out like supermarket deli tickets has been rumored.
So perhaps this week’s tests in Pooh’s playground isn’t all about trying to improve the current state of meet-and-greets but rather a way for Disney to test for the future of Fantasyland’s character meetings and attractions.
To read more about the upcoming Fantasyland expansion of the Magic Kingdom, including exclusive details about what’s to come for Pooh’s Playful Spot and The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, get our Winter 2010 issue.