New Rumors - When Will They Come to Fruition?
As we got back from our short, two-day vacation, we were surprised to find out a great number of new interesting rumors that all seem to confirm that the theme park war has just begun here in Central Florida.
Here you are just some of the rumors that may soon become reality, along with their sources (the new rumors have been highlighted in red; the older rumors are marked in blue):
WALT DISNEY WORLD RESORT:
- The SPA at Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort will soon be closed for a major refurbishment (SOURCE).
- Avatar Land will include a great, new nighttime spectacular (SOURCE) .
- Avatar Land will feature a restaurant similar to "Be Our Guest," which is quick-service by day, table service by night (SOURCE) .
- Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom will continue to be "locked" on easy mode until September due to "overcrowding of the portals" (SOURCE) .
- Major developments should be coming to Disney's Hollywood Studios very soon. While details are still not clear, some old blueprints have been taken again into consideration (Monsters, INC. Coaster? Possibly...) (SOURCE) .
- Plans are still in place to make Downtown Disney a better place (I'm looking at you, Pleasure Island!). According to the source, we should soon hear an official announcement (SOURCE).
- Expansion of the Monorail Line near the Magic Kingdom park to allow the construction of a brand-new Resort along the shoreline of the Seven Seas Lagoon (SOURCE).
- The Festival of the Lion King show should soon be moved over to the Africa themed area of Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park to make way for the new Avatar Land (SOURCE).
- Agent P's World Showcase Adventure is rumored to be officially opening on July 22, 2012.
UNIVERSAL ORLANDO RESORT:
- Demolition of Soundstage SS44 has just begun, all of a sudden. Rumors indicate that Universal Studios Florida may be receiving a clone of the Transformers attraction, even though it sounds unlikely to us. It is very exciting to see all this movement at Universal Orlando, though (SOURCE).
SEAWORLD ORLANDO:
- NONE AT THIS TIME (The park is busy building Antarctica anyway).
BUSCH GARDENS TAMPA BAY:
- A new drop tower may be in the works for the park (SOURCE).
- A new animal-based show should be coming to the park in 2013/2014 (SOURCE).
LEGOLAND FLORIDA RESORT:
- A new version of LEGOLAND Florida's Water Ski show may be in the works (SOURCE).
So, what do you think? Aren't these some really exciting projects? The real question is: Will they ever be realized? We are confident that most of them will (especially since many of them are backed up by some very reliable people). We will just have... to wait and see.
Of course, remember that if you have any additional information or rumor that you would like to share with us, feel free to do so by writing us in the comments section or by writing us at otpndirect@live.com. Thanks!
Hopefully, the closing of Beastly Bazaar a few days ago means that Avatar Land is pushing forward. With the character M&G being relocated, all that is left in Camp Minnie-Mickey is the Festival of the Lion King, which according to rumors, will be moved to the park's Africa section. With both of these attractions relocated elsewhere, the space will free up for Avatar Land's construction. :)
ReplyDeleteAnimal Kingdom would be such a good park if they expanded the idea. Nighttime shows are a must and about time if AK gets one. Sad to see no new ride rumor for Epcot. DHS needs more TLC(IF YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN). All and all i hope most of these go through
ReplyDeleteNow I don't know if this would count as a rumor or not, but for SeaWorld Orlando, it has been circulating that due to the finishing of the DWS and UV areas (they are indeed finished, and they have been having training sessions with the whales in the pool and have even started leaving them in there for brief periods of time) that the Shamu Up Close (aka, the Underwater Viewing windows) May just be open this weekend in time for Summer Nights. As for the DWS program, that continues to remain unknown.
ReplyDeleteThis post has made my day. I might be heading to the Universal parks this upcoming weekend, so if I hear anything, I'll make sure to spread the word. I hope all of these are true, especially the Transformers rumor! I mean, why not?! Universal Hollywood is taking our WWoHP, and they are now speculating on taking the Despicable Me Minion Mayhem, so why not borrow their ride as well. Transformers come to ORLANDO!!!! :D
ReplyDeleteEveryday I hope and pray, Disney drops AVATAR.
ReplyDeletePlease don't let this forgotten scifi movie become a huge part of Walt Disney World.
Anonymous # 3, I agree, its going to be stupid.
ReplyDelete^Last two commenters...
ReplyDeleteIf you don't like it, don't go. It may be the best thing in the world that makes you cry when you see it...or it may make you barf I don't know! I would like to see a SeaWorld section added to Animal Kingdom and an animal themed World of Color with Everest in the background!
Josh- how do you know it will be stupid? Are you an Imagineer? Disney will amaze us no matter what we do, but this anti-WDW and anti-Avatar attitude people now seem to have because they are jealous of Disneyland is REALLY bugging me.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
ReplyDeleteI was an Imagineer for 33 years. I am trying to keep myself occupied ever since i left, and i heard the news of this land. Im from Disneyland so i really don't care what happens to WDW. I do know that if they went with a different approach we wouldn't have these problems. It Should have been themed to Disney Animals, not real ones, Disney is all about tricking your mind, thinking whats real and whats an illusion. When you go to Disney World you go to see DISNEY, not the animals. Sure make animals in a little section of the park not based on it. Then we have people like you who could never work for Disney, if you don't like it don't come. You would make Disney lose a lot of business if you ever worked for them
-Josh
Good For You Josh, Tell that little brat off! Disney should be about Disney, not anything Else
ReplyDelete^
ReplyDeleteI know I enjoy those attractions based on the quintessentially Disney characters from Star Wars and Indiana Jones!
This is just a thought, I wonder why Disney hasn't tried/considered expanding the Star Wars area of DHS. Maybe a themed table service restaurant in Coruscant would be awesome with 360 views of the city? Haha, I am just surprised Disney has not looked into that with the success of Star Wars Weekends.
ReplyDeleteI think pleasure Island should be fitted into ElecTRONica from DCA.. Plenty of room, drink stands, music, and projection equipment..
ReplyDelete..I was there a few days ago and it was just sad to look at.. especially with all the blank and torn apart buildings and facades.
Avatar will be stunning and it will challenge Disney to do something they've never done before. I respect everyone's right to speak their mind, but I firmly believe that they'll see how crazy they were for doubting this project in the end.
ReplyDeleteAvatar films are flash-in-the-pan nonsense. Star Wars, Indy Jones are part of the American fabric. I predict "Avatar-Land" or whatever will be big at first, but before long it will be the least traveled area in the whole park. It'll go the way of Horizons...
ReplyDeleteI'm upset about Avatarland too. The movie was mediocre at best... and entirely too backwater racist for this century. (And calling the world Pandora and the people Navi and the ore Unobtainium? He couldn't have come up with ONE original name?)
ReplyDeleteHowever, it was popular primarily because of its 3D effects, particularly coupled with Imax viewing. Visiting Pandora will be much better than watching the movie, I'm sure. Being immersed in a fantasy world is what I go to Disney for (and I consider visiting their fantasy versions of Asia, Africa, etc in AK to be in the right vein).
I agree with a lot of the commenters here about how AK should've included fantasy animals like its original plans. Every time I see the dragon references in the parking lot and entrance, I get a bit sad.
I lost hope in Disney Imagineering.
ReplyDeleteTake carsland. One e ticket ride, duration less than 5 minutes and an enormous amount of rockwork. The ride system is old and it's impressive because of it's size but at an enormous cost. The rest are shops a carnival ride and an old air bumper car ride. Again at an enormous cost. If I compare it to the Wizzarding world of Harry Potter, it blows carsland away, by awe, innovation and the amount of money to create is was probably a quarter.
Take the Fantasyland expansion. Carnival rides, a dark ride and a small coaster, again highly themed with endless amounts of rockwork for an enormous price and not even one E ticket ride.
Take Expedition Everest, again a mediocre coaster, a non functioning Yeti and again enormous amounts of rockwork.
The last time they try even something remotely new was Epcot's Mission: SPACE and that was the most expensive disappointment Disney Imagineering brought us in years.
Avatar will probably, again, have enormous amounts of rockwork, and fiber optics and neon lights and black lights. It will look wonderful but I can't imagine to be get blown away by the attractions.
The reason why they don't use the awesome Star Wars and Indy licenses to expand the defunct DHS more is probably the same reason because they didn't want to work with J.K. Rowling.
In response to the last poster, it wasn't that Disney didn't want to work with J.K.Rowling. On the contrary, they had a plan and brought it to her first. She didn't want to work with them. And from what I heard, its a good thing, because what they planned pales in comparison to what Universal actually did.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, to get back to the focus of this post, I agree that Avatar-land should not go here. I love that AK has actual animals, as it is Disney's answer to Busch Gardens. I have always thought that they needed an Australia area because that would fit nicely with Africa and Asia.
I understand the demand for a section with fantastical animals, like dragons, but dragons have never really been Disney's thing. Except for The Reluctant Dragon and Malificent becoming a dragon, what other dragon references are there?
Having never seen Avatar, I don't know if Pandora would fit at AK or if it would be out of place, but I just don't understand the connection with Disney. I mean, Indy and Stars weren't directly connected with Disney, but Disney began as MGM Studios, and so everyone forgave Indy and Star Wars because you were riding the movies (and honestly, it was clever of Disney to partner with Lucas and Spielberg cause you know Universal would have used both if they could have).
Bottom line, I like the actual animals and I like all that Animal Kingdom currently is. I agree, I wish the Yeti worked all the time on Everest, but hey, that's Disney. An ideal Animal Kingdom for me would expand to include Australia and South America, maybe the Amazon, and if the Imagineers could find a way for the addition of dragons to make sense, then I would be all for it.
Another Disney dragon is Elliot from Pete's dragon and Mushu is one too right? So with Figment and when Malificent becomes a dragon... there is 4. I am sure there are more......
ReplyDelete