Bye, Bye Kim Possible

 The 'Kim Possible World Showcase Adventure' at Epcot will be closing this summer to make way for Agent P (aka Perry the Platypus) and Dr.Doofenshmirtz, characters from the Disney Channel series "Phineas and Ferb".

 

 

The new interactive experience will be 'Phineas & Ferb: Agent P's World Showcase Adventure'.

Epcot guests will become secret agents using clues provided by a 'high tech device' and travel throughout the World Showcase (Mexico, France, Germany, Norway, Japan, China and The UK) to help Agent P thwart the evil Doctor.

New Disney Buses

This month and through mid-April, new buses will be tested at WDW.

These "articulated buses" are longer and will be able to carry more Guests on the 'higher volume' routes. 

I personally think Disney should expand the monorail system from resorts-to-parks and resorts-to-Downtown-Disney. Do away with most, if not all, of the buses and their stinky, pollutive, exhausts (as well as clear out a lot of traffic!).

Read this:

 Disney Planning

In July 2000, Weiss even went so far as saying, “in two years, we are committed to drastically reducing the number of buses required to fulfill our internal transportation needs.”  He put the two year date on a “transport system which will whisk guests from the airport to a new hub on property in five minutes.”

In most every office room in the Magic Kingdom, there is a property map – and not all are current.  Most had “Future Monorail Expansion” leaving the EPCOT pad and going through the gap between Journey Into Imagination and The Land, down by the Yacht, Beach, and Dolphin, and ending at the Studios.  Some had a line leaving from there to Animal Kingdom as well.

Speculation ran rampant, and Cockerell and Weiss admitted that plans were not finalized – but they were looking at several transportation systems and knew they would not use the monorail to connect everything, just perhaps the theme parks.  A lead contender was a light rail line – and though there were several rumors, I believe the most credible was a spur going from the TTC down to Fort Wilderness, Dixie Landings, and Port Orleans, and another going down Buena Vista Drive basically from Downtown Disney, Typhoon Lagoon, Carribean Beach, Studios, Coronado Springs, Blizzard Beach, and perhaps the All Stars.

C'mon, Disney-Powers-That-Be, instead of building luxury houses, build a property-wide monorail system it !!

Hyperion Wharf ??

After closing Pleasure Island's clubs, demolishing Motion and the Rock & Roll Beach Club, everything stopped.

It was announced that changes were being made to the changes - and now there is Nothing, zero, zip, nada going on. 

Hopefully some of the new changes will include NOT demolishing the Adventurers' Club and/or Comedy Warehouse!!  Maybe Mannequins, too!

Because not only kids come to WDW and sometimes adults need entertainment/something to do, too. 
   

Save the Adventurers Club

Confession # 19: I Love Dug

Pluto has long held the position of my favorite Disney character. He never spoke - except for two brief words *Trivia alert*, so he had to rely on a multitude of facial expressions and body language. 

But now I must confess: Dug the dog (from "UP") has equalled Pluto's place in my affections.

Who could resist those eyes! That nose. The voice. ("I have just met you and I Laaahve you!"

 The making of Dug the Dog

Meet Dug

*Trivia: the two words spoken by Pluto: "Kiss me"

Confession # 18: J.R. Martinez

 J.R. Martinez , Army veteran, soap star, and Dancing champ, recently visited Universal Studios' Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

Photo:  Orlando Sentinel

I'm not generally impressed by celebrity, but I do think J.R. is a special guy.
I do wish I had been there that day to shake J.R.'s hand and thank him for his service to our country.

'Bye Little Red

WDW has announced a change coming to the Kilimanjaro Safari at DAK.

The 'poacher' storyline will be changed with no more Little Red (baby elephant animatronic).

More live animals - the zebras return (yay!) - on a new savannah space (with watering hole) will take its place.

The refurbishment will begin this spring.

The attraction will remain operating.

Good! I never much liked the whole "catch the poacher" storyline.

Real Life Disney: Royalty

This is just uncanny!!

Disney World 2012

2012 Major Disney World Events

March 7-May 20

9th Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival

Flower Power concerts!!

May

a partial (phased) opening of the new value resort, Art of Animation

May 18-20  &  May 25-27

June 1-3  &  June 8-10         

Star Wars Weekends 

 May the Force be with us!

Sept 28-Nov 11

17th Epcot International Food & Wine Festival

International food kiosks!        

             Eat to the Beat concerts!!

September - November

Mickey's Not-so-Scary Halloween Party

Boo to You  ...  and you !!

October 1st

Epcot's 30th anniversary 

November-December

Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party

aaaaaaand ...

the (phased) opening of the new expanded (almost doubled)

Fantasyland

Be Our Guest!

a new Test Track experience

Splitsville

(a 50,000 sq ft upscale bowling alley/entertainment center)

Sounds Great!

....  But  .....

whatever happened to Hyperion Wharf  ??

The Disney Holiday Spirit

Disney really gets into the Holiday Spirit:

Disneyland: Downtown Disney Holiday Trees to be Donated to  Local Military Families

 In less than two weeks, the joy of the holiday season will come in the form of a fully decorated tree to 17 local military families from the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit!

Disney Cast Members send postcards to U.S.Troops
 

 Founded by a Disneyland Resort cast member in 1995, Operation Uplift was inspired by a letter from a soldier serving in Operation Desert Storm. That note said the troops didn’t receive much mail, but when they did, it meant the world to them because they knew people back home cared.

Since that time, Disney VoluntEARS around the country have sent more than 90,000 postcards of support and thanks to servicemen and servicewomen serving domestically and overseas.

Disney VoluntEARS donate 30000 toys to Toys For Tots

Mickey Mouse and Disney VoluntEARS began to deliver a collection of more than 30,000 new toys to the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve’s Central Florida Toys for Tots headquarters. Gunnery Sergeant Jose Rodriguez tells me that the sizable donation is the largest received to date and will help make the holiday season brighter for more than 20,000 children in Orange and Seminole counties

Thank you, Disney, Disney Cast Members, U.S. Marines, and the writers at Disney Blog!

CWHS @ DHS *

Comedy Warehouse Holiday Special

 

So does this indicate a possible change at the Studios:

     no more Drew Carey's Sounds Dangerous ??

 

Or .... even better, a reopening of the Comedy Warehouse at DTD ?