Confessions of an Orlando Commando

Monday, April 9, 2012

Eat to the Beatles

Epcot's Food and Wine Festival is one of my most favorite things at WDW and the Eat to the Beat concerts are part of that.

There are some that I enjoy more than others (Richard Marx!),

some that I miss (The Ventures),

and some that have never been, but would absolutely love to see (The Everly Brothers, Huey Lewis and the News).

Have you heard the rumor that the sons of the Fab Four might form a band? Can you imagine the crowds that THEY would draw? Of course, they would more than likely play the Amway Center before America Gardens Theater, but wouldn't it be great if they would come over and sing some of their dads' songs?

James McCartney, Dhani Harrison, Zak Starkey, Sean Lennon

Saturday, April 7, 2012

Update: Storybook Circus

The Disney Parks Blog has announced that part of the new Storybook Circus of the new Fantasyland, will open in late March.

Photo: Disney Parks Blog

So, what will we get?

One of the new Dumbo the Flying Elephants. The other Dumbo will open at a later date.

The Barnstormer featuring the Great Goofini with new theming elements.

And the Fantasyland train station of the Walt Disney Railroad.

In other news: Snow White’s Scary Adventures will be permanently closing June 1, 2012. Princess Fairytale Hall will eventually take its place.

The next phase of openings will take place in Fall 2012 and all of the Fantasyland expansion is set to be completed in 2014.

I am especially looking forward to ...

The Seven Dwarfs Mine Train

The coaster will feature a first-of-its kind ride system with a train of ride vehicles that swing back and forth as they move along the track.

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

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 !!

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

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

Saturday, February 11, 2012

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.