If you’ve been following our weekly maintenance report, you know that the interactive Robo-Newz and GCN phone booth in Tomorrowland have been broken for some time now. Upon visiting the Magic Kingdom this morning, we discovered that both are now missing.
Here we see a small hole covered with plywood where the Robo-Newz robot statue once stood. If you put your hand over a spot, the robot would hock newspapers via an audio track.
The temporary cover leaves us hopeful he will return soon and that he is not a victim of the Tomorrowland overhaul currently ongoing. You may recall that the UFO facade was recently removed from the Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor.
The GCN phone booth has suffered the same fate, but the hole is much bigger. This phone had a number of audio cues activated by dialing the numbers on the device.
Here’s what the 1994 New Tomorrowland props looked like, in case you forgot:
We hope they are fixed and returned soon, but we’re happy to see Tomorrowland getting attention it needs.
Why did you take our Robo Newz, why? -Us
I am taking it home to my work shop my dear. I will fix it up there and bring it back here. – Chapek Grinch
The entire elephant scene in the Jungle cruise needs some love. Every elephant looks neglected and dirty, with their trunks bending in odd ways. Very sad looking considering its one of the most iconic scenes in the attraction.
I can tell you for sure they are doing some work on that attraction, though taking a long time on it. During the holiday season they had some figures from the ride behind the Emporium(that’s where the dry dock is), I forget if I saw an elephant, but there was a hippo and one or two tribesmen back there.
Hey Tom, it’s working, it’s really working!
I hope that they’re fixed and put back in their rightful place in Tomorrowland! Thanks for bringing this list to the attention of the people at Disney!
Perhaps, removal was the answer to the dissatisfaction that they were not working. Which is better, a nice looking prop, or nothing but a plywood hole cover marking where it once stood??
The plywood insinuates repair.
While I would agree that a plywood cover is not a typically acceptable thing to find, and it might warrant stations and ropes blocking that area, I think it would be far easier to repair the internal mechanisms, which would be removable, then to remove the entire unit.
Particularly GNC Phone Booth, which is large, when only the issue could be addressed.
Even if the units were to receive an entire referb, would BOTH re removed at the same time?
Perhaps a new Tron themed replacement is considered…
Or maybe just waiting for the cement truck….
Could be either, but they both needed a lot of repair work beyond the electronics.
I hope the Robo-Newz and the GCN phone booth will return, rather than just being minus-ed. Walt used to tell Imagineers to “plus” things.
Hopefully they get rid of those nasty smelling speedway cars and actually put something futuristic there!
Thanks for posting these articles. Thank you Disney for listening and fixing everything. Why don’t you have staff that does this?? I’d love to help. It would give me something to do as I scoot around!
Rumor has it that Chapek thought that Robo-Newz was a blog that catered to him and he’s having them #hosted on a Disney Cruise.