Walt Disney World’s only afternoon parade currently running is going away soon. Entertainers in Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade have been informed that the 13-year-old parade will conclude in June of 2014. Waiting until June would allow time for the new Festival of the Lion King theater to open in Africa, reinstating some of the much needed … Read more
WDWNT Reporter Dirk Wallen visited Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Epcot, and Disney’s Animal Kingdom last week and has some newsworthy photos (and video) to share with us, so let’s take a look: Banners for The Jungle Book on Blu-Ray now hanging in the Animation Courtyard A billboard up as well A billboard for Maleficent is also … Read more
Earlier this week, the long-awaited ground breaking ceremony was held in former Camp Minnie-Mickey for the AVATAR-themed land at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. George Kalogridis, president of Walt Disney World Resort; Meg Crofton, president of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Operations, United States and France; Tom Staggs, chairman, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts; a Na’vi; Jon Landau, … Read more
If the AVATAR news for Disney’s Animal Kingdom from over the weekend wasn’t enough, Disney released a video from the D23 Expo in Japan featuring James Cameron and Joe Rhode talking about the project that shows some new concept art and a first look at some of the scenes from the Banshee attraction: If you … Read more
Very late this evening, Disney decided to reveal to the world the details of the AVATAR project for Animal Kingdom, including the announcement of a new nighttime spectacular and a nighttime version of Kilimanjaro Safaris for Disney’s Animal Kingdom theme park! Scheduled to open in 2017, guests will enter the world of Pandora and experience … Read more
If you like DeVine at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, you might be interested to know about a new “living” plant character you can now see at the park… The character is basically a stilt-walker covered with leaves. Rather than being a new permanent character at the park, we suspect this was a test for the AVATAR … Read more
Disney today officially confirmed that Festival of the Lion King at Disney’s Animal Kingdom theme park will be moving to that new theater in Africa we recently posted about and stated that the new theater will open sometime in 2014. This announcement confirms that AVATAR Land construction that was supposed to break ground in 2013 … Read more
WDWNT Reporter Dirk Wallen takes us to all 4 Walt Disney World theme parks this time around, stopping to check progress on the Seven Dwarfs’ Mine Train, the Tangled restroom area, the Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival, the Big Thunder Mountain interactive queue, and more! Let’s take a look: RFID entrance installation continues at … Read more
Since the announcement of the AVATAR-land coming to Disney’s Animal Kingdom, there has been speculation as to where the it would go. Would Camp Minnie-Mickey finally be bulldozed, making use of the land once meant for Beastly Kingdom? Was the expansion plot behind Asia where the Nav’i would call home? We may finally have an … Read more
From Thomas Smith on the Disney Parks Blog: As work continues to bring the epic fantasy world of AVATAR to life at Disney Parks, filmmaker James Cameron and his Lightstorm Entertainment producing partner Jon Landau explored Disney’s Animal Kingdom yesterday with Tom Staggs, Chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, and Imagineer Joe Rohde. “Getting the chance to roll … Read more
D23.com has released a very interesting video featuring the announcement and all of the key players in the deal bringing Avatar to Disney’s Animal Kingdom:
From D23: 09.20.11 – The new long-term agreement will bring Avatar-themed lands to Disney parks, with the first at Walt Disney World in Orlando. Disney plans to build the first Avatar-themed land at Walt Disney World, within the Animal Kingdom park. Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Worldwide is joining forces with visionary filmmaker James Cameron and Fox Filmed Entertainment … Read more
From Thomas Smith on the Disney Parks Blog: We have great news to share today. At a press conference happening right now at Walt Disney Imagineering, Bob Iger and Tom Staggs just announced a long-term creative partnership with James Cameron’s Lightstorm Entertainment and Fox Filmed Entertainment to bring the fantasy world of AVATAR to life at Disney Parks. … Read more