Tag: Theme Parks (1-10 of 12)

Apr 30 2013 07:13 PM ET

It's a Disney all-nighter! Disneyland and other parks to stay open for 24 hours on one day in May

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Image Credit: Scott Brinegar/AP

Get ready for ’round-the-clock Disney.

Three Disney theme parks will have extended hours for one day next month, staying open from 6 a.m. Friday, May 24 to 6 a.m. Saturday, May 25. The announcement for the 24-hour “all-night party” came on the official Disney Parks blog last week. Participating parks are Disneyland, Disney California Adventure, and Florida’s Disney World.

Dance parties, characters making appearances in pajamas, and new Monsters University-themed additions to parades are among the ways the parks will celebrate the extended hours. READ FULL STORY »

Dec 6 2012 06:07 PM ET

Disney World officially opens new Fantasyland, perfect for discerning beauties and beasts

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Image Credit: Gene Duncan/AP

Look at this stuff! Isn’t it neat?

Disney World has given its Fantasyland section an extreme home makeover — corporate synergy! — nearly doubling the area’s size and adding new attractions including the Enchanted Forest, the little-kid friendly Storybook Circus (inspired by Dumbo), and a castle that’s home to characters from The Little Mermaid. The revamped wonderland officially opened today, meaning that it’s likely already covered with exhausted adults sleeping in broad daylight.

The coolest thing about Fantasyland 2.0 may be the Be Our Guest Restaurant, which lies within the Beast’s Castle. As CNN explains: “During lunch hours, guests order at touch-screen kiosks and take radio-frequency devices to their tables. Once the pager is placed on the table, servers know exactly where to deliver the food. And voila, meals arrive within minutes via a glass-enclosed cart.” At night, the eatery magically transforms into a classy French bistro that serves dishes like steak frites. Try the gray stuff, guys; it’s delicious. No wonder Belle and her Beast — wait, shouldn’t he be a prince by now? — decided to move here:

READ FULL STORY »

May 24 2012 08:21 PM ET

'Transformers the Ride 3-D' at Universal Studios Hollywood: Just like the movies, but better -- VIDEO

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Image Credit: Universal Studios Hollywood

Whether you love the Transformers movies or you spend hours online composing detailed take-downs of its many perceived flaws, you’ve likely said the following words regarding them: “It was just like a theme park ride!” Well, starting Friday, you can experience first hand what a Transformers theme park ride is actually like, when the imaginatively titled Transformers the Ride 3-D officially opens to the public at Universal Studios Hollywood. I got a chance to preview the ride already, though, let me just spoil things for you right now (UNNECESSARY SPOILER ALERT): In every way that matters, riding the Transformers ride is exactly like watching a Transformers movie, but better.  READ FULL STORY »

Apr 18 2012 04:05 PM ET

Which Disney ride do you want to see turned into a movie?

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Movies-turned-Broadway-musicals-turned-movies are old hat in Hollywood — see Hairspray or The Producers, for example. (Actually, on second thought, don’t see 2005′s Producers.) Now Disney’s taking a new spin on that cyclical formula: Deadline writes that the studio is prepping a film based on Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, an attraction that’s been thrilling Disneyland visitors since 1955. The twisty ride is based on Disney’s 1949 feature The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, half of which is an adaptation of The Wind in the Willows, which is itself based on The Sorrows of Young Werther.*

Will the new Mr. Toad follow in Pirates of the Caribbean‘s cheeky footsteps and launch a giant, beloved global franchise? Or will it be critically panned and generally ignored, along the lines of most Disney attractions-turned-films (The Country Bears, The Haunted Mansion, and Mission to Mars come to mind)? Only time will tell. Honestly, though, I’m more concerned with another question altogether: Which other Disney attractions deserve the cinematic treatment? READ FULL STORY »

Mar 13 2012 04:30 PM ET

Disney moving ahead with ‘Avatar’ theme-park plans: What rides would you want to see?

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I see you, Bob Iger. According to a Deadline report, Disney CEO Iger allegedly let slip at the company’s annual shareholders meeting today that preliminary design is “just beginning” for the previously announced Avatar theme park, which is planned for Disney’s Animal Kingdom in Orlando.

The park is set to explore both familiar and as-yet-unseen settings from creator James Cameron’s Avatar universe (including environments from the two sequels in development), and is the result of a licensing deal between Walt Disney Parks & Resorts and Fox Filmed Entertainment, allowing the Imagineers at Disney World to develop attractions based on the film as an extension of the Animal Kingdom area of the park. Iger reportedly said the park “in all likelihood” won’t open until 2015 (initial plans for the park call for construction to begin in 2013).

READ FULL STORY »

Oct 7 2011 05:20 PM ET

Walt Disney World Turns 40: A tribute from a life-long fan and a 40-year cast member

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Image Credit: Disney

This month, the Happiest Place on Earth hits middle age.

Forty years ago, Walt Disney World opened in a tiny Florida town called Bay Lake, about 20 minutes outside Orlando, a place that was just a smattering of orange groves in the middle of nowhere.

Walt Disney had already revolutionized in-person, multimedia entertainment in 1955 with Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif., but the space limitations of the park had hobbled his original vision. Not to mention that it still relied upon some old-fashioned assumptions about amusement parks: the park should be open only five days a week; it should be primarily oriented towards kids; and it’s a one-day experience — you show up in the morning and leave at night.

Uncle Walt’s “Florida Project” was going to change all that with a completely immersive environment: READ FULL STORY »

Sep 20 2011 04:56 PM ET

Disney World opening 'Avatar'-themed land. James Cameron, should we be concerned?

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It’s been almost two years since James Cameron taught us all a valuable lesson about the effects of pollution on adorable blue monsters in Avatar, which became the highest-grossing film ever made thanks to its horrifically influential use of 3-D technology. But we all knew that virtual 3-D was never going to be good enough for Cameron, and now we have proof: A joint press release from Walt Disney Parks & Resorts and Fox Filmed Entertainment has just announced plans to open an Avatar-themed land in Florida’s Walt Disney World, inside of the conservation-themed Animal Kingdom park. Cameron even teased that the park would involve settings from the upcoming Avatar sequels: “With two new Avatar films currently in development, we’ll have even more locations, characters and stories to explore,” said the filmmaker. READ FULL STORY »

Sep 20 2011 12:10 PM ET

Ryan Gosling lets Conan O'Brien in on a dirty Disney secret

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Wouldn’t it be nice if Ryan Gosling made the talk-show rounds at least once a week? Granted, it’s certainly starting to feel that way considering he’s had three movies to promote (Crazy Stupid Love, Drive, The Ides of March) over the past few months, but the guy is one seriously entertaining talk-show guest. Plus, he’s easy on the eyes, if you catch my drift. (Pssst, it means he’s very, very handsome.)

Gosling proved all this once again Monday night when he visited Conan and chatted about, among other things, his gripe with Disney (which, surprisingly enough, had nothing to do with The Mickey Mouse Club.) READ FULL STORY »

Jul 28 2011 01:25 PM ET

Hide yo' kids, hide yo' wife: 'Hostel' hits the theme park

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Image Credit: Rico Torres

Because when I think “torture porn,” I immediately think “good-time family fun.” Don’t you?! Horror auteur Eli Roth is teaming up with Universal Studios to create a theme-park riff on his 2005 genre-reviving film, Hostel. “Eli Roth’s Hostel: Hunting Season,” takes its bloody bow at Universal Studios’ Hollywood’s Halloween Horror Nights on Sept. 23 and will run through Halloween. READ FULL STORY »

May 19 2011 02:05 PM ET

Star Tours jumps to lightspeed: Exclusive video of Disney's reboot of the classic Star Wars ride

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Hang on, we’re making the jump to lightspeed.

Tomorrow the all-new Star Tours—The Adventures Continue, a reimagining of the classic Star Wars-themed ride, makes its highly anticipated debut at Walt Disney World (at Disneyland, June 3), and unless you have a T-14 hyperdrive, it’s about as close as you’re going to get to that Galaxy Far, Far Away.

The entire attraction has been upgraded—from the façade to the queue to the ride itself. Most importantly, the attraction received a 3D facelift courtesy of Industrial Light and Magic. But for this video first look hosted by The Clone Wars’ own Ashley Eckstein you won’t need to don your flight glasses (yes, that’s what Disney’s calling the requisite 3D eyewear). Check out the video after the break: READ FULL STORY »

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