Disney Attractions

Mickey, Minnie and the Princesses Move in to Town Square Theater

15 April 2011 by Suzannah Otis Leave a Comment

The same day we checked out the Easter treats in the Magic Kingdom we also ventured over to the all-new recently opened Town Square Theater. The theater is the new home for the character meet and greets that were taking place over in Mickey’s Toon Town Fair before it closed. Formerly Expo Hall, Town Square Theater is adjacent to Tony’s restaurant, to the right as you enter the Magic Kingdom park. There are some lovely details to this new area, so I thought I’d share some photos below:

Character greeting sign — Mickey's hand points out that character greetings are this way! (and crushes that lady's head 😉 )

Wait time for Mickey — When we were there, the wait time for Mickey was only 5 minutes

Princess wait time — While the Princesses wait was 30 minutes

Town Square Fast Passes — Around the corner from Tony's, to the right of the Chapeau, is the Fast Pass distribution area for Town Square Theater

Town Square Theater entrance — Atrium inside Town Square Theater leading to the queue

Tony's Town Square — Looking over to Tony's from the atrium of Town Square Theater (construction was still going on on the low walls)

Town Square queue — The extensive queue area, leading to either Princessess or Mice!

Mickey wait time — Inside is another wait time board for Mickey

I’ll leave the rest of the experience inside Town Square Theater as a surprise for when you are able to visit but until then, I leave you with some friends, posing with our favorite rodents –

Thanks to pals and all-around awesome folks Nicole, Cade, and Mike for letting me share their photo with you all!

Disney Junior Moves In to Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Disney Channel

10 February 2011 by Suzannah Otis Leave a Comment

Disney Junior Live on Stage - coming in March to Disney's Hollywood Studios

Disney news buffs may have heard that Playhouse Disney Live on Stage at Disney’s Hollywood Studios has been closed to make way for the all new Disney Junior Live on Stage, opening in March. Until the new show starts in the Studios, you can check out the new Disney Junior line up starting on Valentine’s Day – February 14th on the Disney Channel.

Disney Channel’s Playhouse Disney programming block is becoming “Disney Junior,” a new multiplatform brand devoted to children ages 2-7 and their families. Disney Junior will invite parents and grandparents to join their children in the Disney experience of magical, musical and heartfelt stories and characters, both classic and new, while incorporating specific learning and developmental themes.

Among the new series are “Jake and the Never Land Pirates,” an animated adventure combining new and classic Disney characters Captain Hook and Smee (“Peter Pan”); a series of Disney Poetry Shorts which showcases poems for children set against classic Disney animation; two short form series, “Mickey Mousekersize” and “Special Agent Oso: Three Healthy Steps,” to encourage healthy lifestyles for preschoolers and families; “Babar and the Adventures of Badou,” an updated version of the classic “Babar,” that introduces King Babar’s energetic eight-year-old grandson, Badou, and friends as they explore the world of Celesteville; and “Tinga Tinga Tales,” a vibrant animated adventure inspired by traditional African animal folktales and the art of Tanzania. Playhouse Disney hits “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse,” “Handy Manny,” “Special Agent Oso” and “Imagination Movers,” among others, will be part of Disney Junior.

As part of Disney’s Magic of Healthy Living initiative, which encourages healthier lifestyles for kids and families, Disney Junior will premiere two new short-form series, “Mickey Mousekersize” and “Special Agent Oso: Three Healthy Steps.” Hosted by Mickey Mouse, “Mickey Mousekersize” focuses on the fun of exercising and encourages children at home to get up and move along with Mickey and pals. “Special Agent Oso: Three Healthy Steps” features Oso and friends as they watch a live-action kid demonstrate three healthy steps to exercising and eating right.

For more information, visit www.DisneyJunior.com.

You can also “Like” Disney Junior on Facebook!

Check out these videos of the magic coming to your living room:

Disney Junior – Where The Magic Begins

Disney Junior Through a Child’s Eyes

Sneak Peek of Jake and the Never Land Pirates!

First Haircut Magic at Harmony Barber Shop

28 January 2011 by Suzannah Otis 11 Comments

first haircut magic kingdom — Ready for anything with Mickey stickers!

It’s not news to any regular readers that we go to Walt Disney World…a lot, nor that we have 3 children. My oldest son is about to turn 12 this weekend, my daughter is 10 and my youngest son turned 2 the end of October. While we have visited the barber shop in the Magic Kingdom many times, in both its locations, we had never experienced a “first haircut” there. With our first child, the thought just never occurred to us and we took him to a local kids hair cutting place. With our daughter, well, we just never really cut her hair until she was about 4 anyway! So since we now frequent Disney a lot more than “normal” with the blog and Moms Panel and twitter meet-ups etc. It seemed only natural to experience this rite of passage, well, the right way.

Now what’s changed since our last visit, aside from the new location, is that you can now actually book appointments at the Harmony Barber Shop. Since this is such a popular attraction among those who know the Magic Kingdom, the wait time can get quite long in the shop. Simply calling 407-WDW-DINE will secure you a spot in the barber’s chair. Walk-ins are still available but will be taken when available around those with appointments. Our time was for 11am on a busy Saturday, and despite the line out the door, the wait wasn’t too bad for those without appointments. These dual-skilled cast members/stylists know their stuff and do it efficiently. The “First Haircut” package is $18, a child’s haircut is $15, Adult haircut is $19 and colored hair gel and pixie dust is $7.50

Inside the VIP Lounge at The Living Seas

2 November 2010 by Suzannah Otis 6 Comments

Last month, most of the Walt Disney World Moms Panel joined together for an informal reunion, just because we love an excuse to get together and what better place to do that than the Walt Disney World Resort, right? Our Pink Princess was kind enough to have a luncheon put together for us by the allied partners responsible for the Innoventions attractions. We were lucky enough to be treated to that lunch inside the second story of the Seas pavilion, in the former VIP Lounge area from back when United Technologies sponsored The Living Seas.

Unfortunately, I did not have my real camera and my cell phone pics are not the best, but I wanted to share the inside with you just the same. Hopefully I’ll get another chance to visit. I know the D23 Sip and Stroll attendees were able to experience both this lounge and the one for Spaceship Earth, so who knows what future events may take place here.

living seas vip lounge — This sign as you enter was enough to make my visit worthwhile.

Epcot’s Scratch ‘N Sniff Soarin’ T-shirts Bring the Magical Scents Home!

21 October 2010 by Suzannah Otis 8 Comments

Last week while exploring the merchandise area outside of Soarin’ (aka the Green Thumb Emporium – thanks to @mousemisers for that name that slipped my mind), a bright orange kid’s shirt caught my eye. I picked it up and realized it had a big “Scratch ‘n Sniff” sticker on it. “GENIUS!” I thought. I scratched and sniffed and got a whiff of orange just like in the Soarin’ attraction (without the wait!).The shirt features Mickey and Minnie hang gliding over an orange grove with hot air balloons in the background.

Behind the orange-scented shirt was an army green colored shirt with a pine forest and Mickey and Minnie hang gliding over rapids. This shirt was supposed to be pine-scented, however, to me it smelled a bit like men’s deodorant. {But really, we’ve all been behind guests in a Disney park where we wished they had a deodorant-scented shirt, right? 😉 } The point is, this is a great and logical pairing of ‘t-shirt technology’ and I was really excited to see (and smell) them!

The orange grove shirt comes only in kid sizes at $24.95 while the pine forest comes in adult sizes at $30.95. Be sure to check them out the next time you visit The Land at Epcot!

scented soarin shirts in epcot — Thanks to my kids for helping me capture these pics! Sorry the lighting is not the best - I could've moved but didn't want cast members to think I was mouse-lifting! 😉

What Attractions Do You Avoid At Walt Disney World?

15 October 2010 by Suzannah Otis 36 Comments

I was recently reading on twitter about someone riding Universe of Energy at Epcot. It caused me to stop and realize that it’s probably been about 10 years since I’ve ridden that ride. Then I wondered how many other rides I personally avoid or just don’t bother wanting to ride, and how many others had a list too.

Now, I may be a bit biased on some things, because as I’ve mentioned before (many times), I first fell in love with Walt Disney World when visiting EPCOT Center in 1983. So as a rainbows & unicorn-lovin’ girl of 8 or 9, there were some rides that just plain scared me. Universe of Energy was one of them. I rode it, but was always scared during the dinosaur parts and then bored during the 40 minutes of fossil fuel movies (was anyone *not* bored then? Sorry fossil fuels!). Same with Haunted Mansion and even Pirates of the Caribbean…there were times when I had to be dragged on those rides because I was easily scared (the hallway and graveyard scenes in Haunted Mansion and the skeletons in Pirates). I’ve since outgrown those fears, but I’m just not a fan of dinosaurs, unless they are dispensing frozen ice cream treats of course.

Other rides, I’d just never been on because I thought I’d get sick or something. I didn’t ride the Mad Tea Party until I was about 22. Space Mountain? My first time was on my 33rd birthday. Shocking, I know. I’d actually ridden Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster before that! I just visited Tom Sawyer Island for the first time this past April! I *still* haven’t been on Expedition Everest, DINOSAUR, or Mission: Space. Not sure I’ll ever go on DINOSAUR or Mission:Space‘s green team, but I do want to conquer Expedition Everest at some point!

Anyway, back to my original point. There are some attractions that we just tend to avoid for whatever reason. I realize this may be more pronounced with our family, since we are Florida residents and can visit the parks any day just by driving for an hour. Sometimes we just take things, or attractions for granted either for time issues or wanting to visit our favorites all the time.

So here is my list of Top 5 Avoided Attractions in my family:

Universe of Energy As mentioned above, I just never liked this as a child and with two kids not particularly fond of dinosaurs, we just haven’t been back. I do want to bring them on again though, now that they’re older and will remember it, and let them decide for themselves.

The Enchanted Tiki Room – Under New Management I actually sat through this recently with my family when visiting with some friends. I know it is a much maligned attraction, and I really think that is for a reason. I don’t like to speak ill of my favorite place on earth, but the ‘updated’ show was already dated when it re-opened and now even moreso. It was such a classic attraction, full of corny but timeless jokes. A lot of that original magic is just gone now and it’s almost embarrassing to sit through. Sorry Michael, Pierre, Fritz and José – I still love you guys!

The Jungle Cruise I know I’m going to take some flak for this one! Apologies to die-hard fans of the backside of water…but I’ve just never been fan enough to make this a regular stop. This is another of those that I will go on again soon and let the big kids form their own opinions.

Stitch’s Great Escape Another much maligned attraction. I remember disctinctly when Alien Encounter opened. I was petrified and actually did not go on the Cast Member preview like my then fiance and mom, also Cast Members did. I wanted to know exactly what happened before I’d go on. I don’t do horror movies or scary things at all so I was worried this would freak me out. Once I got the okay from them, it became one of our favorite attractions in Magic Kingdom. Now, I really don’t mind the Stitch redux of the ride…I think it’s great for kids that might’ve been too scared to go on Alien Encounter. But it is a little lacking in the show department. I miss Skippy and Tim Curry voicing S.I.R. The story made much more sense when it was Alien Encounter but I don’t think the Stitch tie-in is too terrible. Still, we tend to avoid it since it’s not ever something we are dying to see.
Remember this?

Studio Backlot Tour This is another case of something that used to be a favorite that we just tend to pass over now. This attraction was so exciting when it first opened – you could see in working wardrobe warehouses, studios and sound stages, along with the super fun Residential Street and Catastrophe Canyon. Over the years, this morphed into a dated, unused, “pretend” backstage area. When the Water Effects Tank and Production Tour (where my husband used to work!) was combined with the Backlot Tour, it made it difficult to bring small children on with the amount of standing and walking needed. We used to love this attraction but it’s changed so much and a lot of its charm and “backstage” excitement is gone. I’d love to see this ride completely redone with current special effects technology and a whole new backlot area.

Okay, I confessed my most-avoided attractions – now what are yours? Don’t worry, I’ll post a most-loved attractions post soon!

Postcards From Space: Mission: Space’s VIP Video Postcard Room

6 October 2010 by Suzannah Otis 2 Comments

Mission:Space HP Lounge — HP Lounge inside Mission:Space

This weekend I was serendipitously treated to not one but two Epcot VIP Lounge experiences. A few months back my husband and I were able to enjoy the Wonders of Life VIP Lounge thanks to previewing the 15th Annual Epcot Food & Wine Festival for the DisneyFoodBlog through Tables in Wonderland, which was an amazing time.

Last Saturday my fellow Walt Disney World Moms panelists and I had lunch in the Living Seas VIP lounge (post forthcoming!). Then finally on Monday, as fate would have it, I met up with friend and fellow Disney blogger Amanda Tinney and our friend (and HP employee) Lynne Ronemous who was visiting for the weekend. Since Lynne works for HP, her handy dandy HP id card grants her access to the HP lounge situated on the second floor of Epcot’s Mission: Space ride building.

Now I’d never even stepped foot on Mission: Space’s grounds – a combination of being too chicken to ride and staging a silent protest in honor of Horizons 😉 so this was all new to me. I was quite impressed with all the lounge has to offer! You can check out Amanda Tinney’s post with detailed photos and information on the lounge, but I thought I’d share something fun too…

At the post-show area of Mission: Space, you are able to send a “Postcard from Space” via email. It’s a fun little animated postcard with different scenes to choose from inserting you into an animated outer space background. Within the HP lounge is a private little room complete with greenscreen background to send a postcard or two while you enjoy the lounge’s facilities. Of course Amanda, Lynne and I could not pass up such an opportunity, so click here find our postcard from space for your amusement. Enjoy!

HP Lounge Mission:Space — Postcards from Space room in HP Lounge

Now if any GM employees would like to let me tour the Test Track lounge, I’d be ever so grateful! 😉

Farewell to Captain Rex – D23’s Last Flight to Endor Celebration

9 September 2010 by Suzannah Otis 11 Comments

Star Tours Last Tour to Endor — He's smiling on the inside, right?

Many of you may have heard about the Last Tour to Endor party associated with the Star Wars Celebration V that took place at the Orange County Convention Center last month. I know I was disappointed that we couldn’t get it to work out logistically, so when I saw the D23 event for the Last Flight to Endor (which was an essentially free event save for the $5 per ticket processing fee), I was all over it! What’s more, this free event was going to take place on the actual last night of Star Tours operation before it closed for refurbishment and would be limited to the number of guests that could fill the speeders in the attraction for the actual last flight. It was too cool to pass up. I am so glad I didn’t.

{I apologize in advance for the photo quality. I was using my cell all night – convenient, but not so great at night and when you are pretty much constantly moving. Hopefully the spirit of the evening comes across in the pictures, despite the blurriness! }

I make no claims to know all there is about Star Wars, but I know enough to make obscure references or movie lines when needed and get suitably excited when our escorts for the evening turned out to be some of the 501st Legion‘s finest Stormtroopers (even though my first response upon seeing one of them was “Aren’t you a little short to be a Stormtrooper?”). It was great to see so many excited fans and fellow bloggers/Disney media people there as well as meeting some twitter friends. We all checked in and were given a commemorative boarding pass and FastPass for the evening, and the first 100 guests received a limited edition Star Wars coin set as well. Soon the Stormtroopers arrived and we were on the march to our destination: Star Tours.

Star Tours Last Flight to Endor — I wish I could say this was the first time armed guards escorted me somewhere...

A Surprise in Every Shell – Pick A Pearl in Epcot’s Japan Pavilion

27 July 2010 by Suzannah Otis 23 Comments

I’ve always loved surprises. Back in the 80’s when I collected stickers, I can’t tell you how many “goodie bags” my mom bought me in the local sticker shop just because not knowing what was in there made it that much more exciting and enticing for me. I can’t say I’ve changed much since then – I still love mysteries where you get a prize in the end. So of course I love special things like the Pick a Pearl station in Japan’s Mitsukoshi store in Epcot. I still have the first pearl I got at a similar set-up in Silver Springs with my sister. I finally decided my kids should get to experience the fun so a little while back they got to pick their own pearls and see what awaited them inside.

Here’s how it works:

pick a pearl — First, you go to the register and pay for the pearls you want to pick.

The Secrets of Walt Disney World’s Tom Sawyer Island-Part 3 of 3

19 July 2010 by Suzannah Otis 9 Comments

In part one and part two of our Tom Sawyer Island pictorial review, we saw caves, mines, a fort and even a play area chock full of adventure. Today we conclude that adventure by visiting the final spots on the island.

When we left off, we were about to cross this barrel bridge to parts unknown, yes? As always, click to enlarge photos.

view from Tom Sawyer Island — First, you get this nice view of Liberty Square

Pollys Tom Sawyer Island — Then we come upon a lovely little spot, Aunt Polly's...sadly, it does not seem to be open much at all anymore.