Mousekingdom Blog

SeaWorld is om of those parks us Disney fans can appreciate so I wasn’t to surprised when I found some concept art related to the new B&M flying roller coaster that will be build there on a Disney website.

The British website “The Disney Information Bulletin Board” has some nice artist impressions of the new Manta coaster that will open in 2009. Click on the picture to see all three artist impressions, including a track lay-out.

Pictures copyrights Busch Entertainment Corporation

For a Disney geek like me it would be a dream to live near Walt Disney World (something that might still happen somewhere in the future, just not right now for multiple reasons). For sure I am not the only one who would love to own a house near the magic so home are getting build around the park. Celebration is the most known Disney-like community, but a new one will be added to this exclusive family as Disney will free some of their land for development. It will not be for all of us because the price will be high for the planned luxury houses.

(more…)

You might not be able to live the life of Peter Pan but you can live in the house opposite Kensington Gardens park in central London where the story has been created by the writer James Matthew Barrie.

The 6 bedroom house is on the market for 6.75 million pounds (8.88 million euros, 13.22 million dollars).

Writer James Matthew (J. M.) Barrie lived in the house and met five boys in Kensington Gardens who inspired his creation at the turn of the 20th century.

As well as two large living and entertaining rooms the 3,377 square foot (313 square metre) Victorian home has a study, a dining room, a kitchen, while the bedrooms are adjoined by one en suite and a full-size bathroom, as well as two balconies. (Yahoo News)

Picture Copyrights AFP.com

While Disney have squeezed maximum mileage out of the Year Of A Million Dreams promotion in 2007 in Orlando, it will be fascinating to see if they can keep it up in ’08 in the face of a new marketing campaign from the Anheuser-Busch parks and their new Aquatica water park

This latter will see a new style of  park when it opens in March as the featured attractions will include live animals – notably a lagoon of Commerson’s Dolphins – as well as the usual exciting array of slides and rides

(more…)

Halloween, my favorite time of year! And I love both the scary and the sweet side of it. So when I am in Orlando during Halloween I’ll be visiting Mickey’s not so Scary Halloween Party as well as Halloween Horror Nights and Bush Gardens Howl-O-Scream. (and believe me when I say that the Bush Garden event is so much better then the Universal Studios one, but that is a whole other story for some other time)

Mickey’s not so Scary Halloween is a very popular event and is sold out on many evenings, especially nearer the Halloween time itself. To be able to give those missing the Magic Kingdom event a new hard ticket event might be added in the Hollywood studios (the soon to be “known as MGM Studios”). If the news is indeed correct we will get a new event as from 2009 inside the studios park. Don’t expect a scary event, that’s not going to be on any Disney plan, but it does sound like fun to me.

(more…)

Disney! It is my passion… especially the parks. You walk in there, it feels like a whole other world, like a dream that comes alive. So, with this said it is clear that Disney and the parks will always be my number one. However, there is more than Disney alone (really?). One of these things are.. well, other Theme parks, Roller Coasters and rides… I guess this might be a lame introduction to the IAAPA trade show that is starting today (The Trade show, Conference started yesterday) in Florida, but it might have work getting your attention on some other Florida events.

Why is Florida so far away for me? IAAPA is one of those events I would love to visit. See the new “toys” first. Play with them, gaze at them… sounds like fun. So if you from and around Florida, make sure to go and visit this great event. Although mostly targeted at the professional market, on Friday the general public can enjoy it for a $30 entrance fee. If I would be in the neighborhood, I would be there. And if you are, send me some pictures!

Disney has announced plans that they will open a new 800 room hotel, including Disney Vacation Club villas, in Hawaii. Contstruction is already to start next year with a planned opening for 2011.

(more…)

Harry Potter is going to Island of Adventure, this is no secret anymore and it’s no secret either that it made me happy that it wouldn’t go to Disney. I always thought that Disney should make their own magic and not try to get this wizard to control its lands and boundaries within the Disney grounds. It seems I am not the only happy man as can be read on the Re-Imagineering blog (and surely on other forums and blogs on the net).

After the official press release from Warner Bros. and Universal Orlando you’d have thought that Bob Iger would be marching several legions of Disney Executives to the guillotine or that an angry mob of stockholders would be storming the castle. Instead a group of resilient battle weary Imagineers were quietly grinning from ear to ear, cracking open a bottle of champagne and staring out upon a very, very ‘blue sky’.

(more…)

To celebrate the success of the NASA space shuttle Endeavour mission Disney will have a special event in Epcot and the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World on September 10 to celebrate its astronauts.

Highlights include astronaut Barbara Morgan unveiling a new addition to the Mission: SPACE attraction; interview opportunities with the STS-118 crew; and the astronauts serving as honorary grand marshals in the Magic Kingdom’s afternoon parade down Main Street, U.S.A. (Florida Today)

I love the whole space travel adventures and really hope to once see a lift off from nearby. I would love to see a shuttle go up but would be happy to see any other launch too. On my last visit to Orlando a launch was planned but then was pushed back to a later date.

Picture copyrights: Florida Today

So, dear friends. Time to say “Ta Ta For Now”. No, I am not leaving forever, but I’ll be taking a little holiday. Me and my family will be visiting Saint Laurent du Var, a town in France between Nice and Cannes and not to far away from Monte Carlo. It might get a little quiet from my side on the blog, but make sure to check back here for the other bloggers and my return in two weeks. Although I must admit, I cannot help myself and I will be taking my laptop with me, so I might be on here for some of the days…

You might be thinking, “a Disney fanatic, and going on a non-Disney holiday”. Well… not completely of course as I will pass by Disneyland Resort Paris for a 2 nights stay.

Countdown can begin, the trip is coming closer and plans can be made. Although I am not a big fan of full itineraries, when it comes to visiting Walt Disney World some things need to be planned in advance. Obviously you need a hotel for the (short) nights and little rest that doesn’t really fit in my planning when it comes to going to a Disney park. A Walt Disney World trip isn’t a regular reoccurring thing, so I don’t want to waste my limited time on sleeping.

With my Disney Vacation Club points a stay at Old Key West was a no brain-er, but as I don’t have enough points (yet) an extra 4 nights at the Disney Wilderness Lodge was added. I am really looking forwards to explore both these Disney resorts. I also am a little envy; Dirk, who will be visiting WDW with me, is staying an extra couple of days in this resort. I already wish I could extend my stay too…

(more…)

Would you like to visit Paris? Valpak is giving you the chance! All you have to do is fill out the form and you can become the winner of the grand “Ratatouille” prize.

The grand-prize package includes airfare, hotel accommodations, a French dinner at the Eiffel Tower restaurant, a cruise on the Seine River and museum passes. (Promo Magazine)

Sounds nice! Sure, but one thing is missing! I wonder why, when it’s a Disney related sweep, no tickets or stay at Disneyland Resort Paris can be added. I’m sure the winner will not complain on the Paris trip, but do try to hop over to the resort too… when you’ve won. Good luck.

Picture copyrights Valpak & Disney

Some people have a strange way to promote something new like in this article where they talk about the new indoor “Dickens World” Theme Park in London that will open in May…

“You can’t Disney-fy Dickens,” managing director Kevin Christie said, “because he was better, and he was first.” (CBS News)

Charles Dickens might be best known for his Oliver Twist book and has now (after numerous films) also a theme park modeled after his creations and life.

(more…)

It looks like it that Harry Potter is going to go to Universal after all (even with the rumor that floated the webs a couple of weeks ago that Disney might still have had a hand in it). If the rumors are correct Universal is planning to add Harry Potter in an unused area, both Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure have possible free areas, with the second one being the top possibility (if rumors are indeed correct).

So did Disney lose on this deal? Some might think so but I don’t. I admit, the following might be a bit of a personal look at the situation, but I can’t help myself thinking that this was the best deal for Disney. Yes you read this right; I did say best deal for Disney.

(more…)

If you want more visitors in your park only one thing will help; build a one of a kind new experience! Just look at Expedition Everest and what it did for Animal Kingdom. This park was considered to be not even a day filler by many and for some not there would not even be a reason to visit it at all. It would not have been the first time I read a forum or even talk to somebody who has been to Walt Disney World without adding a visit to Animal Kingdom. (I’ll never understand as I think this park is an Imagineering masterpiece – but that is a story for another time). Since Expedition Everest opened this has changed!

Animal Kingdom attendance rose 8.6 percent to 8.91 million paid visitors in 2006, according to estimates contained in a theme park attendance report released Wednesday by TEA (formerly called the Themed Entertainment Association) and Economics Research Associates. That was the biggest gain among the 20 most popular North American theme parks. (Florida Today)

I’ve always said it, build something new, never seen before and make sure it is something amazing and the visitors will come to your park. (But who listens to me). Universal Studios is surely listening (not to me, but to the numbers). They see what Expedition Everest did and now they want to build their own “Everest” so to say.

(more…)

When visiting Walt Disney World in Orlando I can’t leave without a visit to another park; Islands Of Adventure! This park is appealing to me for several reasons; the awesome roller coasters, great rides, but also because of the Marvel area. I am a big comic book geek, I love them, I read them and I collect them. A good 10.000 books, if not more, are in my collection. I love X-men the most, but have many others in my collection.

Today I saw the news that Marvel has signed a contract with the people at Dubai so they can ad the well know super heroes in a park over there.

(more…)

The big Walt Disney World news we just talked about (and everybody is talking about) are the 2 new projects related to the Four Seasons resort and a second Disney Village style area with shops and more hotels. While this is big news and will bring big changes to the Walt Disney World Resort, it is not something I am wildly excited about. Maybe it is big to others, I am sure the Four Season Resort will be great, an attraction or new park would have excited me a lot more (I know, The fifth gate will never be out of my head even if it is not something that we might see anytime soon) …

While Disney did add some great new attractions like Expedition Everest or Soarin’, it are the other parks in Orlando that are now getting into the spotlight, stealing Disney’s thunder. Seaworld for example has just announced there new Water Park called Aquatica. (See article Orlando Sentinel)

(more…)

The Walt Disney Company has announced expansion plans for the Walt Disney World resort. Two new big projects will see the day of light. The first and biggest one will be the 900-acre location at the northeast border of the World, where Disney plans to convert Eagle Pines and Osprey Ridge golf courses into a luxury resort that will house the Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, including a golf community.

The residents of Celebration have been informed with an official mail by Disney about these changes and the impact it would have on another project that was in development by the Celebration Company. There are plans of a new project “Island Village” that, if the mutual terms are met regarding the above project, will not see the day of light as it was intensely planned. No replacement plans for “Island Village” are on the table but the company is looking into alternatives and is inviting its key members, the home owners of Celebration, to give their input on the situation and to make sure the development of “Island Village” will be able to continue.

(more…)

Yes! We did it. One year later: the Mousekingdom Blog can celebrate its very first year of operation!

What a ride it has been so far (and there is no intention at all stopping this ride now). We can celebrate this blog and I will do so with a little pat on the back as we have worked hard to make it what it is today.

Of course there are many people I would like to thank after this first year of blogging…

(more…)

It doesn’t happen a lot you get to see Walt Disney World, Universal Studios and SeaWorld in the same advertisement like the new Orlando “Built for families. Made for memories.” advertisement videos that are shown on TV right now…

I must admit that I like the “turning young” story they use in the videos. This describes what many of us fans feel when we visit the theme parks…

You can see the ads on Orlando Sentinel’s Tourism Central Florida Blog