Mousekingdom Blog

If there is one thing that might tickle my senses almost as much as Disney itself it’s Halloween! So combining Disney and Halloween is always a fun thing. To nobodies surprise I am a big fan of Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party. I love it! But I can’t stop there as there is to much Halloween fun in Florida to go unnoticed.

One of these events is Halloween Horror Nights over at Universal Studios. This year is a special celebration year. 20 years of Halloween Horror Nights! 8 haunted Houses, several scare zones and multiple show have been revealed for this special event and it looks… awesome!

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You can never start planning a Walt Disney World trip early enough. Not because it’s that difficult, but it’s just so much fun planning and thinking about the next trip.

With a planned trip in August 2011 we still have about 14 months to go, but as a Disney Vacation Club member the 11 month window for booking will be there soon enough.

So the first thing to plan, after dates have been picked, is the location. With our main Disney Vacation Club points being for Disney’s Old Key West it’s no surprise we will be there for the majority of our time. We can squeeze 9 days into it. That leaves me with some points from my Animal Kingdom Villas points. Although we did love the Animal Kingdom Villas, we might be using the points elsewhere.

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The flights in Europe are resuming but airlines expect it to take several days till regular operations will be fully established and all guests that were impacted by the air service interruption forced by the volcanic ash will finally be moved to their original destinations. In other words: there are still thousands of toruists worldwide stuck away from home. For those stuck in Orlando respectively the Orlando area the Tourism Bureau has collected a list of special offers as we already reported on Tuesday. In the meantime the list maintained by the bureau has grown substantially with new offers. And certainly there is something new for everyone interested in theme parks …

It all started with SeaWorld giving away free tickets for SeaWorld Orlando, Aquatica Orlando and Busch Gardens Tampa Bay. In the usual game of reactions in the Orlando theme park business Disney matched the offer by SeaWorld and started offering free tickets as well (even so the offer was limited to just two dates). The only one missing in the game was the Universal Resort. But no need to be afraid – just as the three major theme park players react to each other’s price increases, Universal did react to the free theme park ticket offer for stuck international guests as well …

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If you didn’t see the Super Bowl (or couldn’t watch it) last weekend you will also have missed the commercials everybody always talks about. If you missed them or want to see them again you can visit the official NFL homepage where you’ll find all commercials. For the Disney fans you’ll get to see the Prince of Persia and the Alice in Wonderland among the many other fun collection of commercials. No Walt Disney World commercial but you do get an inviting look at Universal’s Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

Picture Copyrights; Disney

Once Disney bought Marvel it was to be expected Universal would be used in the same article more than once. It’s even possible to open it with the three names in the first sentence. They will be linked with each other from now one, something not everybody might like, but unavoidable. Unsurprisingly the three names in one article will refer to the difficulties the new deal of Disney buying Marvel will be for the Universal theme Park. The question of what will happen to Marvel Super Hero Island was one of the first to pop up on many forums. No worries there, as most people already know, Marvel and Universal had signed a contract about 15 years ago where Universal had the sole right to use the characters in a theme Park. This contract has now been inherited by Disney when they bought Marvel and can’t be change. And if it could be change, would they want to? (at this time). The royalties that need to be paid for the use of the licensed characters is a nice bonus for the Walt Disney Company.

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The box office in the US is a burning … record after record is falling … while other parts of the economy are hard hit, going out for an evening at the movies seems to be “the” thing to do right now in the US. Past weekend the fourth installment of Universal’s franchise “Fast & Furious” (titled: “Fast & Furious – New Model… Original Parts”) starring Vin Diesel (he is still making movies??), Paul Walker as well as Michelle Rodriguez (which also starred in ABC’s hit series LOST) - all three from the original first movie – did take advantage of the hot box office by leaving several notable box office records in the US behind it in the dust according to reports:

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Dubai could have become the world capital of theme parks – if all announced and proposed projects would be realised, including amongst others a Universal resort, a Paramount resort, a Marvel comics park, a Dreamworks Studios park and many more. After doubts about the feasibility of this cluster of leisure projects (including the climate challenge, pricing, travel affordibility, employee-availability, …) couldn’t derail the projects, the current economic climate might do just that. As recently posted the SeaWorld parks have been put on indefinite hold and question marks seem to loom (even if only unofficialy) over many of the other projects. According to reports the Formula 1 theme park project “F1-X” in Dubai, which has more than 50% of its construction already completed, got suspended in February as well – due to the “drying up of liquidity from banks and financial institutions”. However, according to the Marketing Director of F1-X “The project is founded on a strong business model that withstands recession whilst allowing for the future growth of Dubai”. The company believes that a financial partner will come forward to capitalise on the opportunity of a half constructed theme park and a project “founded on a strong business model that withstands recession whilst allowing for the future growth of Dubai”. In fact, the company believes that the recent suspension will only delay the opening till 2010…

Considering this series of bad news from Dubai it is worth looking across the border into Abu Dhabi, where just 90 minutes by car frum Dubai, two other projects had been announced: a Ferrari theme park and a Warner Bros. theme park.

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While the Mousekingdom Blog is all about the magical world of Disney we can’t help ourself to sometimes talk about some other great stuff in the world of theme parks. For me that’s especially true when it comes to Roller Coasters. It’s never been a secret that I love Island of adventure too (although Harry Potter could change this feeling as I am not a fan of that change in the park), and when visiting Walt Disney World, a visit to the Universal Parks is a given. However, Universal Studios has not been on my list of favorites. Nor me or my family are a fan of the park and the only reason I returned there in 2007 was because of my love for Halloween Horror Night. But… then they came up with Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rockit and I have been following the project from the beginning. Now, I can’t wait to return to Universal on our next trip to try that monster! All it needed to convince me to visit their park again was too add a great coaster (See how easy I am pleased).

So why this long introduction? Here is one awesome picture from the new ride, taken from a helicopter above the Studios. You can find the big version on the Johnnyupsidedown.com site. Not only will you be able to gaze on the fantastic photo, but you can also follow the work done on the coaster on the site. There are always a great set of construction pictures added on regular basis. Enjoy the ride…

Picture copyrights Jordan Scarano

Universal continues to improve its offerings for guests and thereby also encroaching Walt Disney World in what it believed in the past was its very own territory … now they just added a cruise experience! But let’s not get into this story head over heels. So from the start…

Andy already made several posts in the recent months regarding the slow or even non-existing reaction of Walt Disney World to the additions that the Universal Resort as well as the SeaWorld Resort have been premiering in the last year (in particular the outstanding “Simpson – The Ride” at Universal and SeaWorld’s new water park) and are about to premiere this year (in particular the flying coaster “Manta” at SeaWorld as well as the new coaster at Universal Studios), not to mention the upcoming Harry Potter land at Islands of Adventure in 2010 as well as numerous small but guest friendly concepts such as the free option for guests staying at the official Universasl Hotels to use their room key as unlimited “Universal Express” pass to bypass queues at the major attractions or the all “all you can eat” options valid for a full day Universal or SeaWorld. Now the pressure keeps mounting as Universal decided to go head to head with WDW in one more area: cruises! (more…)

The news or even a rumour of a new attraction is always something exciting. We love to hear about it, write about it and dream about it. But it has been a while since we got some exciting news lately. The excitement came from other parks. Seaworld is getting “Manta”, Universal Studios is building “Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rockit” Roller coaster and Island of Adventure has plans to stun the audience with their Harry Potter park. All this is happening while Walt Disney World announced… well, nothing much.

OK, that wasn’t totally fair. Walt Disney World is getting Idol! It is also updating Space Mountain to Space Mountain Mission 2 and a new Stitch attraction has just entered the rumour mill.

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Mickey Mouse turns 80 today as he celebrates his very first oficial appearance in the Steamboat Willie short released on 18 November 1928. While this day will be remembered as Mickey’s Birthday, it wasn’t his very first short he appeared in. Before Steamboat Willie there was Crazy Plane and The Gallopin’ Gaucho, however it was Steamboat Willie that found its first distributor, hence making it the debut of Mickey. It is only after showing Steamboat Willie that the two previous works got the attention they deserved.

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Halloween; I love it. It is my favorite holiday. So I am a little sad I can’t be at Mickey’s not so scary Halloween Party or at either Universal Halloween Horror Night and Bush Garden’s Howl-O-Scream. Unfortunately I will not be there next Halloween either. The reason for that is I will be at Walt Disney World in August (So I shouldn’t be to sad about it) and going back that early in October wont happen (unless some miracle happens). For all those who are enjoying some Halloween in the parks; have fun and let us know how you liked the festivities.

Happy Halloween Everybody!

While adding Harry Potter to Islands of Adventure will be a goldmine for Universal Studios, I never liked they idea of it being added to the park. I loved the park how it was and will miss the “old” Lost Continent land. The land will be changed a lot, including the Dueling Dragons. If rumors are indeed correct Universal has now destroyed the dragon statue… The news isn’t 100% verified so I hope this rumor is incorrect. Please somebody come and tell us here Harry Potter didn’t kill the Dragons. (via screamscape)

Yesterday a devastating fire has destroyed a mayor part of Universal Studios Hollywood‘s backlot area. While firefighters did a tremendous job trying to control and save some of Universal heritage, the losses are still big. The King Kong attraction is destroyed as well as most of the sets from New York and New England Streets. The cause of the fire will be investigated. So far the news speaks of an explosion, but no further information is know yet. However, the famous Clock Tower Building from the Back to the Future fame has not been burned down as earlier news reported.

You can see a full news report, including a video of the flames tearing down the buildings on ABCnews and a collection of pictures on the BBC website. If you visit Screamscape you’ll find a “before and after” picture of the backlot area.

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.

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