Soaring Around The World Will Debut on June 17, DHS Toy Story Land Attractions Named, Jungle Book Show Coming to Animal Kingdom, and more...

Disney Parks released a short and silent clip with some footage from the awaited Soaring Around the World movie as well as new infos saying that thanks to "more than a dozen breathtaking ways you’ll be able to experience the wonders of the world when Soarin’ Around the World makes its groundbreaking debut across the globe this summer. The next generation of the popular Soarin’ attraction makes its premiere at the grand opening of Shanghai Disneyland this summer as Soarin’ Over the Horizon.

The next day on June 17, guests at Disney California Adventure park at the Disneyland Resort and Epcot at Walt Disney World Resort will be able to board the exhilarating aerial adventure that immerses you in a multi-sensory experience, complete with stunning sights, spectacular sounds and even subtle scents. Fastpass+ will be an option for Soarin’ beginning Thursday, April 21."




More infos as well as attractions names were also released today for Disney Hollywood Studios Toy Story Land: Guests will be shrunk to the size of a toy to explore the world of Andy’s backyard with your favorite Toy Story characters, including Woody and Buzz. There are two new themed attractions being developed for Toy Story Land.




The first – Slinky Dog Dash – will be a family coaster attraction you’ll want to ride again and again. The attraction features a coaster track that Andy has built all over his backyard using his Mega Coaster Play Kit, but as you know, he has a pretty amazing imagination, so he’s combined it with some of his other toys, according to Imagineer Kathy Mangum. Take a look at a concept video of Slinky Dog Dash that Kathy shared earlier.

On Slinky Dog Dash, you will zip, dodge and dash around many turns and drops that Andy has created to really make Slinky and his coils stretch to his limits.




The second DHS Toy Story Land will be Alien Swirling Saucers. This attraction is designed as a toy play set that Andy got from Pizza Planet, inspired by the first Toy Story film. Aliens are flying around in their toy flying saucers and trying to capture your rocket toy vehicle with “The Claw.”

Below, the rendering of Alien Swirling Saucers in Toy Story Land at Disney's Hollywood Studios.



As you rotate around the toy planets and satellites as part of the game, you’ll swirl to the beat of fun “Space Jazz” music developed just for this experience, Mangum said. The music, the lighting, and the sound effects will add to the flurry of your adventure while “The Claw” looms ominously over you.

Also beginning Memorial Day weekend, even more guests will be able to experience Toy Story Mania with the addition of a third track!

At Disney's Animal Kingdom, Rivers of Light night show may not debut early summer but starting Memorial Day weekend, others offerings will debut, including a Jungle Book show:

The Jungle Book: Alive with Magic

For the summer, Discovery River becomes the stage for music and pageantry in a limited-engagement show inspired by Disney’s hit live-action film The Jungle Book. Jungle Book: Alive with Magic is a live show filled with music and special effects that celebrates the new film and the classic songs, now infused with an Indian influence.

The Tree of Life Awakens

The theme park’s iconic Tree of Life will undergo extraordinary “awakenings” throughout the evening as the animal spirits are brought to life by magical fireflies that reveal colorful stories of wonder and enchantment. High-tech projections of nature scenes take on a magical quality as they appear to dramatically emanate from within the Tree of Life.



Kilimanjaro Safaris after Dark

Each evening, the popular Kilimanjaro Safaris daytime experience is artfully bathed in the glow of sunset with special lighting allowing guests to explore this attraction well into the night. During the expedition, guests can now encounter the nighttime behavior of the wildlife and better tune in to the unique vocalization of the animals. Plus, there are two new species to discover: African wild dogs and hyenas.

Harambe Wildlife Parti

When the sun sets, the popular Village of Harambe will become a hot spot with the new Harambe Wildlife Parti. Here, “party animals” can dance alongside a variety of entertainers and local street musicians, and enjoy the lively rhythms of African music. Guests can also partake in exotic foods and libations, and explore the diverse wares of village artisans and merchants in the vibrant marketplace.

Discovery Island Carnivale

The spirited community of Discovery Island has come together to celebrate their love of the natural world with the Discovery Island Carnivale. This nightly experience will captivate guests with lively music, jubilant dance, vibrant costumes, stilt walkers and tasty culinary creations — winding from one end of the island to the other.

Tiffins Signature Restaurant

In addition to the diverse new entertainment offerings, guests will enjoy Disney’s Animal Kingdom’s new signature eatery, Tiffins. Open for both lunch and dinner, this new signature dining experience will celebrate the art of traveling and include waterfront views from both indoor and outdoor seating areas. “Tiffin” is an Indian English word meaning midday meal or type of container used to carry food while traveling.

New Adventures with Favorite Attractions

Most attractions remain open at nightfall, and will shine like never before. At sundown, Kali River Rapids will reveal mysterious twists and turns throughout the rainforest with dramatic and drenching fun. Expedition Everest thrills adventurers as it lurches forward and backward through the icy peaks of the Himalayas. At night, the majestic mountain challenges trekkers to an evening ride revealing breathtaking views of the Animal Kingdom canopied by starlight. Amidst the colorful midway games at Chester & Hester’s Dino-Rama in DinoLand U.S.A., the thrills turn up aboard the zany Triceratop Spin or Primeval Whirl under the lights.

Pictures : copyright Disney

Animal Kingdom Rivers of Light Show & Nighttime Offerings Delayed Until Mid or Late May

The Disney Parks blog announced that Animal Kingdom's Rivers of Light night show will not open as planned on April 22 as "we give the team more time to bring these innovative experiences to life in a way we know will exceed our guests’ expectations."
More information about timing will be shared on the Disney Parks Blog by mid- to late May. 

The image above from a recent rehearsal of Rivers of Light illustrates a bit of the beauty and complexity of this innovative blend of water, light and original music that brings with it so many firsts.




Disney also released this video of the iconic Tree of Life showing how the centerpiece of Disney’s Animal Kingdom will truly come alive with swirling animated imagery that tells enchanting stories from nature. And i add that it looks absolutely really beautiful!



















Pictures and video: copyright Disney

Walt Disney World Water Permit Shows the Layout of Animal Kingdom Avatar Land Na'vi River Journey Boat Ride

A new Walt Disney World water permit filed with the South Florida Water Management District shows the layout of the Na'vi River Journey boat ride of Disney's Animal Kingdom Avatar land.

The permit say that it is for a "indoor water system" ride has been filed to have the approval to discharge water to a stormwater pond nearby the construction site of Avatar land. And a map included with the documents shows the blueprint of what is most probably the location for Pandora's Na'vi River Journey boat ride.
 

Last November the Disney Parks Blog described Na'vi River Journey as "a family-friendly attraction called Na’vi River Journey. The adventure begins as guests set out in canoes and venture down a mysterious, sacred river hidden within the bioluminescent rainforest. The full beauty of Pandora reveals itself as the canoes pass by exotic glowing plants and amazing creatures. The journey culminates in an encounter with a Na’vi shaman, who has a deep connection to the life force of Pandora and sends positive energy out into the forest through her music. Na’vi River Journey will open with Pandora – The World of Avatar in 2017"
 

Pictures: copyright Disney

Animal Kingdom Avatar Land Construction Site Aerial Pictures

Our friends on ThemeparX  have posted some great aerial pictures of Animal Kingdom's Avatar Land construction site showing that the works are now going vertical. Thanks to these pics we now have  a better idea of how big the land will be, and learn more as you'll see below.

According to Lance on Screamscape.com "the large visible concrete pad is not the new flight simulator ride however but rather I think that this might be the location of the flume ride next door that was visible in the leaked plans. However next to this you can see what looks like a series of concrete footers and slightly rounded walls in an almost diamond pattern that matches up perfectly in the shape of the four sided flight simulator ride plans. I’m guesing that the other visible structure going up nearby will be for either a restaurant or more likely, a large enclosed gift shop that will serve as the exit to the new E-Ticket attraction."

Two more pics below and there is plenty more aerial pictures to see on ThemeparX so make sure to have a look at them HERE.

Talking about the Avatar land simulator ride, the ride system itself, supposedly to use a flying simulator like Soarin' to give to the guests a perfect "flying" feeling might use this new Vekoma flying simulator that you can see below.

Called I-ride by Vekoma and its partner Brogent Technologies it's a flight simulator "composed of a spherical screen, projection system and 9 moveable platform units for a total of 90 passengers (or alternatively with 16 platforms for 160 passengers.) the motion platform of I-ride system is based on units of a proven system, which were built many times since 1995 as flight, tank and train simulators."

"The sophisticated motion platform provides six Degree of Freedom. This means simulator can be moved in the six ways: heave, Sway, Surge, pitch, roll and yaw. The flight experience can be enhanced with 4d effects such as wind and spray mist. I-ride offers the most exhilarating and breath-taking bird's eye view experience!"

Considering that during this flying ride Avatar Land guests are supposed to soar in the sky riding a Banshee, a spherical screen could be the best for a total immersion. We'll see if WDI will use this new Vekoma flight simulator or create their own one!

Pictures: copyright ThemeparX, Vekoma, Disney

James Cameron confirms Avatar 4 and reveals that it will be a prequel !

Some weeks ago i told you that three more Avatar movies would be released in 2014, 2015 and 2016. Then three days ago IGN said that the Avatar 4 movie was apparently cancelled and only two sequels would be released. But as James Cameron revealed in the video interview below an Avatar 4 should finally be done, except that it would be a PREQUEL to the Avatar 1:
"I haven't really put pen to paper on it, but basically it goes back to the early expeditions of Pandora, and kind of what went wrong with the humans and the Na'vi and what that was like to be an explorer and living in that world," Cameron said, adding: "Because when we drop in, even in the first film in 'Avatar 1,' as it will be known in the future, we're dropping into a process that's 35 years in to a whole colonization. That will complete an arc and if that leads into more, we'll start, not imitating 'Star Wars,' but it's a logical thing to do because we'll have completed the thematic arc by the end of three. The only thing left to do is go back to see what it was like on those first expeditions and create some new characters that then become legacy characters in later films. It's a plan."

If we add to this news the last report from Screamscape about the Avatar Land saying: "Despite the rumor from IGN claiming that the Avatar project may have hit a speed bump, local sources say that the early prep work projects are moving full steam ahead, with deadlines to keep" , it seems that finally everything goes pretty well for all Avatar projects whether it is the movies or the the new land at Animal Kingdom.

Get More:
Movie Trailers, Movies Blog

Video: copyright MTV News


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A Tribute to Tom Thordarson - a.k.a " THOR " - Artwork - Part Two : Dinosaurs Ride Concepts

Here is the awaited part two article of my Tom "Thor" Thordarson artwork tribute.

At the end of the 90's, Tom also worked for Landmark Entertainment on an incredible ride project. I think the best way to describe it is like a "Jungle Cruise with Dinosaurs" project. The attraction , very unfortunately, was never built, but i have Tom's great renderings to show you! Tom was asked by Landmark to take a shot at key scenes that would depict a boat ride similar to Disney's Jungle Cruise but crossed with Dinosaurs as in "Dinotopia".



There was not really an order in the scenes you will see below, but Tom's concepts are incredibly exciting. Who wouldn't love to ride a "Jungle Cruise" like this? A ride where you can see giant Brachiosaurus (picture above)...

Or fighting Velociraptors...



A ride where you can have a dreadful encounter not with one but THREE life-size T-Rex...



A ride where your boat would be attacked by a bunch of Pterodactyls...



Let's Tom tell us more about it: "I created situations where there was a lot of natural overhead coverings like fallen trees and large dinosaur rib masses overgrown with foliage. This gave areas to create interesting effects with mist and lighting and all the streams of light that would patch areas of activity..."



"It's part of creating mystery and drama in a ride. A show designer is always thinking of changing the feel and atmosphere as much as possible as a ride moves through. Things like creating a tight, close tunnel like area just before opening to a larger, epic scene makes that epic scene seem all the more amazing and grand in contrast. A classic example of this is in Disneyland. In Pirates of the Caribbean, we enter the big ship and fortress battle scene right after the close quartered cavern scenes. It makes that room seem all that higher and grander! Kind of like taking a swig of lemonade just before eating a candy cane. It makes that old candy cane EXPLODE with sweetness in contrast!!! The psyche in ride show design is like that too."



"I also describe some of the animation like in the frame with the Brachiosaurus descending into the lagoon near the boat and spraying the riders. Fun stuff..a little scary too! Add scary to fun and you get thrill!"



"All in all, these frames gave a feel for the attraction in VERY early concept. I really didn't follow where it all went from here. I was on other projects also at the time and like many concepts I touched, I would offer my ideas and move on to the next very rapidly."

Tom was also very involved working with MCA Universal on the early development of the Jurassic park ride in Hollywood. He did an overall birds eye view and a lot of story boards like this one below.



But there is another dinosaur attraction project on which Tom worked and helped to design. And just like the "Jungle Cruise Dinosaurs" ride, it's an attraction that never was. It was a roller coaster ride called "The Excavator" and it would have been located near the boneyard of Dinoland U.S.A at Disney's Animal Kingdom! The train would have gone through a dinosaur excavation site, with dinosaurs audio-animatronics along the ride!



WDI imagineers envisioned to add a roller coaster in this AK land, and because they had all these dinosaurs sculpture molds done for the "Countdown to Extinction" attraction, they thought it could be a good idea to use them and have audio-animatronics in an outdoor roller coaster. It sure was a great idea! Of course, there is always the weather problem when you put Audio-animatronics outside, but it's always possible to find a themed solution to shelter them...



As you can see the Carnosaurus - the star of "Countdown to Extinction" was back in this coaster concept. And i wonder if this is not one of the reason why the concept was never build. After all, in "Countdown to Extinction" we are supposed to meet the Carnosaurus when we are sent back in time, so why would we meet him again in our era? Although it could have been possible to imagine (in the attraction story line) that "we" brought him back inadvertently instead of the other dinosaur that we're supposed to save from the "extinction".

Mind you, Tom didn't do only dinosaurs design for Animal Kingdom, he also did some great concepts for the now famous Beastly Kingdom, like this mythical creature below when WDI asked him to come up with some ideas for this land that never was.



Before i leave you, i'd like to comeback one minute on the great Landmark "Jungle Cruise Dinosaurs" renderings as you can find some of them on sale on ebay - and yes, it's the originals, not prints and at very affordable price. They're part of the Landmark Selection sale i told you before, and if you're interested to have a look, just go HERE. I want to add that the Landmark sale prices on ebay are NOT the normal prices for Tom's paintings.

I would like also to remember you that Tom Thordarson have his own web site and a gallery in Hawaii - more precisely on the Island of Oahu - where you'll be able to find his beautiful Tiki and Hawaian artwork, including the Tiki idols series. Some of them are on sale, and whether it is the originals or very affordable prints, any Tiki lover will find his happiness! Also, if you're a fan of Tom's artwork and want to contact him, feel free to do it through his MySpace page.
Please have a look to the previous article to discover Tom Thordarson Tiki and Pirates artwork.

I would like to thanks once again Tom Thordarson for his great help in the making of this article, and his beautiful artwork!


Thanks to leave a comment or discuss this article on D&M english forum on Mice Chat

Artwork: copyright Landmark, Universal, and Disney & WED Enterprises for the last three pictures.

Expedition Everest Behind the scenes - Photos, Artwork, and Videos

The opening of Expedition Everest at Animal Kingdom was a major event : Imagineering was back at his best! This huge E-ticket attraction is undoubtedly one of the best achievement from WDI imagineers. Its stunning theming made it an instant success , and here is a tribute to Joe Rhode and his team of imagineers with a great "behind the scenes" documentary.
I must add that it is one of the best making-of i ever seen on any Disney attraction.

As always at WDI, it all begin with models and artwork, let's have a look first at some renderings.








Then, it's the time to do the models...






And now, it's time for this fantastic making-of documentary! The videos below are in five parts, and watch all of them, you won't regret it!












Let's end with some beautiful shots of the whole area and a Disney video of the ride as well as a video of the grand opening of the attraction.










The first of these two last videos is a Disney promotional video showing part of the ride and the last one show Expedition Everest opening ceremony.






All photos and artwork: copyright Disney

Videos: copyright Science and Disney - Many thanks to vaultdisney for the youtube links !