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General Resort News - (11/20/09) The SavePleasureIsland blog has reported that some demolition work has begun at P.I. this week. They’ve got some pictures to show as well of the DJ booth that was over the Sosa location is coming down along with some of the lighting structures. Meanwhile on the backside of Mannequins, the outdoor staircase that led up into the club from this side, occasional used as an entrance on very busy nights, is also being removed. They also report hearing renewed rumors (as have I) that the first major structure to come down entirely will be the Rock ‘n Roll Beach Club.
    (11/9/09) Disney has been very quiet since they announced a plan to rebrand their Wide World of Sports Complex to something tied in with ESPN over a year ago, but according to the Orlando Sentinel the plan is moving forward again. Starting February 25th the complex will be renamed, “ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex”. Disney will give the complex a massive makeover, adding tons of HD Camera units, display screens, two large Jumbotron screens, a new audio system, broadcasting center and more. The goal will be to make all of the various competitors who come to take part in the mostly amature level events at the site feel like they’re made it to the big time… to feel like they are really being covered by ESPN. Disney will also add a new channel to their on-site resorts TVs decicated to covering events at the complex. The former All Star Café will also be remade into the ESPN Wild World of Sports Grill.
    (11/5/09) A few more pictures of the new Monorail Teal can be seen at MouseSteps.
    (11/5/09) Walt Disney World has put the new “Monorail Teal” into service this month. Monorail Teal isn’t actually a brand new monorail, but rather a Frankenstein style creation mixed up from the remains of Monorail Pink & Purple which will involved in the terrible crash this past July. You can see pictures of the ‘new’ Monorail Teal posted to Orlando United.
    (11/2/09) A man was arrested for carrying a loaded handgun at Downtown Disney after an off-duty deputy sheriff saw him flash some gang signs and noticed the weapon’s outline under his clothes. You can read more details here.
    (10/23/09) Walt Disney World is now offering a new kind of Annual Pass for Florida Residents… one with a very cheap price and some interesting restrictions. They are calling it the Florida Resident Weekday Select Pass and it goes for $169 for adults and $149 for kids. Weekends… Saturdays and Sundays, are blacked out all year long on this pass, as well as all the other normal busy blackout dates from Disney’s cheaper Annual Passes (ie: Dec. 19, 2009 to Jan 1, 2010, Mar. 27, 2010 to April 9th, 2010 and June 12, 2010 through Aug. 19th, 2010… Winter, Spring and Summer Breaks.) Parking is also not included with this pass either. Check out the official page here for details.

Downtown Disney News - (11/17/09) A reader tells us that they went by Downtown Disney this past weekend at the new Little MissMatched location was now open.
    (11/9/09) The former Starbillias location in Downtown Disney will soon reopen as a LittleMissMatched location. The new logo sign is up on the building along with a coming soon sign by the door.
    (9/8/09) While the exact nature of what may or may not happen in the Disney parks with the Marvel comic characeters is known yet, Screamscape has heard that perhaps the most likely possibility for them could be to create a Marvel Comics version of Star Wars Weekends that would run as a special event and not an attraction, as a possible loop-hole to get the characters into one of the WDW theme parks for a limited run.  I’ve also heard a very odd rumor about possibly repurposing the old Virgin Megastore into some kind of Marvel themed store that would sell merchandise as well as offer a few character Meet & Greets. As a retail store, it may also allow for a loop-hole to use the characters as it wouldn’t be a “theme park” experience. Of course, I’ve got to wonder if they may not go back and revive the old Marvel Mania restaurant idea as well for the same purpose.
    (6/8/09) I’m just going to file this one in the Wild Rumor folder for the time being, but one reader claims to have heard a story about how the Virgin MegaStore building may actually be leased out to Landry’s to turn it into another one of their Aquarium Restaurant concepts. This wouldn’t be entirely out of character for Landry’s either as they are already involved with Disney as the owners of the Rainforest Café, T-Rex as well as the Yak & Yeti inside the Animal Kingdom park. Anyone know more?

2011 - Bowling Stadium - (6/10/08) Disney’s Wild World of Sports, or whatever new ESPN brand name it will have in the near future, will begin to host a huge bowling tournament starting in 2011 for the United States Bowling Congress. To handle the huge 20 week events each year from 2011 to 2029, Disney will build a huge “Bowling Stadium” that will feature at least 100 lanes, stadium style seating, a new restaurant and more.
    Yes, you read that number correctly! At least 100 lanes of bowling… and according to this article that could make this the biggest bowling stadium in the country, and when the lanes aren’t being used for the competition, they will be open for all us regular folks to go play on. Disney has only said that an unnamed company will build and operate the 160,000 square-foot center. They expect it to be open by early 2010.
    There seems to be some debate over what the biggest bowling alley in the country is right now as some older centers that had over 100 lanes have closed in the last few years, including the 106 site at the Las Vegas’ Showboat. The current world leader (as far as I can find) is the 156 lane Nagoya Grand Bowl in Japan, but even that was dwarfed by the previous world record holder, the now closed Tokyo World Lanes that once claimed to have 252 lanes of bowling under one roof.

2011 / 2012 - Disney’s Animation Inn & Suites - (1/14/09) According to the latest report at Jim Hill Media, Disney may have decided to finally finish up the Pop Century Resort project, but with some significant changes. The half-built structures that have sat empty waiting for this moment will most likely be modified to become new multi-bedroom family suite rooms when they are ready to open sometime between late 2010 and 2011. Of course, Jim also mentions that the intention may be to entirely re-brand this resort as Disney’s Animation Inn & Suites, where they will then start to remodel some of the existing buildings into the new suite style rooms as well.
    (1/8/07) In regards to the eventual completion of the Disney’s Pop Century Resort, Disney confirmed to travel agents last April that unfinished side will be built up as new family style suites based on the demand for the 192 test units that were constructed at Disney’s All Star Music Resort last year. Disney has yet to provide anyone with a timetable to show a start or completion date on the project however.
    (1/5/07) In other news, a resort guest who stayed at Dinsney’s Pop Century resort tells us that several dormant construction vehicles were on site. Currently the resort is half built with five buildings themed to the second half of the century (50’s to 90’s). While there is a lobby / check-in building for the resort, there is also what looks like a completed second building already on site for the other five decades that have yet to be built (00 - 40’s) across the lake. Anyone know what the timeline is to complete this second half of the resort?

2011 / 2012 - Disney Cruise Line - (10/30/09) Disney released some great details about the new Disney Dream ship coming in 2011. For starters, take a look at this page and you’ll notice one major difference in particular, the addition of a large and long water coaster style slide that runs around the top deck of the ship… in a CLEAR tube, even hanging over the edge at one point. They call it the AquaDuck.
    Yes, the rumor I posted back on 2/26/09 has come true, “the ships may feature a crazy new waterslide design that will use a clear acrylic tube that will extend quite a ways over the edge of the ship before turning back in towards the ship again for the splashdown. So the only thing between your rear end and the ocean far far below will be a thin clear tube. Creepy… and very cool.”
    Well… mostly true, as even then I had not heard that it was a water coaster, much like the Crush ‘n Gusher slides at Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon, so there will at least be a raft between your rear end and the see-through tube hanging over the edge of the ocean. According to the official description, “Guests are propelled at high speeds from Deck 12, Aft through an acrylic tube on a breathtaking journey up, down, around and off the side of the ship, through the Forward Funnel and—following a mammoth drop—into a lazy river.” The AquaDuck is 765 feet long and will feature a “4 deck drop”.
    One more interesting feature of the Disney Dream is the “Virtual Porthole” added to the interior staterooms. This faux porthole HD video screen will show off real-time views of the outside world that will actually match up with the location of your stateroom’s position within the ship. From time to time, select Disney characters will also make surprise appearance in the porthole… such as the starfish from Finding Nemo, Captain Hook’s pirate ship out on the waves or even Mickey could drop by. Anything is possible, but if you get tired of it, you can turn off the Porthole at any time.
    (10/13/09) The Disney Cruise Line has announced plans to renovate Castaway Cay, the line’s own private island port of call. The plan is to add more water based fun activities as well as new beachside luxury features. Of course, they also need to do some upgrades to allow for the line’s two newest and biggest ships (Disney Dream & Diseny Fantasy) to dock.
    According to Disney they will add a massive 2400 square-foot “floating” water fortress called Pelican Plunge, that will feature water canons, a tipping bucket, and two water slides. To new landbased areas will also be added: Scuttle’s Cove (kiddie play area) and something called Spring-A-Leak, which will look like beach house that has been wrecked by a storm and feature a ton of leaky pipes and water spray features. Look like Pelican Plunge to open first in the first half of 2010.
    On the luxury side of things, 20 new cabanas will be added to the adults only beach (Senenity Bay) and 16 more at the Family Beach. These are more like mini-houses than a tent, as they each feature a front deck with a view of the water, lounge chairs, an outdoor shower, mini fridge and each has a flagpole for you to use to alert the bartenders when you need a drink. Other features being added to the island include a second buffet restaurant, a new beach bar, a new tram stop and second beach equipment rental building, to go along with a 70% space increase to the Family Beach area.
    (9/14/09) The Disney Cruise Line announced that they will be heading up to Alaska in 2011 with the Disney Wonder.
    (3/11/09) Disney has officially given names to their two new ships: Disney Dream and Disney Fantasy. It’s kind of funny though, as I guessed one of the two ships would be given the Disney Dream name a little over a year ago when the Disneyland Hotel renamed their three hotel towers to: Magic, Wonder and Dream towers. The Disney Dream will hit the waves first, launching in 2011 followed a year later by the Disney Fantasy.
    (2/23/07) The Disney Cruise Line confirmed plans yesterday afternoon to build two new unnamed ships that are planned to go into service in 2011 and 2012. The two yet-to-be-named ships will actually stand two stories taller than the Disney Wonder and Disney Magic and weighing in at an impressive 122,000 tons compared to the 83,000 tons of the older ships. The new twins will be built in Germany's Meyer Werft shipyard and feature 1,250 staterooms compared to the 877 staterooms on the first two. Right now they have not yet set the specific itineraries for the ships, but a previous rumor suggested that one might be sent periodically to the West coast to make the Alaska runs since the Wonder and Magic are not outfitted for that kind of environment.

2012 - Four Seasons Resort - (10/6/09) MouseSteps has posted a few new construction pictures showing off the current state of the Four Seasons Resort area.
    (9/2/08) We finally get a peek at just what the new Four Seasons resort on Walt Disney World property will look like, posted over at the Orlando Sentinel. According to the article, site prep has already started and the hotel is looking to open in 2012 instead of 2010.
    (3/1/07) Walt Disney World made two surprise announcements today about a major expansions planned for the resort. Disney has struck a deal to construct a 900 acre luxury resort and commercial district on the site of the current Eagle Pines and Osprey Ridge golf courses. The new site will be anchored by an official Four Seasons hotel and include an 18 hole golf course, like keeping one of the two existing courses or perhaps some kind of combination of the two. The site will also include an area for “single and multi-family vacation homes and fractional ownership vacation homes.” Screamscape has heard that the land itself for that has been rezoned from Reedy Creek to Orange County to prevent anyone else’s agenda from getting in the way of Disney and Reedy Creek which is pretty much their unofficial district they maintain control over. Work on the new hotel is supposed to begin later this year, though it wont be ready to open until 2010.

???? - Disney’s Jungle Trek / Night Kingdom - In Development - (8/21/08) According to information leaked in from the UK, it seems Disney may have changed the name of Disney’s Night Kingdom into Disney’s Jungle Trek. It seems a marketing group was issuing concept surveys to people in the UK who were frequent visitors to Walt Disney World to promote the newest take on the concept. The basic idea was a premium park experience like Discovery Cove with prices ranging between $250 - $350 a person. The experience would last five hours and include a two hour adventure hike across scary bridges into the jungle where you would come across ancient ruins, rare animal encounters and more along the way as your small group works together on some kind of mission task. It seems that the trip will also have more than one path for people who are unable, unwilling or just too young to take on the more physical challenges of the adventure, there will be alternative routes you can take as well.
    At the end of the hike you will come upon what is called the Global Village where you will spend the next three hours either relaxing or exploring even more new features if you’ve still got the energy. The features here will include more animal encounters, rock climbing, zip lines and more. This is where you will also stop to eat as well in The Marketplace.
    The overall list of attractions mentioned so far includes an encounters with a few different ancient ruins and temples, zip lines, a rain forest, boat rides, an otherworldly visit to the Spirit House, scary bridges over crocodile pits and encounters with hippos, bats, penguins, tortoises and kangaroos as they strive to take you on an adventure though five different wild regions of the world: Africa, South America, North America, Asia and Australia.
    Now the big change here is that they seem to have moved away from the After Dark only concept of the older Disney’s Night Kingdom proposal. They mention that these Jungle Trek tours would depart frequently between the hours of 9am to 9pm… so while there will be nighttime adventures offered (9pm to 2am for the last tour), there will be plenty of daytime opportunities as well.
    (7/3/08) While there still isn’t a lot known for sure about Disney’s Night Kingdom project, we have heard a rumor that some early site clearing for the project may have already started not too far from Animal Kingdom, so keep your eyes peeled. Also, unless the plan changes they concept of incorporating an Adventure’s Club into this project is still alive, so perhaps many features of the original club will live on here.
    (4/25/08) Today I have to officially change my stance on the whole Disney’s Night Kingdom park concept. New information has come to my attention proving that the concept is indeed in the works for Walt Disney World and shooting to open possibly in 2012. From what I’ve been told the history of the project comes from a desire by Disney to create their own version of a high-end Discovery Cove style mini-park experience mixed with an original proposal for a major overhaul and expansion to the existing Adventure’s Club at Pleasure Island.
    From the sound of things basic funding has been approved to proceed on with the design of this small but expensive project, but it’s not without some serious design challenges and still isn’t exactly the experience that Jim Hill had previously described. The big attraction and icon of the park, right now, appears to be a large central Disney-made mountain structure where guests will be forced to ‘rock climb’ to the top, take zip lines down again and explore a serious network of caves. The goal is for this to be a very interactive game based adventure experience, with both mental and physical challenges. The tricky part of the design process they’re said to be in now involves balancing it all out so that it doesn’t become so physically difficult that guests will become too pooped or intimidated to play while at the same time, they have to be sure they aren’t catering to the bottom end and make it all far too easy and boring for everyone else.
    As for the game aspect, it seems that the test run of that Kim Possible Communicator game at Epcot a year or so ago was just a large scale concept test for the Night Kingdom game concept. The idea is to equip every guest with their own communicator unit that will guide them from place to place, push them in the right direction when they get stuck, and be used to help solve the various games, puzzles and adventure challenges. Your communicator will also serve as a way for the park to identify you individually as a player and customize your interactions with the various game stations and animatronics. Fuzzy robots wont be the only things you interact with however, as there seems to be a plan in place to develop a number of encounters with live animals as well.
    (2/15/08) Jim Hill Media chummed the Disney waters today with his latest report about a possible new 5th park project in the works called Disney’s Night Kingdom. This concept is apparently something to compete with Discovery Cove and will feature a limited number of guests in a very interactive environment at a very premium price ($250-300). I can confirm that ever since SeaWorld first announced their plans for Discovery Cove, Disney has slaving away on a number of ideas to create a similar high-end concept, though most of them have involved finding an alternate use for the closed down Discovery Island and River Country areas. (Anyone remember the old rumor about Disney hiring the Myst video game team to create an adventure concept for them?) 
    Anyway, after reading through Jim’s article my first real impression is that this isn’t a plan for a 5th park at all, but more of a concept for a high-end after-hours tour experience around the resort. In his own descriptions it mentions guests checking in at an expanded Adventure’s Club location, night-vision tours of the savanna at Animal Kingdom, a tour of a bat cave and other things that all sound like they take place in existing areas of Walt Disney World after the rest of the daytime guests have gone home. A lot of the idea really sounds more like a nighttime version of the same kind of Adventure Tour concept cruise lines offer at the various ports, except that instead of offering it to cruise guests, it will be offered to Walt Disney World Resort guests on property. Seen in that light, it does make sense and sounds like something that could be arranged with a small capital investment cost, since the key is finding a way to make money off of many resort areas that are closed at night, which was pretty much the same concept that drove Disney to create the whole Grad Night concept in the first place.
    But I’m just not buying it as a concept for an official 5th Park. Just by calling it a “5th Park” would indicate to most guests that it would be something included in their Park Hopper options, which it clearly would not be. Keeping in mind the concept’s rumored Adventure’s Club check-in location, I’m just going to call Disney’s Night Kingdom an “Adventure Tour” and nothing more.

???? - Western Beltway Development - (12/4/07) According to the Orlando Sentinel private developers and merchants will be able to run their own small restaurants, a grocery store, retail shops and even a few “value” level hotels as part of Walt Disney World’s new Western development project. Disney has begun to offer parcels for sale for the 450 acre development project that they are calling Flamingo Crossings off Western Way that will be built up over the next decade.
    (3/12/07) Disney released some artwork of the Western Beltway Development project area with maps this week. For some reason it all looks very similar to the retail development off 192 just outside Celebration,
    (3/1/07) Walt Disney World made two surprise announcements today about a major expansions planned for the resort: The new Four Seasons resort and their Western Beltway Development plans. Disney is planning to develop a 450 acre retail and commercial development just outside the gateway near where Western Way meets the Western Beltway. This new area will include even more 3rd party branded hotels (4,000 to 5,000 rooms), restaurants and gift shops that will be built in phases over the next 10 years with site work also to begin before the end of the year.