Month: August 2015

Major new lands coming to Hollywood Studios

Last week’s D23 conference revealed two major new developments at Disney’s Hollywood Studios: Star Wars Land and Toy Story Land. Both have long been rumored and anticipated, but are now official. Star Wars Land will also be added to Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. Early concept art was revealed for both lands.

Toy Story Land at DisneyÕs Hollywood Studios in Florida -- The reimagining of Disney's Hollywood Studios will take guests to infinity and beyond, allowing them to step into the worlds of their favorite films, starting with Toy Story Land. This new 11-acre land will transport guests into the adventurous outdoors of Andy's backyard. Guests will think they've been shrunk to the size of Woody and Buzz as they are surrounded by oversized toys that Andy has assembled using his vivid imagination. Using toys like building blocks, plastic buckets and shovels, and game board pieces, Andy has designed the perfect setting for this land, which will include two new attractions for any Disney park and one expanded favorite. (Disney Parks)
Toy Story Land, based on “Andy’s backyard”

Star Wars-Themed Lands Coming to Disney Parks Ð Walt Disney Company Chairman and CEO Bob Iger announced at D23 EXPO 2015 that Star Wars-themed lands will be coming to Disneyland park in Anaheim, Calif., and DisneyÕs Hollywood Studios in Orlando, Fla., creating DisneyÕs largest single-themed land expansions ever at 14-acres each, transporting guests to a never-before-seen planet, a remote trading port and one of the last stops before wild space where Star Wars characters and their stories come to life. These authentic lands will have two signature attractions, including the ability to take the controls of one of the most recognizable ships in the galaxy, the Millennium Falcon, on a customized secret mission, and an epic Star Wars adventure that puts guests in the middle of a climactic battle. (Disney Parks)
Star Wars Land

Further detail on either development is scarce (speculation can be made from images of the concept art at reasonable resolution, like those shown here). More information was given about Star Wars Land than Toy Story Land, suggesting that it is further along in development. Star Wars Land will feature “two signature attractions”: one based on flying the Millennium Falcon and one in which guests are put “in the middle of a climactic battle”. There will be a walkthrough attraction called “Star Wars Launch Bay”. This is all the real information we have on either development so far.

In addition to the land overview, 3 other concepts around Star Wars Land were released:

Star Wars-Themed Lands Coming to Disney Parks – Walt Disney Company Chairman and CEO Bob Iger announced at D23 EXPO 2015 that Star Wars-themed lands will be coming to Disneyland park in Anaheim, Calif., and Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Orlando, Fla., creating Disney’s largest single-themed land expansions ever at 14-acres each, transporting guests to a never-before-seen planet, a remote trading port and one of the last stops before wild space where Star Wars characters and their stories come to life. These authentic lands will have two signature attractions, including the ability to take the controls of one of the most recognizable ships in the galaxy, the Millennium Falcon, on a customized secret mission, and an epic Star Wars adventure that puts guests in the middle of a climactic battle. (Disney Parks
Millennium Falcon

Star Wars-Themed Lands Coming to Disney Parks Ð Walt Disney Company Chairman and CEO Bob Iger announced at D23 EXPO 2015 that Star Wars-themed lands will be coming to Disneyland park in Anaheim, Calif., and DisneyÕs Hollywood Studios in Orlando, Fla., creating DisneyÕs largest single-themed land expansions ever at 14-acres each, transporting guests to a never-before-seen planet, a remote trading port and one of the last stops before wild space where Star Wars characters and their stories come to life. These authentic lands will have two signature attractions, including the ability to take the controls of one of the most recognizable ships in the galaxy, the Millennium Falcon, on a customized secret mission, and an epic Star Wars adventure that puts guests in the middle of a climactic battle. (Disney Parks)
Concept likely depicting the “climactic battle”

Star Wars Launch Bay Coming to Disneyland Resort and Walt Disney World Resort -- This interactive experience will take guests into the upcoming film, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, with special exhibits and peeks behind the scenes, including opportunities to visit with new and favorite Star Wars characters, special merchandise and food offerings. Star Wars Launch Bay will be located in the Animation Courtyard at DisneyÕs Hollywood Studios and in Tomorrowland at Disneyland park. (Disney Parks)
Star Wars Launch Bay

Pricing changes at WDWTools

WDWTools has released an update that changes our pricing structure for new elite members. Elite memberships are now available as a monthly auto-renewal at the cost of $21 per month. An activation fee will probably be added soon. Existing elite memberships will be honored and see no changes until their renewal date.

Single-watch pricing remains unchanged at $10 per watch.

This change is important in ensuring a stable future for WDWTools and allowing us to continue to provide the best tools for Walt Disney World travelers without resorting to unfair or abusive tactics. We are home of the original ADR Sniper and have always taken good citizenship very seriously. We take pride in the fact that our service is a net benefit for all parties, including Disney and travelers that do not use our tools, by ensuring that users of our service do not monopolize the available reservation pool and that Disney’s servers and user experience are stronger for our existence, not weaker.

WDWTools understands and appreciates its role as the professional’s choice in Walt Disney World planning and vacation tools. We’ve seen a lot of progress over the last year with the introduction of event watches and a beautiful new brand image from world-class designers to make the experience worthy of our clientele. We have many more exciting things coming in the next several weeks, including the re-introduction of Documents (and several top-secret projects that we’ll be announcing soon). We look forward to continuing the journey together and thank everyone for their support thus far.