WDWTools Blog – Page 2 – Updates and announcements to maximize your magic.

Frozen Summer Fun 2015: Overview

Frozen Summer Fun is back for its second year through September 7!

See Elsa, Anna, Olaf, and Kristoff in a parade. There are clumps of soap that fall through the sky, which looks kind of like snow from a distance.

Every souvenir stand and food shop carries Frozen merchandise. There are “etchings” in “ice” along the facades of the theater. The Frozen Sing-Along has inhabited the space that used to host American Idol.

There are these little cupcakes that have chocolate with Frozen characters printed on.

Frozen Fever, a short film recounting a surprise birthday celebration for Anna, is being screened every 30 minutes all summer long.

Olaf’s Summer Cooldown is a new stage show for this year. Olaf comes out and leads the audience in a few dances.

Steam machines blast “cold air” at the crowd.

There is a dessert party and nightly fireworks also. If you have pictures of these things, contact us and we may buy them to put on the blog.

Have a cool summer!

First Details on “Frozen Ever After”, Maelstrom’s replacement

The first details on Frozen Ever After, the Frozen ride expected to replace Maelstrom, have been released on the Disney Parks Blog today.

Frozen Ever After concept rendering. The guests are seen riding in Viking-style longships that appear very similar to the ones used on Maelstrom.
Image © Disney, All Rights Reserved

The ride is expected to start guests out in Arendelle on a hot summer day when Elsa decides to grant a one-day wintry respite for her subjects. Elsa’s Ice Palace and other prominent locations from the 2013 film are also expected to appear.

The Norway Pavilion will be expanded to facilitate the additional crowds. Details on the expanded facility were revealed through a municipal filing (zip of docs) in January, which was falsely reported as a complete conversion of the pavilion from Norway to Arendelle. Vacant land bordering Mexico and Norway, previously speculated to be the home of a new pavilion, is being used to accommodate the work.

The expanded Norway will have “many unique Norwegian architectural features and afford guests the opportunity to meet Anna and Elsa at Epcot, which has been unavailable since the sisters moved to Princess Fairytale Hall in the Magic Kingdom in April 2014.

A castle, reminiscent of the one shown in Frozen, can be seen rising over the Norway pavilion from the World Showcase. This photo shows construction as of May 17, 2015.

Construction walls are decorated with Frozen-themed art.

The renovation of Norway’s pavilion to accommodate the demand for a Frozen attraction has been a source of controversy within the Disney Parks community since the shutdown of Maelstrom in October 2014. Prior thereto, the World Showcase had been fairly immune to vertical integration, retaining a high-class educational atmosphere. Concerns that Disney will lose respect for the mature ambiance of the World Showcase and seek to replace neutral cultural experiences with the next hot promotional opportunity stalk many fans.

Maelstrom’s signage before its closure.

Disney executive Tom Staggs told the Wall Street Journal that the integration is justified because of the larger crowds it will bring to the pavilion, saying “[i]f the goal is to give people a taste of something like Scandinavia with the Norway pavilion, then â€˜Frozenâ€™ would only increase the extent to which people would be drawn to it”.

Frozen Ever After is expected to open in 2016.

24 Hours at the Magic Kingdom 2015: Morning

The Magic Kingdom will be open for 24 consecutive hours today, May 22, 2015 — the fourth 24-hour event hosted at the Disney Parks (Disneyland in California will also be open for 24 consecutive hours).

We were at the park at rope drop

… and snagged a copy of the Times Guide for this special event. This year, the theme is “Coolest Summer Ever”. Frozen was released in November 2013, 540 days previous to this event. Disney’s Tomorrowland, a major motion picture, hits theaters today. Disney also has another major motion picture hitting cinemas in 27 days, Pixar’s Inside Out. One may question the choice of theme.

The 24-hour day is the one day each year when it’s possible to photograph Magic Kingdom landmarks at sunrise.

Sunrise on Tomorrowland

Sunrise on Cinderella Castle

Sunrise on Astro Orbiter

Sunrise on The Hall of Presidents

Sunrise on Rapunzel’s Tower

Sunrise on Casey’s Corner

The event shirt is on sale between now and May 31st.

We’ll be back with more coverage through the overnight hours.

Rebel Hangar: a Star Wars Lounge Experience

Rebel Hangar: a Star Wars Lounge Experience is a new addition to Star Wars Weekends for 2015. A portion of the seating at Backlot Express has been repurposed to accommodate the new experience. Unlike Backlot Express, which remains counter service, Rebel Hangar is table service.

Mobile red dividers separate the remainder of Backlot Express from the Hangar and many props that are part of Backlot Express have been replaced or Star Wars-ized in the Hangar section. Each table has a cemented Star Wars figurine; AT-ATs, X-Wings, and favorite characters like Han Solo and R2D2 are among the centerpieces. Many centerpieces can be posed or moved; the cockpit on the speeder on our table opened.

As a lounge experience, the offerings are fairly light assortments of snack-style foods. We ordered The Dark Fried (waffles and chicken nuggets), Ilum Fruit and Cheese Sabers, a plate of crackers, cheeses, and fruits, and Blue Milk, a delicious blue-raspberry flavored milk.

Although Rebel Lounge is not character dining, Stormtroopers, Jawas, and even Chewbacca may make an appearance and be available for pictures. Different characters may pass through as available. They make the rounds quickly but do not ensure they stop at every table. Politely approach the character shortly after he/she enters to ensure that you are able to get a photo. We encountered a Stormtrooper and Chewie.

Price: ~$15 per plate
Tables in Wonderland: No

It can be very difficult to get reservations for this limited-time engagement, which runs through the close of Star Wars Weekends on June 14. Use WDWTools’s ADR Sniper to get Rebel Hangar and all the advanced dining reservations you need to make your trip as magical as possible!

Jedi Mickey’s Star Wars Dine at Hollywood & Vine 2015

Star Wars Weekends are just around the corner, but Mickey and friends have already brought the rebellion to Hollywood & Vine!

When you check in, you’ll be given a buzzer and asked to wait on the front porch of Hollywood & Vine, which has ample bench space. Complimentary water is provided on hot days. When the buzzer goes off, you’ll line up and the first place you’ll be ushered is the Jedi Mickey photo-op. Use your wait time to freshen up, fix your hair, and cool off, so that you’re ready to have your photo taken with The Big Cheese.

After the photo opportunity with Jedi Mickey, an autograph card bearing the signatures of all characters on meet and a themed PhotoPass card will be furnished.

Next, you’ll be escorted to your table and free to embark on the buffet.

The buffet has various breads, salads, meats, and an abundant dessert station. Pretzel rolls and fish and chips are among the more unique offerings. Staples included at a small kid’s buffet are mini corn dogs, chicken nuggets, and macaroni and cheese. Many dishes have a themed label, like “R2-D2’s Cantaloupe Salad” or “Chewbacca’s Chicken Tenders”.

The dessert station has a chocolate fountain in which pretzels and strawberries are dipped, key lime tarts with printed chocolate inserts featuring both Darth Maul Donald and Jedi Mickey, Yoda and Darth Vader cupcakes, Chewbacca and Stormtrooper cookies, soft serve, and more. The desserts here are awesome!

This dinner buffet provides meets with six characters:

Jedi Mickey
Princess Leia Minnie
Darth Vader Goofy
Stormtrooper Donald
Ewok Chip
Ewok Dale

In conventional character dining style, the characters roam the dining room and are available for photo ops throughout your meal. Each character will make sure to stop by at least once. The sole exception to this is Jedi Mickey, who does *not* roam the dining room in conventional style. He can only be met at the photo station as you enter the restaurant for your reservation.

Ewok Dale

Ewok Chip

Stormtrooper Donald

Darth Vader Goofy

Princess Leia Minnie

Jedi Mickey

The cost is $57.99 per adult and $34.99 per child. Soft drinks are included. Tables in Wonderland is NOT accepted for this event.

Think you want to go? Reservations are required and very difficult to obtain. Our dining search tool may be able to help you find a reservation. If you can’t find what you need immediately, click the “Watch” button to set up a watch with our ADR Sniper tool and be notified as soon as an opening occurs. Hollywood & Vine’s standard dinner offering will be available again on June 15, 2015, the day after this year’s final Star Wars Weekend.

Look forward to more coverage of Star Wars Weekends 2015 in the near future.

Around Epcot’s Flower and Garden 2015

Flower and Garden is in full bloom at Epcot.

Gin Blossoms Rock Flower and Garden

Let me take you back to a time when Friends was still producing new episodes. This was a time when Grunge was more than just the gunk under your fingernails, and flannel shirts played a major role in your weekly â€œshirt rotation.â€ A band with a decent following in Tempe, Arizona hit the radio waves with catchy tunes like â€œHey, Jealousyâ€, and â€œFound Out About You.â€ No, Iâ€™m not talking about the Goo Goo Dolls, or Lit, or Toad the Wet Sprocket.

Iâ€™m talking about the Gin Blossoms.

They had a rocky start to their career, and a road filled with few hits after that blast in the early 90s, but theyâ€™re still putting butts in seats for their concert. Take, for example, the three nights they just completed at EPCOTâ€™s America Pavilion. The Gin Blossoms were the first in a long series of concerts that will accompany the 2015 International Flower and Garden Festival at EPCOT this year.

I can tell you that nearly every person in that audience tonight knew all the words to all the songs. Playing the hits mentioned above, they also dipped into â€œAllison Roadâ€ and â€œFollow You Downâ€. On more than one occasion, Robin Wilson felt comfortable enough with the audience that he wandered out into our midst, to lead us on and let us sing into the microphone.

Robin, and his belly button, leading the audience in a round of clapping. Jesse Valenzuela on guitar and Scott Hessel on the drums, in the background.

This wasnâ€™t the Gin Blossomâ€™s first visit to EPCOT. They were here back in 2012 for both Food & Wine as well as 2013â€™s Flower & Garden. But, itâ€™s been a while for the band, so weâ€™re happy to have them back. According to Robin, at the outset of the show, theyâ€™re in talks for returning again next year.

Lead Singer Robin Wilson, Bill Leen on bass, Scotty Johnson on guitar, and Scott Hessel on drums.

Under the Sea reopens

Refurbishment on Under the Sea concluded yesterday.

A few minor changes to the ride were made.

A few new fish have been added

Lighting in the “Under the Sea” room is much improved. It is also bluer.

A few animatronics were given stringy hair in place of and/or on top of their plastic block hair.

And just for fun: bonus shot: King Triton.

Lunchtime ADRs at Be Our Guest: February 26, 2015

Thanks to the WDWTools ADR Sniper, we were able to be among the first to enjoy lunch at Be Our Guest as the new lunchtime ADR system rolled out. Lunch at Be Our Guest is the first quick service meal that offers ADRs.

There was a large crowd (above) attempting to enter the standby queue as lunch began to be served at 10:30 am, but for the first time, they were being turned away as staff informed that standby was full and only guests with reservations were being admitted. Prior to the lunch ADR system rollout, all of these people would’ve entered a line that usually took up the entire bridge and expanded outward along the wall, often reaching half-way to Gaston’s on the other side of 7DMT. Those who were turned away were asked to check again later in the day to see if more standby availability had opened.

My reservation was at 10:35. I walked up around this time and after waiting a short while for a cast member with an iPad (the reservation check-in desk was not being used), I was checked in, handed a menu, and brought to a register just past the front entrance. This register is where guests with ADRs place their orders; if the guest has ordered in advance through Disney’s website, as I did, all he must do here is pay. The Beast’s study continues to host the registers for lunchtime standby guests.

While standby guests continue to receive a “magic rose” buzzer to mark their place, guests with reservations do not; I was simply handed a receipt and told to leave it out so the CM delivering food could confirm the order. I went and found a cozy spot in the Ballroom and enjoyed the view of the gentle snowfall out the window while I waited for my meal to be delivered.

After a few minutes, a cast member brought this delicious meal to me: a fried turkey sandwich and a cupcake topped with the ever-elusive “Grey Stuff”.

It was pretty good.

Although it can get pretty busy at lunch time, as you can see in the image of the ballroom below, the new system redirects standby guests to other areas of the park and makes it possible to enjoy the beautiful landscapes visible from the Be Our Guest bridge. Before the lunchtime ADR system, this bridge would be packed with standby guests waiting hours for their chance to get in and check out BOG for themselves. It’s even packed at dinner time, as dinner guests with reservations usually wait here too.

Lunch at Be Our Guest is a truly magical experience. The crowds are low, affording more opportunity to peruse the Beast’s castle, the pressure is off, and it’s very enjoyable. Strongly recommended for your next trip, and thanks to the new lunchtime ADRs and the WDWTools ADR Sniper, you can enjoy it without having to wait in a long line OR spending months refreshing Disney’s site looking for a reservation.

ADR Challenge: Be Our Guest Lunch

OUTCOME: 2 Reservations Booked in Under an Hour!

Disney opened Be Our Guest up for lunch ADRs just this morning. There’s been a frantic rush to book these dates and a lot of issues for people using Disney’s system. Let’s see how we do with WDWTools’s ADR Sniper.

We created a watch between tomorrow, Feb 26, and March 4, the next 7 days. I would’ve gone further but I have prior obligations on March 5-7.

We added this watch at 12:54pm and received our first notification at 12:56pm. Two of our March dates had opened up: March 2 and March 4. I immediately booked March 2!

In less than five minutes, I already had a reservation within the week. I didn’t have to refresh Disney’s site incessantly and deal with the error messages many others have been getting as Disney strains under the barrage of searches. I didn’t get half-way through my reservation and have the reservation fail because WDWTools’s ADR Sniper has advanced false positive detection.

Only about 20 minutes later, I got an even better notification: the ADR Sniper had found an opening for tomorrow!

I also booked this immediately.

Thanks to the WDWTools ADR Sniper, I will be one of the first lucky diners at Be Our Guest for its revamped lunch!