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Roundtable
Contributors: Princess Fee (DF’82),
Estelle Hallick (This Happy Place), Alan Mize, Blake Taylor (BlakeOnline.com),
Andrew (Disney
Hipsters Blog), and yours truly.
Andrew (Disney Hipsters Blog)
I know of a lot of people who were huge fans of the recently defunct Epcot Segway tours. I was never one of them. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for a la carte Disney offerings, and have partaken in a few tours myself. The sense of superiority and exclusivity that goes along with these tours is also quite wonderful...and I fully support these feelings while on vacation. However, the mechanical beasts (aka, Segways) are completely intrusive to the extensive theming of World Showcase. How can I fully immerse myself in ancient Mexico (and her bountiful margaritas) while dodging a line of Segways? I think, if anything, these tours should be restricted to Future World.
Blake Taylor (BlakeOnline.com)
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The Oscar-nominated short Paperman
is getting a lot of pre-awards buzz, and recently sparked a unique photo shoot
inside Disney California Adventure. Several fans created a Paperman "cosplay," short for costume play, dressing as
the man and woman from the short and re-enacting the story through photography.
The end result is simple but wow-worthy.
The cosplay is but a small glimmer in a wave of Internet adoration for Paperman, and does a great job at
capturing the spirit and appeal of the wonderful short. Using Buena Vista
Street in DCA as a backdrop is a subtle and appropriate setting. Paperman debuted in theaters alongside
Wreck-It Ralph last November, and is now up for the Academy Award for Best
Animated Short Film. The big Hollywood hoopla goes down this Sunday at 8:30
p.m. EST on ABC. I sure hope Paperman
wins the Oscar; if it does, it will be the first time Walt Disney Animation
Studios has won the category since 1969's It's
Tough to Be a Bird.
Princess Fee (DF’82)
Estelle Hallick (This
Happy Place)
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I was undoubtedly confused by Disney’s
announcement that they would be launching their own cosmetic line to sell in
the theme parks. After impressive collections in Sephora in the past few months
(Cinderella, the upcoming Jasmine, and the current Oz sets), I’m not sure why
they would venture off on their own with this kind of product. Time and time
again, I see their nail polish and lip gloss sets in the clearance bin at the
Disney Store and I get the impression that people are not comfortable enough
buying an “unknown” brand even if Disney’s name is written on it.
According to the comments on the Disney
Parks Blog, the cosmetics will not be treated on animals and will be
cruelty-free. That’s a great selling point, and actually one I wondered about
as soon as I read the news blurb. (But why wouldn’t they mention it in the
original article?)
Most people who would buy these products
(the adults, anyway) already have brands they trust and unless Disney is going
to go one step further where we can test this new line beforehand (a la
Sephora), I don’t think it will prove to be a money maker. Why not continue to
team up with Sephora and create quality collections? (Or pull an O.P.I. nail
polish tactic and sell special Disney-fied collections with a trusted name on
them at a decent price?)
Sometimes I’m not sure Disney knows what
their consumers want to buy.
Alan Mize
According to internet rumors, Disney is set to start construction on a major overhaul of the Downtown Disney area. This overhaul will bring new restaurants, new shops, and new entertainment to the shopping area in hopes of rejuvenating a location that has become somewhat stale since the closing of Pleasure Island. Named after the street on which Walt opened his first animation studio, the new “Hyperion Wharf” is scheduled to open in 2013 and….wait…what? That can’t be right. 2013? It’s 2013 now and while I haven’t been down to WDW since October of 2011, I am pretty sure that no new shopping district is slated to open this year. I must have confused my internet rumors. Let me start over.
According to internet rumors, Disney is set to start construction on a major overhaul of the Downtown Disney area. This overhaul will bring new restaurants, new shops, and new entertainment to the shopping area in hopes of rejuvenating a location that has become somewhat stale since the closing of Pleasure Island. Named after the street on which Walt opened his first animation studio, the new “Hyperion Wharf” is scheduled to open in 2013 and….wait…what? That can’t be right. 2013? It’s 2013 now and while I haven’t been down to WDW since October of 2011, I am pretty sure that no new shopping district is slated to open this year. I must have confused my internet rumors. Let me start over.
With a nod to the nearby Saratoga Springs Resort, the new “Disney Springs”
will provide a much needed shot to the arm of the entire Downtown Disney
area. To start with, the entire district
will be renovated and split into six completely different neighborhoods: The
gateway, The Town Center, The Springs, The Landing, The Westside, and The
Village Marketplace. Much like the
previous plans, these new plans will bring in new restaurants, new shops, and
new entertainment in addition to a new parking deck intended to alleviate some
of the parking headaches that we’ve all encountered there.
While the cynic in me says that I’ve heard this story before only to see it
get cancelled and never mentioned again, I always try to look on the bright
side of things and I will admit that any kind of renovation or addition to
Downtown Disney is welcome. So far, this
is only a rumor and I haven’t seen any type of concept art so I don’t know what
it will look like, but the details of the new plans sound pretty exciting and I
hope that these rumors become a reality.
Ryan P. Wilson (Main Street Gazette)
Mickey is trading in his exposed camp hut
for a more stable base of operations. What was once Beastly Bazaar, located
near the Discovery Island entrance to Asia, will soon reopen as the Adventurers
Outpost. Currently, it appears that only Mickey and Minnie will make the trek
from Camp Minnie-Mickey to Discovery Island while the rest of the exploration
garbed gang stay put in the camp, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see the rest
there shortly after the Outpost opens.
This transition is part of the larger plan
for the Camp Minnie-Mickey swathe of land that is to be transformed into world
of Avatar. Your guess is as good as mine as to when or if the rebuilding
process will begin in earnest, and if it will in fact be based off of an Avatar
theme by the time it arrives. In the meantime, I am happy to see that thought
has been put into where the displaced characters would call home ahead of the
wrecking ball coming down. I am also intrigued by what the Adventurers Outpost
will look like in its interior. Utilizing the word ‘Adventurers’ in Walt Disney
World is sure to spark ideas of the Adventurers Club, and I can only let my
imagination run wild with ideas that perhaps some of the artifacts from the
club have made their way into Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
As for the camp that is being left
behind, I truly feel horrible for Camp Minnie-Mickey. Its slow demise over the
course of several years just seems like the wrong way to say goodbye to the
space.
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