Work has been progressing on the upcoming new Star Wars immersive resort, “Galactic Journeys: A Star Wars Adventure.” (That’s its proposed name, anyway.)
It’s being built on the south side of Disney’s Hollywood Studios. The resort will also be seamlessly connected to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, allowing guests to fully immerse themselves in the story behind their stay at an interstellar cruise liner.
For now, though, all we have are these walls. The resort project is finally going vertical, with a number of concrete panels installed, outlining what may be the perimeter of the resort.
The hotel itself will feature a basic rectangular design, confirming beliefs that it will be a smaller “boutique”-style hotel. According to the permits, rooms come in two sizes: a regular sized cabin and the larger first class cabin. The first floor has 32 regular cabins and two first class cabins. If the second floor has the same layout, the Star Wars hotel could have as little as 68 total rooms.
No opening date has been set for the Star Wars Hotel as of yet, but we expect to hear more about it at the 2019 D23 Expo in Anaheim coming up in August.
The construction crews at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom theme park have hit a new stage of work for the future Tron roller coaster ride.
The attraction is based on the Tron Lightcycle Power Run at Shanghai Disneyland and puts riders behind two-wheeled Lightcycles that race the digital world from the film series. There’s no specific opening date yet for the attraction, but Disney said it should be ready for the 50th anniversary of Walt Disney World in 2021.
A video shared by Disney said the attraction will use more than 300 ride columns to support it. Much of the underground and foundational work for the new attraction started more than a year ago.
The attraction will be built between the Space Mountain and Tomorrowland Speedway rides in Magic Kingdom’s Tomorrowland area.
Disney’s has been hard at work on the project filing multiple permits. In February, the company pulled permits to begin installing ride steel at an address that was near the Tron coaster.
Overall, new additions are more tools for Disney to create experiences that keep visitors coming back to Orlando, where the local $70 billion tourism industry drew a record 75 million visitors in 2018. That helps as the region awaits the debut of major expansions such as Disney’s planned new Star Wars-themed hotel.
Princess Aurora and her fairy kingdom better watch out now that Angelina Jolie is back as the classic “Sleeping Beauty” villain in “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil.”
Five years after the original “Maleficent” hit theaters, Jolie reprises her role alongside Elle Fanning, Sam Riley, Imelda Staunton, Juno Temple and Lesley Manville in the fairytale sequel. Michelle Pfeiffer and Robert Lindsay join as Queen Ingrith and King John, rulers of the magical kingdom and Maleficent’s enemies.
Comcast on Tuesday agreed to sell its ownership stake in the streaming video service to Disney. The sale won’t happen for at least another five years, but Disney will take full operational control of Hulu right now.
Under the terms of the deal, Comcast will sell its interest to Disney for Hulu’s fair market value no earlier than 2024. Disney has guaranteed that the sale price will reflect a minimum total equity value of $27.5 billion for Hulu at that time, according to a press release.
“Hulu represents the best of television,” Disney CEO Bob Iger said in a statement, adding that the company is now able to “completely integrate” Hulu into its streaming plans in a way that makes the service “even more compelling and a greater value for consumers.”
Disney executives talked about potentially bundling its services together for a discounted price. They also said they want all of their services, including Hulu, to reach profitability within the next several years.
“Hulu is the third leg of Disney’s streaming strategy,” said Trip Miller, a Disney shareholder and managing partner at Gullane Capital Partners. “Six months ago, you had four owners to the business and it was very complicated and confusing — so this brings about a lot of clarity and control of direction for Disney.”
But Hulu is beefing up its original content offerings. Earlier this month, the streaming service showed off a slate of upcoming programs, including “The Dropout,” a limited series about rise and fall of Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes. It’s also working on two new live-action Marvel series, “Ghost Rider” and “Helstrom.”
Hulu is going to need more programming as it prepares to eventually part ways with NBC content. Right now, Hulu carries a lot of NBC shows, including “Saturday Night Live,” “The Voice” and “The Good Place.” Comcast has agreed with Hulu to extend the service’s license of NBCUniversal content through late 2024.
Mountains attractions have been a staple at Walt Disney World since 1975 with the opening of Space Mountain.
Since then, others have been added and while there can be an argument for which attractions should be in this category, there is no denying that these rides are some of the best that WDW has to offer.
I will argue that there are 4 Walt Disney World mountain attractions; Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, and Expedition Everest – Legend of the Forbidden Mountain.
What is your favorite?
What other attractions do you consider to be Disney Mountains?
These attractions all give you something different and are some of the longest running and longest wait-time rides at WDW.
Space Mountain
The original mountain of Walt Disney World, Space Mountain has been thrilling riders for nearly 45 years. This classic ride, found in Tomorrowland at the Magic Kingdom, blasts Guests into outer space. Passengers board a rocket-shaped vehicle, seating three single-file riders, climb the 180-foot mountain past Mission Control, and propel through the dark universe at a top speed of 28 mph (it feels faster, right?).
Space Mountain continues to be a fan-favorite at Magic Kingdom and due to its unique indoor, in-the-dark feel, it shows no signs of slowing down. The Tron roller coaster is currently being built right beside Space Mountain which should only boost attendance in Tomorrowland, but giving some needed wait-time relief to the original WDW mountain.
Splash Mountain
We have all seen log themed rides at various them parks, where they all end with a wet plunge down a giant hill. Splash Mountain is that and so much more.
This attraction in Frontierland in the Magic Kingdom tells the story of Br’er Rabbit and his adventures is told with a flare and precision that only Disney can attain. This ride is full of animal animatronics that give the riders more than just a wet and thrilling ending. It com
The story told throughout this ride is just as important and exciting as the thrilling final plunge itself. By the way, chances are, you will get wet!
Big Thunder Mountain
Big Thunder Mountain joins Splash Mountain as the 2 main attractions in Frontierland. It is an old school train ride on a rickety railroad through a replica of the red stone of Arizona’s Monument Valley. This the roughest mountain in terms of how the ride feels. It is jerky and jumpy but a fun experience nonetheless.
Special care was taken by the Imagineers to make it appear that the rocks were there originally, and the track was built around the rocks, which gives a more genuine landscape feeling. There is also a dinosaur skeleton that the train passes by, built into the side of the mountain. A cracked eggshell is nearby, and there is a pleasant lake with water that is shot up while the train passes on the warmer days.
Sound effects of a typical locomotive operation are piped into the surrounding scenery to add realism to guests viewing the ride from observation platforms, including the steam whistle sounding, even though there is no whistle displayed on the locomotives.
This ride is meant to give an old west feel and delivers.
Expedition Everest – Legend of the Forbidden Kingdom
Dare to climb the Forbidden Mountain, and you will find yourself facing down a beast so monstrous you’ll never question the legend again. Standing 18-feet tall, the Expedition Everest Yeti is the largest audio-animatronic figure ever created. He does his job well, though, twisting the tracks and rerouting coasters, hurling them through dark twists and turns before allowing their safe return to base camp.
This ride begins soaring through the mountain but then runs out of track and must go backward through a portion of the attraction only to find the Yeti and soar through the remainder of the course.
This ride, for me is the most thrilling of all of the mountains. The creativity that is used to increase the amount of thrills on this coaster is second to none. (Also, my daughter’s favorite ride)
Other Mountains???
There has been some controversy about whether Mount Gushmore is considered a Disney mountain, as well as, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train.
My opinion is “no” on both.
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, while it looks like a mountain, has more of feel of entering a miners cave. This is a fantastically smooth ride and one of the favorites to do at Magic Kingdom, but I think we need to give it some time to see if it holds up over time the way the 4 main mountains have.
Mount Gushmore, located at Blizzard Beach water park has the look and feel of more like a staging area for multiple water slides than an actual attraction. Mount Gushmore is not the title of the ride itself. Again, I am not willing to put it up on the Disney Mountain Mount Rushmore yet.
No matter what type of ride you like, these mountains offer a variety of sights and thrills. There is a reason some rides have come and gone but these remain staples of the Parks.
