Massive Lightning Bolt Strikes Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Walt Disney World

Posted on by Mathew Corn Disney Parks, Hollywood Studios

Via WDWNT.com

It seems Emperor Palpatine is back at it again. Nightly lightning shows have become a regular occurrence at Walt Disney World lately due to summer storms rolling in every evening, and a new video on social media shows the sheer power of nature—even on Batuu.

A video by Twitter user @Austin_Cop_17 shows a massive lightning bolt striking one of the lightning rods embedded throughout the taller points of the land. Just before lightning strikes, all one hears is the familiar whirring of the machinery throughout the Resistance Forest. And suddenly, a lightning bolt hits, with the camera flashing to white and even the audio going out on the video due to the nearby impact.

While startled from the loud boom, no one was hurt, nor was any damage recorded at the site… Black Spire is safe from the evil forces of the Sith, for now.

New Jungle Cruise MagicBand Float into the Magic Kingdom

Posted on by Mathew Corn Disney Parks, Magic Kingdom

The World Famous Jungle Cruise just turned 65 years old with the anniversary of Disneyland this July. To celebrate, Disney has debuted new Jungle Cruise-related merchandise to keep guests in stitches wherever they may set sail. The newest arrival is this Jungle Cruise MagicBand, found at Plaza del Sol Caribe Bazaar in the Magic Kingdom.

The MagicBand is light green and features jungle foliage on the upper and lower bands. On the upper strap are pictured two Skippers telling their hilarious jokes to their captive audience. Above the Skippers, the band reads “The World Famous Jungle Cruise” and “Excursions Departing Daily” in a jungle-themed font.

Jungle Cruise MagicBand 65th anniversary

One note on the design of the MagicBand, smaller-sized wrists that do not require the grey extension surrounding the green part of the band, by removing the grey extension one of the Skippers’ mics is removed with it. There are no refunds, exchanges or returns on this item.

The MagicBand is available now for $24.99.

New Mickey and Friends Stitched-Up Plush Toys are Now Available at Walt Disney World

Posted on by Mathew Corn Disney Parks, Magic Kingdom

What Walt Disney World vacation could be complete without bringing home a souvenir? If leaving the Most Magical Place on Earth leaves you in stitches, perhaps you should take home one of these new stitched-up plush toys! Some were found at the Magic Kingdom in the Emporium. Let’s take a look!

These friends do not hide their stitching. Instead, it is highlighted throughout their bodies.

Mickey Mouse – $22.99

Mickey’s cloth face has been attached with a back stitch pattern. The famous mouse wears his iconic white gloves and yellow shoes.

Minnie Mouse – $22.99

Minnie Mouse is here too with a stitched up smile on her face and long lashes. A cute bow sits atop her head.

Pluto – $22.99

We can forget about our trusty dog, Pluto!

“Once On This Island” Adaptation to be Developed for Disney+

Posted on by Mathew Corn Disney+

It has been reported that Disney+ is working on a movie adaptation of the Tony Award-winning musical “Once On This Island”.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, the adaptation is set to be written by Jocelyn Bioh, with Wanuri Kahiu on board to direct. The musical will be produced by Marc Platt.

The musical, with a book and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens and music by Stephen Flaherty, is a stunning, calypso-inspired adaptation of the novel “My Love, My Love; or The Peasant Girl” by Rosa Guy. It is described by many as being similar to a romantic island retelling of Hans Christian Anderson’s “The Little Mermaid”. “Once On This Island,” tells the story of Ti Moune, an orphaned peasant girl on her journey to reunite with her rich love Daniel, as the Gods watch on with a wager over whether her love can overcome the power of death.

A Broadway revival of the musical in 2017 threw “Once On This Island” back into the recent spotlight since its limited run in the mid-1990s. This Tony Award-winning revival featured the Disney on Broadway alum Merle Dandridge as Papa Ge, the sly demon of death, and Disney Legend Lea Salonga as Erzuile, the beautiful goddess of love. So far, no casting has been announced for this adaptation, which is set to run as a live-action movie, rather than a professionally-recorded performance like other musicals in the Disney+ library (such as “Newsies).

With the recent success of “Hamilton” on Disney+, which saw a huge increase in app downloads after it’s debut on the service last month, we can only hope that Disney+ is trying to expand its library with more musical titles.

hamilton posters

The Rohdes, Less Traveled: Inside the Design and Inspiration of Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park

Posted on by Mathew Corn Animal Kingdom, Disney Parks

Join Joe Rohde and family on their tour around Disney’s Animal Kingdom; posted on DisneyParksBlog

“Our family has been at home together since March, and life can get repetitive at times. So, to pass away the hours and give ourselves something to do as a family, we decided to create a five-part video series about design at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park. 

In our family of four we have multiple writers, a director and cameraman, a producer…and a talking head (me). Plus a house full of  (as the saying goes, ‘one man’s junk is another man’s treasure!’) that we’ve dragged back from all over the world during the last 40 years. The challenge is to work with what we have, therefore limited only to the photographs and video clips that I have on my own laptop and snapshots that I found in a box in my studio, plus settings we’ve improvised in our house and yard. Since we are not going anywhere, it’s new #DisneyMagicMoments called “The Rohdes, Less Traveled”…”