Walt Disney World’s Hollywood Studios has recently opened some instant classic attractions, such as Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, Slinky Dog Dash, and Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway.
But you can’t beat the classics, and that’s definitely the case for the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. However, that doesn’t mean that the classics shouldn’t receive an update here and there.
The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror is easily one of Hollywood Studios’ most beloved attractions. This elevator-style thrill ride captivates audiences with the exhilarating lifts and plunges and the immersive ambiance that genuinely makes you feel as if you’ve entered an episode of the Twilight Zone featuring the Hollywood Tower Hotel.
Everything from the Cast Members’ excellent acting to the eerily cobwebbed furniture in the lobby to the haunting music playing in the queue will bring Guests into the fifth dimension. It’s no wonder everybody wants to experience this ride!
However, there are drawbacks to this attraction’s popularity.
The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror is meant to operate four different elevator-style ride vehicles at once, but for months, only two have been operating, leaving the classic attraction at half-capacity. This has led to longer lines and longer wait times, giving fewer Guests a chance to experience this thrill ride.
But reportedly, all four elevator shafts are back in business, meaning the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror is up and running at total capacity again for the first time in months!
Police were forced to investigate and take action after would-be Disney Guests discovered that parks trips they paid for were never booked.
There’s no such thing as the wrong time to visit a Disney Park. In the summer months, Central Florida humidity can be brutal at the Walt Disney World Resort, and in the winter months, some parks, like Tokyo Disney Resort, experience weather that drapes the parks in a snowy blanket. But even with the weather factored in, there’s simply not a bad time to visit a Disney Park. But for Guests looking to have a different kind of Disney Parks experience, one of the best times to visit is during the holidays.
Hundreds of would-be Guests apparently had the same thought and set out to make plans to take their families to Disney’s Parisian park and surprise them with the trips as Christmas gifts. But what started out as exciting holiday surprises turned into empty promises and the stuff of nightmares.
More than 400 families had planned to surprise their children with an exciting experience at Disneyland Paris after purchasing trips from a travel company known as Go West with Mickey, which was based in South London. But after purchasing their trips, families found out the hard way that their trips were never actually booked, so there were no trips to be taken. Shortly after families began to realize they had no trips to the Disney Parks near Paris, they discovered that the company had closed, and its Facebook page and website had both been deleted. Additionally, messages from the defrauded would-be Disney Guests were no longer answered.
“I contacted Disney,” said Ali McEvoy, who purchased a trip for her children Owen and Cariad, ages 10 and 7, respectively. “They said nothing was booked.”
The mom of two purchased a holiday package with Go West With Mickey–a four-night Disney trip that included a resort hotel room for the family plus park tickets. She presented the gift to her children for Christmas, and she recorded the experience during which they unwrapped a calendar with the dates of their planned trip in December circled. It was only after this that McElvoy began to read online that the company was allegedly involved in fraudulent practices. That’s when she called Disney and got the worst holiday news she could imagine.
In all, Go West With Mickey had allegedly defrauded paying customers out of £370,000, or roughly $480,000. Police reportedly investigated 419 separate allegations. The owner of Go West With Mickey reportedly cooperated with a voluntary interview related to the allegations but was released without an arrest. He remained under investigation at the time.
Months before the holiday, the firm issued a statement online saying the company was “dead” and that its assets had been frozen. “There have been mistakes, yes, it was a company of five staff who also made mistakes,” read a message on the company’s website, which has now been taken down. “We have always highly compensated for these mistakes.”
The Association of British Travel Agents weighed in on the situation, stating that Go West With Mickey was not a member of the ABTA.
“Operators selling packaged holidays are legally required to provide financial protection for customers,” the organization said in a statement.
The company has virtually disappeared–even online. The only remnants of the organization that referred to itself as an “independent travel advisor” are in the forms of scathing online reviews in which good neighbors have attempted to keep others from falling prey to what some called a “Ponzi scheme.”
One review on TripAdvisor tells Disney trip planners to “Avoid [Go West With Mickey] at all costs,” saying that “most of the reviews on [TripAdvisor] have been done by the scam artist owners of this company using fake profiles.” The review goes on, saying, “They have run off with over £300,000 of customers’ money.”
There’s also talk of the company having changed its name to “ThemeParks4U,” and reviews online warn vacationers to “avoid this one at all costs too.”
When planning a trip to any Disney Parks Resort, it’s important to book only with an authorized Disney vacation travel planner. This is the only sure way to know that you’re getting the trip you’re expecting–and so that you don’t get any “surprises” when you arrive at the parks for your Disney Parks experience.
Fans walking down Main Street in Disneyland will be surprised to see that the Platinum Mickey Mouse Statue is nowhere to be found. Instead, the flowerbed at the end of Town Square remains completely empty. While it’s always sad to see a Mickey statue being removed, this particular removal has some fans rejoicing. One question remains: why was the statue removed, and when will it come back?
Disneyland Resort is in the middle of enjoying the 100 Years of Wonder Celebration. The whole Park has gotten a Disney100 makeover. Mesmerizing lights, banners, and platinum accents have made the Park look absolutely fantastic this year. Both Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure Park have undergone major redecorating for the Disney100 celebration.
A focal point of the new decorations is the Platinum statues that Disney has made to honor the iconic characters made by Walt Disney Animation Studios. There is no character more iconic or essential than Mickey Mouse, whose new statue was given a prime location in the Town Square at the end of Main Street, U.S.A. A Minnie Mouse statue was put further down the street, in front of the Plaza Inn.
While Disney fans loved the Mickey Mouse statue, they were less than pleased to see the quote that was underneath it.
If there’s one person not to misquote at Disneyland, its Walt Disney himself. The banner on the Disney100 platinum Mickey statue read, “It all started with a mouse.”
The infamous quote spoken by Walt Disney was, “I only hope that we never lose sight of one thing: that it was all started by a mouse.”
Fans immediately expressed their disappointment at the typo. It seemed like a lazy mistake for a celebration that clearly took so much time and effort.
The Mickey Mouse statue at Disneyland is getting some updates. It will return to Main Street in the coming days. pic.twitter.com/5m9STnqUSE
After noticing all of the public outcry, Disneyland Park made the decision to remove the statute a couple of days ago. The flower bed where it once stood now remains empty. The public consensus is that the statute will be corrected and reinstalled within a couple of days. Fans on social media have already begun to poke fun at the missing statue.
Taking a picture with the Disney100 Mickey statue! Which isn’t there. Because it’s gone. pic.twitter.com/7NcoZzpeca
During a festival honoring the accomplishments of Walt Disney Company history, it is essential that all quotes from Walt are accurate. We hope to see the statue fixed and back in Disneyland Park as soon as possible.
The new Dining Promo Card that Disney announced for 2023 has overjoyed fans. This promo card is a new and totally unique discount for Disney, and fans are happy to see them offering savings to their Guests. Unfortunately, the Dining Promo Card won’t last forever, and fans will need to act fast so they don’t miss out on the savings.
Disney foodies rejoiced at the news that a brand-new promo had been released. For Guests visiting the Walt Disney World Resort this year between June 25 and September 25, big savings could be in store. The “Dining Promo Card” gives Guests up to $750 to spend on dining, depending on where they stay at the Disney Resort and when they visit.
So how does it work? When a Guest books a room between the allotted dates, they will be given the option to add on the Dining Promo Card. Once you check in to your hotel, an email will be sent to you with a barcode to present at restaurants. This barcode will act as a Disney Dining gift card and it is what will take money off of your bill at participating locations.
The promo only works for those making a reservation for non-discounted rooms staying at least 4 nights. The promo gives a limited amount of money that can be discounted per night on dining. This dining card gives Guests heavily discounted or free dining while staying at the Walt Disney World Resort. The amount you can spend ranges from $35-$150 per night, ranging if you stay in a Value Resort, Moderate Resort, or a Deluxe Resort.
Walt Disney World is offering a Disney Dining Promo card when you purchase a vacation package for this summer. The promo card value varies based on dates/length of stay.https://t.co/q0OAL5ZNOFpic.twitter.com/hpRABUEmrP
While the dates that the Dining Promo Card can be used was already announced, we didn’t know until now how long you had to book the rooms. Disney announced today that you must book your room before March 27, 2023, to recieve the Dining plan. If you are planning to visit Walt Disney World Resort during the approved dates, you will want to book soon to make sure that you can get the opportunity to have free dining before it goes away.
Even though this promo is for a very limited time, fans are still rejoicing. This is the first Disney promo we have seen in a while, and hopefully, it will not be the last. Who knows, maybe they’ll even bring back the Disney Dining Plan!
Good Morning America visited Disney100: The Exhibition at The Franklin Institute in Philadelphia a few days ahead of its opening and shared a first look at the lifelike Walt Disney hologram that will greet guests.
Watch the video in our tweet embedded below or by clicking here.
According to the New York Times, “The Walt Disney Company used archival video and artificial intelligence tools to create a lifelike hologram of its founder — a full-size digital avatar that speaks in Walt’s voice and appears as part of interactive exhibitions of Disney artwork, props and costumes that will tour the globe until at least 2028.” The hologram will be located at the exhibit’s entrance.
Disney100: The Exhibition is set to tour museums around the world, with two exhibitions at any given time. The initial locations are set to be at The Franklin Institute in Philadelphia from February 18 through August 27, and in Munich from April 18. One exhibition will tour North America, with cities such as Chicago and Kansas City announced for future locations. The other installation will move to London after Munich, and then tour Europe and Asia thereafter through 2028.
Created for the 100-year celebration of The Walt Disney Company, the exhibition invites guests to step into their favorite stories using innovative and immersive technology throughout ten galleries in the 15,000-square-foot exhibit.
Disney fans who have attended any of the D23 Expos in Anaheim, California, or Destination D events at Walt Disney World are no strangers to the various exhibits from the Walt Disney Archives. However, for the Company’s 100th anniversary they are opening its vault of treasures. The ten galleries will showcase more than 250 of its “Crown Jewels,” rarely seen original artworks and artifacts, costumes and props, and other memorabilia.
“We have this incredible collection because we get first dibs off of every film that wraps and every attraction that is changed,” said Becky Cline, Director of the Walt Disney Archives.
“When we first conceived this exhibition we looked at the many ways of doing it,” said Cline. “Would it be a chronological approach … how are we going to tell this amazing story? We realize that everything that we do at The Walt Disney Company is based on the philosophies and dreams and practices of our founder Walt Disney. “
Cline then said that Walt always said the company was all started by a mouse and “while that was very true – in reality, it was also started by a man. A very, very special man. ” She went on to say that they decided to create an exhibit that illustrates Walt’s own ideas and his dreams and how we shared and followed in his footsteps ever since 1923, when the company was founded.
“This exhibition celebrates everything from 1923, when we first started, up to what’s coming up in the next year, stated Cline. “There are ten galleries in this exhibition and each one represents one of Walt’s philosophies.”
