After a lengthy 5 month refurbishment, Tomorrowland Speedway is open once again at Magic Kingdom. According to sources, the track was not changed much, just shortened.
This had to be done to make room for the new TRON roller coaster.
The speedway which opened in with the Magic Kingdom has went through many changed over the years. It was known as Grand Prix Raceway until 1994 when it was changed to Tomorrowland Indy Speedway until 1999.
It has been shortened many times as well, most significantly prior to the opening of Space Mountain.
Disney parks will soon be more stylish than ever, thanks to a limited-edition collection of Mickey and Minnie Mouse ear hats and headbands designed by a slew of celebrities, fashion brands and artists.
Starting May 24, visitors to both Walt Disney World and Disneyland will be able to score merchandise from the Disney Parks Designer Collection — an inaugural partnership with 18 creatives that will run through the summer of 2020, Disney Parks Blog reports.
Notable fashion-world names set to design their own iconic mouse ears include Betsey Johnson, Alex and Ani, Heidi Klum, The Blonds, Loungefly, Coach, Vera Wang, Cupcakes and Cashmere and Karlie Kloss. Artists include Noah Fine Art, Jerrod Maruyama and Loungefly, among others.
Disney Imagineers Kim Irvine, Kevin Rafferty and Joe Rohde, too, will have a hand in the venture.
“Many of the designs in the collection take inspiration from beloved Disney characters and Disney Parks attractions,” the release states.
Though images of all the looks are not yet available, reps for the theme park alluded that many of the hats and headbands will be influenced by the creative’s signature looks — such as a bridal-inspired piece from Vera Wang, and “genuine crafted leather” headband by Coach.
Looks from the Disney Parks Designer Collection will be available for purchase at Disney World and Disneyland retailers as well as online through Disney’s official shop.
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.
