WDWNT Reporter Tom Corless visited the Walt Disney World Resort last week and has some newsworthy photos to share with us from his trip, so let’s take a look:

There is now an official Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom card book, $34.95

Work continues on the Tangled restrooms

Lanterns now hang over the area

A poster featuring Vladamir from the movie is hanging on the wall

There is now a wait time sign for the Express Monorail

Tarps are up on the guitar at Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster

Angry Birds: Star Wars stuff now available in Tatooine Traders

Moving to Downtown Disney, you can now see the pinsetters working through the windows at Splitsville

Taco truck is back on West Side

The Little Mermaid shirt from California is available

A painting of Beast’s Castle from New Fantasyland for sale

Work continues on the new volcano at Rainforest Cafe

A monorail pen now for sale, $9.95

The Segway experiences at Epcot were quietly shutdown this week

All tours were refunded and suspended permanently

No word yet on why this is happening, but we expect a new Innoventions exhibit will replace this soon

Work walls up on the Duffy Store, otherwise known as Disney Traders

A Piston Cup clock is now available at Art of Disney

Work continues on Splash Mountain

No more tarps and scaffolding up

The black spot is gone!

Some work still going on at the bottom of the drop

A fire extinguisher and a coke…

In preparation for the 2013 Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival, the Oz: The Great and Powerful playground near the Imagination! pavilion has opened a few weeks early. We have a video walkthrough of the playground to share with you, including all of the midway games and the playground area:

by Tom Corless

Introduction

“Meal Time Blues” by Bonnie Appetite

Bonnie sings this at the start of the show. She looks a bit tired. She has cookbooks and her hair wrapped in a bun. The lights turn off, and the next performance comes.

Act 1

“Chase Those (Meal Time) Blues Away” by Bonnie Appetite and the Kitchen Krackpots

The Kitchen Krackpots band (containers of ketchup, mayonnaise, a spinning jar of mustard, etc.) rises from the floor and plays a boisterous ragtime intro, as Bonnie reappears, now in a showgirl or cocktail waitress costume, to “Thank you all for coming to (her) kitchen.”

Act 2

“The Stars of the Milky Way” by Dairy Goods and his Stars of the Milky Way

Mr. Dairy Good is a singing milk carton who emerges from a refrigerator holding an old fashioned radio-style floor microphone close to his mouth, crooning introductions to three dairy products—Miss Cheese, Miss Yogurt, and Miss Ice Cream — in the style of 1930s costume extravaganzas. Each of the dairy products performs a brief cameo in a stylized manner (e.g., Miss Cheese sings like Mae West). Every time they came out, ice cold fog would emerge from the freezer.

Act 3

“Boogie Woogie Bakery Boy” by The Cereal Sisters

The Cereal Sisters—Oats, Rice, and Corn—sing a parody of Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy in the style of the Andrews Sisters, accompanied by a bugle-blowing bread slice. The bread slice wears glasses and is revealed when a kitchen cabinet is opened.

Act 4

“Meat Ditties” by Hamm & Eggz

Hamm & Eggz is a vaudeville-style comic rendition of The Meat Group Can Help You Keep Strong, in which Mr. Hamm and Mr. Eggz tell jokes and sing a few short ditties. At the end, Mr. Hamm gets angry because Mr. Eggz is telling corny jokes, and decides to split from the group to join another protein group. Some of the bits use sliding animated scenes to illustrate what’s going on, very much like the “All the guys that turn me on, turn me down” sequence from the Country Bear Jamboree. There are also running gags in this part of the show. Mr. Eggz’s bow moves if he’s laughing, and at the end of their parts, smoke bellows around them protecting these two from being seen moving into the ground.

Act 5

“Veggie Veggie Fruit Fruit” by Colander Combo and the Fiesta Fruit

Night sounds, Latin percussion, and low lighting set the mood for this number, as the produce (broccoli, tomatoes, bananas, etc.) begin to chant “Veggie-Veggie-Fruit-Fruit! Veggie-Fruit-Fruit!” Bonnie Appetite, now in a Carmen Miranda-style carnival outfit, and perched upon a crescent moon that descends from the ceiling, sings. Here, another running gag is present. The center broccoli piece says “cha cha cha!” at times while his glasses flip up and down.

Finale

“Kabaret Finale” by Bonnie Appetite and cast

Bonnie appetite lowers from the upper part of the stage in a strange gown while sitting on the moon. Bonnie and the cast sing a medley of each of their songs. All of the cast come back out, and Bonnie re-appears in her cooking apron and says good bye, before the curtains come down.

Nestle was scheduled to take over sponsorship of The Land in 1994, so the pavilion was the first in Epcot to be overhauled in the early 1990′s. In addition to changing Listen to the Land to Living with the Land, replacing Symbiosis with the Circle of Life: An Environmental Fable, and updating the pavilion’s dining and shopping, Nestle wanted to update Kitchen Kabaret to feature updated music and be more entertaining than educational. Thus Food Rocks was born on March 26, 1994.

Guest would still enter under a very bright broadway style marquee featuring the new name, but the waiting area was completely remodeled. The first waiting room was now very bright and featured many exhibits where guests could learn about good nutrition and the food pyramid.

The show was themed as a benefit concert for good nutrition hosted by Fud (pronounced food) Wrapper. However, the show was continually interrupted by the Excess, a junk food heavy metal band that detests nutrition. In the end, Excess lost their power as Fud Wrapper exclaimed “No power, you guys have been unplugged. There’s plenty of foods out there that are good to eat, but remember, always eat with moderation”.

The Audio-Animatronic characters in the show were food items with human features. The music was based on popular songs by well-known performers, with lyrics adapted to the topic of nutrition. For example, “The Peach Boys”, singing “Good Nutrition”, was based on The Beach Boys’ song “Good Vibrations”. Five of these acts used the voices of the parodied musicians themselves: Tone Loc, Neil Sedaka, Little Richard, The Pointer Sisters, and Chubby Checker all actually performed in the show. Many of the characters returned for the finale.

Here is a list of the acts in order, including what songs were parodied:

•  We’ll Make It Count in the Kitchen – The U-tensils (Queen) – “Bohemian Rhapsody”
• Good Nutrition – The Peach Boys (Beach Boys) – “Good Vibrations”
• Every Bite You Take – Refrigerator Police (The Police) – “Every Breath You Take”
• High Fiber – Pita Gabriel (Peter Gabriel) – “Sledgehammer”
• Always Read the Wrapper – Fud Wrapper (Tone Loc) – “Funky Cold Medina”
• Just Keep It Lean – The Sole of Rock ‘n’ Roll (Cher) – “The Shoop Shoop Song (It’s in His Kiss)”
• Tutti Frutti – Richard (Little Richard) – “Tutti Frutti”
• Vegetables Are Good for You – Neil Moussaka Neil Sedaka – “Breaking Up Is Hard to Do”
• Let’s Exercise – Chubby Cheddar (Chubby Checker) – “The Twist”
• Give Us Junk – The Excess – original composition
• Just a Little Bit – The Get-the-Point Sisters Aretha Franklin – “Respect”
• Choose Before You Chew – U-tensils and Cast, Queen – “Bohemian Rhapsody”

The only characters re-used in the show was the milk. The new animatronic characters were mostly flat and featured simple moving facial features.

Food Rocks closed on January 3, 2004, with rumors that it had something to do with a large building being constructed just behind The Land pavilion, in the space set aside in the 1980′s for Epcot’s movie pavilion (which eventually evolved into the Great Movie Ride and the Disney-MGM Studios). On May 5, 2004, it was announced that Soarin’ Over California from Disney’s California Adventure would be cloned for Walt Disney World and replace Food Rocks. Despite replacing the show, the queue for Soarin’ simply travels through the former theater, leaving the Food Rocks stage encased behind the walls.

Tom has been regularly visiting the Walt Disney World® Resort from the time he was 4 months old. While he counts over 100 visits in the last 22 years, he did not become a truly active member in the Disney fan community until the summer of 2007, when he decided to launch the WDW News Today website and podcast. Tom has since founded the entire WDWNT Network and become a published author on the subject.

Work continues on Splash Mountain

Splash Mountain will re-open in March

Work continues on the Seven Dwarfs’ Mine Train

Pinocchio’s Village Haus has the Lemonade with Wil Berry Foam from Be Our Guest, but in a Pinocchio stein

The Adventureland Veranda is behind tarps

The roof is being replaced in this often neglected section of the building

Another wall up in another section of the building

The stage for Captain Jack Sparrow’s Pirate Tutorial is being worked on

The show is still being performed though

The interactive queue is being constructed at Pirates of the Caribbean

Work continues on The Villas at the Grand Floridian

Some work going on in the drop-off area at the Grand Floridian

The Courtyard Pool is still closed until March

Concept art for the new zero-entry pool

Concept art for the Villas at the Grand Floridian

For the first time, we see concept art of the lobby for The Villas

RFID Entrance installation rolls on at Epcot

You can still pick up some Epcot 30th pins

President’s Day pin is out

Muppets mystery set was just released

Lady and the Tramp Valentine’s Day pin

Cupid Vinylmation

St. Patrick’s Day plush out already

Easter plush as well

They are finally cleaning up the Mission:Space facade

A look underneath

The Oz: The Great and Powerful playground is almost finished

RFID entrances being installed at Disney’s Hollywood Studios as well

Sofia The First and Doc McStuffins are on the Disney Junior facade now

Ads for Wreck-It Ralph on Bluray now up in the Animation Courtyard

Now, it has been rumored for years that Disney might develop some pre-pay option for the Food and Wine Festival to improve sales and perhaps even shorten the wait times at some of the booths. What makes this survey most interesting is the one scenario they asked me to respond to…

Needless to say, I responded with a 10 that the idea is extremely appealing. Not only could a book like this help cut down on lines around World Showcase, but you can also save a few bucks in the process. I say sign me up.

Hopefully this concept will test well enough with those being surveyed and become a reality at the Epcot International Food and Wine Festival 2013. What do you think of this concept? Would you buy a coupon book?

Back in 2012, the Habit Heroes exhibit inside Innoventions at Epcot quickly opened and closed after a media firestorm concerning what many considered characters who were “fat-shaming” overweight guests. The attraction quietly re-opened a few weeks ago with new characters and revamped activities for guests. We have video of the complete experience for you to enjoy:

The Epcot Center charm bracelet is now available

The “Oz The Great and Powerful” playground fro the Flower and Garden Festival is being constructed near Imagination!

The FastPass+ queue seems to be finished at the Seas with Nemo and Friends

Yes, the cut a hole in the mural…

The Main Street Bakery is closed until May to convert to Starbucks service

Tomorrowland Terrace has breakfast for now

FastPass+ scanners uncovered at Tomorrowland Speedway

Also uncovered at the Barnstormer

The umbrellas have finally arrived for the tables in Storybook Circus

The construction walls at the Grand Floridian now sport concept art for the Villas at the Grand Floridian

The FastPass+ scanners at Toy Story Midway Mania are tinker-toys!

The exhibit area at the Magic of Disney Animation now has a poster up for Frozen

There is also a poster for Planes

A Walt Disney World charm bracelet has also been released

There’s a ticket from 1981 on it

They also sell a large charm with this artwork

There is a Dumbo New Fantasyland board game out now

New magnet clips, including the Orange Bird

The kids cups at restaurants now match the light-up character they come with

A temporary banner has gone up at the Animal Kingdom turnstiles to let resort guests know they can enter here with their RFID tickets

Fab 5 figurines have been released, they are only $12.95 each

A new surprise release pin set has been started celebrating extinct attractions. The first pin is the Mickey Mouse Revue!

The new IBM Think exhibit opened inside Innoventions recently and we have a short video of the experience & the featured film in the exhibit to share with you:

Chip, Dale, Donald, and Daisy in their winter wardrobes take part in a special meet and greet this week outside of the Canada pavilion in Epcot as part of Limited Time Magic:

It’s Friday, and time to share our next “Limited Time Magic” surprise at the Walt Disney World Resort. Our latest extra sprinkle of Pixie Dust begins on Monday at the Canada Pavilion in Epcot.

The forecast at Epcot this week is sunny with a chance of flurries. For one week only, January 14-20, there will be a magical Winter Wonderland location with falling snow where you and your family can meet and take photos with some of your favorite Disney characters. It’s an all new character greeting location in the Canada Pavilion.

Times for the Winter Wonderland location at Epcot are:

• 10:30 a.m. – 2:10 p.m.
• 3:05 p.m. – 5:45 p.m.

What do you think of this Limited Time Magic offering?