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…

by Nathan Bradley

Hello Humans! Wow have we hit the jackpot…It’s a match made in heaven: Disney and Star Wars…errr I mean LucasFilm (but mostly Star Wars).  Bob Iger, who is responsible for the acquisitions of Pixar, The Muppets, Marvel, and now Lucasfilm, is going to go down as one of the greatest company leaders.  Looking back at what WDI has done with Pixar in the parks and The Muppets to an extent, having Star Wars in WDI’s lineup almost becomes too much to imagine…but I’m going to try.

The Star Wars franchise right now is a bit of a mixed bag.  On one hand, fans have a sour taste in their mouth because the prequels simply didn’t meet expectations.  On the other hand is money, which is where Disney comes in.  They rightly consider Star Wars to be an “evergreen” franchise, a clever play on words meaning that the franchise never looses its luster like an evergreen tree and also that it is always green in terms of money.  The toy, video game, television, and movie (Episodes 7,8, and 9!) markets are all very successful for Star Wars; always have been, always will be.  This was clearly one of the main selling points to the Disney board of executives.  We already know that Disney believes in the franchise though.  As we all know Star Wars Weekends, Star Tours (both versions), Tatooine Traders, and The Jedi Training Academy are all favorites of Disney’s Hollywood Studios.  While we’re in the Studios, I’d like to mention that the Lucasfilm acquisition does not include the rights to Indiana Jones.  So although Disney has the theme park rights to Indy, they will likely not be adding as many new theme park experiences as they will with Star Wars because they won’t benefit from the perpetual success of the brand as a whole.

Many Star Wars fanboys have called for Disney to base an entire park around the franchise.  As theme park aficionados, we know that basing an entire park around a single franchise, even Star Wars, is ludicrous because the success of the park hangs on the popularity of a single property.  Nonetheless, tantalizing fan artwork has surfaced, such as the Magic Kingdom-style rendering pictured.  Do I wish this would become a reality?  Absolutely.  Do I think this will become a reality? Absolutely not.  The best we can hope for is a Star Wars land at DHS in my opinion.

If such a land were to come to fruition under the WDI roof, at least we know it wouldn’t be placed out west first.  Their Star Tours is located in Tomorrowland; if they want a Star Wars land, they will need to either devote an entire section of Disneyland to one franchise (not happening) or move the attraction between parks (unheard of).  Resting on that, let’s consider the realistic best-case scenario in Florida.  Will there be another Star Wars E-Ticket?  Doubt it.  I would wager on some type of interactive experience since that seems to be a growing trend at WDI.  As fans of the parks we should rejoice if we get an interactive Star Wars experience.  The prospect of a Yoda AA is exciting to say the least.  What if during the show he used the force and things flew around the room?  Turtle Talk, Laugh Floor, and recently Enchanted Tales have been universally well liked.  Also included in this best-case scenario is the conversion of The Backlot Express into the famed Mos Eisley Cantina from Episode IV.  What better way to immerse guests in the universe of the films?  I have always wondered why WDI doesn’t theme more restaurants around specific franchises.  With the general praise of Be Our Guest, I don’t see why they wouldn’t be ready to try their luck again.  Another interesting component could be meet-and-greets with the characters from the films.  Who doesn’t want a hug from Chewbacca or an Ewok?  I think an opportunity for kids to be outfitted like their favorite Star Wars character, along the lines of the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique, would also be a solid addition.  Finally, an improved merchandise location is in order if Star Wars land is built.  The carbon-freezing experience from the last Star Wars Weekend would make a fantastic addition.

All sounds pretty reasonable, right? Let’s look at a more adventurous possibility…

           Star Wars takes over Tomorrowland.  Please, don’t shoot!  I know I just said that it wouldn’t be okay in Disneyland, but that’s because they don’t have enough space to be devoting a whole land to a single franchise.  In Florida, however, we have plenty.  Let’s look at current Tomorrowland.  Stitch’s Great Escape: “What a piece of junk!” Laugh Floor is a quality attraction but it isn’t so beloved that Star Wars couldn’t easily take its place.  Space Mountain is about as iconic as any ride on the planet, but the façade wouldn’t necessarily clash with a Star Wars land.  As for the content of the ride, you really wouldn’t have to change anything except for some queue elements to make it a Star Wars attraction; that is an awful queue anyway.  Then there’s The Tomorrowland Indy Speedway.  Never has any attraction had such a low ratio of quality to square footage.  I don’t think there is a person on this Earth who would object to a Star Wars themed attraction on that plot of land.  Two main problems now arise (besides the fact of it never happening of course).  #1: The current Star Wars elements at DHS are too well beloved to be simply discarded.  They would have to be moved to the Magic Kingdom by some miraculous act.  #2: The Carousel of Progress isn’t going anywhere.  Nonetheless, I think this option is plausible at best.  “I find your lack of faith disturbing…”

Could Star Wars go in Future World?  I say no way.  No science-fiction franchise should be the basis of an attraction in Epcot.  We may have strayed from the original Epcot creed, but not enough to include a film series, albeit a great one, that isn’t rooted in reality.  The aesthetics might coincide and the possibility of replacing Mission: Space with Star Wars is pretty appealing, but the message just wouldn’t be right.

Even thinking without limits of practicality, I can’t imagine even one decent way of incorporating Star Wars characters into DAK. So that’s that.

I would say that in general, as self-proclaimed scrutinizers of WDW, we should expect Star Wars additions to DHS in the near future.  I don’t think it’s really too much to hope for.  A cohesive land would be significantly more exciting than just new experiences because the locations of Star Wars are so rich.  A Star Wars land as a unit would lend itself to being filled with all kinds of hidden Star Wars references too.  There are almost too many possibilities for us as fans to speculate about.  One thing is for sure: Disney acquiring Lucasfilm can only be good for Walt Disney World.

Nathan Bradley is a high school student from the Philadelphia suburbs. He enjoys physics, mechanics, storytelling, and WDW (biannual trips and an avid disney geek). He plans on becoming an Imagineer when he’s older.

I am in shock as I write this, but Disney is going to acquire Lucasfilm, Star Wars and all…

Burbank, CA and San Francisco, CA, October 30, 2012 – Continuing its strategy of delivering exceptional creative content to audiences around the world, The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) has agreed to acquire Lucasfilm Ltd. in a stock and cash transaction. Lucasfilm is 100% owned by Lucasfilm Chairman and Founder, George Lucas.

Under the terms of the agreement and based on the closing price of Disney stock on October 26, 2012, the transaction value is $4.05 billion, with Disney paying approximately half of the consideration in cash and issuing approximately 40 million shares at closing. The final consideration will be subject to customary post-closing balance sheet adjustments.

“Lucasfilm reflects the extraordinary passion, vision, and storytelling of its founder, George Lucas,” said Robert A. Iger, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Walt Disney Company. “This transaction combines a world-class portfolio of content including Star Wars, one of the greatest family entertainment franchises of all time, with Disney’s unique and unparalleled creativity across multiple platforms, businesses, and markets to generate sustained growth and drive significant long-term value.”

“For the past 35 years, one of my greatest pleasures has been to see Star Wars passed from one generation to the next,” said George Lucas, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Lucasfilm. “It’s now time for me to pass Star Wars on to a new generation of filmmakers. I’ve always believed that Star Wars could live beyond me, and I thought it was important to set up the transition during my lifetime. I’m confident that with Lucasfilm under the leadership of Kathleen Kennedy, and having a new home within the Disney organization, Star Wars will certainly live on and flourish for many generations to come. Disney’s reach and experience give Lucasfilm the opportunity to blaze new trails in film, television, interactive media, theme parks, live entertainment, and consumer products.”

Under the deal, Disney will acquire ownership of Lucasfilm, a leader in entertainment, innovation and technology, including its massively popular and “evergreen” Star Warsfranchise and its operating businesses in live action film production, consumer products, animation, visual effects, and audio post production. Disney will also acquire the substantial portfolio of cutting-edge entertainment technologies that have kept audiences enthralled for many years. Lucasfilm, headquartered in San Francisco, operates under the names Lucasfilm Ltd., LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic, and Skywalker Sound, and the present intent is for Lucasfilm employees to remain in their current locations.

Kathleen Kennedy, current Co-Chairman of Lucasfilm, will become President of Lucasfilm, reporting to Walt Disney Studios Chairman Alan Horn. Additionally she will serve as the brand manager for Star Wars, working directly with Disney’s global lines of business to build, further integrate, and maximize the value of this global franchise. Ms. Kennedy will serve as executive producer on new Star Wars feature films, with George Lucas serving as creative consultant. Star Wars Episode 7 is targeted for release in 2015, with more feature films expected to continue the Star Wars saga and grow the franchise well into the future.

The acquisition combines two highly compatible family entertainment brands, and strengthens the long-standing beneficial relationship between them that already includes successful integration of Star Wars content into Disney theme parks in Anaheim, Orlando, Paris and Tokyo.

Driven by a tremendously talented creative team, Lucasfilm’s legendary Star Warsfranchise has flourished for more than 35 years, and offers a virtually limitless universe of characters and stories to drive continued feature film releases and franchise growth over the long term. Star Wars resonates with consumers around the world and creates extensive opportunities for Disney to deliver the content across its diverse portfolio of businesses including movies, television, consumer products, games and theme parks. Star Wars feature films have earned a total of $4.4 billion in global box to date, and continued global demand has made Star Wars one of the world’s top product brands, and Lucasfilm a leading product licensor in the United States in 2011. The franchise provides a sustainable source of high quality, branded content with global appeal and is well suited for new business models including digital platforms, putting the acquisition in strong alignment with Disney’s strategic priorities for continued long-term growth.

The Lucasfilm acquisition follows Disney’s very successful acquisitions of Pixar and Marvel, which demonstrated the company’s unique ability to fully develop and expand the financial potential of high quality creative content with compelling characters and storytelling through the application of innovative technology and multiplatform distribution on a truly global basis to create maximum value. Adding Lucasfilm to Disney’s portfolio of world class brands significantly enhances the company’s ability to serve consumers with a broad variety of the world’s highest-quality content and to create additional long-term value for our shareholders.

The Boards of Directors of Disney and Lucasfilm have approved the transaction, which is subject to clearance under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act, certain non-United States merger control regulations, and other customary closing conditions. The agreement has been approved by the sole shareholder of Lucasfilm.

Darth Vader cupcake

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”

Adam had himself frozen in carbonite in the ABC sound Studio, former home of Sounds Dangerous

Pretty neat for $120

Star Wars Weekends merchandise is in the tent behind Rock ‘N’ Rollercoaster again, Darth’s Mall

The huge Fantasyland model has moved in at One Man’s Dream

super cool

Princess Fairytale Hall won’t change the exterior of Snow White too much according to the model

A sign explains the model to guests

Some stuff isn’t labeled, like Triton’s Treasures, Ariel’s Grotto, and some minor facilities like restrooms, food stands, etc.

Some interesting points to note from this artwork:

• Pete’s Silly Sideshow is the entire second tent towards the back and it appears it will remain a meet and greet experience only. We know Goofy should be there, but no other characters have been announced yet.
• The unlabeled building next to Pete’s Silly Sideshow is probably the Humphrey the Bear counter service location that has been rumored, but again, we have no further confirmation.
• You can make out the train lines that lead to the Casey Jr. Splash ‘N’ Soak Station if you look closely at Storybook Circus.
• Triton’s Treasures (the Little Mermaid gift shop) does not appear behind the Mine Train anymore, so it may be gone from the plans altogether.
• The unlabeled building between Gaston’s Tavern and Bonjour Village Gifts is a restroom facility.
• You can see the track layout of the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, including when it goes through the show building with the dark-ride type scenes.

So I guess they will be done by 2013 unofficially?

The Mine Train looks pretty awesome

A closer look at the Mine Train track layout

The recent rockwork expansion at Little Mermaid is present

Let’s take a look at the real thing

The two tents are covered

The Circus animals from the Splash ‘N’ Soak Station are peeking over the wall

A wall has appeared near the Silly Sideshow tent

A look over the walls at Casey Jr. Splash ‘N’ Soak Station

Here’s a very funny skit featuring some Stormtroopers that is performed while guests are waiting for Stars of the Saga

Some children were dressed up as Snig and Oopla (characters from various Star Wars Weekends activities)

Star Wars Weekends Celebrity Welcome with James Arnold Taylor, Ashley Eckstein, and Ray Park

And last, but certainly not least, this year’s Hyperspace Hoopla:

MORE STAR TOURS! Not too much, we promise…

Plenty of Star Tours merchandise is inside Tatooine Traders now

Naboo Spacelines featured on the box for some reason… Why is every Naboo spaceship yellow?

The action figure sets

Star Tours merchandise is now mixed in with all the usual stuff

The Star Wars Weekends stage has returned to normal for Disney Channel Rocks!

Believable…

Some new props have been installed since we last visited, namely the chalkboard with various replacements for Eeyore’s tail

Bees were attached

Lines haven’t been too bad

The work in the street on Sunset Blvd. is done, now the produce distributor is behind walls

Moving to the Magic Kingdom, he’s still not getting a line!!!

A cool new detail Adam discovered, light reveals an electricity effect on this billboard!

It looks like Mickey is being electrocuted

Curtain Call Collectibles continues to push its merchandise further outside

The hatter is from New York for some reason

Dapper Dans!

The Tomorrowland Terrace is open

Storybook Circus construction is picking up

Temporary sign still outside Carousel of Progress

These hot dogs must be popular…

Back to the Storybook Circus

A lot of heavy equipment has moved in

The frame of the Dumbo queue is complete!

That was quick!

If we compare this to the original model, we can see the big tent frame:

The rock-work in the Beauty and the Beast area is really coming along…

Maurice’s cottage takes shape as a mountain grows behind

Work has picked up on the Be Our Guests Restaurant

Same for Bonjour Village Gifts

An overview of the Beauty and the Beast realm

The steel frame for the rock-work on Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid is up

The Fantasyland Skyway station is being demolished to build a wider path to Liberty Square and new Fantasyland restrooms

You can see some pieces missing already

Goodbye…

The Haunted Mansion queue now has signs directing to the scenic rout and the direct route (interactive queue and entrance)

The interactive queue remains popular

To combat complaints that it was too small, they have extended Master Gracey’s grave!

The entrance of Pecos Bill’s is behind walls and tarps

Guests are asked to use this side entrance

Well, the Enchanted Tiki Room is coming back… in case you hadn’t heard that over the last 3 years

Work continues to restore the orginal

It’s now a hard hat area

Nothing like some Leaky Tikis in the Summer

You’re not blocking it…

The Fantasyland crane is visible from far away

If you squint, Blackbeard was added to Pirates of the Caribbean

Maybe if you unfocused your eyes? I don’t know, I’ve never been good at these things…

Some character portraits from the new film in Caribbean Plaza

NO, NO MORE STAR TOURS! Ok… more Star Tours….

I wish we could read all these luggage tags

That’s a lot of luggage

Peoplemover?

?

Yes, Peoplemover!

Goodnight from Echo Lake Apartments!

The event began with a procession of Star Wars characters

All of the guests then filled the huge courtyard in front of the Sorcerer’s Hat stage

We watched the pre-produced portions on a large screen

“What an explosion!” More on that in a bit…

It was an amazing ceremony! You don’t have to take my word for it, you can watch it yourself… First, here is a highlight reel Disney put together:

If that’s not enough, here is the webcast of the ceremony in its entirety:

Star Wars Weekends 2011 will be a Tour de “Force” at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, celebrating the grand opening of the new Star Tours attraction as the Walt Disney World Resort theme park welcomes Jedi, Sith, Ewoks, Wookiees, galactic bounty hunters and stormtroopers for the park’s annual celebration of all-things-Star Wars.

The fun takes place every Friday, Saturday and Sunday from May 20-June 12, 2011.

Once again, Jedi Mickey and Princess Leia Minnie will be joined by some of the brightest stars from the saga. Celebrity Hosts for the event this year are James Arnold Taylor (voice of Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars: The Clone Wars) and Ashley Eckstein (voice of Ahsoka Tano in Star Wars: The Clone Wars). Ashley (seen in the photo above with R2-MK and Jedi Mickey) will host “Clone Wars: Behind the Force,” a closer look inside the popular animated TV series. James will present another event-first: he will star in a one-man show that showcases some of the many voices he has performed throughout his career, including those from The Clone Wars.

Opening weekend will kick off the month-long event in grand fashion, as fan favorite Anthony Daniels (seen in the photo above at a filming session for the new “Star Tours – The Adventures Continue” attraction), who brought C-3PO to life and is the only actor to appear in every theatrical chapter of the Star Wars saga, will make a golden return to the event. Dave Filoni, the talented artist and supervising director of The Clone Wars, also will be a special celebrity guest for Weekend I.

Star Wars Weekends II, III and IV will feature celebrities from the live-action feature films and voice artists fromThe Clone Wars. Here’s the complete event celebrity lineup (*talent subject to change) scheduled to appear:

Scheduled Celebrity Appearances

MAY 20-22

• Anthony Daniels (C-3PO)
• The Clone Wars Special Guest: Dave Filoni (Supervising Director)

MAY 27-29

• Anthony Daniels (C-3PO)
• Bruce Spence (Tion Medon)
• The Clone Wars Voice Talent Guest: Dee Bradley Baker (Captain Rex)

JUNE 3-5

• Ray Park (Darth Maul)
• Jeremy Bulloch (Boba Fett)
• The Clone Wars Voice Talent Guest: Matt Lanter (Anakin)

JUNE 10-12

• Ray Park (Darth Maul)
• Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca)
• The Clone Wars Voice Talent Guest: Tom Kane (Yoda)

And while the stars will shine, a galaxy-full of events, live shows, parades and activities also take place throughout the park during the month.

An event highlight for many is meeting the Star Wars characters, and this year is no exception. More than 60 Star Wars characters will be roaming the theme park, posing for pictures and signing autographs.

From the special “welcome” Guests receive at the turnstile areas from the stormtroopers and Star Wars trivia contests to Jedi Training Academy and the spectacular Hyperspace Hoopla, Star Wars Weekends 2011 will have more fun than you can shake a gaffi stick at. And of course, throughout the event Star Wars Weekends Guests will have the chance to take a ride aboard “Star Tours – The Adventures Continue” when the attraction launches in 3-D on May 20.

On a side note, WDWNT is in the early planning stages of a fan meet for those interested in becoming one of the very first passengers on Star Tours: The Adventures Continue! For more information on our “First Flight, All-Night” fan meet, you can visit our pages on Facebook and Plancast.

Recently, we talked about the characters you’ll meet in Star Tours – The Adventures Continue. Since then, there’s been a lot of speculation about where we’ll meet those characters. Well, stay tuned. While the Star Tours Company does fly to many destinations (as you can see in the attached image – especially if you read Aurebesh) we’ll soon give you the flight list for our show!

UPDATE: Our good friend Scott Smith actually deciphered the above message, here is the full translation:

Tatooine, flight 712, time 0745, statues: gate change
Coruscant, flight 1138, time 0910, status: on time
Tatooine, flight 324, time 1045, status: on time
Endor, flight 611, time 1100, status: delayed
Coruscant, flight 208, time 1245, status: on time
Tatooine, flight 410, time 1310, status: on time
Alderaan, flight 716, time 1315, status: see agent
Coruscant, flight 1010, time 1415, status: on time
Alderaan, flight 1112, time 1645, status: see agent
Endor, flight 903, time 1945, status: delayed

Other than some inside jokes with Endor flights delayed and Alderaan passengers being told to see agent, there isn’t anything new about the attraction revealed. While Disney has not released the list of destinations for the new attraction, we do have some speculation and clues as to what they might be. As usual, stay tuned for more information on Star Tours: The Adventures Continue as it becomes available.

May 20 is the launch date for new Star Tours thrills!
The adventures continue at Disney’s Hollywood Studios® with some of your favorite Star Wars™ characters, amazing new effects and 3D magic. Star Tours®—The Adventures Continue is where out-of-this-world imagination stretches as wide as the galaxy itself. Plus, keep an eye open for special news for Passholders!

While it doesn’t say that there will be an annual passholder preview, it does hint at something special for them. Perhaps more importantly, we have confirmation of the Boba Fett chase scene, as well as the inclusion of the planet Geonosis & the first Death Star under construction in the attraction (It appears behind the vessels in this small image). Does this indeed mean that you will see destinations from our post last week? Probably, but we’ll just have to wait to find out…