Stitch Mountain – Let’s hope not.
It appears that at some point Walt Disney Imagineering was considering an overlay for Space Mountain called Stitch Mountain, as evidenced by a series of 4 concept art pins recently released to Mickey’s of Glendale, the shop at WDI headquarters.
From dizpins.com:
Walt Disney Imagineering
Ride Thru Pin Series
Stitch Mountain Concept“Launch Tube”
“Spaceship Escape”
“Crash Site”
“Wanted Poster”
We can only hope that since this concept has now been revealed as a pin series, it will never actually show up in the real world. Stitch (with the help of folks at WDI) already ruined one of my all-time favorite Disney attractions, Alien Encounter, now Stitch’s Great Escape.
TweetNetflix Under Pressure from Blockbuster
From imdb.com:
TweetOnline movie renters Netflix saw its shares tumble nearly 10 percent to $21.70 Wednesday after saying that it expects to end up with about 7.3 million subscribers by the end of the year, 13 percent fewer than it had forecast in January. Shares in the company have fallen 26 percent over the past year. Netflix apparently was hit hard by a rival service from Blockbuster that allows customers to receive movies in the mail, then exchange them in Blockbuster stores. Reporting on Netflix’s woes, today’s (Thursday) Los Angeles Times commented that Blockbuster “is finally getting some payback in its battle with rival Netflix.”
Another water park opening in Orlando
From orlandosentinel.com:
Gatorland will postpone the grand opening of its new water play area for at least a week as it modifies the area’s design.
The small attraction on South Orange Blossom Trail had planned to open the area, called Gator Gully Splash Park, on Saturday, but spokeswoman Michelle Harris said last-minute modifications to the water-flow system forced a postponement.
“They want to make sure the area meets the maximum fun factor for all the kids who will play in it,” Harris said.
Harris said Gatorland would have extra activities this weekend to compensate for the postponement decision, and it will go ahead with an invitation-only opening party scheduled for tonight.
I’m embarrassed to say I live in Orlando and have never been to Gatorland. I guess this gives me another reason to visit.
TweetStunning Disney-MGM Studios HDR Photos
These photos were taken by “Stuck in Customs” on Flickr using a technique called High Dynamic Range (HDR) photography. It produces wonderfully lifelike, and yet surreal, images. These are the first of such photos I have seen taken in a Disney park. There are hundreds of others in the Flickr HDR pool.
Tweet“Dickens World” Theme Park Opening Soon
From yahoo.com:
Tweet
In Dickens World, rat catchers hunt vermin on Londons cobbled streets, pickpockets roam the alleys — and visitors line up for a fun-tastic water ride.
A new theme park inspired by the work of Charles Dickens aims to transform a 70,000-square-foot warehouse near London into a teeming — and family-friendly — corner of Victorian England.
[...]
In more than a dozen sprawling novels, including “The Pickwick Papers” and “The Mystery of Edwin Drood,” Dickens created a rich tapestry of 19th century England, peopled by struggling workers, aspiring clerks, jaded lawyers, ambitious orphans, rogues, runaways and thieves. Still in print after more than a century, the books have inspired numerous film and TV adaptations and a popular musical, “Oliver”
Dickens Worlds backers say they are trying to capture that vibrant landscape in their $125 million theme park. They insist it is “based on a credible and factual account of Charles Dickens works and the world in which he lived.”
“You cant Disney-fy Dickens,” said managing director Kevin Christie, “because he was better and he was first.”
The indoor attraction includes a central square of cobbled streets and crooked buildings, where staff dressed as pickpockets and wenches will mingle with the crowds. Visitors who pay the $25 admission charge — $15 for children — will have the chance to see the Ghost of Christmas Past in Ebeneezer Scrooges haunted house, be hectored by a schoolmaster at Dotheboys Hall — the dismal school from “Nicholas Nickleby” — and peer into the fetid cells of notorious Newgate Prison.
Tourists can also have a meal in the cafeteria, which has resisted the temptation to offer “Please, sir can I have some more?” 2-for-1 specials. The little ones can play in Fagins Den, an area for preschoolers named — alarmingly, some might think — after the gangmaster of the band of thieves in “Oliver Twist.”
