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Construction is actually underway over at Disney's Hollywood Studios! We're finally seeing some movement on the Star Wars and Toy Story land work. The queue building for Slinky Dog coaster is going up and foundation work is happening at Star Wars land. The Muppets balloon with Kermit's face on it has been removed from the MuppetVision theater tower. This was to prevent it from being seen from within Star Wars land, (although I'm not sure why it had to come down so soon.) See below for more details about these massive new expansions, including concept art and a map outlining the ride placements in relation to the rest of the park.

Elsewhere in the park, Starring Rolls Cafe has closed its doors for good, with many of its baked goods now only available at the Trolley Car Cafe across Sunset Blvd. The tables out front are still present for guests, and signage remains (for now,) but there's no indication that Starring Rolls is ever going to be coming back. And lastly, guests now have a chance to check out a preview for the new live-action Beauty and the Beast at One Man's Dream. Plus, you can see props and Belle's dress used in filming. See the video as well as the extensive photo report below and stay tuned for more theme park news and updates!


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Lots more trees and plants have been added since my last visit to check out Pandora: The World of Avatar at Disney's Animal Kingdom. It's beginning to get more difficult to see into the area with all of the new plants and trees being planted, but that's a good thing for full immersion in the new land once it's open. Just one more sign that we're getting closer to the opening! I got video and photos of the bridge leading into Pandora for the first time this update. I was excited to see a flock of Imagineers surveying the area while I was there too.

Kali River Rapids is closed for its annual refurbishment and is scheduled to re-open sometime in the Spring. The water has been drained from the ride as part of this rehab. I saw workers touching up painted designs on the load platform using stencils while I was there. The new monkey enclosure at Maharajah Jungle Trek is now open featuring lion-tailed macaques. And I took some video of the Rivers of Light stadium seating, effects, projectors and boats since I hadn't gotten a good look at it yet myself. Watch the video and check out the photo update below for more details!


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Construction is moving right along at Universal Studios Florida. Race Through New York Starring Jimmy Fallon may be set to open April 6, but the gift shop, aptly named "The Tonight Shop," is looking more and more ready by the day. It's been my assumption that it will open much sooner than the ride, especially considering work walls are down around the store and we can already see merchandise showing up inside. I bet you can't wait to get your very own Hashtag the panda plush! Fast & Furious Supercharged construction continues as they have started building a large queue structure in front of the giant ride building.

Universal has been testing their new Virtual Line system at Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem, (more details about that can be found here.) Also going on in the park, there's minor construction happening at the Candy store in New York, free phone chargers have been installed throughout the park sponsored by Coca-Cola, and The Simpsons Ride is temporarily closed for regular maintenance until January 22nd. Check out the video for full coverage as well as the complete photo update below! And stay tuned for more theme park news and construction updates.


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Back in November, Bob Chapek, the Disney Parks Chairman, announced that Epcot will be getting a "major transformation" that will be making the park "more Disney, timeless, relevant, family-friendly" while also keeping the original vision alive. He told his team of Imagineers to "dream big" when thinking of ideas. As many blue sky bloggers have been openly wishing for for years, we may actually see Epcot be fixed in our lifetimes. Rumors have the budget for this park-wide update to be something like $300-400 million, with a large part going towards Future World in particular.

Future World is in a strange place right now. Rides that were originally informative have become thrilling. Buildings that were meant to show off technologies of the future have become business sponsored expo halls and character meet and greets. The Health Pavilion is rotting away, only being used a couple of times a year for festivals. And Universe of Energy wins the award for most awkward ride re-skinning of all time, forever trapped in 1996, and featuring an outdated 1970s view of dinosaurs.

Last September "The Sum of All Thrills" closed at Innoventions, the last fun thing left to do in that building. Innoventions West is permanently closed already, and East has only two small exhibits remaining. It's only a matter of time before they close as well and the original CommuniCore buildings are completely gutted to make room for something, who knows what. Check out the video and photo report below for the current state of things as well as some of the many rumors floating around the Disney-sphere about what we might see materialize in the near future at the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow.


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01281-mts-still023There's lots of activity going on at The Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World! The Tomorrowland rocks are completely finished being painted metallic blue and look great. The Carousel of Progress has received a shiny new sign to match its new paint scheme. And Disney is now offering private cabana rentals near Space Mountain. The cabanas seat up to 8 guests and will cost you $650 for the day. They include seating, small fridge with soda and water, small bags of chips, charging station, complimentary personalized mouse ears for everyone in your party and one novelty ice cream per guest. You also have access to a special Tomorrowland menu (menu food not included with cabana rental price) and a personal server will bring it to you. They don't look too great from the outside, just being event tents, but they're cozy on the inside. Are they worth $650? Maybe not. More than anything, being so far to the edge of the park makes it inconvenient. How often will your family find themselves this far away from the center of the park to take a load off? Not $650 worth of often, that's for sure.

01281-mts-still033Big Thunder Mountain has re-opened after its refurbishment. Swiss Family Treehouse has also re-opened. The Haunted Mansion has been closed for a four-day renovation. The exterior work on the mansion is complete and work has moved inside. It should re-open December 2nd or 3rd. The new street show in Liberty Square named The Muppets Present: Great Moments in American History has started running. And it's Christmas time at the Magic Kingdom. Decorations and music are in the air on Main Street, USA. Santa is meeting with children near City Hall. And the Jungle Cruise has been "transformed" into the annual Jingle Cruise, complete with corny x-mas jokes and decorations. Check out the video and images below and please Subscribe to the YouTube channel for more updates!


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01258-mts-still001The holidays have arrived at Disney's Animal Kingdom and DINOSAUR is back open again! After its recent refurbishment, DINOSAUR has re-opened with new lighting and special effects and more. While the ride is still incredibly dark, some areas have been enhanced with lit-up backdrops and the Compsognathus have been replaced with projected screens (which is actually an improvement in my opinion.) Some other improvements include the Carnotsaurus skins' paint scheme has more detail and the museum lobby displays in the queue have been improved. Over at Pandora: The World of Avatar construction, the pathway leading into the new area has received new lanterns and a big weird scary fake plant too. See the video and images below for more information and stay tuned for more theme park updates!


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01146-mts-still015With all that's happening around Walt Disney World, it's easy to miss out on some of the smaller projects. While there's not a giant Star Wars land or new attraction being built at the Magic Kingdom, there's still a lot happening. So let's take a look. First off, Fall is in the air with pumpkins and other decorations lining Main Street, USA. But in the distance, you can already see Christmas lights being strung up on Cinderella Castle. The rocks at the entrance to Tomorrowland are receiving a new color scheme. The original red color worked when "Mission to Mars" was a popular attraction, but today's Tomorrowland has a more whimsical and timeless feel. These newly painted blueish metallic rocks fit the new aesthetic much better. Also in Tomorrowland, the Carousel of Progress has received a new paint scheme as well.

01146-mts-still058Big Thunder Mountain is closed for regular maintenance. The popular coaster ride should be re-opening by the end of November 2016. Swiss Family Treehouse is also closed for refurbishment. No word yet on a re-opening date. Exterior work is happening at The Haunted Mansion. Scrims are up along the bottom half of the mansion's facade and work walls line half the queue. It looks like awnings are being updated along portions of the queue as well. Minor work is being done on posts outside of It's a Small World. Both Mansion and Small World are still open during this construction. Check out the video and images below and of course, stay tuned for more theme park updates!


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01034.MTS.Still047Pandora: The World of Avatar at Disney's Animal Kingdom will be an entirely new themed land filled with bioluminescent plants, floating mountains, two new attractions as well as themed dining and shopping options. The area is looking spectacular, at least what parts of it that can be seen from guest areas. Much of the floating mountains and show building exteriors are complete and work has begun on guest pathways and more. While I was there I saw that my favorite ride, DINOSAUR, is currently closed for refurbishment. It should be opening back up sometime in late October (or hopefully sooner). Check out the video update as well as images and concept art below, and stay tuned for some more Walt Disney World construction updates coming soon!


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Hulk-Full-Reveal-featured-image-900x563"A new story. A new ride vehicle. A new queue experience. A new entrance. The only things you’ll recognize when The Incredible Hulk Coaster at Universal’s Islands of Adventure re-opens in late summer are the world-famous twists and turns of the ride track." These are the things Universal is touting about the completely overhauled Hulk Coaster, which has been closed for refurbishment for nine months now. The newly updated ride will feature an incredible new entrance with a full-size statue of Hulk (no more 2D wooden cutout) and he'll be holding up a large section of track. The track pieces were salvaged from the original ride, which is a great piece of trivia for a nerd like me. The newly designed ride vehicles will feature on-board audio, as has been rumored, featuring a new musical score by Patrick Stump, front man of Fall Out Boy. There's going to be a new storyline and fully redesigned queue as well. See the video, concept art, and full description of all the great changes coming below and stay tuned for more construction updates coming soon!


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00485.MTS.Still028It looks like lots of electrical work is underway at The Incredible Hulk Coaster at Island's of Adventure. Electrical boxes have been installed on nearly every footer on the front-half of the coaster and conduit with cables are attached leading up each of the track supports. I'm not sure yet what these cables will lead to, but my best guess would be for exterior lighting. Perhaps just blinking red lights for height markers, or maybe something more elaborate and interesting looking for a spectacular view of the coaster at night. We'll see as construction continues. It looks like the launch tunnel has been completely re-painted. the exterior of the queue building has been painted white and themed elements are being added now. Other small things like the outside brake elements on the track as well as the evacuation stairs on the braking station have been added. Check out the video and screenshots below and stay tuned for more continuous updates!


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