Disney Parks D23 Keynote-

[Chroniq]

If anyone is interested in watching the live video stream of the D23 Disney World Keynote.. Here is a link to a ustream feed.

Live Broadcasting

[Chroniq]

Full Disclosure.. It's a pretty crappy feed, but it's still better than work.

[Chroniq]

News--

 

Disney World

*Interactive Little Mermaid Queue. (not news)

*Animatronic Lumeir (that's the name of the candle guy in beauty and the beast. right?) Meet and Greet.. So you get to to talk to a robot candle. wow.

*Seven Dwarves Mine Train- The cars swing independentl and a POV is shown.. The mine coaster doesn't spend much time in a mine or inside...

*Mine Train Pov

 

Aulani

-Next up Aulani hotel in Hawaii or as I call it, "The place you shouldn't stay while in Hawaii.". . Cue the video montage.

*Details that are already known about the resort are being repeated... Spa, Water park, Fake Snorkeling..

*Joe Rhode video tour of Aulani... He does not announce Beastly Kingdom.. http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2011/08/construction-wraps-up-at-aulani-a-disney-resort-spa-in-ko-olina-hawaii/

*Tom Staggs (chairman of parks and resorts) pulls an Oprah and gives away a free trip to one lucky family, while still announcing nothing new..

 

SHANGHAI!

*Slideshow of a recent trip to the construction site is shown.. .. Pictures of dirt and the future moat are viewed to great applause..

*New Castle Concept Art below

*The resort will be significantly different than any Disneyland and much more culturally sensitive.

*An example about cultural sensitivity is given- "Dragons are very prevalent in Chinese mythology.. Disney was going to have a dragon like at Disneyland Pari, but decided against it to avoid pissing off chinese people..(not news)"

*Castle tour CGI! A video is shown of the castle.. Huge open space inside.. Castle is not themed to one specific person.. They will have an indoor space for castle shows as opposed to outside.. The third floor has an interactive experience and second floor is occupied by a restaurant..

*The castle's major draw is an underground water ride through fantasyland- http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2011/08/enchanted-storybook-castle-at-shanghai-disneyland/

 

California Adventure

-Nothing new.. They plan for Buena Vista Street is discussed and they mention that Carthay Circle will have a restaurant...

*POV tour of Cars Land.. An upgraded cgi walk through of the one that was previously is played.

*Photos of John Lassetter testing out the ride system of the tires ride at cars land... Mentions that it is directly inspired by the old flying saucers ride.

*The Cars Land cast member uniforms are being derived from John Lassetter's Hawaiian shirts.. (Is this news????wtf)

They are discussing the place making and back story for Cars Land.. It's convoluted and the explanation is as interesting as watching paint dry.

 

Disneyland

*Tom Staggs is talking with the president of Disneyland George Kalogridis.. They apologize for the construction at Disneyland. (Because a group of rabid Disneyland fans would be mad that they were fixing DCA?)

*New Tours.... Haunted Mansion with Imagineers.. Step Back in Time into Disneyland. . Special upcharge experiences.. - This is the one thing that will not be mentioned by many sites but seems to be the "only" news that interests me.

*New Fantasy Fair- Tangled Tower is the centerpiece.

*Something about Princess Aurora welcoming someone to the fantasy fair.. I'm zoning out at this point.. If you are really interested in princess news, I'm sure you can find a better site for information on that.

 

-------No one more thing?

Wow.. Disney fanatics that paid a lot of money to go to this event are going to be pissed as this was a non event.. They could have at least installed Leviathan at some park.just saying.

Beastly Kingdom Concept Art! (or the boat ride underneath Shanghai's castle)

Fantasy Fair concept art.. I've actually visited a strip club with the same name.

This is the new 100 million dollar e-ticket announced for Disneyland.

Two men enter.. one man leaves.

Rendering of the new Apple Store planned for Shanghai Disneyland.

Edited August 20, 2011 by Chroniq

[SuperShawn]

Wow that video stream is bad... Thanks for suffering through and avoiding work to give us all the news Chris.

 

Well the news and info was all less then thrilling and far from new... Way to go Disney. However the Haunted Mansion tour does excite me, and I can't wait to find out what the tour details are.

Edited August 20, 2011 by SuperShawn

[Chroniq]

Sorry to waste everyone's, as well as my, time! Clearly, Disney can't keep secrets like Apple.

[Synshine]

-Next up Aulani hotel in Hawaii or as I call it... "The place you shouldn't stay while in Hawaii.".

 

It looks like a great resort, but it seems better suited anywhere else. Sort of a resort that seems to want keep you on it's property as well.. like a Sandals. Never mind that it's on Oahu.

[Chroniq]

-Next up Aulani hotel in Hawaii or as I call it... "The place you shouldn't stay while in Hawaii.".

 

It looks like a great resort, but it seems better suited anywhere else. Sort of a resort that seems to want keep you on it's property as well.. like a Sandals. Never mind that it's on Oahu.

 

 

^ Couldn't have said it better myself.

[Gnome]

I think you're right about Alauni. From what I hear its rather excluded. And their dedication to "authentic hawaiian experience" sounds pretentious. I wonder how much of these values everyday hawaiians actually uphold. We should consult BJ Penn. At this point, i feel like they're just beating a dead horse with their marketing attempts. Obviously they want people to visit... but come on... nothing new here. Announce DLR's third gate already! lol