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EPCOT
Walt Disney World
Disney Hotels
---- THE LATEST BUZZ ----
(5/14/12) A great new video from DiscoverEpcot has been posted to YouTube, giving us a great and detailed history and review of the new Tutto Gusto at the Italian Pavilion. (MORE...)
(5/13/12) The latest word from Screamscape spies is that Kim Possible will actually close on May 17th now and is planning to reopen in late June.
(5/10/12) I’ve been told that the official closure day for Kim Possible is May 15th, and the attraction will be closed for approximately six weeks (Early July) or so until it is ready to reopen with Agent P.
(5/9/12) Several readers have confirmed that Soarin’ at Epcot, as well as the entire Land pavilion, is indeed staying open for guests until 10pm each night.
Ride Rehabs - The following information is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate.
Test Track - NOW CLOSED through to at least November 30th, 2012
 General Park News - (5/14/12) A great new video from DiscoverEpcot has been posted to YouTube, giving us a great and detailed history and review of the new Tutto Gusto at the Italian Pavilion.
(5/9/12) Several readers have confirmed that Soarin’ at Epcot, as well as the entire Land pavilion, is indeed staying open for guests until 10pm each night. In other news Disney has announced the list of concerts coming to Epcot this fall for the Eat to the Beat concert series during the Food & Wine Fest:
9/28 – 9/30: Night Ranger
10/1 – 10/3: Sugar Ray
10/4 – 10/7: Sharship
10/8 – 10/10: Boyz II Men
10/11 – 10/12: Smash Mouth
10/13 – 10/14: Javier Colon
10/15 – 10/17: Air Supply
10/18 – 10/19: Gin Blossoms
10/20 – 10/21: Survivor
10/22 – 10/23: Hanson
10/24 – 10/25: Pointer Sisters
10/26 – 10/28: Sister Hazel
10/29 – 10/31: Billy Ocean
11/1 – 11/2: 38 Special
11/3 – 11/4: Howard Jones
11/5 – 11/6: Blues Traveler
11/7 – 11/8: Dennis DeYoung
11/9 – 11/11 – Big Bad Voodoo Daddy
(5/7/12) I’ve heard a couple of interesting Soarin’ stories this weekend. For starters, I’m not sure of the reason, but I’m hearing it said that for some reason Soarin’ at Epcot is staying open for guests until about 10pm. This is a bit unusual, as I believe Soarin’ usually closed it’s line at 9pm nightly with the start of Illuminations. One rumored reason is that with Test Track now closed for the next several months, they may have quietly extended the hours to help get more guests on board. Again… this is not on an Extra Magic Hour night, nor just running the ride after 9pm which happens anyway, but this is leaving the queue open for up to an extra hour. Can anyone confirm this?
The other weird Soarin’ story involves the rides on both coasts, as both Soarin’ rides were apparently closed fairly early in the day on May 3rd and remained closed for the rest of the day. The inside word is that on one of the rides (not sure which just yet) a man and his daughter got on board, had their belts checked, and somehow just before take-off changed their minds about riding and both freed themselves from the ride. They at least had the good sense to get clear of the ride as it went into motion, and a CM spotted them immediately and E-Stopped the ride.
All the loading and safety systems and procedures were put under the microscope to determine not only what happened, but also how to prevent it from happening again. While the rides did reopen the following day, word is there are new belt checking procedures, security camera angles have been changed, more cameras are on the way, and unfortunately, the belt straps are going to be changed in the near future. From what is being said, the new version of the belts will feature a redesigned center strap (the one normally only used for small children) in which every single rider will now be required to use it. Look for the new straps to arrive in about a month or so on both coasts.
(5/3/12) According to MouseSteps, Disney’s newest face character, Princess Merida (from the upcoming film, Brave) has been making appearances at Epcot lately. She will be moved over to Fantasyland soon it seems. She’s quite stunning with piercing eyes and a huge head of curly red hair.
(5/2/12) Disney has confirmed that the new Tutto Gusto wine cellar opened on May 1st. You can read all about it on the Disney Park Blog.
(4/23/12) DaMouse heads over to Epcot this week to check out the construction going on at the Italy pavilion on the new Tutto Gusto Wine Bar and refurbished Tutto Italia Ristorante next door. Then they head over to Test Track to take a peek at what’s going on behind the new construction walls.
(4/12/12) Theme Park Foodie has a nice write up all about Tutto Gusto, the new wine bar opening at the Italy pavilion between the Tutto Italia and Via Napoli restaurants.
(3/9/12) MouseSteps and AmusementPics have posted huge photo updates showing off the start of this year’s Epcot Flower & Garden Fest.
(3/7/12) We received word from a Screamscape reader who visited Epcot on Tuesday noticed that the Habit Heroes attraction in Innoventions was seen “testing” to select guests once again, despite the news that it had been shut down. Technically it has never fully opened and was only soft-open to begin with, so it looks like they may be trying to work out the bugs and fix the problem areas of the message.
(3/5/12) I really don’t know the details, but Disney has shut down the Habit Heroes attraction that had opened not long ago at Innoventions from Blue Cross / Blue Shield. It was felt that the attraction reinforced too many negative stereotypes regarding childhood obesity.
(2/27/12) According to a report at Epcyclopedia, Disney has filed the paperwork to go ahead with a large bakery expansion at the France pavilion. The expansion will add a ton of extra kitchen space as well as CM break rooms and restrooms.
(2/22/12) The other day I was happy to find a couple of classic retired Disney rides reborn digitally (like Horizons and Star Tours 1), and I’m happy to report that another one is in the works as well. Check out Journey Back Into Imagination, though it is still very much a work in progress, but sure to bring a smile to the face of any Figment or Dreamfinder fan out there.
(2/16/12) Interesting little changes are taking place at Epcot this week. The Epcyclopedia reports that queue reconfigurations are in progress at The Sea with Nemo & Friends and Spaceship Earth attractions. The scope of the work involved makes it fairly clear that Disney is adding some kind of FastPass style direct access queue pathway into these attractions, though capacity wise, neither attraction truly is in need of a true FastPass access system.
Going back to previous rumors suggesting that Disney is on the verge of launching the “XPass”, a higher tier version of FastPass reserved in advance for premium for guests who purchase premium Disney Resort packages. The first step in order to make room for the introduction of the rumored XPass was to start enforcing the closing window time on all FastPasses.. which will now begin in March. Once they work out the bugs there, I think we can perhaps expect to see a test of the XPass sometime over the next three months. Either way, it is starting to appear as if Epcot could very well be the testing ground for many new “NextGen” features Disney has been planning. For example, back in mid-November Epcot was testing a new RFID chip based ticket system, combined with a special turnstyle free entrance portal with ticket scanners.
(11/14/11) Theme Park Review reports that Walt Disney World was testing a new RFID chip based ticket system. A section of turnstyles at the entrance of Epcot was replaced by a new set of “scanners” where you were asked to tap your ticket card on a Mickey logo, and if it turns green, you were let in. New tickets were being used that were a bit thicker and housed the RFID chip, while those with existing tickets or Annual Passes were given a new RFID sticker to attach to theirs.
Summer 2012 - Agent P’s World Showcase Adventure - (5/13/12) The latest word from Screamscape spies is that Kim Possible will actually close on May 17th now and is planning to reopen in late June.
(5/10/12) I’ve been told that the official closure day for Kim Possible is May 15th, and the attraction will be closed for approximately six weeks (Early July) or so until it is ready to reopen with Agent P.
(3/15/12) According to the Disney Parks Blog the Kim Possible World Showcase Adventure game will be transformed into a new Phineas & Ferb themed adventure game this summer called “Agent P’s World Showcase Adventure”. Guests will help Agent P foil the evil plans of Dr. Doofenshmirtz, and his various “Inators”.
Talk about an interesting summer for Walt Disney World… between this and Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom, guests have two new high-tech interactive “NextGen” style games to play in the parks.
Fall 2012 - Test Track Re-Imagined - (5/3/12) Small changes are already starting to take place outside Test Track it seems. A quick photo update has been posted to DaMouse showing off everything that was once outside the entrance being cleared out.
(5/1/12) The Disney Parks Blog has released all new concept artwork this week showing off the new vision for Test Track when it reopens later this year. As rumored… the whole new theme looks to have a heavily Tron influenced with a focus on the computer design aspect of automotive design. Looks very cool to me so far… I can’t wait to see more.
(4/18/12) With Test Track now closed until the fall for it’s lengthy remodel, JeffLangeDVD.com gives us a rundown (with photos and a video) of what took place on the final night of operations. At 9pm the “Last Call” was given and the final guests escorted into the Test Track ride building and the door to the outside world closed tight.
Speaking of which, WDW has updated their website with new information regarding the closure this week, and now lists Test Track as staying closed through to at least November 30th.
(4/16/12) A fun photo update to help you remember and say goodbye to the Test Track of old can be found here.
(4/3/12) After all of the new talk and rumors about the upcoming Test Track refresh the Orlando Sentinel reached out to Walt Disney World for the official word on the status of the project and was told that the ride will shut down on April 16th for the several month long upgrade and renovation.
(4/2/12) I’ve dug up a little more information about the pending rehab for Test Track. According to my sources the Test Track crew has been cross-training ever since the lengthy rehab was announced to the other various ‘Future World East’ attractions.
Now to be fair, while everyone had heard April 15th as the start of the rehab, Disney has never confirmed this date, nor officially posted it to the public. From what I’m hearing, the Test Track rehab is still on… just the starting date to close the ride down has been delayed. Part of this may have something to do with the current rehab taking place on Big Thunder at the Magic Kingdom. I’m hearing that the work taking place over there has been even more extensive than expected, and that rehab may be taking longer than expected. As such, Disney is possibly hoping to avoid closing down Big Thunder and Test Track at the same time if possible. Working along the same lines, another source has also reported that the closing date for Test Track had been pushed back a month to mid to late May instead of April, which matches up to when Big Thunder is expected to reopen.
(3/30/12) I’m a bit confused myself over this, but the latest rumor floating up from Walt Disney World claims that the previously announced makeover for Test Track may have been delayed or possibly even canceled. I really don’t have any details on this, but with the ride set to close in a couple of weeks, apparently the Test Track CMs have not been informed of anything pending downtime for the ride. While the public announcement about this make-over is still posted to the Disney Parks Blog here, it seems all mention of it has been deleted from Disney’s Press/Media website. Anyone know what’s going on? I was really looking forward to seeing Test Track go under the knife myself…
(1/9/12) Disney has confirmed at last that not only will Test Track shut down for a very lengthy rehab in 2012, but that we will see a re-imagined version of the ride when it reopen this fall. The new version of Test Track will indeed be sponsored by Chevrolet and see the queue / preshow area transformed into the “Chevrolet Design Center at Epcot”. While here, guests can try a hand at creating their own custom vehicle designs before being given the chance to buckle into one of the six-passenger “SimCar” ride vehicles to “test out their design on the challenging track of the Test Track course.”
While Disney has not officially offered the official exact dates, they did report that it will close in April and reopen in the Fall, so our April through September timeline is still looking solid.
(1/4/12) There is an interesting rumor going around trying to connect the upcoming remodel of Test Track to have a Tron theme, but this is not so. However, Disney and Chevrolet may be looking to add a Tron-style high-tech theme and look to the ride, which would explain the sleak blue new cars with computer graphic stylings. So not Tron… just a high-tech futuristic theme. Think of it more of a World of Motion: Version 2.
As expected, Chevrolet will become the primary sponsor of the ride in place of the former all-encompassing “GM” branding. This has already been seen with the new Chevrolet branding on the few cars that have been wrapped in the new blue color scheme. If you haven’t seen them lately, scroll down 2/3rds of the way through this photo update at Theme Park Review to find several pictures showing off the different cars currently running with guests.
In fact you can even find a new logo or two floating around backstage it seems, according to a photo posted at Epcyclopedia. They also list the rehab dates as being April 15 through September 21st, 2012.
(10/19/11) Trusted Screamscape sources have confirmed that Test Track will indeed go under the knife, closing down to nearly gut and rebuild almost all of the interior show scenes to create a new revitalized version of the ride experience. Also, I’m happy to report that the junk yard style queue area will also be given a major NextGen style overhaul to add new interactive elements.
(10/11/11) The latest buzz around the internet today claims that Disney is planning a four to five month long closure of Test Track starting in April 2012 which will see it close for the entire summer season of 2012, reopening sometime in September. According to the various rumors, this may tie into those new metallic blue car bodies that have been showing up on the attraction, as Disney and GM may have come to a new sponsorship agreement that will see the theme of the ride updated. According to some rumors, the entire gritty “Test Lab” theme may be dumped in favor of a new more slick presentation showing off the ‘design’ and ‘innovation’ side of GM’s cars, with focus not only on the cars themselves, but the high-tech gadgets going inside. (So can we use OnStar from the Epcot parking lot to get front of line access passes now?) More as it leaks out.
(9/27/11) An interesting new development has started to take place over at Test Track. According to photos posted to The Disney Corner, Test Track is starting to use a few newly refurbished cars on the ride that look very different than the original cars. The body type appears to be exactly the same, but the panels have been given a new deep blue metallic paint job as well as an official Chevy logo on the nose. Well… at least the first ones seen so far have been blue, I imagine other colors will also arrive in the future.
I gotta say that the new color looks pretty slick, and while I really haven’t heard much on this project myself yet, there is a rumor claiming that the ride may receive some kind of upgrade or major renovation in 2012, so this could just be the first phase of it. Anyone know more?
2013/2014 - Soarin’ over the World - Rumor - (10/22/10) Disney and More has an interesting article about the long rumored, Soarin’ over the World attraction, a follow up to Soarin’ that would feature international locations and expand the ride’s use beyond the American parks and into Disneyland Paris, Tokyo Disney and possibly beyond.
???? - New Country - Rumor - (4/23/11) According to this report, Disney is said to have approached the Brazilian government about the concept of adding a Brazil pavilion to Epcot.
(8/13/10) Apparently the sudden push to add a new country to Epcot was stirred up as an idea to add something for the park’s 30th Anniversary, which will begin Oct 1st, 2012. I’ve also heard that there is still talk about doing some kind of expansion to the Japan pavilion as well. Previously we’ve seen two big ideas get designed but never go anywhere, a Ginza shopping district style area and the former Mt. Fuji coaster idea, inspired by the Matterhorn at Disneyland, but evolved to become Expedition Everest at Animal Kingdom. Anyone have a clue just what may be in the works now?
I’m also starting to hear rumors of activity for Future World as well once again with the focus being on sprucing up one of the oldest attractions there (Universe of Energy) or bringing the old Wonders of Life pavilion back to life as something new. Chances are they’ll opt for the later due to the huge cost savings of reusing the existing structure.
(8/12/10) The Orlando Biz Journal reports that Epcot may once again be preparing a possible new country for World Showcase. This time around the popular rumor is Spain. Anyone know more? Is there any truth behind this rumor?
(3/29/10) A Screamscape reader was stopped in Epcot in World Showcase’s Outpost area by a CM and asked to take a brief survey. Just three simple questions, starting with a “How many times have you visited Walt Disney World?”. The next tow questions however are far more interesting. First was a multi-choice question asking which country you would most like to see added to World Showcase: Australia, Brazil, South Africa, Russia or an Other choice to name something else. Following this the next question asked guests which country would they be LEAST upset to see removed from World Showcase.
While this doesn’t mean that Epcot is ready to add a new country just yet, it is telling that they are interesting in getting guest feedback about the possibility. Even more telling is the fact that they are considering doing it as a replacement for an existing country rather than build a new one entirely from scratch. While guests could pick any country they wanted as the preferred one to remove, I would think that perhaps the pavilions without a major attraction inside would perhaps be the most at risk. That list would include: Germany, Italy, Japan, Morocco and the UK and possibly even France, though each of these counties have fairly popular restaurants as well so anything is possible.
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