WDW’s Purple and Pink Monorails Combine and Become Teal

Walt Disney World has announced to build a new monorail train from the undamaged remains of the two trains that collided in a fatal accident this summer. The new monorail, expected to be put in service later this fall, will be given a teal stripe to differentiate it from the other trains.

Even with the addition of this new monorail train, the Resort will be one short of its previous twelve trains before the accident. Disney announced their expectation to add another train to the line next year, giving the monorail system their normal number of twelve trains once again.

The two colors that were involved in the accident, Pink and Purple, are retired out of respect for Austin Wuennenberg, his family, and the other cast member involved in this terrible incident. [Source: Orlando Sentinel, Photo: Disney Top 10]

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The 2010 Free Admission Promotion for Disney Parks – Volunteering

Update: The promotion is called “Give a Day, Get a Disney Day”.

A blog post on Touring Plans has announced that the new promotion Disney Parks will use in 2010 for giving out free admission is Volunteering. This replaces the 2009 promotion of coming in free on your birthday.

According to the commercial (video below), beginning in January, if you “give a day of service to a participating organization”, you will get a free one-day ticket to a park! The birthday celebration will end on December 31, 2009, as announced on the Disney website.

As you can see, they are still keeping the “What Will You Celebrate?” slogan. More details and an “official” announcement of this promotion may be announced at 7:30 AM on Good Morning America. This post may be updated (or another post added) later this afternoon with more details.

Breaking News: Disney Parks Announces MAJOR Changes Coming to Walt Disney World

Today has been (and is being) an exciting day for Disney Parks, more specifically the Walt Disney World Resort! Announced on Twitter by DisneyParks and DisneyD23 (and also at the D23 Expo), there will be some changes happening to Walt Disney World over the next few years that we can look forward to. Read below for more exciting details.

FANTASYLAND EXPANSION – 2013

It has been announced that Fantasyland in the Magic Kingdom will nearly double in size by the year 2013. The photo seen above is “a bird’s-eye view of the vastly-expanded Fantasyland…which will offer Guests a new land of enchantment in a magical fairy tale forest just beyond the castle walls”. The expanded Fantasyland will also have new attractions, meet-and-greet areas, and a brand new Beauty and the Beast themed restaurant, as was announced at the D23 Expo on Saturday by Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Chairman Jay Rasulo. More details.

DUMBO THE FLYING ELEPHANT RE-IMAGINED – 2013

Dumbo the Flying Elephant – a classic ride in Fantasyland will be completely re-imagined when the circus comes to town. “Guests are invited to step into the big top and join the circus before their magical flight over Fantasyland”. Additionally, the queue will be completely interactive and will feature slides. The attraction will be part of the expanded Fantasyland that was announced at the D23 Expo on Saturday by Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Chairman Jay Rasulo. More details.

STAR TOURS II COMING – 2011

Star Tours II has officially been announced – and it’s going to be in 3-D! Seen above is an exciting scene from the new Star Tours. “Guests aboard Starspeeders will join in a high-speed pod race through the desert canyons of Tatooine”. The launch of the new Star Wars based attraction was announced at the D23 Expo on Saturday by Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Chairman Jay Rasulo. More details. Click here for a video of a scene in the new Star Tours!

More details could be announced at any time, so check back right here as we will keep this post updated!

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All Monorails Are Officially Back in Operation

The Walt Disney World Monorail System is back in full operation as of 2:00PM this afternoon. Disney cast members received a note this morning that announced this, and also said that additional safety measures have been added to monitor track switches.

It is now clear what was going on at the time of the incident. One monorail was stopped before the Ticket & Transportation Center station waiting to be transfered off the EPCOT track (into a maintenance bay). This is when the collision occured.

“We have completed a thorough safety inspection and system checks to verify that it is safe to operate the monorail for our guests and cast,” Disney said. “We’ve added additional verifications of these track switch positions, supplemented our safety procedures and protocols for these operations, and communicated these changes to our Transportation partners.”

For more information, read the new Orlando Sentinel article.

Monorail Crash at Ticket & Transportation Center, Driver Killed

A tragic monorail accident occurred this morning at 2:00 AM near the station of the Ticket and Transportation Center. According to many sources, monorail Pink crashed into monorail Purple which was for some reason stopped before the station in an unusual location. Austin Wenneberg, 21, was piloting one of the monorails.

Wennenerg died at the scene, while the other driver was taken to the nearby Florida Hospital Celebration, with minor injuries. There were six passengers on board the monorail at the time of the crash, none of which were seriously injured.

All monorail services are suspended temporarily until further notice so an investigation may be done. You must use a bus or ferryboat to travel around the Resort.

WDW Central wants to keep you informed. Here is a collection of photos, videos, and articles all relating to the accident for more information.

• Orlando Sentinel article
• Examiner article with more pictures
• Photos of the Scene
• Video after the Incident Shot by Guest (Viewer Discretion Advised)

Stay tuned to WDW Central, as we will continue to post more updated on this terrible accident as they are announced.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to all those involved in this terrible accident.

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Video: President Obama Recording Speech for the Hall of Presidents (Behind the Scenes)

Above you can see a behind the scenes video released by the White House showing Present Obama recording his speech that will be in the Hall of Presidents. Also included, are quick interviews with some of the Imagineers from the Walt Disney Company on the history and importance of this classic attraction.

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“Stitch’s Supersonic Celebration” Closing – Already

Disney officials have announced the closing of the new show, “Stitch’s Supersonic Celebration” which just debuted last month. “We remain focused on providing the best possible entertainment experience for our guests,” says a Disney spokesman. “In order to achieve this, we regularly evaluate and adjust our offerings.”

Not surprising, seeing as Disney just decided to put it in the middle of Tomorrowland with no shade and no seating. In fact, when I visited last, people were sitting many yards away from the show under the shelter of the Tomorrowland Transit Authority track that runs above.

One of the comments on the Orlando Sentinel article says this: “This show was pitiful. I watched it twice, hoping it would be better the second time. Nope. I like to have something different, but please put more thought into your shows, temporary or not. It did not seem to appeal to anyone, even the kids.” I agree.

My thoughts on this are: I don’t blame them for taking it out. In fact, it makes me feel good to know that they can tell which shows aren’t so popular. It gives me more confidence in them. This show had a bad location – and plus, what’s the big deal about go-go dancers? For more information, click here.

What are your thoughts? Let us know what you think of this in the comments!

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“Top 7 Must Sees” Show Replaced, Keeping Stacey

You know the feeling. You finally arrive to your Walt Disney World Resort hotel, set your luggage down, and flip on the TV. You’re greeted with Stacey, your host for the Walt Disney World “Top Seven Must Sees” show (which is more like 107, right?). You wither get a feeling of happiness, or an annoyed feeling. You either like Stacey or can’t stand her.

I thought the show (while she did act somewhat stupid) was a part of my Disney experience – and for that, I always liked her.

I was surprised when I flipped on my resort television this past weekend. Stacey was still there, but she was in a different show called “Must Do Disney”.

On this new show (same channel and everything), Stacey goes through each park and outlines the “must do” attractions. There are a couple reactions and thoughts I had, and I’ll share those with you right now:

She acts more normal, with just snippets from the old show. For the most part, she acts normal (and is obviously not ad-libbing like she did before). However, if you are a fan of her old, crazy self, then you’re in luck, because as she’s going through the must do’s in each park, they show snippets of her from the old show.

She’s not good at acting normal. Maybe it’s just because I’m used to her the other way. But when I was watching her in the new footage, I thought that she was actually bad at acting normal! I think it’s due to the fact (as mentioned above) that when she acted crazy, she was ad-libbing…and now, she is reading from a script.

I searched, and haven’t found any news sites with this story on them. So if you’re looking for proof, I have none, except for the fact that on her official website, she has “Must Do Disney” listed in her resume.

What’s your opinion? Would you rather have Stacey in the new, less crazy show, or did you like the old show better? If you’ve seen the new show, let us know your opinion now! Photo: Stacey Aswad

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Rumor: New Star Tours Film Coming Soon?

Rumors have always been going around about a “Star Tours 2.0″, a remake of the original Star Tours attraction that has yet to be updated since it’s opening. According to SlashFilm, a “secret” Star Wars filming has been going on for a few days now. They even say that Anthony Daniels (C3PO) will be filming later this week. Since LucasFilm isn’t filming another Star Wars film, a series, or extra scenes, SlashFilm comes to the conclusion that they are updating the Star Tours movie. Who knows if this is true – and if it is, will make it to Walt Disney World, or if it will just be a Disneyland update?

What do you think? Do they need a new Star Tours film? If so, do you think they will bring it to WDW, or just update the [oldest] one in Disneyland? Let us know your thoughts in the comments now! Photo by Shane-o-matic.

“UP” Characters at Disney’s Hollywood Studios

Pixar’s 10th movie, “UP” flies into theaters May 29! Here you can see the “UP” characters making a visit to Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Beginning yesterday, May 15, Carl, Russell, and Doug will be available in the animation building at DHS for meet and greets.