Princess Rooms!

Hi there Disney fans!!

So I have been slightly slacking in the posting and there is a lot going on!  :-)  With the giveaway and all I just have not had much time to post.

But here is the latest and greatest about Disney!!!!  A couple years ago Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort unveiled Pirate Themed rooms - what little boy wouldn't LOVE to stay there!

Pirate Rooms at Caribbean Beach

Well now the rumors can be put to rest - Disney's Port Orleans Riverside will be unveiling Royally Themed rooms fit for a Princess!!

Royal Rooms at Disney's Port Orleans Riverside

These 512 rooms will debut in March of 2012 with the story that Princess Tiana - Princess and the Frog - had rooms designed for her Princess friends.  Think Jasmine and Alladin, Cinderella and Prince Charming, Sleeping Beauty and the Prince, Ariel and Prince Eric, and of course - YOU!  :-)
From the Disney Parks Blog - Princes and princesses of all ages can enjoy their luxurious lodging quarters, which will include ornate beds that feature headboards with fiber-optic special effects, and gold and crystal accents. Guests also can enjoy artwork and special mementos left by Tiana’s royal friends.

So if you are planning a trip next spring, maybe this will be the room for you!!  We LOVE Port Orleans Riverside as a moderate and I am excited about these new rooms.  More themed rooms will be coming with addition of Disney's Art of Animation Resort set to open May 2012.

A New Home for Mickey!! Fastpass for Princesses too!!

With Toon Town gone the Imaginears at Disney have come up with a fabulous new home for Mickey!  I wrote previously about the Fastpass to meet Mickey Mouse.  Well here are more details about his new home as well as the temporary new home for the Disney Princesses.  The Princesses will eventually move back into Fantasyland after the massive expansion is complete!

Mickey Mouse has moved to a new location in Magic Kingdom® Park to meet and greet his friends at Walt Disney World® Resort. You now can go backstage at Town Square Theater for photos and autographs with Mickey – without waiting in a standby queue thanks to the first-ever use of Disney's FASTPASS Service for a character meet-and-greet experience.

The Town Square Theater, located just inside the Magic Kingdom entrance, was previously known as Town Square Exposition Hall. The venue has been re-imagined as a turn-of-the-Twentieth-Century theater where posters proclaim Mickey Mouse as the star of a magic show. It is here that you can enter a queue to meet Magician Mickey Mouse, or a queue to meet the Disney princesses – for whom Town Square Theater will be a meet-and-greet location during New Fantasyland construction.

The meet-and-greet experience begins when magical posters featuring Mickey's various magic acts come to life, enhancing your journey through queues into the backstage corridors of the theater. Mickey greets guests in a rehearsal-room environment amid posters, steamer trunks and stage props. It’s a classic backstage area with a wood floor and ceiling. One wall is brick, the others are papered in red and black – Mickey colors.

During the Princesses' limited engagement at Town Square Theater, they are greeting guests in an area fit for royalty – replete with plush carpeting, lush velvety-blue drapes with gold tiebacks, and a large mural backdrop of a chateau amid green, tree-covered hills and fields.

If you are wanting to meet Mickey or the Princesses you can either obtain a Disney's FASTPASS ticket or get in standby queues. FASTPASS tickets, which are available near Town Square Theater, designate an hour window of time during which the guest can return to the theater and have their "magic moment" with Mickey or the Princesses without joining the standby queues.

Star Tours - The Adventure Continues - Opening May 20

The Star Wars themed ride was in SERIOUS need of an overhaul.  In fact on most of my trips to Hollywood Studios I found the ride with little to no wait.  My husband - a HUGE Star Wars fan - didn't even like going on it anymore, said it was boring.  So I am excited to share that the ride has been shut down for quite some time and will be reopening in a couple weeks with MAJOR improvements!!  Just in time for Star Wars Weekend!  :-)  (Didn't book yet?  Book today...it's not too late!)

On May 20, 2011, the power of the Force and the magic of Disney will combine once again to create an unforgettable new Star Wars™ adventure: Star Tours®–The Adventures Continue–now in 3D at Disney’s Hollywood Studios®!


While visiting that “galaxy far, far away,” you will experience a new story, plus a chance to fly with some of their favorite characters like C-3PO, R2-D2, Princess Leia and even Darth Vader! You’ll never know which of these classic characters will appear during this flight to the furthest reaches of the universe.

Plus, you’ll travel the galaxy like never before in the all-new Starspeeder 1000!

Glide among the trees with Wookiees on Kashyyyk, kick up some sand across the desert in a podrace on Tatooine and even submerge into the lake waters of Naboo. Or, weave through the busy city planet of Coruscant, blast through the blizzards of Hoth and even explore the trenches of the Death Star! With multiple ways to experience each flight, you will never know where the Force might take you! And with each adventure, you can see the Star Wars™ universe in an all new way…in 3D!

A NEW Larger Family Friendly Resort!

Yup that's right Disney is building another Value Resort!  One with over 1000 family suites!  It will be based on Animation and I think it all sounds very exciting!  Read on...

From Disney:

Scheduled to open in May 2012, Disney's Art of Animation Resort hotel promises to be the ultimate in family fun. This Value Resort is planned to feature over one thousand family suites, specially designed to accommodate up to six guests, as well as standard guestrooms. The Resort hotel will draw its inspiration from four classic Disney Animated films: The Lion King, The Little Mermaid and Disney·Pixar's Finding Nemo and Cars.

Booking dates for this family-friendly resort have not been announced yet. Please continue to check back for more information and details.

Back to me:

I cannot wait for this resort to open!!  Owen AND Emma will love it here!  Here are a few artist renderings of the resort and some more information!

General Information:
There will be 1,120 family suites that will sleep up to six guests and 864 guest rooms that will sleep up to four guests.  Dining options will include a pool bar at the main pool, a food court area, and pizza delivery to your room from 4pm to midnight.  There will be 3 pools,  the main pool will be located in the Finding Nemo courtyard and will include a water play area.

I am VERY excited to try out this resort in 2012!  How about you???

New Interactive Queues Enhance Your Experience!

Walt Disney Imagineering recently unveiled a new interactive queue at the Haunted Mansion attraction at Magic Kingdom® Park.

Here's a Sneak Peek!!

You can now view a new story line inspired by some of your favorite characters, previously seen only inside the Haunted Mansion. Throughout the interactive queue, you will find new crypts and other “spooky” sights, as well as tombstones with witty epitaphs to the dearly departed, such as “Drink A Toast To Our Friend Ken, Fill Your Glass And Don’t Say ‘When.’”

This Haunted Mansion revamp is one of several enhancements being made to queue lines throughout the Park to help increase interactivity during your waits.

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh attraction in Fantasyland also recently received some queue enhancements. A towering honey tree now welcomes you at the entrance of the new queue, which younger guests are welcome to climb through and explore. Later on, you can communicate with a timid Piglet, stomp your feet to scare pesky gophers out of Rabbit’s garden, drum a tune on Rabbit’s fruit and ensure Pooh has plenty of delicious honey to look forward to by guiding honeybees on your journey to and from beehives. You can even draw pictures in walls of virtual honey poured by Pooh himself – all before setting foot on the attraction.

 
Have you been or will you be going soon???  I can't wait to check these out this fall!