Why, hullo, old chum. It’s been a little while since we met here in the shadowy corner of Orlando Informer, doing that whole Rumor Round-Up thing, so I thought it might be kinda nifty to dust off the old gumshoe hat and start poring through some juicy new morsels. To paraphrase the Comic Book Guy from The Simpsons, nostalgia and little slices of new speculation that are too slim for standalone articles are a dangerous mix!

It turns out that now’s the best time to return to the rounding-up fold, too. With 2016 holding few, if any, surprises, and with ’17 already almost fully mapped out in the public consciousness, that leaves 2018 hovering as a giant question mark, especially considering that the project we thought might fill the void – that little trifle known as Nintendo Land – is possibly being delayed. That means the sky is blue and truly the limit for what’s next around the theming corner.

So, let’s start filling it in, shall we?

Mystery water slides

Yesterday, mysterious photographs popped up on Twitter, taken from near Wet ‘n Wild Orlando (which, yes, is part of Universal Orlando Resort, even though it’s [a] only 50 acres in size and [b] located off-site). Here’s what the scene looks like:

https://twitter.com/ThemeParkBuff/status/690173137812586496

What’s so intriguing about the pics is that, as of right now, no one knows what the various pieces-parts are intended to be used for. The first – and, in all honesty, most likely – possibility is for Volcano Bay, Universal’s brand-new, on-property, and fully-themed water park, which is currently in the midst of construction and which is set to open sometime in the summer of 2017. Given that Universal only recently purchased all the land under and around Wet ‘n Wild, the fact that it might be using the area as a staging ground for the next phase of construction is not crazy – though the real estate all around Volcano Bay could work just as well, at least theoretically.

The second option is that, well, the disassembled parts are meant to constitute a new attraction (or three) for Wet ‘n Wild itself, to help give the 39-year-old park one last giant hurrah before being closed at the end of the year. Of course, the feasibility of erecting new slides for just a handful of months of operation is questionable, at best, making us at RRU HQ conclude that it’s for Volcano Bay.

If the brightly-colored pieces are, indeed, destined for the new water park, then there’s the possibility that we could be looking at a HydroMagnetic Rocket, which the ride’s manufacturer describes as a “bobsled run on water” as it shoots up “steep uphills” and plummets down “high-speed chutes.” Unknown, that wily rascal over on the Orlando Informer Community Forums, has been dropping hints that just such a ride will be heading Universal’s way, and the color palette certainly seems to fit (along with the manufacturer, Proslide, which has already been rumored to be the sole vendor lined up for the new park).

Proslide’s Hydromagnetic Rocket, seen here at Iowa’s Lost Island water park

(And since we’re on the topic of what to expect at Volcano Bay, Unknown went on to lob a few more rumored tidbits: MagicBand-esque devices will be handed out to every guest as she enters the water park, which will inform you when your turn is ready at the dozen or so attractions, practically eliminating lines; in addition to slides and the like, there will be two slow-moving lazy rivers that will, at least partially, run through the park’s 200-foot volcano icon; and a “rain forest bar” will be one of the venues offering up tasty adult drinks.)

Assembling the Avengers

In case you haven’t noticed, Universal has been slowly-but-surely working its way through one of its most popular areas, Marvel Super Hero Island, giving The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man a facelift in 2012 and completely refurbishing The Incredible Hulk Coaster as we speak. As an added cherry on top of the comic book sundae, Attractions Magazine is reporting on a little tidbit that it claims has come its way: once Hulk is back to his usual smashing, Universal will announce that the entire island will be getting a similar overhaul.

Goodbye, comic book-heavy aesthetics!

Now, this is, in and of itself, nothing particularly earth-shattering; Marvel Super Hero Island getting a touch-up, particularly to bring it more in line with the box office-shattering Marvel Cinematic Universe, is something that’s been making the rumor rounds for at least the past few years. What does pique our interest, however, is what Attractions says is the full scope of what Universal supposedly has in mind: closing down Dr. Doom’s Fearfall, Storm Force Accelatron, and, even, Café 4 (a popular place for the little ones to eat, but a venue which has consistently ranked at the very bottom of the park’s food offerings). What would replace them? Why, one massive new attraction, themed to The Avengers – yes, very possibly the filmic version – and utilizing the Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts ride experience template.

As exciting as all this is – at least, in hypothetical form – it somehow doesn’t compare to the underlying reality that would have to be in place for any of it to actually come to fruition, which is, namely, a brand-new agreement between Universal and Disney regarding the tenuous situation that is Marvel’s theme park rights. (Quick crash course lesson: Disney may have bought Marvel Entertainment back in 2009, but Universal signed a contract with the company nearly 15 years previously, granting it exclusive rights for all theme park attractions east of the Mississippi in perpetuity.) It may be that Disney, which is rumored to be getting ready for a Marvel land of its own out in Anaheim, has finally thrown in the towel and wants its brand to be equally well represented out on the East Coast, as well; it does get a pretty penny from ticket and merchandise sales, after all, and The Avengers is one of the hottest properties around right now (the first two films have earned nearly $3 billion at the global box office, and the next two films, with a potential cast in the several dozens, look to genuinely be one of the biggest cinematic experiences in theaters yet).

Avengers, assemble for Universal!

Then again, if this last part doesn’t pan out, expect Universal to still possibly do an Avengers attraction, but going the more “generic” comic book route, as it’s currently doing with both Spidey and Hulk.

And the next hotel will be…

Okay – this last one is one part rumor and two parts speculation.

In addition to Skull Island: Reign of Kong and the Hello Kitty Experience (the Orlando Informer Podcast’s favorite), the other big development for Universal Orlando this year is the opening of its fifth on-site hotel, the absolutely gorgeous Sapphire Falls Resort. Once that happens… well, a little themed birdy told us to expect yet another announcement by Universal on the hotel front, outlining the next venue to land on-property.

Sapphire Falls Resort’s stunning lobby

This, really, should come as no surprise, as various Comcast and NBCUniversal execs have made it no secret that they think the resort can support at least 10,000 hotel rooms, and with Sapphire’s arrival, they’re only halfway there. What we don’t know as of yet, however, is just where this new property will be erected, and which of the three hotel classifications that Universal recently announced – premiere, preferred, or prime value – it will end up being. Oh – there’s the little matter of what its theme will be, as well.

This is where the speculatin’ comes into play. It’s like a game of Clue: I think it’ll be value, in Wet ‘n Wild’s current spot, and with a family-friendly film theme. If you’ll notice, all three of these will be firsts for Universal – “value” would be a wholly different (yet related) category from “prime value,” and though the company does own the land where the old water park currently sits, it’ll still be a five-minute bus ride away, making it veer somewhat in Walt Disney World territory. But the big one in our little guessing game is the theme, which would be a huge departure from the real-world motifs of all the other on-site resorts.

The Secret Life of Pets, coming July 8 to a theater near your dog

What might this one be? My money, if Uni decides to go this route, is on an animated franchise, such as Despicable Me or The Secret Life of Pets, which is already rumored to be coming to the theme parks sometime soon. Implausible? Probably. But fun and engaging nonetheless? You bet.

The post Rumors! Volcano Bay, Avengers, and new hotels appeared first on Orlando Informer.

It isn’t nearly as farfetched as it might seem on first blush; Comcast, as noted in last week’s Rumor Round-Up, has suddenly found itself inebriated with the themed industry, more than willing to drop half a billion dollars a year on upgrades and expansions for its American properties while also currently in the process of constructing locations in Beijing and Moscow and, just possibly, Dubai, South Korea, and India. It’s on a single-minded crusade to topple industry leader (and creator) Disney from its high horse and drag it into a knock-down, drag-out fight in the mud.

And for SeaWorld owner Blackstone Group, an investment firm whose sole interest and purpose in theme parks is to turn a tidy profit, the only question isn’t whether they would sell one of the biggest chains in the country, it’s for how much. It’s hard to imagine a more perfect alignment of the stars for such a transaction to happen, despite the fact that NBCUniversal was already at this particular juncture once before (some six years previously, when SeaWorld Entertainment was being auctioned off and before Blackstone ended up being the highest bidder).

Let’s say Comcast is successful and all of SeaWorld’s holdings get folded into the growing Universal Studios empire. Would the theme park industry look drastically different the very next day? In a word, yes. Beyond SeaWorld Orlando, Aquatica Orlando, and Discovery Cove being immediately rendered part of Universal Orlando Resort, there’s actually quite a few ramifications that would play out around the world, as well.

Just what does SeaWorld own, anyway?

Before our imaginations can run away with us, it’s important to first stop and take stock of the situation.

Many are probably not aware of the full extent of SeaWorld’s locations nationwide – the company actually owns more than twice as many parks as Universal does globally, with plans to move into the international market itself. In fact, there are more SeaWorld locations in the US than Disney and Universal possessions combined, running the gamut from marine to amusement to water to kiddie parks – in short, just as wide a spectrum as Disney’s continental portfolio.

Main parks:

• Busch Gardens Tampa (opened in 1959)
• SeaWorld San Diego (1964)
• SeaWorld Orlando (1973)
• Busch Gardens Williamsburg (1975)
• SeaWorld San Antonio (1988)

Water parks:

• Adventure Island (sister park to Busch Gardens Tampa) (1980)
• Water Country USA (sister park to Busch Gardens Williamsburg) (1984)
• Aquatica Orlando (sister park to SeaWorld Orlando) (2008)
• Aquatica San Antonio (sister park to SeaWorld San Antonio) (2012)
• Aquatica San Diego (sister park to SeaWorld San Diego) (2013)

Miscellaneous parks:

• Discovery Cove (based upon animal interactions) (2000)
• Sesame Place (based upon Sesame Street) (1980)

Orlando = Universal’s turf

Right away, without having to lift a single finger (well, after writing that initial check, of course), Universal would own six parks within Orlando: Universal Studios Florida, Islands of Adventure, Wet ‘n Wild Orlando, SeaWorld Orlando, Discovery Cove, and Aquatica Orlando (with a seventh, Busch Gardens, just a stop or two over in Tampa).

This instantly puts the company at a numerical parity with Walt Disney World’s four theme and two water parks, and, what’s more, gives it nearly the same exact spread of properties, from a fake film backlot to a park featuring zoological elements. One of the few remaining strengths that Disney would enjoy would be the convenience of having all of its parks situated in one location.

But, even here, there are ways for Universal to countermand its rival’s supremacy. Word has already leaked of a possible monorail that would connect all of Universal Orlando’s hotels and theme parks with the “second site” that is Wet ‘n Wild, emulating Disney World’s world-renowned transportation system (as much as it can, of course). And while having the theoretical monorail swing all the way down to include SeaWorld Orlando on its route may be borderline impossible – imagine trying to negotiate that deal with all those myriad land owners – there is still the standard shuttle solution that Wet ‘n Wild currently employs, with, perhaps, the added possibility of going all-out in theming and design (triple-decker Knight Busses would be my ideal ride, but mobile Frankenstein’s labs would probably have to suffice, given J.K. Rowling’s infamous rigidity).

The future

Most interesting of all in this hypothetical scenario is how it makes Universal come full circle with its original plans for Orlando.

Back in the ‘90s, as the company was putting the finishing touches on its Universal Orlando Resort, it was so taken with the idea of becoming a multi-day vacation destination, it not only was eyeing a huge swath of land near the Orange County Convention Center (a huge market that I-Drive 360 is now looking to tap), it had already started to purchase it, reaching some 2,000 acres – over twice the size of Universal Orlando proper. Initial plans called for a third and a fourth theme park to be situated here, along with a second, bigger CityWalk shopping/dining/entertainment complex, loads of hotels and/or time-share units, and, even, two 18-hole golf courses.

This third site, of course, wasn’t meant to be; it turns out that before Harry Potter arrived on the scene, neither Islands of Adventure nor CityWalk was anywhere near as popular or profitable as the company had initially hoped, forcing it to first sit on and then ultimately sell all of its additional land.

Before word broke of Comcast looking to purchase SeaWorld, the vaguest of rumors were starting to swirl that the company was tinkering with the notion of resurrecting the old Universal plans and building a third gate, at the very least, somewhere off-property. It very well could be that SeaWorld’s Orlando holdings would be enough to stand in for this long-lost business plan – or it just might be that this wouldn’t be enough to scratch Comcast’s construction itch, and it would still proceed with both the third theme park and that new water park we keep hearing about.

If this, indeed, would be the case, it’s hard to see how the scale wouldn’t tilt in Universal’s favor.

A resurgent presence overseas

While both Universal Studios Japan and Singapore have footprints that are too small to accommodate any SeaWorld-fueled expansions (both parks sit on plots of land that are only about 50 acres in size), there certainly is the possibility to incorporate Shamu and friends in new attractions or, possibly, new theme park lands. This is particularly true for Singapore, which still has a Madagascar-themed area, even after Universal and DreamWorks have broken off their contract and the latter is looking to make its own standalone parks around the world.

The most exciting prospect, then, lies with the two locations that have been indefinitely delayed since the Great Recession hit in 2008 and defeated many a business venture. Universal Studios South Korea was originally conceived of as the only full-fledged resort outside of Orlando, with a theme and water park situated side-by-side – how hard is it to imagine that water park becoming another Aquatica?

And in Dubai, both Universal and SeaWorld had originally inked deals before being forced to pull the plug, and both companies have expressed renewed interest in picking construction back up. SeaWorld, in particular, had quite the impressive plan, with four parks being situated in a Disney World-esque lineup: SeaWorld, Aquatica, Busch Gardens, and the world’s first Discovery Cove clone. All that’s missing is an Universal Studios park.

Disney’s own holdings in Europe and China have had rocky beginnings, at the very least, and continued underwhelming performances, at the very most, leaving the door wide open for real competition in giant swaths of the planet – which would, in turn, crank up the heat here in Orlando for the best rides, biggest attractions, and, now, the most complete array of possible experiences.

It would be one of the best conceivable scenarios that the themed industry has ever seen in its entire history.

We’re moving to Tuesdays

Greetings, rumor fans. Dan here, stopping by to let you know that our weekly rumor articles are moving to a new day and time: Tuesday afternoons. I know, today is Wednesday, so this article is coming up one day off – but it’s helping us make the transition from Fridays to Tuesdays. Next week, look for our latest rumor post on Tuesday!

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The post Rumor SPOTLIGHT for July 16, 2014: What if Universal buys SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment? appeared first on Orlando Informer.

Three years ago, HHNRumors, of all sites, came across a trademark filling for a new water park called, oddly enough, WonderSea Island. Nothing ever came of the request – until last week, that is, when Parkscope noticed a new filling for something called Volcano Bay, which has to do with water attractions at Universal Orlando. It left the site guessing that it was either the new, updated name for WonderSea or simply one of the new park’s areas.

When checking in with our sources, word came back to us that Volcano Bay is a strong candidate for the name of the water park – at least, for the time being – and that it is rumored to be going into the little plot of land south of Cabana Bay Beach Resort. What we weren’t able to confirm is the existence of the park’s central icon, which has long rumored to be a “massive, 200-foot erupting volcano,” but we have no reason to doubt the veracity of the claim, particularly considering the park’s name (and also considering that, if true, it would be quite a sight to behold, giving the two Disney World water parks a run for their money).

What else have we heard about Volcano Bay? It is, perhaps obviously, going to be on the smaller side, coming in somewhere around Universal’s Wet ‘n Wild Orlando’s 30 acres – which is roughly half the size of Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach and SeaWorld’s Aquatica Orlando – but it’s going to be impeccably themed and will feature “top-notch” attractions. Furthermore, Volcano Bay is expected to exist side-by-side (metaphorically speaking) with Wet ‘n Wild for at least the first few years; after that, however, the 50 or so acres that Universal purchased just recently on International Drive will be fair game. What exactly for? Your guess is as good as ours.

There was one last morsel that our sources kicked our way, and it’s a juicy one, at that. It seems that one of the new hotels that Universal is apparently getting ready to install over the next few years will, indeed, be sharing space with the new water park, and it will, indeed, be an expansion of Cabana Bay. However, contrary to the previous report, it looks like the two new towers won’t hold a measly 200 rooms apiece – they might consist of as many as 600 rooms each.

What’s that? New construction at Disney World?

With the new FastPass+ system not doing much to dispel the traffic jams at two of Walt Disney World’s biggest attractions, it seems like the company is gearing up to do a little bit of expansion work.

First up is Epcot’s Soarin’, which Screamscape and Disney at Work claim has already begun prep work: the loading/storage area behind the ride is in the process of being cleared out, and the next-door office trailers have already been emptied. In their place will be a third theater, which would (a) help alleviate the always-massive queue, of course, and (b) be ready to open by 2016, which is when the attraction is rumored to be upgraded to Soarin’ over the World.

And just to make things even more interesting, Screamscape is upping the ante by reporting that it’s hearing rumors of a second possible expansion plan, which would add two new theaters instead of just one. If Disney decided to go down this road, it would require much more extensive construction, as the company would need to reshuffle a lot more of the backstage infrastructure around it. We’ll see which path it’s opted to take shortly.

Hollywood Studios’s Toy Story Midway Mania is next up to bat, which would see a nearly identical expansion: the ride’s next-door soundstage, which is currently – and temporarily – home to Oaken’s Trading Post and Frozen Funland, will be transformed into a duplicate track for the park’s headliner attraction, resulting in an increased throughput of at least a third.

There is much skepticism in response to this report, given the sheer amount of rumors that have targeted this building and its surrounding facilities, ranging from Cars Land to Star Wars Land, but with the former completely scrapped and the latter perpetually delayed, and with Toy Story Mania remaining continually congested, this would perhaps seem to be the best course of action.

Comcast to buy SeaWorld?

Okay – settle in for a little story.

SeaWorld was founded by four entrepreneurs in 1964 who thought a sea-based park would bring a little bit of spice to California and, later, Ohio (right in my backyard!). Shortly thereafter, Disney World opened, and the businessmen saw a huge, still-untapped market in Orlando.

The three parks were so successful, they caught the attention of book publisher Harcourt (called Harcourt Brace Jovanovich at the time), which was looking to pursue that elusive financial god called diversification by getting into such myriad industries as insurance and theme parks. It opened yet another location in Texas, and then promptly faced bankruptcy. It sold SeaWorld to beer giant Anheuser-Busch, which was looking to get a little more diversification of its own. It lumped the marine parks in with its Busch Gardens amusement parks and controlled everything through a subsidiary called Busch Entertainment. That was 1989.

In 2008, Anheuser-Busch itself got purchased by another brewer, InBev, which wanted to sell off all “diversified” holdings in order to reach profitability as quickly as possible (hey, buying major global corporations is expensive). Possible suitors included none other than NBCUniversal, which would have been more than happy to absorb SeaWorld Orlando into its Universal Orlando Resort (exactly what happened to my beloved SeaWorld Ohio, which became part of Six Flags before ultimately being shuttered for good). Universal never made a bid, however, and InBev ended up selling Shamu and friends to the Blackstone Group, the world’s largest “alternative investment” firm.

Three short years later, Blackstone decided that the next step for Busch Entertainment was – what else? – to go public. It did exactly that, being renamed SeaWorld Entertainment in the process and retaining the Blackstone Group as its majority shareholder. This is where things continue to stand today.

Except, well, maybe not. Comcast is on the theme park scene now, having purchased NBCUniversal some four years ago – and although it initially wanted nothing to do with the themed industry, a little something called Harry Potter has since opened its mind to the financial possibilities that are just waiting to be had. The company has since famously pledged to invest $500 million a year in its three American theme parks; with Comcast willing to drop that kind of money, and with Blackstone’s singular concern in running the SeaWorld business being pure and simple profit, it seems like the stars just might be aligning for SeaWorld Orlando, Aquatica Orlando, and Busch Gardens Tampa to all join the Universal fold (which isn’t to mention, of course, all of SeaWorld Entertainment’s other parks across the country).

The emphasis, of course, has to go on “might”; although we’re hearing from multiple sources from multiple places that the two companies have begun something along the lines of exploratory talks, they could just as easily fizzle out, like they did six years ago. That was before both Comcast and the Wizarding Worlds of Harry Potter were around, however, and before Universal thought it was possible to topple Disney from its profitability throne, if not also its attendance throne, as well.

With all of SeaWorld in its clutches, it may very well do that – and soon.

NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

Our rumor articles are designed to give fans of Orlando a glimpse into what might be on the horizon for our theme parks and entertainment destinations. Some of the information we share comes to us directly from anonymous sources, and some of it comes from our research on other websites, which we always link to and are proud to showcase.

If you enjoy our weekly summary of the latest internet chatter and gossip, and you understand that these are rumors and not facts (unless explicitly stated), then this column is for you, and we’re very happy to have provided it for 118 weeks in a row! If, on the other hand, you find that you cannot discuss theme park rumors without becoming hostile toward anyone who has heard different information than you, or anyone who has a different opinion than you, then this column – and, indeed, our entire website – is not for you. Thanks for your understanding.

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The post Rumor round-up for July 11, 2014: Universal’s Volcano Bay water park, Disney expansions, and Comcast buying SeaWorld appeared first on Orlando Informer.

Well, just this week, Disney and More decided to take a look into the subject, and it came up with some rather interesting insights. The good news? Seeing Star Wars being installed at Disney resorts across the globe hasn’t been scuttled, and its delays certainly weren’t the product of kneejerk financial panic as some originally claimed last November – meaning that Disney CEO Bob Iger, Walt Disney Imagineering, and, more than likely, the whole remainder of the company are still incredibly excited to see Luke Skywalker and company head to Anaheim and Orlando.

The bad news? The land is still years away from happening. Here’s why…

The new Star Wars universe

In case you’ve been living deep in the swamps of Dagobah over the past year-and-a-half, Disney purchased Lucasfilm, the production studio behind both the Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises, for a mind-boggling $4 billion back in October 2012. Since then, the company has fast-tracked the development of a sequel trilogy (that would be Episodes VII through IX for all those playing along at home), along with a slew of one-off, standalone films that would focus on one specific character and/or time period.

Disney/Lucasfilm has been incredibly quiet on just what, exactly, Star Wars: Episode VII will entail, although the scraps of (mostly) reliable intel we’ve received since filming began two months ago suggest that the original trilogy leads – Luke, Han Solo, Leia Organa, and Chewbacca – will carry the brunt of the movie’s story while several younger, brand-new characters (which would surely include Han and Leia’s children) gets introduced. This new cast would then move to the forefront for the remaining two installments, carrying the torch of the Skywalker family into the third generation (and beyond? Just possibly – Disney hasn’t shied away from the possibility of doing a fourth trilogy).

Introducing a newer, younger, and almost certainly hipper cast is certainly designed to appeal to children, Disney’s traditional audience, but it’s also meant to signify the pushing of a giant reset button across the entire SW brand. All the literally thousands of novels, comic books, videogames, and television shows – which constitute the so-called Expanded Universe – have been swept to the narrative wayside in order for Disney to start building anew, replacing them with literally thousands of new volumes that will be in lockstep with the new films.

Waiting for the new trilogy

Given the grand coordinated effort to inundate the world audience with a new, continuous mythology, Disney and More reports that the company is keen to try and tap into this brave new narrative world – how much more effective would the grand marketing campaign be if the commercials directed families to the movie theaters to see the new unfolding stories and to the theme parks to actually live them?

Much more important, however, is the little matter of market surveys and impact studies. The current slate of five(!) new movies could just as quickly be yanked if Episode VII fails to catch on like the previous movies – yes, even the prequels, which were a major commercial draw despite all their negative word of mouth – which would, in turn, greatly affect Disney’s plans for its two new Star Wars Lands. If the sequels and spinoffs are popular, Imagineers would almost definitely be directed to create all the new rides, attractions, and eating experiences primarily around them; if they’re not, the company would play on its guests’ nostalgia for the six previous films and hope that it would be enough to still be the moneymaker that it desperately hopes its new themed area(s) would be. More younger people travel to the Disney parks than older individuals, after all, and it’s been nearly 40 years since Episode IV: A New Hope first arrived on the scene.

It’s almost literally impossible to imagine seeing the likes of Jedi Master Luke Skywalker or Sith Lord Darth Vader be relegated to only background roles, but depending upon the box office of Episode VII – and the veracity of Disney and More’s reporting – that may very well be the exact scenario that will greet guests when they’re finally able to set foot in Star Wars Land.

The final X-factor

The last complicating factor in this up-in-the-air scenario is the lingering possibility of Disney opening a third park at its Disneyland Resort in Anaheim. While rumors have hitherto focused on Star Wars being instituted as an overlay to Disneyland’s constantly-under-revision Tomorrowland, Disney and More suggests that Imagineering may be holding on to the property to make up the bulk – along with Marvel, which has also not been terribly successful in being integrated into the theme parks – of a brand-new gate.

Although terribly unlikely, having an entire park be devoted almost exclusively to Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and Marvel characters would be the closest that many diehard fans would ever come to visiting nirvana, and its almost exclusive roster would go a long way to making up for what would undoubtedly be the incredibly small nature of its size.

The best solution?

There’s one last item that Disney and More touches upon in its write-up, and although only a fleeting mention, its inclusion was enough to spark our imaginations here at Rumor Round-Up HQ: Disneyland Paris’s Star Tours, which, amazingly, has yet to be upgraded to the new Star Tours: The Adventures Continue (the versions in Orlando and Anaheim were replaced three years ago, while Tokyo’s was switched over last year). The site suggests that we can finally see Paris get upgraded sometime in 2016, although it makes no mention as to why Europeans will have to wait so inexplicably long.

Now, as we’ve written about before, we think Disney could do much worse than to ape Universal’s approach to the Harry Potter mythos by building multiple fictitious geographical locations across multiple actual geographical destinations. (There is even the opportunity to link them in one continuous, themed experience, like Universal Orlando’s Hogwarts Express, although it would obviously be limited to each individual resort.) However, after reading the report that Disney is playing the waiting game to see how Episode VII – and, just possibly, VIII and IX – performs, perhaps the best solution is not to divide up the 11 films by setting, but to do so by time period.

In this way, Disneyland Resort can be home to the original trilogy (given its status as the original theme park resort), whether these attractions are housed at Disneyland or at a third gate (or both). Walt Disney World Resort would follow suit with the prequel trilogy, again either concentrated just at Hollywood Studios or dispersed throughout all six parks; Tokyo Disney Resort would receive the sequel trilogy; and Disneyland Resort Paris can be home to the spinoff films. The final two Disneylands, in Hong Kong and Shanghai, could incorporate the two television series, the just-finished Clone Wars and the soon-to-start Rebels, respectively.

While a highly unusual approach to an intellectual property, it would serve each faction of Star Wars’s immense fanbase while simultaneously creating perhaps the greatest incentive yet to visit, in turn, each Disney location across the globe.

And it would also help put Disney squarely back in the driver’s seat of innovation and design, a spot which it got knocked out of some time ago and may otherwise never see again.

 
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The post Rumor SPOTLIGHT for July 5, 2014: Why Star Wars Land is still delayed, and why you may not see Luke Skywalker there appeared first on Orlando Informer.

It has long been known that Universal has been interested in eventually developing five hotels on its property – that’s been in the books ever since the mid-’90s, when the company first hatched plans to transform Universal Studios Florida into Universal Orlando Resort – and it’s even been thoroughly accepted that the fifth hotel would be started immediately upon Cabana Bay Beach Resort’s grand opening. Well, Cabana officially opened last week, and now we’re hearing about new permits filled with the office of the Orange County Comptroller for new construction.

Ready for the twist? It’s not just for a fifth hotel – it’s also for a sixth and seventh resort, as well. (And you thought we were crazy when we spoke about seven resorts or timeshare complexes a few months ago.)

We have two sources on this material: one internal, who had initially asked us to sit on the information until after the end of the month, and one external – the ever-resourceful Parkscope. Interestingly enough, our own private source was only aware of the fifth resort’s go-ahead; the discovery of the two additional developments is all Parkscope’s doing, and it is a mighty impressive find, at that.

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, though. Resort number five will be a sister hotel to Royal Pacific Resort, generally continuing its theme and overall feel, and will be situated in the empty plot of land that sits in between Royal Pacific and Cabana Bay. Construction is expected to start by the end of the year at the very earliest; although we haven’t been informed of any specific opening date, it seems likely that, given Universal’s expedited pace of construction, it should be open for the summer of 2016 (when work on Harry Potter’s third phase will begin?).

Parkscope was able to fill in a few more blanks here – literally. It seems that a rather large pedestrian bridge, not unlike the one that links Cabana to the rest of Universal Orlando, will join the two halves of Royal Pacific together. Furthermore, it looks like this will be something of a cross between Royal Pacific’s deluxe status and Cabana Bay’s value/moderate level; while Express Passes won’t be offered to its guests, there is the possibility for both water taxi service and the inclusion of family suites. It’s going to be very interesting, indeed, to see how this plays out.

There’s one more tidbit that the site makes mention of: the size of all these new resorts. The permit lists the fifth hotel as having a total of 1,000 rooms, making it equivalent to Royal Pacific Resort. The sixth hotel would only be 400 rooms – making it only two-thirds the size of the Hard Rock Hotel, the smallest on-site – but here’s the rub: it’ll only be built if Universal decides not to pursue Cabana Bay Beach Resort’s third phase, which, rumor has it, would consist of two 200-room towers. And, finally, the seventh hotel would also only have 400 rooms.

The bottom line? One way or another, don’t be surprised if Universal Orlando has a grand total of 6,000 rooms by 2020 – almost three times as many as it had before a certain boy wizard showed up on the premises.

Gypsies, geisha, and masquerades

HHNRumors is at it again – after helping to fill in all of Halloween Horror Nights 24’s haunted houses two weeks ago, they also spilled the beans on this year’s scare zone roster last week.

In addition to The Purge, which we first mentioned to you a fortnight ago, here are the other (and somewhat strange) areas:

• New Orleans voodoo zone – witches and gypsies are said to populate this lovely area. (Central Park)
• Japanese zone – there are no details other than it will involve geisha. (Sting Alley, near Mummy)
• Bloody masquerade ball zone – the site speculates this will be similar to the 2006 Blood Masquerade scare zone. (Plaza of the Stars)
• Face-off 7-style zone – let’s just go ahead and quote HHNRumors directly here, as no one can do it any more entertainingly: “If this zone is to be similar to 7, then hopefully it’s done a bit better. I love the concept of evolving scare zones, but I think it just confuses the general public, who still needs a map – but this isn’t about them.” (Hollywood Blvd)

Now, if you’re anything like me, you’ll be left completely clueless by that last description. So I went ahead and pinged the resident HHN expert here at Orlando Informer HQ, PWT, and asked for a layman’s description, which he was nice enough to provide for me:

“7 was a zone in 2011 that ‘changed’ through the night. Each of the seven sins had a stage with some kind of set-piece and an actress. The actress’s makeup and costume would have three phases, with each phase being a bigger manifestation of the sin she was representing. Additionally, each sin had two male actors who would stay near the stage and scare guests. This was titled an ‘evolving scare zone,’ and it was the first of its kind.

“As far as what ‘face-off’ means… I’m not sure if it refers to the TV show, the actors ‘fighting’ each other, or what.”

PWT-san was nice enough to also send along a video, which I’m going to share here for your personal edification:

[youtube_video]5SG371E4jSk[/youtube_video]

It’s been suggested that there will be more scare zones announced for this year’s event, but last year’s (ill-fated) Walking Dead “street experience” also only consisted of five areas, so I’m not certain whether Universal will have any further cards up its sleeve.

Not to worry, though – at this rate, we’ll know the entirety of HHN 24 by the end of July.

Not be missed: Diagon Alley this week

There have been a few small-but-incredibly-important updates as head into the final week (or so) before the Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Diagon Alley opens at long last.

Two nights ago, Universal started to finally give specifics to its exclusive Harry Potter vacation package guests, giving them an idea of what their “guaranteed access” to Diagon Alley will look like. For a full breakdown – and all the fallout – be sure to check out the OI Community Forums.

Dan has provided his last update on OI’s Diagon Alley soft opening predictions – along with a quick rundown on the entire theme park community’s accuracy thus far – and it’s a doozy. You can also find that in the forums.

And, finally, let’s leave this week on an impossibly high note: last week’s column, which didn’t get published until this week (sorry!), covers the new Wizarding World’s long, strange journey from rumor to fact. Covering two full years and consisting of just over 2,000 words, it’s the biggest, meatiest Rumor Round-Up we’ve done to date – and we hope you enjoy it just as much as it made our lives miserable.

NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

Our rumor articles are designed to give fans of Orlando a glimpse into what might be on the horizon for our theme parks and entertainment destinations. Some of the information we share comes to us directly from anonymous sources, and some of it comes from our research on other websites, which we always link to and are proud to showcase.

If you enjoy our weekly summary of the latest internet chatter and gossip, and you understand that these are rumors and not facts (unless explicitly stated), then this column is for you, and we’re very happy to have provided it for 124 weeks in a row!

Want to read about more rumors? View all of our rumor articles

Want to discuss more rumors? Join us in the OI Forums

The post Rumor round-up for June 27, 2014: Universal is building three more hotels, all the HHN 24 scare zones, and a few Diagon Alley updates appeared first on Orlando Informer.

Given all the fanfare and hoopla, it is no surprise that the new Wizarding World ended up being perhaps the most closely-followed project in the industry; its London waterfront facade was already just as much a photographic mainstay as Cinderella Castle before its scaffolding was ever removed, let alone before its buildings were fully finished.

Now that our nearly-three-year journey is finally nearing its end, we here at Orlando Informer HQ couldn’t think of a better, more heartfelt sendoff to what has become a major component of our professional lives than to step back to the very beginning and take a quick stroll down memory lane.

In the beginning

Preliminary design work on Diagon Alley started at least immediately upon the opening of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Hogsmeade, and possibly even before that.

We now know that Stuart Craig, the production designer of all eight Harry Potter films, started sketching the layout of a Leaky Cauldron restaurant after he completed the blueprints for Three Broomsticks, and that Universal Creative was toying around with the idea of a real, live Hogwarts Express that would connect its two Orlando parks as far back as 2010.

As a direct consequence of this, before Hogsmeade could even celebrate its first birthday in 2011, word had already leaked about a bigger role for Harry Potter at Universal Orlando, although most original guesses had Hogsmeade’s neighbor, Lost Continent, pegged as the site of the expansion (the first Wizarding World is almost entirely composed of repurposed land from Lost Continent, it should be remembered, making this the most logical guess).

Ironically enough, this rumor ended up being partially true, thanks to the advent of Hogsmeade Station and its new “entrance plaza” to Hogsmeade Village.

The other Harry Potter rumor

Going hand-in-hand with more Potter in Florida was the rumor of more Potter for the rest of Universal’s parks, most notably at Universal Studios Hollywood. This picked up steam in early November 2011, when Universal Studios President and COO Ron Meyer, the longest-serving chief of a major motion picture company in the history of Hollywood (yes, he’s still there today), confirmed these plans but failed to elaborate on them in the slightest.

It turns out that he didn’t have to.

The first confirmations

Just a month later, on December 2, Universal Orlando made the surprise announcement that Amity, home of the beloved JAWS attraction, would be closing on January 2, 2012, to “make room for an exciting, new experience we’re planning for you.”

It didn’t take very long at all for everyone to put two and two together – the theme park enthusiast crowd instantly latched onto Amity being the location of the Harry Potter expansion. And almost immediately after that, word broke on just what this new Wizarding World would be: Diagon Alley, containing the two headliner attractions of the Hogwarts Express and Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts. (Looking back, it must have been Universal’s nearly-last-minute announcement of JAWS’s closure – really, only one month’s notice seems remarkably short – that prodded various insiders to start speaking to their contacts in the press and in the blogosphere.)

Universal followed it up with something of an official confirmation just four days later, on December 6. Holding a press conference at Universal Studios Hollywood, the company formally announced a clone of Hogsmeade Village arriving at the park sometime in 2016 – and, oh, yeah, a Wizarding World expansion for Universal Orlando. Rather suspiciously, no specifics were conveyed in the slightest.

(Just six months later, Universal Studios Japan was also happy to reveal that Hogsmeade would be coming to its neck of the woods, as well.

Perhaps ironically, Osaka’s Wizarding World will be opening on July 15, 2014, a full two years before Hollywood’s.)

The big reveal

Just because December of 2011 wasn’t chock full of surprises already, on New Year’s Eve the stalwart Robert Niles from Theme Park Insider lifted the veil on just what Diagon Alley would have in store for guests.

Although he was careful to couch the information as being “early conceptual work,” it was nearly 100% accurate (leading many to believe that the “leak” came from Universal directly, as a way to whet diehard fans’ appetites while still ensuring that average guests would continue to visit its parks over the course of the next two-and-a-half years), including a general overview of the land’s geography and an amazingly detailed breakdown of Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts’ queue and ride experience.

In case it weren’t already, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Diagon Alley had just become the officially worst-kept secret in the history of theme parks.

The name of the game

The next major milestone in Diagon Alley’s construction took a long three months to arrive, but the wait was more than worth it.

In early March 2012, the (not so) mysterious development that was replacing Amity was given an official designation: Project 722. (Random historical trivia: the codename of the first Wizarding World was Project Strongarm, thanks to the KUKA robotic arms that power Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey.) The name came from permits that were filed with the South Florida Water Management District, that long-time spoiler of theme park secrets, which lined up the demolition of JAWS and its associated structures and revealed the layout of all the new buildings that were going to take their places.

Yup, that’s right – we’ve known the general outline of Diagon Alley for a little over two years now.

And although very few at the time could’ve pinpointed specific landmarks, the fact that the outline of the lowest building – which, of course, we now know to be King’s Cross Station – lined up at precisely the right angle for a possible train track that ran to Hogsmeade was, for many in the rumor mill, the final nail on the coffin: Harry Potter’s London most certainly was coming.

Getting down and dirty

As the summer of 2012 wore on, visible progress was being made on the new land’s construction – which made it all the harder for Universal to deny the (more and more) obvious.

(First, a brief aside: the theme park historian in us wouldn’t be fully content until we do our due diligence and mention that, on July 27, 2012, Diagon Alley first showed up in our then-brand-new Rumor Round-Up column, which would quickly establish itself as the flagship series here at OI. If you blink, though, you’ll miss this first reference, as it comes and goes in a heartbeat.)

On August 15, Universal informed its employees in its most recent Team Member newsletter that they should expect delays and rerouted traffic in the resort’s backstage area starting on the 20, which would include “infrastructure upgrades and utility maintenance.”

Once the associated map from the newsletter hit the web, outlining the path that the Hogwarts Express would take from Universal Studios Florida to Islands of Adventure, the cat was well and truly out of the bag.

Rumor Round-Up tackled the subject just a few days later, including Dan’s now-signature on-site pics – a process which got repeated the following month, when the first set of construction walls covering the on-the-lagoon embankment was removed for the very first time.

It was Diagon Alley’s very first exposure to the average guest, and it would have to suffice for a very, very long time.

The opening date 16 months early & a preview of the muggle London

On March 23, 2013, Robert Niles from Theme Park Insider did it again, providing a whole batch of fresh intelligence from, presumably, the latest look at the latest plans and blueprints (directly from Universal), starting with the very first description of what the London waterfront would ultimately look like (and the fact that Leicester Square Station would house Diagon Alley’s entrance).

Other details, ranging from the “confirmation” of the Leaky Cauldron and Florean Fortescue’s Ice-Cream Parlor to Knockturn Alley and a ticketing desk inside King Cross’s Station, are offered in the site’s report, but the truly most astounding tidbit comes in the form of Niles’s projected opening date: July 2014.

Back then, nearly 16 months ago, the date was surprising for just how soon it was going to be – two-and-a-half years is an insanely quick turnaround time in construction, particularly for a project of this, and one that Universal’s rival down the street, Disney, would never attempt to accomplish (for various reasons). Now, however, it’s remarkable due to its accuracy, particularly after so much recent effort was expended on pinpointing the exact day.

Next, on April 15, 2013, we were offered a possible view of Diagon Alley’s London waterfront from Orlando United forum member Gambit. The image has since been removed from its original post, but, fortunately, we still have a copy to show you how remarkably close his mockup comes to the real thing:

Other than not having the “accessories” like trees and the Knight Bus, truly the only aspect from Gambit’s creation that turned out to be incorrect was his inclusion of a Leaky Cauldron facade.

Impatience – and explanations

With so much already known about Diagon Alley, its contents, and, even, its opening date, a growing sense of frustration was palpably building in the theme park enthusiast crowd. Why the hell wasn’t Universal announcing any of this?

Our very own Derek Burgan chimed in on the matter on on April 20, running through several different scenarios – including the possibility that Universal didn’t want to overshadow the then-imminent grand opening of Transformers: The Ride 3D – before settling on the real explanation.

Universal originally announced the first Wizarding World in the summer of 2007, but it didn’t open it until almost exactly three years later. Because of this, the company is said to have lost 30% of its Annual Passholders across those three years – a development it desperately wanted to avoid the second time around, when a lot more money was being both made and invested in its parks.

As it turned out, however, all the hot-and-bothered enthusiasts wouldn’t have very much longer to wait at all.

The storm: May 2013

Finally, on May 8, 2013, Universal Orlando decided to announce the inevitable: wizarding London was coming sometime in 2014.

Although only the barebones basics were divulged by Universal – the literally only new bit of information for grizzled rumor veterans was the presence of the giant, 60-foot, fire-breathing dragon atop Gringotts Wizarding Bank – there was a veritable cavalcade of other revelations to go alongside it, starting with our very first look at the Hogwarts Express’s track, provided by Screamscape even before Universal got around to formally announcing the attraction.

Parkscope, meanwhile, was busy publishing a survey that Universal had sent out to Annual Passholders and other targeted guests. Although ostensibly gaining information for how best to handle the park-to-park Hogwarts Express, keen-eyed readers were able to glean a bit more information than the company was willing to share just a few weeks earlier, including a more firm “summer ‘14” release date, Escape from Gringotts would be a 3D ride, and the Express would feature a different experience on both legs of the trip – all as the rumor mill was stating for the past year (or more).

Not all of the latest intel was good, however, including the little bombshell that Daniel Radcliffe wanted nothing to do with the new theme park land. Although many have spent the past year fervently hoping that Radcliffe was somehow talked out of his hardline stance, we learned just last week that, alas, he wasn’t – neither he nor Emma Watson participated in the slightest for either Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts or the Hogwarts Express.

The trickle

After the floodgates had momentarily, miraculously opened in May, they shut tight again until the final stretch of 2013.

Finally, around the middle of August, these photos surfaced on WDWMagic:

The Hogwarts Express had arrived at Universal Orlando. Its first home was a large, outdoor storage space between the two Universal parks, where the trains could be easily seen from USF’s Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit.

Then, two months later, on October 24, Universal finally lowered the Hogwarts Express on the tracks for the very first time – and was even nice enough to release a few official shots of the special occasion.

Then, on December 7, Robert Niles came back up to bat, brandishing the world’s of the inside of Diagon Alley.

And, finally, although it is nearly impossible to top Theme Park Insider’s “leaked” photo, Universal went ahead and tried, anyway, officially announcing that the Leaky Cauldron would be coming to the new Wizarding World during a special presentation that was mostly devoted to CityWalk’s new makeover.

[youtube_video]wQq7uN6p87Q[/youtube_video]

Both Universal’s presentation and the year 2013 ended with the promise of an ever-increasing wave of Diagon Alley news and revelations, building to a crescendo when the land itself would open sometime in that nebulous summer period. It was, in many ways, the perfect way to end not only that calendar year, but also the entire rumor/construction period up until that point.

And, indeed, 2014 has proven to be the most magical yet – even before Diagon Alley has opened!

NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

Orlando Informer will be viewed over 10 million times in 2014, and, believe it or not, among those viewers are some folks with pretty strong connections to Universal Orlando. As they contact us with insider intel, we collect their information and combine it with our own research to produce our weekly Rumor Round-Up. When information comes to us directly, we cite “our sources”; when information comes from outside our network, we always cite it as such and provide links to the original source. This is our 115th rumor post, and we’re proud to have provided our readers with compelling stories as we share our thoughts and actively promote dozens of other websites.

Despite the excitement that can come with covering rumors, we ask our readers to be ever-mindful that, unless explicitly stated as fact, everything we cover here must be considered a rumor and unofficial. If you’re ever confused by what is what, we invite you to join us for free in the OI Forums, where you can ask our vacation planning community for clarification and seek advice for anything else regarding your plans to visit Orlando.

Get your questions answered in the OI Forums

View all of our Rumor Round-Ups

The post Rumor SPOTLIGHT: Diagon Alley’s journey from rumor to fact (2011 – 2013) appeared first on Orlando Informer.

There are times here at RRU HQ where we go back and forth quite a bit with our sources over what exactly we can and cannot say – we want to reveal as much as possible to you, our dear readers, but we also, of course, don’t want to get anyone fired.

Yesterday just so happened to be one of those times, with us trying to push the envelope as much as humanly possible over just how many houses and scare zones from this year’s upcoming Halloween Horror Nights we could publish today. Literally in the middle of backroom conversations with various sordid folks dressed as the classic Universal monsters, this little bombshell dropped: the on-and-off website HHNRumors leaked all the houses – or, at least, their codenames.

Here’s a direct quote from the site:

• Evac – not just for Transformers anymore. This codename is rumored to be an Alien vs. Predator-themed maze. Take with a grain of salt. (Soundstage 24)
• The Walking Dead – no real need for a codename when you announce the house in June. The largest HHN house to date. (Soundstage 25)
• Charlie – living dolls roam this house. (Tent 1)
• Halloween – Universal Hollywood has done this before, and I know Orlando has been itching to tackle the project. Michael Myers in Orlando! (Tent 2)
• Crows – this haunted house ventures into a reverse Thanksgiving scenario. Thankskilling, rather. (Parade building)
• Ritual – nothing screams Legendary Truth like a ritual gone bad. Bad things happened here; something awful lives under the bed. (Soundstage 22)
• Synergy – Dracula’s untold story in the form of a haunted maze. This could be good. (Soundstage 24)
• Smile – clowns aren’t born – they’re made. Expect to see a Jack cameo in this house [as we originally reported back in December]. (Disaster queue)

There is much about this list, actually, that we can’t comment on, as we just don’t know – particularly when it comes to the original haunts as opposed to the intellectual property-based ones. However, there are a few nuggets that we can absolutely verify, thanks to the inhibitions of our snazzily-dressed sources quickly being lifted:

• The ratio of four original to four IP houses is correct.
• We can confirm that The Walking Dead, Alien vs. Predator, Halloween, and Dracula are all coming this year.
• Finally, of the above mazes, all but Halloween will be in soundstages.

Oh, all right – if that just isn’t enough for you, how about these last two little gems?

• The first scare zone will be based off of the 2013 film The Purge, which was originally brought to life at last year’s HHN at Universal Studios Hollywood.
• Worried about too many IPs invading the scare zones, like last year’s Walking Dead-athon? Don’t be – most of the streets will be original this year.

If that’s enough to whet your whistle, you can already buy your tickets to Halloween Horror Nights 24 – but be sure to check out our complete guide to the event first.

Casting your way through the Wizarding Worlds of Harry Potter

Okay – this is major spoiler time.

In keeping with this week’s theme of trying to strike the appropriate balance of discretion for our sources with information for our readers, the outside world once again intervened, allowing our house-elves deep within the bowels of Universal to feel much more comfortable with tipping their hands than they ever otherwise would.

This time, it has to do with that ever-popular little something called Harry Potter:

First interactive wand medallion I’ve seen: marks the spot, spell & motion (h/t @mattagins for the pic!) #PotterWatch pic.twitter.com/YLqW1l0FQO — Orlando Informer (@OrlandoInformer) June 12, 2014

Just yesterday (again!), people started noticing the just-installed spell-casting medallions all throughout the Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Hogsmeade, which indicate where an interactive experience will be available for those who have purchased the new RFID-equipped wands (for much more on this, please see our recent breakdown of the spell-casting process/locations).

Since these medallions indicate the spell name that must be spoken and wand motions that must be executed, we have finally gotten the go-ahead to publish a little something that we’ve had in our grubby little hands here at RRU HQ for a little while now: the actual map that will be included with the purchase of each brand-new, next-generation wand.

Prepare to have your mind blown.

You can click to view a larger version, or, when viewing the smaller version, right-click and “Save link as” to save the full version to your computer.

And as cool as that one is, it doesn’t even compare to the magical wonders that await in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Diagon Alley…

Printed on the map:

Where to cast spells

Your new wand allows you to cast spells at locations throughout all of Diagon Alley. To find a place where you can cast spells, follow the numbered icons on this map. Look for the bronze medallion in the pavement that matches the spell and symbol for that number. This is where you will cast your spell.

How to cast spells

With wand ready, stand at the medallion and face in the direction it points. Raise your wand and trace the shape of the spell symbol through the air while reciting the spell. If you make the correct gesture with your wand and recite the spell, magic will happen. If you do not succeed at first, keep practicing to improve your wand skills.

And just because we care, we’re also including a picture of what the map looks like once it’s first taken out of your new wand box:

What’s more, the Knockturn Alley area on the map is embossed with a florescent material, which is normally invisible but which reveals its secrets when held under certain types of light. For instance, when we held a black light over the mysterious area, the wording and certain blue shapes magically appeared. Other light frequencies may reveal other colors – we’re not telling. Hey – we have to leave something for your first visit, right?

If this doesn’t provide your best glimpse yet at just how deep the immersive experience is going to be at the new Wizarding World, we quite honestly don’t know what will.

NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

Orlando Informer will be viewed over 10 million times in 2014, and among those viewers are some folks with pretty strong connections to Universal Orlando. As they contact us with insider intel, we collect their information and combine it with our own research to produce our weekly Rumor Round-Up. When information comes to us directly, we cite “our sources”; when information comes from outside our network, we always cite it as such and provide links to the original source. This is our 114th rumor post, and we’re proud to have provided our readers with compelling stories as we share our thoughts and actively promote dozens of other websites.

Despite the excitement that can come with covering rumors, we ask our readers to be ever-mindful that, unless explicitly stated as fact, everything we cover here must be considered a rumor and unofficial. If you’re ever confused by what is what, we invite you to join us for free in the OI Forums, where you can ask our vacation planning community for clarification and seek advice for anything else regarding your plans to visit Orlando.

Get your questions answered in the OI Forums

View all of our Rumor Round-Ups

[sws_author_bio user=”msunyata@yahoo.com” size=”105″ authorposts=”More OI posts by Marc” name_format=”About the author”] [/sws_author_bio]

The post Rumor round-up for June 13, 2014: Harry Potter spell-casting map and the first HHN 24 houses and scare zone revealed appeared first on Orlando Informer.

If you’ll recall from last week, we were on something of a tear to find out all we could about the specific shops and their various locations all along Diagon Alley’s four(!) streets. After getting our preliminary batch of intel, we’re excited about getting an even newer, more in-depth deluge of information, providing our most complete look at the new Wizarding World.

Since so much of Diagon Alley has already been meticulously covered, let’s concentrate on the lesser-known locations, particularly in those alleys beyond Diagon Alley proper, shall we?

Horizont Alley:

• Pilliwinkle’s Playthings – the first store on the left past Florean Fortescue’s Ice-Cream Parlor, likely a facade only.
• The Fountain of Fair Fortune – also located on the left towards the very end of Horizont Alley, just before Knockturn Alley’s exit, the Fountain does, indeed, seem to be home to either a street vendor or a mini-eatery, just as the rumors have suggested. (A bit of Harry Potter trivia: “The Fountain of Fair Fortune” is one of five tales contained in The Talest of Beedle the Bard.)

• Flimflam’s Lanterns – the giant red-roofed building at one end of Horizont Alley now has a name – maybe. Our sources weren’t certain if this were truly the name of the structure or if it were describing an interactive wand experience located there (more on that in a moment).
• Eternelle’s Elixir of Refreshment – as just officially announced last week, Eternelle’s is a drink vendor that allows guests to mix their own drinks. What we were surprised to learn is (a) its location (right across from Scribbulus Writing Implements) and (b) the fact that it’s actually this piece of concept art that has been floating around for the past several months:

Carkitt Market:

• Bowman E. Wright, Blacksmith – anchoring the far corner of Carkitt Market (just behind the Grimmauld Place facade) is the imposing structure of this blacksmith’s shop. Despite its detail, it is, unfortunately, just a faux storefront. (What, Universal? You’re missing your chance to sell real horseshoes?)
• The Hopping Pot – yet another drink stand named after The Tales of Beedle the Bard, the Hopping Pot is located next-door to Bowman E. Wright. Yet again, we’re not entirely certain, at this particular juncture, what exactly will be sold here.

Breaking down the interactive wand experiences

Remember our giant blow-out of Central Florida Top 5’s in-depth listing of the interactive wand experiences from a month-and-a-half ago? Thanks to our incessant bribing of our house-elves with wands of their very own, we have much and more to add now.

For starters, guests will absolutely have to follow the correct motions with their wands and recite the correct word – not to mention face in the right direction, which the bronze medallions on the ground will indicate. If all three of these requirements aren’t met, nothing will happen.

There are going to be nine interactive locations in Hogsmeade, with another 20 available in Diagon Alley. For the former, all nine will be located in Hogsmeade Village (meaning both Hogwarts Castle and Hagrid’s hut will be exempt); for the latter, they are scattered amongst Diagon’s various sections:

• Diagon Alley – 6
• Horizont Alley – 10
• Carkitt Market – 4

• Knockturn Alley – ?

What about Knockturn Alley, we hear you ask? Well, the simple truth is, we just don’t know. Rumors have been suggesting that Knockturn will have the biggest number of experiences available – just as Central Florida Top 5 reported – but our sources either have no idea what’s going on in that dark corner of the Wizarding World or just aren’t telling us. Maybe the Malfoys have gotten to them already…

Finally, are you curious as to just how much this is going to cost you? Well, fear not – despite our initial speculation that the new RFID-equipped wands would be as much as double the price of the current wands, we now know that some Team Members have been told the wands will only be $10 more than their non-interactive counterparts, or $45.

So breathe easy, friends – until you see just how long those lines at those bronze magical medallions are…

Tell us more about the wand locations/spells!

Well, all right, fine – since you’re twisting our arm, we’ve gone ahead and twisted our elves’ arms, as well. We specifically asked them to vouch for Central Florida Top 5’s previous listing, and these were the ones they could 100% verify (with a few corrections):

• Bowman E. Wright, Blacksmith (Carkitt Market) – features a suit of house-elf armor that collapses, which gives guests the chance to put it back together, piece by piece. In addition, the coal on a hearth will glow once activated.
• Mermaid Fountain (Carkitt Market) – when the Agumenti spell is cast, water will shoot out at guests.
• Pilliwinkle’s Playthings (Horizont Alley) – this toy store’s display features trolls in tutus that appear.
• Public conveniences (Horizont Alley) – an umbrella-shaped light fixture can be made to rain (while the WWN radio station can be heard coming from an open window nearby).
• Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes (Diagon Alley) – a U-No-Poo sign, once triggered, will display a scene from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

Our hats off to Ken Storey and the rest of the Central Florida Top 5 team for being so spot-on with their reporting all the way back in the dark ages of this past April.

“Excuse me, Mr. Goblin, sir… Um, hullo?

Are you utterly blown away by the audio-animatronic goblins in the queue for Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts? We are, too – particularly once we heard that they will have sensors in their eyes and will, from time to time, look up from their record-keeping to stare you down.

[youtube_video]1tz4xNRRR4M[/youtube_video]

The only problem with this set-up is that, even though they are so life-like, you won’t be able to actually talk to them.

Well, except for one, that is.

Universal has just this week confirmed what we’ve been hearing for over a year now. From its official blog:

Before you do your shopping for all the wizarding essentials in Diagon Alley, make sure to stop by Gringotts Money Exchange. Here you’ll be able to exchange your Muggle currency for Wizarding Bank Notes, which can be used within both Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade (as well as the rest of our two theme parks) to purchase snacks and items from the shops. And there will be a Gringotts goblin who will be overseeing your transaction…

That money exchanger certainly looks like an audio-animatronic figure, just like his brethren inside the bank, so that got us to wondering: just how interactive will he be? We sent out a few owls, and the response we got back was: very. Expect an experience like the Knight Bus’s Shrunken Head in the London waterfront or the Mystic Fountain in Lost Continent – which is to say a Team Member will be backstage talking into a microphone that will make the goblin’s mouth move.

Expect this to be lightyears ahead of either of those two experiences, however…

Thanks for checking out this week’s rumor round-up. In case you missed any of the excitement from yesterday’s Diagon Alley action (when the Weasleys we’re on-site at Universal), see our full recap. Then, to learn more about Diagon Alley, visit our complete guide. Finally, continue the discussion with your friends in the OI community forums.

NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

Orlando Informer will be viewed over 10 million times in 2014, and among those viewers are some folks with pretty strong connections to Universal Orlando. As they contact us with insider intel, we collect their information and combine it with our own research to produce our weekly Rumor Round-Up. When information comes to us directly, we cite “our sources”; when information comes from outside our network, we always cite it as such and provide links to the original source. This is our 113th rumor post, and we’re proud to have provided our readers with compelling stories as we share our thoughts and actively promote dozens of other websites.

Despite the excitement that can come with covering rumors, we ask our readers to be ever-mindful that, unless explicitly stated as fact, everything we cover here must be considered a rumor and unofficial. If you’re ever confused by what is what, we invite you to join us for free in the OI Forums, where you can ask our vacation planning community for clarification and seek advice for anything else regarding your plans to visit Orlando.

Get your questions answered in the OI Forums

View all of our Rumor Round-Ups

[sws_author_bio user=”msunyata@yahoo.com” size=”105″ authorposts=”More OI posts by Marc” name_format=”About the author”] [/sws_author_bio]

The post Rumor round-up for June 6, 2014: More Diagon Alley stores and their locations, casting spells in the wizarding world, and conversational goblins appeared first on Orlando Informer.

Just recently, the wonderful Bob Wadd posted some pics and video of his latest helicopter fly-by of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Diagon Alley (done while the dragon was being installed last weekend) at his equally wonderful Pixels at the Parks site, and one detail in particular jumped immediately out to us.

While we’ve known all about Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts for quite a while now, there’s still a few surprises left in store for us, such as this hitherto unknown feature of the ride’s line: the overflow queue, which is used when the (massive) main queue is completely full and all those throngs of people still waiting to get inside have to be put somewhere.

What’s so special about this nondescript track of land? Well, despite the fact that so many of us will be spending at least an hour here during the ride’s first year of operation, it’s precisely its nondescript nature that caught our eye here at RRU HQ. Given the immaculate marble Entry Hall with its lifelike goblin audio-animatronics or the immersive office of Bill Weasley with its state-of-the-art Musion effects, this overflow area seems remarkably, mind-numbingly bare. And when coupled with the endless rows of switchbacks (hello, every ride at Cedar Point!), one has the prime ingredients for Waiting Hell.

There’s one last consideration to take into account, as well, and this one is potentially more ruinous for the overarching experience: if guests have to enter Gringotts Wizarding Bank first, make their way through at least one or two of its impressive environments, and then head out to the rather lackluster overflow area – think, essentially, Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey’s greenhouse here – then it goes a long way to significantly undermining not only one’s sense of immersion, but also the ride’s narrative, as well.

This little development piqued our curiosity enough to reach out to several of our most trustworthy sources for any sort of clarification on the issue. Luckily for us – and you! – they did, indeed, have some insight on the matter.

First and foremost, the overflow queue will be the first area that riders will be deposited into; after walking in through the front door, saying hello to the greeter, and getting just a split-second glimpse of the Entry Hall, they will have to take a left and then continue around to the back of the building. Getting just a tease of the wonders that await inside the bank may be a tad on the frustrating side – particularly on heavy-traffic days – but it certainly doesn’t spoil the logical flow of the attraction’s story.

Furthermore, for all those who do have to do their time in Waiting Hell, Universal has attempted to make the experience at least a little on the bearable side: located under the cover of the overhang is an exact replica of the mine car used in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2.

Bare in mind this isn’t a replica of the ride vehicle guests will use in the ride itself, but rather a replica of what you see in the films. Hopefully, because this is literally the only time you’ll be able to see this particular prop anywhere in Diagon Alley, it will make entrance into the the overflow queue a little less disappointing.

Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts: The bad

Have you been hearing all those rumors about Escape from Gringotts falling further and further behind? We hate to be the ones to break it to you, but it turns out they’re true.

At least a few of the house-elves that managed to apparate into our backyard have expressed their private beliefs that Universal could conceivably have to break one of its (and, presumably, J.K. Rowling’s) cardinal rules and pull a Disney: Diagon Alley will need to open in phases, with Gringotts being the absolutely last element to go online. It seems likely, at the very least, that Team Members won’t be able to ride it for their preview, which has apparently been postponed yet again in recent days. (But at least they can fill up the overflow queue once they’re there!)

What specifically is going on? What our sources tell is us is that rigorous testing that Universal is putting Gringotts through was initially slated to start tomorrow but has now been similarly postponed.

Here’s a breakdown of the new process:

• Day one – the Operations team tries to stop the ride, causing downtime. The Team Members assigned to the attraction then have to call in the technicians and time them to see how long it takes for everything to get back up and running again. During the process, they have to decide whether or not to clear out the ride and/or the queue.
• Day two – the techs try to stop the ride using various worst-case scenarios, such as a power outage, and attempt to get it back online as fast as they can.
• Day three – the endurance test. The ride needs to be able to operate normally and continuously, without any stops whatsoever, for 12 or 13 hours straight. Once this has been accomplished, the green light is officially given for opening.

Just to end on a note of optimism, the opening-in-phases possibility is strictly being treated as a last resort – meaning there is still some light at the end of the Gringotts tunnel that all will be available to the very first visitors to the new Wizarding World in June.

And how’s this for a cherry on top? Word has reached us via owl that the Hogwarts Express has passed its testing this week!

Wizarding odds and ends

Okay, I have to admit it – I’m a bit on the obsessive-compulsive side, and having the odd item stick up out of place can really be grating, even if it’s just mentally (or is that epistemologically?) out of sorts.

Such is the case with the following Diagon Alley venues, which are smack dab in the middle of areas that we’ve already learned so much about. Eager to learn just as much about these as we recently have with Escape from Gringotts and the Hogwarts Express, I decided to ask our friends, the house-elves.

Here’s what they had to say:

• Horizont Alley’s mystery shop – ever notice that giant building at the end of the street, next to the entrance to Knockturn Alley and right behind King’s Cross Station? Ever wonder what it was? Well, wonder no more: it’s one of several drink/street vendors, which, in this particular case, will be selling Butterbeer and possibly other concoctions. Our elven friend compared it to Moose Juice, Goose Juice over in Seuss Landing.

• Ollivander’s Wand Shop/Wands by Gregorovitch – when asked why there’s going to be two wand stores in Diagon Alley, our sources explained that both locations will be selling both the standard-issue and interactive wands (so there goes that theory). With Universal Creative being so tight-lipped on the new interactive experiences – probably because they haven’t even been completed yet – it’s tough to get anything else out of our poor fantastic beasts. But we do know where to find them…
• Carkitt Market’s shops – in Universal’s new behind-the-scenes video released this week, we got our very first official confirmation of Shutterbutton’s photography studio, which we’ve all assumed is in Carkitt Market for quite some time. Excited by the prospect of getting more real stores in that section of the Wizarding World, we excitedly sent some owls out – but were disappointed to learn that since no one’s seen the wardrobe for any venues from that particular area, we’re forced to conclude that they’re all just fake storefronts. Bummer!

Care for an alternate theory on just what that big Red Barn in Horizont Alley may be? How ‘bout this: just today, Universal released a new blog post detailing some of the culinary options available in Diagon Alley. Among them was this little nugget:

Another must-stop during your trip to Diagon Alley will be Eternelle’s Elixir of Refreshment, a cart located in Horizont Alley, where you can enjoy unique elixirs. Here’s how it works: you select from a variety of elixirs like Draught of Peace, Babbling Beverage, Elixir to Induce Euphoria, and Fire Protection Potion, and then add the elixir to Gillywater. By mixing them, you’ll see your drink transform before your eyes and experience a delightful flavor surprise. Too cool!

Too cool, indeed.

Limiting your time on the Hogwarts Express

Just a quick in-case-you-missed-it: earlier this week, one of our most well-connected forum members posted this little nugget: “in peak times, guests will be restricted to only one ride per day on the Hogwarts Express.” And, no, it doesn’t matter which way you’re going (either to Diagon Alley in Universal Studios Florida or to Hogsmeade in Islands of Adventure) – you’re still limited to just the one jaunt.

Although it sounds too restrictive to be true, the fine print on Universal’s official site backs it up.

Too heavy-handed or a stroke of crowd-controlling brilliance? Help debate it with us in the forums!

You can also check out all the information Universal released today about Diagon Alley food and beverage options in the OI Forums. Finally, if you’d like to start back at the beginning, visit our Complete guide to Diagon Alley.

NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

Orlando Informer will be viewed over 10 million times in 2014, and among those viewers are some folks with pretty strong connections to Universal Orlando. As they contact us with insider intel, we collect their information and combine it with our own research to produce our weekly Rumor Round-Up. When information comes to us directly, we cite “our sources”; when information comes from outside our network, we always cite it as such and provide links to the original source. This is our 112th rumor post, and we’re proud to have provided our readers with compelling stories as we share our thoughts and actively promote dozens of other websites.

Despite the excitement that can come with covering rumors, we ask our readers to be ever-mindful that, unless explicitly stated as fact, everything we cover here must be considered a rumor and unofficial. If you’re ever confused by what is what, we invite you to join us for free in the OI Forums, where you can ask our vacation planning community for clarification and seek advice for anything else regarding your plans to visit Orlando.

Get your questions answered in the OI Forums

View all of our Rumor Round-Ups

[sws_author_bio user=”msunyata@yahoo.com” size=”105″ authorposts=”More OI posts by Marc” name_format=”About the author”] [/sws_author_bio]

The post Rumor round-up for May 30, 2014: New details about Gringotts, limiting the Hogwarts Express, and the latest intel on wands, drinks & shops appeared first on Orlando Informer.

It’s already May, which means that (more than likely) the Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Diagon Alley will be open next month.

So it should come as no surprise that Universal employees got a special sneak peek at future culinary and merchandise offerings this past week inside the Garden of Allah building in USF’s Hollywood backlot. And although these were only snippets – relayed from the Team Members to Seth Kubersky and Derek Burgan (a name which should be familiar to long-time Rumor Round-Up readers), who were nice enough to post them on their Twitter accounts – they do provide a very compelling look at just how fundamentally Universal Creative is expanding upon the theming possibilities of this second phase.

Let’s get to it, shall we?

• Borgin and Burkes – the latest in Dark Arts fashion to be sold here includes dark mark scarves, bone candlesticks, crystal skulls, Death Eater cloaks, and Malfoy and Karkaroff character wardrobes.
• Florean Fortescue’s Ice-Cream Parlor – one of those roughly two dozen unique flavors we’ve been yammering on about has now been revealed: chocolate chili ice cream, which will be available in a collectible sundae bowl, but of course.
• Gringotts Bank – a whole slew of tchotchkes – not surprisingly – will be themed to the famous wizarding bank, including wallets, coin bags, gold bars, coins, and goblin t-shirts. What isn’t known is where, exactly, these wares will be on sale; some might end up in the queue to Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts, but others will undoubtedly go to the rumored goblin bank teller’s window, where guests can “exchange” their Muggle money for the wizarding equivalent.
• The Hopping Pot – a brand-new venue (oddly) based off of one of the tales of Beedle the Bard, the Hopping Pot will apparently be a bar serving eight different beers, Wizard Ale, Dragon Porter, and a steaming, non-alcoholic train-themed drink similar to a Flaming Moe.
• King’s Cross Station – for one of the very first times, Universal will be offering refreshments in the queue to one of its attractions.  Expect to see “prepackaged food items,” not unlike those currently on-hand at Lisa’s Teahouse of Horror, in the Muggle section of the train station.
• The Leaky Cauldron – pumpkin juice will be on tap at Diagon Alley’s main eatery. It’s no big surprise, but it’s still good news. Also, despite Universal Orlando’s website saying otherwise, it seems that the Cauldron will be open for breakfast from 8:00 to 10:30am.
• London waterfront – one of the two cabman’s shelters will be dedicated to (sausage-focused?) food, while the other will be given over to merchandise. Although we don’t have any word on what kind of wares will be peddled, it’s very likely that they’ll be geared towards British Muggles.
• Magical Menagerie – plush pixies, snakes, and even Dobby have officially been added to the likes of Hedwig, Scabbers, and Buckbeak.
• Ollivander’s/Gregorovitch’s Wand Shops – in addition to the standard and interactive wands for sale, we can now also expect to see toy wands with lighted tips for children.
• Quality Quidditch Supplies – complete Quidditch sets, replete with gloves and pads, will be on hand, along with banners and pins for all the various wizarding teams.
• Wiseacre’s Wizarding Equipment – a watch with Hermione’s Time Turner on it will be on the shelves of this very cool-looking shop.

Just in case all of these tantalizing first-looks weren’t enough for you, we got a few other random bits and pieces of merchandising heaven. It sounds as if the drinking options inside of Diagon Alley will be greatly expanded and will include a number of teas, such as boba mint tea with blueberry tapioca, as well as flavored, fresh-squeezed lemonades. And if it’s more collectibles you’re looking for, how do iPhone and iPad cases, luggage bag straps, and baby outfits all sound?

It would sound cool, we think, if it weren’t for our two personal favorites here at RRU headquarters: a talking sorting hat and a Howler, which you can record your very own 15-second message onto. Now that’s what we’re talking about!

The mystery of Early Park Admission – solved?

For months, ever since January’s first Diagon Alley press event, when Universal’s PR representatives refused to be pinned down on specifics, rumors have been swirling that perhaps Early Park Admission (EPA) would somehow be limited once Diagon and, more importantly, Cabana Bay Beach Resort open. This is no small matter – with 1,800 rooms that can hold anywhere from 5,000 to 7,000 people at any given time, Cabana Bay promises to significantly disrupt the early traffic flow and touring patterns of the two Wizarding Worlds.

Now it seems that Universal is confirming the rumors and assuaging the looming problems in one fell stroke.

On Diagon Alley’s official site, this enigmatic fine print can now be found:

Early Park Admission begins one (1) hour prior to regular scheduled park opening to one (1) Universal Orlando theme park as determined by Universal Orlando. Valid at select attractions at each park. Additional restrictions may apply.

Only one park will be open for early entry? While that is certainly a possibility, the far more likely scenario is Universal dividing up its on-site guests between the two Wizarding Worlds; all the visitors at, say, the three deluxe hotels – Royal Pacific Resort, Hard Rock Hotel, and Portofino Bay Hotel – will be admitted to Diagon Alley, while everyone at Cabana Bay will be routed to Hogsmeade. This would not only help with crowd control, it would also result in yet another reward for those willing to spend the extra money to stay at the more expensive resorts.

There is still one work-around regarding the class barrier, though: the Hogwarts Express, which, of course, allows patrons to hop from one park to the other. It’ll be interesting to see how – or if – Universal deals with this. We also await word on exactly how the company will handle guests who book Universal Orlando vacation packages with off-site accommodations, as these guests have been promised access to Early Park Admission, as well.

Finally, on a somewhat related note, the “Terms and Conditions” on Universal’s on-site hotel page have been updated to confirm that neither Escape from Gringotts nor the Hogwarts Express will have Express Pass access.

Quick hits from all over the Wizarding Worlds

What? You’re still hungry for more Harry Potter morsels? We can’t blame you, given the just-around-the-corner opening date. Chew over these little nuggets, then, to help while away the time:

Our friends at Theme Park Insite report that the Team Member training dates for the Hogwarts Express will be on May 5, 6, 10, and 17. We can expect to see soft openings (for the train, at least) as soon as May 18.

Local news station WESH has some gorgeous aerial shots of Diagon Alley, showing the progress of construction (Gringotts Bank’s dragon should be installed any day now) as well as some great advertisements/signs, such as the Society for the Reformation of Hags and the Black Carp Co. taxi service.

WESH posted a total of 40, but they use a small file size, so we reposted our favorite 19 – enlarged and enhanced – right here in the OI Forums.

Last but not least, another week of Today Show broadcasts has passed, and there’s still no word about a Diagon Alley grand opening date. (If you’re just joining us, Today was supposed to appear live at Universal last Friday, but the broadcast was canceled. Then came rumors that a pre-recorded segment would air this week, but that never materialized.) It’s back to the drawing board as we wonder when an announcement will come, and, more importantly, if the announcement delay is a sign of construction delays.

One way or another, as long as Universal can get Diagon Alley built and opened in less than four years, two months, and 25 days, they’ll have beaten the pace set by Disney and the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. (Come on, we’re just having some fun on a Friday afternoon… although it’s true.)

Learn more on our Diagon Alley page, or discuss it all with us in the OI Forums.

NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

Orlando Informer will be viewed over 10 million times in 2014, and among those viewers are some folks with pretty strong connections to Universal Orlando. As they contact us with insider intel, we collect their information and combine it with our own research to produce our weekly Rumor Round-Up. When information comes to us directly, we cite “our sources”; when information comes from outside our network, we always cite it as such and provide links to the original source. This is our 111th rumor post, and we’re proud to have provided our readers with compelling stories as we share our thoughts and actively promote dozens of other websites.

Despite the excitement that can come with covering rumors, we ask our readers to be ever-mindful that, unless explicitly stated as fact, everything we cover here must be considered a rumor and unofficial. If you’re ever confused by what is what, we invite you to join us for free in the OI Forums, where you can ask our vacation planning community for clarification and seek advice for anything else regarding your plans to visit Orlando.

Get your questions answered in the OI Forums

View all of our Rumor Round-Ups

[sws_author_bio user=”msunyata@yahoo.com” size=”105″ authorposts=”More OI posts by Marc” name_format=”About the author”] [/sws_author_bio]

The post Rumor round-up for May 2, 2014: New Harry Potter food & souvenirs, clues to Early Park Admission, but where’s the grand opening announcement? appeared first on Orlando Informer.

We all know that this summer’s opening of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Diagon Alley is going to be a massive step forward for both the commercial success and theming sophistication of Universal Orlando, but what most probably don’t realize is that this second phase of the Wizarding World takes us literally only halfway through Universal and Warner Bros’s plans for the boy wizard at the resort.

Curious as to what the next several years may hold? Admittedly, we are, too – we only have a few scraps of what’s going to happen, both from Central Florida Top 5 and a few of our private sources; Universal Creative is, apparently, playing this one very close to the vest. Still, in an effort to shine the brightest light yet on the mysterious subject, we’re compiling all currently-known information for your wizarding delight.

Behold – the future:

PHASE TWO

Diagon Alley opens, which will include an interactive wand component.

Hogsmeade gets a renovation, consisting of: the closure of Zonko’s Joke Shop and the expansion of Honeydukes; the addition of Hogsmeade Station; and the replacement and/or upgrading of several storefronts to include interactive elements.

[youtube_video]lVkC_aCyh2w[/youtube_video]

PHASE THREE

The third Wizarding World of Harry Potter, which is currently believed to be the Ministry of Magic, will debut, most likely in the current spot of the Fear Factor Live building. One or two additional attractions will be on hand, which CFLTop5 believes will include a wand-training class in order to perfect all the spells that can be used at all the interactive displays. Speaking of which…

The interactive wands will get expanded offerings, including more spell-casting locations (at all three Wizarding Worlds), more spells to use at each stop, and, just possibly, more wand types to choose from.

PHASE FOUR

This final (as of now) stage is easily the most nebulous, but it seems to be mainly comprised of an expansion at one, two, or, just possibly, all three Wizarding Worlds, in order to keep the lands fresh in terms of their appeal to guests and cutting-edge in terms of their tech. There is easily space enough for at least one or two additional attractions at either Diagon Alley or the Ministry of Magic, and there is always the possibility, no matter how remote, of Hogsmeade absorbing more or even all of Lost Continent.

Additionally, it seems Universal is preparing the possibility of deploying even more interactive elements all across the wizarding spectrum.

Goodbye, Jurassic Park; hello, KidZone

Earlier this month, Parkscope published a rather intriguing report stating that several different sources had come forward with information on what all those construction crews from Diagon Alley (and, just possibly, Cabana Bay Beach Resort, if they’re not heading to work straightaway on a fifth on-site hotel) will be moving on to next: Woody Woodpecker’s KidZone.

The story goes a little something like this: all those previous rumors stating that the entire land will essentially be bulldozed are true, with the only two attractions left standing being the venerable E.T. Adventure and Animal Actors on Location. A new intellectual property – or properties – is set to replace KidZone, although there is still no clear idea of what this may be; having a patchwork of different licenses, as is the case with most areas in Universal’s theme parks, is very much on the table, but so is the possibility of making one wholly unified land, as Universal Studios Florida has already seen with Springfield USA and, of course, Diagon Alley.

All we know so far is that the Parkscope crew has been told that this oncoming makeover will be “Potter-like,” which most likely references its overall scope and budget, but it could also possibly refer to an extremely high level of theming detail.

With construction work on KidZone reportedly set to begin this September, we now fully expect this to be 2016’s grand development (remember: Universal has promised to open at least one new ride per year). What about the project previously believed to bow in ’16 – King Kong’s Skull Island? It looks like that one’s now going to be fast-tracked the same way that last year’s Transformers was and will now open in 2015, pushing the Jurassic Park expansion out of the schedule, possibly for good (eek!).

The very beginning of Skull Island

Dan took a stroll from Universal’s Cabana Bay Beach Resort to the parks yesterday to document the walk for our readers. He was quite surprised to find that, as guests take the 15-minute stroll, they’re brought right behind the rumored construction site for King Kong at Islands of Adventure. A three-foot embankment (with a large clearing in the trees) is all that separates the walkway from where Dan snapped the following photos – and what looks like the very beginning of a Kong attraction:

To read background information about the Kong attraction and see exactly where these photos were taken on a map, visit this topic in the OI Forums.

Harry Potter quick hits

Yes, believe it or not, there’s still more Diagon Alley goodies left to munch on, even after all of the mind-blowing leaks and developments of the past week, and we’re going to tackle them in the time-honored tradition of bullet points:

• The fine gents at Parkscope have uncovered yet another permit, this time for a special VIP lounge in Diagon Alley. While we don’t know whether this will be the equivalent of the American Express lounge at the front of the park or not, we do know that it’ll be contained in Building 64D, which is where the Magical Menagerie shop and public conveniences are located.
• In case you haven’t noticed, Universal Orlando’s Dining at Diagon Alley page has been updated, which means we have our first official confirmation of what we reported on earlier this week: Florean Fortescue’s Ice-Cream Parlor will be offering “breakfast items and pastries” in the morning hours. And we guess this is a good thing, because we also got confirmation that the Leaky Cauldron will be open for lunch and dinner only.
• Also, Universal’s Shopping at Diagon Alley page has similarly been updated, resulting in something of a surprise for all of us grizzled rumor veterans: Wands by Gregorovitch, which we all had assumed was just a fake storefront located right next to Ollivander’s Wand Shop, is actually yet another full-fledged shop. It’s a complete mystery why Universal would want two of the same type of store next-door to each other – is this just an attempt at crowd control, or does it have something to do with those pesky interactive wands?
• We were all initially disappointed to learn that the Hogwarts Express won’t have randomized ride experiences a little while ago, but according to CFLTop5, it seems that Universal may have left that as an open option for later on down the road – perhaps during the third or fourth Wizarding World phase – to help prevent the attraction from getting stale.
• Several guests confirm seeing Al Roker of The Today Show filming at Universal yesterday, which gave us hope that we might have had a Diagon Alley announcement this morning – despite the fact that Universal said the live appearance of the TV show was canceled. Indeed, no announcement was made, but since Roker was in fact filming something at Universal yesterday, we’re bound to see it eventually show up on the air. Perhaps the Today segment will broadcast next Thursday or Friday, putting it head-to-head with Disney and the Seven Drawfs Mine Train press event?

Keep the conversation going!

Agree or disagree with the latest intel? Think we forgot something juicy? Want to offer your own take on the wildest rumors?

Well, then, join us at the brand-new OI Forums and tell us!

What’s more, we’re celebrating our grand opening all throughout the month of April – meet our community and enter for your chance to win one of three $100 Universal gift cards! Here’s the grand opening announcement.

NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

Orlando Informer will be viewed over 10 million times in 2014, and among those viewers are some folks with pretty strong connections to Universal Orlando. As they contact us with insider intel, we collect their information and combine it with our own research to produce our weekly Rumor Round-Up. When information comes to us directly, we cite “our sources”; when information comes from outside our network, we always cite it as such and provide links to the original source. This is our 110th rumor post, and we’re proud to have provided our readers with compelling stories as we share our thoughts and actively promote dozens of other websites.

Despite the excitement that can come with covering rumors, we ask our readers to be ever-mindful that, unless explicitly stated as fact, everything we cover here must be considered a rumor and unofficial. If you’re ever confused by what is what, we invite you to join us for free in the OI Forums, where you can ask our vacation planning community for clarification and seek advice for anything else regarding your plans to visit Orlando.

Get your questions answered in the OI Forums

View all of our Rumor Round-Ups

[sws_author_bio user=”msunyata@yahoo.com” size=”105″ authorposts=”More OI posts by Marc” name_format=”About the author”] [/sws_author_bio]

The post Rumor round-up for April 25, 2014: Building more Potter, replacing KidZone, canceling Jurassic Park, and starting King Kong appeared first on Orlando Informer.

Care to take them out for an early spin? Thanks to the likes of Jim Hill, Parkscope, and Central Florida Top 5 – along with some of our own inside sources – you can do just that right now.

Atmospherics

The streets of Hogsmeade, with their constant swirl of scenery, motion, and music, are already nearly pitch-perfect, but Universal Creative is looking to up the ante by deploying a whole swath of additional little touches around nearly every corner – and Diagon Alley is going to have a lot of corners.

The single most pervasive element guests will be enveloped in is sound, which will be used to not only help sell the hustling, bustling nature of the new Wizarding World, but also its sheer verticality; speakers will be placed all along the area’s numerous five- and six-story-tall buildings and will offer a barrage of different “scenes” that will constantly play throughout the course of the day.

When first entering Diagon Alley, for instance, various witches’ and wizards’ conversations – along with their sometimes-backfiring magical spells – can be heard above and to the rear of you, where the Leaky Cauldron’s “inn” is located. At Carkitt Market’s public conveniences, the ever-popular WWN radio station drifts down from an open window. And a series of trains – which may or may not be meant to be the Hogwarts Express – crisscross overhead at a regular interval.

And then there’s the series of storefronts that line the area’s four(!) alleyways, which will put the limited movement seen in Hogsmeade’s displays to shame. The best example we’ve been able to pin down thus far is Markus Scarr’s tattoo shop in Knockturn Alley, which will feature fully animated tattoos that dance around for guests’ delight (or horror – whichever the case may be).

Food

Let’s be honest: for as much fun as eating (or just sipping on a frozen butterbeer) at Three Broomsticks is, the food often leaves much to be desired. It seems that the Leaky Cauldron is going to rectify that, offering a lineup – including bangers and mash, steak-and-ale pies, and apple red currant tarts – that looks to be both authentic and actually good.

But Universal, of course, isn’t stopping there. Florean Fortescue’s Ice-Cream Parlor, which we already know will serve at least 20 unique flavors in soft-serve form, has gotten its culinary offerings expanded: in addition to offering hard-packed versions of all of its ice cream delights, it’ll also be serving breakfast foods in the mornings. Although we have no confirmation, either officially or unofficially, of what will be on tap, one can expect a similar approach to the Leaky Cauldron: take Three Broomsticks’ breakfast offerings and expand upon them.

And, lastly, Muggle London will also be getting in on the action. In what has to be one of the single coolest flourishes that Universal, Warner Bros, and J.K. Rowling have cooked up (no pun intended), Cabman’s shelters are being erected at either end of the waterfront section. Have no idea what that is? Don’t worry – most people outside of London don’t, and Urban 75 is here to help you out.

The drivers of hackney carriages (taxies) weren’t allowed to leave their vehicles while on the clock, so the Earl of Shaftesbury headed a philanthropic effort called the Cabman’s Shelter Fund to create the very first drive-through food stops, offering “good and wholesome refreshments at moderate prices.” But because they were located on public highways, the police stipulated that they weren’t allowed to be any larger than a horse and cart. Still, 61 of these shelters were erected between 1875 and 1914 – and now two more are headed to Universal Studios Florida, where they’re going to be turned into “sausage-focused” food carts.

Thirteen Cabmen’s shelters are still standing all throughout London, and Urban 75 has a listing, if you care to visit them first. Just be aware that the 19th century rules strictly prohibiting gambling, drinking, and swearing might still be enforced.

Easter eggs

This is where Universal – and Jo Rowling herself – is apparently having the most fun. While still adhering to the author’s ironclad edict that no other actor ever portray the characters from the films, along with Daniel Radcliffe’s aversion to ever donning his school robes again, the company has found several interesting (and entertaining!) workarounds to put Harry right next to you.

On the Hogwarts Express, the fabled trio of Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger will already be seated in their compartment, and while you won’t be able to actually see them – their door will be shut and the curtains drawn – you’ll certainly be able to hear them talking furiously away. And once you’re seated in your own cabin and the train has already begun its trek, you’ll similarly hear the Food Trolley Witch asking her “dears” if they’d like any sweets.

But the main actors aren’t the only ones who will be represented in the new Wizarding World. Kreacher, Sirius Black’s house-elf, will occasionally pop his ugly little head out from behind the curtains of one of 12 Grimmauld Place’s windows on the London waterfront. In front of the building, the Knight Bus’s shrunken talking heads will be interacting with the wizard attendant, who will, in turn, talk and pose for pictures with guests. (Visitors can also peer inside the bus, which will be lavishly decorated with props and other little touches.) And, as previously reported, Mr. Ollivander himself will be making an appearance in the pre-show at the newly expanded Ollivander’s Wand Shop.

Finally, the coolest Easter egg of them all has actually nothing to do with either the characters or the actors who portray them: a certain telephone box that just so happens to double as the secret (public) entrance to the Ministry of Magic will be installed off to the side on the waterfront. If guests wish to brave what will most likely be an unbelievably long line to get inside, they can dial M-A-G-I-C to activate a secret.

To keep learning about the incredible Harry Potter expansion at Universal Orlando, visit our main Diagon Alley page in the OI Universal Center, which includes our latest speculation regarding the soft opening schedule and a grand opening date.

NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

Orlando Informer will be viewed over 10 million times in 2014, and among those viewers are some folks with pretty strong connections to Universal Orlando. As they contact us with insider intel, we collect their information and combine it with our own research to produce our weekly Rumor Round-Up. When information comes to us directly, we cite “our sources”; when information comes from outside our network, we always cite it as such and provide links to the original source. This is our 109th rumor post, and we’re proud to have provided our readers with compelling stories as we share our thoughts and actively promote dozens of other websites.

Despite the excitement that can come with covering rumors, we ask our readers to be ever-mindful that, unless explicitly stated as fact, everything we cover here must be considered a rumor and unofficial. If you’re ever confused by what is what, we invite you to join us for free in the OI Forums, where you can ask our vacation planning community for clarification and seek advice for anything else regarding your plans to visit Orlando.

Get your questions answered in the OI Forums

View all of our Rumor Round-Ups

[sws_author_bio user=”msunyata@yahoo.com” size=”105″ authorposts=”More OI posts by Marc” name_format=”About the author”] [/sws_author_bio]

The post Three incredible ways Diagon Alley is lavishly improving on Hogsmeade’s wizarding formula appeared first on Orlando Informer.

The information is impressive, compelling, and – perhaps ironically – magical, so be sure to be sitting down when reading this, preferably with a cup of butterbeer (frozen, of course) in hand.

Harry Potter, interactive wands, and you

While there is no word on what Universal will end up calling these new interactive wands, we do know that, as of right now, there are 13 different types planned – about a third of the selection of the older wands. They will be sold alongside the traditional ones and will only be offered within the Wizarding Worlds themselves, meaning that the gift shops at the front of the parks, within CityWalk, at the Orlando International Airport, and on Universal’s online store will all be exempt. The current thinking in terms of price is somewhere around twice as much as the non-interactive wands, but it could be as much as three times.

How do the wands work? They will be equipped with RFID sensors – not unlike Disney’s MagicBands – and will also have a gyroscope, similar to the one found in the iPhone, built in. When combined with hidden Microsoft Kinect sensors that will be scattered throughout the parks, these wands will allow guests to flick, swoosh, and swipe to cast spells, just as the characters in the books and films do.

And you better start memorizing them all, because current scuttlebutt has a whopping 19 spells being used at various stops all throughout Harry’s wondrous world.

The method to the madness

Although it seems as if the plan right now doesn’t call for each of the interactive displays in the Wizarding Worlds to be expressly marked on guidemaps – having them be “discovered” by guests not only increases the overall sense of magical immersion, it may also serve as a method of crowd control – there will be a medallion on the ground at each of the stops, serving as a marker for the sensors to track you and also hinting at which spell(s) can be used. Eagle-eyed visitors, as such, will be able to pick out the locations relatively quickly.

It sounds like Universal’s current game plan is to give each would-be wizard just one attempt to cast a spell; whether it’s successful or a failure, she would then have to go back to the end of the line to try it all over again. (Don’t ask how Universal plans on enforcing this rule, as we simply have no idea just yet. Will there be Team Members stationed at each of the interactive displays? This would make the most sense, but it would also help to give away their “secret” locations.)

Diagon Alley’s spell-casting locations

Approximately 18 different interactive displays, most of them (fake) storefronts, will be on-hand at or shortly after the Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Diagon Alley’s grand opening. These include:

• Bowman E. Wright, Blacksmith (Carkitt Market) – features a suit of house-elf armor that collapses, which gives guests the chance to put it back together, piece by piece. In addition, the coal on a hearth will glow once activated
• Dystyl Phaeleanges, Purveyor of Fine Bones and Tusks (Knockturn Alley) – a troll skeleton that is brought to life by a Victorian-style slide projector can be made to mimic your movements
• Florean Fortescue’s Ice-Cream Parlor (Diagon Alley) – a “fun” window display of a man and woman with ice cream hair will somehow animate, though it’s rumored this won’t be one of the first wave of interactive displays
• Mermaid water fountain (Carkitt Market) – when the Agumenti spell is cast, water will shoot out at guests
• Noggin and Bonce (Knockturn Alley) – with the right spell, a group of “very rude” shrunken heads can be silenced – and a counter-spell can release them from their silence
• Pilliwinkle’s Playthings (Knockturn Alley) – this Dark Arts storefront features trolls in tutus that appear
• Public conveniences (Carkitt Market) – an umbrella-shaped light fixture can be made to rain (while the WWN radio station can be heard coming from an open window nearby)
• Scribbulus (Horizont Alley) – a large piece of parchment will reveal a randomized list of messages, which may include some “secrets,” when Aparecuim is cast. If a guest instead uses Wingardium Leviosa, a quill will rise from its display and hover in midair
• Tallow and Hemp Toxic Tapers (Knockturn Alley) – guests can inflict one of three jinxes on a canary in the window
• Trackleshanks (Knockturn Alley) – the shop’s door will chuckle at you if you use the wrong spell
• Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes (Diagon Alley) – a U-No-Poo sign, once triggered, will display a scene from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

It should be noted that another interactive element mentioned in the article was also in Knockturn Alley – this little stretch of land will be packed with such experiences, which should hopefully make up for its lack of shops and attractions – located above guests, presumably taking advantage of the alley’s ceiling. Whatever it is, it’s exciting to know that Universal and Warner Bros. are attempting to incorporate the interactive wands in a whole host of different ways.

Hogsmeade’s spell-casting locations

Yes, it’s true – the first Wizarding World of Harry Potter will be receiving something of a facelift, making the more immersive magical experiences from Diagon Alley carry over. Roughly ten new interactive elements will be installed, with some coming in the shape of brand-new storefronts – such as Madam Puddifoot’s, which just recently replaced Wiseacres (since the latter is moving off and becoming a full-fledged store of its very own at Diagon Alley) – and others being upgrades to older displays.

• Dervish and Banges – the golden automata of Harry Potter being chased by a dragon will respond differently to a number of spells
• Honeydukes – chocolate frogs will be revealed – and possibly come to life – when activated
• Madam Puddifoot’s – one spell will animate cakes sitting on display, while another will make them go prone again
• Pippin’s Potions – guests can cast Arresto Momento to stop a water-filled cauldron from overflowing onto them (with pixies watching gleefully from above)
• Spintwitches – Wingardium Leviosa makes a return appearance here, causing a Quaffle to float up out of its box
• Tomes and Scrolls – a secret never-ending page of The Tales of Beedle the Bard will be revealed when magically prodded
• Zonko’s Joke Shop – reduced to just a tiny fake storefront, Zonko’s will feature an “impressive” display of fireworks when triggered by the correct spell

Ceridwen’s Cauldrons, Gladrags, and McHavelock’s are the remaining three interactive spots, but there’s been no word as of yet what their magical elements will be.

Expect all this to make Hogsmeade nearly as busy as it was when it first opened four years ago – good news for crowd control at Universal Studios Florida, but bad news for those Muggles who want to take in all the new additions at Islands of Adventure.

The dark side of the magic

Excited to try your hand at these interactive experiences? Don’t get your hopes up too much just yet – everything is still waiting approval from that most demanding of mistresses, Jo Rowling, and given the topsy-turvy way that construction has been unfolding regardless, it’s still 50-50, at best, that we’ll be seeing the RFID wands on opening day. This may even be something that gets held up until next summer before being fully deployed, particularly since it seems that the tips of the new wands are extremely fragile and break rather easily.

Still, it sounds as if Universal is aiming to have at least a handful of the spell-casting stops be online right from day one, with all the others being slowly phased in over the course of the following months.

Keep the conversation going!

Agree or disagree with the latest intel? Think we forgot something juicy? Want to offer your own take on the wildest rumors?

Well, then, join us at the brand-new Orlando Informer Forums and tell us!

What’s more, we’re celebrating our grand opening all throughout the month of April – meet our community and enter for your chance to win one of three $100 Universal gift cards! Here’s the grand opening announcement.

NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

Orlando Informer will be viewed over 10 million times in 2014, and among those viewers are some folks with pretty strong connections to Universal Orlando. As they contact us with insider intel, we collect their information and combine it with our own research to produce our weekly Rumor Round-Up. When information comes to us directly, we cite “our sources”; when information comes from outside our network, we always cite it as such and provide links to the original source. This is our 108th rumor post, and we’re proud to have provided our readers with compelling stories as we share our thoughts and actively promote dozens of other websites.

Despite the excitement that can come with covering rumors, we ask our readers to be ever-mindful that, unless explicitly stated as fact, everything we cover here must be considered a rumor and unofficial. If you’re ever confused by what is what, we invite you to join us for free in the OI Forums, where you can ask our vacation planning community for clarification and seek advice for anything else regarding your plans to visit Orlando.

Get your questions answered in the OI Forums

View all of our Rumor Round-Ups

[sws_author_bio user=”msunyata@yahoo.com” size=”105″ authorposts=”More OI posts by Marc” name_format=”About the author”] [/sws_author_bio]

The post Rumor SPOTLIGHT for April 18, 2014: Interactive wands – the next generation of the Wizarding World appeared first on Orlando Informer.

The exact opening date of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Diagon Alley has been all over the place as of late, and for good reason: there’s been delays, construction hang-ups, and other assorted craziness that happens on a project of this scale, making predictions a little on the impossible side.

(A quick sidebar while we’re on the subject: we previously reported that one of the major snafus affecting the pace of progress on the Hogwarts Express was an incorrect installation of brickwork in King’s Cross Station. One of our most reliable sources has put the kibosh on that rumor, advising us that the real reason both train stations had lagged behind for so long was due simply to the exacting level of detail that both J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros. are demanding out of all of Diagon Alley. In any case, it’s all back on track [no pun intended].)

Things have been going so well recently, actually, that it’s time to put worrying about the release date behind us, and, as of today, we’re officially kicking off our watch for Diagon Alley soft openings. (What? You don’t know what a soft opening is? We’ll provide an explanation in just a moment.)

We feel confident doing this because our network of Bothan spies – no, none died in the smuggling of the information, thank you very much – have gotten us enough intel to allow us to provide our dear readers with this handy, dandy chart showing the likelihood, in percentages, of soft openings happening each week, beginning on May 4 (hence our Star Wars reference) and going all the way ‘til the last week of June:

Our predictions have been removed from this post to avoid confusion.
The most up-to-date predictions can be found on our main Diagon Alley article.

From what we’ve been told, it looks as if each of these soft openings will be limited, possibly to select visitors, on-site hotel guests, and/or Team Members, or some combination thereof – not unlike the first Wizarding World. Whatever pool of candidates Universal will ultimately draw from, it’s almost always first come, first serve, so you better get your Quidditch World Cup tents ready to start camping out.

Our Bothans being Bothans, they went above the call of duty and also provided enough information for us to give you the likelihood of Diagon Alley being officially opened to the general public, using the same calendar:

Our predictions have been removed from this post to avoid confusion.
The most up-to-date predictions can be found on our main Diagon Alley article.

The reader may deduce from these numbers that, yes, we are back to anticipating a Diagon Alley grand opening sometime during the last two weeks of June.

While we’re very confident in these projections, please remember that they are subject to change. I’m sure you already know that Orlando Informer is not an official representative of Universal Orlando Resort – we’re an independent, unaffiliated resource for guests visiting the parks – so we can’t guarantee anything. You make your travel plans at your own risk. That being said, Rumor Round-Up was the first to name Cowfish Sushi Burger Bar as the replacement for the upstairs Starbucks at CityWalk months before Universal announced it, and we were the first to provide you with the name of Diagon Alley’s star attraction, Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts – so we’re getting pretty good at this.

What is a soft opening?

A soft opening, referred to by the parks as a technical rehearsal, is an opportunity for Universal Team Members to become fully trained in running attractions in a live environment. Soft openings happen before an attraction (or group of attractions, in this case) officially open, and their schedule is never announced or published by the parks. In addition, there is no guarantee that attractions will be running to their full potential, or even running at all.

By their very nature, soft openings are sporadic: they can be for 10 minutes, two hours, or the full day. When they first start happening, they usually begin during the last few operating hours of each day, and then slowly expand from there, day by day.

How can I be among the first to hear that Diagon Alley has soft opened?

Not to toot our own horn, but the truth is, because of the popularity of our site and the extent of Universal information available to our readers for free, we have dozens of fans visiting Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure each day (we love you, fans!). While we hope to be present the very first time Diagon Alley soft opens for the general public, we’re certain at least a few of our fans will be – they’ll let us know, and then we’ll let you know instantly via Twitter. We’ll also post updates on our site and elsewhere, but the very first news will come via Twitter.

#DiagonAlley soft openings, King Kong’s secrets, and @UniversalORL’s new ride (literally) http://t.co/Cj5LfmMH9W pic.twitter.com/3mb79X3AGt — Orlando Informer (@OrlandoInformer) April 11, 2014

Quick hits: Universal’s next five years will “blow your mind”

In their zealous quest for information, our sources not only uncovered intel for the next several weeks, they also dug up some pretty hefty bombshells for the next several years.  Unfortunately, we can’t share all of it with you right now – there was something about the possibility of Comcast hit squads being deployed – but we’re more than happy to share a few choice morsels to gnaw on while waiting in line for Diagon Alley technical rehearsals.

2016: in case you didn’t already know, King Kong will be making his triumphant return in the form of Skull Island in Islands of Adventure. Word from our sources not only corroborates nearly all of the original ride details that were leaked three months ago by others, it also goes one step further to make mention of a projection tunnel that your ride vehicle will venture down, presumably in the climax that features Kong on the rampage.

2016/2017: with the addition of a killer new water park and a fifth on-site hotel – both of which may be connected, incidentally – word has now sprung up that Universal is currently R&Ding a Disney-like monorail system to connect all three parks, all five resorts (yes, even Cabana Bay Beach Resort), and CityWalk. In one fell stroke, Universal would be mitigating the major drawback of its new properties – their distance from everything else – and coming that much closer to being on Disney’s own level (save for the 12,000 acres in difference between their two sizes, of course).

2020: the last of Universal’s “crazy” projects will have finished construction and be opened to guests, literally changing the face of Universal Orlando Resort. Some of these enterprises are so top-secret right now, only the vaguest of hints are being whispered, and then only in the shadows. You want our best (public) guess as of this moment? Let’s say four parks total, with somewhere around six or seven hotels/timeshare complexes, that include whole swaths of rides, attractions, and restaurants that are entirely, built-from-the-ground-up new.

How’s that to get your heart pumping and your tongue wagging?

Keep the conversation going!

Agree or disagree with the latest intel? Think we forgot something juicy? Want to offer your own take on the wildest rumors?

Well, then, join us at the brand-new OI Forums and tell us – in fact, we’ve got a great new poll we’d love you to vote in.

What’s more, we’re celebrating our Grand Opening all throughout the month of April – meet our community and enter for your chance to win one of three $100 Universal gift cards! Here’s the grand opening announcement.

NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

Orlando Informer will be viewed over 10 million times in 2014, and among those viewers are some folks with pretty strong connections to Universal Orlando. As they contact us with insider intel, we collect their information and combine it with our own research to produce our weekly Rumor Round-Up. When information comes to us directly, we cite “our sources”; when information comes from outside our network, we always cite it as such and provide links to the original source. This is our 107th rumor post, and we’re proud to have provided our readers with compelling stories as we share our thoughts and actively promote dozens of other websites.

Despite the excitement that can come with covering rumors, we ask our readers to be ever-mindful that, unless explicitly stated as fact, everything we cover here must be considered a rumor and unofficial. If you’re ever confused by what is what, we invite you to join us for free in the OI Forums, where you can ask our vacation planning community for clarification and seek advice for anything else regarding your plans to visit Orlando.

Get your questions answered in the OI Forums

View all of our Rumor Round-Ups

[sws_author_bio user=”msunyata@yahoo.com” size=”105″ authorposts=”More OI posts by Marc” name_format=”About the author”] [/sws_author_bio]

The post Rumor round-up for April 11, 2014: Diagon Alley’s soft openings, King Kong’s secrets, and Universal Orlando’s new ride (literally) appeared first on Orlando Informer.

What is transpiring is nothing short of an ever-broadening war between Disney and Universal, with maneuvers, counter-moves, and the deploying of nuclear submarines rapidly increasing (note: one of these three items is just hyperbole). Price increases are one highly visible front in this battle, and the lining up of future weapons is another, but it turns out that the real heavy-hitters may be arriving sooner than we ever before thought.

Fixing FastPass+

Earlier this week, Disney pulled off the (Mickey Mouse) gloves and announced what everyone has been asking for for a good while now: the company is backsliding a bit on its FastPass+ restrictions, easing them to reintroduce some of the features of the legacy FastPass system.

The first of these improvements is a “service enhancement” allowing guests to use their FP+ reservations at more than one theme park – yes, the park-hopping option on your tickets will once again be a value-filled addition. But the bigger and far more important development is the addition of extra reservation slots once the original three have been used up. And, much like the paper FastPass system, once this extra one has been utilized, yet another becomes available, and so on and so forth, with no announced cap. This means that all those touring-plan pros who used to be able to nab six or seven FastPasses in a day will be able to do so once again.

Least you get too excited, however, there are still some lingering limitations being imposed. Firstly, all of these additional reservations – that is to say, everything past the original three that can be booked online up to two months in advance – must be made in-park, at one of the infamous FP+ kiosks.

Secondly, and this one is easy to overlook in the initial excitement of the announcement, it’s important to keep in mind that these unlimited reservations only open up once all three of the original bookings have been used; if you have FastPassed, say, an evening fireworks show, you won’t be eligible for a fourth FP+, let alone a seventh or eighth. This means that there will still be trade-offs to be considered and made (not too surprising, given the huge crush of people that descend on Walt Disney World every day of the year) – use all three slots up for the morning and hope that you can secure that character meet-n-greet for later on that night, or just play it safe? And is it even worth it to wait in line at the kiosk just to avoid waiting in line at Soarin’?

Lastly, the timing of these new expansions is, at this point, unknown. My guess is that Disney’s nebulous “sometime in the future” wording is to afford the greatest amount of flexibility on its part – should the Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Diagon Alley prove to be even bigger of a threat than it was anticipating this summer, you better believe that the company will be berating its engineers and technicians to speed up the implementation process to sometime in July.

Now that the system is being drastically improved – and might even end up being better than Universal’s Express Passes – it looks like we might have to revisit our reader poll, won’t we?

Harry Potter: The next generation

Yes, it’s true: just as Universal was talking to Warner Bros. and J.K. Rowling about Diagon Alley while finishing up Hogsmeade, discussions have been well underway about Harry’s inevitable third phase at Universal Orlando Resort. We mentioned off-handedly last week that Fear Factor Live might be taken over for this eventual (extra) expansion, with our current best guess being a recreation of the Ministry of Magic (which would make sense, given its location to the London waterfront right next-door). Now we have a few more morsels to add to the mix, and they are juicy, indeed.

A source unconnected to the previous one has come calling this past week, dropping off the rather startling revelation that – well, maybe we should back up first. As we’ve pointed out before, some may be a tad disappointed that only two rides will be on hand once Diagon Alley opens this summer: the Hogwarts Express and Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts. Apparently, Universal already has had this criticism in mind, for it’s currently hard at work on a third, fourth, and, even, a fifth attraction, which all look to be deployed in and around both Diagon Alley and the supposed Ministry of Magic. Just what these new rides will be, exactly, is entirely unknown, although our source has said that not only have they been fully planned, their blueprints have already been sent off to various contractors.

This is interesting in the extreme. If one or two of these additional rides really do end up going inside Diagon Alley (say, in Carkitt Market, which suspiciously seems to have some extra room to spare), Universal won’t be tied down to the two-plus years of widespread construction that mired both Hogsmeade and Diagon; it can simply order them up at will, conceivably putting them on the accelerated time frame of either Transformers or Springfield USA. What better way to fend off the much more user-friendly FastPass+ experience, which might finally find the success that Disney has long been hoping for? The chess pieces here are becoming more and more flexible.

If, however, your mind is still stuck on the craziness that will be this summer’s Diagon Alley opening and can’t possibly process what three years from now might look like, our wizarding buddy has other goodies for you to chew on, as well. Regarding the Hogwarts Express, he claims that the train itself is all but ready and is “truly amazing” – yes, he’s been on it – and that, best of all, its capacity will actually be better than most think it will be, meaning that you’ll have a shorter wait in line.

In addition, the scary rumors we heard about Escape from Gringotts not being ready until August seem to be fading fast, replaced with much better intel that the kinks are getting worked out and the ride is likely to open with the rest of Diagon Alley – in June. (This, as with all rumors, is no guarantee until Universal makes the announcement.)

2015 – and beyond

So, Disney is counter-attacking Diagon Alley by rescinding much of its FastPass+ restrictions, opening up the possibility of a more enjoyable vacation for its millions of guests. And Universal is betting on a third Wizarding World sometime by the end of the decade to help keep all those people out of Disney’s parks, fixes or no. One can’t help but get the impression that Disney’s hand was forced to move much more quickly than it wanted on the MyMagic+ front, and it seems almost inevitable that Universal will, in turn, feel obligated to speed up its (wizarding) schedule, as well.

And the real kicker here is that we haven’t even gotten into all of the other developments that are lined up for the next handful of years – Avatar, Jurassic Park & King Kong, Star Wars. At this rate, don’t be surprised if all of their deployments are bumped up, as well.

By the time both theme park armies have finally been fully mobilized, the only thing missing really will be those nuclear subs.

Keep the conversation going!

Agree or disagree with the latest intel? Think we forgot something juicy? Want to offer your own take on the wildest rumors?

Well, then, join us at the brand-new Orlando Informer Forums and tell us!

What’s more, we’re celebrating our grand opening – meet our community and enter for your chance to win a Photo Connect Star Card package or one of three $100 Universal gift cards! Here’s the grand opening announcement.

NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

Orlando Informer will be viewed over 10 million times in 2014, and, believe it or not, among those viewers are some folks with pretty strong connections to Universal Orlando. As they contact us with insider intel, we collect their information and combine it with our own research to produce our weekly Rumor Round-Up. When information comes to us directly, we cite “our sources”; when information comes from outside our network, we always cite it as such and provide links to the original source. This is our 106th rumor post, and we’re proud to have provided our readers with compelling stories as we share our thoughts and actively promote dozens of other websites.

Despite the excitement that can come with covering rumors, we ask our readers to be ever-mindful that, unless explicitly stated as fact, everything we cover here must be considered a rumor and unofficial. If you’re ever confused by what is what, we invite you to join us for free in the OI Forums, where you can ask our vacation planning community for clarification and seek advice for anything else regarding your plans to visit Orlando.

Get your questions answered in the OI Forums

View all of our Rumor Round-Ups

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The post Rumor SPOTLIGHT for April 5, 2014: Unlimited FastPass+ versus Potter’s third phase – the battle for the future is heating up appeared first on Orlando Informer.

A new source has dropped off an owl to us here at Orlando Informer, and the contents of the letter have us all atwitter. Several different topics were addressed, so let’s get to it in bullet-point-style, shall we?

• The attractions – the Hogwarts Express is ahead of schedule, but Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts is still lagging behind. However, the goblin audio-animatronics have finally arrived at the show building, which is good news.
• Team Member training – training and wardrobe fitting for internal Team Members is currently set for May, which may indicate that the previously published reports of soft openings beginning later that month are still on-track. Speaking of which…
• Opening date – Universal Creative still expects to have both rides completed by May 1, delays or no. The big roadblock right now is ensuring that both the Hogwarts Express and Escape from Gringotts reach the magic number of 10,000 cycles (necessary before Universal can confidently allow anyone from the public to hop on).
• Drop-dead date – there is a point which is considered to be the absolute latest that a new attraction (or, in this case, theme park land) can open, due to various financial reasons. For Diagon Alley, we’ve now learned that the July 4 weekend is that drop-dead date, meaning that Universal will be scrambling like mad over the next several weeks to get everything back on track. After the two rides, the last remaining hurdle is getting all of the area’s facades installed. Please note that this is not a guarantee.
• Phase three – there has been lots of speculation regarding what the future of the Wizarding Worlds will be in Universal, and our source is able to confirm that the Fear Factor theater looks to be the most likely candidate for the next expansion; a number of Universal Creative employees have been spotted combing over the area, taking pictures and measurements, as they begin the preliminary discussions of how they might build the Ministry of Magic.

Given all this – and despite our recent concern that the new Wizarding World would open as late as the end of July – we’re now starting to get more confident again that we’ll be skipping down Diagon Alley sometime before, or possibly on, Tuesday, July 1.

Our first glimpse(s) of the new King Kong ride

Parkscope has done it again! After first noticing that Universal had started filing permits for Project 340 earlier this month, it’s now picked up the next step in the process: the registering of two maps that show not only where in Islands of Adventure this new project will be heading, but also the exact dimensions of its show building.

So what is Project 340? Why, the new King Kong attraction, of course – and though it’s impossible to discern any specifics about its new home in-between Toon Lagoon and Jurassic Park, what we can tell is just how massive it is going to be: a total footprint of four-and-a-half acres and a show building that is roughly twice the size of either Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey or King Kong: 360 3D in Universal Studios Hollywood.

When should we actually start to see this mighty show building take shape? Our guess is very soon now, particularly once work finally finishes on the Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Diagon Alley.

It is, in fact, becoming more and more apparent that, after Diagon Alley, this is the new theme-park-defining experience that we should all breathlessly be waiting for.

Welcome to Jurassic World

Concept artist Nathan Schroeder has provided us with our very first sneak-peek at the upcoming Jurassic World, which is the long-in-development fourth installment of the Jurassic Park franchise.

Why should theme park fanatics should take note of the just-leaked concept art? Because of the film’s purported connections to the Jurassic Park expansion at Islands of Adventure, which has similarly been trapped in development hell for the past several years; word from the rumor mill has the opening of the new attraction(s) tied to the movie’s release date of June 12, 2015, at the least, and the whole island being renamed Jurassic World, at the most.

The concept art seems to be of a futuristic Discovery Center, which is supposedly built on the ashes of the old one on Isla Nublar. Now, of course, there is absolutely no guarantee that these renderings will be realized in the finished film or, even, that they were commissioned based off of a real plot point – such is the nature of conceptual artwork. Still, it excites the imagination, particularly when considering whether the construction-happy Universal may want to erect a real-world Jurassic monorail…

To help bide the time until next summer’s (rumored) new rides, you can read everything we know about Jurassic World by clicking here.

Making the best damn water park in the world

Last summer, we here at Orlando Informer threw our support behind the speculation that Universal’s legendary third gate would be a water park, and other rumors have trickled out since then (no pun intended) that it would open sometime in 2017 or 2018.

Adding fuel to that fire – just to mix metaphors here – is recent chatter on Orlando United about just what this new gate would entail according to recent scuttlebutt from inside sources. It seems that Universal’s designers are interested in melding traditional theme and water park experiences together, both literally and figuratively; expect to see water-based attractions, presumably slides and lazy rivers, that feature elaborate queues, pre-shows, and audio-animatronic ride scenes, along with some traditional, non-wet attractions, such as spinners or other types of flat rides.

Most intriguing of all, however, is the amount of planning and resources that Universal Creative is rumored to be throwing at the project: at one soundstage on property, a giant model is being sculpted at the highly unusual scale of 1”:1’, allowing for the greatest possible level of detail to be included. A large sum of money is clearly already being invested in the water park, which means that immersion on the scale of either Hogsmeade or Diagon Alley could be expected.

There’s still no word on whether this would be going where Wet ‘n Wild already is or in the empty parcel of land in between Cabana Bay Beach Resort and Royal Pacific Resort, but you better believe that more details will be forthcoming, particularly once King Kong’s Skull Island is neck-deep in construction.

Keep the conversation going!

Agree or disagree with the latest intel? Think we forgot something juicy? Want to offer your own take on the wildest rumors?

Well, then, join us at the brand-new Orlando Informer Community Forums and tell us – you could even with a free t-shirt this weekend! Learn more and get started.

NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

The purpose of our weekly rumor column is to provide a window into what might be happening by collecting the latest speculation from sources across the internet (which we always link to). We take that speculation and condense it into one weekly post as a service to our readers, so you don’t have to spend hours tracking down all the stories yourself.

We rarely claim to be the source for our stories. In reality, anyone can do what we do: Google “Orlando theme park rumors” and see what the darker corners of the theme park community are chatting about. But we know you don’t have hours of free time to seek out this stuff – plus, Marc is really good at analyzing it – so we do the heavy lifting for you. Overall, this is a simple premise, and we’re happy to have been executing it every week for almost two years (this is our 105th rumor post).

View all of our Rumor Round-Ups

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The post Rumor round-up for March 28, 2014: Sharpening our thoughts on Diagon Alley’s opening, first glimpses of King Kong & Jurassic World, Universal’s water park appeared first on Orlando Informer.

All four of Walt Disney World’s theme parks have been switched over to the new FastPass+ ride reservation system for the past two months, while all Annual Passholders’ MagicBands (the all-in-one bracelets that allow one to make her FastPass+ reservations in advance) will ship out next week.

Now that we’ve fully entered the NextGen future that Disney has spent so much time (and money – $1 billion’s worth!) talking about, it seems only appropriate to pause, take stock of the situation, and see just where this big-data era of theme park vacationing may ultimately take us. After all, Disneyphiles are creatures of habit, if nothing else, and the looming phase-out of legacy FastPasses was viewed with so much hand-wringing that it seemed the apocalypse was sure to be unleashed in Orlando on New Year’s 2014.

Did the (Disney) world really end that day?

That, it turns out, entirely depends on whom you ask.

Why FastPass+ is a resounding success

There is a surprisingly large number of people who thought the original FastPass system, which was in operation for some 15 years, was, well, broken. The requirement of having to physically run from kiosk to kiosk at the most popular rides was viewed with disdain, particularly for those who couldn’t – or wouldn’t – show up first thing in the morning. Likewise, the inability of either choosing your return times or altering your selections once they were made was seen as positively archaic.

FastPass+’s reliance on websites and smart phone apps is largely lauded, and the most passionate advocates will gladly tell you how much they appreciate the fact that they can even make their reservations 60 days in advance, or link their ride times with the rest of their family’s. And the fact that a whole slew of additional attractions, such as older or minor rides and nighttime shows, have been added to the FastPass-eligible list is applauded.

There’s one last positive that one can’t help but notice gets repeated in comment after comment: the tying of the reservations to the MagicBands. “Even the touch-to-pay was kinda nice,” one reviewer at WDW Magic wrote. “No need to pull out my wallet to grab a credit card or room key. I didn’t think that was going to be a big positive going in, but it was.”

Why FastPass+ is ambivalent

The bulk of public sentiment over the FastPass+ transition, unsurprisingly, is somewhere in the middle, listing the bad with the good (or is that the other way around?). Family Travels on a Budget seems to sum up the ambivalence rather succinctly: “Disney-goers who plan their days can’t rely on paper FastPasses to see more in less time or to avoid lines at the spur of the moment.”

If there is a biggest point of contention – outside of the possibility of longer wait times, which we’ll get to in just a moment – it is the simple fact that Disney limits all of an individual’s FastPass+ reservations to just one park, which would seem to invalidate the added expense of a Park Hopper ticket. However, as Your First Visit points out, “in the ancient regime of legacy FastPasses, arriving at a park for dinner or the evening shows would usually mean that the FastPasses for that day would all be gone by then, anyway.” Furthermore, Disney has been hinting that this may only be a temporary restriction as it continues to work all of the (manifold) bugs and kinks out of the system.

Why FastPass+ is an abject failure

There seems to be a dark side to the new system, and it is a doozy – an increase in wait times across the board.

The situation goes a little something like this: since all guests are now limited to just three reservations (as opposed to running around and grabbing as many paper slips as they could), and because, furthermore, the most popular rides are divided into different tiers, all of the other attractions that didn’t used to require any FastPasses are now being heavily booked.

This matters because FastPass+ riders are always given the higher priority when boarding. “If there are 100 people waiting in [the] standby [queue] and 100 people in FastPass,” Josh at EasyWDW explains, “the 100th person in the FastPass line will likely board before the 30th person in standby. That’s how the ratio works.”

And although Disney denies that wait times have risen at all, Josh actually has some interesting numbers to back his claim of longer lines up. Compiling the standby times of every Disney World attraction every day for the past few years, he reports that the median wait from the first part of 2014 has significantly gone up over the same time period from last year, usually in a dramatic fashion; the standby times for older rides like Journey into Imagination and Maelstrom, for instance, have literally doubled (from five to 10 minutes for the former, and from 15 to 30 minutes for the latter), while Star Tours: The Adventures Continue has tripled (from 10 to 30 minutes).

Interestingly, the wait times for the headliner rides have either increased or decreased at only a small rate (typically five to ten minutes).

The future of waiting in line

Change makes for a nasty bedfellow, particularly for vacation planners, so a tidal wave of skepticism, at the least, or unrivaled vitriol, at the most, is to be expected.

Once it does die down, if there is still a great deal of incessant negativity clouding Disney’s endeavors (or if lines continue to get longer instead of becoming shorter), it is easy to see the company making alterations to its reservation system, possibly even restoring a number of the legacy FastPass’s features. But this is assuming that FastPass+ in its current incarnation is fundamentally flawed or hopelessly irreparable – a conclusion that seems farfetched, given its rate of success for a growing portion of Disney guests.

In the meantime, the likelihood of Universal, SeaWorld, or any other theme/amusement park operator tackling a NextGen-esque program in the short-term is extraordinarily low, despite all of their private interest in doing so; they’ll let Disney find all the solutions first, just as they have let it come up with all the problems by itself. Then, given that a precedence will already have been set, expect their eventual turnarounds to be swift, so that Universal debuting its Express Pass+ in, say, 2021 is not at all out of the question.

But for now, it’s just a question of waiting. And waiting. And waiting some more.

If you’d like to learn more about using FastPass+, check out our last Magic Kingdom trip report. Otherwise, we’d love to hear your thoughts in the comment section below.

NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

The propose of our weekly rumor column is to provide a window into what might be happening by collecting the latest speculation from sources across the internet (which we always link to). We take that speculation and condense it into one weekly post as a service to our readers, so you don’t have to spend hours tracking down all the stories yourself.

We rarely claim to be the source for our stories. In reality, anyone can do what we do: Google “Orlando theme park rumors” and see what the darker corners of the theme park community are chatting about. But we know you don’t have hours of free time to seek out this stuff – plus, Marc is really good at analyzing it – so we do the heavy lifting for you. Overall, this is a simple premise, and we’re happy to have been executing it every week for almost two years (this is our 104th rumor post).

View all of our Rumor Round-Ups

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The post Rumor round-up for March 22, 2014: Disney’s FastPass+ controversy – the good, the bad & the indifferent appeared first on Orlando Informer.

In order to file this report for you, we’ve compiled a number of different sources, most notably Mugglenet, Snitchseeker, Disney Dish podcast, and the freshly-updated Universal Orlando website. We also, of course, continue to draw heavily from our very own Complete Guide to Diagon Alley, which is regularly updated with the latest information and exclusive vacation planning advice.

What we already knew: The basics

Sadly, a good amount of the “revelations” coming out of last night’s press event are merely reconfirmations of previously-announced information, such as the fact that guests will need a park-to-park ticket in order to ride the Hogwarts Express, and that a ticket upgrade desk will be located at both King’s Cross and Hogsmeade Stations.

In addition, it’s been reaffirmed that all queuing for the Express will take place directly at the stations themselves, which are (strategically) placed outside of the Wizarding Worlds proper. While this will help considerably with crowd flow, it also means that, after you’ve done your shopping and riding at either Diagon Alley or Hogsmeade, you’ll then have to exit the area, loop over to the train station, and wait in that line.

Let’s just slip in an extra piece of brand-new information right here: once the train arrives at its destination, you have to disembark; if you’d like to make a round trip, you’ll just have to queue all over again.

What we didn’t know: The queue experience

While new information was handed out, most of this, again, simply officially confirms what has been turning about the rumor mill for the past several months – meaning no news on an opening date or what the “story” of the attraction will be. As such, Universal fans expecting a cavalcade of new announcements will be disappointed, but those who are content with reveling in the immaculately-themed details will find much and more to be happy about, starting with the queue.

Author J.K. Rowling was adamant that every guest have the opportunity to experience the transition from the Muggle King’s Cross to the magical Platform 9 3/4 for him- or herself (unlike the entrance to Diagon Alley, due to the sheer amount of people passing through it every minute of every hour of every day).

In order to accommodate this, Universal will pulse small groups of individuals at the famous brick column, which – yes – you most certainly will have to run at, just as in the books and movies. All those guests still waiting in line will actually see the people in front of them disappear by means of some sort of optical illusion, which Universal wasn’t too keen on divulging just yet.

Once on Platform 9 3/4, luggage carts and animatronic animals, such as owls in their cages, will greet you. And the Hogwarts Express itself, of course, will billow steam and sound her whistle – special effects that Universal Creative took extremely seriously, as it dispatched a team of designers to the United Kingdom for a month to ride the trains, record the sounds, and, even, track down the manufacturer of the cloth that was used to create the pillows onboard. Even the bolts seen on the Express’s movie sets were replicated exactly, which Universal hopes will help to make this one of the most immersive rides available at any theme park around the world.

Eight people will be seated per cabin, with each train holding roughly 200 passengers total (remember, as one train is busy being loaded at Hogsmeade, another is doing the same at King’s Cross). And each cabin is separated from all the others by closing doors.

What we didn’t know: The ride experience

Let’s get the two biggest pieces of news out of the way up front. On the positive side, there will be no height restriction for the Hogwarts Express; Universal promised a ride “for the whole family,” and it’s delivering on that promise.

On the negative side, however, it looks like all those rumors of randomized ride experiences, as seen on such attractions as Star Tours: The Adventures Continue, are completely false. Only two experiences will be on hand for passengers: one on the way to Hogsmeade, and the other on the way back to Diagon Alley.

But what guests encounter in these two variations looks to be extremely promising. Universal worked very closely with a number of production and visual effects personnel from the films in order to render the Express’s approach to Hogwarts; the view of the castle from the train as it makes its way around the Black Lake is an entirely new one, never before seen in any media – which should be something of a thrill for diehard Harry Potter fans. On the way there, Mad-Eye Moody, Hedwig, the Centaurs in the Forbidden Forest, and Hagrid on his flying motorcycle will be spotted, and Universal has finally confirmed what is sure to be the show-stealing scene of the entire ride: a Dementor attack, replete with ice-cold air being pumped into the cabin.

Departing Hogsmeade for London, passengers will first see Hagrid walking alongside the train, waving goodbye (as seen in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone). Then, as you pass the Black Lake, Buckbeak the hippogriff will soar down and graze the water (as in Prisoner of Azkaban), and as you head past the Forbidden Forest, George and Fred Weasley will arrive on their broomsticks and barrage you with an impromptu display of fireworks (Order of the Phoenix). Finally, upon entering downtown London, the Knight Bus will be seen zipping and squeezing through traffic (Prisoner of Azkaban).

Universal also announced a small number of additional details: the ride will last approximately six minutes, apparently offer a slightly different perspective depending upon where on the train you sit, and will not feature seasonal changes to the ride film – meaning it’ll be perpetually summer, as it is in Florida itself. Oliver and James Phelps recorded new footage for their part of the story, and all their new dialogue was personally approved by Rowling herself. Lastly, as expected, the existing Hogwarts Express locomotive in Hogsmeade will remain as a photo-op.

Oh – there’s one final tidbit: Universal Creative has come out and said that the fabled trio of Harry, Ron, and Hermione will certainly be on the train with you, and it coyly hinted that you’d see or otherwise notice their presence somewhere along the way.

Odds & ends

That may be it for the official information coming out of Universal’s press event, but there’s so much that has been unofficially conveyed.

The most pertinent piece of info for vacation planners is that, unfortunately, it looks more possible that the Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Diagon Alley will miss its intended June opening date by as much as a month; given the huge amount of money and customer expectation that is riding on the expansion, Universal is being more cautious than ever in ensuring that all its ducks are in a row and that everything goes off without a hitch.

Want an idea of how much is at stake? The original Wizarding World cost the company somewhere around $250 million and was expected to bring in roughly $50 million a year – making the expansion a five-year investment, which is no small gamble. Thanks to the unforeseen popularity of butterbeer (and all the other heaps of exclusive merchandise) and the unexpected boom in attendance, that figure was actually recouped in just four months.

And Diagon Alley is expected to outperform its predecessor handily.

Official Hogwarts Express press release

One of the most memorable and exciting experiences from the Harry Potter series will come to life at Universal Orlando Resort this summer. Imagine:

• Being transported from the Muggle world to the Wizarding World as you pass through the brick wall at King’s Cross Station to arrive at Platform 9 3/4
• Watching in amazement as the Hogwarts Express pulls into the station – its billowing steam and authentic whistle beckoning you to hop aboard
• Sitting in one of the train’s cabins with your family and friends and actually riding the Hogwarts Express – just as your favorite characters did in the Harry Potter films
• Looking outside your cabin window and enjoying a scenic, breathtaking journey through the British countryside as you encounter magical creatures, some of your favorite Harry Potter characters… and even Dementors

Since the very first Harry Potter film, every fan has dreamed of taking the same classic journey Harry Potter did aboard the Hogwarts Express. And this summer – they will get to live it.

[youtube_video]5gmSf4R2Ac4[/youtube_video]

Today, Universal Orlando revealed never-before-released details about the Hogwarts Express experience that will debut as part of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Diagon Alley – the all-new, magnificently themed land opening this summer. The train will connect the new land in Universal Studios Florida with the Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Hogsmeade in Islands of Adventure – allowing guests with park-to-park admission to enjoy a real journey aboard the iconic locomotive.

Never before has this been done – creating an actual train ride experience to connect two spectacularly themed environments. The Hogwarts Express experience combines powerful storytelling, live special effects, lifelike animation, and state-of-the-art technology to take riders on the journey of a lifetime. Guests will enjoy two completely different experiences depending on whether they’re traveling to Hogsmeade or London.

Once seated in the cabin, guests will be able to look out their windows as an incredibly authentic and magical adventure unfolds before them. They’ll see Hagrid come alongside the train on his flying motorbike, Buckbeak the hippogriff swoop gracefully over the Black Lake, the Weasley twins on brooms and up to their usual antics, the Knight Bus swerving through London traffic – and other special moments and surprises.

Universal’s Creative team has been working closely with Warner Bros., Stuart Craig, and the production team from the Harry Potter films to create a sensational Hogwarts Express experience that the entire family can enjoy. The Creative team has gone to great lengths to ensure the experience is true to the books and films. Everything about the train is authentic – from the paint and the materials used to build it… all the way down to the whistle.

View all of our Rumor Round-Ups, learn more about the Harry Potter expansion by studying our Complete guide to Diagon Alley, or see all our latest Universal photos by visiting our Flickr page (we just uploaded 149 photos shot yesterday!).

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The post Rumor SPOTLIGHT for March 14, 2014: Hogwarts Express ride details reveal the world’s most authentic theme park attraction appeared first on Orlando Informer.

The goodly folks over at Parkscope have uncovered yet another permit, filed by Universal just yesterday. An engineering permit, it calls for “site work for project 340, to include demolition of existing site area, mass grading, asphalt modification, and utility improvements.”

Just what is project 340, you ask? Well, the short answer is we don’t fully know yet, but long-time readers will remember that a new King Kong ride is supposedly headed to Islands of Adventure (squeezed in between Jurassic Park River Adventure and Toon Lagoon).

It’s been expected that Kong, no matter his final destination at the resort, would open in 2016, which has made the lack of construction work over these last several months incredibly conspicuous. This permit, then, is not only our first official confirmation of some sort of expansion work going on at the park, but also a life-saving jolt for the project.

Parkscope notes that “engineering permits are filed to do site preparations and related work,” with permits for demolition and construction typically following shortly thereafter. Perhaps we can finally piece together what is really going on in that little back corner of Jurassic Park within the next several weeks – maybe even before Diagon Alley opens.

The Orlando Eye sees a more expansive future

We’ve been keeping close tabs on the Orlando Eye, the new dining/shopping/entertainment complex situated at International Drive, here at Orlando Informer thanks to its potential for being a possible game-changer in the Orlando landscape.

And we now might have a far bigger reason to get excited.

The Orlando Sentinel reported yesterday that Merlin Entertainments, the company behind both the Orlando Eye and LEGOLAND Florida, has just signed a deal with DreamWorks to do Shrek’s Far Far Away Adventure, a 20,000-square-foot “live, interactive” experience based off of the (once) popular animated franchise.

The idea is to do a total of six such attractions by 2023, with London’s South Bank (home to the London Eye observation wheel, Sea Life Aquarium, and the London Dungeon) being first, and Orlando (where the Orlando Eye observation wheel, Sea Life Aquarium, and Madam Tussaud’s Wax Museum are currently under construction) possibly coming in next.

The interest in such a possible development is two-fold. First and foremost, such a move – regardless of its subject matter or license – is a far cry from the standard tourist traps of giant Ferris wheels or aquariums, and it is within striking distance of Disney’s and Universal’s theming territory.

The more that Merlin can push its multi-million dollar district down this path, the more compelling the Orlando Eye will become to guests – and the more competitive it will force Universal CityWalk and the still-under-construction Disney Springs to become.

Secondly, however, it’ll be interesting to see how Universal, in specific, will react. Although its licensing agreement with DreamWorks ended some eight years ago, the company continues to use Shrek characters at all four of its worldwide parks, with Universal Studios Singapore even basing one of its seven lands on the franchise (Far Far Away).

This may ultimately force Universal to dump the property more quickly than it otherwise would, resulting in a brand-new replacement for the desperately-aging Shrek 4D in both Florida and Hollywood and a whole new land in Singapore, which, many analysts believe, may very well end up being the Wizarding World of Harry Potter (Singapore, it should be noted, is the only Universal park to not feature the boy wizard, due to its extremely small size).

More unique attractions at multiple theme park sites? It’s hard to imagine a better scenario for consumers.

Cabana Bay goes really old-school

In addition to filing new permits yesterday, Universal also unveiled the fitness center for its new Cabana Bay Beach Resort, which (soft) opens in just a few short weeks.

While exercise rooms aren’t typically the first item to come to mind when thinking of exciting theme park developments – or just thinking of hotels, generally – this one, much like the rest of Cabana Bay, has an intriguing spin.

Jack LaLanne, called the godfather of fitness due to his pioneering The Jack LaLanne Show (which ran from the 1950s on through to the ‘70s), will be the overriding theme for the center: guests will watch televisions replaying old episodes of his show while being surrounded by photos, trophies, artifacts, and even a full-size statue of LaLanne himself.

It certainly continues the retro vibe of the rest of the hotel, and it creates an interesting visual contrast with the modern exercise equipment.

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Oh – and in case the appropriately-named Jack LaLanne Fitness Center just doesn’t do it for you, Universal also snuck into its press release the little tidbit that Cabana’s lazy river will feature waterfalls and water cannon, which makes for yet another fun little twist.

Why Universal Studios Florida is losing themed food and drink

When Transformers: The Ride opened at Universal Studios Singapore at the end of 2011, it debuted with an attached quick-service restaurant called the Starbot Cafe (which has the coolest subtitle of any theme park eatery in the entire world: Human Refueling Center). Universal Studios Hollywood received both of these components the following summer, which made Starbot’s ultimate arrival at Orlando a no-brainer once Transformers was finally announced to be arriving at Universal Studios Florida, as well.

Except, of course, that it’s never arrived, despite many rumors – both old and current – to the contrary.

Now we think we may know why. Screamscape reports that Energon, the signature Transformers drink (remember that, after Harry Potter, all new theme park entries have to have some sort of corresponding, exclusive food or beverage option), has suddenly disappeared from USH. According to inside sources, the robotic drink’s formula is actually the same as Universal Studios Florida’s Flaming Moe over in Springfield, minus the dry-ice ingredient, of course.

(Though we should note that Dan disagrees with this assessment. He says that “Energon tastes exactly like a melted orange creamsicle, whereas a Flaming Moe tastes like an orange soda – that’s like saying butterbeer is identical to root beer.” Point taken, Mr. Informer.)

Rumor holds that Fast Food Blvd, a money-making machine second only to the Wizarding World, is set to arrive at Hollywood shortly, which would mean that the same park would have supposedly-exclusive-but-really-identical drinks. If Universal is loath to pull that stunt on the west coast, you better believe it won’t do it here on the east coast, either.

So, sorry, all those Starbot-is-going-to-replace-the-Monsters-Cafe rumors – you’re deader than the Back to the Future ride.

NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

The propose of our weekly rumor column is to provide a window into what might be happening by collecting the latest speculation from sources across the internet (which we always link to). We take that speculation and condense it into one weekly post as a service to our readers, so you don’t have to spend hours tracking down all the stories yourself.

We rarely claim to be the source for our stories. In reality, anyone can do what we do: Google “Orlando theme park rumors” and see what the darker corners of the theme park community are chatting about. But we know you don’t have hours of free time to seek out this stuff – plus, Marc is really good at analyzing it – so we do the heavy lifting for you. Overall, this is a simple premise, and we’re happy to have been executing it every week for almost two years (this is our 102nd rumor post).

View all of our Rumor Round-Ups

[sws_author_bio user=”msunyata@yahoo.com” size=”105″ authorposts=”More OI posts by Marc” name_format=”About the author”] [/sws_author_bio]

The post Rumor round-up for March 7, 2014: King Kong construction begins, Shrek at Orlando Eye, Cabana Bay’s fitness & Energon’s finale appeared first on Orlando Informer.

Did you hear about Universal Orlando Resort’s price increases earlier this week, which were done to keep pace with Disney’s unusually-timed price hikes? And did you read our report that Universal’s website prices are still inexplicably set at 2013 levels? (You can seriously save $50 on what will become the resort’s de facto ticketing option, a two-day Park-to-Park ticket, by shopping online right now.)

We didn’t have an explanation as to why that would be, but – hey – we weren’t ones to look a gift horse in the mouth, and we gladly passed the knowledge on to you, our dear readers.

Well, it looks like Screamscape may have uncovered one reason behind the pricing discrepancy. A source of theirs has provided them with an alleged Universal-issued message to the various major travel agencies that UO ticket prices would be increasing on Tuesday, March 4 (which is still atypically early for such a move). The site hypothesizes that the company couldn’t grease its online machinery to move any faster, giving guests a few more days to get in on the (accidental) savings.

A call to Guest Services by our humble editor didn’t result in a date confirmation, but Dan was assured that online prices are going up “in the next few days.”

By the by, we don’t have any tips yet on when annual pass pricing will go up this year. However, since Universal raised its 2013 AP pricing before its 2013 general admission pricing, you can be certain that an AP price increase is in the works.

There are always a lot of questions when ticket prices go up. Be sure to see our blog post report and the comments after the post for analysis and answers. Dan also answered quite a few questions on the article’s Facebook post.

Expanding – and contracting – Star Wars Weekends for 2014

The Disney Parks Blog made a surprise announcement last week regarding the long-running Star Wars Weekends event at Hollywood Studios, revealing several small but important changes. First and foremost, for the first time in the event’s 17-year (non-continuous) history, it’ll be open for five weekends instead of the typical four, running every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from May 16 to June 15.

If that end date sounds suspiciously close to the rumored opening of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Diagon Alley (or, perhaps, not), then you’ll have a fairly good idea for the reason behind the change – Star Wars is the single biggest property Disney has its mitts on, and it offers the single best way to strike back against Universal and its boy wizard.

Other additions include a nightly “gala fireworks show featuring Star Wars music” and the return of actor James Arnold Taylor, who voiced General Obi-Wan Kenobi in the now-cancelled Star Wars: The Clones Wars animated series, as the event’s celebrity host.

And just to top everything off, Disney formally unveiled this year’s theme and logo: “Join the Rebellion,” featuring a rather determined-looking Red Fighter Mickey Mouse.

There’s more to this story, though, and Behind the Thrills has the scoop. The site revealed that the new fireworks show will actually be the older “Symphony in the Stars,” which Disney has occasionally trotted out for various Star Wars-themed events over the past four years, and that it will be joined by another nightly event, a “curtain call” of various SW characters.

Behind the Thrills reports, however, that all of this comes at a price: the patently crazy “Snig and Oopla’s Hyperspace Hoopla,” which has the Light and Dark Side characters from the films face off in – what else? – a dance competition, will be cut.

[youtube_video]vMFgKtcT3zE[/youtube_video]

The six-year-old show has proven to be a popular one with guests but a somewhat controversial one among SW fans, given its rather silly (but, it has to be said, thoroughly enjoyable) take on the material; current speculation holds that Disney may be attempting to purge all lighter depictions of the saga to prep the stage for its franchise reboot next year (hence the fate of Star Wars: Detours, a sketch comedy series headed by Seth Green, which was cancelled before it even got a chance to air).

As we get closer to the once-a-year Star Wars releases next December – and as Disney is forced to continue to combat Diagon Alley’s surging popularity past this summer – it’ll be extremely telling to see how the company continues to deploy its biggest weapon of mass destruction in the ever-tightening theme park wars. (By the way, did you hear Star Wars: Episode VII casts its first actor today?)

Quick hits: Leaky Cauldron, NASCAR Grille, Transformers rooms

Universal may have officially announced that the Leaky Cauldron will serve “traditional English fare,” but just what that will be has largely been left unsaid – until just today. Tom Schroder, PR Vice President for Universal Orlando Resort, let the world feast its eyes for the very first time on entrees from Diagon Alley’s main eatery.

#LeakyCauldron RT @tomschroderUOR: Can you guess what I’m getting to try for lunch today ? pic.twitter.com/IkGjeh6zcO — Orlando Informer (@OrlandoInformer) February 28, 2014

It looks delicious, particularly for just a quick-service restaurant.

Want to read more about the Leaky Cauldron, along with the nearly three dozen other Diagon Alley shops? Check out our complete store directory.

One of our very own sources has provided us with an interesting morsel to chew on. With all of the recent changes coming to Universal CityWalk, everyone thought that NASCAR Grille would be on the chopping block, right next to the likes of Latin Quarter and NBA City. That’s true, according to our tipster, who also suggested that NASCAR Grille will be moving down to Daytona. No word on just when that might be, however.

We’ve been hearing from multiple sources, both public and private, that the Hard Rock Hotel will be getting its 12 kids’ suites upgraded to match the Jurassic Park-themed ones at Royal Pacific Resort and the Despicable Me rooms at Portofino Bay Hotel.

What would the new theme be? Transformers, of course, which makes less sense than the (admittedly generic) American music motif that can currently be found at Hard Rock’s suites, but which also brings a higher level of detail and immersion – and, presumably, cash for Universal. A little birdie told us that this will be part of a larger, hotel-wide refurbishment, like the extensive one done to Portofino just last year.

Happy birthday to Orlando Informer!

Three years ago today, our editor, Dan, started a simple blog to give himself an outlet for all his Universal Orlando knowledge when he left the resort’s Guest Contact Center. Identifying a far-under-served niche, the popularity of his blog took off, and within a few months it was clear that, with enough dedication, this could become a new career for him. Three years later, Orlando Informer is clocking nearly a million monthly pageviews, with growth around 200% in 2012 and 2013. Now, as Diagon Alley prepares to open this summer, and as Dan finalizes the soon-to-be-officially-announced opening of the reinvented OI Forum, we fully expect Orlando Informer’s tremendous growth to continue.

In celebration of the site’s birthday, Dan is giving away a $50 Universal Orlando gift card on Facebook.

One final quick-hit: since this is a Rumor Round-Up, we’ll end the birthday section with a rumor of our own…

@UORBuzz Still kind of a secret, but my goal is to launch a forum in the 2nd quarter (very soon actually), then a podcast in the 4th quarter — Orlando Informer (@OrlandoInformer) February 19, 2014

@UORBuzz But our podcast won’t really be like anything that’s available now – that part is still totally a secret — Orlando Informer (@OrlandoInformer) February 19, 2014

NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

The propose of our weekly rumor column is to provide a window into what might be happening by collecting the latest speculation from sources across the internet (which we always link to). We take that speculation and condense it into one weekly post as a service to our readers, so you don’t have to spend hours tracking down all the stories yourself.

We rarely claim to be the source for our stories. In reality, anyone can do what we do: Google “Orlando theme park rumors” and see what the darker corners of the theme park community are chatting about. But we know you don’t have hours of free time to seek out this stuff – plus, Marc is really good at analyzing it – so we do the heavy lifting for you. Overall, this is a simple premise, and we’re happy to have been executing it every week for almost two years (this is our 101st rumor post).

View all of our Rumor Round-Ups

[sws_author_bio user=”msunyata@yahoo.com” size=”105″ authorposts=”More OI posts by Marc” name_format=”About the author”] [/sws_author_bio]

The post Rumor round-up for February 28, 2014: Universal price increase, Star Wars Weekends, Leaky Cauldron’s food & Transformers-themed rooms appeared first on Orlando Informer.

We’ve enjoyed the ride so far, and we hope you have, too.

Here’s to the next 100 columns!

Harry Potter and the Escape from Construction Hell

Even though it’s been only one month since Universal’s big webcast that revealed the first official tidbits of Diagon Alley, a lot has developed on the rumor front – so much, in fact, that we decided to do another full-fledged Wizarding World roundup for your reading pleasure.

Or should that be for your displeasure? It turns out that Universal is facing the very real possibility of delaying Diagon Alley’s grand opening, pushing it back anywhere from a matter of days (making it late- instead of mid-June) to, even, a few months (hello, August).

Just how did this come to pass? It’s an interesting story, as Orlando United reports, and it revolves mostly around the bane of every theme and amusement park the world over: construction difficulties.

The main culprits: Hogwarts Express and Escape from Gringotts

The new Wizarding World may only have two rides, but they’re both causing Universal more headaches than it bargained for.

First and foremost, there’s the Hogwarts Express. Although the train itself is actually a bit ahead of schedule, its two stops are woefully behind; Hogsmeade Station at Islands of Adventure, which has shown a worryingly consistent habit of trailing behind all the rest of the construction, is still mostly empty inside.

And although King’s Cross Station at Universal Studios Florida was much further along, it suffered a huge setback a month or two ago: one of the contractors accidentally installed the wrong brickwork, making development halt as a significantly large swath of the building was essentially gutted and then redone. It’s been a slow, painful process that has cost the operation hours and hours of work.

And then there’s Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts, which has had all of the programming glitches and operational setbacks that its sibling, Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, suffered over at Hogsmeade. This comparison is both reassuring and terrifying: Forbidden Journey may have still managed to make its opening date (June 18, 2010, in case you’re curious), but it did so only at the expense of tearing out a number of its effects, ranging from the Dementors’ arms reaching out to grab you to the ride being in 3D.

Given everything we know about Escape from Gringotts’s story, it’d be a shame to lose any of those wonderful, magical details.

We’re getting ahead of ourselves, though – just what, exactly, is going on within Gringotts Bank? It seems the execution of the ride’s programming and the installation of its busbars is where the main hold-ups are. The cherry on top is that Intamin, the main vendor responsible for the attraction, has proven to be slow to respond to Universal’s concerns or requests for fixes – to the point that, according to scuttlebut, Universal may look to another company to install all future clones of Escape from Gringotts (such as the inevitable versions that will pop up at Universal Studios Hollywood and, possibly, Japan, some five or six years down the road).

The bright side of the (Hogwarts Express) tracks

Not all the news these past four weeks has been gloomy, however. We’ve now heard from several employees that beta testing for the Hogwarts Express has been in full swing since early February, meaning that progress is being made. Just don’t expect to be part of the testing (it’s limited to Universal employees only for the time being – sorry, Harry fanatics) or to even see it happen (it’s being done at night, since the company doesn’t want the average guest to see the trains making an emergency stop or sitting dead in the water for hours at a time while the inevitable wrinkles are ironed out).

And within Gringotts, the simulator/coaster’s sets are nearly complete, its show lighting is already finalized, and work on getting the media projectors set up and fully in focus is moving briskly along.

All of which underscores one simple point: these types of setbacks – whether from erring vendors or misfiring electrical systems – do happen to every attraction for every company at every park around the world. (And, furthermore, most of these leaks about the possibility of delays come from employees or contractors who are swept up in the heat of the moment, angry that they’ll have to work yet another extra-long shift in order to play catch-up. What is blowing off steam on the one end can translate to an end-of-the-world scenario on the other.)

Universal went into Diagon Alley with its eyes wide open, and the odds are still extremely good that we’ll still be strolling down Knockturn Alley and shopping at Carkitt Market on or right around June 14.

Assuming that no further mishaps occur, of course.

Prepare to be wowed all over again

But let’s end on a positive note, shall we?

We have much more to say about what the new Wizarding World will have in store for us beyond the possibility of delays, and the details, as fleeting as they may be, have us falling in love with Diagon Alley all over again.

Window shopping – there could be as many as 30 window displays in the new land, roughly doubling what’s on hand in Hogsmeade. And, regardless of whether these front real stores or not, a number of these will be interactive – once Universal starts selling its next-generation, RFID-equipped wands. Best of all? Word from multiple sources all across the net has these interactive elements being retrofitted into Hosgmeade, as well (maybe we can finally make that damn Mandrake be silent for just a moment or two).

Knocking Knockturn Alley around – easily the most elaborate of these interactive window displays will be the storefront sitting caddy-corner to Borgin and Burkes within Knockturn Alley.

Guests will be able to make the full-size human skeletons contained therein fall completely apart, and then reassemble them piece by piece by further swishes of the wand.

Entering Diagon Alley – we’ve long been wondering just how the transition from the London waterfront to the Wizarding World beyond will be handled, and now we have one more piece of the puzzle: although the opening to Diagon Alley will be permanently open, the bricks on the very edges of that opening will mechanically spin around in place, making it look as if you’ve just arrived in time to see the end of the transformation.

Parking it at Carkitt Market – thanks to the Harry Potter Wiki, which has collected some odds and ends from the reports of the various Potter fansites that were invited to the webcast media event last month, we now have a fairly good idea of what the remaining stores will be in Carkitt Market: Jellied Eel Shop, Shutterbuttons Photo Studio, and the Fambus Station Wagon broom shop.

While we don’t know which are real venues and which are simply storefronts, we do know that a broomstick photo op is in the works, and that the Fambus seems to be the perfect fit…

That’s it for our 100th rumor article. And remember: if you’d like to learn more about Diagon Alley, we have a complete guide in the OI Universal Center with every detail you want to know!

NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

The propose of our weekly rumor column is to provide a window into what might be happening by collecting the latest speculation from sources across the internet (which we always link to). We take that speculation and condense it into one weekly post as a service to our readers, so you don’t have to spend hours tracking down all the stories yourself.

We rarely claim to be the source for our stories. In reality, anyone can do what we do: Google “Orlando theme park rumors” and see what the darker corners of the theme park community are chatting about. But we know you don’t have hours of free time to seek out this stuff — plus, Marc is really good at analyzing it — so we do the heavy lifting for you. Overall, this is a simple premise, and we’re happy to have been executing it every week for almost two years (this is our 100th rumor post).

View all of our Rumor Round-Ups

[sws_author_bio user=”msunyata@yahoo.com” size=”105″ authorposts=”More OI posts by Marc” name_format=”About the author”] [/sws_author_bio]

The post Rumor SPOTLIGHT for February 22, 2014: Will Diagon Alley & Hogsmeade Station be delayed until August? appeared first on Orlando Informer.

Last month, word broke on Orlando United that a fifth hotel would start construction later this year; once all the work finishes up on the impending Cabana Bay Beach Resort – which has its soft opening in just a few weeks’ time – all the construction crews would essentially move over to the plot of land that sits in between Royal Pacific Resort and Cabana to break ground.

On the one hand, this is pretty much standard operating procedure for Universal these days – we’ve already heard stories of the construction companies currently heading into the home stretch on Diagon Alley being told to pivot overnight to Islands of Adventure, to work on either the Jurassic Park or King Kong expansion, after all. And when Universal’s parent company, Comcast, proudly proclaims that it’s going to be spending half a billion dollars each and every year for the foreseeable future on its American theme park locations, one can only expect such a string of back-to-back projects.

On the other hand, though, this is nothing short of a breathtaking development. Universal originally thought it would’ve had enough business on-hand to erect hotels on all five of its plots shortly after the 1999 expansion to the full Universal Orlando Resort, but it had to make do with just three (Royal Pacific Resort opened in 2002) until just this year, when the hand-over-fist business of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter finally accumulated enough capital and consumer demand. That the fabled fifth (and final?) hotel would open just 12 or 18 months after Cabana – which contains, in and of itself, nearly as many rooms as the first three properties combined – is the biggest indicator yet of Universal’s finally having “made it.”

But it does leave one incredibly fascinating question: just what, exactly, would this new hotel be?

The guessing game begins: Luxurious or ultra-budget?

All three of the original resorts – Portofino Bay, Hard Rock, and Royal Pacific – are what is called in theme park parlance deluxe resorts. The name comes directly from Disney, and so, too, do its constituent parts: bigger rooms, more robust theming, direct (and free) transportation to the parks. There’s also the little matter of Universal making unlimited Express Passes free to all deluxe resort guests, which is nearly enough to justify the hotels’ otherwise exorbitant room rates.

For Cabana Bay, of course, Universal is heading into the value and moderate resort territories, with smaller rooms, no direct access to the parks, and, most (in)famously, no complimentary Express Passes. This now covers three of Walt Disney World’s six(!) resort categories, which means that a fifth hotel could conceivably go in any of the remaining directions: deluxe villas (which are, essentially, “vacation club” timeshares), camping/RV/cabin grounds, or a traditional value resort (Cabana, with its larger family suites, would technically fit Disney’s “value plus” designation).

It’s somewhat difficult (and utterly depressing, given the effect it’s had on Disney World) to imagine timeshares going into Universal Orlando, however, and there really isn’t enough land to warrant campgrounds. This would ordinarily leave a value resort as the sole remainder, but that’s not taking into consideration the fact that Universal could just as easily build a second moderate hotel – or a fourth deluxe, for that matter. Given just how many families will be flocking to Diagon Alley (and eating at CityWalk’s newer, family-friendlier venues), adding another moderate would make much sense, as well as putting – theoretically, at least – more money in Universal’s pockets.

Here’s the thing, though: the company has shown a keen interest in blurring the demarcation lines that Disney has so fastidiously erected over the past 40 years. Cabana still features an overall level of theming that is nearly impossible to find on the lower-tier Disney properties (with the possible exception of New Orleans – Riverside), along with a host of amenities that is definitely reserved for its deluxe resorts: a 10-lane bowling alley, lazy river, 100-foot waterslide, and a couple of other fun extras. Even if this mysterious fifth hotel were to be placed in either the moderate or value level, the sky would still truly be the limit.

The guessing game continues: Minions, monsters & wizards

While the pricing level is important to consider, it’s much more interesting, of course, to contemplate what the theming will be. Portofino Bay, Hard Rock, Royal Pacific, and Cabana Bay all hew to original – that is to say, non-intellectual-property-based – themes, with more of an emphasis on real-world destinations. Universal certainly could hit this well again, reaching for another luxurious European vacation spot or another exotic island paradise. If the company were truly interested in netting as big a swath of the park-going audience as possible, however, smart money would have to go on an altogether different subject – a Egyptian pyramid, say, or a medieval fortress.

Even here, though, it’s hard to go by past experience to make any sort of educated guess – Universal’s just proving to be so “disruptive” to the industry across the board, from multiple-park-single-ride experiences (the Hogwarts Express) to hotel accommodations. It’s just as likely, given the amount of capital it has to invest and the size of the financial prize it’s going after, that the company will go for an IP.

And this is where things get really interesting.

Imagine staying at Super Silly Fun Land, with a (small) number of amusement park rides in your backyard, or having your room be part of Dr. Frankenstein’s lab, or the lobby doubling as Jurassic Park’s Visitor Center. There are a number of in-house properties that contain the appropriate level of atmosphere, architectural detail, and envelope-pushing possibilities, and each would almost automatically guarantee the most popular hotel at all of Universal Orlando, regardless of its resort classification.

Even better – though certainly less likely, given the contractual stipulations that would be imposed – would be an outside license. A Transformers resort, replete with “transforming” courtyards, has a great deal of enticement, as does The Walking Dead (though having a permanent number of zombies patrolling the grounds may provide certain logistical difficulties, not to mention a questionable pool).

Though, of course, the undisputed winner here would be a certain boy wizard who already has a presence in both of the parks and who would provide a nearly infinite number of possible venues or locations to utilize. If Universal would go with Harry Potter one final(?) time, it would instantly have a slam-dunk in both the Imagineering and consumer demand arenas.

Unlikely? We’ll find out by the end of the year, when ground breaks.

NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

The propose of our weekly rumor column is to provide a window into what might be happening by collecting the latest speculation from sources across the internet (which we always link to). We take that speculation and condense it into one weekly post as a service to our readers, so you don’t have to spend hours tracking down all the stories yourself.

We rarely claim to be the source for our stories. In reality, anyone can do what we do: Google “Orlando theme park rumors” and see what the darker corners of the theme park community are chatting about. But we know you don’t have hours of free time to seek out this stuff — plus, Marc is really good at analyzing it — so we do the heavy lifting for you. Overall, this is a simple premise, and we’re happy to have been executing it every week for almost two years (this is our 99th rumor post).

View all of our Rumor Round-Ups

[sws_author_bio user=”msunyata@yahoo.com” size=”105″ authorposts=”More OI posts by Marc” name_format=”About the author”] [/sws_author_bio]

The post Rumor SPOTLIGHT for February 14, 2014: Staying at Universal’s FIFTH on-site hotel appeared first on Orlando Informer.

Breaking the story of Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts has been a long and laborious process – it’s still one of the best-kept secrets of the new Wizarding World, even after Universal’s big webcast last month – but we’ve been committed to digging through the dirt and uncovering it all for you. Almost exactly a month ago, we took our best first shot at it, and then we were quickly able to add some insider insight into the mix the week after.

Now, thanks to Theme Park Insider, we’ve gotten our most complete glimpse of the ride’s narrative yet.

(Warning: spoilers!)

As we initially reported two months ago, guests will be debriefed at Bill Weasley’s office one group at a time. After he’s done explaining how you’ll be able to get your very own vault at the bank, the doors on the far side of the room open, allowing you to make the 30,000-foot plunge into the caverns below.

Once aboard the ride proper, it isn’t very long before your trip to your just-opened vault is rudely interrupted by Lord Voldemort and Bellatrix Lestrange, who vow that you’ll never leave Gringotts alive. (Why, you ask? Well, it might be because they don’t particularly care for the idea of Muggles using a wizarding bank, or perhaps it’s just that they’re plain not nice people – your guess is as good as ours.) This is the point where your ride vehicle lunges down into an unseen tunnel below, and you make good your escape – for now.

Bill Weasley, thanks to the ever-present giant 3D screens around you, pulls up beside you, followed shortly by Harry, Ron, and Hermione in another cart. They are there to help protect you, but their efforts are, unfortunately, short-lived: trolls also arrive on the scene, knocking our heroes out of the way and attempting to shake you out of your ride vehicle (yes, that right – it’s not goblins that attack you, as we previously reported).

After breaking free and dashing through the Thieves’ Downfall (that magical waterfall that washes away all concealment charms), you are left perched on the edge of a cliff – which the trolls, chasing after you, are only too happy to push you off of. Much like The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man, a simulated free-fall ensues, which ends only when Bill reappears at the last second to save you.

But things, of course, aren’t that simple. The white dragon spotted in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part II next comes crashing down, spraying fire in all directions, followed shortly by his captors, the Gringotts security guards and goblin employees. Bill might be able to keep the magical beast at bay, but he can’t also hold back everyone else. You have no choice but to flee again.

A quick flight through Sirius Black’s vault protects you from the pursuers – until Bellatrix, Voldemort, and Nagini (the Dark Lord’s pet snake/living Horcrux) reappear in the chamber beyond, hurling Avada Kedavra curses at you. You zip past them and continue on to the infamous 360-degree projection doom, which we now know is a giant cavern with lava pouring into it. The dragon makes a grand reappearance here, with none other than Harry on his back. While fending off Lord Voldemort, Harry simultaneously throws a chain onto your cart to haul you out of the cave. The KUKA-powered screen lifts up out of place just in time for you to zip past it, up through a dark tunnel as the Death Eaters, defeated, disappear out of Gringotts behind you.

The ride is over – but not before you head past one last screen (located behind a knocked-out wall), which has Bill, Harry, Ron, and Hermione bidding you farewell.

Pirates of Pandora

If you’ll recall, the upcoming Pandora: The World of Avatar expansion at Animal Kingdom will feature some three or four attractions. The centerpiece of these, the Soarin’-esque Banshee flight simulator, has gotten quite a bit of attention over the past year or so, but now it’s time to similarly shed some light on the D-ticket boat ride through Pandora’s bioluminescent forest that we’ve seen highlighted so many times in Disney’s conceptual artwork.

Screamscape has heard some rumblings that the dark ride will be something of a Pirates of the Caribbean clone, featuring animatronic figures (or, in this particular case, creatures), “very cool” lighting and projection effects, and, even, a little drop or two in the ride track to add some oomph to the otherwise passive experience.

The site is hesitant to verify this new information one hundred percent, so we’ll just have to wait and see what direction the Avatar boat ride will take. With an expected opening in 2017 – if it makes the cut to be part of the “phase one” attractions, that is – expect to see Disney revealing a bit more at the end of next year or the beginning of ’16.

Quick hits: Diagon Alley signs, Harry Potter bathrooms & Seven Dwarfs’ Mine

Over the past week or so, signs have been added to the Diagon Alley waterfront buildings at Universal Studios Florida. King’s Cross Station, Leicester Square Station, and Wyndham’s Theater are now clearly marked. And, as you can see in this video Dan uploaded, we can now even see a sneak peak at a sign for the Leaky Cauldron. Enjoy!

[youtube_video]p9kCQXAeuD4[/youtube_video]

By the way, in case you missed it, Dan also uploaded a video tour of IOA’s new Starbucks, applauded for its size but criticized for not continuing the Port of Entry theming into its interior space.

After its closure a little over two years ago, the only two vestiges of Jaws/Amity could be found in the Bruce the Shark photo op (now stationed next to Che’z Alcatraz) and the Amity restrooms nearby. Now we’re down to just the one, as Parkscope has uncovered a permit, filed just last week, for internal and external retheming of the bathrooms. Since the whole area is being rebuilt as Diagon Alley, could this new theme be Harry Potter-related?

Parkscope hypothesizes that we’ll be seeing the London restroom that serves as the secret entrance to the Ministry of Magic (as seen in Deathly Hallows, Part I), which would complement the nearby London waterfront perfectly.

Although the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train keeps getting pushed back and back – we’re now hearing an opening date of May – Disney is finally opening up a bit more on what it promises will be the highlight of its New Fantasyland expansion. Over on the company’s official blog, it’s showing off lots and lots of the little details that, when taken together, will create a highly immersive queue and interior scene (don’t forget: most of the ride will take place outdoors).

The “sturdy logs, crumbling bark, rough wood planks, thick beams, smooth rocks, and rusty hinges” that are shown off are all hand-crafted by the Imagineers – highly impressive and worth checking out.

NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

The propose of our weekly rumor column is to provide a window into what might be happening by collecting the latest speculation from sources across the internet (which we always link to). We take that speculation and condense it into one weekly post as a service to our readers, so you don’t have to spend hours tracking down all the stories yourself.

We rarely claim to be the source for our stories. In reality, anyone can do what we do: Google “Orlando theme park rumors” and see what the darker corners of the theme park community are chatting about. But we know you don’t have hours of free time to seek out this stuff — plus, Marc is really good at analyzing it — so we do the heavy lifting for you. Overall, this is a simple premise, and we’re happy to have been executing it every week for almost two years (this is our 98th rumor post).

View all of our Rumor Round-Ups

[sws_author_bio user=”msunyata@yahoo.com” size=”105″ authorposts=”More OI posts by Marc” name_format=”About the author”] [/sws_author_bio]

The post Rumor round-up for February 7, 2014: Gringotts’ full story, riding Avatar Land’s boat ride, Diagon Alley signs & Seven Dwarfs Mine appeared first on Orlando Informer.

In last week’s episode of Orlando United’s podcast, rumormonger HateToFly shared a bit about the King Kong ride that is purportedly arriving at Islands of Adventure sometime next year, and if even half of what he contends is true, we’re all in for a very exciting – and possibly revolutionary – experience.

In case you don’t remember from previous reports, King Kong’s new home will be Skull Island, a mini-land that will be squeezed in between Jurassic Park and Toon Lagoon and which will constitute the park’s eighth “island.” You can expect to find it to the left of Thunder Falls Terrace, as seen here:

The new information starts at the entranceway to the area: a giant gate that opens on the ruins of an ancient temple, which double as the attraction’s elaborate queue. The queue is actually located underground and is said to be just as highly detailed and immersive as that of Disneyland’s Indiana Jones Adventure, which is widely held to be – along with Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, of course – the gold standard of pre-ride atmospheres. Guests will work their way on up through the ruins, ultimately reaching the loading platform at the very top of the temple. Yes, that’s right – you’ll board your ride vehicle outside, marking the first unusual element of the attraction.

The vehicles themselves are two tram- or bus-esque cars, one hitched to the other, with a “tour guide” in the first and extra seating in the second. It’s estimated that somewhere between four to six people can fit per row, with somewhere around five or six rows in the first vehicle and seven or eight in the second. That means approximately 50 to 85 people will be loaded per outing, making this one of Universal Orlando’s higher-capacity rides.

The first three scenes of the attraction will all be outdoors, leading up to the great wall that keeps King Kong separated from the inhabited part of Skull Island. Once guests manage to breach the wall, they’ll seamlessly transition into the show building, where they’ll be attacked from both sides by numerous audio-animatronic creatures, including gigantic centipedes, scorpions, and dragonflies, and eventually end up in a cave filled with numerous bats.

From there, the king himself makes an appearance thanks to projectors, which will be deployed on a scale that is exponentially beyond what is used on Transformers and is similar in scope to Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts. This particular sequence sounds like it may be similar to King Kong: 360 3D over at Universal Studios Hollywood, wherein Kong fights off a pack of dinosaurs all around the hapless tram passengers, who are immersed in the encounter thanks to air and water effects.

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Once they have survived the grand finale, riders will venture back outdoors to disembark – but the experience isn’t over yet. There’s one final scene as guests work their way out of the building, the equivalent of an epilogue in the world of television screenwriting. Just what, exactly, this “tag” may be is completely unknown – does it somehow involve the mandatory gift shop on the way out? – but we’re happy to finally see Universal Creative take our advice about extending the story beyond the traditional theme park parameters.

The Orlando Eye sees all – and, now, so do we

Our friends over at Theme Park Insite treated us all to a delicious sneak preview of what the much-anticipated Orlando Eye (formerly I-Drive Live) will have in store for us as it opens in phases all throughout this year.

Thanks to the leaked blueprints they’ve published, we now have a pretty good idea of what will be populating the development. Next to the main three attractions of the Orlando Eye, Madame Tussaud’s, and the Sea Life aquarium will be Sugar Factory, Cowgirls (a country bar), and the ubiquitous Walgreens. Lining the front of this entertainment section, meanwhile, will be Outback Steakhouse, Carrabba’s, Buffalo Wild Wings, Seafood Republic, and Dick’s Last Resort. Next door, fronting the hotel area, will be Chuy’s, Bargain World, and Red Robin (a personal favorite of mine).

While none of these tenants is a particularly exciting property in and of itself, their combined presence makes for not only a cover-all-the-bases dining/shopping complex, it also makes a strong argument for how the Orlando Eye will be a major contender in Orlando’s entertainment market. When taken in conjunction with the fact that there are still several slots open for future businesses – which is not to mention that last remaining “secret” attraction that developer Merlin Entertainments has been teasing over the past few months – all vacation-goers should be keeping one very serious eye on the development.

By the way, are you curious as to what the secret attraction may be? As one of our readers commented, “My money is on The Dungeons for the Eye’s secret attraction. Merlin’s big thing is to cluster Sea Life, Tussaud’s, and Dungeons.”

Quick hits: Seven Dwarfs, Falcon’s Fury & free wifi

All those who have been looking forward to riding the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train across these past three or four years will, unfortunately, have to wait a bit longer. According to Screamscape’s sources, the planned opening date in February has been pushed back to late March/early April – “if all goes well.” In the meantime, landscaping is finally being installed all around the outer edge of the attraction area and the trains are cycling, which are steps in the right direction.

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Okay, so the upcoming Falcon’s Fury at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay is beyond our Orlando purview, but we can’t help ourselves: the ride looks like it’s going to be all sorts of exciting when it opens this summer. And what makes it all the more enticing is our very first glimpse of just how the revolutionary attraction is going to operate, including its load/unload process and exact seat configuration.

Finally, a bit of small-but-nonetheless-good news: Loews, the hotel chain that runs all of Universal Orlando’s resorts, has finally entered the 21st century and started offering free wifi to all guests (and not just those who are part of Loews’s loyalty program). In addition, the new Starbucks at Islands of Adventure, which just opened Thursday, also offers free wifi. If we keep getting lucky like this, hopefully the day when free public wifi is available throughout all of Universal Orlando Resort won’t be too far away.

Final confirmation that standard in-room wifi is indeed now free at @UniversalORL‘s on-site hotels pic.twitter.com/br952gqDKp— Orlando Informer (@OrlandoInformer) January 24, 2014

NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

The propose of our weekly rumor column is to provide a window into what might be happening by collecting the latest speculation from sources across the internet (which we always link to). We take that speculation and condense it into one weekly post as a service to our readers, so you don’t have to spend hours tracking down all the stories yourself.

We rarely claim to be the source for our stories. In reality, anyone can do what we do: Google “Orlando theme park rumors” and see what the darker corners of the theme park community are chatting about. But we know you don’t have hours of free time to seek out this stuff — plus, Marc is really good at analyzing it — so we do the heavy lifting for you. Overall, this is a simple premise, and we’re happy to have been executing it every week for almost two years (this is our 97th rumor post).

View all of our Rumor Round-Ups

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The post Rumor round-up for January 31, 2014: Previewing King Kong at Universal, touring Orlando Eye & delaying the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train appeared first on Orlando Informer.

Almost one year ago we published the blog post you’ll find below. At the time, we scarcely knew that the construction project at Universal Studios Florida was indeed Diagon Alley (remember, Universal didn’t official announce the project until May 2013), and we certainly weren’t ready to estimate its opening date. Yet, based on some intriguing lettering on the new Transformers building, we speculated that May 2014 could be when the Hogwarts Express opened to the public.

Now one year later, in January 2014, that speculation is looking to be more accurate than we could have imagined. Read the blog post below to learn more about what we pieced together last year, then visit our Diagon Alley page to see what we’re thinking right now about when the Hogwarts Express may open.

Original post – March 2013

There is something very interesting happening on the Transformers building. And if you believe Universal wants to give us clues to the opening of their Harry Potter expansion in lieu of announcing any actual details, then you will want to check this out. (Remember, Universal proudly gave us clues to the opening of Transformers before they made that announcement.)

Here are two shots the markings on one portion of the Transformers building:

Now, consider this theory sent into us from one of our fans:

Kings Cross Station is commonly coded as KX and I know it has nothing to do with Transformers, but who says it has to be? So I believe STN is Station and 14/5 is May 2014 and by your recent photos of “WWOHP” buildings in USF it could be Kings cross Station opening May 2014. Please let me know your thoughts.

As far as I’m aware, no one has stepped forward suggesting a better explanation for these markings, so why not? After all, we heard recently that all of the Harry Potter expansion might open as early as July 2014, so could King’s Cross Station — which will be home to a real Hogwarts Express that travels between Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure — open a few months early to help the parks work out logistics? That makes perfect sense to me. After all, if you’re familiar with how admission works at Universal, you know it is going to be a challenge for Universal and guests alike figure out exactly what it takes to enjoy all of Harry Potter once it spans two separate theme parks.

Also, as you can see by these images I posted earlier this week, construction is well underway on King’s Cross Station:

If you’ve been following the Harry Potter project at Universal Orlando, then you already know Universal still hasn’t announced any details. So I am by no means guaranteeing that this theory is true, or suggesting that I have the information from someone familiar with the project. But again, if you consider how useful it would be for Universal to work out the 2-park Harry Potter logistics before the entirety of the new area opens, and if you consider that there really isn’t much work to do over by the original Wizarding World to set up a station for Hogsmeade, this idea seems pretty believable — or at least pretty achievable.

Learn more:

Transformer at Universal Studios Florida

Harry Potter expansion (Diagon Alley)

Read more rumors!

The post King’s Cross Station to open May 2014 – if you believe the writing on the wall appeared first on Orlando Informer.

A week ago today, we lead you on a little tour through the complete Gringotts Bank ride using all of the information that was currently available. Though it was as complete as it could have been, we have to say: what a difference a single week makes! When you run the world’s largest website dedicated to Universal Orlando vacation planning, sometimes the best rumors find you – and that’s what happened across the past several days. We now have more details to share with you, as well as a correction or two.

For starters, we’d like to stress that Gringotts will be more like the rollercoaster experience from Revenge of the Mummy and have less of the simulator feel of The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man – and that, quite simply, it’ll do things you’d never expect from a coaster.

What you can expect is, of course, a packed storyline for the ride. The lengthy, elaborate queue is expected to contain approximately 30 minutes’ worth of narrative, which puts it roughly on-par with Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. Just what the story is has been a matter of much debate and intrigue over the past two years, ever since the very first leaks regarding the bank came out – and now we can share them with you all:

You, being out on the market for a bank vault of your very own, have landed at the (wizarding) world-renowned Gringotts and are being taken on a tour of its premises (which explains why, in the Vault Showroom, all of the heavily-locked doors have been opened wide to showcase their vast interiors). Once you board your mine cart and have begun the ride proper, your host (a goblin?) says, “Of course, Mr. Potter’s vault is much deeper.” It is at this point that you face the stone wall mentioned in our previous write-up, the track pivots vertically 45 degrees so that the front ride vehicle dips down and the back one rises up, and you hurtle down into a hidden tunnel, on your way to see where Harry’s vault is located.

And, finally, we now have the name of the attraction, which is, hands down, one of the most-sought-after tidbits in all of the new Wizarding World. Are you ready to be among the first to hear it?

Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts

Now, are you ready to ride?

More new details about Diagon Alley

We’re not content to just divulge Escape from Gringotts secrets – we’ve also been briefed on a few more highly intriguing details regarding the other major components of the new Wizarding World. Let’s run down the gamut, shall we?

Firstly, we’re happy to reaffirm the previous leaks that the Hogwarts Express queue will contain some type of special-effect-powered transition that will make it feel as if you’ve actually walked through the pillar at King’s Cross Station and have arrived at Platform 9 3/4.

We’re still not certain just quite how this will be pulled off, but projectors seem to be almost a shoe-in, given their (relatively) low cost and ability to operate continuously with little maintenance and the requirement that the special effect be good for groups of people at a time.

As we’ve mentioned previously, Universal has long touted Hogsmeade’s shops as one of the key features of its Wizarding World, and Diagon Alley will, of course, be no different. Current rumors hold that the new area will actually feature more stores than its predecessor, and we can add that while they will, for the most part, maintain the coziness (read: complete lack of room) from the Hogsmeade lineup, they will also each – yes, each – be two or three stories tall for added capacity.

Of these stores, there are two in particular that will undoubtedly be among the most popular. Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlor will feature over 20 unique flavors of ice cream that will be exclusive to — and trademarked by — Universal Orlando Resort. While we have yet to hear what some of these might be, an educated guess would include some sort of pumpkin concoction, given the presence of pumpkin juice over at Islands of Adventure, and, of course, butterbeer, which has been Universal’s great moneymaker over the past three-and-a-half years. (Just imagine the culinary nirvana that a butterbeer float would entail!)

It has been previously reported that Ollivander’s Wand Shop will be expanded to include three “the wand choosing the wizard” shows (though, as a guest, you’ll never be aware that there was more than one). What we can add for the first time is that the shop will also include a special appearance by Mr. Ollivander himself, played by the irrepressible John Hurt, who will appear in either video or musion form to explain why he isn’t able to be there to assist in the selection of your wand.

It’s widely expected that Diagon Alley will be mostly based upon the last two novels/three films of the series, and if this premise holds true for Ollivander’s, expect the reason for his absence to be his hiding from Lord Voldemort, who wishes to abduct and torture some wand lore out of him.

Just when can we expect to see all of this open? While we haven’t heard anything (new) regarding the opening date, we have been told that Universal is currently eyeing the week before Memorial Day for the team member preview period – which only reinforces the idea that the land’s grand debut to the public will be sometime in June.

Diagon Alley’s London waterfront revealed

From January 2012 to February 2013, there were no vertical structures at the front of Diagon Alley, as most construction work focused on flattening the land or building up the enormous Gringotts Bank show building. In March 2013, the first vertical structures appeared at the front of Diagon Alley, and by May we could make out enough to have some idea that we were looking at a new Potter-themed land.

It would only be a few more short months before the steel structures became full facades, and those facades became covered with scaffolding.

Now it is January 2014, and today, for the very first time, the scaffolding has been removed from the London facade of Diagon Alley:

It’s every bit as beautiful as we had hoped – #DiagonAlley @UniversalORL without scaffolding pic.twitter.com/KuD4eWIhGq— Orlando Informer (@OrlandoInformer) January 17, 2014

You have to see these beautiful structures in person to truly appreciate them, but we’ve done our best to capture the excitement in a series of photos and in a seven-minute video. Reminder: from left to right, the facades represent King’s Cross Station, Leicester Square, Wyndham’s Theatre, and Grimmauld Place (ancestral home of the Black family in the Harry Potter stories). The main entrance to Diagon Alley will be through the bottom-right side of the Leicester Square facade.
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Here is a selection of our best shots followed by our new video. You can view the complete photo gallery at the bottom of the post. Remember, clicking any image will allow you to view it full screen. (And if you want to see the full-resolution photo files, up to 6000 x 3376 in size, check out our Flickr page.[/wptouch]

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We’d love to hear what you think about this achievement. Share your thoughts in the comment section below!

Countdown to Diagon Alley

Can you believe we have less than a week before Universal will officially spill all the beans on the new Wizarding World of Harry Potter? Stay tuned for our next Countdown to Diagon Alley article, which will help you while away the hours until the big announcement. In the meantime, you can always check out our other installments in the series:

Top five vacation planning tips for Diagon Alley

What if Diagon Alley sucks?

Complete telling of the Gringotts Bank ride experience

Four burning questions we still have about Diagon Alley

How Harry Potter is defining the next-generation theme park experience

After the webcast: Step-by-step guide to EVERYTHING we now know about Diagon Alley

After the webcast: Six incredible Diagon Alley secrets that weren’t mentioned in the webcast

And, of course, to start back at the very beginning and review everything we know about the Harry Potter expansion at Universal Orlando, visit the Diagon Alley page in the OI Universal Center.

DISCLAIMER FROM THE EDITOR

Please remember when viewing this post that a rumor is a piece of unverified information of uncertain origin; a statement whose veracity is not quickly or ever confirmed. So even though we try our best to present solid speculation, there’s no way to guarantee any rumor will come true (then it wouldn’t be a rumor anyway).

Thanks to Marc for researching the latest rumor buzz from sources across the Internet and condensing it down into a single post for us each and every week!

View all of our Rumor Round-Ups

London facade of Diagon Alley – photo gallery

Click any image to view it full-screen. When the full-screen image is open, click to the right or use the right arrow on your keyboard to advance through the gallery.

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The post RRU Special Edition: New details on Diagon Alley – story, food, actors, previews & the name of the Gringotts Bank attraction appeared first on Orlando Informer.

Screamscape recently turned up the heat on the glacial pace of development at Epcot with news that a new ride has been greenlit for the blue-sky stage of development. Should Disney execs like what they see, they’ll then proceed to fund the design phase, with construction presumably following not (too) long thereafter – but please keep in mind that’s a big if.

The rumor goes a little something like this: given the phenomenal box office success that Frozen has been enjoying, along with the positive response guests have been having to its character meet-and-greet already in place at the park, Imagineering is currently thinking of removing the Maelstrom boat ride in World Showcase’s Norway pavilion and replacing it with a new one dedicated to Disney’s latest animated film.

Given the malleable (pun intended) nature of the blue-sky phase, the site reports that every possible approach is being considered, from a simple retheming of Maelstrom’s ride vehicles and layout to a completely new attraction being built in its place (possibly the new flume ride system that is supposedly going to be utilized for Shanghai Disneyland’s version of Pirates of the Caribbean).

Yes, it may be a long shot, but, then again, Disney has already announced that it’s going to be inducting Frozen’s Anna and Queen Elsa into its Disney Princesses lineup, and Epcot is currently the only park at Walt Disney World to be without some type of expansion or renovation (Magic Kingdom has New Fantasyland, Animal Kingdom has Avatar and the new after-hours makeover, while Hollywood Studios is rumored to be getting a Star Wars overlay shortly – maybe).

Racing Disney to the Next Gen

Parkscope dropped something of a little bombshell on us all right around New Year’s by uncovering a patent for something that looks suspiciously like Disney’s now-infamous MyMagic+ system.

You do remember MyMagic+, don’t you? It’s part of the broader Next Gen initiative that has cost Disney over $1 billion across the past six years and which will, in theory, allow guests to use the brand-new MagicBand bracelets as their combined theme park ticket, hotel room key, and credit card. It also allows for ride and dining reservations to be accessed via smart phone or computer (and limits the number of FastPasses that a guest can utilize per day, although Disney doesn’t like to broadcast that part too much).

The only problem with the plan is that, well, Disney just can’t get it to work properly on a large scale and, because of this, may just have indefinitely delayed – or outright cancelled – its planned Star Wars Land at Disney’s Hollywood Studios (you can’t spend money you don’t have coming in, not even on a sure-fire thing such as Star Wars).

Despite the technical difficulties and customer-service blowback, it seems like Universal has been interested in pursuing its own version of the program for at least a little while now: the permit that Parkscope uncovered was initially applied for back in June 2012, and it was finally issued just last month. Despite being a large, highly technical read, the paperwork actually doesn’t reveal too much. Is it a carbon copy of MyMagic+, right down to the dismantling of the Express Pass/Q-bot system in favor of online-only ride reservations for every single guest? Or will it, as the Parkscope guys recently hypothesized, be mostly available for the thousands of new guests Universal expects to be getting through its new Cabana Bay Beach Resort value hotel, who won’t have access at all to free Express Passes?

The answer painfully is, at this particular stage in the game, that we just don’t know. What we do know, however, is that Uni hasn’t had the best of luck with such fancy things as smartphone tech in the past: it was forced to remove its official app two years ago due to a terrible user interface and negative feedback, and the Universal ScreenPlay virtual reality app released last summer never gained traction. Add to that the simple fact that, for the next two or three years, the company will be overwhelmingly focused on delivering a whole slew of new attractions to its Orlando parks.

The bottom line? Don’t expect any movement on this Next Gen-esuqe front in the foreseeable future – if at all.

Quick hits: Beetlejuice, E.T. Adventure & USF’s 25th anniversary

Our friends at Theme Park Insite have returned to whisper sweet nothings about Beetlejuice in our ear. What did they tell us? Well, once the currently-under-refurbishment Beetlejuice’s Graveyard Revue returns, it’ll feature not only a more teen-oriented focus, but also the return of the Phantom of the Opera, who starred in earlier versions of the show.

And just in case that isn’t enough of the ghost with the most for you, we’ve also been told that BJ will be making an appearance at Halloween Horror Nights this fall.

Speaking of staple Universal attractions, another new source has stepped forward to provide some more intel on the much-talked-about E.T. Adventure in Woody Woodpecker’s KidZone.

According to the nice bloke, Steven Spielberg holds a lot of clout at Universal – he did help design a number of its attractions, including Jurassic Park River Adventure and Transformers: The Ride, after all – and he seems to be rather keen on keeping his baby in the park for as long as possible. How long? The number that’s been tossed around is 10 years. So, regardless of whether KidZone gets its rumored makeover or not, you can expect E.T. to stand stalwart against the likes of the Smurfs or any other IP that may attempt to kick him out.

In case you missed it: signs for CityWalk’s new Italian restaurant, Pranzo Italian Kitchen, went up this week. While that’s no big surprise – Universal announced the new venue last month, after all – what did catch everyone off-guard is that there’s been a name change. Goodbye, Pranzo; hello, Vivo Italian Kitchen.

Vivo is going into the former location of Pastamore’s full-service section, which closed just a few days ago. If you’d like to see more of what’s happening right now at CityWalk, check out Dan’s January 10 Flickr photoset from his Universal tour yesterday (in addition to CityWalk, he also shot over a dozen photos of Diagon Alley, which lost more scaffolding!).

And one last word from Theme Park Insite: in order to prepare for Universal Studios Florida’s big 25th anniversary celebrations next year (which, rumor already holds, will include a tweaking/reworking of the Superstar Parade), the Garden of Allah building, which used to be home to the AT&T at the Movies attraction over a decade ago, will be converted into a Universal Studios museum.

According to the site, expect to see props from nearly every single former Universal Orlando attraction collected there, including Hercules/Xena and, my personal favorite, Nickelodeon Studios. The building is already in the process of being cleaned out, with a new paint job and sign coming sometime later this year or early next.

By the way, did you ever wonder what the heck is the Garden of Allah Villas? Then we highly recommend that you check out OI contributor Dani’s blog post series about the USF backlots, which includes a wonderful explanation of the Garden of Allah Villas and many other of the park’s facades.

Want to ride the Gringotts Bank coaster today?

One of the best rumor posts we’ve written yet can’t actually be found in the Rumor Round-Up section at all. Called the “Complete telling of the Gringotts Bank ride experience at Universal Orlando,” it’s exactly what it sounds like: a complete walk-through of the ride, starting with its elaborate queue and ending on the way to its gift shop, based off of all of the currently-available intel. For nearly every chill and spill of the experience, along with hints at the attractions around the Gringotts show building, be sure to check it out.

And, while you’re at it, check out all the other installments in our Countdown to Diagon Alley series:

Top five vacation planning tips for visiting Diagon Alley

What if Diagon Alley sucks?

NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

The propose of our weekly rumor column is to provide a window into what might be happening by collecting the latest speculation from sources across the internet (which we always link to). We take that speculation and condense it into one weekly post as a service to our readers, so you don’t have to spend hours tracking down all the stories yourself.

We rarely claim to be the source for our stories. In reality, anyone can do what we do: Google “Orlando theme park rumors” and see what the darker corners of the theme park community are chatting about. But we know you don’t have hours of free time to seek out this stuff — plus, Marc is really good at analyzing it — so we do the heavy lifting for you. Overall, this is a simple premise, and we’re happy to have been executing it every week for almost two years (this is our 95th rumor post).

View all of our Rumor Round-Ups

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The post Rumor round-up for January 11, 2014: Epcot gets Frozen, MyMagic+ at Universal, Beetlejuice’s resurrection, E.T.’s future & USF’s 25th anniversary appeared first on Orlando Informer.

You didn’t know that we’re at war? It turns out that the theme park titans have found themselves in a sudden, to-the-bloody-end battle after the June 2010 opening of Universal’s first Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Theming has gotten more detailed, attendance rates (and ticket prices!) have gone up, and a new front has unexpectedly opened in the Imagineering wars: from the butterbeer and Duff Lite at Universal to Disney’s LeFou’s Brew, dining has quickly established itself as the current end-all and be-all of themed conquests.

That’s why, when Disney announces that it’s going to completely overhaul Downtown Disney and transform it into Disney Springs, it’s a far bigger deal than one might otherwise suspect. Yes, it’s just the latest step in a 39-year history of about-faces and turnarounds – but the new expansion’s success has suddenly become substantially more important to the continued dominance of Walt Disney World, specifically, and the future direction of the entire industry, generally.

First at bat: CityWalk 2.0

First things first, though: Disney Springs may have been announced first (on March 14, 2013, if you need a reminder already), but it’s the renovated CityWalk that will be the first to open. By December 31, 2014, guests will be able to dine at a total of eight new venues, ranging from national chains (Cold Stone Creamery, Menchies Frozen Yogurt) to just-expanding franchises (Cowfish Sushi Burger Bar, Hot Dog Hall of Fame) to originals (Red Oven Pizza Bakery, Antojitos, Bread Box, Pranzo Italian Kitchen). The new outlets will bring a brand-new aesthetic to the area, including open kitchens and al fresco dining, and will be complemented by a redesigned Starbucks and Universal Studios Store.

Unfortunately, as part of the expansion, some older venues must close. The last day of business for Cigarz was New Year’s Eve:

Cigarz @UniversalORL is closed for good – they’re hauling out furniture right now pic.twitter.com/I0M6yQxSuG— Orlando Informer (@OrlandoInformer) January 2, 2014

Katie’s Candy Shop closed at the end of their regular business hours yesterday; TCBY’s last day of business is this Saturday.

However, looking forward, the result of the CityWalk expansion will be a more vibrant, more welcoming, and a more relaxing environment that will draw in families and older couples – before the sun goes down, the music starts thumping, and CityWalk reverts to its traditional “nightlife capital of Orlando” credo for the 20-something crowd.

Supplementing the entertainment district’s nighttime identity with a more sober (no pun intended) daytime one is a smart move, like Batman turning into Bruce Wayne at daybreak; more and more families are starting to notice – and take seriously – Universal Orlando Resort, thanks to the draw of the Wizarding Worlds and the availability of new value- and moderate-priced rooms over at Cabana Bay Beach Resort. It’s hard to imagine Universal ever fundamentally displacing its older, thrill-ride-leaning core (and, besides, more and more kids seem to prefer the edgier attractions as opposed to the traditional dark rides that Disney has perfected over the years), but it’s absolutely necessary for the company to diversify its wares and accommodations. Even the punk rockers have to dress up for their day jobs in the morning, after all.

The blind spots of Universal’s plans

Still, Universal’s recent announcement about what many are already referring to as CityWalk 2.0 has more of a perfunctory, covering-the-basics feel to it. Quick sandwich shop for over-stressed guests? Check. Obligatory Italian restaurant? Check. Hipster venue with adult milkshakes and weird sushi concoctions? Check.

The rumored revamping of CityWalk’s back walkway, where all the (aging) bars are located, should do much to fix this – word on the DL is that the Groove dance club and Rising Star karaoke bar are the first on the next chopping block, although there’s been no (comparatively) reliable source to back this up – but that still only handles the “dining” and part of the “entertainment” components of the “dining/shopping/entertainment” equation. Right this very second, Downtown Disney features a giant, full-service bowling alley, dedicated (read: exclusive) Cirque du Soleil show, and a virtual theme park, along with the prerequisite tourist diversions, such as a concert venue and overpriced movie theater. CityWalk’s exclusives? Putt-putt golf and a nationally-available Blue Man Group show.

This, of course, is not to put down either Hollywood Drive-In Golf or Blue Man, both of which are highly recommended to guests of all stripes. And, conversely, this is not to up-play the quality of Disney Quest, as calling it a “virtual theme park” may be more than a stretch for many visitors (particularly considering its virtually exorbitant price tag). The exercise is merely illustrative: the once and future Downtown Disney is approximately twice the acreage of its counterpart in Universal’s neck of the woods, and no matter how many new attractions Universal manages to squeeze into it, CityWalk still won’t be able to compete with the diversity or, even, the novelty of many of Disney’s mercantile diversions.

(Universal’s sneaking of many new all-inclusive attractions, such as its own bowling alley or a rock-climbing wall, over at Cabana Bay is a good move, but it’s somewhat undermined by having to hoof on over to the new hotel; having everything at a central location is one of Universal Orlando’s strongest selling points, particularly to vacation veterans.)

The possible triumph – or disaster – that is Disney Springs

That leaves a lot of room (again, no pun intended) for Disney to move in and (re)conquer the dining/shopping/entertainment sphere, and to do so quite aggressively. 150 tenants is an unbelievably large number, one that Universal can’t possibly hope to match and that even the Orlando Eye will find incredibly difficult to approach. And the presence of Disney’s world-renowned theming is more than just simple eye candy around all those new stores and restaurants; by having each street and water walkway tell its own part of a larger, overarching story, guests are drawn in and engaged instead of just marching down yet another stretch of shops, like at the local mall. Just as Universal famously made gift shops and cafeterias and, even, restrooms part of the themed experience at Hogsmeade, Disney is going to be doing the same at its Springs, on a (potentially) much bigger scale.

There are considerable drawbacks to Disney’s new plan, however, and they’re more than just the likelihood that Disney will scrap the whole project in a few years and go in an entirely different direction yet again. First and foremost, it seems that, despite Disney Springs’s singular take on the subject at hand, even the most ardent Disney-philes have admitted it’s very unlikely that Disney will be opening a number of its own unique venues, or that, even, a sizable number of third-party exclusives will be on hand. Indeed, in this regard, it looks like the best we can hope for is something along the lines of Universal’s recent acquisitions, which are just-starting-up chains, like Cowfish.

Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, the “entertainment” portion of the “dining/shopping/entertainment” formula is once again getting the short shrift, particularly when it comes to what CityWalk already dominates and what the Orlando Eye is hoping to scarf up: the after-hours scene. Yes, there’s already that great portfolio of attractions in Downtown Disney, as already mentioned, but with all the new real-estate being thrown at the Springs expansion, it’s literally unbelievable that something else along the lines of the impressive Splitsville isn’t in the cards. Why did we have to give up the Adventurers’ Club again?

The Eye sees all

This is where the Orlando Eye comes in. Although it, too, has placed a large emphasis on dining and shopping, the developers behind the project have also been keen on highlighting its actual attractions – even to the point of renaming the whole area after the flagship ride. The Sea Life Aquarium will feature a kid’s play area, while Madam Tussaud’s Wax Museum will brandish an obligatory “4D” movie theater and the Orlando Eye will – well, at 425 feet, be huge.

And lest these rather ordinary-sounding Orlando tourist traps sound a little too pedestrian, there’s the promise of far, far more: Las Vegas-style hotels decked out to a number of larger-than-life themes, a $1 million water fountain show, and a much-touted “secret” attraction that has yet to be unveiled.

There’s no way that the developers will be able to, say, wrangle up something along the lines of Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey or the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, but a themed rollercoaster is still very much within the realm of possibility – maybe even the long-rumored Polercoaster that keeps promising to show up in Orlando. If that’s the case, the Eye will have instantly nailed a grand slam.

[youtube_video]eNV_bt7UuZg[/youtube_video]

Should Universal focus on dining by choice and Disney on shopping by design, the Orlando Eye can easily swoop in and fill in all the entertaining cracks with relative ease – and the days of just one resort holding a monopoly on all three facets of the holy themed trinity will long be over.

Keep reading…

Preface to this article: Rumor SPOTLIGHT for December 27, 2013: The legacy of Downtown Disney and the future of Disney Springs

Universal CityWalk: RRU Special Edition: Universal announces largest expansion in CityWalk history – we’ve got details and exclusive analysis

Orlando Eye & much more: Breaking all the records in 2014: Our definitive list of top new attractions & venues coming to Orlando this year

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The post Rumor SPOTLIGHT for January 3, 2014: CityWalk 2.0 vs. Disney Springs vs. the Orlando Eye appeared first on Orlando Informer.

As it turns out, though, a successful, forward-thinking shopping/dining-combo venue has proven to be an elusive goal for the past 40 years.

Back to the beginning

When Walt Disney World first opened its doors in 1971, it was meant to be a multi-park, multi-hotel, multi-venue destination – some day. At the time, however, the 13,000-acre lot was occupied solely by Magic Kingdom and its raft of hotels and golf courses. The resort’s next major attractions, Discovery Island (the predecessor to the Animal Kingdom theme park in the middle of Bay Lake) and River Country (the world’s first themed water park), didn’t arrive until ’74 and ’76, respectively (and have since both been closed, incidentally).

With construction slowly creeping across Disney World, the need quickly became apparent for a common ground for all the visitors, locals, and, even, the residents that were expected to be living on-property, in the form of such dwellings as Celebration, Florida (which has long since been spun off into its own municipality). Taking its cue from the modern shopping malls that were, at the time, only 50-years-old, Disney crafted the Lake Buena Vista Shopping Village in 1975. It was quaint, laid-back, and not destined to last long at all.

By ’77, Disney executives realized that grand hotels were the way of the future, not more-or-less permanent residences – even Epcot would be retooled from the living, working “city of the future” model that Walt himself envisioned in the ‘60s to a standard theme park in ’82. (And the idea of either a moderate or value hotel wouldn’t manifest itself until the late ‘80s/early ‘90s.) Since vacationers are primarily interested in souvenirs as opposed to amenities, the area was renamed the Walt Disney World Village and played up the merchandise angle heavily.

That rebranding lasted longer, but Disney soon became taken with an obsession that has lasted to this day (and has been the total rationale behind the company’s recent NextGen initiative): preventing guests from leaving the resort for any reason whatsoever. It became increasingly obvious that patrons were doing just that starting in the late ‘70s and progressing all throughout the ‘80s, absconding to Orlando’s Church Street Station to visit the area’s vast collection of nightclubs and bars. Disney needed an “adult playground” of its own, and in 1989, it got just that: Pleasure Island, an addition to the Village where 18-and-overs could celebrate New Year’s Eve every single night of the year.

[youtube_video]zS3WMd2IzTE[/youtube_video]

To commemorate the occasion, the area was once again rechristened, this time to Disney Village Marketplace.

Enter Universal

While it worked – Pleasure Island ended up becoming the de facto hangout for tourists and locals alike – it didn’t last for long, either. In 1993, Universal debuted its new CityWalk expansion over at Universal Studios Hollywood, taking elements from both Church Street and the Disney Village Marketplace and infusing them with a hipper, more modern ethos. It was so successful, the company announced that it would also be opening up a CityWalk chapter at its Universal Studios Florida location in ‘99 as part of its overall Universal Orlando Resort expansion. Disney World guests would once again be tempted to leave Eden.

There was also the hugely growing influx of guests for Disney to consider. By the mid-‘90s, Walt Disney World had finally started to come into its own, consisting of three theme and three water parks, with their attendant hotels nearby and a seventh planned park (Animal Kingdom, which opened in ‘98) down the road. The new external threat and the building internal pressure required a new outlet, and Disney obliged: it merged the Village Marketplace and Pleasure Island sectors together, greatly expanded the number of stores and restaurants on-hand, and rebranded it all as Downtown Disney in ‘97.

This time, it didn’t succeed. CityWalk became the after-hours destination for all Orlando denizens almost overnight – a mantle which it has maintained to this day, 15 years later. With demand dwindling away to nothing, Disney finally threw in the towel, shutting down Pleasure Island’s several comedy and nightclubs in 2008. (Though, for the record, the company refused to acknowledge that low attendance was to blame; instead, it stated that guests simply asked for more family-friendly venues, and it was, of course, happy to oblige.)

In keeping with post-Walt practice, the buildings weren’t demolished or (immediately) renovated – they were simply boarded up and abandoned, not unlike the aforementioned Discovery Island and River Country.

Springin’ to Disney Springs

With a main section of its Downtown Disney complex dead in the water and a goodly number of its customers jumping ship for their nighttime excursions, Disney has made several attempts to revitalize or otherwise revamp the area over the past six years. Only a number of these have been made public, but each, of course, was announced with much fanfare, whether it be Flamingo Crossings (which was actually intended to be a second Downtown Disney located across at the other side of the property) or Hyperion Wharf. All died very quiet, behind-closed-doors deaths.

[youtube_video]zkhExZPENww[/youtube_video]

Until March 14, 2013, when a back-to-the-drawing-board expansion called Disney Springs was announced. The multi-year, opening-in-phases project, which is already under construction, will not only replace the discarded Pleasure Island, it’ll double the number of overall tenants (to 150 – blowing CityWalk’s lineup out of the water) and establish a new, “waterfront town” theme intended to grab all demographics, as opposed to just the nightlife crowd.

The company has been promising a mix of Disney and third-party outlets, including a balance of original creations and national chains, that will be connected via “open-air promenades, meandering springs, and waterfront charm.” Obviously, the adults-only crowd is now just one of a multitude, including the ever-more-important Disney Princess subset.

So far, though much of the Disney Springs project remains unofficial, it seems that Disney is keeping its word, with the latest rumor holding that none other than Apple will be making its presence felt at the new district, and in a major way – it’ll open the world’s biggest Apple Store (yes, even bigger than the one in Amsterdam). With an Observatory purportedly in the works along with food trucks (hello, Bumblebee Man’s Taco Truck!) – not to mention, of course, all the concept art floating around – Disney Springs does, indeed, hold a lot of promise for all future Disney World visitors.

The question remains, though: how will it stack up to CityWalk, which is also getting its own (mini) expansion, one that should be fully complete at the same time that Springs opens its final phase? And the corollary: how will the black swan of the flock, the Orlando Eye, impact either of the grappling titans?

That’s where the story gets really interesting.

Next installment…

Rumor SPOTLIGHT for January 3, 2014: CityWalk 2.0 vs. Disney Springs vs. the Orlando Eye

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The post Rumor SPOTLIGHT for December 27, 2013: The legacy of Downtown Disney and the future of Disney Springs appeared first on Orlando Informer.

As we fast approach the five-month mark(!) until the Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Diagon Alley opens, information is starting to bubble up from all directions at an ever-increasing pace. Given that it’s been two weeks since last we did a Rumor Round-Up proper (you should definitely hit up our Special Report from last Thursday, detailing CityWalk’s imminent expansion, if you haven’t already), we figured we’d present the recent smorgasbord of Harry goodness for you on a nice silver platter.

Ready to dive in?

First up is Theme Park Insider’s recent peek from inside Diagon Alley, which is the first (smuggled) picture from within the new land.

As great as that little glimpse is, what’s more tantalizing, for my Muggle money, is the information that Robert Niles provides with it: most of Diagon Alley will be under cover – of roofs or “train tracks” or what-have-you – including the majority of Knockturn Alley (presumably to make it as dark and mysterious as possible). “The experience,” Niles says, “will be both intricate and intimate.”

(An interesting side note: Niles says the picture was sent to him by a “friend” of the site. It’s been suggested that his friend is none other than Universal Creative itself. After all, Theme Park Insider somehow broke incredible Gringotts coaster details a year-and-a-half before Universal publicly acknowledged the project, and managed to get a photo inside Gringotts last May [the original photo is now buried half way down this page], all while his site is fully supported by Universal’s PR wing. Interesting indeed!)

Over on Orlando United, they just recently started up their very own weekly podcast. A small smattering of Wizarding World details usually accompanies each episode, providing us with several tidbits. The program has suggested, for instance, that not only is J.K. Rowling working on a ream of brand-new material for the expansion – to help solidify its backstory and, quite possibly, the narratives of its attractions – she’s also okayed the inclusion of several walk-around characters who will function very much like the Conductor over at Hogsmeade, making them part photo op and part trivia challenge. (Remember, Rowling refuses to allow the main characters to be represented by anyone other than the movie actors, for continuity’s sake.)

Furthermore, the queue of Gringotts – which we helped flesh out ourselves just recently – will include the Wizarding World’s first-ever use of audio-animatronic figures (which will more than likely be the bank’s goblin employees) as well as one live actor, who will sell some sort of unique, exclusive merchandise that guests can pick up in the gift shop after the ride. The podcast hasn’t say what, exactly, this will be, but when a listener guessed at the possibility of buying certificates of bank deposits in Gringotts’s legendary vaults, they said it wasn’t too far off. Outside of the Gringotts show building, meanwhile, tellers will “exchange” Muggle money for wizarding galleons and the like – which would only be good as souvenirs, not as actual currency inside of Diagon Alley. (If true, will Universal keep the current exchange rate of $10.17 per gold-galleon? Or will Orlando inflation be taken into account?)

Finally, the Orlando United gang has just this week reported that Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey over at Hogsmeade will be getting yet another ride profile (that is to say, the intensity and range of motion of a ride) in the second week of January. Expect yet another taming down of the KUKA benches’ movement, to help prepare the ride for all the new tourists who will be descending upon the resort this summer for Diagon Alley’s grand opening – tourists who, presumably, will fall outside of the typical thrill-seeking demographic. And the promised upgrade of the ride’s video projectors is currently scheduled for the spring, which will be undertaken in order to keep Forbidden Journey’s video quality consistent with that of Transformers and the revamped Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man.

Last but certainly not least is Universal itself, which officially kicked off the countdown to Diagon Alley’s grand reveal on January 23 a few days ago. Head on over to Gringotts Vault Key and type in the code of “722” (the project number Universal gave to the expansion) to see the video teaser for yourself.

Or see the video right here, because Universal uploaded it to YouTube at the same time they sent the new website and code to their media contacts:

[youtube_video]hW0qehuBwWw[/youtube_video]

It appears that the “exclusive webcast” to be held on January 23 will also be open to the public, so long as you sign up on this new page.

If one teaser just isn’t enough for you, how about two more?

Universal’s graced us all with a second and third release just within the last 24 hours. The second one is more of an abstract concept that doesn’t feature any shots of the new land itself, though it is still rather “catchy” and absolutely well-done. Check it out:

[youtube_video]80ZQUMsBKQ8[/youtube_video]

And number three does contain a few nice shots of Diagon’s shops and of Gringotts Bank, but we’re fairly certain here at OI HQ that they’re all recycled from the films. Not that it really matters – the short does an exceedingly good job of capturing the magic (no pun intended) that the new Wizarding World is set to shortly unleash:

[youtube_video]9e7pNiZNi3M[/youtube_video]

Getting revved up yet? Now that the marketing push has officially started, expect to see a lot more of these popping up in the months to come. It looks like Universal is really taking it right to Disney’s face this time ‘round…

Remember that, in our weekly RRU columns, we present a summary of the latest Diagon Alley news (when available). For those who may just be hearing about these developments, please visit the Harry Potter expansion page in the OI Universal Center for a complete project overview and many construction updates.

The FIRST HHN 24 rumors

Is it too early to start talking about Halloween Horror Nights 24? Let’s hope not, as a new website offering insider scoops, Theme Park Insite, has stepped forward and started whispering sweet nothings into our ear – three sweet nothings, in fact, which constitute the very first rumors for next year’s HHN.

It’s not weird to start getting scared before Christmas…

1) The first new haunted house for next year’s event is none other than Insidious, which was such a success at Hollywood’s HHN event this year, Orlando is keen on bringing it over. We’re hearing that the house will be expanded from its original West Coast version, with scenes from both the first film (2011) and its sequel, Chapter 2 (2013), being included.

2) The first new IP up for consideration, meanwhile, is the critically acclaimed anthology series American Horror Story, which will be just entering its fourth season on FX by the time Halloween Horror Nights starts up. According to our intel, Universal Creative has already started talking to the show’s producers, and they’re pumped at the possibility of being featured. Nothing has been locked down as of yet, however.

3) And, finally, the juiciest one of them all: Jack C. Schmidt, better known to the HHN faithful as Jack the Clown, is scheduled to make his triumphant return next year. Jack was the icon of Horror Nights for its 10th and 16th installments and has appeared in a number of houses and shows in several other years, with his last sighting being 2009’s “Shadows from the Past” scare zone and last year’s Cabin in the Wood haunted house. What will his role be for 2014? His very own show (perhaps a reprise of “Jacked Up” from HHN 10?), which the actor who’s currently portraying the Grinch for Islands of Adventure’s Grinchmas has already signed a contract for.

Now, considering that it’s only been one-and-a-half months since HHN 23 closed down – and a full nine months before HHN 24 opens up – it is, of course, extremely early in the process, and the likelihood that things will change, regardless of their current veracity, is incredibly high. Still, Theme Park Insite has claimed that multiple sources it uses have provided the information to them and that, moreover, their track records are “solid.”

To quote the Merovingian from The Matrix, let us find out where this goes…

Twentieth Century Fox World tries to impact the theme park world

Earlier this year, I reported on Twentieth Century Fox opening up its very own theme park in Malaysia sometime in 2016. Screamscape now tells us that ground has broken on the project, that its price tag has doubled – going from $158 million to $300 million – and that it now has an official name: Twentieth Century Fox World.

What the park lacks in titular originality is more than made up for by the scope contained in its just-released concept art. According to its December 17 press release, it will feature 25 rides (one per acre of land!), which look to be anchored by a recreation of the Titanic, an Alien rollercoaster dominated by the crashed Space Jockey ship (the basis for the Prometheus prequel/spinoff), and Ice Age Mountain. (Other film properties to be mined for attractions include Planet of the Apes, Night at the Museum, Rio, and Alien vs. Predator.)

Why does this matter to us Orlando-obsessed folk? As we’ve talked about before here at Rumor Round-Up, the only Disney resort that has failed to have heavy investments in new attractions over the past few years is Walt Disney World, which is also, perhaps not coincidentally, the biggest themed resort the entire globe over. While Disneyland Resort has seen a $1 billion expansion, resulting in the likes of Cars Land, Disney World has seen the same amount of money be tied up in the NextGen infrastructure project – which, according to rumors, hasn’t exactly gone according to plan.

Add onto this the fact that Hong Kong Disneyland hasn’t been performing as well as Disney would like – it’s much closer to Disneyland Paris’s dismal stats than to Tokyo Disneyland’s stellar numbers – and that the company is already starting to get some negative feedback on the soon-to-open Shanghai Disneyland, and you can see how building international pressure will be added to the ever-growing competition here in Florida, with the likes of Diagon Alley and the just-renamed Orlando Eye.

Should the Titanic and Alien rides at Twentieth Century Fox World end up pushing the Imagineering envelope in ways either great or small, it just may be the final snowflake to launch the biggest avalanche Disney World has seen since its debut 42 years ago, unleashing a great new wave of rides, attractions, and experiences that Orlando-lovers haven’t seen in many a year.

Well, one can only hope, at least.

NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

The propose of our weekly rumor column is to provide a window into what might be happening by collecting the latest speculation from sources across the internet (which we always link to). We take that speculation and condense it into one weekly post as a service to our readers, so you don’t have to spend hours tracking down all the stories yourself.

We rarely claim to be the source for our stories. In reality, anyone can do what we do: Google “Orlando theme park rumors” and see what the darker corners of the theme park community are chatting about. But we know you don’t have hours of free time to seek out this stuff — plus, Marc is really good at analyzing it — so we do the heavy lifting for you. Overall, this is a simple premise, and we’re happy to have been executing it every week for more than a year (this is our 92nd rumor post).

View all of our Rumor Round-Ups

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The post Rumor round-up for December 20, 2013: Diagon Alley’s secrets, Forbidden Journey’s changes & the FIRST Halloween Horror Nights 24 rumors appeared first on Orlando Informer.

The new roster, part I: The (partially) well-knowns

Here’s the deal: eight new venues are coming by the end of next year. Half of these are established brands, such as Cold Stone Creamery (a perennial favorite of my wife’s and mine), Menchies Frozen Yogurt, Cowfish Sushi Burger Bar (which, I’m proud to say, we were the first to introduce to the world last month), and the Hot Dog Hall of Fame.

Let’s pause for a moment on these last two restaurants, as they’re rather intriguing; instead of being the traditional chain-style franchise, such as Burger King or Menchies, they’re actually specialized properties that are expanding to only their second or third locations in Orlando (the two previous Cowfishes are in Charlotte and Raleigh, North Carolina, while the first Hot Dog Hall of Fame is in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania). This adds a certain flavor of uniqueness to the new CityWalk while still keeping Universal from investing in and building up an all-new brand all by itself – the best of both worlds, as it were.

(Which is not to mention the pedigree found in at least one of these new properties: the Hall of Fame, which will serve all different styles of hot dogs from all across the nation’s ball parks, is the brainchild of restaurateur Steve Schussler, who has such venues as the Rainforest Café and T-Rex under his belt, along with several others. If these two examples sound familiar, it’s because they’re currently residing in Downtown Disney, making this even more of a win for Universal – chalk it up as another example of the company “stealing” away designers and other personnel from its rival down the road.)

The new roster, part II: The originals

The other half of the new restaurants are original concepts, consisting of: Antojitos Authentic Mexican Food, a tapas eatery; Bread Box, a “home-style” sandwich shop; Pranzo Vivo Italian Kitchen, where “guests can watch as the culinary team handcrafts their pasta from scratch”; and, of course, the already-open Red Oven Pizza Bakery.

With Universal willing and able to choose from any type of cuisine or restaurant layout for its new lineup, the question must be asked: why these? It’s obvious that some choices are meant to service certain culinary mainstays – Mexican, for example, or the ever-popular Italian – while others are designed to help plug the holes that have been present in CityWalk for the past several years, such as the lack of a Neopolitan-style pizzeria or a sandwich-on-the-go cafeteria. There’s a certain breadth and depth being established here, which is an increasingly important target for Universal to hit as it enters what is undoubtedly going to be its busiest era yet with the debut of Cabana Bay Beach Resort next spring and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Diagon Alley following in the summer.

CityWalk 2.0

More holistically, Universal itself says that, whether a franchise or a new creation, there were certain criteria it wanted to hit with these new venues; the selections come “after a nationwide search for culinary concepts that include a mix of established national brands, up-and-coming concepts, and Universal’s own creations. The new venues will share an overall theme that includes inviting common areas, al fresco dining, open kitchens, and more.”

It’s this last sentence that should catch your theme-loving eye, as the company will be quietly (or not-so-quietly) continuing to revamp certain sections of CityWalk, a process which it started early last year when first implementing its new post-Harry Potter plan. Part of this entails moving Starbucks down from its second-level perch to the ground floor, doubling its size and dramatically modernizing its look, while another piece of the puzzle is giving the Universal Studios Store a similarly sleek facelift.

All of it is meant to make the entire area look comfier, more inviting, and more visually interesting – a move to capture families, younger children, and older couples, since Universal already has the night-life segment down pat. Consider this an early counter-move against Disney Springs, which is meant to replace and expand upon the appeal of Downtown Disney when it opens (in phases, of course) within the next two or three years.

The lay of the land

Phew.

That’s a lot of changes in CityWalk’s lineup, and it can be a bit confusing to keep track of what is opening where, what is moving locations, and, of course, what is closing down to make room for all of the culinary musical chairs. That’s why we’ve compiled this handy-dandy list for your convenience, arranged alphabetically:

Antojitos – formerly Latin Quarter
Bread Box – formerly Cigarz (and Katie’s Candy Company)
Coldstone – next to the new Starbucks location on the first floor
Cowfish – formerly Starbucks (on the second floor), with an added entrance sandwiched between Vivo and Red Oven on the first floor
Hot Dog Hall of Fame – formerly Galaxy Bar, a rarely-open walkup counter next to Emeril’s
Menchies – formerly TCBY
Vivo – formerly Pastamore’s full-service location
Red Oven – formerly Pastamore’s quick-service location
New Starbucks – formerly Endangered Species Store

For the record, these are the current CityWalk venues closing at or near the end of this year: Cigarz, TCBY, Katie’s Candy Store, and Pastamore.

Finally, as far as an opening date for the new venues, Universal says all will be open by the end of 2014.

Harry Potter and the Giant Tease

While CityWalk was clearly the focus of Universal’s presser today, executives couldn’t resist the temptation of sneaking in – or, perhaps, wish to avoid the fan/media backlash of not including – a little tidbit on the highly anticipated Diagon Alley. A video was shown of Mark Woodbury, the president of Universal Creative, Dale Mason, Diagon Alley’s lead designer, and Stuart Craig, the production designer of all the Harry Potter films, discussing the upcoming Wizarding World expansion. Unfortunately, nothing new was announced, and even all the comments made by the three were carefully ambiguous; the Hogwarts Express and Leaky Cauldron, they promised, are going to provide for exciting new experiences – and that’s it. (Well, okay, they did say this: Diagon Alley will be bigger than Hogsmeade, with “more alleys, more shops,” and, just perhaps, more verticality in all the areas. That’s something, I suppose.)

The only tidbit of note to trickle out from the sidebar? Expect to see a series of new announcements and reveals starting as soon as next month, building up to the crescendo that is opening day.

If you’d like something a bit more concrete to end this week’s column with, enjoy these images of Diagon Alley’s London facade that Dan shot only a few hours ago, including a first look at 12 Grimmauld Place without scaffolding:

[youtube_video]VXktYOBTFcw[/youtube_video]

Would you like to see more? Dan has uploaded the 83 photos from his Universal tour to the OI Flickr page (December 12 photoset).

Would you like to learn more? We provided a great recap of the Gringotts coaster rumors in last week’s RRU. Otherwise, to start from the beginning, check out the Harry Potter expansion page in the OI Universal Center.

DISCLAIMER FROM THE EDITOR

Please remember when viewing this post that a rumor is a piece of unverified information of uncertain origin; a statement whose veracity is not quickly or ever confirmed. So even though we try our best to present solid speculation, there’s no way to guarantee any rumor will come true (then it wouldn’t be a rumor anyway).

Thanks to Marc for researching the latest rumor buzz from sources across the Internet and condensing it down into a single post for us each and every week!

View all of our Rumor Round-Ups

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The post RRU Special Edition: Universal announces largest expansion in CityWalk history – we’ve got details and exclusive analysis appeared first on Orlando Informer.

A new source has recently conjured himself up here at Orlando Informer, speaking to us in the back alleys of Universal Studios Florida. He’s been most happy to share just a few tidbits with us – hey, we don’t want to get anyone exiled from the Wizarding World here – about Diagon Alley, generally, and Gringotts Bank, specifically. While some of this has already been reported in various outlets over the past two years, some of it is brand new and exclusive to this report. We’ve just gone ahead and bundled everything together for you in one great big package – think of it as an early Christmas present from us at OI to you.

First and foremost, let’s go ahead and expressly confirm some previously rumored information: Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlor and Knockturn Alley are not only certainly coming to the new Wizarding World, they’re both already in walk-through condition. So is the new, bigger version of Ollivander’s Wand Shop, which will now feature three wand-choosing-the-wizard show rooms instead of Hogsmeade’s paltry one, as well as a climate-controlled extended queue (anyone who has waited in the Ollivander’s queue in Hogsmeade will appreciate this!).

Guests will head past all of these attractions on their way to Gringotts, but there’s one more stop they’ll need to hit before arriving at Universal’s new flagship ride: the dreaded locker room, which is making a return appearance from Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. The bad news here is that the room itself will be in a rectangular/square shape with the lockers being located in the middle, like an island – in other words, a traffic trap, just as with Forbidden Journey. However, the good news is that the lockers themselves will be slightly bigger, and they won’t be located in the queue; as with attractions like Dragon Challenge and Revenge of the Mummy, the locker room will be situated externally, freeing up a great deal of time for those already in the show building.

Once inside Gringotts Bank, the first room riders will find themselves in is the famous entry hall, replete with goblins behind the counter and the grand chandeliers dominating from the ceiling. (The word our source used to describe this section of the queue is “amazing.”) Next up is Bill Weasley’s office, which is where the backstory of the attraction is delivered – you know, why Muggles are being admitted into the wizarding world’s only bank – and where the first major difference with Forbidden Journey manifests itself: rather than getting exposition delivered in bits and pieces all throughout the queue, primarily through talking portraits, Gringotts takes the traditional approach of depositing a group of guests into a holding room to be debriefed (think Haunted Mansion or The Simpsons Ride).

From Bill’s office, guests will hop on an elevator (which really isn’t an elevator) that plunges them down into the depths of the bank. There, they’ll grab their obligatory 3D goggles and work their way through a series of stairways, including a spiral one, before finally coming face-to-face with the ride vehicles. (Why so many staircases? Because of the way the building was designed and the demands of the ride platform.)

Want some more highlights? A waterfall effect that doesn’t actually use any water is being employed to mimic the Thief’s Downfall in one scene, while, in another, goblins come out and shake the ride vehicle.

It all sounds incredible, even if just a few of these rumors turn out to be true!

Soarin’ over Pandora

If you’ll recall, Pandora: The World of Avatar’s main E-ticket ride is going to be a Soarin’-esque flight simulator that puts you on the wings of your very own Banshee. Not only does Robert Niles over at Theme Park Insider confirm that this will be one of the day-one attractions (remember, Avatar will be opening in phases, not unlike Disney’s recent New Fantasyland expansion at Magic Kingdom), he’s also gotten his dirty mitts on a copy of the ride’s blueprints, and he’s more than happy to spill the beans with all of us.

The “Banshee” show building will be massive, calling for four different theaters – each with its own giant IMAX screen – and a total of five or six stories, making it somewhere around 80 feet tall.

The indoor portion of the queue actually starts out in a shorter, ancillary building next door before filing guests into a central hub in the main structure. Here, the queue splits up into two different directions: the left ramp takes riders to the first floor, while the right ramp goes up to the second level.

Once divided, guests on each story get divided again, into four groups – one for each theater. They’ll snatch up their 3D glasses and enter one of the four pre-show rooms, getting the set-up of the ride’s story, before finally shuffling into the theater proper. (Theme Park Insider notes that some of the second-story riders may actually be directed up yet another ramp, depositing them on the show building’s third story, perhaps depending upon that day’s traffic.) The whole loading sequence, Niles says, is not unlike what happens with Universal Studios Florida’s Simpsons Ride.

Once the attraction’s over, all four theaters disgorge their patrons into one massive exit corridor that crosses underneath the show building, allowing all and sundry to exit (through retail!) at the same spot.

While short on actual ride specifics, the blueprints do reveal quite a bit about the mentality Disney has adopted not only for the “Banshee” attraction, but for all of its Pandora expansion: big, elaborate buildings typically require big, elaborate rides to go into them and be surrounded by large, elaborately-themed areas. Such expense should make theme park enthusiasts giddy at the experiences that Disney is cooking up – and it should also (hopefully) justify the extraordinary amount of time the company has been using to develop them.

Universal holding a press event next Thursday, December 12

There has been a lot of work happening at Universal CityWalk: the closing of the Pastamore Market, Latin Quarter, and Endangered Species; the opening of Red Oven; and the rumors about Starbucks, Cold Stone, Cowfish Sushi Burger Bar (via us), and now a Jekyll & Hyde Club (via Screamscape). Through these many months of construction, Universal hasn’t made an official announcement about any of these changes.

That ends next Thursday, when the resort is set to announce its plans for CityWalk, along with some new details about Diagon Alley, Cabana Bay, and possibly Jurassic Park thrown in for good measure. You can expect full coverage of everything that was announced, and everything that wasn’t announced, in next week’s Rumor Round-Up!

Camera test & guest trip report are a #win for OI readers

That headline makes no sense, right? What I’m trying to say, first, is that Dan has been testing a new camera he picked up (a Sony Alpha 7 for those interested), and his testing means we win with a gorgeous collection of new Harry Potter expansion photos. These are just a few:

To see all 50 of the new images in ultra high-resolution, check out the December 5 photoset on the OI Flickr page. If you’re not familiar with the Harry Potter expansion project at Universal Orlando, learn everything there is to know on the Diagon Alley page in the OI Universal Center.

Second, if you haven’t already, I highly recommend that you check out this guest trip report from Universal Singapore that OI published earlier this week. It has nothing to do with rumors, but as a fan of Universal and of theme parks in general, I found it to be truly entertaining.

DISCLAIMER FROM THE EDITOR

Please remember when viewing this post that a rumor is a piece of unverified information of uncertain origin; a statement whose veracity is not quickly or ever confirmed. So even though we try our best to present solid speculation, there’s no way to guarantee any rumor will come true (then it wouldn’t be a rumor anyway).

Thanks to Marc for researching the latest rumor buzz from sources across the Internet and condensing it down into a single post for us each and every week!

View all of our Rumor Round-Ups

[sws_author_bio user=”msunyata@yahoo.com” size=”105″ authorposts=”More OI posts by Marc” name_format=”About the author”] [/sws_author_bio]

The post Rumor round-up for December 6, 2013: Gringotts coaster details, exploring Avatar’s opening-day attraction & more appeared first on Orlando Informer.

If it seems like the world has gone topsy-turvy, particularly after our glowing review of Disney’s prospects for 2017 that Orlando Informer published two weeks ago, that’s because it has literally done so for the company; it turns out that most of Star Wars Land getting the axe is just the tip of Disney’s problems.

Billion dollars & counting

It all starts – and ends – with the company’s grandiose NextGen initiative at Disney World, a billion-dollar-plus program that has as its twin centerpieces the MyMagic+ system of advance ride, show, and restaurant reservations and the all-in-one MagicBands that function as park tickets, hotel room keys, and credit cards. Despite the huge push behind the system, it has seen delay after delay, thanks to a whole glut of glitches, bugs, and system crashes. The most recent plan was to have NextGen “largely” in place two months ago, when Disney’s fiscal year ended; now, everything has been indefinitely delayed, possibly ‘til this time next year or, even, on into early 2015.

The amount of damage this is starting to inflict on the company cannot be overstated. The program has been in development for at least the past five years, with the last two years starting to incur real costs as it continues to tie up more and more R&D dollars and man-hours. Disney’s financial types were counting on the initial roll-out this year to start to boost Disney World’s revenues in 2014, as guests are expected to spend more time on property and more money on souvenirs once every minute detail of their vacations have been planned months in advance and with wallet-less transactions making money out of sight, out of mind. The loss of that revenue is damning; the fact that even more now has to be spent on further patches and upgrades is downright disastrous. (And this is just for Orlando – forget about shipping NextGen to all of the other resorts all across the globe, as was expected to be happening in the very near future.)

This is so disastrous, in fact, that Bob Iger and all of Disney’s top executives reportedly flew out to Orlando earlier this month for a series of “tense” meetings on the subject. The bottom line, as is so important for a massive public corporation like Disney, is that a great deal of money needed to be saved from other sections of the theme park business – what is typically the most consistent and surefooted performer in all of Disney’s portfolio – in order to make up for the giant (and growing) shortfall. Upon their return to Burbank, the execs instituted a series of emergency, kneejerk measures to do just that, slashing projects left and right and temporarily reassigning Imagineers to work on the soon-to-open Shanghai Disneyland (which has a different budget, presumably due to its being mostly owned by the Chinese government) for at least the next three months. Should the financial situation continue to look dire and the global freeze on new theme park spending isn’t lifted, rumors suggest, layoffs at Walt Disney Imagineering would ensue.

While we have a rather solid idea of what this last-minute moratorium means for Disneyland Resort – Tomorrowland’s Star Wars overlay being put on hold by at least another year, California Adventure’s Monstropolis expansion (themed to Monsters, Inc.) being cancelled, and 2015’s 60th anniversary plans being all but gutted – we really have no clear idea as of yet what this will entail for Walt Disney World.

The freeze hits Walt Disney World

The current news making the rounds is that Star Wars Land at Hollywood Studios would have a severe reduction in the breadth and depth of the attractions slated to appear, with, perhaps, just one or two new rides or restaurants being trotted out, most likely after a similar delay. Pandora: The World of Avatar would also presumably be put on hold (after already seeing a whole host of its own delays over the past two years), although it’s exceedingly difficult to imagine the whole expansion would be permanently downsized or outright squashed. And with the transformation of Downtown Disney into Disney Springs already underway and New Fantasyland at Magic Kingdom almost entirely complete, these projects may be immune from Iger’s newly-issued edict.

Even so, it’s hard to imagine a more catastrophic scenario for the world’s biggest theme park resort. During the Michael Eisner years, its operating budget was slashed and it earned the dubious distinction of being the first Disney location to have a whole park not only close, but be entirely abandoned (that would be River Country [and Discovery Island, in Bay Lake, to boot], for those playing along at home).

More recently, Universal Orlando has eclipsed Walt Disney World in terms of enthusiast goodwill and mainstream media coverage; the Wizarding World(s) of Harry Potter has proven to be a major success in both attendance records and theme park design, raising the bar substantially high for any Disney counter-attack. And just within the last year, Disney spent roughly a billion dollars in deploying a whole slew of new attractions and desperately-needed overhauls to its California Adventure park, revolving mostly around the addition of Cars Land, the only themed land to provide real competition to Universal’s Harry Potter. In contrast, the company spent the same amount of money at Disney World in installing turnstile-less park entrances and retrofitting nearly every last ride and parade viewing spot with FastPass+ access. The imbalance couldn’t be greater.

And the loss of the heart of Star Wars Land, possibly for the next decade – if not longer! – is a heavy, and quite possibly fatal, blow. An E-ticket speeder bike ride, a walk-through Millenium Falcon and Ewok village, and an “interactive Tatooine cantina restaurant show” all possibly being thrown to the curb is heart-breakingly depressing, not to mention mind-numbingly nonsensical – wouldn’t installing one of the planet’s most recognizable entertainment brands dramatically increase revenue, thereby helping to ameliorate the continuing damage done by NextGen?

The difference in worldviews between Disney and Universal couldn’t be more striking: the latter believes in getting attractions off the ground as fast as humanly possible, even if that means paying time-and-a-half for literally the entire life of the construction project (hello, Transformers, which now holds the world record for fastest turnaround time: 12 months), since new properties bring new guests and, thereby, more money into the parks. This just may be the slow and cautious Disney tortoising itself entirely out of the race.

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Healthy skepticism

The only conceivable silver lining in all of this is the possibility that the “facts” of this current report have gotten somehow mixed up or are out-and-out inaccurate; this is the rumor industry, after all, and information can – and often does – change on a daily basis.

If not, however, it’s hard to see how Universal won’t be the dominant force in the (Orlando) theme park business for the remainder of this decade, at the least.

DISCLAIMER FROM THE EDITOR

Please remember when viewing this post that a rumor is a piece of unverified information of uncertain origin; a statement whose veracity is not quickly or ever confirmed. So even though we try our best to present solid speculation, there’s no way to guarantee any rumor will come true (then it wouldn’t be a rumor anyway).

Thanks to Marc for researching the latest rumor buzz from sources across the Internet and condensing it down into a single post for us each and every week!

View all of our Rumor Round-Ups

[sws_author_bio user=”msunyata@yahoo.com” size=”105″ authorposts=”More OI posts by Marc” name_format=”About the author”] [/sws_author_bio]

The post Rumor SPOTLIGHT for November 27, 2013: How Disney lost the battle for 2017 by cancelling most of Star Wars Land appeared first on Orlando Informer.

The opening of the original Wizarding World of Harry Potter in June 2010 exploded Universal Orlando’s attendance and launched it on a multi-year construction frenzy, building new rides, a long-awaited fourth hotel, and even a putt-putt course (or two) at CityWalk. This blitzkrieg of activity will be highlighted, though not completed, by Diagon Alley at Universal Studios Florida next summer, which will offer a bevy of new attractions, including the ability to hop back and forth between the two lands on the Hogwarts Express.

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What ultimately happens after Diagon Alley’s much-anticipated opening, though, has been something of a mystery, even to us rumor mongers. Yes, as we’ve recently written, there’s going to be a Jurassic Park rollercoaster, the possible (inexorable?) return of King Kong, and more as we move into the post-2014 phase at Universal Orlando. But it’s an open question how long the new-attraction-every-year commitment can last, particularly in the face of some pretty stiff competition with Disney starting in 2017. An even bigger question: will something like a Lorax ride at Seuss Landing or an upgraded Terminator 2 3D compel the type of revenue growth that Universal has been blissfully experiencing with Harry Potter and friends?

The answer just might be to do a third Wizarding World.

According to our friends at Theme Park Tourist, plans may very well be underway to expand Hogsmeade’s footprint at Islands of Adventure, taking over the last of neighboring Lost Continent (remember, Lost Continent already “donated” two-thirds of its real estate to the all-wizarding village).

According to the rumors, the Poseidon’s Fury show building would be converted into the Chamber of Secrets (which guests currently get a fly-through glimpse of in Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey), while, not far away, a brand-new spinning flat ride – not unlike Kang and Kodos’s Twirl ‘n Hurl that opened up this summer over at USF – would be dedicated to the Whomping Willow. And, finally, a walk-through attraction (perhaps located at the current site of the Eighth Voyage of Sindbad stunt show?) themed to the Shrieking Shack would bring up the rear.

On the one hand, these plans make sense, and in more ways than just economically. Spinners are made for children (or the thrill-weary adult, it has to be said), and Universal was largely applauded this year for opening the Simpsons flat ride and attempting to fill in some of the holes in its attraction arsenal – an important step if the company truly wants to make it to the big leagues and compete more directly with Walt Disney World. And Lost Continent has been in desperate need of revamping since Hogsmeade castrated it three years ago, with its only remaining must-see stop being Mythos restaurant instead of an actual attraction.

(Just for the record: I’m very much against the idea of outright replacing the island; I’ve long maintained that the highly immersive Lost Continent should stay while its attractions should be jettisoned and rebuilt from scratch.)

On the other hand, expanding – or, in the case of the Forbidden Forest, introducing for the very first time – Hogsmeade presents a significant array of difficulties, not the least of which is topography. The first Wizarding World famously introduced the idea of recreating a particular swath of fictitious real estate instead of doing the traditional, arbitrary mash-up of sights, sounds, and rides; randomly tacking on the Forbidden Forest before guests even make it to the village’s front gates would completely undermine this illusion. And just why would the Chamber of Secrets, which is located inside Hogwarts, be plopped so far away from the castle? And how exactly would Universal Creative pull off theming the forest, anyway? What would be the underlying guiding principle if there’s no main street to navigate guests, as in Hogsmeade Village and Diagon Alley? This would easily be the trickiest land Universal has tackled yet.

On the third hand(!), the rumors of these three new attractions have been making the rounds for at least the past two years, ever since Universal first made the announcement that the Wizarding World would be getting an expansion at the resort (back in December 2011, nearly a year-and-a-half before Diagon Alley was officially unveiled). Rather than signaling a renewed interest by the company in exploring these options, it could simply be that the rumor mill is starting to churn restlessly… or that it misplaced just where the new Harry Potter rides will be going.

Riding Cabana Bay Beach Resort’s lazy river

We’ve known for a while now all about Cabana Bay Beach Resort’s amenities: moderate hotel rooms as well as family suites, ten-lane bowling alley, two pools, and – most intriguingly – a lazy river. But despite various previews that have been held over the past several months, we’ve never quite gotten a really good feel for the lay of the Cabana land.

Until now, that is.

UOR Buzz, on a lazy afternoon, decided to search the South Florida Water Management website and uncovered the hotel complex’s layout, giving us a nice snapshot of what exactly to expect. Lest that relaxing waterway look too inviting, sources claim that the lazy river actually won’t be that lazy, after all — in true Universal fashion, it’s going to be tilted a little more towards the thrill-seekers, featuring a “faster than expected” current.

For a visual reference, we’ve provided the second image above — the red arrow points to the lazy river’s location.

Eager to see Cabana Bay for yourself? You can actually book now with reduced rates through the “preview period,” which lasts from March 31 to June 14. The grand opening – when the Lazy River Courtyard and the Hideaway Bar and Grill, among other features, will also officially open – is on July 1, when Harry Potter season will be in full effect.

A trio of tasty CityWalk morsels for you to devour

Ten days ago Dan got word that Cigarz, the tucked-away cigar shop/bar combo that has long been called “Universal’s hidden gem,” may be closing at the end of the year. While chances are the average theme park goer has never heard of the place, let alone stepped inside, it’s a well-loved destination for locals and Universal employees both, thanks to its indoor smoking and “some of the best drink specials to be found anywhere” at the resort.

Screamscape is reporting on a few more CityWalk changes, including the arrival of Cold Stone Creamery (instead of the Ben & Jerry’s that was initially expected) and a mini-revelation of what is going in Latin Quarter’s place: Antojitos (instead of the Don Quixote’s that was originally rumored), an “authentic Mexican restaurant” that will burnish a colonial mission theme.

And one last treat: Dan got to try out Red Oven Pizza Bakery yesterday for the first time. He reports that the made-to-order artisan pizza is truly amazing (and not just in a fanboy way), and it is far superior to anything Universal has served up to this point.

Trying #RedOven @UniversalORL for the first time. So, so good. Here’s the Fennel Sausage pic.twitter.com/H4kt6Zuiws— Orlando Informer (@OrlandoInformer) November 21, 2013

He’s working on a full review, but here’s the juicy part for RRU fans. While dining at Red Oven yesterday, Dan was seated near a table of Universal brass who were discussing the restaurant. Here’s what they said:

Phase 1 – Open Red Oven.

Phase 2 – Add roll down curtains to the outdoor seating area (there is no indoor seating, so currently guests are exposed to the elements).

Phase 3 – Add delivery service to the on-site hotels.

Phase 4 – Add a Red Oven Express to both Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure.

Sounds like Red Oven is going to become the pizza brand for Universal Orlando, and this is positively delicious news. Try the pizza, and you’ll agree. The only unfortunate bite in all of this is, according to the manager, they currently have no plans to slice pizza by the slice.

If you’d like, you can see the menu on Flickr. Or, if you’re local, just go there right now.

DISCLAIMER FROM THE EDITOR

Please remember when viewing this post that a rumor is a piece of unverified information of uncertain origin; a statement whose veracity is not quickly or ever confirmed. So even though we try our best to present solid speculation, there’s no way to guarantee any rumor will come true (then it wouldn’t be a rumor anyway).

Thanks to Marc for researching the latest rumor buzz from sources across the Internet and condensing it down into a single post for us each and every week!

View all of our Rumor Round-Ups

[sws_author_bio user=”msunyata@yahoo.com” size=”105″ authorposts=”More OI posts by Marc” name_format=”About the author”] [/sws_author_bio]

The post Rumor round-up for November 22, 2013: The third Wizarding World of Harry Potter, Cabana Bay’s lazy river & some CityWalk morsels appeared first on Orlando Informer.

Yes, yes, attendance has continued to be dominated by Walt Disney World Resort, and it will continue to do so for – well, probably forever. And, obviously, Disney World has an infinitely larger number of attractions, hotels, and activities, not to mention those pesky theme parks, which are the heart of it all. In terms of sheer numbers – particularly those preceded by dollar signs – it’s Disney that has always reined supreme, and nothing short of a miraculous, divine intervention will ever change that.

Universal Orlando 2.0

Universal, as such, has been forced to do what insurgents in guerilla wars all throughout time and across all businesses have resorted to: stealing away buzz (even in the mainstream media – no small feat!) and, even, picking off the prestige of its larger, more well-entrenched opponent. The key to this has been Harry Potter, which kicked off the company’s current round of blitzkrieg construction projects three years ago, and which will continue to propel Universal Orlando Resort’s expansions for the next three. Transformers, the Simpsons’ Springfield, Harry’s Diagon Alley, a Jurassic Park rollercoaster, a new hotel, and, perhaps, King Kong’s reappearance – not to mention a number of much-needed upgrades to pre-existent attractions, such as the Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man, Terminator 2 3D, The Simpsons Ride, and, most excitingly of all, Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey – are all strictly thanks to that little 20-acre slice of land called the Wizarding World.

And just as Hogsmeade has managed to up the ante in terms of theme park design and overall immersion, making gift shops and quick-service cafeterias into key parts of the guest’s overarching experience, it seems that what can best be described, really, as Universal Orlando 2.0 will take that initiative and once again bring it to the next generation: Diagon Alley, with its rumored second and third stories, looks to bring the themed experience into a whole new dimension (literally), while the purported Kong attraction combines dark-ride and outside environments, 3D effects and KUKA-powered audio-animatronics to create just what might be a whole new wrinkle of thrill ride. The fact that such experiences will more than likely be made available within the next 24 months makes it all the more exciting – and impressive.

This leaves Disney in something of a lurch. While its economic apparatus can never be directly outperformed, Universal sure can ride its profit margin – propelled by the likes of butter- and Duff beer – and the hype train uncomfortably close. And thanks to the Disney Company’s institutionalized decision to proceed with construction at an even pace that typically spans no fewer than two or three years, this means that Universal will continue to capitalize on its fast-turnaround projects at Disney’s expense in newspaper headlines and, increasingly, consumers’ wallets.

Until 2017, that is. That’s the year that everything changes.

Disney strikes back

Even if Universal were to indefinitely continue its souped-up spending levels – something which is entirely up in the air, as the current rate of investment in its theme parks is more akin to a “surge” – Disney’s slow-but-potent development rate will have finally reached its first level of completion. Star Wars Land, which looks to expound on the achievements the corporation has generated with Cars Land over at California Adventure in Anaheim, will (more than likely) debut at Hollywood Studios by holiday 2017. Disney has been expected to cook up speeder bike rides, a Mos Eisley cantina restaurant, and a whole bunch of other goodies, which should prove to be every inch as captivating as Universal’s dual Wizarding Worlds. And even if the initial wave of Star Wars attractions here in Orlando only ends up being glorified kiddie rides, as has been rumored before, that’s still a sizable media coup that will be hard to drown out, even with dinosaurs and giant-sized apes running rampant.

And that’s not even taking Pandora: The World of Avatar at Animal Kingdom into consideration, whose first phase is also due to open sometime in ’17. The licensing footing here is nowhere near as sure as is Harry Potter and Star Wars’s, but, quite simply, it doesn’t have to be; all three of the upcoming Avatar sequels can bomb catastrophically but still provide more than enough material for Disney to mine into effective, quality-laden attractions for years to come. Indeed, Pandora already promises to be one of the most immersive lands ever deployed, possibly even taking one of the most abundant resources already freely available at any park – light – and transforming it into the next frontier of Imagineering, utilizing it in crazily inventive ways. Expect Universal Creative to be put firmly back in the scrambling-to-keep-up category once more, starting the cycle over anew.

There’s even more to the story, of course. New Fantasyland at Magic Kingdom is set to (finally!) be completed by the end of next year, while there is still a whole swath of real estate left to be (re)developed at Hollywood Studios, whether that does get transformed into an East Coast Cars Land or not. At this rate, Universal may find itself not only at a pre-2010 level, before Hogsmeade arrived to light the way to a new and more expansive future, but perhaps at a pre-1999 level, when Universal Studios Florida was a solitary park left to fend by itself against the behemoth that is Walt Disney World. Just how much money can NBCUniversal continuously shell out, anyway? And how long until every last square inch of Universal Orlando Resort is built upon twice over?

Of course, as a theme park enthusiast, this is precisely the situation we want to be in. With an industry in its greatest level of competition since its inception nearly 60 years ago, the amount of innovation and technological breakthroughs – let alone the huge array of new attractions to be unleashed – looks to be increased at an almost exponential level. If Universal forces Disney to speed up its construction timetables, and if Disney, in turn, makes Universal push the theming bar even further once again, the outlook for 2025 or, even, 2040 is downright giddy – forget about 2017.

We just may well be entering the golden age of theme parks.

DISCLAIMER FROM THE EDITOR

Please remember when viewing this post that a rumor is a piece of unverified information of uncertain origin; a statement whose veracity is not quickly or ever confirmed. So even though we try our best to present solid speculation, there’s no way to guarantee any rumor will come true (then it wouldn’t be a rumor anyway).

Thanks to Marc for researching the latest rumor buzz from sources across the Internet and condensing it down into a single post for us each and every week!

View all of our Rumor Round-Ups

[sws_author_bio user=”msunyata@yahoo.com” size=”105″ authorposts=”More OI posts by Marc” name_format=”About the author”] [/sws_author_bio]

The post Rumor SPOTLIGHT for November 15, 2013: The battle for 2017, when Disney strikes back appeared first on Orlando Informer.

Quick refresher: It has been rumored for several months that CityWalk’s Starbucks, currently positioned on the second floor (over the new Red Oven), would be moving to the recently gutted Endangered Species store on the first floor (right next to Red Oven). For a visual aid, the first photo is Starbucks in its current location, and the second photo is the gutted Endangered Species.

So we’ve known about Starbucks moving for quite some time. What we haven’t known is what will take its place up on the second floor of CityWalk. Now we may have an answer.

A reliable source has told us that a North Carolina restaurant called Cowfish Sushi Burger Bar will be Universal CityWalk’s newest occupant. As with any rumor, this is not confirmed by Universal and can’t be absolutely guaranteed. Nevertheless, should this one come true, CityWalk will be adding this to its menus:

Here is what the restaurant says about itself:

An excerpt from “The Legend of the Cowfish” breaks down the evolution of this unique restaurant concept, and simplifies it to its roots. The Cowfish is a one-of-a-kind dining experience, thriving on its ability to fuse two niche products seamlessly on the same menu. Certainly unusual, absolutely great! The first and only “Sushi Burger Bar”!

The Cowfish brings to the world the first restaurant focusing on offering both the best sushi AND the best burger in town. Fresh, innovative and delicious, the sushi segment of the menu is powered by the success of sister company, eeZ Fusion & Sushi. All natural, creative and hearty, the burgers entice with fresh, never frozen, ingredients and bold flavors. Spiked hand-spun milkshakes, premium sakes, craft beers, wine and 10oz exotic martinis round out a huge bar menu that is sure to please. The Cowfish aims to offer something for the entire family. Scrumptious appetizers for sharing, hot soups and entree-sized salads, homemade desserts and a fun kid’s menu are joined by our signature creations that we call “Burgushi”! A cutting edge fusion of burger and sushi, burgushi items include sushi rolls created using burger components, and pick-up style sandwiches created using sushi components. If you can’t make up your mind, try a bento box to sample a mini-burger along with your choice of sushi roll and three tasty side items!

“And so was the ‘tail’ of the cow and the fish
From two separate places they had but one wish
To bring to the world in a way, so delish
An unusual place to enjoy a great dish”

As a fresh, mouthwatering concept restaurant, Cowfish looks like a perfect prospect for CityWalk. You can learn more about the restaurant by visiting their official website.

Filling in Pandora & lighting up Animal Kingdom

Remember that big Disney announcement from last month, where the company finally started to tease just what will be in store with Pandora: The World of Avatar? Well, it looks like we’re now starting to get some specifics on just what, exactly, will be involved with Animal Kingdom’s first expansion.

Central Florida Top 5 takes us on a quick tour of the long-in-development land-within-a-land, provided by a number of its anonymous sources, and it sounds intriguing to say the least.

The centerpiece of the area will be the E-ticket, Soarin’-esque flight simulator, which will perch guests on the back of a Banshee. The general assumption amongst the various theme park connoisseurs was that it truly would be a Soarin’ clone, but the latest intel from Joe Rhode, the lead Imagineer on the project, is that it’ll actually be the next-generation version of that ride: not only will it have more in common with, say, Universal’s signature Harry Potter attractions (Forbidden Journey and the forthcoming Gringotts coaster), providing more in the way of thrills and spills, it’ll also feature a brand-new ride vehicle; rather than Soarin’s tried-and-true bench-style seats, the site speculates that riders will be flipped over onto their bellies, much like SeaWorld’s Manta. Imagineering is still debating whether they’ll go 3D or not.

Top 5 goes on to confirm the general layout of Pandora: an area teeming with lush, sometimes-interactive foliage that is crisscrossed with the ruins of a previous human base camp. The entry point will be themed as a landing station, replete with a quick-service restaurant styled as an army base mess hall and sidewalks that light up with electronic ripple lighting effects (for now – the site notes that they’re actually “massive, touch screen-style sidewalks” that can be programmed with anything Disney wants on them, like the ones currently being deployed in Downtown Disney for the holiday season). Walking trails lead throughout the local flora and fauna, and interactive animal encounters will be featured, as well, as both part of a walk-through attraction (the third for the land, for those of you playing along at home, in addition to the D-ticket boat ride) and as a series of character meet-n-greets throughout the day.

And what about those floating mountains? The website doesn’t have much to say about them, except that they’ll be the icon of the new land – though they won’t out-shine the park’s major weenie, the Tree of Life – and that they’re set to play a “prominent role.” As of right now, it seems like the Imagineers are thinking of hiding one of the two major rides’ show buildings in them.

[youtube_video]j3fkuaQNGHI[/youtube_video]

Oh, lest you become too excited for all this wondrous theming, Central Florida Top 5 has one last Pandora detail for you: the area’s 2017 release date is just for its first phase. There is no word on what, exactly, this will entail, or how many further phases Avatar Land will consist of.

Finally, the site has some brief tidbits on the other major component of Disney’s Avatar announcement: Animal Kingdom’s new nighttime operating hours and after-dark entertainment. According to its sources, WET, which designed the Bellagio’s fountains in Las Vegas, and none other than Cirque du Soleil are involved with the new after-hours show, which, Top 5’s pretty sure, will utilize the new “Glow with the Show” ears. The Tree of Life itself looks to be getting in on the action, with a “top-to-bottom stripping and updating” of all of its branches – rumor has it that they’ve begun to already fall out, which has the Imagineers understandably concerned – replacing them with the Avatar-esque bioluminescent leaves/limbs.

Expect the whole process to take the next several years, including the Tree being completely covered with scaffolding for months at a time.

The end of originality at Halloween Horror Nights?

This year’s just-ended Halloween Horror Nights 23 was a success. Just how successful? Record-setting-at-both-American-locations successful according to the men that run the shows:

Mirroring my brother in horror @HorrorNights – HHN 23 shattered previous attendance and GSAT records! HHN dominating coast to coast!— HHN – Orlando (@HorrorNightsORL) November 5, 2013

Part of this unprecedented attendance and souvenir-splurging level can generally be attributed to the country’s growing fascination with, and spending on, Halloween, which reached $7.6 billion this year (with $1.4 billion going to adult costumes alone!). But both analysts and Universal itself are quite aware of the real money-driver in this equation: licensed intellectual properties.

Licenses constituted over half of this year’s haunted house lineup at both Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal Studios Florida, relying on such properties as The Walking Dead, Evil Dead, Black Sabbath, and Resident Evil. With more money being invested in recognizable brands – which includes, in most cases, the creators of those brands assisting in the design and execution of the mazes – more money is, in turn, being spent by consumers who are eager to go visit (and be scared by) the worlds and characters they’ve already grown to love.

[youtube_video]_MDp3bCHp1o[/youtube_video]

The writing on the wall? Expect this trend to continue, starting with next year’s event and, more than likely, exponentially increasing in the years thereafter. For Orlando specifically, roughly 52% of the haunts were IPs this year; for 2014, expect that number to jump to at least 60%. Even the original haunted houses are starting to become franchises of their own: La Llorona is tagged with the header “Urban Legends,” which Universal hopes to become a brand all its own in future years, and Havoc 2: Derailed is, obviously, a sequel to a previous maze. (Which isn’t to mention the fact that La Llorona was also originally a Hollywood attraction that got shipped across the country, providing another wrinkle counting against its originality factor.)

Whether such a development does, indeed, make you excited or make you repulsed, there’s a fascination to HHN that runs more deeply than what horror creatures are slapped on its veneer – it extends to its very structure, to its body and bones. How does Universal Creative (in consultation with all those Hollywood and videogame producers) lay out the maze, time the scares, and construct the atmosphere that you’ll pee your pants in?

Behold – the purported blueprints for two of HHN 23’s biggest haunts, the Cabin in the Woods (left) and Evil Dead (right), sent to us by an anonymous source[wptouch target=”non-mobile”] (click the image to view full-screen)[/wptouch]:

Now that you’ve got your behind-the-scenes peek, get back under your bed and start counting down the days until HHN 24. Don’t worry – we’ll be here holding your hand, to keep away the coming scares… of an all-licensed Halloween lineup.

Quick hits: Red Oven opens, Dining Plan reevaluated & Star Package shrinks

Yesterday Dan took his weekly tour of Universal Orlando, where, upon entering CityWalk, he was surprised to see that Red Oven Pizza Bakery — the venue that replaced the Pastamore Marketplace — was serving food.

[youtube_video]xNZqwL1eo8o[/youtube_video]

As you can see in the video, the food was going to construction workers and team members, not to guests yet. But this is a sure sign that the new quick-service restaurant will be opening to the public very soon.

If this is the first time you’re reading about this development, here’s the description of Red Oven as provided by Universal: “Take a quick trip to Italy for authentic, artisan pizza — made fresh, while you wait — at Red Oven Pizza Bakery. Savor the crackle of the perfect crust, market-fresh toppings, and pure buffalo mozzarella. This is real pizza, the way Italy intended.” Readers will note that the full-service portion of Pastamore is still open for business… for now.

In other dining news, Dan was able to study the new Universal Dining Plan – Quick Service (UDP-QS) in closer detail yesterday. Although we still think the name is awful, it seems like the program may be a better deal than we reported in our first look two weeks ago.

Dan will be providing more analysis of the program later, but for now we can sum up our new findings: if planned correctly, the UDP-QS can be a strikingly good deal, lowering your dining costs by 30 percent. The key is that you have to find the more expensive items served at Universal’s quick-service restaurants to realize the biggest savings (and, of course, you have to want to eat those items too).

With tax, the plan is about $20 for adults, and that gets you one quick-service meal, two snacks, and a drink. Should you use your entitlements like this:

• Meal – Chargrilled Ribs Platter, usually around $16
• Snack 1 – waffle cone, around $5
• Snack 2 – Butterbeer, around $5
• Beverage – regular size coke, around $3

Rounded out, that comes to $29, which you can get with your $20 UDP-QS card. Not bad at all.

As I mentioned before, Dan will provide further analysis of the program soon. For now, the good news is that the UDP-QS, while not offering the unlimited meals of the classic Meal Deal plan, can still be a money-saver.

That’s the good news. Now the bad news. Universal’s Photo Connect Star Card Package, truly one of the best deals available in Orlando’s theme parks, lost a little bit of luster this week. In very simple terms, the Star Card Package allows Universal guests to collect all of their in-park and ride photos online for totally free viewing and downloading later on, and the package was good for five consecutive days of park photos. Well, not anymore. As of this week, the standard package is now only good for three consecutive days, which you can see here:

At $59.95 (or $49.95 if you order it online in advance), the Star Card Package is still a tremendous deal. But as the lineup at Universal Orlando continues to expand and improve — particularly when Diagon Alley opens next summer — more and more guests will be planning visits longer than three days. And if that’s the case, those guests will have to buy the package twice to collect photos for their entire trip.

Ya win some, ya lose some.

If you’d like to learn more about Universal’s souvenir photos and the Star Card Package, Dan provides a complete guide in the OI Universal Center.

Update – Red Oven Pizza Bakery

We got a tip from inside Universal that Red Oven will open to guests on Tuesday, November 12. And for the record, in terms of style we’re expecting Red Oven to be a fast-casual restaurant — not quite quick-service, not quite full-service — like a Pei Wei.

DISCLAIMER FROM THE EDITOR

Please remember when viewing this post that a rumor is a piece of unverified information of uncertain origin; a statement whose veracity is not quickly or ever confirmed. So even though we try our best to present solid speculation, there’s no way to guarantee any rumor will come true (then it wouldn’t be a rumor anyway).

Thanks to Marc for researching the latest rumor buzz from sources across the Internet and condensing it down into a single post for us each and every week!

View all of our Rumor Round-Ups

[sws_author_bio user=”msunyata@yahoo.com” size=”105″ authorposts=”More OI posts by Marc” name_format=”About the author”] [/sws_author_bio]

The post Rumor round-up for November 9, 2013: Cowfish Sushi Burger Bar at Citywalk, extensive Avatar details revealed, end of HHN originality & more [UPDATED] appeared first on Orlando Informer.

Eager to get a taste of what the Gringotts ride may be like once it opens next year as part of Diagon Alley at Universal Studios Florida? Well, feast your eyes on this “mine car coaster” concept video that was recently posted on YouTube — and be sure to watch it all the way through to see the crazy tilt and drop switch:

[youtube_video]r56nK9PwtEo[/youtube_video]

Now, granted, there is no mention of either Universal Orlando or Harry Potter at all in the video, and the footage shown on the IMAX-esque screen during the tilt and drop switch is of dinosaurs, not dark wizards and dragons. Still, there is a small-but-potent list of reasons as to why we’re almost 100% positive this is, indeed, Wizarding World-related:

1. The ride vehicle shown in the concept video looks suspiciously similar to a picture that Robert Niles over at Theme Park Insider posted when he first shared details of the Diagon Alley project. (And don’t forget about the tweet of the actual cart being installed into the Gringotts show building that we posted a few weeks back, which also seems to corroborate this.)

2. The description of the ride experience that once again comes from Nr. Niles’s initial post, while not an exact match-up with the YouTube video, does bear some striking resemblances – most especially the “teeter-totter” and “free drop” sections. (And keep in mind that Dynamic Attractions, the company that posted the video, wouldn’t be allowed to show the full Gringotts track layout, due to obvious legal considerations.)

3. Dynamic Attractions worked on Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, as noted in this NewsParcs article. Since the company offers a wide variety of services to theme park operators, they would be eager to show off the impressive work they’ve done for Universal as soon as possible to help drum up more work in the field. Just take a look at their other YouTube videos for further evidence of this.

So while you shouldn’t take this demo video as Harry Potter gospel, you should, indeed, be getting really excited over it. And if you want to get even more excited over the Gringotts coaster, don’t miss our Quick Hits section below!

Universal, Comcast & Q3 = theme park dominance

Universal made waves a month-and-a-half ago when it vowed to open at least one new ride per year at both of its American theme park locations. Now we’re getting a little bit more info on this front, and it’s still impressive as all get-out.

The Orlando Sentinel this week gave the scoop on a Comcast earnings report, in which it was revealed that this year’s new attractions at Universal Studios Florida – Transformers: The Ride 3D and the Springfield expansion – helped give Universal Parks & Resorts its single best quarterly performance in its decades-long existence. Just how much? $343 million for the third quarter, up from $316 million in 2012. Just four years ago, before the (first) Wizarding World of Harry Potter opened, that total was just $400 million for the entire year, not just one quarter. And globally, Universal’s parks are expected to reach $2.5 billion in annual revenue by the end of next year – more than double the $1.2 billion they generated in 2009.

Just as a reminder on something we’ve reported before:  during this same time period, NBCUniversal has dramatically expanded its capital spending from its initially projected $75 million to the outrageous final sum of $284 million.  Yup, you guessed it – brand-new construction projects at the theme parks, primarily at Universal Orlando, make up the bulk of this new spending spree.

What does this mean, exactly, for the theme park enthusiast? Beyond just a general reaffirmation of Universal’s commitment to big-money spending to deliver E-ticket attractions for the next several years in a row – and beyond the inevitable response from Disney, which is already purportedly investing heavily in Star Wars and Avatar expansions at Walt Disney World – The Orlando Business Journal notes that there are a few specific nuggets buried in all the financial mumbo-jumbo:

• Executives said that Diagon Alley will open in spring 2014, after the new Cabana Bay Beach Resort opens sometime in either late March or early April. It is important to note that this opening time frame likely refers to technical rehearsals — vacation planners should still be looking at June for a grand opening date.
• Universal hinted that it will continue to look to movie properties to anchor its new rides and provide further “synergistic” marketing opportunities, given the huge successes of Harry Potter, Despicable Me, Transformers, and the Simpsons in Orlando (and soon Hollywood).
• The increased capital investment spending can’t all be for the new Wizarding World; it’s safe to say that at least some of it has been earmarked for other new attractions, most likely that pesky King Kong.

The truly ironic thing about all this is just how much Comcast’s opinions on those silly theme parks has changed since it first agreed to purchase NBCUniversal in ’09. Back then, according to the Sentinel, the parks were considered just an afterthought – but now they’re “27% of NBCUniversal’s $1.3 billion in operating cash flow during the third quarter, despite accounting for just 11% of its $5.9 billion in revenue.” No wonder CEO Steve Burke can’t stop smiling during these conference calls.

Quick hits: JP midway games, HP Flame Effect, DTD Starbucks

This week the new Jurassic Park midway games opened at Islands of Adventure. Dan was at Islands of Adventure yesterday and captured this “first look” video:

[youtube_video]1JwvA_S_SoE[/youtube_video]

In case you haven’t been following this story, these games have opened up to essentially replace the midway games that are currently featured inside Lost Continent, which themselves will be removed in the not-too-distant future to make more room for IOA’s Harry Potter expansion (Hogsmeade Station).

There have been mixed emotions about the presence of these new games in Jurassic Park. Some feel that they are in poor taste and disrupt the otherwise beautiful and highly immersive atmosphere of Jurassic Park. Others see the games not as a distraction, but rather as an addition to the area’s theming, since Jurassic Park was conceived as a theme park in the first place. Yet others are very happy to have new games to play whether or not they’re a perfect fit, as this follower of Orlando Informer on Twitter notes:

@OrlandoInformer I won a giant minion teddy there last June, it made our entire holiday. We won a krusty doll in Springfield, too! — Sean O’Grady (@LilbutterOrigin) October 31, 2013

A rather industrious Screamscape reader two weeks back came across something that should raise the eyebrows of Harry Potter fans who are eager to take on yet another dragon. Universal has recently filed a patent application for a “flame barrier” effect that essentially allows a transparent barrier to be repeatedly scorched and not be any worse for the wear. It’s placed roughly three feet away from the flame projector and makes it look as if you’re about to be engulfed by (dragon) fire.

How does it not lose its transparency? By being coated with a liquid resin that contains a conductive material, which is charged by an electrode. This prevents soot from building up and giving the gag away. Simple.

Remember our report about the two new Downtown Disney Starbucks openings? Well, DaMouse has some brand-spankin’-new concept art of the West Side location, which is slated to open next spring.

The artwork is rather striking, we have to admit, though we’d refrain from describing it as containing “the exquisite branding that is now a staple of Starbucks around the world.” Maybe someone should start cutting back on the Pixie Dust lattes…

DISCLAIMER FROM THE EDITOR

Please remember when viewing this post that a rumor is a piece of unverified information of uncertain origin; a statement whose veracity is not quickly or ever confirmed. So even though we try our best to present solid speculation, there’s no way to guarantee any rumor will come true (then it wouldn’t be a rumor anyway).

Thanks to Marc for researching the latest rumor buzz from sources across the Internet and condensing it down into a single post for us each and every week!

View all of our Rumor Round-Ups

[sws_author_bio user=”msunyata@yahoo.com” size=”105″ authorposts=”More OI posts by Marc” name_format=”About the author”] [/sws_author_bio]

The post Rumor round-up for November 1, 2013: Gringotts Bank coaster video, Universal’s theme park dominance, HP flame effects & JP midway games appeared first on Orlando Informer.

King Kong’s imminent arrival at Universal Orlando Resort is quickly becoming like some of our old favorite TV series, like The X-Files or Moonlighting: will he or won’t he? When and where? (And, I guess we should add, will he jump the shark?)

The latest round of speculation has the King arriving as a brand-new land at Universal’s Islands of Adventure, wedged between Jurassic Park and Toon Lagoon. Screamscape, citing a source of its own, appears to back this up 100 percent.

We here at Orlando Informer have been keeping our ears very close to the ground, and we’ve been hearing differently. A new inside source has been pouring water on the crackling rumor flaImes, saying that Universal Creative would be very unlikely to set up a brand-new island with such little “frontage” and which would require guests to veer far off of the park’s main circular path. (Supposedly, the original layout of Universal Studios Florida’s Springfield expansion was to the left of The Simpsons Ride, but designers switched to the right side in an effort to spread the new venues across the main circular drag.)

Furthermore, the source insists that the area behind Thunder Terrace Falls is, in fact, the site of the new Jurassic Park ride (which, as of right now, seems to be a rollercoaster, though we can’t pin down whether it’ll be wooden or steel. We’ll have more on this when we can).

So what does our source say is happening? Disaster! A Major Motion Picture Ride… Starring YOU is definitely getting the axe. The building is currently out of code and the train needs a lot of work; Uni will need to spend as much as $4 million to fix for the former and $2 million to fix the latter. With that much money already on the table, why not just go all the way in and actually replace it with an IP that is sure to draw in more guests? And since the attraction’s footprint is surprisingly large — larger, in fact, than that of Transformers — there’s more than enough room to go around for its replacement.

Though our source doesn’t know definitively whether Kong is replacing Disaster, he sees it as the most likely scenario – and infinitely more likely than having the great ape set up shop at Islands of Adventure.

Touring Universal Orlando’s near future

Our new source has a little to say about what the impending construction schedule for Universal Orlando will look like over the next few years – and it’s a doozy:

2014 – Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Diagon Alley opens (but of course); The High in the Sky Seuss Trolley Train Ride goes dark for ride system upgrades.

2015 – Seuss Landing expansion opens with a new Lorax ride, positioned between the Cat in the Hat and One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish; Disaster is shut down permanently; Terminator gets its upgrade/facelift.

2016 – Jurassic Park expansion opens, though we have no word what, exactly, this will entail; Revenge of the Mummy gets its upgrade/facelift (if it hasn’t already received it in 2015).

2017 – the Disaster replacement will likely open, and though our source says it is by no means confirmed, Kong is for now the most likely candidate.

One last tidbit that we couldn’t quite pin down to a specific date: Twister: Ride It Out is due to be torn down and replaced with an unknown property. We include this in our report even though other sources suggest the attraction is scheduled for an upgrade by decade’s end.

Are we having fun yet?

TNA coming back home to UOR

Remember all that recent talk about Impact Wrestling returning to its old soundstage at Universal Studios Florida early next year? Well, it looks like things may have changed, with TNA looking to tape at Universal Orlando sooner than initially thought: starting the week of November 21 (which was originally supposed to be filmed in Baltimore) and proceeding for (at least) the next month-and-a-half. That would give Universal a few weeks to deconstruct the Resident Evil haunted house and get everything back together for the wrestlers to move in.

Regardless of whether TNA Wrestling is an interest of yours, the RRU staff is happy to see any national broadcast set up shop at Universal Orlando, which as of today currently hosts no ongoing productions. (Other than TNA Wrestling, the last program to be in production regularly at Universal was Family Feud, which moved to Atlanta after taping nearly 200 episodes on Soundstage 19 during the summer of 2010.)

Bill & Ted’s Bogus Cancellation

“After thoughtful consideration, Universal Studios Hollywood has made the decision to discontinue production of the Halloween Horror Nights ‘Bill & Ted’ show for the remainder of its limited run.”

So reads the short announcement on Universal Studios Hollywood’s website. The sudden – and not-very-well explained – decision has left many dismayed, particularly those who have yet to see the show as we enter its final week. Why would Universal take the unprecedented move of pulling the plug mid-production? The current barrage of negative press, calling the show homophobic and racist, among other things, is almost certainly the culprit.

The show in Orlando is still up and running, given that it has a different script than its Californian sibling, but the news is still worth following here on the east coast. Is this establishing a trend of Universal – or, perhaps, new owner Comcast – capitulating to bad word-of-mouth? Will all future productions and attractions be held to an extra layer of possible PR scrutiny (a particularly important consideration, given how Universal plans on opening new venues each and every year from here on out)? Or is this just a one-time fluke that’ll die out as quickly as the hype does?

First look at Universal Orlando’s Meal Deal replacement

Earlier this week Orlando Informer posted the news that Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure will be discontinuing their fairly popular Meal Deal program November 2nd. It’s being replaced by a new program called Universal Dining Plan – Quick Service. Dan was able to get full details of the new program yesterday during his weekly visit to the parks, so let’s see what we have.

The image below details what will soon be two separate Universal Dining Plans. The first on the left, simply called the Universal Dining Plan (UDP), began this summer and offers guests full-service meals, quick-service meals, and snacks. However, and this is a big however, the UDP is only available as a vacation package add-on. Guests without a vacation package, which of course is the vast majority of Universal’s guests, do not have access to this program. The second plan on the right, called the Universal Dining Plan – Quick Service (UDP-QS), is available to all guests and, for adults, includes one quick-service meal, two snacks, and a beverage for the day. With tax the UDPD-QS works out to about $20.

Since price is always the biggest consideration when deciding to participate in such a program, you have likely done the math already in your head and realized that the UDP-QS offers basically no discount. The average quick-service meal at Universal, with tax, is about $9. The average snack with tax is around $4. Add these together with a drink and you’re right around $20. No doubt, if you spend your day looking for the most expensive meals and snacks available in the program, you might be able to squeeze a few dollars of savings out of this, but the new UDP-QS in no way comes close to offering the value that the classic Meal Deal did with its unlimited meals from 11:00am to 30 minutes before park closing.

Granted, the classic Meal Deal wasn’t a top choice for all guests: with only three participating restaurants per park (sometimes four during busy seasons), selection was limited, and this restriction also caused long lines. But, with a little planning and a little patience, the classic Meal Deal was a spectacular value for many guests — 20 bucks to get unlimited meals for which you would otherwise pay $9 per plate.

So the UDP-QS now frees the guest to be able to choose a quick-service meal and a snack from virtually any counter at the parks. Sounds great in a pitch, but with the “discount” gone, what’s the point? And there is one other issue: the UDP-QS includes a beverage, setting up the plan to compete with the immensely popular Universal refillable mug and Coke Freestyle programs (if you buy a refillable cup or Coke Freestyle, then you basically lose out on the portion of the UDP-QS that pays for your beverage entitlement).

It’s tough to say exactly why Universal is making this move. But given everything we’ve explained, it’s at least clear that the move is meant to address internal issues the resort had with the classic Meal Deal (restaurant congestion, patrons sharing meals, program profit margins, etc.); unfortunately the discontinuation of the classic Meal Deal is not meant to open the way for a new, even better, value-driven feature.

The Hogwarts Express is on the tracks

We didn’t want to leave you with a bad taste in your mouth about Universal, so let’s go ahead and mention that the Hogwarts Express train is now making its way onto the tracks crossing between Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure. In a somewhat surprising move, Universal actually published their own photos of this milestone on social media:

We’ve been told that Universal is starting to assemble their teams for operating the new attraction this week, testing will soon follow, and if it all goes as planned we could have technical rehearsals open to the public as early as next February.

The Hogwarts Express is of course just one portion of the Harry Potter expansion currently underway at Universal Orlando. To learn more, be sure to visit the Diagon Alley page in the OI Universal Center — and wouldn’t you know it, Dan just posted a huge update this week with many new photos, an HD video, and all-new expansion details!

DISCLAIMER FROM THE EDITOR

Please remember when viewing this post that a rumor is a piece of unverified information of uncertain origin; a statement whose veracity is not quickly or ever confirmed. So even though we try our best to present solid speculation, there’s no way to guarantee any rumor will come true (then it wouldn’t be a rumor anyway).

Thanks to Marc for researching the latest rumor buzz from sources across the Internet and condensing it down into a single post for us each and every week!

View all of our Rumor Round-Ups

[sws_author_bio user=”msunyata@yahoo.com” size=”105″ authorposts=”More OI posts by Marc” name_format=”About the author”] [/sws_author_bio]

The post Rumor round-up for October 25, 2013: King Kong special report, Universal’s five-year road map, Meal Deal replacement, the Hogwarts Express & more appeared first on Orlando Informer.

King Kong, after an 11-year absence, is returning to Universal Orlando – that much all the various sources at all the various sites can agree on. It’s just everything else about the King’s return to Universal that causes all (rumor) hell to break loose.

First, Kong was going to set up shop at Islands of Adventure, being placed right next-door to Jurassic Park in either a new island or a makeover of Toon Lagoon. Then that story seemed to fall apart once a new report materialized, claiming the great ape would instead head back to his original home of Universal Studios Florida, where he was supposed to replace Disaster!

It’s worth looking into this last wrinkle in a little more detail, as it presents a really nice, really stark contrast for the latest bout of rumor-mongering. King Kong in USF’s San Francisco would’ve been an overlay, using the previous ride’s building architecture and track layout to new effect (just as Disaster! itself is a retheming of Earthquake: The Big One, a USF opening-day attraction). We would’ve seen a brand-new preshow, new ride vehicles, a single large audio-animatronic of Kong, and various new special effects, including some projected media – and that’s about it. Rumor-meister HateToFly, from the Orlando United forums, has provided a plethora of tidbits over the past several months in an attempt to verify the authenticity of this report, citing the presence of Universal Creative personnel “walking in and out of Disaster’s service exits during business hours” as well as the contracting of two “major” companies for the rehab work. And then there’s the recent behind-the-scenes presence of a King Kong sculpture in Universal’s offices, to boot.

Now, however, Mr. Hate says that’s all for naught – that whole scenario has either been scrapped or was never true to begin with. Now, he says, Kong is once again heading to Islands of Adventure.

In a rather large, in-depth post, HateToFly details what seems to be the latest proposal: converting the space that starts behind Thunder Falls Terrace in Jurassic Park and stretches all the way to Toon Lagoon into an all-new, eighth land called Skull Island.

The main attraction would be an immense new 3D E-ticket ride featuring both indoor and outdoor sequences, starting with a grandiose queue that is themed to some sort of ancient temple, replete with waterfalls running through its remains. The tandem ride vehicles would then leave the ruins, head out into the wilderness – populated by several different audio-animatronic beasties, including giant insects, and a whole slew of special effects, including fire and projections – and then become stranded as the tour guide is captured. King Kong himself would attack from all angles, coming up against both sides of the vehicle in all his 3D glory, in the grand finale.

(The coolest part, by far, of all this is the utilization of KUKA robotic arms – y’know, like the ones that power Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey or Soarin’ – for a certain, undetailed creature to attack the ride vehicles with. [Well, that and the fact that this new attraction’s budget is supposed to blow Forbidden Journey’s out of the water.])

Backing this up, HTF claims, is the abrupt moving of the T-Rex photo op in Jurassic Park from its spot next to Thunder Falls to a new location. Since that lovable dinosaur has been there for the past 14 years with no problems or need to relocate whatsoever, this has been deemed to be the first manifestation of Skull Island’s imminent arrival.

Now, of course, the constant back-and-forth on King Kong’s newest iteration has caused some consternation and confusion in some circles. Not any single source is always foolproof, of course, and HateToFly himself has this to say in his defense: “Many of the things I share are considered blue-sky until ground is broken. [Also,] I’m not always correct.”

Is he wrong this time? Is the fact that T-Rex is still firmly planted at his photo op near Thunder Falls Terrace a sign that we’re all being led on? (Remember, other major sources were maintaining the Islands of Adventure scenario the entire time he was floating the Disaster! retheming at Universal Studios Florida.) Could this be a red herring that Universal Creative is attempting to distract us all with, as Mr. Hate has implied in some of his latest postings? Is there something else entirely different going on that has yet to reach the public?

Time, as always, will tell us for certain.

Surprised by the sudden onslaught of Avatar info? Don’t be

After we went to press last week, Disney pulled a late-night surprise on all us Americans by posting some of the first concrete details on its upcoming Pandora: The World of Avatar expansion at Animal Kingdom. (And by “concrete” we mean some concept art, as beautiful and captivating as it may be). Finally(!) revealed to be debuting in 2017, Disney has now officially confirmed that we’ll be getting (at least) a boat ride, a Soarin’-esque Banshee flight simulator, and a nighttime jungle walkthrough.

If the timing may have seemed off, it’s because Disney was going for an audience literally on the other side of the planet. It was immediately obvious that the company’s first-ever Tokyo D23 expo was the intended recipient of the “bombshell” announcement, but it now seems like there may have been a little more behind-the-scenes maneuvering going on than we had originally thought.

According to Jim Hill Media, Walt Disney Imagineering has been trying to convince the Oriental Land Group – the company that owns and operates Tokyo Disney Resort – since Avatar Land’s initial announcement two years ago that it should be getting in on the James Cameron action. The Japanese suits have been less than enthused at doing a cloned Pandora expansion (just as they have been resistant to doing a cloned Cars Land), however, and so the Imagineers thought that having an ecstatic reaction by Japanese Disney-philes might be enough to push the executives over the edge.

Only it seems like it hasn’t. According to the site, relations between Imagineering and the Oriental Land Group have been frosty as of late, ever since Toy Story Mania and the Toyville Trolley Park were added to DisneySea (Tokyo Disney’s second theme park) last year at a price that the Japanese execs have found to be unjustifiably high – which explains why they have been giving any WDI proposal, such as the aforementioned Cars Land, and its accompanying budget a huge amount of blowback.

And just why would Anaheim care so much about having Tokyo along on the Pandora train? Easy: by having two construction spots at two different resorts under the auspices of two different corporations, Disney would have been able to split the development costs with the Oriental Group. Now, however, it most likely will have to shoulder the costs of this six-year project all by its lonesome.

The pressure for Avatar Land to do gangbusters has never been greater.

Diagon Alley & Hogsmeade Station construction updates

Dan asked for some space in this week’s RRU to let our readers know he is working on a massive update on the Potter expansion pages — Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade Station — in the OI Universal Center. As part of the update, yesterday he collected dozens of new photos and a new video of the construction progress. Here are a few images and the new video to wet your whistle…

[youtube_video]ziTS0prNmDc[/youtube_video]

If you’d like to see more current construction photos right now, you are invited to check out the October 18 photoset on OI’s Flickr page. Keep in mind that Dan apparently is keeping some of the best photos for the site update coming next week.

Last piece of news: Chief Wiggum’s patrol car is back in Springfield, and it’s better than ever.

[youtube_video]qKACIyd4qI4[/youtube_video]

DISCLAIMER FROM THE EDITOR

Please remember when viewing this post that a rumor is a piece of unverified information of uncertain origin; a statement whose veracity is not quickly or ever confirmed. So even though we try our best to present solid speculation, there’s no way to guarantee any rumor will come true (then it wouldn’t be a rumor anyway).

Thanks to Marc for researching the latest rumor buzz from sources across the Internet and condensing it down into a single post for us each and every week!

View all of our Rumor Round-Ups

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The post Rumor round-up for October 19, 2013: Skull Island the eighth Island of Adventure, Avatar details & theories, Potter construction update appeared first on Orlando Informer.

Prolific rumor monger HateToFly is at it again over on the Orlando United boards, and this time, he’s going for gold: a breakdown of the Hogsmeade Station inside Universal’s Islands of Adventure, where guests will board the Hogwarts Express.

(HateToFly is quick to point out that he’s simply “guessing” with his virtual tour, but given how spot-on he’s been in the past – not to mention his plethora of inside information – smart money is on his “guesses” coming mostly, if not completely, true.)

Let’s start outside and work our way in. The exterior of the station, seen in the image above, will be “loaded” with a number of landscaping flourishes, such as embankments and tons of plants, to help spruce the space up but also, more importantly, to help block out the surrounding structures, most notably the Eighth Voyage of Sindbad stunt show building.

Standing in front of the building, the exit is on the left, the Express Pass line is in the middle, and the old-fashioned standby line is to the right. The queue for this last option actually shoots out behind the Sindbad building, wraps back around to Hogsmeade Station, enters on the first floor, and then eventually works its way up the second, where the loading platform is. Both the Express and standby lines will pass through a turnstile booth, which will have stroller parking on the left and the option to upgrade your pass with the park-to-park option on the right.

The loading platform itself is comprised of “an iron and wood overhand, with tons of iron work, [and] complemented with outstanding stone work.” It’s surrounded by a line of pine trees, which once again acts as a screen, this time against that incredibly-fun-but-really-visually-inconvenient Dragon Challenge. Additionally, the concrete wall that runs along the back of the station will act as primarily a sound barrier against the Ice track, which is literally right behind the new structure.

Now to bring it all together: the pink line in the above picture is the exit path. The orange and blue lines are the Express and standby queues, respectively. The green section is the loading platform, while the red box is the exit area – which will, by the way, be the only time guests will have the opportunity to see the extremely detailed Hogwarts Express engine car, with its billowing steam and other special effects (you can’t see the locomotive when entering/exiting the train at Platform 9 3/4 due to spatial constraints).

And if all this weren’t enough, HTF has one last little tidbit to drop our way: while the entry arch into Hogsmeade won’t be changing in the slightest, the brand-new area between the entrance and Hogsmeade Station will be getting a not-insubstantial retheming…

The very first effect of this has already been seen, as the Lost Continent midway games are in the process of making their way over to their new digs in Jurassic Park.

A fresh look at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter

A new piece of Diagon Alley concept art was found at Universal’s travel agent site. It’s not much, but at a time when Uni isn’t willing to talk about Diagon Alley at all (that’ll have to wait ‘til next year, in the run-up to the grand opening), it’s something welcome nonetheless.

Universal’s travel agent site also delivers a little bombshell in its own way. In the Diagon Alley section, it reads “with a park-to-park ticket, [guests] can ride the Hogwarts Express” between the two Wizarding Worlds. After literally months of sometimes-intense speculation regarding whether Universal really would make visitors with one-park tickets pony up for a Park-to-Park upgrade – remember, this is the very first time in theme park history that anything like this has ever been attempted – this seems to be the final say on the matter… for now.

And speaking of new (or rarely seen) Diagon Alley artwork, the latest issue of Family Getaways has some humdingers:

This artwork offers tantalizing glimpses into our (very near!) future.

Finally, Orlando Attractions magazine has a photo of one of the first Gringotts Bank ride vehicles being loaded into the show building – as best as we can tell, it’s the rear car of the two cars that pair up for the ride.

To learn more about the Harry Potter expansion at Universal Orlando, visit the Diagon Alley page in the OI Universal Center.

The (Chinese) Iron Man Experience

Four years after purchasing Marvel Comics for roughly $4 billion, Disney is finally deploying its first comics-based theme park ride – in Hong Kong. How does this make sense?

Bear with me for a moment here.

In 1992, Disney decided to follow up on its extremely successful additional parks in Florida and Tokyo by building one in France. Disneyland Paris would be only the second location on the planet – after Walt Disney World Resort, of course – to be designed from the ground up as a full-fledged resort, with multiple theme parks, hotels, and, of course, a Downtown Disney shopping/dinning district.

The Paris location was originally called Euro Disney when it opened in 1992, and it was an utter disaster.

Today, the renamed Disneyland Paris draws some 11.2 million visitors annually, just a fraction of the two American spots (and this is a decided improvement). The financial woes caused Disney to significantly draw back on the rest of its plans for Paris, as well as those for Anaheim, where the company was already gearing up for the expansion of the original Disneyland into Disneyland Resort. In addition, the stumble in Paris made Disney be much, much more careful about just how it was going to handle its next (eventual) overseas development.

That development ended up being Hong Kong Disneyland, which opened just a little over eight years ago – in phases, the first time this has ever been done. Disney, which owns approximately 48% of the park, was happy at the wait-and-see attitude, but the Chinese were less than impressed with the tiny theme park (it’s just a little over half the size of Magic Kingdom) and the miniscule amount of attractions. Obviously, something needed to be done.

There’s been the attempt at expanding HK Disneyland’s offerings over the past two years; the company has dropped $465 million on the effort, and it’s paid off by making the park 25% bigger and driving attendance up 14% (now it’s only the second-to-last visited Disney park on the planet) and by also delivering to the world Mystic Manor, Hong Kong’s version of Haunted Mansion, which is internationally critically acclaimed.

But all this pales in comparison, of course, to this week’s Marvel announcement.

The Iron Man Experience will consist of a walk-through of the Stark Expo (which sounds suspiciously like the temporary exhibit at California’s Disneyland earlier this year), showcasing all the various Iron Man suits that Tony Stark has crafted over the past few years. From there, guests will board a motion-simulator ride vehicle to “take flight with Iron Man on an epic adventure that, not surprisingly, pits Iron Man against the forces of evil” right in the streets of Hong Kong. Just what that evil is has caused some confusion, but it looks to be Hydra villains introduced in the recent Avengers cartoon show.

From there, it’s exit to retail and also a photo op with the Avenger himself. All of this will be located in Tomorrowland, in exactly the spot originally reserved for Star Tours: The Adventures Continue (which is why the ride vehicles look so eerily familiar).

Will this be enough to turn around the sagging situation in Disney’s first Chinese park? By all accounts, yes, even if it’s a retread, on the one hand, and a retheming, on the other – the first Marvel-based theme park ride should be a major draw, particularly considering that (a) Disney World Resort can’t field it, due to ongoing contractual obligations to Universal, and (b) Disneyland Resort simply doesn’t have the space for it. Throw in the huge success Iron Man 3 saw in China this past summer, and you can see how the numbers overwhelmingly add up for Disney to move its hype machine overseas.

And there’s a takeaway to be had closer to home: any international park, Disney-owned or otherwise, that can innovate in terms of theming and succeed in terms of finances only underscores the growing perception that our own Walt Disney World is the last-place, least-cared-about destination in Disney’s global portfolio. More than providing a friendly boost, the Iron Man Experience actually ratchets up the pressure on the still-in-the-blue-sky-phase Star Wars Land at Florida’s Hollywood Studios – and the fact that Hong Kong’s new attraction will open a good year or two before Star Wars Land only adds insult to the injury.

Do you like Game of Thrones? Then check this out

Now for something completely different:

As you may or may not know, I write for several other sites as well as for Dan’s wonderful Orlando Informer, and one of these is the immensely popular Tower of the Hand, a Game of Thrones and Song of Ice and Fire super-site. I had the distinct honor of helming their very first anthology book, Tower of the Hand: A Flight of Sorrows, which came out last October as an ebook only. Now, due to popular demand, we’ve released a special print Collector’s Edition (256 pages, $15.99) just last week. It contains several new (and exclusive) essays, a behind-the-scenes making of, and an extremely limited print run – it’s available for the month of October 2013 only.

If you like HBO’s Game of Thrones and have enjoyed the novels they’re based off of, I strongly suggest checking the book out by clicking here.

Until next week…

DISCLAIMER FROM THE EDITOR

Please remember when viewing this post that a rumor is a piece of unverified information of uncertain origin; a statement whose veracity is not quickly or ever confirmed. So even though we try our best to present solid speculation, there’s no way to guarantee any rumor will come true (then it wouldn’t be a rumor anyway).

Thanks to Marc for researching the latest rumor buzz from sources across the Internet and condensing it down into a single post for us each and every week!

View all of our Rumor Round-Ups

[sws_author_bio user=”msunyata@yahoo.com” size=”105″ authorposts=”More OI posts by Marc” name_format=”About the author”] [/sws_author_bio]

The post Rumor round-up for October 11, 2013: Tour through Hogsmeade Station, new Wizarding World artwork & Iron Man flies in Hong Kong appeared first on Orlando Informer.

Ever hear of a little videogame series called Warcraft? It started as a real-time strategy game for the PC all the way back in 1994, though most people are probably familiar with its latest incarnation, World of Warcraft (November 2004). This long-running installment is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game, and it’s (in)famously managed to suck in so many thousands of hours of people’s lives, it’s referred to in most circles as digital crack.

It turns out that Universal just may be hoping that this hopelessly immersive and addictive environment will work just as well in a theme park setting.

Screamscape came out this week with just this scenario, referencing the recent announcement that Universal will be helping to bring a (long-in-development) big-budget movie adaptation of WOW to theaters on December 18, 2015. This would ordinarily be a somewhat tenuous hypothesis, but given the previous news of Universal’s new partnership with Legendary Pictures, and given that part of that business deal was the possibility of mining Legendary’s film properties for themed attractions, the idea doesn’t seem out of hand at all. And, besides, as the site notes, “it goes without saying that World of Warcraft has been a fairly global phenomenon. Bringing the game’s distinct visual style to the big screen will launch the IP from the PC gaming crowd into the mainstream, for sure.”

Let’s just keep our fingers crossed that, if true, Universal will also be bringing the now-classic WOW episode from South Park, “Make Love, Not Warcraft,” somehow into the mix.

Disney to introduce new infrared imaging technology

Disney seems to be in the anti-“piracy” mood. Disney Research has recently applied for a patent for a new type of infrared imaging projector, which would prevent guests from using their smartphones or digital cameras to sneak pictures of the after-ride photos that are available at a number of resort-wide attractions; “countermeasures are needed to prevent the capturing of an image from a display monitor using an imaging device to obtain quality images of high-value content,” the application reads.

How would this be accomplished? WDW for Grown-ups has the scoop: the new tech would “either flood the digital camera sensor with infrared light or, perhaps, project a copyright notice that would only be seen by the camera.”

There are other uses for the new projector, including some pretty interesting entertainment applications. An individual may “carry, wear, or otherwise be co-located with one or more solid state imaging devices,” meaning that a scavenger hunt, for instance, could be had, making guests hunt for infrared images or receive instructions for the next step in the trail directly from the images themselves. Since the patent specifically references “’ghosts’ and ‘tombstones,’ we could imagine it might be used in the Haunted Mansion,” the site states.

Photo tours of your favorite parks

“After years of neglect and, frankly, mismanagement, Downtown Disney has new hope in the form of Disney Springs,” Da Mouse writes this week. “It’s set to include massive improvements, from multi-level parking garages to alleviate the parking issues of old to the inclusion of upscale shopping options that will help Disney Springs better compete with the higher-end malls of the area, namely the Mall at Millenia.” The site has a treasure trove of pictures of the construction currently going on at the spot. Go ahead and check it out.

DaMouse also managed to stop by the new Spice Road Table being built at Epcot, adding a second photo-update. “The bright colors used on the new doors of the building pop amongst the more muted colors of the pavilion, and the general scope of the pavilion feels grander with this new addition,” the site says. “It adds some weight that balances out the Morocco Pavilion and surrounds you from the moment you first step towards it.”

Now on to Universal CityWalk, where an Orlando Informer fan shared the photo below. Just as reported here in the Rumor Round-Up previously, the Endangered Species store has been closed in order to make room for… Starbucks, which is changing locations.

Why is Starbucks moving? We have it on good authority that the old Pastamore quick-service renovation is turning the space into a brick oven pizzeria, and that the pizzeria will be a two-story venue. Since the current Starbucks location at CityWalk sits right above Pastamore, it needs to move for a two-story venue to be built.

And, finally, rounding out the photo tours is Animal Kingdom. Orlando Park News has updates on several projects, including construction of the new Festival of the Lion King theater and the purported spot where the new World of Color-esque show (from California Adventure in Anaheim) will go, including its brand-new amphitheater.

DISCLAIMER FROM THE EDITOR

Please remember when viewing this post that a rumor is a piece of unverified information of uncertain origin; a statement whose veracity is not quickly or ever confirmed. So even though we try our best to present solid speculation, there’s no way to guarantee any rumor will come true (then it wouldn’t be a rumor anyway).

Thanks to Marc for researching the latest rumor buzz from sources across the Internet and condensing it down into a single post for us each and every week!

View all of our Rumor Round-Ups

[sws_author_bio user=”msunyata@yahoo.com” size=”105″ authorposts=”More OI posts by Marc” name_format=”About the author”] [/sws_author_bio]

The post Rumor round-up for October 4, 2013: World of Warcraft coming to Universal, new infrared tech coming to Disney, construction projects around Orlando appeared first on Orlando Informer.

Over the past few months, we’ve been reporting on the possibility of NBA City in CityWalk being demolished and a WWE Hall of Fame replacing it. It turns out, though, that those plans may be getting the bulldozer, as well.

According to Wrestling News World, it looks like TNA Wrestling, which recently took its Impact show on the road, wants to return to its dedicated soundstage at Universal Studios Florida starting next year. The only problem? The WWE reportedly wants an exclusivity contract with Universal Orlando Resort as a prerequisite for the Hall of Fame being built there.

Universal, for its part, has been reluctant to agree to these terms, unless the WWE were to film some type of wrestling show somewhere at the resort; not only does having a regularly produced series guarantee a certain number of guests visiting the parks, it also provides essentially the last vestige of the filmmaking that Universal Studios Florida backlots were originally supposed to contain. And, besides, “sources within Universal have told us they were happy with TNA’s deal and do not want to shun their return to the park,” the site states.

So, what’s more important (and economically viable) – a WWE Hall of Fame or a series of TNA Impact tapings? I guess we’ll find out by year’s end.

Disney rallies the lost Disney World attractions

Have you lost all hope for the $1 billion-plus NextGen initiative at Walt Disney World Resort ever being successfully implemented? Or for that long-promised-but-as-of-yet-still-undelivered Avatar Land? Well, Disney is here to reassure you – sort of.

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Bob Iger was speaking at an analysts’ conference thrown by Goldman Sachs in New York this past week, where he addressed the constant stream of delays for MyMagic+. (The latest release date – the first quarter of fiscal 2014 – hits next month.) “It’s rolling out fully in the months ahead,” the Orlando Sentinel records Iger as saying. “It’ll be fully rolled out fairly soon.”

The paper then went on to report: “Iger said Disney has now had more than 200,000 visitors test MyMagic+, a central element of which is a reservation system that allows guests to book a limited number of ride times from home, weeks before they leave on vacation. Giving visitors the ability to guarantee they will experience their favorite attractions without hour-plus standby lines “is a big deal and a game changer, we believe, in terms of the park experience,” Iger said.

After promising to deploy NextGen to all the other Disney resorts across the globe, the CEO then pivoted to Avatar, a property that was announced as an Animal Kingdom expansion just a little over two years ago but has yet to see any significant construction start. What is its status update? “We’re very excited about Avatar Land,” he said. “I think that will generate substantial growth down there.”

Disney’s new Disability Access Service starts October 9

You’ve likely heard the news by now that Disney’s parks will be overhauling their program that provides attraction access assistance to guests with special needs; the new program starts October 9. This week many details of the new program were released, and as one might expect with such a sensitive topic, there are strong opinions about whether the new program is a step forward or a step backward.

Here are a few thoughts shared by Orlando Informer readers:

This news makes me extremely sad. Disney has always been something we could look forward to that our whole family could enjoy and participate in. I am in the process of planning our next Disney vacation for about a year from now. Our son is 14 with severe autism, weighs about 180 pounds, can have extreme meltdowns, bite himself and overpower us at times. Disney was something we always looked forward to. We do use a special needs stroller for him because of the crowds and to help him feel more secure and safe. The GAC has been wonderful and made our Disney vacations not only possible, but a wonderful experience for us. Many times we were allowed to use the fast pass entrance and sometimes we used the handicapped entrance. Waiting for long periods of time would not be possible as we found out when waiting in long character lines. Explaining to a teenager who functions maybe as a 2 year old that we have to wait, but will eventually get to ride something means absolutely nothing to him. There is no understanding of what that means. I am hopeful that by the time we take our next vacation maybe things will be better. Otherwise, I do not see us taking our son to Disney. It would not go well if we approach a ride and are told come back in 30 minutes or 1 hour. We might get to ride one ride before things would get bad and we would need to leave the park. I can’t see us spending the amount of money we do for a Disney trip if this is the case. There are many situations where this system will just not work. I hope that parents give feedback to Disney so hopefully improvements can be made. – Summy23

I think the new DAS system is going to an amazing change for the Disney company. No one with a das card will have to wait in any lines. The das system also prevents people from abusing their privileges and riding the same ride back to back- which makes it fair for regular day guest. Families with autistic members can just get one person in party to walk up to the ride and make reservation so the child does not have to “see the line” and think they are getting on. Can’t wait for October 9! Hopefully it will bring down the wait times in all the stand by queues. – Joshua

My mom has Lupus and being in the sun all day and walking around really takes it’s toll on her. During our last trip to WDW my mom couldn’t get out of bed because of the pain. Since then we rent the electronic wheelchairs every time we go to Disneyland or any other theme park. We never knew about the special access or shorter lines when we started getting the chair. Yes some rides you may have a very short wait but then there are other times when you can wait up to an hr, like Space Mountain. At DL there is already one ride that already does return times for people in wheelchairs. I am curious to see how things will change for my mom, will we still go through the wheelchair entrance and get the return time there, or will we go to the main entrance to get the time and then go to the wheelchair entrance? I guess we will see in time. I am sure that if this new policy does not work out for people with more severe disabilities they will let Disney know, and I’m hoping they will then reevaluate the policy. – Brittany

Visit OI contributor debi’s latest post to learn more about the changes coming to Disney’s parks.

Quick hits: New SeaWorld show, Aquatica loses a name, HHN Legendary Truth

Theme Park Insider wrote this week about a brand-new trademark application being filed by SeaWorld for what seems to be a new type of show at several of its parks (and, just possibly, on television and touch screens, as well). Called Yonaguni, which is the westernmost inhabited island of Japan, it may have something to do with either the island or the “offshore Yonaguni Monument, a massive underwater rock formation.” It could very well be that this is part of the park’s 50th anniversary celebration, given the (possible) multimedia angle.

Speaking of SeaWorld – remember that Aquatica Orlando announcement that was teased earlier this month? Well, it looks like Screamscape thought it had dug up the new, tallest-waterslide-in-Orlando’s name – Taruka Rush – but has now been forced to recant: “SeaWorld Parks has let their trademark registration for that name die and, so far, has not filed for a new replacement. Keep your eyes open.” We certainly will.

Legendary Truth, Halloween Horror Nights’ interactive game, is back – and, from what we can tell so far, it’s better than ever this year. Behind the Thrills not only has a brief rundown on the game’s history and how to participate this year, it also has an interview with T.J. Mannarino, one of HHN’s creative directors. Click to watch, then visit the Legendary Truth site to start playin’.

[youtube_video]8QsWoAiHx34[/youtube_video]

And if you’re worried about your mobile data connection at Universal, we got some good news. Per a conversation we had with Guest Services, the parks are in the process of rolling out free public wifi at Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure. Because the new service is just in testing, there are no guarantees, but so far it has been awesome during HHN.

Speaking of HHN, did you attend last weekend or this weekend? If so, share your review of the event with Orlando Informer readers and you could win a $50 Universal gift card on Monday! To write your review (or read the 20 reviews already submitted), visit the HHN 2013 real guest reviews page in the OI Universal Center.

And if you’re the couple in the photo below, please contact Dan!

Say your wedding vows… and then say your prayers #HHN23 @HorrorNightsORL pic.twitter.com/OoFSiiVPuK — Orlando Informer (@OrlandoInformer) September 26, 2013

DISCLAIMER FROM THE EDITOR

It is tough to imagine that we need to put a disclaimer at the bottom of a blog post called Rumor Round-Up, but the growing popularity of our articles seems to have raised concern in some camps that our rumor reporting is not a 100% accurate forecast of things to come. So here goes nothing: Please remember when viewing this post that a rumor is a piece of unverified information of uncertain origin; a statement whose veracity is not quickly or ever confirmed.

Thanks to Marc for researching the latest rumor buzz from sources across the Internet and condensing it down into a single post for us each and every week!

View all of our Rumor Round-Ups

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The post Rumor round-up for September 28, 2013: Pulling the plug on WWE Hall of Fame, NextGen & Avatar Land updates, SeaWorld show 20 million years in the making appeared first on Orlando Informer.

In case you hadn’t already heard, Universal had a technical rehearsal this past Wednesday that also doubled as a preview night for team members and select media. And while their input can’t be ruled as a direct review of the various haunted houses and scare zones – not all of the final elements were included two nights ago, for example – we can definitely glean some valuable intel on this year’s lineup.

The clear winner, from both the Twitterverse as well as the traditional sites, is An American Werewolf in London. Its detailed sets and well-timed scares have been consistently praised, but even the werewolf puppets have gotten remarkably high marks, instantly making this the must-see experience of HHN 23. A close second seems to be the Cabin in the Woods, which has not only gotten kudos for its atmosphere and monsters, but also for its laughs – a not-too-terribly-easy balance.

On the other end of the spectrum is, unfortunately, Resident Evil: Escape from Raccoon City. HHN Rumors sums up the collective sentiment almost perfectly:

I’m trying to decide how to word this as politely as possible, but… this house needs help. There were a few epic scenery rooms that were most certainly eye candy, but some of the costumes/puppets were so cheesy that my group left the house laughing. There was a dog on a stick. An actor tried to jab me with it. I lost it after that! I’m hoping that was an unfinished prop, and I’ll give Resident Evil another shot this weekend before making any final judgments.

Havoc 2: Derailed has similarly gotten some sketchy reviews, but over at the Orlando United forums, early attendees actually offered an explanation as for why this might have happened: “The reason there were a lot of negative chatter is because they used it to practice fire drills during the preview. Some people got dumped from the house halfway through, and others had to wait in line a little longer. But it’s a good thing they practice these sort of things, just in case.”

And, finally, we have what have traditionally been the outdoor scare zones but which now constitute the Walking Dead street experience. Some have been a little trepidatious about the transformation, given last year’s experiment by Universal and the simple fact that nothing but zombies could get a bit on the monotonous side, but Inside the Magic reports that Universal’s managed to pull it off:

The thought of nothing but zombies filling the entire park has had some fans worried that the streets would be rather repetitive and uninteresting. Well, worry no more. Universal has taken the hit AMC show and brought many of its most iconic settings and characters to life throughout the park with plenty of set pieces, structures, special effects, and iconic walkers in their own roadside vignettes. There are even little scenes that play out between walkers and victims that are highly enjoyable to watch. It’s enough to keep all attendees consistently entertained while wandering between shows and mazes. (Just don’t spend too much time in the Atlanta zone or you might come home wreaking of rotting flesh; [I’m] still tasting the wretched scented fog pumped into the area.)

And if you want some behind-the-scenes info on the whole wretched scented fog, the Orlando Sentinel has a nice write-up on the processes Universal Creative employs to gross you out.

BROADCASTING LIVE: Orlando Informer invites you to join us for our world famous in-park photo updates direct from HHN opening weekend! Follow Orlando Informer on Twitter to see every single one of our live photo updates, or catch highlights on our Facebook page.

Disney developments in Tokyo

Late last year, word broke that Tokyo Disneyland – the only Disney property to not be run directly by Disney – was interested in bringing California Adventure’s Cars Land over to their side of the globe. This was not an insignificant development, as (a) Tokyo Disneyland, despite its being one of the biggest Magic Kingdom-type parks in the world, doesn’t have much in the way of real estate to build on, and (b) they were interested in doing all of Cars Land, something which Walt Disney World executives had immediately dismissed out of hand when contemplating a similar cloned land for their Hollywood Studios.

It turns out that Disney World was so disinterested in spending money on an expansion, it ix-nayed Cars Land entirely, leaving that proposed area of Hollywood Studios empty for the time being. (It’s moving ahead on another expansion, Star Wars Land, in a different section of the park.) And it also turns out that Tokyo Disneyland is passing on the project, as well, though the exact reason behind the decision is unknown. Disney and More theorizes that it could be because of the intense fan reaction to where the proposed Cars Land would have ended up going: nearly half of Westernland, which is Japan’s version of Frontierland (and, to a lesser extent, Liberty Square). It also could’ve been because of cost- or technical-related considerations; “as you may know,” the site notes, “Tokyo Disneyland was built on landfill, and the weight of Cars Land’s rockwork may have been a cost issue in firming up the ground beneath it.”

Either way, Disney and More goes on to report that the Japanese are still interested in bringing some new American expansion over, and they’ve now turned their attention to Magic Kingdom’s New Fantasyland. Since this is a late-breaking development, there are no rumors as to which attractions will be brought over, but the site seems to think that the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train is a shoe-in (though perhaps not Journey of the Little Mermaid, as that would probably have to go in its sister park).

What does this mean for Orlando? It’s no secret that in the constant tug of war between the Disneyland and Disney World Resorts, it’s Anaheim that has been winning out as of late – particularly with the industry-wide success of Cars Land. Although Magic Kingdom may be the most-visited park in the world, it’s now Disneyland and California Adventure that are seen as the cutting-edge, money-making crown jewels in Disney’s global portfolio, the only parks to stand up to Universal’s (growing) Wizarding Worlds of Harry Potter. And just to add insult to injury, the New Fantasyland expansion has been nothing but underwhelming; for the business suits, it’s failed to bring in the revenue that Cars Land or Hogsmeade have been, and for the guests, it’s been more a collection of restaurants and princess meet-‘n-greets than rides. Should Tokyo follow suit, it’ll be interesting to see whether they improve on Orlando’s lineup – and whether Walt Disney World management, which has been so keen on following the lead from others lately, will likewise institute those reforms.

With the Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Diagon Alley opening next summer, we just may be entering make-or-break time for Disney World’s leadership team. Imagine the increased competition from a new Hogsmeade in both Universal Studios Japan and Universal Studios Hollywood, combined with a better-executed and better-performing New Fantasyland in Tokyo Disneyland.

The results would not be pretty – except for theme park fans, who would finally be getting a team in place at Walt Disney World Resort that would be willing to fight back.

The best look so far at Universal’s Hogwarts Express

Earlier this week OI contributor Maureen shared with us the best photos we’ve seen anywhere of Universal’s Hogwarts Express train, waiting to be deployed between Universal Studios Florida (Diagon Alley) and Islands of Adventure (Hogsmeade Village). Because these images are so beautiful, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to share them with RRU readers just in case you guys missed her trip reports. Enjoy!

You can view even higher resolution versions of these images on OI’s Flickr page.

For those curious, this group of photos was taken from Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit at Universal Studios Florida. As such, the view is open to anyone who’s willing to venture up Rockit’s 17-story, 90-degree lifthill. Many have asked us why Universal isn’t trying to hide these a little better. We don’t know the precise answer to that, but our guess is, quite possibly, the resort may not have the means or facilities to transport and store these colossal ride vehicles. Visit OI’s Diagon Alley page to learn more.

In related news, this week Walt Disney World also offered us a sneak peak at the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train ride vehicle. Click here to see it

Quick hits: Polynesian villas, new CityWalk restaurant & Disney’s crazy tech

This week, the Orlando Sentinel brings the first official confirmation of what we’ve been reporting for a while now: the next Disney Vacation Club villas are, indeed, coming to the Polynesian Resort.

Though the paper doesn’t have much in new details – Disney just isn’t ready to divulge anything as of yet – it does have a few interesting background tidbits. The expansion will have its grand opening in 2015 and will be the ninth villa location at Disney World (globally, Disney operates 13 timeshare units, including this new one). Once the new Polynesian rooms are up and running, Disney will have added a Vacation Club component to each of the three deluxe resorts located on the Magic Kingdom monorail line – the Contemporary’s Bay Lake Tower bowed in 2009, and the Grand Floridian’s deluxe villas are set to open on October 23.

Screamscape has uncovered what one of the new CityWalk restaurants is going to be: Red Oven. What makes this new location interesting is the fact that, unlike virtually every other dining establishment at CityWalk, it’s a brand-new, Universal-owned restaurant, as opposed to being part of a pre-existing franchise or chain. (It’ll also feature “authentic hand-tossed pizza,” if that floats your gravy boat.) Could this be the new name of Woodfire Pizza, which is replacing Pastamore Marketplace? Or is it perhaps going in at one of the other demolition sites, such as Latin Quarter, giving us two new pizza joints?

My buddies over at Engadget have the breakdown of a crazy new Disney Research project called Ishin-Den-Shin, which essentially transforms your body into a speaker. It “amplifies mic input and sends it back as a high-voltage, low-current signal that turns objects (including humans) into electrostatic audio sources that can’t be heard over the air.” Simply put, you wouldn’t be able to hear what was being said unless someone came over and actually touched you.

[youtube_video]Iw1FhmY1sIU[/youtube_video]

There are a whole slew of possible theme park applications with this exciting new development – the X-Men and their telepathic Professor X jumps immediately to mind, or maybe even the Jedi and the Dark Lords of the Sith from Star Wars. But critics could also see this as another (bizarre) step toward Disney invading our privacy and personal space, a la MagicBands knowing the every move of guests.

DISCLAIMER FROM THE EDITOR

It is tough to imagine that we need to put a disclaimer at the bottom of a blog post called Rumor Round-Up, but the growing popularity of our articles seems to have raised concern in some camps that our rumor reporting is not a 100% accurate forecast of things to come. So here goes nothing: Please remember when viewing this post that a rumor is a piece of unverified information of uncertain origin; a statement whose veracity is not quickly or ever confirmed.

Thanks to Marc for researching the latest rumor buzz from sources across the Internet and condensing it down into a single post for us each and every week!

View all of our Rumor Round-Ups

[sws_author_bio user=”msunyata@yahoo.com” size=”105″ authorposts=”More OI posts by Marc” name_format=”About the author”] [/sws_author_bio]

The post Rumor round-up for September 20, 2013: Advance scoop on HHN, New Fantasyland in Tokyo Disneyland, images of the Hogwarts Express & more appeared first on Orlando Informer.

Theme Park Insider has something of a bombshell announcement this week: according to its inside sources at Walt Disney Imagineering, the long-proposed and oft-hoped-for Cars Land expansion at Disney’s Hollywood Studios is now dead.

What happened? A couple things, it turns out, but the biggest seems to be money. Disney had already scaled back the budget for the duplicate area, even going so far as to remove its flagship attraction, Radiator Springs Racers, from the lineup. And with Star Wars Land apparently eating up more and more resources, Disney simply decided to prioritize its construction efforts by slashing the whole project completely. (The irony? Disney wanted to bring Cars Land over in the first place due to the [comparative] lack of expenses – much like Universal and Transformers, everything was already designed and even built once, making its clone a cheap and fast project.)

Lest ye lose hope that Hollywood Studios, a park that is in desperate need of a major facelift, will lose half of its new proposed attractions, Theme Park Insider leaves us with this one tantalizing tidbit: “Just because Disney isn’t doing Cars Land, don’t assume that Star Wars Land will be the only expansion at DHS. Star Wars has taken over the number-one spot, but I’m hearing the plan still is to do two projects at the park. Eventually. No word, though, on what the second project might be.”

This revelation about Disney is disappointing enough, but it really looks like dark days are ahead for Walt Disney World when you consider this next bit of news…

Universal grows… and grows and grows, each and every single year

When the Wizarding World of Harry Potter made Islands of Adventure’s attendance skyrocket some 25% in 2011 (all the other central Florida parks only got somewhere around a 5% increase), Universal knew that it had something special on its hands. Together with brand-new owner Comcast, it decided to dump a great portion of that money back into its resort, specifically targeting Universal Studios Florida with a three-year expansion project: Despicable Me, the Superstar Parade, Transformers, Springfield, and, coming next summer, Diagon Alley.

Recently, we’ve started to get some indications that maybe the construction frenzy wouldn’t just end with Harry Potter in 2014; refurbishments (like with Terminator 2 3D) and replacements (Disaster!, Woody Woodpecker’s KidZone) are now likely to roll out starting in ’15 and going on into ’16 and, maybe even, ’17. That’s a lot more expansion than we initially thought, although, so far, it’s all been kept in the realm of rumor.

Until now, that is. Universal has now officially spoken out on the matter, and it turns out that it’s even bigger than that. Much, much bigger.

At an analysts’ conference on Wednesday, NBCUniversal President and Chief Executive Officer Steve Burke stated that the Parks and Resorts division is now looking to open at least one new attraction at Universal Orlando (and at Universal Studios Hollywood, too) every single year for the foreseeable future. That’s a capital investment of $500 million for this year alone, and, according to the Orlando Sentinel, that’s “an amount likely to become an annual baseline.” According to Burke, the resort is already seeing a return on this newly expanded commitment: USF’s attendance is up 20% “most weeks” since Transformer’s June 20 opening.

Of course, what would be a whole new slew of rides without a whole new slew of hotel rooms to go with them? Universal has previously said that it wants to more than double its number of hotel rooms to 10,000; this week, Burke upped the ante, saying that he expects to see 15,000 rooms(!) in the near future. “We’ve done a study that says we could have 10,000 to 15,000 hotel rooms and still have occupancy that makes those rooms profitable. And all of those people staying in those hotels would be more likely to go to our theme parks. So, I think, strategically, we need to get those hotel rooms open and build out the resort.”

At this rate, if Universal Orlando builds out any more, it’s going to occupy the entire city of Orlando.

Of Fantastic Beasts & opening dates

In our August 30 RRU, we discussed how the current Wet n’ Wild could be bulldozed and rebuilt next to Universal’s theme parks, providing the resort with its official third gate. I speculated, “don’t be too surprised if Harry Potter is trotted out once again to make an appearance at every one of UOR’s three parks.”

At the time, even I thought this was a bit of a stretch, because what Harry Potter material could you really use at a waterpark that wouldn’t feel totally artificial?

Well, perhaps as planned all along, Universal Creative is getting a whole new set of theming possibilities with yesterday’s announcement that J.K. Rowling will pen her first screenplay, and the story will bring us back to the world of Harry Potter. According to Collider.com, “Rowling is poised to make her screenwriting debut on Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, which will be an original story and is planned as the first film in a new series. The pic will focus on the mysterious author of the textbook, Newt Scamander.” Rowling herself added, “Although it will be set in the worldwide community of witches and wizards where I was so happy for seventeen years, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is neither a prequel nor a sequel to the Harry Potter series, but an extension of the wizarding world.'”

Could this tale provide ample opportunity for waterpark theming? Time will tell.

Switching to land-based attractions, LeakyNew.com picked up an interesting tidbit from the aforementioned Steve Burke. While talking about Universal’s real Hogwarts Express, Mr. Bruke was quoted as saying, “The actual transition or the movement from one gate to another gate is part of the attraction which has never been done before and it’s a wonderful creative idea that opens next spring.” Next spring, you say? This isn’t breaking news for those of us who have been following the Diagon Alley developments for over a year. Nevertheless, it is the first admission from a Universal exec of an HP expansion opening date other than “2014.”

Do keep in mind we are still expecting Universal Orlando’s multi-park HP expansion to open in phases, and this stays in-line with the Bruke quote, since he describes Hogwarts Express opening in the spring but doesn’t state that the entire expansion project will open in the same time frame. (A grand opening date for the entire Diagon Alley project will likely fall mid-summer.)

Quick hits: More Jurassic Park, Club 33 & Disney’s food trucks

Our rumor-hound friend @HateToFly is at it again, giving us a majestic picture of a survey flag in the empty dirt lot behind Thunder Falls Terrace and next to Jurassic Park: River Adventure. Since survey markers are foreplay to the orgasm of actual construction, it’s looking good that our previous report was spot-on.

Of course, it was also revealed this past week that the fourth JP movie is now called Jurassic World and will release on June 12, 2015 (for now). It looks like we’ll be getting twice the bang for our dino-buck that summer.

Familiar with Club 33? Don’t be ashamed if you aren’t. It’s a “secret,” members-only club, started in 1967 by Walt himself and located in New Orleans Square at Disneyland. And if Stitch Kingdom is correct, it looks like it might be finally getting a secondary location, somewhere in Walt Disney World. It’s far from a foregone conclusion, but if you want to get on the exclusive member list just in case, be prepared to wait 14 years and drop at least $10,000 in membership fees.

And all the way on the opposite end of the food spectrum, it looks like Disney will be bringing in some food trucks to the Downtown Disney area starting this fall. According to the Disney Parks Blog, there will be four trucks, “each themed to portray the essence of a different Disney park”:

• Enchanted Fare – classic dishes from each of the Disneylands around the world
• The World Showcase of Flavors – highlights from Epcot’s International Food and Wine Festival
• Superstar Catering – a wide variety of meatballs from Hollywood Studios
• Namaste Café – spicy items from Animal Kingdom

Is this in direct response to Bumblebee Man’s Taco Truck at Universal Studios Florida? Possibly – and if so it won’t be the last time we see Disney trying to counter Universal’s growing presence, particularly in the themed food space.

DISCLAIMER FROM THE EDITOR

It is tough to imagine that we need to put a disclaimer at the bottom of a blog post called Rumor Round-Up, but the growing popularity of our articles seems to have raised concern in some camps that our rumor reporting is not a 100% accurate forecast of things to come. So here goes nothing: Please remember when viewing this post that a rumor is a piece of unverified information of uncertain origin; a statement whose veracity is not quickly or ever confirmed.

Thanks to Marc for researching the latest rumor buzz from sources across the Internet and condensing it down into a single post for us each and every week!

View all of our Rumor Round-Ups

[sws_author_bio user=”msunyata@yahoo.com” size=”105″ authorposts=”More OI posts by Marc” name_format=”About the author”] [/sws_author_bio]

The post Rumor round-up for September 13, 2013: No more Cars Land, Universal adds one new ride per year, Harry Potter movie & Hogwarts Express opening date appeared first on Orlando Informer.

It may seem like Jurassic Park has been getting all the attention with its long-awaited new ride, but Universal Creative hasn’t forgotten about the other land at Islands of Adventure that is in desperate need of an expansion: Seuss Landing.

While details are very limited, Screamscape tells us that Project 301 has just been greenlit, will be based off of The Lorax, and will be located behind One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish. While we don’t know whether it’ll be a traditional dark ride (like the Cat in the Hat) or something with a little more kick, we do know that it’ll contain 3D elements. Best of all, the new attraction comes with “an aggressive plan to get it up and open in time for the 2015 holiday season.” This is particularly exciting, given that’s when the new Jurassic Park ride should debut, as well; Seuss and JP may prove to be the one-two punch that perfectly follows up Diagon Alley’s grand opening next summer.

Of course, none of this should come as a shocker to faithful Rumor Round-Up readers, as we’ve been following the Lorax speculation for the past three months now. It’s very satisfying, though, to see all the pieces finally falling into place.

UPDATE: (Yes, rumors like these can move so fast that we need to post updates in articles that are just getting published!) The prolific @hatetofly has echoed Screamscape — or is it the other way around? — and stated that a Lorax attraction has been approved. He adds, “Lorax RVs are rumored to be themed scooters that will utilize a motion base along a track with 4KHD3D media, AAs, large sets, and live FX.”

Say goodbye to FastPasses, and say it soon

You may have heard of a little $1 billion-plus program the Disney Company has been working on for the past two years called NextGen, and how the paperless FastPass+ – which would be accessible from your smartphone or computer at home – will eventually replace the current FastPass system. Given NextGen’s constant stream of delays, we all thought that day would still be a few years away. According to Chip and Company, however, it may be coming sooner than we all thought – as in at the end of the month!

Here’s the gist of the report: all standard FastPasses will be discontinued except for those who are staying on-site at one of Disney’s countless resorts, and, even then, those guests will be strictly limited to just three FastPasses per day, and only at one park. This means that if you want to park hop from, say, Magic Kingdom to Epcot, you’ll have to brave the lines at FutureWorld with no little, time-saving slips of paper at your disposal. This also means that if you’re an Annual passholder, you’re completely out of luck, although Vacation Club members are still allowed FastPass access, given that they already have a Key to the World (read: hotel) card in their possession.

Why would Disney do this? Two reasons, really. First and foremost, it pushes more people to stay on property, which is, after all, the bread-and-butter of any theme park enterprise. Secondly, it forces the adoption rate of FastPass+ to skyrocket, getting many more people on-board with the NextGen initiative in a much more timely manner; with two years already wasted on glitches, delays, and all sorts of misinformation, Disney wants to see its mammoth investment pay off sooner rather than later.

Do you question this timeline? We understand, and that’s why we include a friendly disclaimer at the bottom of our RRU posts now.

Quick hits: T2, CityWalk, Starbucks & #NothingTaller

Think that Terminator 2 3D: Battle across Time is in desperate need of replacement? So do we – especially with all this talk of brand-new attractions arriving at Islands of Adventure (and, just maybe, at Universal Studios Florida, too). Unfortunately, Parkscope is here to let us know that not only is T2 staying right where it is for the next several years, it’s getting some long-overdue updates, to boot, mainly with its audio-visual equipment and its smoke/fog effects.

In the same post, Parkscope goes on to quickly detail yet another demolition/construction job at CityWalk: Project 248, which will have both the interior gutted and the exterior razed, just as with Latin Quarter. Which restaurant will be getting the axe now? We’re not quite certain, but if the other CityWalk developments are any indication, we’ll be getting the answer literally any day now…

If you’re of the opinion that two Starbucks franchises at Walt Disney World – in both Magic Kingdom and Epcot – is two too much, then WDW Magic is about to send you to your therapist’s couch. Although a new Starbucks location was already announced to be part of Disney Springs once it finishes construction within the next few years, it turns out that the Seattle-based company just couldn’t wait and is placing a new franchise in Downtown Disney’s West Side, kicking out Wetzel’s Pretzels and Haagen Dazs to do so. (Don’t fret – both of the older establishments will be getting kiosks just outside of Disney Quest.)

And just because one Downtown location just isn’t enough, a second Starbucks is heading to the Marketplace area, next to the World of Disney store. When combined with the future spots picked out in Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom, there will be a whopping six Starbucks in Disney World.

Disney fans, I’m sure, are rejoicing.

To take this week’s RRU over the top: just this morning, after a pretty successful #NothingTaller Twitter campaign, SeaWorld announced that they are building a new attraction at Aquatica, its popular water park. “It will be the tallest water thrill ride of its type in Orlando,” claims the park in their press release. They were mum about additional details, but did offer this photo of a height-test balloon:

DISCLAIMER FROM THE EDITOR

It is tough to imagine that we need to put a disclaimer at the bottom of a blog post called Rumor Round-Up, but the growing popularity of our articles seems to have raised concern in some camps that our rumor reporting is not a 100% accurate forecast of things to come. So here goes nothing: Please remember when viewing this post that a rumor is a piece of unverified information of uncertain origin; a statement whose veracity is not quickly or ever confirmed.

Thanks to Marc for researching the latest rumor buzz from sources across the Internet and condensing it down into a single post for us each and every week!

[sws_author_bio user=”msunyata@yahoo.com” size=”105″ authorposts=”More OI posts by Marc” name_format=”About the author”] [/sws_author_bio]

The post Rumor round-up for September 6, 2013: Seuss Landing expansion, Disney axing FastPasses, Terminator, CityWalk, Starbucks & #NothingTaller appeared first on Orlando Informer.

Many pictures have been streaming in over the past few weeks of the Hogwarts Express cars being delivered to Universal Orlando, including six passenger and two coal cars, but up until today no one had been able to snag a shot of the engine cars themselves (y’know, like the one permanently stationed inside Hogsmeade at Islands of Adventure). This led Screamscape to engage in a little off-the-cuff conjecture: what if the engines would be permanently missing from the two trains that will constitute the Hogwarts Express? And, even more, what if we’ve already seen the missing piece?

It may seem counter-intuitive at first, but the thinking went a little something like this. The coal cars would actually be at the head of each train, given that (a) guests inside the parks won’t be able to see the Express as it chugs back and forth between Islands and Universal Studios Florida, and (b) there’s already the aforementioned locomotive prop sitting there in IOA. The site speculated that the Hogsmeade station would be constructed in such a way that the front of the train would “disappear” inside of a tunnel… and look like it’s emerging on the inside of the Wizarding World, just a few yards away. (Passengers won’t be able to see it at all inside King’s Cross Station, due to space requirements within Diagon Alley.) In this fashion, Universal saves on construction costs, guests won’t jam up traffic by stopping to take pictures in front of the iconic engine car, and everyone is happier as a result.

The only problem with this nifty little scenario is that it didn’t quite come to fruition because Universal has already had the front of the trains delivered. Thanks to hatetofly, another prominent source of Universal Orlando rumors, we now have this photo:

According to Mr. Hate, while it is correct that the engine car will be obstructed from view at Platform 9¾, it’ll be clearly visible at Hogsmeade Station – which means that both trains will actually be facing in the same direction, towards Islands of Adventure (good thing that no one will be able to see ‘em on their tracks, eh?).

The reason we even bring this up at all in RRU is to provide our readers with a case study of how the “rumor industry” works. The latest reports are almost always half based on an educated hypothesis, with some inside sources then nudging the guesswork along the way; the distinction between fact and fiction can literally change on a daily basis. In this particular case, now we’re back at square one with the stationary locomotive positioned at the entrance to WWoHP having to contend with a real, live one. Will Universal see this as a problem and try to somehow remodel its first Wizarding World? No one knows… until we’re nudged in the right direction, that is.

Oh, there’s one more reason to discuss all this: workers have apparently been crawling all along the railway, “likely finishing up the install of the cable pull system and the electric bar system that will be needed to power all the ‘magic’ inside the cabin you’ll experience during your journey,” as Screamscape notes. HateToFly goes one step further, stating that the first phase of testing for the Hogwarts Express will start next month.

To learn more, visit the Diagon Alley page in the OI Universal Center.

UPDATE: hatetofly is at it again, tweeting this photo late Friday night…

You may have already been to Universal Orlando’s third park

After several months of whispers on the matter, we here at RRU can confidently proclaim that the much-talked-about third gate at Universal Orlando Resort is none other than – drumroll, please – Wet ‘n Wild park.

What’s the math that adds up to this conclusion? It starts with the simple fact that a waterpark has consistently been on the lips of many inside sources for the past several years, although some guessed it would be built on the 20-acre parcel of land between Royal Pacific Resort and the upcoming Cabana Bay Beach Resort, or that it would even be incorporated into a possible fifth hotel. Add to this the grand opening of Blastaway Beach last summer, the first major expansion the park has seen in some time (and a play to get more of the kids’ market). Multiply it by the development just two months ago of Universal purchasing the land under and all around Wet ‘n Wild after 15 years of leasing it – a move which wouldn’t be necessary unless the company wanted to do some serious construction on the spot, much more than just a (relatively) minor expansion.

Then throw in the surveys some annual pass holders have been asked to partake in, specifically looking for feedback on various transportation options “to a ‘hypothetical’ waterpark that was easy walking distance (five minutes) from I-Drive hotels or long walking distance (15 minutes plus) from onsite hotels.” Would a zombie, tropical island, or magic school bus theme be best? How about direct bus routes as compared to ones with multiple stops along the way? Should there be TVs on the vehicles?

The icing on the mathematical cake comes from Theme Park Insider: thanks to its many spies, the site is reporting that Universal has told a number of its big construction partners they should expect to remain on-site until at least spring 2015, a whole year after Cabana Bay and Diagon Alley will officially open. Editor-in-chief Robert Niles explains that “Universal will be taking on major construction work in Jurassic Park and at the Wet ‘n Wild waterpark property. I’ve not yet seen blueprints for either of those projects, so I’m not willing to report specifics of what will be happening on those sites. But I do know from sources on the ground in Orlando that Universal’s focus will shift in those directions once Cabana Bay and Harry Potter are completed.”

The current whispers blowing through the rumor landscape indicate that Uni will essentially bulldoze the current park, then rebuild it to be meticulously themed to various properties – think Islands of Adventure, only with much more water. That fifth on-site hotel that the company has been pining for ever since 1999 may also be inserted right next to – or all around – Wet ‘n Wild, providing a solution to the resort’s transportation woes and even providing the perfect excuse for yet another deluxe resort with premium room rates.

And don’t be too surprised if Harry Potter is trotted out once again to make an appearance at every one of UOR’s three parks…

Whether Universal goes quite to this extent or not, we’re now expecting to see Wet ‘n Wild Orlando be fully marketed as the official third gate starting in the summer of 2016.

Quick hits: Expanding Jurassic Park, opening Resident Evil, peering into HHN

It does, indeed, seem that Jurassic Park is next on Universal’s hit list of expansions or rehabs: Park Rumors has come across a permit just stamped for approval this week that allows a brand-new construction trailer to be assembled and parked just off of Adventure Way (where the construction headquarters of Transformers was and Hogwarts Express still is) for the next 18 months. Since the design firm KHS&S, which was responsible for building JP in the first place, is the company named on the document, it seems that a dino expansion is not only a sure thing, but should be starting sometime within the next several weeks. Park Rumors goes on to offer this image showing where they expect the new work to take place:

“The blue highlights on the map above represent the rumored area(s) for the new attraction(s). Thunder Falls Terrace, highlighted in red, is rumored to be on its way out to make way for this new expansion.”

Finally, at long last, the eighth and final haunted house from this year’s Halloween Horror Nights has been announced. And while it’s not a surprise – various sites have been reporting its identity for at least the past three months – it’s still a welcome addition: Resident Evil.

[youtube_video]Nfu-RZ81X04[/youtube_video]

Footage shown by Universal is from Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, which were released in 1998 and ’99, respectively. Not only is RE2 the best entry in the series, it’s actually one of the best games of all time, as well, making its inclusion a wonderfully welcome sign. And while RE3 can’t hold a candle to its predecessor, the addition of Nemesis – essentially a zombie “super soldier” that will stop at nothing to kill you and your surviving teammates – was a frighteningly compelling shot in the arm. That the villain is being so heavily advertised already means that guests can possibly expect an unrelentingly scary chase through the maze…

Finally, we have a few photos here that show the inside of the HHN 2013 haunted houses. From what we’ve been able to piece together, these are Universal press shots that were published yesterday on the official HHN site, then unexpectedly removed overnight. But before they were removed, somebody was interested enough to download them and create their own gallery on imgur.com.

At first I wanted to say “spoiler alert” before showing these, but since they’re just press shots you’d likely see them before you went to HHN anyway. Take a look:

That’s just a quick sample — you can view all 45 images at imgur.com/a/8kvkw/all. When you’re ready to learn more about Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Florida, head on over to the OI Universal Center and Dan’s complete insider’s guide to the event.

DISCLAIMER FROM THE EDITOR

It is tough to imagine that we need to put a disclaimer at the bottom of a blog post called Rumor Round-Up, but the growing popularity of our articles seems to have raised concern in some camps that our rumor reporting is not a 100% accurate forecast of things to come. So here goes nothing: Please remember when viewing this post that a rumor is a piece of unverified information of uncertain origin; a statement whose veracity is not quickly or ever confirmed.

Thanks to Marc for researching the latest rumor buzz from sources across the Internet and condensing it down into a single post for us each and every week!

[sws_author_bio user=”msunyata@yahoo.com” size=”105″ authorposts=”More OI posts by Marc” name_format=”About the author”] [/sws_author_bio]

The post Rumor round-up for August 30, 2013: Hogwarts Express detailed, Universal’s third park revealed, Jurassic Park expansion plotted, HHN houses exposed! appeared first on Orlando Informer.

Robert Niles, the editor-in-chief of Theme Park Insider, knows a thing or two about the upcoming Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Diagon Alley. He was the one, after all, who initially broke the story over a year-and-a-half ago, well before Universal officially made the announcement. Now Robert has a new podcast, and he devotes the entirety of last week’s episode to all three Wizarding Worlds Universal is currently building across the globe.

Most of what he has to say is actually recap on all three fronts, but given that Universal has only hinted at what attractions await us inside Diagon Alley, it’s still nice to be able to go over everything again. And that’s exactly what we’re going to do for you here, in distilled form, so you don’t have to spend 30 minutes listening to his sonorous voice if podcasts aren’t quite your thing.

First up: Diagon Alley is at least slightly larger than Hogsmeade over in Islands of Adventure, and of this area, Knockturn Alley will comprise roughly one-third. As of right now, word is that the Knight Bus will be permanently parked outside the new Wizarding World and will feature interactive talking heads (as featured in the third film, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban), which should help to siphon out the crowds a bit.

Niles says that the current roster of shops inside the land hasn’t changed: Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes, Madam Malkin’s Robes for All Occasions, and Wiseacre’s Wizarding Equipment, which doubles as Gringotts Bank’s gift shop. For food, there will actually be two options instead of Hogsmeade’s one: the Leaky Cauldron, of course, and Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlor. And, finally, there is going to be the main location of Ollivander’s Wand Shop, which will house multiple “theaters” for the wand-choosing show, to again help manage crowd levels a little better.

Universal’s plan is still to unleash a brand new wave of souvenir wands that contain an RFID chip inside of them, to allow guests to interact with certain elements of Diagon Alley, but Robert isn’t quite certain what the exact game plan is here. Inside sources indicate that the technology in the wands will be more complicated than just a simple radio-frequency chip, and that they’ll still be able to perform some “magic” once they’ve been taken back home (maybe by producing lights and sounds). Given all this, Uni is scrambling to get everything on track for opening day, but don’t be surprised if the product launch gets pushed back by several months.

Expect the new wands to only be one element of interactivity or animation in the new land; suits of armor that fall apart and reconstitute themselves and self-stirring cauldrons are just two more examples of what Universal Creative hopes will make a living, breathing world. For even more ideas on what to expect, Rob says to re-watch Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and pay close, close attention to the Weasleys’ Wheezes scene.

As for the Hogwarts Express, a ticket booth is definitely going inside the ride’s queue, to allow those guests who only purchased a base ticket to add on park-to-park access. Even more, Niles fully expects a price increase right before the new Wizarding World opens, suggesting that a one-day single-park ticket will go up from $92 to at least $99; whether Universal wants to be the first theme park operator to cross the $100 threshold is unknown, but it’s also certainly possible (and inevitable?).

Finally, the podcast wraps up with two tantalizing tidbits: contractors are scheduled to work on Diagon Alley until mid-June 2014, suggesting an opening date of July, and a somewhat extreme theory on how Harry Potter can be squeezed into Universal Studios Singapore, the only location on the planet to not feature Hogwarts Castle. Along with a heavily detailed, scene-by-scene description of the Gringotts ride, it all makes for a highly entertaining listen.

To learn more about this project and track the construction, visit the Diagon Alley page in the OI Universal Center

HHN Reveal Week

In case you missed it Universal unleashed Halloween Horror Nights Reveal Week all of last week. Nearly every day at midnight the resort announced four of the final five haunted houses of this year’s lineup, including its highly anticipated original entries. And the results so far seem to be rather intriguing and (mostly) well-received, if fan reaction online is any indication.

Just what’s on the list? Here it is, in all its gruesome glory:

Urban Legends: La Llorona – “Feel her pain and suffering as you succumb to her legend of tragedy… Enter the watery realm of La Llorona in this all-new haunted house.”

A beautiful Mexican woman named Maria falls in love with a wealthy man, but he refuses to be with her due to the inconvenient fact that she has children. In desperation, she drowns them, but that just creeps the guy out, and he still spurns her. When she drowns herself, she finds that heaven doesn’t want her, either, until she can account for her missing kids… so she returns as a watery spirit on Earth, on the prowl for fresh babies to claim as her own.

This is actually a lift from Universal Studios Hollywood (it appeared in both 2011 and ’12), but one that will be reworked to make it new and exclusive to Orlando. And most intriguingly of all, the “Urban Legends” moniker will be used for a whole series of mazes in the future.

After Life: Death’s Vengeance – “Witness the brutal vengeance of his victims as they turn his afterlife into an inescapable hell… This fall, 2,000 volts of electricity are going to send serial killer Bobby ‘The Blade’ Galleta into a horrific realm of suffering in this new, original haunted house.”

This year’s 3D maze – a trend which started in ‘11 and continued last year with Penn and Teller Nuk’d Las Vegas – this one seems to be a much darker take than its predecessors (Universal itself notes that Johnny Cash was a direct inspiration, so there ya go). It’ll be interesting to contrast this with USH’s 3D maze, Black Sabbath: 13-3D, to see just how “dark” it really is.

Havoc: Derailed – “Warning: in this all-new, original house, the train convoy has derailed and the bloodthirsty maniacs are loose. Escaping them this time will be a hard feat…the ‘Dogs of War’ return to HHN in this sequel house, Havoc 2: Derailed.”

In Havoc: Dogs of War from 2010’s HHN, super soldiers were created by the government to be unleashed on the battlefield, but in typical horror movie fashion, they ended up turning on their creators and claiming Shadow Creek base for themselves. In this follow-up, which is set six weeks after the original’s events, the “Dogs of War” (sorry, Shakespeare) have managed to escape once more, and they’re none too happy about being carted off into the middle of nowhere.

An American Werewolf in London – “As the full moon rises, you will learn to fear the beast. Based on the John Landis horror classic, you’ll come face-to-face with the bloody chaos of werewolf attacks in this horrifying house.”

A perennial part of the Horror Make-Up Show, it’s neat that Universal is finally bringing the source material to life, even though this isn’t the first time that either werewolves or London has been the subject of a haunted house. The titular American werewolf will be realized by “completely articulated” puppets and will use vintage audio files from the 1981 film to make sure everything sounds “authentic.” Early word already has this one pegged as one of, if not the, flagship experiences of this year’s HHN.

These four newly revealed mazes join the Cabin in the Woods, Evil Dead, and the Walking Dead. The eighth and final haunted house was expected by many to be announced last Friday night, but all we got was a post on the Facebook page thanking us for our involvement and bidding us to stay tuned for the last reveal… on the 29th.

As you can imagine, there’s been quite a bit of confusion and gnashing of teeth from the fan community over this. It’ll be interesting to see how Universal Creative’s Mike Aiello handles it – but, in the meantime, the nearly 100 responses on the Facebook page are pure comedy gold and are certainly worth a look-through. Tell ‘em Rumor Round-Up sent ya.

By the way, if you think you can do better with Universal’s Facebook and Twitter accounts, you’ll be happy to know they’re hiring a new Social Media Director — APPLY NOW.

To learn more about Halloween Horror Nights, visit OI’s complete insider’s guide.

D23 Expo: Short on reveals, big on teases

Every year Disney’s official fan club, D23, holds its own intra-company version of the San Diego Comic-Con or the Electronic Entertainment Expo. Typically the Parks and Resorts division has a substantial presence at these expos, revealing new attractions or hinting at upcoming experiences, but the Imagineers took this year off, resulting in an event that has left many fans decidedly cold.

Still, this year’s show – which was held August 9th through the 11th – contained a simple walkthrough exhibit that should catch the interest of even the most disappointed theme park junkie. Concentrating on Imagineering’s three biggest new developments in the immediate future (“immediate” meaning the next six years, of course, in Disney-speak), attendees got to peruse a scale model of Disney Springs, which will replace Downtown Disney in Orlando, before moving on to an “office” that was filled with various artifacts from a recent “research trip” to Avatar’s central planet, Pandora. (Imagineers stuck to this story all throughout the expo, sometimes to comedic effect, as when recounting their interactions with the Na’vi and their local fauna to reporters.)

Finally, there was the big one: Star Wars – or, at least, R2-D2, standing in front of a pile of crates labeled “Orange Harvest: Speculation beyond Imagination” (a play off of the codename used during Episode VI: Return of the Jedi’s shooting, “Blue Harvest,” and its accompanying tagline, “Horror beyond imagination…”) While, obviously, nothing was announced, this does serve as the first official indication that Star Wars Land is, indeed, coming.

For a really good rundown of everything that was – and wasn’t – at D23 this year, head on over to /Film.

And Inside the Magic has a nice little write-up about one little surprise Disney had for attendees: an unexpected Dreamfinder and Figment appearance on-stage during a Disney Legends segment, followed by an unannounced character meet-and-greet – the first time in some years that Disney has trotted the characters out as a pair to interact with fans.

[youtube_video]AgLgjXnnecM[/youtube_video]

The real news here, though, is what Disney CEO Bob Iger had to say about the funky little purple guy. “I don’t think Figment is going anywhere anytime soon,” he told the crowd. “I promise.” This should be of great reassurance to those who were upset at the rumors of Journey into Imagination’s imminent closure.

Quick Hits: California Grill, Asgard, and… Polynesian Village?

Are you saddened that you can’t drop a load of money on a fancy dinner while at the Contemporary Resort at Walt Disney World? Fret no longer – the famed California Grill is set to re-open on September 9th after a major makeover. And to honor the occasion, the official Disney Parks blog has some nice pictures of what to expect on your plate.

It looks like all those rumors of the next Disney Vacation Club villas coming to one of Disney World’s most prestigious (and expensive!) resorts, the Polynesian, are true. What we didn’t quite expect, though, was just how substantial of an addition this is going to be: Screamscape has managed to cobble together many facts, pictures, and reference material to paint a pretty thorough picture of how the Polynesian Resort will soon be renamed the Polynesian Village and will feature a series of water bungalow rooms built right out over the Seven Seas Lagoon (we first mentioned these back on April 5). It will cost an arm and a leg, yes, but – boy – will it be the most beautiful place to stay in any theme park the world over.

And though this is only for Anaheim and not Orlando, we at RRU thought this was too cool to pass up: the realm of Asgard, replete with a Thor meet-n-greet, will be coming to Disneyland right before Thor: The Dark World hits theaters on November 8, 2013 (one day after my birthday!). No specifics are officially released as of yet, but it’s likely the company will replicate its Iron Man 3 tie-in: “Iron Man Tech, Presented by Stark Industries” took place in Innovations, showing off seven costumes from the film(s) from April through September of this year.

And just for you die-hard Thor fans out there, you can see his hammer – along with a bunch of other Marvel movie props and Captain America himself – at the Avengers Academy experience on Disney’s cruise ships.

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DISCLAIMER FROM THE EDITOR

It is tough to imagine that we need to put a disclaimer at the bottom of a blog post called Rumor Round-Up, but the growing popularity of our articles seems to have raised concern in some camps that our rumor reporting is not a 100% accurate forecast of things to come. So here goes nothing: Please remember when viewing this post that a rumor is a piece of unverified information of uncertain origin; a statement whose veracity is not quickly or ever confirmed.

For those who wish we’d only write about “true” rumors, I simply don’t know how to articulate a sensible reply to that request. But I can say, if you possess an algorithm for determining these, you ought to be making millions selling true rumors to sites like TMZ — or the government.

Thanks to Marc for researching the latest rumor buzz from sources across the Internet and condensing it down into a single post for us each and every week!

[sws_author_bio user=”msunyata@yahoo.com” size=”105″ authorposts=”More OI posts by Marc” name_format=”About the author”] [/sws_author_bio]

The post Rumor round-up for August 22, 2013: Diagon Alley, HHN Reveal Week, D23 Expo park news, Disney’s Polynesian Village & more appeared first on Orlando Informer.

Let’s update Islands of Adventure, shall we?

With Universal Studios Florida getting a bevy of new attractions – Transformers, Springfield, Diagon Alley – it’s only right to balance out the equation and give Islands of Adventure its first park-wide facelift since it opened all the way back in 1999. And, indeed, we’ve already covered Toon Lagoon possibly being replaced and both Jurassic Park and Seuss Landing getting expansions in previous installments of Rumor Round-Up. That just leaves Marvel Super Hero Island and Lost Continent; the former can’t be altered due to contractual stipulations with Marvel/Disney, and the later has been rumored to be replaced by one license or another ever since Harry Potter literally broke Lost Continent in half for Hogsmeade.

This biggest, hot-off-the-presses rumor of what will be taking over Lost Continent, though, takes the cake: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

The Orlando United forums are abuzz with Universal Creative’s current round of planning for the “island,” which is still reportedly in the blue sky phase. Expect to see Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory dominating most of the area, with a small British village surrounding it and acting as something of a buffer zone. Inside, there will be several attractions, ranging from the chocolate river ferry to the fizzy lifting drink lab to, of course, the glass elevator.

If this all seems too, well, weird to be true, the rationale is said to go something this: it’s a “family-friendly, literary-based IP with a built-in food and beverage component” – exactly the sort of thing that Universal is on the hunt for since the unquestionable success of the Wizarding World (not to mention the growing traction around Springfield).

Don’t get too excited (or disappointed!) just yet, though – according to the reports, this would take a backseat to the imminent Woody Woodpecker’s KidZone overhaul at USF and the expansion work at Seuss Landing and Jurassic Park. We shouldn’t expect construction to begin until late 2015, at the earliest.

Walking the CityWalk walk

Did you happen to stop by Orlando Informer’s Flickr page this week and see all those construction walls starting to pop up at CityWalk? And are you perhaps curious as to what, exactly, Universal has planned now?

Well, faithful readers of RRU will already have a head’s up about what’s going on, but it turns out Park Rumors has a lot more (concrete) info on what’s going down, as well. It turns out that Universal filed the first of several CityWalk-related permits back on June 12, which was for the “interior remodel of existing venue in Space 294 in CityWalk.” That space is, of course, currently home to Pastamore Marketplace, but it’ll soon be called Woodfire Pizza, according to the document. (Note that the full-service section of Pastamore is still open for business.)

The other changes? Project 102 calls for the “demolition of interior and exterior construction in existing venue,” which – surprise! – is for Latin Quarter. What’s interesting to note here is that there’s no mention of a remodel – just a straight demolition job, which means that whatever new restaurant (supposedly a Don Quixote) moves into this lot will have to start from the ground up. Last but not least is none other than “PRJ IOA STARBUCKS 208,” which we now know (thanks, in part, to one our of lovely OI readers, DestroyTheMouse) to be a two-fer: Starbucks moving into the lower level of CityWalk as well as taking over Cinnabon’s location in Islands of Adventure…

As for why all of these construction projects are being started now, at the tail end of the summer season, we’ve been hearing from multiple sources and on multiple sites that Universal wants everything to be done before the holiday season kicks off, which is typically the very busiest part of the vacation year.

But what’s perhaps most interesting about this recent development is simply just how spot-on the inside sources at Universal are: we reported back in June that Latin Quarter would be going down in August, and here we are, right on the dot. When combined with the leaks about Diagon Alley, Transformers, and Springfield, it seems that Universal isn’t able to keep a secret for very long – which is terrific for us rumor mongers and theme park enthusiasts.

HHN 23 is starting to ramp up

Are you ready to declare your fealty to one particular faction or another of Halloween Horror Nights? Wait no longer – Universal now has Legendary Truth and Horror Unearthed merchandise available for purchase. Items currently up consist of caps, beanies, and, in the case of Legendary Truth, t-shirts, but there’s plenty of “coming soon” teases at the site for more offerings. The six legions – Baccanoid, Cerebin, Kerezan, Maschorian, Morphan, and Strengoit – are all carry-overs from last year’s HHN, which more than likely means that we can see a similar in-park game, replete with an RFID card for each player, pop up again in the weeks to come.

If horror shopping actually gets you in the mood for some scares, the next two mazes for Horror Nights have been whispered into the cyberspace ether… but only for Universal Studios Hollywood. First up is Black Sabbath: 13-3D, which will feature “horrifying” graveyards, madhouses, and battlefields and which will also incorporate a 3D video that contains elements from the band’s recent album, 13. Universal is promising that this will be the only haunted house to feature 3D elements of this kind, so take that for what it’s worth.

And the second one? That’ll be based off of Insidious, the 2010 movie produced by the creator of the Paranormal Activity series. Scare Zone was actually the first to break this story early last month, and now other sources are backing them up, with an official reveal slated for this weekend.

Finally, if you want a HHN fix right this instant, you can always follow its official Twitter feed, which was just taken over by the assistant director of creative development for Universal Orlando’s Art and Design Department, Mike Aiello. Behind the Thrills has a brief but loving write-up of the man, who started off as a part-time employee at Universal Studios Florida (even working HHN himself!) and who is now posting computer mock-ups of the mazes and even some Walking Dead designs.

Until next week…

DISCLAIMER FROM THE EDITOR

It is tough to imagine that we need to put a disclaimer at the bottom of a blog post called Rumor Round-Up, but the growing popularity of our articles seems to have raised concern in some camps that our rumor reporting is not a 100% accurate forecast of things to come. So here goes nothing: Please remember when viewing this post that a rumor is a piece of unverified information of uncertain origin; a statement whose veracity is not quickly or ever confirmed.

For those who wish we’d only write about “true” rumors, I simply don’t know how to articulate a sensible reply to that request. But I can say, if you possess an algorithm for determining these, you ought to be making millions selling true rumors to sites like TMZ — or the government.

Thanks to Marc for researching the latest rumor buzz from sources across the Internet and condensing it down into a single post for us each and every week!

[sws_author_bio user=”msunyata@yahoo.com” size=”105″ authorposts=”More OI posts by Marc” name_format=”About the author”] [/sws_author_bio]

The post Rumor round-up for August 9, 2013: Replacing Lost Continent with Willy Wonka, Universal CityWalk developments exposed & more HHN goodies appeared first on Orlando Informer.

Just to follow up on our recent Soarin’ news: Screamscape has swooped in with a juicy new report regarding Soarin’ over the Horizon, the rumored replacement for the current iteration of the ride that is slated to open in 2016.

Thanks to the brand-new digital projector that it will be switching over to (instead of the older IMAX format), and thanks to a little borrowed tech from Star Tours, the new attraction will be able to randomize which areas guests soar over on each ride, providing, potentially, for a great number of different flight plans. (Star Tours: The Adventures Continue has eleven different segments that are randomly selected, allowing for a whopping 54 different possible ride experiences.) In this way, the site notes, Imagineers will be able to squeeze many, many different locations from across the globe in while still keeping everything at five or six minutes – and will greatly increase the “replay value” of the attraction.

Not that Soarin’ needs any help in the popularity department, though.

Universal’s next big thing: Silly Swirly?

Universal has filed a trademark application for something called “Silly Swirly,” Theme Park Insider tells us. While new filings are almost always exciting affairs since they provide some elusive sneak peeks into what the theme park companies don’t want us knowing about just yet, this one is just plain… weird.

Why? Well, there’s the name itself, of course, but there’s also the little fact that we simply don’t know what this could possibly be. Robert Niles, Theme Park Insider’s EIC, hypothesizes that we could be looking at something being put into place over at Universal Studios Hollywood: with the Adventures of Curious George closing down to make room for USH’s Harry Potter addition, a new kids’ play area is being built around Despicable Me Minion Mayhem, called Super Silly Fun Land. Could the Silly Swirly be a new ride being installed there?

If not, there’s no shortage of other possibilities: a new flat ride, like Kang and Kodos’s Twirl ‘n Hurl; a new dish or drink, a la the ever-popular butterbeer; or, even, a new street parade.

Quick hits: Springfield, Disney construction, NBCUniversal spending

Bring the walls down! Well, most of them, at any rate. The Simpsons Springfield waterfront area — home to Lard Lad Donuts, Duff Gardens, Bumblebee Man’s Taco Truck and more — opened yesterday. To see all the Simpsons greatness, check out the 75 full resolution images of the new waterfront area on the Orlando Informer Flickr page (August 2 photoset). Once you’ve seen the images, learn more about the whole project on our Springfield page.

Note that the only Simpsons expansion feature not open yet is Kang & Kodos’ Twirl ‘n’ Hurl.

Also on the Orlando Informer Flickr page, Dan has added a July 31 photoset from his special trip to Walt Disney World. The new set includes construction shots of the Villas at Grand Floridian (DVC), Seven Dwarfs Mine Train (should be opening sometime next spring), and Spice Road Table at Epcot’s Morocco Pavilion (scheduled to open by the end of this year).

Michael Angelakis, Comcast’s CFO, recently dropped something of a quiet bombshell in the company’s latest quarterly earnings call: NBCUniversal will be spending even more cash than it already has been over the past year-and-a-half to stuff its theme parks with even more rides and activities. “We are now accelerating NBCU’s capital investment plan,” he said, “primarily driven by the theme parks’ investments in new attractions, such as Transformers [and] an expansion of Harry Potter in Orlando as well as Despicable Me in Hollywood.”

As The Hollywood Reporter notes, that means the company’s capital expenditures for 2013 will be bumped up to $1.1 billion – a 50 percent increase from last year.

Whispers…

Sometimes, while surfing the net and stalking Imagineers at night, you hear things. These are little snippets that you just can’t pin down to a particular news story or website, but they’re still tantalizing enough to report on, even in their half-formed state. Call these proto-rumors – the whispers that will eventually lead to a real breakthrough somewhere, sometime.

So what do these whispers have to say? First of all, Epcot’s Imagination pavilion just might be closing not for a replacement, but for a simple refurbishment – which just maybe, just might include the re-introduction of the Dreamfinder into the Journey into Imagination with Figment ride (just as Figment was put back into the attraction due to sustained public demand). It might also be getting an upgrade into Disney’s much-ballyhooed NextGen initiative with the addition of an interactive queue, just like Haunted Mansion and Dumbo have already received. We first spoke about Imagination closing in last week’s RRU.

Meanwhile, over at Jurassic Park in Islands of Adventure, stories are starting to swirl (Silly Swirl?) around the possibility that maybe the rumor mill has the new construction near River Adventure wrong and that, instead of getting new midway games, we’ll be getting that oft-mentioned and long-delayed new ride, possibly to coincide with the release of Jurassic Park 4 in 2015. It seems like a long shot, particularly given Universal’s penchant for shorter construction times, but – hey – the whisperers keep whisperin’…

DISCLAIMER FROM THE EDITOR

It is tough to imagine that we need to put a disclaimer at the bottom of a blog post called Rumor Round-Up, but the growing popularity of our articles seems to have raised concern in some camps that our rumor reporting is not a 100% accurate forecast of things to come. So here goes nothing: Please remember when viewing this post that a rumor is a piece of unverified information of uncertain origin; a statement whose veracity is not quickly or ever confirmed.

For those who wish we’d only write about “true” rumors, I simply don’t know how to articulate a sensible reply to that request. But I can say, if you possess an algorithm for determining these, you ought to be making millions selling true rumors to sites like TMZ — or the government.

Thanks to Marc for researching the latest rumor buzz from sources across the Internet and condensing it down into a single post for us each and every week!

[sws_author_bio user=”msunyata@yahoo.com” size=”105″ authorposts=”More OI posts by Marc” name_format=”About the author”] [/sws_author_bio]

The post Rumor round-up for August 3, 2013: Soarin’ gets randomized, Universal gets Silly & the Imagination pavilion and Jurassic Park get new construction possibilities appeared first on Orlando Informer.

A short, mysterious, but highly intriguing post by Epcot Explorer’s Encyclopedia on its Facebook page makes some rather bold claims: Disney is planning on closing the Imagination pavilion in Epcot’s Future World on January 2, 2014.

Such news, perhaps, isn’t that surprising; Imagination has easily had the most troubling history at Future World, despite the fact that such pavilions as World of Energy and Wonders of Life have either been completely replaced or shuttered for good (and let’s not even talk about Horizons, which was the first building/attraction in Disney history to actually be razed to the ground). The destination is currently in its third iteration – and even its third name! – and has seen more than its fair share of controversies, given the introduction, removal, and introduction again of Figment, who was for a good while the closest thing Epcot ever had to a mascot.

While the Explorer’s Encyclopedia has no information on what will be replacing Imagination, it does offer some specifics in regards to the pavilion’s current slate of attractions. Expect Captain EO, the current (retro) 3D short film, and the theater that houses it to be gone for good (sorry, Michael Jackson). Journey into Imagination with Figment will be replaced, as will its gift shop, and will reopen in January 2015. There is no word on whether ImageWorks will be permanently axed or somehow refurbished, although smart money is on the space being used for some type of side-attraction.

As for what that replacement will be… only the figment of Disney’s imagination (or, more likely, its attorneys) knows.

Making room at Disney’s Hollywood Studios for Luke, Vader & Mater

We here at RRU have been following the planned expansion/renovation of Hollywood Studios – which will see an East Coast version of Cars Land along with a brand-new Star Wars Land being installed at the park – for quite some time now, and one of the biggest questions throughout the development has been, simply, just where will they put all these new attractions?

It seems like Disney at Work just may have the answer, and it resides in the parking lot. According to the site, the second parking entrance to Hollywood Studios (yes, DHS is the only park at Disney World to actually feature two ways in or out) that opens on World Drive will be closed and dismantled, allowing Imagineers to put up new rides around the likes of Lights! Motors! Action! and Star Tours.

Given that most traffic into the park has actually come from the Buena Vista Drive side over the past 24 years (at the top of the image above), such a move would certainly make sense – but the site says that even this entrance will see a drastic makeover, turning it into a bus-only entryway. The idea here will be to help alleviate congestion at the intersection of Buena Vista and Epcot Resorts Boulevard, which was never designed to handle the amount of traffic that it has been getting for a long while now and is easily one of the most backed-up spots in all of Walt Disney World.

Where will guests be able to enter the park, then? Easy – a brand-new entrance, which will be off of Victory Way (the street that heads down to the Art of Animation Resort and the ESPN Sports Complex). By doing this, Disney at Work theorizes, it will not only allow the real estate needed for two or three decades’ worth of expansion, it will also allow Disney to do what it does best and open the new attractions in phases. We could get those rumored two or three new Star Wars rides right away, within the current boundary of the park, while future areas would be built where all those endless rows of parking spots are right now.

For more Star Wars Land coverage, check out the last few RRU posts. You might also be interested in my other blog post this week, Designing Star Wars Land at Walt Disney World: What Disney’s Imagineers should learn from Universal Creative. You can read it here.

Quick hits: Disney Springs, Osborne Lights & The Walking Dead

MouseSteps has some nice pictures – and even some video – of the preliminary construction work that is being done at Downtown Disney, which will eventually transform it into Disney Springs. As of right now, all we can see is the closure of parking spots all across Downtown and construction walls finally going up around Pleasure Island, in order to bring the long-abandoned “adult section” down.

In this vein, if you want to see the fan-favorite Comedy Warehouse specifically being torn down, then ThemeParkReview’s Twitter feed has you covered, you masochistic weirdo.

It seems like all might not be lost for the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights holiday show, whose closure either this year or next at Hollywood Studios has many a Disney fan’s heart pitter-pattering. Screamscape reports that a new Christmas light program is more than likely making its way over to Epcot, comprised at least in part of salvaged Osborne elements, although the whispered mutterings of insiders can’t agree on whether it’d be one giant display in Future World or distributed all throughout the various country pavilions in World Showcase.

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And definitely saving the best for last: in case you missed the news yesterday, Universal not only confirmed the third haunted house in this year’s Halloween Horror Nights lineup, it also made an unprecedented move in announcing that all the outside scare zones will be themed to the same property. Yup, that’s right – The Walking Dead, AMC’s record-setting television series, will have multiple locations/sets from its three-year run scattered all over both Universal Studios Florida and Hollywood.

Reaction has been strong… and weighted more toward the negative, with many longtime HHN fans seeing the move as yet another step away from creativity and original content — the hallmark of the event in years past (and the reason why many longtime HHN fans became so passionate in the first place). But the move also has some fans cheering, particularly those who love the Walking Dead franchise. In fact, some fans make a strong argument that the use of movies for the first three haunted houses and the HHN 2013 street experience is actually more in line with Universal’s true heritage as a film and TV production facility and the only place where you can Ride the Movies.

Be sure to read all about these developments and more in Orlando Informer’s complete guide to HHN 2013.

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The post Rumor round-up for July 26, 2013: Closing Imagination at Epcot, expanding DHS for Cars Land & Star Wars, moving Osborne Lights, The Walking Dead rise appeared first on Orlando Informer.