Uncle Walt's Insider Marty, Author at Uncle Walt's Insider

A new trend in cruising: shore excursions without leaving the ship!

Cruise line trend: shore excursions without leaving the ship

Other cruise lines are now copying Disney's September 2017 dock encounter. ROATÁN -- As Uncle Walt's Insider reported last year, the Disney Dream backed into a dock at the Port of Nassau, when the Captain was letting his teenage son practice parallel parking. Apparently the Disney Cruise Line is still a trendsetter in the industry, as other cruise lines are experimenting with combining land and sea adventures without leaving the ship: https://youtu.be/3IaXf171iDE The video shows a test run of the MSC Armonia cruise ship's ...

Entrance to the Be Our Guest restaurant at Magic Kingdom. Inset photo by HarshLight [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons.

Be Our Guest’s new Dungeon Room opens in May

It's cold, dark, and you'll be locked in there forever. But the food is good! WALT DISNEY WORLD -- Construction is almost complete on additional seating for the Magic Kingdom Park’s Be Our Guest restaurant! As reported here in November, the popular Beauty and the Beast-themed eatery, built to appear as if it were inside Beast’s castle, often must be booked months in advance. The current three dining rooms — the Grand Ballroom, the Castle Gallery, and the mysterious West Wing — will ...

April 14, 2018 by Marty in Florida

Some suitcases, one of which has a Mickey silhouette on it.

What the “Moms” missed: more packing essentials for Walt Disney World

You need more than you realize for a trip to the Most Magical Place on Earth! A recent article on the Disney Parks blog gave some great advice on what to pack for a trip to Walt Disney World -- great, but incomplete. Not to cast doubt on the collective wisdom of the Disney Parks Moms Panel, but the average family needs to bring more than just some mesh laundry bags, ziplocs and pennies when visiting Walt's Magic Kingdom, Not That One ...

April 13, 2018 by Marty in Florida

HungTime is Knott's Berry Farm's newest roller coaster, with a soundtrack by William Hung. Inset photo courtesy Knott's Berry Farm.

‘HungTime’ roller coaster, with music by William Hung, opens soon

"You'll be screaming before you even leave the station." BUENA PARK, CA -- Knott's Berry Farm theme park has announced that its newest roller coaster, 'HungTime,' will open on April 18. The coaster, named for its soundtrack featuring former American Idol contestant William Hung, features quadraphonic stereo speakers in every seat and a subwoofer in every car, and also some loops and stuff. Knott's Berry Farm spokesperson Jun Knott [no relation] tells Uncle Walt's Insider, "We crank it up to eleven from the very beginning ...

April 12, 2018 by Marty in California

Neuschwanstein Castle, the centerpiece of the new Disneyland Bavaria. Inset photo by Preetam Chakraborty [CC BY-SA 4.0] via Wikimedia Commons.

Neuschwanstein Castle acquired by Disney

History comes full circle, as Disney now owns the inspiration for its own theme park castles. BAVARIA, GERMANY -- A real-life fairytale castle, long said to be the model for Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland and later Disney castles, is now in the hands of Mickey Mouse. The Walt Disney Company announced yesterday that it had acquired the picturesque 19th-century castle set in the foothills of the Bavarian Alps. "We've built fiberglass castles, inflatable castles, and stone castles," Disney spokesperson Jun Disney [no relation] ...

April 10, 2018 by Marty in World