Uncle Walt's Insider Page 226 – Uncle Walt's Insider

Paradise Pier at Disney California Adventure Park, soon to be Pixar Pier. Photo by Carlyc999 via Wikimedia Commons, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0).

New “Pixar Pier” to be entirely computer rendered

Most of the former Paradise Pier area at Disney California Adventure Park has been closed, ostensibly to convert it to "Pixar Pier," a celebration of that animation studio's biggest hits. However, Uncle Walt's Insider has learned that the new land will actually be digitally rendered in real time, rather than constructed usually traditional techniques. Falling short of Paradise Paradise Pier was one of California Adventure's original lands -- and one that drew heavy criticism from Disney purists. Up until the park's 2001 opening, ...

The on-again, off-again Earfful Tower at Disney's Hollywood Studios.

Earfful Tower to return “seasonally” – News Brief for Jan. 14

Na'vi protest lack of cast members Representatives of the Na'vi people from Pandora have filed a written protest with the administration of the Walt Disney World Resort, saying that the Na'vi should be hired as cast members in the new Pandora - the World of Avatar land at Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park. The protest letter notes that in the past, Walt Disney World has staffed its various pavilions and hotels representing different countries and areas of the world with cast members ...

January 14, 2018 by Marty in California, Florida

An open door during a recent monorail ride at Walt Disney World. Photo credit: abbieprimeknits via Instagram.

Open door points to Disney’s new convertible monorail design

A video recently posted to YouTube appears to show a dangerous situation aboard Monorail Red. Taken from the inside of a passenger car as the monorail train travels to Epcot, the video shows one of the doors to be open. Was this a malfunction, or has Disney implemented an open door policy? Uncle Walt's Insider sent a crack team of investigators to dig further into this situation, and our findings will shock you. Mark VI Monorail - an aging fleet The current Mark VI monorail ...

January 12, 2018 by Walt in Florida

Newsies, a Disney Theatrical Production under the direction of Thomas Schumacher presents Newsies, music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Jack Feldman, book by Harvey Fierstein, starring Dan Deluca (Jack Kelly), Steve Blanchard (Joseph Pulitzer), Stephanie Styles (Katherine Plumber), Angela Grovey (Medda), Jacob Kemp (Davey), Zachary Sayle (Crutchie), Anthony Rosenthal or Vincent Crocilla (Les) and Matthew J. Schechter (Les) under the direction of Jeff Calhoun, choreographed by Christopher Gattelli, North American Tour premiere Thursday October 30 Philadelphia.

Lost attractions: Newsies-themed roller coaster

"Lost Attractions" is a recurring feature on Uncle Walt's Insider, where we shine the spotlight on planned attractions that were never built. The Seven Dwarfs Mine Train at Disney's Magic Kingdom Park in Florida is an unqualified success, remaining tremendously popular and generating lengthy standby queues almost four years after its debut. But until now, only a select few people knew that Mine Train's unique roller coaster / dark ride combination was not original, but was based on an unbuilt attraction originally ...

January 10, 2018 by Marty in Spotlight

The late George Weaver, longtime Mayor of Main Street USA, in Disney's Magic Kingdom Park. Photo credit: Scott Smith via Flikr, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Mayor resolves trade dispute between Tomorrowland and Frontierland

December in Disney's Magic Kingdom Park might have been unpleasant, as a long-simmering trade dispute between Tomorrowland and Frontierland threatened to bring the 2017 holiday season to a screeching halt -- that is, until the Mayor of Main Street U.S.A. stepped in! Trade dispute goes back years In 2011, the most-talked about treat at the Magic Kingdom was a pretzel in the likeness of Mickey Mouse. It was only available in Frontierland and fans of this tasty treat flocked there to buy one, ...

January 8, 2018 by Walt in Florida