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Construction/Refurb

Disney unveils a 1920s theme for California Adventure

Off to Neverland Travel found this article regarding the new theme and upgrades coming to Disney’s California Adventure.ย  Along with a sweeping overhaul of the main entrance theme and multiple new attractions, Disney’s California Adventure will be a great place to visit in the next several years.ย  Learn more here:

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-disney16-2008oct16,0,4646061.story

Pixie Hollow Meet and Greet Coming to Walt Disney World

WOFL FOX 35, Orlando reports that soon, kids of all ages will be able to meet the fairies (including Tinkerbell) from the new “Tinkerbell: The Movie” which releases to DVD on October 28.

It’s called “Pixie Hollow”, a meet and greet experience that your littlest one has never experienced before. Tinkerbell and her fairy friends,ย  complete with pixie dust, will interact with guests at the Magic Kingdom’s “Mickey’s Toontown Fair.

The new area opens on October 24th.ย  Want to be there when it opens?ย  Book your Disney Vacation today!

Disney Vacation Club Announces Bay Lake Towers and Treehouse Villas

According to the Orlando Sentinel, Disney Vacation Club (DVC)ย has announced two new properties for the Walt Disney Worldยฎ Resort.ย  Bay Lake Tower, which is positioned very close to Disney’s Contemporary Resort will allow for a first in Disney Vacation Club history.ย  DVC members will now have the option of staying within walking distance to the Magic Kingdomยฎ park.ย  DVC also announced the Treehouse Villas, which will be a rebuild of some older villas near Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort and Spa.ย  The two new properties will give DVC members even more flexibility in terms of choices for their stay.

You don’t have to be a DVC member to book these resorts.ย  Contact your Personal Magic Makerโ„ขย to learn more about the Disney properties.ย  Your Magic Makerยฎย will guide you through the process and make sure you get the perfect resort for your family.

Pirate Rooms Now Available at Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort

Have you ever dreamed of sailing the seven seas or searching for buried treasure? Would you like to drift off at night in a pirate-ship bed, dreaming of far-away lands? A new option at Disneyโ€™s Caribbean Beach Resort may be your dream come true!

Beginning in January 2009, 384 rooms in the Trinidad South village will be transformed into Pirate Rooms. These special rooms feature two double beds, along with highly themed furniture, buccaneer accessories, and swashbuckling dรฉcor from stem to stern. They are sure to immerse yourย vacations in the spirit of โ€œThe Pirates of the Caribbean!โ€

Live out your pirate dreams, and stay in one of these unique rooms, a new room category at Disneyโ€™s Caribbean Beach Resort. Thereโ€™s nothing else like it this side of the Seven Seas!

Disneyland Prepares to Open Sleeping Beauty Castle Walkthrough

Anaheim, CA – The interior of Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland will open in time for the December holiday season, offering guests a โ€œreawakenedโ€ version of its classic walkthrough presentation kissed with vibrant scenes of Aurora, her charming prince, the evil Maleficent and other characters from the beloved fairy tale film.

โ€œIt is fitting that we are announcing the return of a classic on the 53rd anniversary of Disneyland,โ€ said Tony Baxter, Senior Vice President of Creative Development for Walt Disney Imagineering, who unveiled a model of the castle on July 17, the birthday of Disneyland park.

Next year marks the 50th anniversary of Walt Disneyโ€™s โ€œSleeping Beauty,โ€ and the excitement generated by the anniversary of the motion picture spurred interest in the return of the Disneyland attraction.

Also celebrating the milestone 50th Anniversary of โ€œSleeping Beautyโ€ is Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, which will release a two-disc Platinum Blu-rayโ„ข Hi-Def disc, making โ€œSleeping Beautyโ€ the first Walt Disney animated classic title to be released in high definition, as well as on two-disc Platinum DVD. A bonus feature on the new release will be โ€œThe Original Sleeping Beauty Walk-Through Attraction With Walt Disney Imagineering,โ€ an immersive experience recreating the original castle walkthrough.

On April 29, 1957, nearly two years before the premiere of Walt Disneyโ€™s animated feature โ€œSleeping Beauty,โ€ the Sleeping Beauty Castle Walkthrough opened with an in-park ceremony featuring Walt Disney and actress Shirley Temple who, some 20 years earlier, had presented Disney with his special Academy Award โ€“ one Oscar and seven little ones โ€“ for โ€œSnow White and the Seven Dwarfs.โ€

The crafting of the 1957 walkthrough show fell to Walt Disney Imagineer Ken Anderson and animation art director and color stylist Eyvind Earle, credited with giving the motion picture โ€œSleeping Beautyโ€ the distinctive and colorful look of storybook illustrations in medieval style. An entirely new look appeared in 1977 when the attractionโ€™s redesign featured miniature dioramas, including moving figurines similar to the window displays in the shops on Main Street, U.S.A.

When the attraction is unveiled later this year, the โ€œshowโ€ will differ from the dioramas of the 1980s and โ€˜90s, returning to the unique style of the original 1957 show and motion picture. Enhanced with new scenes and special effects magic, the re-Imagineered attraction will employ technology not available in the 1950s to represent scenes from the story of Sleeping Beauty, including the magic of good fairies Flora, Fauna and Merryweather, and the more sinister spells of the evil Maleficent.

For the first time, guests who are unable to climb stairs or navigate the passageways of the Castle will be able to experience the walkthrough โ€œvirtuallyโ€ in a special room on the ground floor of the Castle.

Enjoy While You Can

As with all things in life, change is upon us. The Walt Disney Worldยฎ Resort is not free from change, in fact, many times they pioneer change before others. Off to Neverland Travelยฎ has confirmed the closure of one show and changes to two Disney restaurants. We wanted to make you aware of the changes so that you can make sure you have a chance to experience these before the changes take place.

  • Pocahontas and Her Forest Friends in Disney’s Animal Kingdomยฎ Theme Park will have its final show on September 27, 2008 according to the Orlando Sentinel. Disney has not announced a replacement at this time.
  • As of January 5, 2009, the Liberty Tree Tavern in Magic Kingdomยฎ Park will no longer offering character dining. Dinner will continue to be served without the characters.
  • As of October 5, the Garden Grill in EPCOTยฎ will only be open for dinner, and will no longer be serving lunch.

Bold New Vision for Downtown Disney

Walt Disney Worldยฎ Resort has unveiled a new vision for the Downtown Disneyยฎ area, with extraordinary new shopping, dining and other experiences including a completely re-imagined Pleasure Island. Also planned are numerous enhancements to popular Downtown Disney locations, as well as additional theming and storytelling brought to life by Walt Disney Imagineers.

โ€œWe are committed to offering Guests new and exciting experiences they can only have atย Walt Disney Worldยฎ Resort,โ€ said Downtown Disney Vice President Kevin Lansberry. โ€œOur bold new vision for Downtown Disney reflects the feedback we receive from our Guests each and every day and will enable us to continue to offer the high-quality entertainment that is our hallmark.โ€

Over the next year, the 120-acre entertainment-shopping-dining complex will add a number of one-of-a-kind, immersive experiences for you to enjoy. Downtown Disney will even get its own iconic attraction, in the form of a giant, tethered balloon that will take Guests 300 feet into the air to view the amazing vistas of Walt Disney World Resort.

Other new experiences include:

  • In fall 2008, you will enter a world of prehistoric creatures at T-Rex: A Prehistoric Family Adventure. The dinosaur-themed family eatery will serve up pizzas, pastas, seafood and more, and will feature life-size animated dinosaurs that dwell among bubbling geysers, waterfalls and a fossil dig site.
  • Also this fall, a design-your-own t-shirt store from Hanes will add to the growing collection of merchandise you can personalize.
  • E-brands Restaurants, an Orlando-based, multi-concept restaurant group, will premier its newest concept in spring 2009. The high-energy, casual eatery will feature authentic Central and South American cuisine, specialty drinks and live music along the waterfront.

You also will enjoy a brand new mix of shopping and dining experiences at Pleasure Island as it is transformed over the next two years.

โ€œOur Guests tell us they want additional shopping and dining experiences at Downtown Disney,โ€ added Lansberry. โ€œWe are currently considering a number of unique concepts from around the globe as we re-imagine Pleasure Island and look forward to sharing our progress over the coming months.โ€

To make way for the new offerings, all of the clubs currently on Pleasure Island will close on Sept. 27, 2008. Other locations on Pleasure Island, including Raglan Road, Fuego by Sosa Cigars, Curl by Sammy Duval, Orlando Harley-Davidson and outdoor food and beverage locations will remain open during the transition.

To complement the new experiences, many popular Downtown Disney locations will undergo enhancements.

  • Beginning this summer, Portobello Yacht Club will be transformed into a Tuscan Country Trattoria, featuring family-style dishes and a re-designed interior and exterior, including additional outdoor seating.
  • This fall, Goofyโ€™s Candy Company will add a special new room that will enable families to host one-of-a-kind birthday parties.
  • The Marketplace Stage will be completely replaced with a larger, covered stage this fall to welcome even more entertainment to Downtown Disney and serve as a new premier venue for Disney Magic Music Days.
  • Fultonโ€™s Crab House will update its interior fixtures and furnishings and exterior in spring 2009.
  • Next year, Wolfgang Puck Cafรฉ will update its interior fixtures and furnishings and enclose its patio with glass to enable guests to enjoy the outdoors year-round.

These efforts come on the heels of recent enhancements at World of Disney, Wolfgang Puck Express, Ghirardelli Soda Fountain and Chocolate Shop, Earl of Sandwich and Capโ€™n Jackโ€™s Restaurant.

Castle Walk-through Construction in Disneyland

Sleeping Beauty Castle in DisneylandMousePlanet’s David Koenig reports that Disney is going to re-open the Sleeping Beauty Castle walk-through attraction, which was closed almost seven years ago due to post 9/11 terrorist concerns.ย  While no date has been announced, sources speculate that the attraction could re-open sometime early next year.ย  While some of the original attraction cannot be restored because of recent updates to other shows, we are sure to see a wonderful new walk-through for young and old princesses alike.ย  Stay tuned to the Off to Neverland Travel Dreams Blog for updates!

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