Disney World’s “Fab 50 Statues” To Get Pixie-Dusted

 by Beth Keating

News

DisneyBizJournal.com

September 21, 2023

 

In walking around Magic Kingdom recently, my family joked that Florida was continuing to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Walt Disney World Resort, instead of Disney100 (honoring the company’s founding), since the golden 50th anniversary character statues were still making their homes throughout the four parks.  We thought by now, a full half-year after the 18-month long 50th celebration ended in March, the figures would have been re-homed somewhere.

The adorable statues had arrived in the parks just a few weeks ahead of the October 1, 2021, celebratory kick-off, and maybe the figures just didn’t want the party to be over. In any case, they were a fun addition to the atmosphere of the parks, and it turned into a bit of an unplanned scavenger hunt trying to locate favorite Disney characters. We especially enjoyed finding our pals in Hollywood Studios.

If you aren’t familiar with the statues, there were 50 (give or take, depending on how you counted the characters or character groupings) small sculptures scattered around the four parks, and when you waved your MagicBand+ at the medallion at the base of the statue, the character would respond with lines or sounds from their respective films. Mostly. (They were notorious for taking too much time to reset between guests, and sometimes not really responding at all.)

Now, Walt Disney World has announced that the medallions will be getting a refresh – Imagineers will be “pixie-dusting” the golden 50th anniversary versions to enable guests to continue interacting with their favorite Disney friends for future trips.

It seems that those beautiful statues will be making their permanent homes in the parks after all! Let’s keep the party going! 

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Beth Keating is a theme parks, restaurant and entertainment reporter for DisneyBizJournal.

“Disney100: The Exhibition — Making the Magic” To Air Tonight on ABC

 by Beth Keating

News

DisneyBizJournal.com

March 23, 2023

 

What are you doing tonight?  If you are a Disney fanatic, you might want to make sure you tune in to Disney100: The Exhibition — Making the Magic on your local ABC station, or stream it on Hulu.  The 30-minute special premieres this evening (Thursday, March 23, 2023) at 7:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. PT across ABC owned television stations on linear, digital, and streaming platforms, as well as on the Localish network. For participating stations and times, check your local listings.  

A celebration of 100 historic years of making magic, the TV special, Disney100: The Exhibition — Making the Magic, goes behind the scenes of Disney100: The Exhibition, the Disney Archives’ exhibit which debuted earlier this year at The Franklin Institute in Philadelphia.

The Philadelphia exhibit runs through August 27, 2023, before it goes on the road to other locations. Guests will get a chance to see many rare Disney artifacts, some of which have never been available to the public before.  The special will also explore some of the incredible moments from Disney’s rich 100 year legacy.

According to Disney, “Disney100: The Exhibition – Making the Magic is a dazzling journey through this immersive exhibit, featuring more than 250 artifacts and works of art, costumes and props, and memorabilia from the Walt Disney Archives’ vault of treasures.”

 

The exhibit includes items such as:

 

• Disneyland Employee Badge No. 1, issued in 1955 to Walt Disney

 

• Costumes from Black Panther, Jungle Cruise, Cruella, Enchanted and more

 

• Prop storybooks featured in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Sleeping Beauty

 

• Skywalker Lightsaber Hilt from Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, used by Daisy Ridley

 

• Attraction vehicles from Matterhorn Bobsleds and Peter Pan’s Flight at Disneyland Park

 

During the TV special, viewers will also visit the Walt Disney Archives in Burbank to see how the 15,000-square-foot exhibition, featuring 10 themed galleries at The Franklin Institute, was produced, getting an insider’s look into the creation of some of Disney’s characters and films along the way. 

 

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Beth Keating is a theme parks, restaurant and entertainment reporter for DisneyBizJournal.