Indiana Jones and More Returning to Walt Disney World Resort

 by Beth Keating

News

DisneyBizJournal.com

October 6, 2021

 

With the COVID positivity rate in Florida finally falling below seven percent this week (half of what it was back in August), it’s welcome news to hear about some of the entertainment returning to the Walt Disney World Parks in the coming weeks.  

 

At our house, the return of the “Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular” at Hollywood Studios was cause for celebration, even if performances don’t start until December 19. (With the stunt show perennially rumored to be on the chopping block, it is a bit of a relief, actually!)

Courtesy of the Disney Parks Blog

Another relief is the October 14 return of “Yeehaw Bob” at the River Roost Lounge at Disney’s Port Orleans Resort – Riverside. It would be hard to imagine Disney without Bob!  The piano man’s high-energy and rollicking performances are always a ton of fun for the whole family.  He’s been sorely missed.

 

In addition to Indy and Bob’s returns, a number of live performance cast members are showing up in the parks. On October 1st, the first day of the 50th anniversary celebration, the Magic Kingdom kicked off the day with a new opening show, “Let the Magic Begin,” on the Cinderella Castle Forecourt Stage.  Mickey and friends welcomed guests to the park with a short opening song and dance number, a feature missing since the park’s COVID reopening.

 

Over on Main Street, Casey’s Corner is once again home to the musical stylings of its ragtime piano player, entertaining visitors several times a day while guests chow down on their favorite Casey’s hot dogs. EPCOT has also seen the return of some of their live performers, including “Sergio” in Italy, “Alberta Bound” in the Canada pavilion, and the “Taiko drummers of Matsuriza” in Japan.  “Chakranadi,” “Kora Tinga Tinga,” and the “Tam Tam Drummers” will soon be returning to Animal Kingdom. 

Courtesy of the Disney Parks Blog

And perhaps of the most interest to families with small princess patrols in tow, Disney Parks Blog has announced that Princess Fairytale Hall in Magic Kingdom will once again be inviting pint-sized princess wanna-bes, and their grown-up sidekicks, to visit the Disney Princesses in their themed rooms, beginning in November.  The blog reports that while the visits will still be somewhat distanced, guests will be able “to have individualized time with some of your favorite characters, getting to visit with them in a themed location and snap a photo or two.” Though with COVID protocols, they still will not be able to collect an autograph or offer up a hug. Until now, most character sightings have been at a greater outdoor distance and unscheduled.  

 

In addition to Princess appearances at Magic Kingdom, November will also see Mickey Mouse back in residence at his backstage dressing room at Town Square Theater on Main Street, and guests will get to meet with him while he is wearing his 50th Anniversary EARidescent party clothes.

 

At Hollywood Studios, Minnie Mouse will greet folks at Red Carpet Dreams, and the stars of Disney Junior will meet you in Animation Courtyard.  And in case you are wondering, even though new character meet-and-greets are happening, the Character Cavalcades will continue to take place throughout the parks as well.

 

EPCOT’s nighttime show “Harmonius” has finally, after a years-long wait, debuted with the 50th anniversary celebration, and Magic Kingdom got a brand new fireworks-and-projections show, with its projections snaking their way all the way down Main Street.  Beginning November 7, Hollywood Studios’ “Disney Movie Magic” nighttime show will also return, adding a new sequence from Mulan. 

 

 Disney promises more news on live entertainment options soon.

 

__________

 

Beth Keating is a regular contributor to DisneyBizJournal.

 

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7 Reasons Why Hollywood Studios DOES NOT Rank At the Top of the Walt Disney World Parks

by Beth Keating

Review/Commentary

DisneyBizJournal.com

September 28, 2019

Disney’s Hollywood Studios as the best of the four theme parks in Walt Disney World?  Ummm, no. Contrary to what was posted earlier this week by the chief prognosticator of this website (see “7 Reasons Hollywood Studios Ranks Best Among Walt Disney World Parks” by Ray Keating), Disney’s Hollywood Studios doesn’t take the top spot.  Galaxy’s Edge may be the hot new commodity drawing visitors to the park (although most days, a visit to Andy’s backyard in Toy Story Land is still king, with longer wait times for Slinky Dog than a visit to outer space), but there’s more to the Studios than the citizens of Batuu. 

Here are a few reasons that make Hollywood Studios a lower priority in my book.

1) Thrill Ride Heaven. Unless you’re a thrill-ride seeker, Hollywood Studios offers few rides for those not looking to spill their lunch.  As a motion-sickness prone guest, I’m not going anywhere near Tower of Terror or Rock ‘n Roller Coaster. Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run was a one-and-done for me, and I got tricked onto Star Tours twice by a youngling who wouldn’t ride without me.  (I don’t blame him – Rex was a terrible pilot.) My son is an upper-teen now and doesn’t need my chaperone skills. So, Bon Voyage C-3PO - Watch out for the storm troopers, and have a nice flight. Even Slinky Dog makes my stomach bounce, and Alien Swirling Saucers makes my head spin.  That leaves me with Toy Story Midway Mania. Which I adore.  And rode four times last trip.  By myself. While they were riding the big thrillers.

2) Too much sitting. See item #1.  If you aren’t doing the thrill rides, the rest of the park is just too much sitting. Voyage of the Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast - Live on Stage, Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular, and Muppet Vision 3-D are all fabulous shows, and I would miss them terribly if they were gone, but it is a lot of time spent sitting in a theater in one day. On the last trip, I saw For the First Time in Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along three times in one day because it was inside and air-conditioned while I was waiting for the rest of the thrill-ride seekers to use their FastPasses. (I also thought it was a funny show, and slightly different each time, so I didn’t mind too much.) Plus, it fit the schedule.

3) Timing. See item #2. If I am relegated primarily to stage shows, it makes my day a lot tougher to schedule, since I am now on Disney’s clock, rather than mine. Many of the shows operate according to precise schedules, and you can’t just wander up to a turnstile when you darn well please.  I actually left the park at one point on a particularly hot day to go throw in a load of laundry back at the resort, and met up with the family later.  How weird was that?

4) Stupid Tier System.  Hollywood Studios’ new Tier System, which took effect the same day Galaxy’s Edge opened on August 29th, makes it hard to get FastPasses for the big attractions.  All of the rides except Star Tours are now Tier 1 (meaning that you effectively only get one Tier 1 per day, since you can only choose one of the rides from Tier 1 as one of your day’s three FastPass selections).  Sure, you can squander FastPasses on shows that you don’t really need FastPasses for anyway because they hold large capacity crowds, just so you can get to that sweet spot where you can get a fourth FastPass after you’ve used the first three, but by then there are no FastPass slots open for the big attractions. Maybe by some stroke of luck someone gave up their FastPass, and you refreshed your My Disney Experience App several dozen times, did the hokey pokey and turned yourself around while facing southeast on the third Tuesday of the month, and were granted an extra FastPass by the FastPass gods, who just happened to be in a giving mood.  Maybe then you had FastPasses for Tower of Terror and Slinky Dog on the same day.  Consider yourself fortunate. If not, well, at least the queue lines are well-themed and interesting. We had to spread it out over several days.  Hurray for Park Hopper!

5) Closed Attractions.  While Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge is an exciting new venue (it should really have been made into a fifth gate!) and totally immersive and stunningly designed, I still miss the attractions that have left our planet. Catastrophe Canyon was so much fun, and I inexplicably miss both the Hunchback of Notre Dame stage show and Bear in the Big Blue House (those were the days with my sweet little toddlers!)  The falling confetti and streamers from Hunchback’s Feast of Fools scene was a thrill, and I even have a few pieces of the streamers in my scrapbook. And while the Lights! Motors! Action! Extreme Stunt show was ungodly hot all the time, it really fit with the theme of seeing inside the movie-making magic. Right now, the Chinese Theater also stands silent.  I miss The Great Movie Ride immensely.  It was one of my favorite attractions of all time. No doubt I will love Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway when it eventually opens, but right now, there’s a big ole hole in the center of the park. They tried to hide it behind a Star Wars stage, but it didn’t work.  Oh, I did try to watch the Star Wars: A Galaxy Far, Far Away live action stage show several times, but never made it all the way through. Standing directly in the mid-day sun while the Star Wars characters paraded out on stage with some movie clips and a few fireworks effects behind them didn’t make up for the loss of John Wayne and the Yellow Brick Road.

6) Magic of the Movies Process.  Don’t get me wrong.  I love the immersive quality of Batuu (especially at night, when it becomes particularly captivating), and was even willing to rope drop at 5:45 in the morning to be there before the larger crowds. But I miss the days of Disney-MGM Studios, when we got to see the water effects tank, the costume departments, and the movie props on the Backlot Tour. I even miss walking past the working artists on the tours, seeing them sketching upcoming movie scenes. Visiting Batuu may make you feel like you are a character in the movie, but the old backstage tours were an interesting look at how the movies were actually made.

7) Osborn Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights.  Don’t. Get. Me. Started.  This is one of the things that I truly miss about this park. It is one of the most magical memories I have of the holidays at Disney. Oh, the amazing feeling of watching my then-four-year-old absolutely dazzled by the lights, his eyes nearly popping out of his head.  I have the 3-D glasses tucked away that turned the streetlights into Christmas angels. As much as I liked Cars, Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy just doesn’t have the same pizzazz as the millions of dancing lights and all the hot chocolate you could drink. 

So, what would I rank as #1? Interesting question.  Let me think about that for a while.  I’ll get back to you tomorrow. Right now, I’ve got a debate to finish.

Beth Keating is a regular contributor to DisneyBizJournal.

A message from Ray Keating, editor and publisher of DisneyBizJournal.com...

If you enjoyed this article, and since I am the author of the Pastor Stephen Grant novels and short stories, and other books, can I ask you to take at least one (preferably more) of the following steps?

1) The new Pastor Stephen Grant novel – DEEP ROUGH – has arrived! You can order the Kindle edition, the paperback, or the signed book.

2) Please join the Pastor Stephen Grant novels and short stories email list, and get the upcoming short story, THE TRAITOR, for free! Sign up here.

3) Buy one of the other Pastor Stephen Grant novels or short stories at Amazon.comor signed books at www.raykeatingonline.com. 

4) Become a member of the Pastor Stephen Grant Fellowship, and get all kinds of FREE stuff, including each new book in the Pastor Stephen Grant series. Check out the levels and benefits here.

5) Order my book – FREE TRADE ROCKS! 10 POINTS ON INTERNATIONAL TRADE EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW – at Amazon.com for the Kindleor paperbacks, or signed books at https://raykeatingonline.com/products/freetrade.

7 Reasons Hollywood Studios Ranks Best Among Walt Disney World Parks

by Ray Keating

Commentary

DisneyBizJournal.com

September 24, 2019

Disney’s Hollywood Studios ranks as the best of the four theme parks in Walt Disney World. In fact, it leaves Magic Kingdom, Epcot and Animal Kingdom in the dust.

Right now, Magic Kingdom, Epcot and Animal Kingdom aficionados are outraged, and ready for a debate. Well, a Disney debate is always fun. So, here are my 7 reasons for making this bold claim.

#1. The Vibe. I’m a movie buff – especially loving classic films. Since it opened in 1989 (as Disney-MGM Studios), Hollywood Studios has served up a great Hollywood vibe. In fact, the two streets – Hollywood and Sunset Blvds – offer a great old-time movies feel. Indeed, as far as streets go in Disney World, these two boulevards only rank behind Main Street, U.S.A., in the Magic Kingdom in terms of being iconic.

#2. Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. While I’ve been a top fan of Hollywood Studios since it opened, the immersive Galaxy’s Edge is unparalleled as a theme park land, and Smugglers Run rates as one of the best rides around – especially for a Star Wars fan. Check out my take on Galaxy’s Edge – “9 Reasons to Love Galaxy’s Edge at Walt Disney World.”

#3. Star Tours – The Adventures Continue. Disney imagineers did a very nice job in upgrading the Star Tours attraction, which first opened in 1989. The new Star Tours – The Adventures Continue opened in May 2011, with new sequences added in November 2015 and November 2017. Even given what’s happening in Galaxy’s Edge, this remains a great attraction.

#4. The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. A welcome from Rod Serling, The Twilight Zone, an old, scary Hollywood hotel, and a thrill ride with great views and drops – nothing more need be said.

#5. Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater Restaurant. It's hard to think of better ways to celebrate Hollywood than coming in from the Florida heat and humidity, sitting down in a replica convertible, watching old sci-fi movies on a huge screen under an evening sky, and enjoying some solid food, including excellent burgers and shakes. I always love going to the Sci-Fi Dine-In, but for some reason I failed to stop in on my latest visit. What the heck was I thinking?

#6. 50’s Prime Time Café. How can you not enjoy taking a trip back to the 1950s, sitting at the formica kitchen table (no elbows on the table, please!), a black-and-white television offering some TV classics, and solid comfort food served up family style. (Make sure you know what color the soap is if you use the restrooms... you might get asked to make sure you washed!)

#7. Indiana Jones. As I wrote in a recent article – Dear Bob: Disney Needs to Step It Up on Indiana Jones – Disney needs more Indiana Jones in the parks, including Indy merchandise. But what Disney does offer, of course, is to be discovered in Hollywood Studios, namely, the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular, and the Indiana Jones Adventure Outpost. Hollywood Studios gets an automatic thumbs-up for being the home of Indiana Jones.

So, I could go on, but there are seven solid reasons why Disney’s Hollywood Studios ranks as the best theme park in Disney World.

Ray Keating is the editor, publisher and economist for DisneyBizJournal.com, and author of the Pastor Stephen Grant novels. He can be contacted at  raykeating@keatingreports.com.

If you enjoyed this article, and since I am the author of the Pastor Stephen Grant novels and short stories, and other books, can I ask you to take at least one (preferably more) of the following steps?

1) The new Pastor Stephen Grant novel – DEEP ROUGH – has arrived! You can order the Kindle edition, the paperback, or the signed book.

2) Please join the Pastor Stephen Grant novels and short stories email list, and get the upcoming short story, THE TRAITOR, for free! Sign up here.

3) Buy one of the other Pastor Stephen Grant novels or short stories at Amazon.comor signed books at www.raykeatingonline.com. 

4) Become a member of the Pastor Stephen Grant Fellowship, and get all kinds of FREE stuff, including each new book in the Pastor Stephen Grant series. Check out the levels and benefits here.

5) Order my newest book – FREE TRADE ROCKS! 10 POINTS ON INTERNATIONAL TRADE EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW – at Amazon.com for the Kindle or in paperback, or signed books at https://raykeatingonline.com/products/freetrade.

Dear Bob: Disney Needs to Step It Up on Indiana Jones

by Ray Keating

Analysis/Commentary

DisneyBizJournal.com

September 12, 2019

Dear Bob,

I just returned from a trip to Walt Disney World, and I’m left wondering, once again, what the heck Disney is doing with Indiana Jones? Please allow me to address some glaring issues.

The first is Indy merchandise. I always stop at the Indiana Jones Adventure Outpost – while also taking in the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular – when at Hollywood Studios. And quite simply, the Indy merchandise currently available is underwhelming, compared to what was once offered long ago, and what could be offered, especially when considering what’s presented throughout the Disney parks for other iconic films and characters. And quite frankly, there aren’t too many movie characters more iconic than Indiana Jones.

Yes, I picked up a very nice satchel, as well as a new pin. I have the Indy shirt and a hat – and even an action figure. But the point is, where’s the rest? Where are the assorted mugs, additional shirts, towels, blankets, glasses, posters, and so on. The first three Indiana Jones movies truly rank as classics (with the fourth being okay), beloved by people of all ages. It’s pretty clear that an opportunity is being missed here, which is odd for you and Disney.

My hope is that when the Stunt Spectacular gets a much-needed upgrade for the summer of 2021 – coinciding with Disney World’s 50^thanniversary and the scheduled release of the fifth Indiana Jones movie – the merchandise will be expanded as well.

Secondly, I have written in the past wondering why Disney seems to be lagging on the Indiana Jones front – see What’s Up with Script Delays and Indiana Jones? (July 23, 2018) and What the Heck is Disney Doing with Indiana Jones? (October 25, 2018). I’ve noted:

When Disney purchased Lucasfilm in 2012 for $4 billion, the House of Mouse not only acquired Star Wars but also the ownership rights to Indiana Jones. So, what the heck has Disney done since with everyone’s favorite archeologist? Oddly, the answer is: Absolutely nothing.

Bob, Disney really needs to step it up on Indiana Jones. There’s the merchandise issue, but let’s expand things in terms of the parks – there’s been talk of an Indiana Jones land – and looking beyond Indiana Jones 5 in terms of additional films (who will be the next Indy?) and Disney+ opportunities. The key, of course, is high quality storytelling and related materials. But quality should not mean a lack of supply. 

By the way, if you need a Kevin Feige-type to helm the Indiana Jones franchise, I’m available.

Thanks for the consideration, and have a magical day!

Sincerely,

Ray Keating

DisneyBizJournal.com

Check out Ray Keating’s previous “Dear Bob” letters...

Dear Bob: When Are You Leaving and Who Will Replace You?

Dear Bob: Do You Have Leader-Storytellers Running Star Wars and Pixar?

Dear Bob: Stream Disney Theme Parks Live

Ray Keating is the editor, publisher and economist for DisneyBizJournal.com, and author of the Pastor Stephen Grant novels. He can be contacted at  raykeating@keatingreports.com.

If you enjoyed this article, and since I am the author of the Pastor Stephen Grant novels and short stories, and other books, can I ask you to take at least one (preferably more) of the following steps?

1) The new Pastor Stephen Grant novel – DEEP ROUGH – has arrived! You can order the Kindle edition, the paperback, or the signed book.

2) Please join the Pastor Stephen Grant novels and short stories email list, and get the upcoming short story, THE TRAITOR, for free! Sign up here.

3) Buy one of the other Pastor Stephen Grant novels or short stories at Amazon.comor signed books at www.raykeatingonline.com. 

4) Become a member of the Pastor Stephen Grant Fellowship, and get all kinds of FREE stuff, including each new book in the Pastor Stephen Grant series. Check out the levels and benefits here.

5) Pre-order my next book – FREE TRADE ROCKS! 10 POINTS ON INTERNATIONAL TRADE EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW – at Amazon.com for the Kindle, or signed books at https://raykeatingonline.com/products/freetrade.