Tentative Opening Date For Princess Fairytale Hall,

and more!

by Don Myers

The calender has turned to June. The BBQ’s fired up, the tiki torches are lit, and the “Summer Season” is in full swing! So let’s add a little Disney magic to the poolside fun with another edition of the WDW Radio Newswire…..

We start today’s Newswire with some info out of Disney’s Animal Kingdom. It seems as if Discovery Island will be the future home to a brand new meet and greet experience, as Disney recently announced plans to transform the store Beastly Bazaar into an indoor “Character Spot” for Animal Kingdom. The store will be closing on Sunday August 12th, however no official opening date has been given for the meet and greet, as Disney has simply stated “Fall 2012″ for the debut. This new character spot is exactly what Animal Kingdom needed, as the Park has seen several “character casualties” since last Fall, including Pocahontas, Jiminy Cricket, Meeko, Lilo, Stitch, Flik, Terk, Timon, Thumper, Miss Bunny, and even Daisy Duck. There’s no word yet on who will be appearing at the new location, but hopefully some of these Characters (as well as a few new ones!) will be included in the line-up.

For more meet and greet news, let’s Park-Hop from Animal Kingdom over to Magic Kingdom, where Disney has made an official announcement pertaining to the opening of Princess Fairytale Hall. A time-frame of “Late 2013″ has been given for the new meet and greet experience, which will be taking up residence in the area formerly occupied by Snow White’s Scary Adventures. Princess Fairytale Hall will be rounding out the Final Phase of the Fantasyland Expansion, along with the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train Coaster, which is scheduled to make its debut sometime in 2014.

Let’s stay in Magic Kingdom, and travel from Fantasyland over to Frontierland. It looks as if the residents of Grizzly Hall will be going on a little vacation this Summer, as the Country Bear Jamboree will be closing down for refurb on Wednesday August 22nd. But fans of the singing bears fear not; as Henry, Wendel, Liverlips, Big Al, and the rest of the gang will be back in action on Thursday October 18th. If this estimate stays on track, then this will put the attraction’s downtime at just under two months.

While we’re in Frontierland, let’s quickly make our way over to Liberty Square, where there is some news to report on the Liberty Square Riverboat, aka the Liberty Belle. The Riverboat will be seeing a little downtime this Summer as well, however this refurb is only scheduled to last for a week. The closure is slated to begin on Saturday August 4th, and if all goes according to plan, the Liberty Belle will resume its cruise along the Rivers of America on Saturday August 11th.

For our final bit of news, let’s move out of the Parks and head over to WDW’s newest Resort: Art of Animation. In just about one week’s time, Art of Animation will celebrate the debut of its second (of four) themed areas. Fasten your seatbelts, because the Cars Section is set to officially “start its engines” on Monday June 18th. Also opening on that date is the Cozy Cone Pool, which is located between the area’s two Guest Buildings.

Well, that’s gonna do it for today’s update. But I’ll be back again soon with another edition of the WDW Radio Newswire……

Don Myers covers news and recent events in Walt Disney World.  He has been enamored with the World of Disney since his first trip to WDW in 1986. As they say, the rest is history!  Don also has been a contributing writer for Celebrations magazine since 2009.

The post WDW Radio Newswire: Brand New Character Meet and Greet Coming to Animal Kingdom’s Discovery Island appeared first on WDW Radio - Your Walt Disney World Information Station by Lou Mongello.

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla., Feb.28, 2012 -At Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Guests will be celebrating Leap Day in a different kind of way this year by leaping into action to learn more about frogs, salamanders and toads.

At Rafiki’s Planet Watch on Feb. 29, animal experts have planned a series of activities to promote conservation and raise awareness of the dangers facing amphibian populations.  Activities include a frog-leap (not a leap frog) that challenges children to see if they can jump as far as frogs, a special frog-calling game where Guests match the frog to the corresponding “ribbit” and opportunities to observe some interesting frogs and talk with their keepers.

Frogs and amphibians play an essential role in the ecosystems of the world and are keenly attuned to changes in the environment.  Because of that, scientists and researchers consider them an “indicator” species, meaning they can provide early warning for endangered ecosystems.

One example is the critically endangered Puerto Rican crested toad, which is being studied by animal care team members at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Nutrition experts are hoping to find alternate habitat where food is abundant for them.

“By doing these activities, we hope to engage guests in conservation efforts to help them protect more frogs and amphibians in their hometowns,” according to Kathy Lehnhardt, curator of education at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.

Other things that families can do at home include:

• Building a pond with native shrubs, or provide an overturned pot, small areas of leaf litter, logs and dirt piles to benefit amphibians.
• Getting an amphibian field guide to learn which amphibians live in an area.
• Finding books on frogs to discover why they sing loudly, hear well and stay up late.
• Visiting a local pond or nature park listening for the calls of different frog species.
• Using fewer chemical pesticides to keep amphibians healthy.
• Observing the variety and behaviors of frogs by just looking.
• Remembering that the chemicals from soaps and lotions can harm their skin if they’re touched.

The post Frog Activities Mark Leap Day at Disney’s Animal Kingdom appeared first on WDW Radio - Your Walt Disney World Information Station by Lou Mongello.

Welcome to the WDW Radio Show – your Walt Disney World Information Station. I am your host Lou Mongello, and I want to thank you for tuning in again this week. This is show #63 for the week of April 20, 2008.

I won’t get a chance to cover the Walt Disney World News this week, not just because there wasn’t a lot to report on, but because I had to tape this show early in the week, as I am heading down to Walt Disney World to cover Disney’s Animal Kingdom’s 10th Anniversary celebration on Tuesday, April 22. I’ll be back next week with not just coverage of the event, but live audio from the parks, and a few surprises.

This week, I welcome back Cara Goldsbury, author of the Luxury Guide to Walt Disney World to the show, as we talk about her appearance on two new Travel Channel specials as they continue their Season of Disney series. Cara will be appearing on both the Disney Splurge and the Disney Royal Treatment shows, and will discuss each of these, as well as tips on how to splurge on some special events without breaking the bank, some luxurious experiences in Walt Disney World, and we have some fun as we wonder how you could spend a day in Disney if money was no object.

As part of my celebration of Disney’s Animal Kingdom’s 10th anniversary, this week we will take a practical look at the park, as Jeff Pepper and I talk about A Day at Disney’s Animal Kingdom – how to get the most out of what the park has to offer by spending a full day there – and more!

In response to many of your travel and vacation planning emails, I welcome in Beci Mankhen, owner of Mouse Fan Travel. She’ll tell us a little bit about her company and how they can help plan your Walt Disney World vacation, as well as assist me in answering a number of your emails. They include questions about balloon rides over Walt Disney World, Grand Gatherings, a detailed discussion of the Disney Dining Experience Card versus the Annual Pass discounts, special events and more.

Be sure to stay until the end of the show, when I’ll play some of your voicemails. So sit back, relax and enjoy this week’s episode of the WDW Radio Show.

You can email the show at lou@wdwradio.com or call the voicemail at 206-202-4WDW (4939). Visit the web site at wdwradio.com.

Cara Goldsbury – Luxury Guide to Walt Disney World

The post Show #63 – April 20, 2008 appeared first on WDW Radio - Your Walt Disney World Information Station by Lou Mongello.