by Don Myers

It’s hard to believe it, but we’re nearly two months into 2013 now. And as the calendar shifts over to March, we find ourselves quickly approaching the Spring season. This transition brings us a plethora of exciting news from Walt’s beloved Florida Project. So let’s get to it. Time for the latest edition of the WDW Radio Newswire…..

We begin this edition of the Newswire inside Magic Kingdom. For this newsbit, let’s head down Main Street and make our way through Cinderella Castle and into Fantasyland. It’s here in the land of Fantasy where we find a restroom refurbishment nearing completion. Now usually I wouldn’t make a restroom refurb the headlining topic, but these are no ordinary restrooms. These are the themed restrooms based off the Disney film Tangled that have been under construction at the site of the former Skyway Station. The last remaining pieces of the Skyway Station were removed back in June 2011, and the restroom transformation has been ongoing at the location since March 2012. But it looks as if we are just days away from completion now, as the themed restrooms are slated to open up at the end of the month. For those of you who may be wondering, the location I’m referring to is right next to it’s a small world, just across the way from Peter Pan’s Flight. When completed, the expanded area should open up the flow of traffic between Fantasyland and Liberty Square tremendously. Guest flow can get quite congested in this area, but the newly expanded paths should help to avert this problem significantly.

Continuing in Magic Kingdom, let’s head back to Cinderella Castle for some news on Cinderella’s Royal Table. Cinderella and her Princess pals will be going on a brief hiatus later this year, as the dining location will close on Monday May 13th and re-open four days later on Friday May 17th.

Time to park-hop over to Epcot now, where there’s some news to report on one of the park’s tours. As of last week, the Segway tour “Keep Moving Forward: See the World, Share the Dream” is longer available for booking, and has thus been discontinued from service. The Segway tour took Guests around World Showcase in the early morning hours before that area of the park was open to the public. A few years ago Segway tours were commonplace at Epcot, but the recent removal of Keep Moving Forward signals the end of these types of tours at the park. But Segway fans fear not; as there’s still one last option remaining in existence. The Wilderness Back Trail Adventure Segway Tour is still being offered at Fort Wilderness, and there are no current plans in place for its removal anytime soon.

Time to venture over to Animal Kingdom now for some follow-up news on a new indoor Character meet and greet spot. In the June 12th 2012 edition of the Newswire, I detailed plans for the transformation of Beastly Bazaar into an indoor Character meet and greet location. Well, construction is nearing completion and a recent announcement has shed further light on the situation. The location will be known as the “Adventurers Outpost” and will be the new meet and greet spot for Mickey and Minnie Mouse! Adventurers Outpost is slated to open sometime this Spring, and when an exact date is announced I’ll be sure to report it right here on the Newswire.

For our final bit of news, let’s hop aboard the Walt Disney World Monorail System. Last week, Monorail Red re-emerged with its classic paint scheme. The monorail had been covered with a special wrap based on the Marvel film “The Avengers” since March 31, 2012. Monorail Red sported the special Avenge-o-rail wrap for nearly eleven months, similar to the sixteen month stint Monorail Coral had as the Tron-o-rail from March 2010- July 2011. With the success of these special wraps, it will be exciting to see which Monorail will be next to don a special alias (maybe Star Wars-o-rail?!!!).

Well, that’s gonna do it for today’s update. But before we call it a wrap, let’s take a look back at the results of our last poll. The question was:

 What is your favorite room in The Great Movie Ride?

. Footlight Parade/Mary Poppins

. Gangster Underworld

. Wild West

. Alien

. Indiana Jones

. Tarzan

. Casablanca

. Wizard of Oz

. Finale

And the winner is…….

Wizard of Oz with 36% of the total vote! Second place honors went to Indiana Jones with 16% of the votes. Gangster Underworld followed closely behind with 15%, followed by Alien with 11%, Finale with 8%, and Wild West with 7%. Once again, a big thank you to everyone that took the time to vote! Okay, on to this week’s question:

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: Fantasyland Restrooms Set To Open At End Of Month And In-Park Character Dining Poll appeared first on WDW Radio - Your Walt Disney World Information Station by Lou Mongello.

Hello and welcome to The WDW Radio Show – Your Walt Disney World Information Station. I am your host, Lou Mongello, and this is show #184 for the week of August 22, 2010.

This week, I’m pleased to be able to share with you an interview with another Disney Legend. And this one is special because I had the rare opportunity to speak with one of the original Imagineers, and a man who is credited with designing just about anything with wheels for the Disney parks.

He is Bob Gurr, whose work on designing the Monorail, OmniMover, Audio-Animatronics, Main Street vehicles and countless others earned him the Disney Legend status in 2004. I had a chance to sit down with Bob and interview him on stage in front of a crowd of Disney enthusiasts at a recent meet, and recorded the audio to share with you. It’s a fascinating look at the life of a man whose work was instrumental in the development of attractions which continue to delight millions of guests to this day.

I’ll then have a few announcements and then play more of your voicemails at the end of the show. So sit back, relax, and enjoy this week’s episode of the WDW Radio Show.

Thanks for listening! Be sure to tune in next week!

Information and Links from this week’s show:

PNW MouseMeet site and photos

Bob Gurr’s page on the Disney Legends site

DisneyMeets.com – Join us for Disney fan gatherings and WDW Radio Meets of the Month in Walt Disney World, including D23’s Destination D special World of Color event & meets in Disneyland, Congaloosh, the Food & Wine Walkabout & more! Get dates and locations here!

Post your Disney Cruise Line and Disney Dream questions here

Disney Fairy Tale Weddings Open House – Join us in person or online on Sat. Aug. 28 – Click here for more information

The post Show # 184 – August 22, 2010 appeared first on WDW Radio - Your Walt Disney World Information Station by Lou Mongello.

Welcome to Show #21 of the WDW Radio Show for the week of July 1, 2007, and thanks for tuning in once again. I’m your host Lou Mongello, and I have a lot of fun segments planned for you this week.

My visit to the Walt Disney World Rumor Mill includes discussion and audio evidencing some possible big changes and improvements to the resort and ADR reservation systems, plenty of rumors from the Disney-MGM Studios, an abandoned venue, as well as a possible new addition to Cinderella Castle, and the Canada pavilion in World Showcase.

Eric Hollister and I introduce the first of our Walt Disney World Marathon Contest challenges, and I announce the winner of our first “Where in the World Have You Seen This?” Contest.

I announce the next in our 7 Wonders of Walt Disney World series – the Walt Disney World monorail, and discuss with Jeff Pepper its origins, technology, fun facts and intangible qualities that make it a true wonder.

Fred Block’s Magic Meet event is coming up soon, and once again he was kind enough to allow us to hold our DisneyWorldTrivia.com Dream Team Project charity auction to benefit the Make a Wish Foundation of America. Pat Whitson joins me to talk about the auction, some of the amazing items and experiences which are included, as well as how the generosity of so many Disney fans will once again help make a seriously-ill child’s wish come true to visit Walt Disney World.

Gary Chambers joins me for another Hidden Treasure of Walt Disney World, this time in Epcot.

This week’s email segment talks about handheld technology in the parks, July 4 fireworks in WDW, Adventureland then and now, Seasonal vs. Annual passes and so much more.

Of course, I have more of your voicemails at the end of the show, 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 our voicemail at 206-202-4WDW.

Talk about the show by visiting and posting in the

WDW Radio Show message forums at DisneyWorldTrivia.com

Thank you for your reviews on iTunes and for

clicking the Digg button for each episode

 

Thanks to Tim Foster from Guide to the Magic.com

for designing the new WDW Radio Show logo!

Visit the new WDW Radio Show

Merchandise Shop!

 

Best of the Best at Walt Disney World

Best Pool on WDW Property

Stormalong Bay, Beach Club Resort

For a video of the Hunchback of Notre Dame Preshow at the Disney-MGM Studios, visit http://www.magicalthemeparks.com/disneyworld/dismgm.html

Thanks to Bruce from MagicalThemeParks.com for the video!! Check out all his site has to offer!

Walt Disney World 1/2 Marathon Challenge Contest

This is the first of our 13-part WDW ½ Marathon Challenge, where you get to play a new challenge every two weeks for chance to win all kinds of great prizes, as well as get to name the respective mile marker during the WDW ½ marathon in January. Winners will also get a custom certificate suitable for framing to congratulate you for your efforts. Also as part of the contest, Eric, owner of GeoMouse.com is generously donating $100 per mile to the Dream Team project to benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation of America. At the end of the contest, we will have a drawing for a yet-to-be announced grand prize!

Challenge #1 is the WDW Trivia Challenge – Start Date:  July 1, End Date:  July 11

For the first challenge, I have put together a list of 3 Walt Disney World Trivia questions for you to answer. All you have to do is send your guesses AND designate the name of their “Mile Marker” and send them in an email to MARATHON@wdwradio.com. Correct submissions will be placed in a random drawing, to be pulled after the end date of this challenge.  Winner will be announced on the WDW Radio show for the week of July 15.  Winner will receive a prize pack consisting of (WDW Trivia books, additional items, etc).  Winner will also have their name and the name of their mile marker designated on a certificate as well as both the WDW Radio and Geo Mouse websites.

Listen to this week’s show for the clues! Good luck

The current “Where in the World Have You SEEN This?” Contest

Thread – WDW Radio Show section of the DisneyWorldTrivia.com Forum

The post Show #21 – July 1, 2007 appeared first on WDW Radio - Your Walt Disney World Information Station by Lou Mongello.