by Don Myers

It’s been a busy February to say the least, but it’s time once again for another edition of the WDW Radio Newswire…

For today’s Newswire, let’s start things off at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, where the journey of “Simba 1″ is about to undergo some minor changes. Last week, an announcement was made pertaining to the finale scene of Kilimanjaro Safaris. It seems as if “Little Red,” the baby (audio-anamatronic) elephant that has been a staple of the attraction’s storyline since its opening on April 22, 1998, is going to be replaced in the next month or so. The finale scene (in which a rescued Little Red can be seen in the back of a truck) will be scrapped in favor of a savanna of live animals. Little Red was the only audio-anamatronic animal featured at Kilimanjaro Safaris, so his Springtime removal means that the attraction will now feature a full roster of live animals.

Now let’s move from Animal Kingdom over to EPCOT, where a new exhibit has recently made its debut at Innoventions. Habit Heroes opened for some testing on Wednesday February 1st, and made its “official” debut two days later on Friday February 3rd. The exhibit is sponsored by Florida Blue, and its basic premise is that good health and well-being can be achieved by forming healthy habits. This attraction is cut from the cloth of the original Epcot Center, and proceeds another new exhibit that will soon be opening at Innoventions: VISION House, which will be making its debut in April.

Time to shift gears for a quick bit of news out of Disney’s Beach Club Resort, where it’s been announced that Cape May Cafe will be closing down for about a month this Summer. The restaurant will be shutting down on Monday July 9th, with a re-opening date scheduled for Sunday August 5th.

Let’s head back into the Parks now, for some Magic Kingdom newsbits. First up is the Magic Carpets of Aladdin, where it was announced that the refurbishment scheduled for commencement on Sunday February 26th, has been scrapped. The refurb was only expected to last for a couple weeks, with a re-opening slated for Sunday March 11th. But plans for the closure have now been officially halted, so the skies over Agrabah will be “open for flight” until further notice…

For more news out of Magic Kingdom, let’s head from Frontierland to Adventureland, where the exterior refurbishment to the Frontier Trading Post and the Frontierland Mercantile has just about wrapped up. Nearly all of the construction scrims have been removed, and the shops are looking better than ever. Tarps had been in place since mid-November, so this will put the total refurb time at approximately three months.

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: “Little Red” Being Replaced in the Finale Scene of Kilimanjaro Safaris appeared first on WDW Radio - Your Walt Disney World Information Station by Lou Mongello.

by Don Myers

Tink’s pixie dust is bringing some brand-new interactive elements to one of the Magic Kingdom’s most beloved attractions, so it’s time to dive into another edition of the WDW Radio Newswire…..

We saw them added into the queue of The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.Then they sprung up over at The Haunted Mansion. Well, we can now add Peter Pan’s Flight to the list of attractions to have their queues updated into the “Interactive Era.” Construction is already underway, and things are slated to wrap up on Tuesday March 6th. The attraction will remain open throughout the duration of the refurb, and it will be interesting to see how these interactive elements will effect the wait times once they’re put into place. And another question is whether or not there will be separate “interactive” and “non-interactive” lines for Peter Pan’s Flight like there is over at Gracie Manor.

For more news out of the Magic Kingdom, let’s head over to Cinderella Castle, where some changes have recently taken place to “The Magic, the Memories, and You” show. February means Valentine’s Day, so the changes are of the romantic variety. New elements include stained glass projections of several Disney Princes and Princesses, and vines of red roses wrapped around the Castle Towers. The stained glass images are particularly interesting, as one of them depicts Belle with the Beast post-transformation. We rarely see Belle with the Beast after he’s been transformed back into human form, so this is a neat little addition. The special changes are scheduled to run for the next 2 1/2 months, with an end date “projected” for Sunday April 15th.

Now let’s move over to Downtown Disney, where a pair of refurbishments are underway at the Marketplace. The bath and beauty store Basin closed up shop last week and will remain closed until Monday March 19th. This will put the total refurb time for the store at just under two months. The second refurbishment is taking place over at The Rainforest Cafe. This one is going to be lengthy, as construction at the restaurant is scheduled to be ongoing from now until October. This puts the refurb timetable at around 8-9 months! But fans of the Rainforest Cafe fear not; as the restaurant will be staying open throughout the duration of the refurbishment.

For our final bit of news today, let’s venture over to my favorite Resort: Disney’s Polynesian Resort. A few days ago (Mon Jan 30th) work began at the Nanea Volcano Feature Pool, and things aren’t scheduled to be completed until Sunday April 1st (no foolin’). This work will not result in the closure of the pool itself, but the water slide will be out of commission from Monday February 6th through the first week of March.

Well, that’s gonna do it for today, 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: Peter Pan’s Flight Queue Embarks into the “Interactive Era” appeared first on WDW Radio - Your Walt Disney World Information Station by Lou Mongello.