If you vacationed at Walt Disney World in the past few years, you probably wound up at Downtown Disney, grabbing a table at Planet Hollywood or eating dinner beside a larger-than-life dinosaur in a Mesozoic Era-themed restaurant. While the old classics still remain (yes, T-Rex is as busy as ever), so, so much has changed since your past visit.
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Disney Vacation Club is pleased to announce an enhanced name for The Villas at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge that deepens the Resort’s roots in Disney storytelling.
Since welcoming its first Members home in 2000, this rustically elegant Disney Vacation Club Resort has celebrated the optimistic journey of Americans who rode the rails west to forge a new way of life. The villas draw inspiration from the quaint residential communities established by those pioneers along the tracks that enabled their mass migration.
The Resort’s new name – Boulder Ridge Villas at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge – gives that rustic community a more distinctive identity and allows Walt Disney Imagineers to bring the community’s story to life in new ways, including through the re-imagined (and soon to be renamed) Hidden Springs Pool area.
The new, more richly themed name also distinguishes the Resort’s condominium association from any proposed new Disney Vacation Club developments at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge.
The naming evolution is not new to Disney Vacation Club. Disney’s Old Key West Resort, which opened in 1991 as Disney Vacation Club Resort, later adopted its more richly themed name as other Disney Vacation Club Resorts joined the neighborhood. Just as the Disney’s Old Key West Resort name distinguished the Resort from its neighbors and allowed Imagineers to more deeply explore the Resort’s thematic connections to the Florida Keys, the transition from The Villas at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge to Boulder Ridge Villas at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge allows Imagineers to further explore the Resort’s rugged roots.
Look for updates to signage and other materials at the Resort in the months ahead, and watch future editions of Disney Files Magazine for more details about the enhanced pool area and its connections to the story of Boulder Ridge.
Today we’re sharing some very exciting news from Epcot® at Walt Disney World® Resort. Two new “Frozen” experiences – the Frozen Ever After attraction and the adjacent Royal Sommerhus – will officially open their doors June 21, 2016.
Guests can begin booking FastPass+ for Frozen Ever After on Saturday, May 21, 2016.
The Norway Pavilion will open at 9 a.m., along with the Future World area of Epcot.
Don’t forget,guests can also spot Anna and Elsa over at Magic Kingdom® Park in the “Festival of Fantasy Parade” and the new “Mickey’s Royal Friendship Faire” show coming to Cinderella Castle Forecourt Stage.
Kipling North America, a division of VF Sportswear, Inc, is proud to announce this week’s opening of its first interactive retail store concept in Disney Springs at Walt Disney World Resort. Kipling in Disney Springs, a full-price retail location in Orlando, Florida, will provide consumers the opportunity to explore and shop Kipling through inventive activations offered throughout the space for a unique and personalized shopping experience.
“Disney Springs is quickly establishing itself as an exciting shopping, dining and entertainment destination for both locals and visitors alike,” said Nina Flood, president of Kipling North America. “We are thrilled to be one of its first retail tenants to open in Town Center and to unveil our new retail concept there. Shopping in-store remains a vital driver of not only sales, but of the overall brand experience. We have revisited ways in which we can better connect with guests to ensure we are doing our best to meet their needs and make their Kipling experience more memorable.”
Kipling in Disney Springs
Personalization – a key feature at Kipling in Disney Springs – is emerging as a new trend in retail. Centrally located in the store will be an area dedicated to inspiring “make it your own” style options, such as monogramming and adorning one’s new purchase with a Kipling iconic monkey keychain, playful patches, buttons, and more. This service is complimentary with any in-store Kipling purchase with proof of purchase.
A digital activation unique to Kipling in Disney Springs is a fun photo booth that has been built into the store’s design and will engage Kipling fans to “snap and share” their customized graphics interchange format photos (GIFs) onto their social channels for a chance to win fun prizes throughout the year and to be featured on Kipling North America’s social media pages.
Adding to the digital experience in-store and beyond is Kipling’s launch of retail bots. Kipling will use messenger technology to chat live with its digital-savvy visitors on their smart phones and with Qr Codes thoughtfully placed throughout the retail space. Scanning a barcode will offer the visitor style suggestions, Kipling fun facts and instant offers. Meanwhile, Kipling fans from afar can learn the latest Kipling news, upcoming retail events in their area, and more.
Opening Event – Kipling in Disney Springs is celebrating the launch of its interactive retail space Friday, May 20 through Sunday, May 22 offering visitors refreshments, a tour of the space and each activation area, and a complimentary Kipling monkey keychain with any purchase of $100 or more while supplies last.
Coinciding with Disney Channel’s upcoming premiere of “Adventures in Babysitting,” its 100th Disney Channel Original Movie (DCOM), Walt Disney Records will release a digital album of songs from chart-topping and certified gold, platinum and multi-platinum DCOM soundtracks, “Your Favorite Songs from 100 Disney Channel Original Movies.” The album will be released at all online outlets on FRIDAY, MAY 27 and is available for pre-order today (http://smarturl.it/100DCOMa1). Its centerpiece is a medley of iconic DCOM songs performed by Hollywood Records recording artists Forever In Your Mind; the band’s music video will debut Friday, May 27 during the “100th DCOM Celebration” programming event on Disney Channel and will be available on DisneyMusicVevo immediately following its linear premiere. The music video will also be available same-day to all users of the Disney Channel app for smartphones, tablets and connected TVs.
The album will also include “Wildside” from the 100th DCOM “Adventures in Babysitting,” which was released today, and features the movie’s stars and Hollywood Records and Republic Records/Hollywood Records recording artists, Sabrina Carpenter and Sofia Carson, respectively.
Your Favorite Songs from 100 Disney Channel Original Movies cover art. Credit: Walt Disney Records*
The track list for “Your Favorite Songs from 100 Disney Channel Original Movies” is below including songs from gold, platinum and multi-platinum soundtracks “High School Musical,” “High School Musical 2,” “The Cheetah Girls 2,” “Camp Rock,” and “Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam” plus, songs from the chart-topping and Top 10 soundtracks “Descendants,” “Teen Beach Movie,” and “Teen Beach Movie 2.”
1. Breaking Free (“High School Musical”)
2. Gotta Go My Own Way (“High School Musical 2”)
3. Cruisin’ for a Bruisin’ (“Teen Beach Movie”)
4. Gotta Be Me (“Teen Beach 2”)
5. Rotten to the Core (“Descendants”)
6. Strut (“The Cheetah Girls 2”)
7. One and the Same (“Princess Protection Program”)
8. This Is Me (“Camp Rock”)
9. Introducing Me (“Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam”)
10. Call Me, Beep Me (“Kim Possible”)
11. Determinate (“Lemonade Mouth”)
12. Wildside (“Adventures in Babysitting”)
13. Forever In Your Mind “DC Classics Medley” (including Wildside, This Is Me, Cruisin’ for a Bruisin’, Rotten to the Core, Breaking Free)
In the U.S., across all basic cable, DCOMs have delivered the #1 cable TV movie for 14 consecutive years in Tweens 9-14 (2002-15) and hold the record of six of the Top 7 original cable movies ever (“High School Musical 2,” “Teen Beach Movie,” “Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie,” “Descendants,” “Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Across the 2nd Dimension” and “Camp Rock”).
Opening is set for late summer for Flying Fish Restaurant at Disney’s BoardWalk Resort at Walt Disney World® Resort. The “Cafe” goes away as part of the name, and guests will be welcomed to a sophisticated, interior that still pays homage to the golden era of seaside boardwalks.
Inside, Flying Fish Restaurant will feature an all-new kitchen and dining room (with expanded space for private dining events), sparkling architectural accents, like golden-winged room panels and an impressive chandelier that mimics a school of flying fish overhead. Next door, the new AbracadaBar lounge will open, taking the spot formerly occupied by Seashore Sweets candy and ice cream shop.
This new “curious cocktail lounge” combines the Golden Age of Magic with the magic of Disney storytelling. From enchanted magic show posters and mystifying mirrors to vintage props and tricks, AbracadaBar promises to be just as surprising and magical as its name suggests.
While the theme parks are the main draw at Walt Disney World, its resort hotels offer plenty of recreational opportunities, as well. For example, active guests of Disney’s Wilderness Lodge looking for a place to work out or cool down after a long day can find a variety of fitness equipment and select spa treatments at “Sturdy Branches Health Club.” The facility also features a distinctly Disney detail: a reference to one of Walt Disney’s classic “Silly Symphony” cartoons.
Disney FastPass+ selection window will now begin at 7 a.m. ET, instead of the previous time of 12 a.m ET. Please note guests will be able to start selecting FastPass+ within their applicable window starting at 7 a.m. ET effective immediately:
This allowsguests to make their selections at a more convenient time of day, instead of in the middle of the night.
s we shared a few months ago, the 2016 Epcot® International Food & Wine Festival returns Sept.14-Nov.14, 2016 – expanding to a record 62 days! And now, we’re happy to share a few more details about this popular event.
During fiscal 2Q16, The Walt Disney Company (DIS) announced a charge of $147 million in connection with the company’s decision to discontinue its Disney Infinity console games business. The company said in its fiscal 2Q16 earnings call that going forward, it expects that its “console games strategy will focus solely on licensing our great portfolio of content.”
