No More Johnny?

Several blogs (as well as various news agencies) are reporting that Johnny Depp may not continue with the Pirates franchise after the fourth movie. Apparently, he is no longer excited about playing the character of Captain Jack Sparrow following the firing of Disney executive Dick Cook, with whom he had a very positive working relationship. With that relationship of trust now gone, he may not wish to make the fifth and sixth expected films.

Time will tell if this is actually the case, since no formal announcement has been made. The success of the fourth movie will likely have a strong impact on how the fifth and sixth projects are greenlighted. No doubt Disney is offering him a lot - a lot - of money in exchange for the role, but Johnny Depp has never seemed the type of actor to do a film just for the paycheck.

The big question is, what would happen if he did drop out? Replacing him with a new actor would be suicide. Johnny Depp all but made the franchise, and having anyone else but him perform the role of Jack Sparrow would be sure to alienate audiences. The best course of action would probably be to just focus on the stories of the other characters, leaving Jack out entirely. Although this would mean that the future films would be far less successful without Johnny Depp in the mix, they would probably be more successful than films with a replacement Captain Jack.

Come on, Johnny. Think of the fans ...

Free Admission When You Volunteer!

The Touringplans.com Blog is reporting that Disney is about to announce a new promotion for 2010 to get people into the parks. Apparently, when you volunteer for a day with a participating organization, you get a free ticket to one of the Disney parks. Not sure yet who these participating organizations may be. This new promotion will likely begin in January, replacing the "free admission on your birthday" promotion.

On the one hand ... I had a wonderful time celebrating my mother's birthday in Disneyworld this summer. We usually go every year in August, right around her birthday, and it would be a shame not to get the same special treatment again. Of course, this promotion also gives people more flexibility - anyone, really, can get a free ticket, and you don't have to plan your vacation around a specific date.

Check out the YouTube video previewing the commercial, starring Miss Piggy, here:

Major Fantasyland Expansion for the Magic Kingdom

John from the Disney Blog (among others) recently reported that Disney has announced a major expansion of Fantasyland for the Magic Kingdom park. The formal announcement confirms the rumor that began floating around the web after blueprints for the expansion were leaked online.


The expansion is scheduled to be completed in 2012, a year late for the Magic Kingdom's 40th Anniversary. While it's always frustrating to have to put up with ugly barriers during the expanse of time needed to build these new additions, it seems like it will definitely be worth it. The expansion will allow you to journey "past the castle walls" of Cinderella's Castle, where each Disney princess will have her own castle, cottage or chateau. These, of course, are themed meet and greet areas, but the press announcement seems to suggest that you'll get to do more than just stand in line and meet a princess standing in the middle of an open room - you get to "share a dance" with Cinderella, celebrate Sleeping Beauty's birthday with the Good Fairies, and enjoy a story from Belle in the Beast's castle library. You'll be able to visit Tinkerbell and her friends in their own Pixie Hollow area. A new Little Mermaid attraction is also planned, which will be a clone of the one also opening at Disney's California Adventure park in 2011.


The Dumbo attraction is also getting a considerable revamp. There will now be two spinners, doubling the attraction's capacity (a good thing, considering its notoriously long wait times). The ride will be set within a three-ring circus and will feature an interactive queue, probably something like the talking Mr. Potato Head in the Toy Story Midway Mania queue line.


There will also be a new Beauty and the Beast dinner show, where guests can dine in "three enchanted rooms" in the Beast's castle. I have heard that this restaurant will be counter service for lunch and full service for dinner. Another full service dining option has been badly needed in the Magic Kingdom park, so this is great. I have also heard something about a very manly Gaston's (Belle's crude, burly suitor) restaurant as well ... maybe this is part of the larger Beauty and the Beast restaurant? It would be interesting to have a tavern in a park that doesn't serve alcohol.

Of course, the new expansion will probably mean the death of some or all parts of Mickey's Toontown Fair. Donald's Boat seems all but doomed, although I have heard that Goofy's Barnstormer may be rethemed into a Tinkerbell/Pixie Hollow attraction. It's possible that Mickey and Minnie will be moved to the front of the park (i.e. the Main Street/Town Hall area) to meet with guests.

The new expansion is an interesting move for Disney. Some of Disney's recent endeavors (the creation of Disney XD, for example, and the acquisition of Marvel) reflect the company's concern with capturing the boy demographic. As Universal ad campaigns have made painfully clear ("If I have to hug another Princess, I'm going to puke!"), Disney excels at drawing in the girls, but flounders a little with the boys. The popularity of the Pirates franchise has helped somewhat with that (notably, Disney created a Pirate makeover for boys to parallel their Bippity Boppity Boutique experience). It's interesting, then, that Disney would want to sink their dollars into a major expansion that promotes, largely, a girls' fantasy world of princesses and fairies. It could be they just want to strengthen something they're already in the lead with ... although it's a pity that with Universal opening Harry Potter land this spring (a franchise that appeals pretty much equally to both boys and girls, as well as adults), they couldn't have found a way to make the expansion a little bit more balanced. Pirates Land, anyone? Cars Land, of course, is opening up over at Disney's California Adventure ... but that only helps the west coast.

So ... what do you think? A very interesting move by Disney ... and in any case, it's something that's sure to be both successful and beautifully constructed. Disney doesn't slack off when it comes to its parks, especially such a classic and popular park as the Magic Kingdom.

Interactivity in the Parks

John over at the Disney Blog recently posted a great article about how interactivity is the new "trend" for theme parks, rather than just allowing guests to passively enjoy immersive, beautifully detailed environments. Examples of new interactive attractions might be ...

- The new Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit Roller Coaster over at Universal Studios, which allows you to choose your own "soundtrack" while you ride;
- The American Idol experience, where you can both audition/perform and vote as a member of the audience;
- The new attractions to come out of the Disney Living Character Initiative (i.e. Turtle Talk with Crush, the Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor ... where the characters on screen can actually talk one-on-one with individual guests)

... and more. I personally believe that interactivity can sometimes spoil the "classic," nostalgic elements of older rides (Spaceship Earth, for example) but are overall quite fun. Nothing, I think, can ever replace the experience of just soaking in a beautifully constructed fantasy world, whether it talks back to you or not. Not too long ago there were rumors about adding an interactive element to the Haunted Mansion, and that, I think, might be going a little too far.

Of course, interactivity isn't the only thing we'll see in future developments. I think that the new Harry Potter land at Universal will rely heavily on an immersive environment to satisfy fans of the series (they couldn't get by without including some gorgeous details) even as certain attractions there seek to be interactive. Olivander's Wand Shop, for example, is supposed to be an interactive experience where the "wand chooses the wizard".

What do you think about this trend?

The 14th Annual EPCOT 2009 Food & Wine Festival - By the Numbers!

The EPCOT Food & Wine Festival is the largest of its kind in the world, and it's going on right now. The six week festival began September 25th and will end November 8th. During this time, lucky guests can sample food and wine from exotic cultures, as well as enjoy great entertainment while they eat. Having never been to the festival, I found the following stats very interesting (if also tantalizing - they made me feel both jealous and hungry).

• More than 300 national and international wines
• More than 76 kinds of international foods, each appetizer-sized portion priced $2-$7
• More than 160 of America’s most celebrated chefs and Walt Disney World chefs
• 405 wine and beer seminars
• More than 1,200 fireworks rockets exploding each night over World Showcase Lagoon in “IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth” grand finale to the festival
• 135 Eat to the Beat! concerts performed
• 33,000 bottles of wine and champagne
• 1.2 million hors d’oeuvre plates
• 2.1 million Vanity Fair napkins
• 750,000 beer cups
• 690,000 sumptuous samplings
• 600,000 forks
• 338,000 wine glasses
• 100,000 miniature desserts including crème brûlée, traditional apple strudel, Grand Marnier parfait with Orange Coulis and warm chocolate lava cake with Bailey’s ganache
• 3,000 gallons of soup, including cheddar cheese soup (Montreal marketplace), chicken and coconut soup with mushrooms, lemongrass and ginger (Bangkok, Thailand marketplace) and Mealie soup with crabmeat and chili oil (Capetown, South Africa marketplace)

Special thanks to John from the Disney Blog who published these first!

The Disney Dream Portrait Series by Annie Leibovitz

I recently rediscovered the Disney Dream Portrait Series by famed photographer Annie Leibovitz. She was commissioned by Disney to create the series, essentially an ad campaign for the parks featuring celebrities in roles as classic fairy tale characters. A major of the photos came out back in 2007, but they're just as stunning now. A collection of the photos can be viewed here. My personal favorite is the scene from Peter Pan, which features Mikhail Baryshnikov as Peter Pan, Gisele Bundchen as Wendy, and Tina Fey as Tinkerbell.

New Hawaii Resort!

The Disney Blog has a picture up of the construction currently taking place in Hawaii to build Disney's latest destination resort. The resort is located on the island of Oahu in the resort area of Ko Olina. Very interesting. I'm thinking the Polynesian ... but with a better beach.