For those who remember the former River Country

----    THE LATEST BUZZ    ----
    (5/11/11) MouseSteps takes a look at the new AMC Dine-In Theater at Downtown Disney this week. It’s quite a unique looking theater setup… and a good way to have Dinner and a Movie. Check it out.
    (5/5/11) Disney World fans may be interested in this. A new interesting contest has begun on a YouTube channel where you have to guess “Where Am I?” after viewing a short video clip. The first person to guess correctly will win a prize.
    (4/21/11) MouseSteps takes a look at the reopened Lego Store at Downtown Disney this week which features a ton of amazing new lego displays.
    (4/11/11) Disney Cruise Line fans may be interested to know about some new temporary home ports the ships will depart from in 2012 on select cruises (MORE...)

Resort Rehabs - The following information is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate.
Nothing is known at this time.

General Resort News - (5/5/11) Disney World fans may be interested in this. A new interesting contest has begun on a YouTube channel where you have to guess “Where Am I?” after viewing a short video clip. The first person to guess correctly will win a prize.
    (4/1/11) According to one of the local Orlando area news stations, the pending lawsuit of the death of a Disney World monorail pilot back in 2009 has been dismissed due to an undisclosed settlement.
    (3/11/11) The big news from Walt Disney World this week was the announcement that this year’s graduating class of 2011 would be the last group of youths to attend GRAD NIGHT at the Magic Kingdom. Attendance at the resort parks from regular guests has reached the point where holding the event any longer had simply become too much of a burden it seems. To quote Disney, “As springtime leisure travel has increased, it has become more challenging to strike the right balance between meeting the needs of day guests and scheduling special events. ”  (Please note that this is only the end of Grad Night at Walt Disney World, the Disneyland Resort in California has no plans to end their Grad Night program.)
    (3/4/11) CoasterFusion is holding a very exciting contest right now. Register for an account between now and May 1st ad you will be entered into a drawing for a free 3 nigt  4 day stay at any Deluxe Walt Disney World Resort. Once your register, there are also other ways to increase your chance of winning. For all the details, click here.
    (2/16/11) Walt Disney World has finally reached a tentative contract agreement with it’s largest labor union. If all goes well, the vote to approve the new contract will take place on February 25th.
    (2/4/11) I posted a link to these photos before, but after the video about River Country came out yesterday, I thought it would be great to have another look at these still photos from inside River Country as well posted to the DisBoards.
    (2/3/11) For those who remember the former River Country waterpark at Walt Disney World, you can take another look at what it looks like today… in video form embedded below. What’s really creepy is that in one section, the park music is still playing along with a few leftover ‘tubes’ floating around.















    (1/15/11) We often see what happens at the Disney theme parks for Christmas, but not so much at the individual hotels. Amusement Insider has posted a great photo update showing off the holiday décor as seen at every single WDW Resort property.
    (1/5/11) WDW has launched a Florida Resident ticket special called the 4-D Wild 4 Disney Pass. For $119.00 (plus tax) you get four 1-day/1-park tickets, bvut you can also pay a bit more to add park hopping and water park options onto the pass as well. The tickets have to be used by May 26, and they do blackout Spring Break (April 17-24) as well.

Downtown Disney News - (5/11/11) MouseSteps takes a look at the new AMC Dine-In Theater at Downtown Disney this week. It’s quite a unique looking theater setup… and a good way to have Dinner and a Movie. Check it out.
    (4/21/11) MouseSteps takes a look at the reopened Lego Store at Downtown Disney this week which features a ton of amazing new lego displays.
    (3/22/11) Detailed official plans for the conversion of Pleasure Island into Hyperion Wharf have been discovered and posted to the Save Pleasure Island Blog this week. Unfortunately, while there will be changes all around... it also looks like there is going to be a lot of empty unused space instead of all those big promises of major developments, attractions and restaurants on the way.
    (3/9/11) According to the latest rumors, RideMakerz may be the latest retail shop being moved elsewhere within Downtown Disney. According to a tweet from Orlando Attractions Magazine, employees said they were looking to move into a new site on the Marketplace side. Though the Marketplace is pretty full in my opinion, so perhaps something closer to Pleasure Island may be in order. Anyone know more?
    (3/4/11) I’ve now been told that the Little Miss Matched shop will be moving to the Marketplace side, across the way from the Christmas shop in the $10 and under store location.
    (3/3/11) Local sources tell us that there will be some changes coming to Downtown Disney soon. Mickey’s Groove is said to be closing on April 2nd and will be replaced with a new version of the Harley Davidson store, who is moving out of their old Pleasure Island storefront. The new HD store will actually take up the former Groove and Little Miss Matched locations when it opens in July. (In case you were wondering, Little Miss Matched will apparently moved to a new location elsewhere in the West Side.
    (2/17/11) MouseSteps checks out the large growing pile of rubble on the end of Pleasure Island this week.
    (1/26/11) The Save Pleasure Island Blog reports that the structural demolition of the Rock ‘n Roll Beach Club has begun now that Motion has been almost completely reduced to rubble. Be sure to check out the pictures.
    (1/18/11) Remember that rumor about a new Cirque du Soleil show under consideration for Walt Disney World? Apparently Cirque has sent out a few survey’s this week to not only get feedback about La Nouba, but also asked a couple of very interesting questions as well.
    One asked, “Let’s imagine that Cirque du Soleil opens a new show in Downtown Disney at the Walt Disney World Resort, right next to where you attended La Nouba. How likely would you be to attend this new show if you were to go back to the Walt Disney World Resort?”
   The other one asked for opinions on several types of show concepts “that Cirque du Soleil could open in Downtown Disney”. The very interesting list of options has been posted below, verbatim.
A show created specifically for kids ages 6-14
A Water Show
An adult sensual cabaret
Another family-friendly show (comparable to La Nouba)
A true classic Cirque du Soleil production
A magic show
A show based on a Hollywood blockbuster movie (like Avatar)
A show based on the Disney characters.
    (1/17/11) Some new demolition pictures from Pleasure Island have been added to Orlando Parks News this week.
    (1/12/11) MouseSteps drops into Pleasure Island to check out the demolition in progress, as seen from the lake as well as on foot as Motion and the Beach Club are quickly being gutted and torn apart.  The main entrance of the AMC Theater by the fountain is also now closed while they begin the renovation of this half of the theater complex, which will include the new Dine-In Theater when it reopens.
    (1/10/11) Demolition work has begun on Pleasure Island, with a construction wall up and the demolition has begun in the area from Motion to the Beach Club. You can find one picture of it here.
    (11/22/10) A Screamscape source tells me that along with the introduction of the Hyperion Wharf concept to Downtown Disney, there are also plans in the works to add a small trolley system to run along the lengthy complex, very similar to what is being added to the California Adventure park.
    There are likely to be a few other changes as well down at the West End. I’m hearing that House of Blues may be planning to leave Disney property entirely in the future, in favor of setting themselves up off-site in a new location. If this happens, look for Harley Davidson to move into the former HOB digs. Meanwhile the Mouse has plans in the works for the nearby Virgin Megastore building that would see it redesigned as a cluster of smaller high-end shops. I’m also being told that Cirque is currently planning a whole new show to eventually replace the long running La Nouba show in 2013, around the same time as the rest of Hyperion Wharf, taking advantage of it as the right time to relaunch themselves along with the rest of Downtown Disney.
    (11/19/10) Disney dropped a bit news today… a new plan for the former Pleasure Island site, which will be named Hyperion Wharf. The entire model of the area is promised to be complete by 2013, and will transform the area into a new district that will ‘come to life with a nostalgic yet modern take on an early 20th century port city and amusement pier. By day, stylish boutiques and innovative restaurants will draw you in and by night, thousands of lights will transform the area into an electric wonderland.” In addition the area will feature a “lakeside park” and enhanced walkways, and the new eateries to be added will increase the dining opens in Downtown Disney by more than 25%.
    Other Downtown Disney projects in the works include a major overhaul of the Lego Imagination Center store (closed Jan 2011 to April 2011) which will expand by an addition 3,500 sqft. The AMC Theater will add all new digital technology, a “Concession Stand of the Future” offering self-serve snack options, as well as Florida’s first “Fork & Screen Theater”. This will provide restaurant dining with “seat-side service” starting Spring 2011.
    (11/3/10) The SavePleasureIsland Blog reports that a new themed restaurant from Disney and Schussler Creative is on the way to Pleasure Island for a speed boat themed eatery called Mahogany Bay Classic Old Boats and Great Food. Lets hope that they come up with a new name that sounds more appetizing.
    (2/11/10) Remember that rumor about an Aquarium Restaurant coming to Downtown Disney that was eyeballing the old Virgin Megastore? The latest update to the rumor claims that they are actually more interested in building a new structure in the old Pleasure Island area that would involve the demolition of one of the old nightclub buildings. It seems they may be looking at a couple of possible locations however, though the Mannequins site is said to be one of them.

2012 - Disney’s Art of Animation Resort - (3/24/11) New construction pictures of the Art of Animation Resort have been posted to MouseSteps this week.
    (2/23/11) MouseSteps has posted another visit to the Art of Animation Resort construction site this week, as well as a look at a rehab taking place to the pool over at Pop Century.
    (2/7/11) MouseSteps dropped in on the Art of Animation Resort for a new look at the construction site.
    (1/5/11) MouseSteps has posted a few new pictures from the Art of Animation Resort construction site this week.
    (12/25/10) DizFanatic has posted an update showing off the floorplans for several of the Art of Animation Resort suites.
    (12/21/10) Walt Disney World reports that the first wing of the Art of Animation Resort will be ready to open in May 2012, with the rest of the resort to be completed by the end of the year.
    (12/17/10) New concept art for Disney’s Art of Animation hotel has been posted to Inside the Magic showing off some impress set pieces to be built alongside the numerous hotel buildings.
    (9/17/10) Disney has released some new artwork for the Art of Animation Resort here.
    (5/13/10) Walt Disney World has finally confirmed the plans for the long-rumored Disney’s Art of Animation Resort project that will take over the site one slated for the second-half of the Pop Century Resort. According to the official Disney report the new resort will feature nearly 2000 rooms… 1120 of them will actually be “family suites” at this new Value priced resort. The resort will be divided up into four themed areas based on some of the most popular modern Disney films: The Little Mermaid, Cars, Finding Nemo and The Lion King. The new resort is expected to be ready to take on guests by late 2012.

2011 / 2012 - Disney Cruise Line - (4/11/11) Disney Cruise Line fans may be interested to know about some new temporary home ports the ships will depart from in 2012 on select cruises: New York City, Seattle and Galveston. Read more details here.
    (2/7/11) A fun POV video of the new AquaDuck slide on the Disney Dream was posted to YouTube by Inside The Magic this week. Check it out below.


    (1/24/11) A few videos and photos from the Christening of the new Disney Dream has been posted to MouseSteps this week.
    (1/13/11) A Screamscape source who got up close and personal with the Disney Dream discovered a little something interesting onboard. Take a close look at this picture found within a a rug or carpet aboard the ship. Do you see what I see?
    I see the two larger Disney Cruise Line ships (Disney Dream and Disney Fantasy both docked by the red star that represents the official Florida home port. One of the smaller ships, the Disney Wonder, is shown next to it’s new home port in Long Beach, California. So that leaves the very interesting third red star to represent the Disney Magic, which appears destined to depart for a new home port in Europe, likely somewhere in France, once the Disney Fantasy goes online in 2012.
    (10/30/09) Disney released some great details about the new Disney Dream ship coming in 2011. For starters, take a look at this page and you’ll notice one major difference in particular, the addition of a large and long water coaster style slide that runs around the top deck of the ship… in a CLEAR tube, even hanging over the edge at one point. They call it the AquaDuck.
    Yes, the rumor I posted back on 2/26/09 has come true, “the ships may feature a crazy new waterslide design that will use a clear acrylic tube that will extend quite a ways over the edge of the ship before turning back in towards the ship again for the splashdown. So the only thing between your rear end and the ocean far far below will be a thin clear tube. Creepy… and very cool.”
    Well… mostly true, as even then I had not heard that it was a water coaster, much like the Crush ‘n Gusher slides at Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon, so there will at least be a raft between your rear end and the see-through tube hanging over the edge of the ocean. According to the official description, “Guests are propelled at high speeds from Deck 12, Aft through an acrylic tube on a breathtaking journey up, down, around and off the side of the ship, through the Forward Funnel and—following a mammoth drop—into a lazy river.” The AquaDuck is 765 feet long and will feature a “4 deck drop”.
    One more interesting feature of the Disney Dream is the “Virtual Porthole” added to the interior staterooms. This faux porthole HD video screen will show off real-time views of the outside world that will actually match up with the location of your stateroom’s position within the ship. From time to time, select Disney characters will also make surprise appearance in the porthole… such as the starfish from Finding Nemo, Captain Hook’s pirate ship out on the waves or even Mickey could drop by. Anything is possible, but if you get tired of it, you can turn off the Porthole at any time.
    (3/11/09) Disney has officially given names to their two new ships: Disney Dream and Disney Fantasy. It’s kind of funny though, as I guessed one of the two ships would be given the Disney Dream name a little over a year ago when the Disneyland Hotel renamed their three hotel towers to: Magic, Wonder and Dream towers. The Disney Dream will hit the waves first, launching in 2011 followed a year later by the Disney Fantasy.
    (2/23/07) The Disney Cruise Line confirmed plans yesterday afternoon to build two new unnamed ships that are planned to go into service in 2011 and 2012. The two yet-to-be-named ships will actually stand two stories taller than the Disney Wonder and Disney Magic and weighing in at an impressive 122,000 tons compared to the 83,000 tons of the older ships. The new twins will be built in Germany's Meyer Werft shipyard and feature 1,250 staterooms compared to the 877 staterooms on the first two. Right now they have not yet set the specific itineraries for the ships, but a previous rumor suggested that one might be sent periodically to the West coast to make the Alaska runs since the Wonder and Magic are not outfitted for that kind of environment.

2012 - Four Seasons Resort - (3/22/10) I’ve been sent word that what little construction we’ve been seeing on other sites labeled as being part of the Four Seasons resort really isn’t the Four Seasons at all. Apparently the Four Seasons resort proper really has yet to even do much more than some site clearing. All of the construction seen so far is really for the entrance and front end of the Golden Oak residential project.
    (3/16/10) The latest photo update to MouseSteps takes us on a tour to see the progress over at the Four Seasons Resort construction site.
    (1/27/10) According to this report following the different internet domain names Disney has registered for of late, Disney has nabbed up 20 different domain names referring to the Golden Oak brand names, rumored to be used for the new residential community next to the Four Seasons hotel. The names include DisneyGoldenOak.com, GoldenOakAtDisney.com, GoldenOakAtWaltDisneyWorld.com and many more.
    (12/30/09) A Screamscape source has come to tell us a bit more about an small residential area being built as part of the Four Seasons Resort on WDW Property. They tell us that it will be named Golden Oak, a reference to Disney’s Golden Oak Ranch in California, and that it will be fairly small, consisting of only between 30 to 50 homes. Of course these ‘homes’ will apparently all cost in the 7-figure range and will be within a completely gated community that may come with special benefits such as annual passes for the residents. Of course many of these “homes” are likely to become vacation property rentals or things picked up by higher end corporations as a perk for their executives. A sales center and model home building is already under construction. Look for them to start trying to pre-sell the homes sometime in 2010.
    (12/22/09) New construction pictures showing off the site of the Four Seasons resort and more have been posted to MouseSteps.
    (10/6/09) MouseSteps has posted a few new construction pictures showing off the current state of the Four Seasons Resort area.
    (9/2/08) We finally get a peek at just what the new Four Seasons resort on Walt Disney World property will look like, posted over at the Orlando Sentinel. According to the article, site prep has already started and the hotel is looking to open in 2012 instead of 2010.
    (3/1/07) Walt Disney World made two surprise announcements today about a major expansions planned for the resort. Disney has struck a deal to construct a 900 acre luxury resort and commercial district on the site of the current Eagle Pines and Osprey Ridge golf courses. The new site will be anchored by an official Four Seasons hotel and include an 18 hole golf course, like keeping one of the two existing courses or perhaps some kind of combination of the two. The site will also include an area for “single and multi-family vacation homes and fractional ownership vacation homes.” Screamscape has heard that the land itself for that has been rezoned from Reedy Creek to Orange County to prevent anyone else’s agenda from getting in the way of Disney and Reedy Creek which is pretty much their unofficial district they maintain control over. Work on the new hotel is supposed to begin later this year, though it wont be ready to open until 2010.

2013 - Bowling Stadium - (2/22/10) It looks like that Bowling Stadium project has been pushed back until at least 2013. I missed this article at the time, but looks like when the economy went south back in 2008, the plans for the 100 lane facility were also put on hold due to financing problems from the unannounced backer of the facility.
    (6/10/08) Disney’s Wild World of Sports, or whatever new ESPN brand name it will have in the near future, will begin to host a huge bowling tournament starting in 2011 for the United States Bowling Congress. To handle the huge 20 week events each year from 2011 to 2029, Disney will build a huge “Bowling Stadium” that will feature at least 100 lanes, stadium style seating, a new restaurant and more.
    Yes, you read that number correctly! At least 100 lanes of bowling… and according to this article that could make this the biggest bowling stadium in the country, and when the lanes aren’t being used for the competition, they will be open for all us regular folks to go play on. Disney has only said that an unnamed company will build and operate the 160,000 square-foot center. They expect it to be open by early 2010.
    There seems to be some debate over what the biggest bowling alley in the country is right now as some older centers that had over 100 lanes have closed in the last few years, including the 106 site at the Las Vegas’ Showboat. The current world leader (as far as I can find) is the 156 lane Nagoya Grand Bowl in Japan, but even that was dwarfed by the previous world record holder, the now closed Tokyo World Lanes that once claimed to have 252 lanes of bowling under one roof.

2013/2014 - DVC Wing at Grand Floridian Resort - Planning - (3/24/11) According to the Orlando Sentinel, plans have been submitted to the county detailing an expansion to the Grand Floridian Resort. The plans describe a 6 to 7 story T-shaped building that will be connected to the main structure by an elevated walkway. The early speculation is that this could be an official DVC-Wing being added onto the resort, much like we’ve seen them add onto the Contemporary, Wilderness Lodge and Beach Club Resorts.

2013/2014 - New Disney DVC Resort Hotel - Rumor - (2/14/11) According to one of our readers, new survey markers were spotted in the Fort Wilderness area along the “nature trails near the marina” and near the Settlement Trading Post. Could this be more signs of forward traction on that proposed new DVC Resort?
    (9/1/10) According to our sources, Disney engineers have been spotted going over the site, to determine just what will need to be done to remove the remains of Water Country. Others have been seen near the front of Fort Wilderness talking about plans to build new barn facilities to move the current Tri Circle D Ranch to a new location. As for the resort itself, I’ve been told that this will be a new DVC Resort, with the design being based on the old Buffalo Junction plans from years ago (minus the now defunct Fort Wilderness Railroad and other extra features), filling the gap between the Wilderness Lodge and Fort Wilderness. You can find a nice article about the once proposed Buffalo Junction (aka: Wilderness Junction) concept at Progress City USA.  (Note: Previous rumors about the next DVC Resort indicated they were looking at a site across from the Coronado Springs Resort that may have had some kind of California theme with a special pathway to Blizzard Beach).
    (8/31/10) Screamscape has been sent an interesting rumor that claims Disney’s Tri Circle D Ranch area, the nearby beach area along the lake and the former River Country property may all be planned to be leveled sometime next summer, to clear the site to make way for a brand new mega Disney resort project. Anyone else know more about this?

???? - Golden Oak - (6/24/10) Disney unveiled details about their new Golden Oak residential area set up on Walt Disney World property. Read more here.

???? - Western Beltway Development - (12/4/07) According to the Orlando Sentinel private developers and merchants will be able to run their own small restaurants, a grocery store, retail shops and even a few “value” level hotels as part of Walt Disney World’s new Western development project. Disney has begun to offer parcels for sale for the 450 acre development project that they are calling Flamingo Crossings off Western Way that will be built up over the next decade.
    (3/12/07) Disney released some artwork of the Western Beltway Development project area with maps this week. For some reason it all looks very similar to the retail development off 192 just outside Celebration,
    (3/1/07) Walt Disney World made two surprise announcements today about a major expansions planned for the resort: The new Four Seasons resort and their Western Beltway Development plans. Disney is planning to develop a 450 acre retail and commercial development just outside the gateway near where Western Way meets the Western Beltway. This new area will include even more 3rd party branded hotels (4,000 to 5,000 rooms), restaurants and gift shops that will be built in phases over the next 10 years with site work also to begin before the end of the year.