Whaaaaaaaaa?!?!?! Dispicable Me 3 in 2017

Fans of the cute, rowdy and extremely funny banana colored Minions rejoice!!  Universal has announced that Despicable Me 3 will hit theaters in 2017 and promise it to be bigger and better than ever. The original voice cast will be back, along with a new surprise for our minion buddies.

Universal also announced a new version of Dr. Seuss's "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" will be released the same year. Look for the new film to be an animated adaptation of the classic.  To those of you that are asking didn't Universal just do a Grinch film...well by the time the new film is released "The Grinch", staring Jim Carey, will be 17 years old!!

Enjoy!!

#minions #tpw #dispicableme #universal #thegrinch 

Typhoon Lagoon Closed today due to weather

Please note that Disney's Typhoon Lagoon will be closed today due to the cold temperatures here in Central Florida.  Disney's Blizzard Beach is already closed for its annual refurbishment.

#disney #typhoonlagoon #tpw

Disney goes Steampunk with all new Festival of Fantasy Parade this spring!!

Disney is about to shake up its theme park parade world with a major, and  much needed, replacement to the long running Celebrate A Dream Come True Parade which ended its run on January 4th at the Magic Kingdom.

Expect lots of metal, high end fabricated floats, new characters, and a few surprises when Disney debuts the all new Festival of Fantasy Parade!!  The theme of the parade as you can see from the artists renderings below will be very Jules Vern, the father of Steampunk,  in nature and will feature some new floats with characters never before used in a Disney parade.

Little Mermaid Float

Mickey and Minnie join the fun!

Brave

Off to Neverland!

Disney also released some new photos of the Maleficent float that will be part of this new guest experience.  I will say that I am very excited about this new parade and the Dragon from Maleficent is truly amazing in its look and stature.  Disney, ever the master in promotion, has leaked the photos not only to build anticipation for the new parade, but also for the new Maleficent film due out this May staring Angelina Jolie.

Details on the rest of the parade should be released soon as we head quickly into the spring opening.

Enjoy!!

#disney #maleficent #parade #steampunk #themeparkwhispers

Winter Side of Disney's Winter-Summerland Mini Golf Closed Until Further Notice

As expected Disney has announced the closing of the Winter side of their popular Winter-Summerland Mini Golf course located near Disney's Blizzard Beach water park. The closure is to allow for a major refurbishment of the area. No re-opening date has been given and we will provide more details as we find them out.

The Summerland side of the course will remain open during this time period.  So if you plan on Mini Golf on your next visit to Disney plan accordingly.

Enjoy!

Disney Breaks Ground on Avatar:The World of Pandora Project

Disney's Animal Kingdom started the process of becoming a much larger, full day park experience this week with the official groundbreaking for a new area themed to James Cameron's Avatar.  The ceremony took place in the now closed Camp Minnie Mickey area with Tom Staggs (Chairman of Disney Parks and Resorts), and leaders from Lightstorm Entertainment. James Camerons absence is a little peculiar, and may show a shift in how Disney intends to create and present the new area.

Leaders from Disney and Lightstorm

The new environment is going to be large with multiple attractions, restaurants, and merchandise locations, as well as many opportunities to snap some great photos. The themed environment will take over the old Camp Minnie Mickey as well as a huge section of backstage that was utilized for storage at the property. Disney actually started the process months ago with the closing of the highly popular show Festival of The Lion King which will be getting a new home closer to Harambe.

Future home to Avatar

Disney promises to take entertainment to a new level with the entire area of Pandora being one of the most immersive that Disney has ever provided. Bio-Luminescent plant life, floating mountains, and stunning landscapes will transport guests from Orlando Florida to the planet of Pandora home to indigenous Na'Vi .

Confirmed at this time are two E-Ticket attractions (Disney lingo for really awesome) of which one will be a boat ride through the forests of Pandora, and the other a signature attraction simulating flight on the back of a banshee soaring through the skies of the Na'Vi world.

Boat ride concept art

Banshee Ride concept art

Concept art of entrance to Pandora

James Cameron, Tom Staggs, and Joe Rohed with Pandora model

 The new area is expected to open in mid 2017 and should be an amazing experience for guests of all ages. Stay tuned for more details as they are made available.

Enjoy!!

#pandora , #disney , #animalkingdom , #orlando

The Marvel Experience program details and artwork released.

(Time for our new weekly Friday update, that's right boy and girls, we will be updating the Theme park Whispers site every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday this year (with more updates if needed) for your enjoyment!!)

2014 promises to be an amazing year for the parks here in Orlando. Universal will open a new game changing area with Harry Potter: Diagon Alley, Disney will take us on an amazing ride through the Mines of the Seven Dwarfs,  Seaworlds Aquatica is scheduled to open the worlds tallest, fastest, water slide, and the Orlando Eye is set to change the look and shopping available on International drive. Mondays update will start a series based on 2014 openings and we will kick it off with Universal's new Potter Project.

Today we will explore something that is not located in the theme parks in Orlando but is going to be a "do not miss" event if you are lucky enough to be close to an area that will host, get ready... The Marvel Experience!

Disney is really going to WOW guests with this attraction and it may be an indication of things to come in their theme parks worldwide. Contract restraints with Universal NBC do not allow Disney to use most of its major super hero characters east of the Mississippi in a permanent attraction. Disney however, resourceful as always, has found a way to tour their intellectual property and still fulfill the contract. So grab your favorite Marvel comic book and lets head into the world of super heroes, super villains, and high tech gadgetry.

Artist rendering of the S.H.I.E.L.D. complex

The Marvel Experience is a $30 million dollar interactive extravaganza that is going to amaze visitors with exhibits, 3D animated short films, digital projects, virtual simulators, merchandise and super hero meet and greets, with photo opportunities galore.

S.H.I.E.L.D. (short for Supreme Headquarters, International Espionage, Law Enforcement Division) is the organization responsible for the safety of our planet in the Marvel universe. The organization works hand in hand with super heroes to insure peace reigns worldwide and unseen threats stay at bay.

Since the Avengers saved the world from Loki and his evil Chitauri army, the public wants to know more about super heroes and how they fit into our society.  S.H.I.E.L.D. will be providing a first hand look at some of these heroes and operations worldwide that have been kept secret for years, and they have will be deploying a mobile command center to do so.

Utilizing a 2 acre foot print with over 80,000 square feet of exhibit space The Marvel Experience will take you through a series of inter-connected domes that are central to a singular story line.High tech imagery, advanced fabricated sets, and live actors will all play part in this attraction providing a guest experience like none other.  Details and tour dates will follow soon, but we already rank this as one of the major theme park connected experiences of 2014!!

Enjoy!!

Rumor: Planet Hollywood Hotel to I-Drive..PHABULOUS!!

2010 was the year that Planet Hollywood announced that it would be opening more (the first and only one is in LasVegas), Planet Hollywood Hotels. The end of 2014 is here and no hotels have opened or have even been rumored heavily until now.

Filing for new trademarks to be used in the city of Orlando, Planet Hollywood Int. has now made it un-official that it is looking to do something in the Resort and Resort services realm of the hospitality industry here in O-Town! The words phabulous and phamous are both used at the Planet Hollywood Las Vegas location and now are being trademarked for use here in connection with a new project.

Phabulous!!

The owner of the trademark is listed as Planet Hollywood Orlando and not Caesars Entertainment which operates and owns the property in Vegas. The filing sounds promising and this combined with the Wyndham Hotel announcement of plans to renovate the Wyndham Orlando Resort connected to the new Orlando Eye project (the new name for I-Drive Live) it looks as if the rumor we posted last year may be finally working toward a solid project.  The Orlando Business Journal quoted a well-known developer earlier this year as stating a new PH Hotel would be going up on the I-Drive area, and the statement seems to be true.

Wyndham Orlando Resort on I-Drive

Wyndham has announced that it will be turning an area of the resort rooms into shops, renovating all the guest rooms, and building a new high rise tower, all centered around a central theme.  I also have been told by inside sources that the current Planet Hollywood's future at the new Disney Springs location has still not been finalized.  So that being said I think that Planet Hollywood's move to the I-Drive location would be a logical one and a nice addition to the Orlando Eye line up!

Once again this is just rumor and until the official announcement but I would say paperwork and moves by Orlando's Planet Hollywood International seem to indicate we could be seeing that type of announcement soon!