Showing posts with label Epcot. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Epcot. Show all posts

Saturday, February 23, 2013

The New & Improved TEST TRACK

Epcot Guests Design Their Dream Wheels, then Buckle Up for Fun at the Re-Imagined Test Track Presented by Chevrolet


Copyright: Disney - by Matt Stroshane
 LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – Walt Disney World Resort guests will enter the world of automotive design as never before, creating their own virtual concept, then boarding a “SimCar” ride vehicle to race through a thrilling series of performance tests when the re-imagined, multi-sensory Test Track Presented by Chevrolet grand opens Dec. 6, 2012.
The iconic Epcot attraction, a new collaboration between Chevrolet Design and the creative team of Walt Disney Imagineering, celebrates how meticulous design not only shapes the look of Chevrolet cars, trucks and crossovers, but drives their performance on the open road.

For inspiration for the project, Walt Disney Imagineers made numerous visits to Detroit, collaborating with Chevrolet designers and touring the inner sanctums of Chevrolet’s design studios.

Amid upbeat music, eye-popping lighting effects and a collection of Chevrolet concept and new vehicles, guests themselves become automotive designers – and peer into the future of personal transportation in the process.

Copyright: Disney - by Ali Nasser
Test Track guests enter an all-new, interactive pre-show area with a future-focused design theme – from the fully realized Chevrolet Miray roadster concept car and the Chevrolet EN-V to dynamic media displays including models and sketches of vehicle design possibilities. The sleek new “Chevrolet Design Center” invites guests to create their own virtual custom-concept vehicle.
Car designer wannabes get to shape their own virtual car, truck or crossover and learn how their choices perform against four important performance attributes that guide Chevrolet designers:
  • Capability – design your car to handle the roughest roads or most extreme weather conditions
  • Efficiency – create a car that saves on fuel, reduces your environmental footprint, cuts down on emissions or even uses recycled parts
  • Responsiveness – choose elements that will give you easy maneuverability through the tightest of turns
  • Power – choose the gear you need to make your car a racer or a hauler
At design kiosks, rows of touch screens become canvasses for guests to try their hand at automotive design. They can design alone or collaborate on their design with family and friends. Even choose from six different languages.
Copyright: Disney - by Ali Nasser
Here, they can virtual-draw – stretch and shape their vehicle design by length, width, height and engine size — and decide which performance attribute is most important to them. Once they create – from infinite possibilities — the design of their dreams, guests complete their creation with even more choices. They can make a design statement with an expressive front grill, tailored wheels of various sizes and styles, and custom paint with graphics and other vehicle accessories. And the crowning touch of every design – Chevrolet’s world-famous bowtie logo.
Even FASTPASS and single rider guests can choose the performance attribute most important to them and select their virtual car’s profile from a selection of pre-designed vehicles.

Copyright: Disney - by Ali Nasser
Their virtual custom-concept Chevrolet vehicle complete, the adventure then shifts into high gear as guests – armed with a card encoded with their personal specs that allows their design to ride with them and see how it performs – board their 6-person “SimCar” ride vehicle. Ahead: a thrilling journey into a dazzling multi-sensory, optically charged experience as guests put their personal design through a series of performance tests – the exhilarating heart of Test Track Presented by Chevrolet.


Along their route, riders experience changing terrain and extreme conditions as their designs are scored at checkpoints for Capability, Efficiency, Responsiveness and Power. How does their design stand up to the challenging hills, switchbacks and straight-aways of the Test Track circuit? How well does it navigate through bumpy roads, icy conditions, turn-on-a-dime curves and other surprises? Their design skills are put to the test – at speeds of up to 65 mph.
The fun and excitement extends to the post-show area, which continues the story of Chevrolet design:
  • Scoring their design. Guests get to compare their virtual car’s performance results to that of a baseline “SimCar” – and see how they performed against their fellow “designers” and recent top scorers.
  • Guests as freshly-minted car designers can even create their own TV commercial – starring their virtual custom vehicle and adding location, narration and music – and email it to friends and family.
  • At a digital driving table laying out a road course, guests have an opportunity to race their virtual custom-concept vehicles against other guests’ designs, over changing terrains and encountering extreme conditions.
  • In another experience, guests get to pose for photos with actual Chevrolet vehicles.  Also, through green screen technology — with a few taps on their touch screen — guests suddenly find themselves posing with their virtual concept Chevrolet on the lunar surface, a polar landscape, arcing across the galaxies or other thrilling scenes. The images become easily sharable on social media, sending virtual postcard greetings to family, friends or co-workers back home.
  • New and concept Chevrolet vehicles are laid out showroom-style. Guests can get behind the wheel of Chevrolet’s latest production models. Chevrolet product specialists are on hand to answer any questions.
Test Track Presented by Chevrolet continues a 30-year relationship between General Motors and Disney at Epcot dating to the opening of the park Oct. 1, 1982 with World of Motion.
Test Track Presented by Chevrolet is included in Epcot admission.
Copyright: Disney - Ali Nasser

 

Friday, January 11, 2013

20th Epcot Flower and Garden Festival is Set

20th Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival March 6-May 19 Celebrates with New Blooms, Food, Music, and ‘Oz’ Playground

A blooming bounty of festival firsts will welcome Disney guests to the 20th Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival presented by HGTV March 6-May 19, 2013 at Walt Disney World Resort.  First, the news:
  • Epcot chefs will cook up first-time festival food and beverage fun, with special cooking stations offering exclusive-to-the-festival bites along the park’s World Showcase promenade.
  • A new circus-like “Land of Oz Play Area,” based on the Disney fantastical film adventure “Oz: The Great and Powerful” to be released in March 2013, will debut a kaleidoscope of interactive fun.
  • Disney topiary experts will grow, shape and manicure a Fab Five Disney character topiary with Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Goofy, Pluto and Donald Duck (with Daisy Duck in a cameo) featured in a celebratory floral cookout scene in living topiary color at the park’s front entrance.
  • New illuminated gardens in the park’s Future World and World Showcase will cast a colorful glow over each festival evening.
Throughout the 75-day garden party, guests will discover festival surprises around every corner including new topiary triumphs, colorful garden displays, a butterfly bounty, HGTV celebrity designers, interactive gardening seminars and whimsical children’s play areas.  On weekends, top Flower Power rockers of the 1960s and ’70s will perform.

Every Friday through Sunday, HGTV design celebrities will host Festival Center seminars.  During opening weekend, March 8-10, Chris Lambton of “Going Yard” will appear; other designers scheduled to take the stage include Brandon Johnson of “My Yard Goes Disney” and Meg Caswell of “Meg’s Great Rooms.”

For more information contact MackeyMouse Travel today! Great deals are available!!

Friday, September 7, 2012

Candlelight Processional Updates

Updates for Holidays Around the World at Epcot:
Copyright: Disney - Garth Vaughn, Photographer

Candlelight Processional: One of the most beloved holiday traditions at Epcot is the Candlelight Processional - a joyous retelling of the Christmas story by a celebrity narrator accompanied by a 50-piece orchestra and a glorious mass choir.
World Showcase, America Gardens Theatre - 5:00 p.m., 6:45 p.m. & 8:15 p.m.
Narrators for this year:
Dates Narrator
Nov. 23 - 25
Nov. 26 - 29
Nov. 30 - Dec. 1
Dec. 2 - 4
Dec. 5 - 7
Dec. 8 - 9
Dec. 10 - 13
Dec. 14 - 16
Dec. 17 - 19
Dec. 20 - 22
Dec. 23 - 25
Dec. 26 - 28
Dec. 29 - 30
Geena Davis
Neil Patrick Harris
Whoopi Goldberg
Andy Garcia
Blair Underwood
James Denton
Jodi Benson
Olivia Newton John
To be announced
Trace Adkins
Gary Sinise
Amy Grant
Marlee Matlin / Jack Jason
Please note that narrators are subject to change without notice.

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

A Special Souvenir


The Bead Outpost
Jack Spence ~ contributor Allears.net
 
A wonderful treat at Epcot! I am always looking for a souvenir that is different. I am kind of a Mickey snob and don’t like my Mickey memorabilia to be too touristy or too in your face! Now, you couldn’t tell by my front porch/house because he is prominentJ! Anywho….I am always looking for souvenir with meaning.  I want to look at that souvenir for years to come and remember why I bought it and where I was when I bought it. Hopefully it was a happy trip and I will remember the small nuances of that day!

The Bead Outpost at Epcot offers just such a souvenir. The beads that are used to make the necklaces, earrings, bracelets and anklets are made from old recycled brochures! Disney brochures to be exact!!! How awesome is that?!

Jack Spence ~ contributor Allears.net
Some of the beads you can really see the writing from the brochures which is my preference. But some of them are just a plain looking bead in a nice variety of colors. The outdated Disney items are sent to Uganda, through cooperation with the non-profit organization Bead For Life. There, villagers literally hand-roll the recycled paper into lovely, waterproof beads that are then made into jewelry, and sent back to Disney to be sold.

Close-up ~ this one doesn't show the writing as well.
The prices range from $7.00 for a pair of earrings to $20.00 for a necklace. We chose anklets ($12.00) so we could have a piece of Disney history with us always! What a great conversation piece it has been! I highly recommend taking some time out of your tour of Epcot to browse the huge selection at the Bead Outpost. You can bring home a little Disney history of your own!

 
My new favorite souvenir :)



Tuesday, July 10, 2012

'Brave' the Competition

Copyright: Tom Smutny, photographer

'Brave' the Competition -- Immersing the whole family in traditional Scottish rivalry, Brave -The Highland Games Tournament at Epcot is a kid-focused offering that includes games like Mini Caber Toss, Cake Toss, Haggis Flip and archery. There also is a kids' playground with free enhanced wireless. The attraction will take place through July 8 from 11 a.m. - 7 p.m. on the Rose Walk. Epcot admission is required.

Copyright: Tom Smutny, photographer

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Eat to the Beat Concert Series Line-Up

The Ecpot International Food and Wine Festival 
 Eat to the Beat Concert

The 2012 Eat to the Beat Concert series line-up, which will run during the Epcot International Food and Wine Festival (September 28 through November 11), has been announced (subject to change, of course). It's as follows:
-- September 28 - 30: Night Ranger
-- October 1-3: Sugar Ray
-- October 4-7: STARSHIP starring Mickey Thomas
-- October 8-10: Boyz II Men
-- October 11-12: Smash Mouth
-- October 13-14: Javier Colon, winner of "The Voice"
-- October 15-17: Air Supply
-- October 18-19: Gin Blossoms
-- October 20-21: Survivor
-- October 22-23: Hanson
-- October 24-25: The Pointer Sisters
-- October 26-28: Sister Hazel
-- October 29-31: Billy Ocean
-- November 1-2: .38 Special
-- November 3-4: Howard Jones LIVE
-- November 5-6: Blues Traveler
-- November 7-8: Dennis DeYoung, original member of the group STYX
-- November 9-11: Big Bad Voodoo Daddy
The concerts, which are included with Epcot admission, will be at the America Gardens Theatre nightly at 5:15, 6:30 and 7:45 p.m.

Saturday, February 18, 2012

Disney's BoardWalk Inn

Disney's BoardWalk Inn

Beautifully appointed rooms, shingled rooftops, private courtyards and magnificent gardens combine to recreate the charming atmosphere of romantic bed-and-breakfast inns found along the mid-Atlantic coast of the 1940s. Plus bustling nightclubs, restaurants and shops at Disney's BoardWalk entertainment district, adjacent to the Resort, recapture the fun and excitement of bygone waterfront villages and shorelines.


Dining
6 Quick Service locations
  • 4 Full Service restuarants
    • Flying Fish Cafe
    • Kouzzina by Cat Cora
    • ESPN Club
    • Big River Grille & Brewing Works
  • Pool bar
  • Lounge
  • 2 night clubs
    • Jellyrolls
    • Atlantic Dance Hall
  • In-Room Dining:6am - midnight

Recreation
  • 3 Pools
    Feature Pool:free-form with a water slide in the form of a classic wooden roller coaster
  • 2 whirlpool spas
  • Children's playground
  • Arcade
  • Tennis (Yacht Club)
  • Marina
  • Fishing
  • Bike rental
  • Jogging trail
  • Health club
  • Massage/spa services

Our first time staying at the Boardwalk was in July 2005. Our daughter was 15 months old. We have mixed reviews of this resort and set-up for an infant. We loved being within an easy walk to Epcot, but the “stroll” back from Hollywood Studios almost killed us!

A fabulous resort with excellent amenities. We highly recommend to first timers and old pros alike!

Email or call us today for a FREE quote! Mackeymousetravel@yahoo.com or 770.490.5974

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Epcot Internationl Flower & Garden Festival

New Sorcerer Mickey Topiary Conducts Floral Magic at 19th Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival March 7-May 20

Colorful New Gardens, Popular Gardening Workshops and Whimsical Fun in Store

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – A little gardening magic will go a long way when an eight-foot-tall floral Sorcerer Mickey topiary holds court at the entrance to the 19th Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival March 7-May 20 at Walt Disney World Resort.  Standing atop a 12-foot-tall floral mountain cliff and towering above the park’s front-entrance topiary bed, the commanding Sorcerer Mickey will direct a riot of color in the manicured shapes of dancing broomsticks, buckets, mushrooms, hippos, alligators and elephants straight from the classic Disney film, “Fantasia.”
Disney topiary specialists worked to create the striking new design with innovative materials and recycled elements from years past, says festival horticulture manager Eric Darden.  An earlier version of Sorcerer Mickey stood less than five feet tall; a larger frame was built, Darden says, to more accurately reflect the character in the front-entrance Fantasia scene.  The new Fantasia “mountain” grew from a 2003 topiary piece that once held a “Steamboat Willie” Mickey Mouse display.
“The challenge is to use our resources, repurpose them, and keep them fresh every year,” Darden says.  “These are some of our most popular characters from a topiary standpoint, and ‘Fantasia’ was a groundbreaking film for its music and animation techniques.”
The front-entrance floral spectacle will welcome guests to a festival packed with new displays, featured speakers and hands-on fun for all ages.

Don’t Miss!

For 75 festival days, Epcot guests can explore topiaries and gardens, learn planting, style and design techniques and rock to the tunes of popular Flower Power concerts:
  • Bambi’s Butterfly House, three times the size of the festival’s original, will be a-flutter with multiple species of brilliant butterflies.  At Imagination Walkway by Innoventions West.
  • Pixie Hollow Fairy Garden - Fabulous Disney fairy topiaries alight to greet young fans who enter this whimsical garden designed with play structures for children ages 2-5.  At the Test Track Walkway.
  • The HGTV Designers Stage will present HGTV celebrities each Friday through Sunday and nationally recognized garden personalities Monday through Thursday.  At the Festival Center.
  • The Flower Power concert series will welcome back 20th century pop favorites this year when Jose Feliciano, Chubby Checker and The Wildcats, Paul Revere & The Raiders, Davy Jones and seven other bands rock the America Gardens Theatre with their timeless tunes.  Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Performers and appearance dates subject to change.
Petal Power
Thirty million blooms, 240 floating mini-gardens on two ponds, 700 container gardens of flowers, herbs, plants and vegetables, dozens of Disney character topiaries, 30 “flower towers” of impatiens and sweeping beds of floral designs will create a tapestry of brilliant color across the 260-acre Epcot landscape.  It takes more than one full year and 400 Walt Disney World horticulturists to plan and prepare for the 75-day festival.  One of the most interesting challenges is finding just the right plant materials to bring the park’s topiaries to life.
The front-entrance “Fantasia” rock cliff topiary will be carpeted with a “blackish-purple Ajuga,” says Disney plant specialist Heather Will-Browne.  White and blue flowers will represent streams of water tumbling down the rock face, she adds, and the “Fantasia” theme will be carried out with masses of hot pink geraniums, blue delphiniums, white poppies, violet petunias and blue pansies, among others.  Other show-stopping character topiaries:  Lightning McQueen and Mater from “Cars 2″ at the Japan showcase; Buzz, Woody and Lotso the teddy bear from “Toy Story 3;” and the Fab Five – Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Pluto and Goofy — outside the Festival Center.
The horticulture team also will plant new landscape looks outside the Italy and Norway pavilions, Will-Browne says.  In Italy, gardeners will display a mix of containers overflowing with bright flowers and pots of fragrant herbs used in Italian cuisine.  Around Norway, “we’ll do a white show of geraniums, violas, snap dragons, poppies and alyssum,” she says.  A small Norway meadow will feature “a mass of brilliant, wild mixed color.”  Each of the park’s other nine World Showcase countries will feature special festival landscape elements.
More Festival Fun
  • The Festival Center- Guests can shop for festival merchandise, attend demonstrations and get ideas and tips from master gardeners.  In Future World between Universe of Energy and Mission:SPACE.
  • Disney Gardening at Home presentations - Disney horticulturists will share gardening tips and lead guests in a hands-on, take-home activity at the Festival Center.
  • Special Festival Weekend Celebrations - An Art in the Garden celebration of plein air artists is scheduled March 23-25; a Florida Federation of Garden Clubs gathering will be April 27-29; and a Fresh from Florida Farmer’s Market salute is slated for May 4-6.
More information about the 19th annual Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival is available by calling 407/W-DISNEY (934-7639) or by visiting disneyworld.com/flower when festival time approaches.  The festival, including all gardening programs and exhibits, is included in regular Epcot admission.

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Behind the Seeds at Epcot

Behind the Seeds at Epcot

Tours and Special Experiences at Walt Disney World Resort
Behind The Seeds at Epcot

The Behind the Seeds at Epcot tour offers a one-hour indoor walking tour of the greenhouses seen during the Living with the Land attraction at Epcot theme park.


Discover the secrets of how The Land Pavilion grows delicious produce indoors on this special backstage tour. See the future of agriculture, go alligator gazing, release lady bugs and learn the advanced—and often experimental—techniques used to grow hydroponic crops with little or no soil. Watch how new methods are being developed to cultivate plants around the world and help make the Earth a healthier place to live.
If you want a preview of the tour, ride the Living with the Land attraction. If you like what you see as your boat cruises through the greenhouse, you will love the Behind the Seeds at Epcot tour.
Epcot theme park admission is required and is not included in the price of the tour. The tour is indoors and only an hour long, but you will be on your feet for the entire time. Behind the Seeds at Epcot is appropriate for Guests of all ages.

Duration:1 hour
Price:$18.00 per adult (ages 10 and up) $14.00 per child (ages 3-9 yrs)
Phone:Call (407) WDW-TOUR or (407) 939-8687
Wheelchair Accessible
Hearing Disabilities

NOW Let's go PLAN!!

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Disney's PhotoPass - explained

Disney's PhotoPass

A great way to get yourself in the picture and allow yourself to enjoy the trip instead of worrying about getting that perfect shot!   Once you book your family vacation you will receive a packet of information. Within that packet is a card (credit card type) that has Disney's PhotoPass printed on it. Write that number down! Log onto the Disney PhotoPass website and register that card!

A photo pass will document your vacation in a way you can't. Disney's photographers are using state of the art equipment and are in the most amazing photo locations in all of the parks! Hand them your pass and they will shoot away. YOU will actually be in the shot!! 

On our last trip I had used the PhotoPass that was sent to me then lost it within a day of our trip! The first day pictures are ALWAYS the best!!  I logged on crossing my fingers that I had registered the card AND I had!!  Photos saved!

Disney also offers a great product to go along with your PhotoPass! You can order a photo CD of ALL of your pictures that their photographers took! A little trick that few people know is, you can PRE-ORDER that CD saving yourself $50 off the cost!!  It's a hard link to find so if you have trouble contact me and I will email it to you! 

A great way to help offset the cost of the CD is to go with a group. We were 3 families traveling together so the cost of our CD was cut by 1/3. I have read about people doing the same thing on online groups. I haven't done this and am not sure I would trust it but they are out there! I do have a friend who has done a group CD off of an online group and had no trouble at all!

So as part of your pre-planning with MackeyMouse Travel you need to make sure you add Disney's PhotoPass pre-order CD to your list! 


NOW let's go PLAN!