Not bargain related but newsworthy! Avatar themed land coming to Animal Kingdom

Disney' Imagineers announced today that in 2013 construction will begin on an Avatar themed land in Walt Disney World's park Animal Kingdom.  Even though Disney didn't produce Avatar, I think this will be a big addition to Animal Kingdom and will draw more crowds in an otherwise "getting stale" park.  Animal Kingdom seems to have been neglected as of late with new attractions not being added as opposed to the other three parks which seems to have something new being released pretty regularly.  If you want to learn more about today's press release, you can go here. 

Part 7:Disney Tidbits, EPCOT!

We venture into a new park today, Epcot!  So let's get started!

Did You Know?

• The sidewalks twinkle at night.  Take the right-hand path after the Epcot ball.  You'll come upon them. 
• The distance around the World Showcase, from China to Canada, is 1.2.5 miles.  
•  World Showcase park entrance--there is an upside down classic Mickey in the clock.  
• The concrete paths around the lagoon are red to make the grass appear greener.
• A great, uncrowded place to visit characters is the bench near the rail past the International Gateway.  It's on your right if you're coming form the BC.  It might be across from that first clothing store when you get in. 
•  There is a butterfly garden behind Mouse Gears. 
•  Enter EPCOT for FREE!  If you're anywhere near the International Gateway around 9pm, the CMs will open the gates and allow you in to watch Illuminations.  This is a great way to start your trip with some extra magic, especially if you're staying at one of the Boardwalk area resorts and had an afternoon or evening arrival.
• The fountain at Epcot Innoventions Plaza can shoot water 150 feet in the air -- within 30 feet of the top of Spaceship Earth.  If all of the shooters were fired at once, there would be 2,000 gallons of water in the air.
• Club Cool-Used to be called Ice Station Cool, but now it's "Club Cool."  If you are walking towards the WS from FW, it is on the right-hand side of the large fountain.  If you walk past the fountain, you have gone too far. When you go into the Coke station, get a little of the "Italy-Beverly" flavor and act like you are drinking it; then tell everyone how delicious it is.  They will all take a big gulp and gag!!!  It is disgusting! 
• Mission Space:
• In the gift store, look at the ceiling.  Double Hidden Mickey.  I think I can make out both a classic and a profile hidden Mickey in the same scene.  
• When you are in the gift shop of Mission Space, look at the walls.   It looks like electrical boxes and wiring.  Some of these boxes are Mickeys heads. 
• If you can peel your head forward while on Mission Space, try all the knobs...they ALL work!  Some make noises within the cabin, others flash lights, but the different switches, etc. are there for more than decorations!  
• If you DO start flipping all of the switches and turning the dials and stuff, "Lt. Dan" comes over your speaker and tells you not to touch them. 
• The Horizons logo is dead center in the middle of the spinning space station in Mission Space.  A tribute to the attraction that was demolished in order to make way for Mission Space.  It is also below the gift shops’s cash register mural , on the front of the register counter. 
• When you're in the corridor alongside Mission Control, watch the small monitors on the workstation behind the glass. You may spot footage of an albatross coming in for a rough landing. It's a clip once used for comic effect during the pre-show of the Mission to Mars attraction in the Magic Kingdom (1975-1993). 
• Spaceship Earth:
• In Spaceship Earth, there is a scene with a monk sleeping on a book he is writing.  There is a HM in the book as well as names of the Imagineers.
•  The entrance to Spaceship Earth with the two shops actually created a Wind tunnel, and they had to make adjustments after it was built.  Still gets windy down there. 
• There is a lift machine at the top of Spaceship earth.  It is in the room where the moon is shown and the vehicle turns backwards to go down.  It is used to get Mickey through a hatch and on top of the attraction for commercials.  
• In the scene of "The Renaissance," there is a little table to the left of the scene.  This is where the painter keeps some of his supplies.  There is a HM made from paint rings, like the painter set his cup down three times and it coincidentally made that certain shape!  
•  There are two figures that used to be in the Hall of Presidents:  the sleeping monk used to be Woodrow Wilson & the large bald slave in the Egyptian scene was William Taft. 
• Weighs 16 million pounds -- more than three times that of a Space Shuttle fully fueled and ready for launch.  The outer "skin" is made up of 11,324 aluminum and plastic-alloy triangles.  Also, did you know that rainwater never falls off the sphere?  It's absorbed into the ball and funneled away.  
• Test Track:
• Test Track vehicles have three on-board computers that have more processing power than the space shuttle. 
• Test Track is the fastest ride in WDW, at 65 mph. 
• When you leave Test Track, you walk into a room that looks like a factory with lots of motorized carts overhead moving around and conveyer belts moving parts.  It looks like a HUGE room, but if you walk over to the wall on the right side and stand at the right angle, you can see that the room is actually pretty small and that they use mirrors to give the illusion that you're standing in a section of a huge warehouse/factory!  
•  It takes 8.8 seconds to accelerate from 0-65 for the High Speed Test.
• Each vehicle was designed to last for approximately one million miles and travels about 50,000 miles in any given year.
•  There are 32 vehicles in total, but only 25-26 are on the track at any one time.
•  Each car as a total of 22 wheels, although only 4 are seen by the guests.
•  There are 6 braking systems on each car.
• Each vehicle completes 34 turns during the ride.
• The roadway that runs alongside of the building is banked at 50 degrees. 
• There are 85 road signs along the route.
• The ride lasts approximately five and a half minutes.

Part 6: Disney Tidbits Magic Kingdom Tomorrowland

I'm sorry I didn't post this last week.  It got to be hectic around here and I put it off till this week.  But here it is, Part 6, Tomorrowland.  If you are wondering why we skipped Toon Town, its because it is currently in refurb as they add more to Fantasyland and take away parts of Toon Town and lots of info may not be accurate right now.

Did You Know?

• There is a Hidden Mickey in the cement near the Astro Orbiter.  It is near one of the stability pillars in front of Astro Orbiter on the side facing Space Mountain.  It is definitely an imprint of a classic Mickey in the cement.
• A CM (Cast Member) at the end of the Buzz Lightyear ride (just before the gift shop area) may choose you to find a hidden Disney Character somewhere in the area from the entrance of the shop forward.  You get a free copy of your picture and a free souvenir if you can point it out in under 5 minutes!  
• The big points in the Buzz Lightyear ride are found leaving the first room.  Turn around and shoot the back of the orange robot’s arm or the back of the buzz saw (100,000 points).  The car turns automatically away form these so turn back to score big!  Hold the button on your blaster down--don't let it up as you move it around and aim.
• In the very last Buzz Lightyear room where you are still able to shoot, look forward at the top left corner, there's a planet with Mickey on it.  This same planet is also on the map of planets in the waiting area just as you enter.  The planet is blue.  
• If you make a silly face for the camera on the Buzz ride, your photo will come up on the monitors as "Zapped by Zurg."

• There is a Picture of Walt Disney hidden in the Carousel of Progress.  It is in the daughter's room in the 1940s on the wall you are facing as you sit in front of the stage wall in the upper left corner.  
• Several HMs (Hidden Mickeys) in the final scene:  (a) Mickey nutcracker on the fireplace mantle, (b) a plush peeking out from a present, (c) a white peppermill on the kitchen counter, (d) An abstract Mickey Mouse as the Sorcerer's apprentice from Fantasia in a painting on the dining room wall, (e) one of the Christmas presents under the tree (near the Grandfather's chair) is wrapped in red and white paper but has a large classic Mickey head cut out of green paper glued to the side of the gift (the gift is partially hidden by another present, so you see the ears and part of the top of Mickey's head), (f) a classic Mickey appears (just for a few seconds) on the top of a spaceship in the middle of the television screen (look for it just as the game starts on the TV before Grandma starts playing), (g) On the top of a cup, the lid is a HM. 
• The dog holding the keys in Pirates of the Caribbean and the dog in Carousel of Progress are both Walt Disney's dog.
• The T.T.A.-The attraction was originally called "The WEDway People Mover" from July 1, 1975 until the debut of the "New Tomorrowland" on June 11, 1994.  Although the ride itself has remained essentially the same, the soundtrack has had several changes, some minor and some major:  (a) the "WED" part of WEDway is for WED Enterprises, the original name for Walt Disney Imagineering (or WDI for short). WED is, of course, Walt's initials (Walter Elias Disney), (b) the model city the Tomorrowland Transit Authority passes is the model for Walt Disney’s personal vision of E.P.C.O.T., and (c) in the hair salon scene, look for a Hidden Mickey on the lady's belt buckle.
• A talking trashcan is in Tomorrowland!  His name is Push.  He comes out from Mickey's Star Traders every hour or so and roams for 20 minutes. 
• Near the Speedway on the way into Tomorrowland, there is a high street lamp with three large round hooded lights.  It was designed to cast a HM on the ground twice a day when the sun is in the right place.   

Next week I will be starting the series on Epcot's tips and secrets!  So tune in next Friday for the next installment of Disney Tidbits!