MickeyBlog Disney Updates for June 18, 2018
A new Pixar movie opened in theaters this past weekend. Its record-shattering performance headlines the latest edition of MickeyBlog News…but there’s plenty of park news this week, too!
A New Disney Park App
A few weeks ago, The Walt Disney Company made the surprise announcement that they’re adding a second park app for download. At the time, information was scarce. In a recent Parks Blog update, they clarified what the new app is. You’re going to want it.
The Play Disney Parks app will gamify your park visit. The underlying idea is that guests hate waiting in line, and Disney knows this. Sure, they’ve tried to spruce up the lines with some wonderful enhancements. A quick trip through Seven Dwarfs Mine Train or Peter Pan’s Flight demonstrates the emphasis Imagineers have placed on these part of the ride experience.
Alas, many guests still do nothing but look at their phones while waiting in line. As such, Disney’s decided to lean into it. The Play Disney Parks app will add an interactive element to a ride queue. Various attractions will provide a new kind of immersion, adding gaming elements and Disney quizzes to distract guests from the line.
Players who excel in these games will unlock special digital collectibles, a familiar concept to anyone who has spent time on other Disney entertainment apps. Think of them as pins, only ones that you keep on your phone. This new interactivity will cause the lines to feel like you’ve waited no time at all, thereby plussing your Disney visit in a subtle but important way.
Disney still hasn’t revealed the launch date for the app. It is available for pre-order on the Google Play and iTunes stores, though. Go ahead and add the free app to your account so that you can play it the moment it arrives in the store.
The Incredibles Are Almost Here!
No, I’m not talking about the movie. We’ll talk about that in the next section. Instead, I’m referencing something from Pixar Fest that I discussed the other day. The Paint the Night Parade has been an institution at Disneyland Resort for a while now, recently having transferred over to Disney California Adventure (DCA).
The one thing that hasn’t been a part of Paint the Night is an Incredibles float, at least up until now. Disney had stated back in the winter that they’d add one during Pixar Fest. We now know when. The Incredibles float for Paint the Night arrives this Saturday, June 23, 2018. Disney had delayed the float’s introduction until after the release of the film.
Guests at Walt Disney World shouldn’t feel left out, though. As your My Disney Experience app will show, Magic Kingdom is currently hosting the Incredible Tomorrowland Expo. It gets a giant display on the park map and everything. What is it?
Disney describes it as “mega fan celebration (that) takes place daily, all around Rockettower Plaza at the center of Tomorrowland, with custom décor, special background music, heroic character appearances and loads of super fun entertainment.” The highlight of this event is Edna Mode, who throws out fashion advice to various park guests. This event also has tiny movie spoilers of a kind. Some of the new superheroes introduced in the film…aren’t here. Instead, members of the “Super Super Fan Club” cosplay as these heroes.
Photo credit: www.chipandco.com
I won’t spoil any of their names here, but you can read the list on the Parks Blog article linked above. The most important aspect is Moments in Super History, a photo op that’s only available during Incredible Tomorrowland Expo. You don’t want to miss it.
An Incredibles Weekend
I think it’s fair to say that Disney just had an Incredible week. Hot on the heels of two previous blockbusters, they released a sequel to one of the most beloved Pixar movies ever, and audiences went nuts for the further adventures of the Parr family.
The Incredibles 2 opened to $180 million!
Folks, that isn’t just a great opening. It’s a historic one for a Pixar title. Two years ago, Finding Dory set the record for an animated release when it debuted to a whopping $135 million. You can do the math to see that The Incredibles 2 just beat the existing record by $45 million! In other words, it opened 33.3% higher than any Pixar film to date.
In the process, The Incredibles 2 became the eighth largest opening of all-time. Amazingly, it’s also only the THIRD largest Disney opening of 2018. As previously discussed in MickeyBlog News, Disney has destroyed all comers in the movie industry with their recent box office performances. They now own 10 of the 11 largest domestic box office opening weekends of all-time. Jurassic World is the only exception. Other than that title, Disney owns the weekend box office chart.
The Incredibles 2 has a chance to set a couple of other extremely impressive records in coming weeks. Currently, Finding Dory is the most popular Pixar movie ever in North America. It grossed $486.3 million. At this point, the sequel to The Incredibles seems likely bordering on certain to break that record. In terms of global box office, Toy Story 3 earned $1.05 billion while Finding Dory grossed $1.03 billion.
That’s the ultimate mark that The Incredibles 2 must surpass to become the most successful Pixar film to date. Thus far, it’s attained $231 million worldwide. Whether it surpasses $1.05 billion or not, it’s already a massive blockbuster that has performed beyond Disney’s loftiest expectations.
The Incredibles 2 is also a wonderful movie as demonstrated by its A+ Cinemascore, making it only the fourth 2018 release to earn that score. If you’re interested, the others are Black Panther, I Can Only Imagine, and Love, Simon, so there’s your digital movie rental suggestions for the week. The Incredibles 2’s Rotten Tomatoes score of 94 percent is similarly superlative. You WANT to take your family to see this movie. It’s a seminal release for bonding with your loved ones.
Hey, Do You Like Fancy Dining?
We’ll round out this week’s update with a couple of quick hits. The first one involves the upcoming 2018 edition of the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival. As in recent years, Disney has added a series of Signature Dining events. All of them are hoity toity experiences that cost a pretty penny. You have your choice of nine of them, each of which is hosted at a different World Showcase restaurant.
Tickets have gone on sale for these exclusive events. Believe me when I say that they WILL sell out…and I mean all of them. You should read this list to decide if any of them appeals to you. If so, book your reservation IMMEDIATELY. If you want suggestions about which one is best, talk to your friendly MickeyTravels agent to see what they advise.
Hey, Are You in LA?
Disney’s doing something nice near the Happiest Place on Earth. They understand that Anaheim residents sometimes feel left out by all the stuff the company does for its out of town guests. That’s particularly true right now during Pixar Fest.
To compensate, Disney VoluntEARS will host a series of outdoor movies at various Anaheim parks (yes, parks, not theme parks) over the next few weeks. Here’s the schedule if you’re interested:
- June 22 – Finding Nemo at Ponderosa Park
- June 29 – Ratatouille at Modjeska Park
- July 6 – Inside Out at Willow Park
- July 13 – Toy Story at Stoddard Park
- July 20 – Monsters, Inc at Eucalyptus Park
- July 27 – Up at Juarez Park
- August 3 – Cars at Twila Reid Park
Each event starts at 7:45 p.m., and they have prizes and games, too. Anyone in the area should attempt to watch at least one of them.
If you haven’t seen Incredibles 2 yet, here’s our Ultimate Preview to Incredibles 2. Stay tuned for some reviews coming soon!
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