MickeyBlog News for March 13th, 2023
This past week, Walt Disney World revealed its Tron plans, an Imagineering icon came home, an intergalactic cruise grew more exclusive, and Disney’s CEO spoke.
We’ve got a lot happening in the latest edition of MickeyBlog News.
Tron Goes Virtual
Disney just announced the rules for its upcoming Magic Kingdom roller coaster, which is now apparently called TRON Lightcycle / Run.
While the updated name demonstrates needless complexity, Tron’s virtual queue thankfully won’t.
In fact, the news is better than anyone could have anticipated. Tron will offer some guests three different virtual queue booking windows!
As expected, Disney won’t offer a standby line queue, at least at the start.
Instead, park visitors will attempt to snag a Boarding Group reservation at 7 a.m. and 1 p.m. each day.
Remember that you must hold valid admission and a Park Pass for Magic Kingdom for that day before you can book.
Presuming you do, you’ll enter the virtual queue in hopes of Disney assigning you a Boarding Group.
However, Disney will reward its guests staying at Deluxe tier resorts. Once a week, these visitors gain access to Extended Evening Theme Park Hours.
I consider this among the top overall amenities at Disney theme parks. It’s the equivalent of a Disney after-hours event, only you don’t pay extra.
Instead, you gain access automatically by booking at a Deluxe Disney hotel.
The Tron coaster will add an additional 6 p.m. virtual queue for guests during Extended Evening Theme Park Hours at Magic Kingdom.
Based on similar attractions, I can honestly state that you’re all but certain to ride Tron during that 6 p.m. virtual queue window, presuming that you qualify.
For this reason, I’d strongly recommend that you contact a MickeyTravels agent. Staying at a Deluxe tier resort won’t cost as much as you think.
Plus, these Diamond-level Authorized Disney Vacation Planners won’t charge you a penny for their services. They may find you a great deal but won’t make you pay extra for it!
Disney Leadership News
I’m gonna cram plenty of stories together here. Disney CEO Bob Iger just appeared at an investor conference and answered questions about your favorite company.
Iger touched on a wide variety of topics, including Hulu, Marvel, Star Wars, and his potential successor as CEO.
Everything he said proved newsy, but let’s focus on a few highlights. For starters, Disney canceled two potential Star Wars movies.
That call may have come straight from Iger’s desk. At a minimum, he clearly provided feedback on what he desired from the franchise.
Iger has listened to the fans, many of whom complained that Star Wars movies had become less special since Disney purchased Lucasfilm.
Nobody complains about Star Wars series on Disney+ because they’re universally excellent, with some like Andor and The Mandalorian embodying the franchise’s best storytelling.
Iger has correctly determined that titles like Solo: A Star Wars Story fell victim to Disney’s unreasonable demands for frequent film output.
Now, Disney will focus on the next Star Wars movie being the right one rather than another cheap ploy to earn hundreds of millions of dollars.
I wish all studio bosses proved as well-considered in their evaluations of sequels…but you’ll go see Fast X anyway, won’t you? 😛
Similarly, Iger will start spacing out Marvel releases. He has also recognized that movie-goers didn’t really want or need a third Ant-Man movie.
As for succession, Iger mentioned that Disney’s Board of Directors meets regularly to discuss succession.
By the way, Disney’s CEO also commented on the company’s streaming strategy. The one thing he didn’t do was mention anything about Reedy Creek, though.
Meanwhile, Iger quietly made his best move in bringing back Imagineering icon Bruce Vaughn as Chief Creative Officer and Co-Lead at Walt Disney Imagineering.
That’s a masterstroke.
Miscellaneous Disney News
Okay, let’s start with the other big story this past week. Few reported it, but Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser recently celebrated its first birthday.
At the time, I wondered whether Disney would do the unthinkable and reduce the price of an intergalactic journey…and that answer is no!
Instead, Disney has reduced the number of weekly voyages on the Starcruiser. Starting this October, Disney will offer two weekly itineraries.
During the Star Wars Hotel’s first year, it’d had hosted three.
So, Disney has acknowledged the decreased demand but chosen to maintain the current pricing structure. Read into that what you will.
While Disney experienced an exceptional week overall, it also had two hiccups. In addition to the Galactic Starcruiser news, something else happened.
For the first time ever, the former Reedy Creek Improvement District met without Disney choosing the board members.
Thankfully, the first Central Florida Tourism Improvement District proved boring more than anything else. Hopefully, that trend continues.
The new board won’t meet again until April 12th.
So, Disney should have a calm month as everyone learns their new jobs, which probably involve more work than the board members had expected.
Elsewhere at the parks, the Mandalorian has started to make the rounds…and he didn’t come alone!
Yes, Baby Yoda is now appearing at Disney’s Hollywood Studios!
As a reminder, Disneyland has hosted the duo for a while, but this is a first in Orlando!
Speaking of which, the Audio-Animatronic Hulk will appear at Disneyland Paris’s Avengers Campus soon.
Meanwhile, The Villas at Disneyland Tower will officially open to the public on September 28th! And that’s not even the biggest event this fall.
Walt Disney World will host Destination D23 from September 8th, through September 10th!
Tickets go on sale this Tuesday, March 14th, at 1 EST!
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Feature Photo: Disney