Dirk Wallen’s 11/3/14 WDW Photo Report (Walls Down at Disney Springs, New Concept Art, Big Hero 6, Christmas Merch, ETC)

WDWNT Author on November 3, 2014

WDWNT Reporter Dirk Wallen visited Disney Springs, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom, and Epcot this week and he has a ton of newsworthy photos to share with us in this HUGE photo report, so let’s get started:

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Plenty of roadwork still to be done for Disney Springs

A new piece of elevated track is rising on the West Side, between Splitsville and Wolfgang Puck

We now know this large building with be the Boathouse

Disney announced this new restaurant concept last week

They wasted no time in adding ads to the walls for the restaurant

Concept art for the façade of the Boathouse

The small waterside park in The Landing opened this weekend

A nice little area for relaxing and live entertainment

Some of the buildings are out from behind construction walls in The Landing

New concept art for the area now on construction walls

There is a giant inflatable Baymax from Big Hero 6 on the West Side…

These storefronts in The Landing are just about done

The bridge in the Marketplace is also nearing completion

Two small, temporary stores operated by Something Silver opened by Fulton’s recently

The Marketplace bridge with the Rainforest Café façade refurbishment in the background

Shifting gears, Christmas merchandise has invaded the resort

Ornaments

Some Star Wars holiday pins were released

Plenty of Big Hero 6 merchandise is available around the resort

2015 calendars available

New “I Conquered” shirt

Iron Man and Captain America shirts

New Star Wars character glasses

New Darth Vader t-shirt

Some new merchandise was released at the Art of Animation Resort

Over at Epcot, walls finally came down around the area that was closed when a water main was hit after the Flower and Garden Festival

No visible progress at Norway’s Frozen attraction

We tweeted these weeks ago, but if you haven’t seen, some new retro EPCOT Center merchandise has been released

A quick stop at Animal Kingdom reveals work walls near Pangani Forest and Kilimanjaro Safaris

No visible changes at AVATAR, it’s impossible to see from inside the park

Moving to Disney’s Hollywood Studios, work continues on Starbucks and the Trolley Car Café

Nah nah nah nah, nah nah nah nah, hey hey hey…

Big Hero 6 merchandise carts replace the Frozen carts

Banners up in the Animation Courtyard

Work has finally begun on the Big Hero 6 meet and greet inside The Magic of Disney Animation

Big Hero 6 billboard by The Legend of Captain Jack Sparrow

Let’s journey inside the new Wandering Oaken’s

Purchase with purchase Frozen bag available

Jim Shore has released some Frozen statues

Osborne Lights are ready to go

No more Backlot Tour…

CONFIRMED: The Legend of Captain Jack Sparrow at Hollywood Studios Closing November 6th, The Sorcerer’s Hat to Follow?

WDWNT Author on October 24, 2014

Evidence continues to mount that Disney’s Hollywood Studios is about to undergo a major facelift…

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With the Studio Backlot Tour now shuttered and most of the smaller offerings in the Backlot section of the park slated for demolition by early 2015, rumors are now circulating that the Legend of Captain Jack Sparrow attraction at the park has only a week left to live. The show opened in December 2012 to fairly poor reviews as most guests expected a full-blown attraction and were instead met with a confusing interactive projection show. In order to combat waits, Disney has offered this attraction by return times only for the past several months. Apparently things have not improved and/or Disney feels the space could be better utilized for something else now green-lit for the park on a verge of a full overhaul.

Rumors still persist that time is almost up for the Sorcerer’s Hat, but other than its usual exclusi0n from merchandise and a single map, there has been no solid information. However, older expansion plans for the park did include the removal of the current park icon, so if an expansion is coming, it would be likely that the Sorcerer’s Hat would finally be demolished.

Stay tuned as we will keep you updated as more information becomes available.

UPDATE: The Legend of Captain Jack Sparrow at Disney’s Hollywood Studios will close at the end of the operating day on November 6th, 2014. No other information has been released at this time.