Over at Disney's Boardwalk, the resort has announced the replacement for Kouzzina by Cat Cora: Trattoria al Forno, an Italian restaurant that "will showcase Old World techniques, including handcrafted mozzarella made daily, a variety of Neopolitan-style pizzas baked in wood-burning ovens, and other classic Italian favorites such as risotto, baked lasagna, chicken great alla Parmigiana with tagliatelle pasta and more." If that sounds familiar, it's pretty similar to the line-up for Universal Orlando's Vivo Italian Kitchen, which opened at CityWalk last month... Or Via Napoli, over in Epcot's World Showcase... Or Portobello at Downtown Disney... No worries, though. The day people stop liking Italian food is the day the zombie apocalypse is upon us. Although the zombies likely will decide that they prefer the brains they crave to be smothered in marinara sauce.
Many of Walt Disney World's cast members will be getting well-earned raises soon, thanks to a new contract agreement between the company and its employees' largest unions. The deal raises starting pay for most park employees from just over $8 to $9-an-hour this year, with 50-cent-an-hour raises each year after that, while preserving pensions for new employees and avoiding immediate cuts in health benefits. The pay raises are good news for all Orlando businesses, as it puts more money to spend in the pockets of more than 20,000 local Disney employees... and possibly more, if it leads to wage increases at other area parks. Employees will vote on the deal Aug. 1.
On the west coast, Disneyland has announced plans for another interactive game at Disneyland, following this month's introduction of Legends of Frontierland: Gold Rush!. The Adventure Trading Company will open in Adventureland on August 1, continuing a game that Walt Disney Imagineering tested in its pavilion at last year's D23 Expo in Anaheim.
We hope that everyone is enjoying their summer, but we must note that many theme park fans already are looking forward to fall and this year's Halloween events. Universal this week announced that SyFy's Face Off will be coming to Halloween Horror Nights as a scare zone in Orlando and a maze in Hollywood. This follows announcements of a From Dusk till Dawn maze on both coasts, as well as the return of The Walking Dead. Here's the playlist of this year's promo videos from Halloween Horror Nights:
A final item: Reader Nathan Alexander notes that Sea Viper, Australia's first triple-looping coaster, has closed at Sea World Gold Coast.
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I guess it's easier to just keep adding to one of the few decent attractions in Future World and just keep ignoring the outdated stuff that no one visits. It makes it easier for me, since it means there's no reason to get to Epcot before World Showcase opens.
All film suffers from motion judder eventually. Those holes in the film that the gears use to feed it through the aperture get worn out and enlarged over time and it the picture can shift a few inches on a screen that large.
Four 8K projectors can be stitched to produce 16K resolution very easily.
The new version of Soarin' has been rumored for years and years, and is supposed to be called Soarin' Around the World. I certainly hope that the head office will force WDW to adopt the new version, since we've all seen the old one a zillion times.
It's nice that Disney doesn't depend on screen based attractions like Universal ...
That's right, Anon, let's give Disney a pass for moving at a glacial pace because they do it "RIGHT" and Universal puts in '"off the shelf" mechanicals' in "like 99% of Universal's rides."
Put down the Kool-Aid and face the facts. Both parks give us great attractions of all kinds. One company moves slowly, and the other is doing amazing things and being very responsive to their customers. Just because you can't handle reality doesn't mean that the rest of us have agree with your silliness!
Both the anonymous comments above you looked like snark to me
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I've been on the ride. It's a warehouse-style room with a big screen and a ride vehicle that moves a bit.
What on earth is so time-consuming that it will take a couple of years to expand?