The Disneyland Railroad reopened last Saturday after 18 months of refurbishments! John Lasseter was particularly excited, as you can see below.
John Lasseter engineers a locomotive past future #starwars land as Disney brings back the train @disneyland @Disneypixar @ocregister pic.twitter.com/OXDkPqqxJa
— Jeff Gritchen (@jeffgritchen) July 29, 2017
Tom Sawyer Island and Davy Crockett’s Explorer Canoes are also back for guests to enjoy.
Back on the east coast, sad times at Star Wars Launch Bay in Hollywood Studios. Reports from Cast Members indicate that the Jawas will no longer be roaming about. The little scrap-seekers made their last appearance on July 29 and have gone back to Tatooine.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BXIj4l4DhQg/?taken-at=1681033578864409
The Universe of Energy is entering its last week of operation, and commemorative merch is here. Those t-shirts are pretty clever. Has anyone heard a reaction from Ellen DeGeneres on her ride’s closure?
The Universe Of Energy closing merchandise is now on the shelves of Epcot. #UoE #Epcot35 pic.twitter.com/Qk67EvHbdo
— LaughingPlace.com (@laughing_place) August 4, 2017
The Disney Parks Blog hosted a pretty amazing meetup last Friday to celebrate the Great Movie Ride, also closing Aug. 13. A lucky 200 readers got to actually walk through the attraction and snag some pretty great photos.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BXIZRkhDeXy/?taken-by=shultzack
Minnie Vans officially launched this week in a partnership with Lyft. We’re eager to check this out on our next visit to WDW.
#MinnieVan is now live for Epcot resort Guests via the Lyft app!
Checked in Gsts get a push message via MDX or visit a greeter in the lobby pic.twitter.com/UXqZqPjJmx
— MiceChat (@MiceChat) July 31, 2017
The Epcot International Food & Wine Festival will be here before we know it—the festival opens Aug. 31 this year! Pam Brandon talks about nine new dishes for the parks blog.
Here are 9 new tastes that you shouldn't miss during this year's Epcot International Food & Wine Festival: https://t.co/5Te090zHV5 pic.twitter.com/ZrbFXM2e6l
— Disney Parks (@DisneyParks) July 31, 2017
And finally… This one is shamelessly self-promotional, but I wrote a story for Out of Office by Mic this week about the Star Wars resort Disney is developing and the future of fantasy immersion in travel.
Is Disney's Star Wars resort the future of immersive travel? 🤔 https://t.co/ZS1jKO1IFX
— Valerie Marino (@valerieamarino) August 1, 2017
I got to have some delightfully nerdy conversations with Len Testa, Robert Niles, and Sue Pisaturo. Thanks to all three for their time!
