Happy Halloween Season, everybody! I hope you’re enjoying the Pumpkin Spice edible of your choice and getting ready for sweater weather – which can’t come soon enough for us here at Chez Fab. It looks like all of the Disney Parks are getting all dolled up for the Spooky Season. Hooray!
On a sad note, Walt’s Restaurant at Disneyland Paris suddenly closed without very much warning. Walt’s was a real gem for the park and one of Disney’s best restaurants anywhere. What’s behind the secretive closure? Perhaps a secretive replacement. Disneyland Paris doesn’t have a Club 33 . . . so . . . it’s quite possible that’s about to change. We shall have to wait and see.
On August 25 in front of a packed house at the D23 Expo’s Parks, Experiences and Products presentation, Bob Chapek announced that there was something new coming to Epcot, something we’ve been wanting for a long time. Cue the Chimney Sweeps performing “Step in Time”:
They performed the familiar tune, then were joined onstage by Disney’s most beloved actor, Dick Van Dyke.
Mr. Van Dyke is best remembered among Disney fans as playing “Bert”, the chimney sweep, chalk artist and one-man band, among other things, from the classic Disney film “Mary Poppins”. So, most people in the audience had figured out what the announcement would be before they actually made the announcement. Someone in a seat near me yelled “OH MY GOD MARY POPPINS!!!”
Bob announced the upcoming attraction, telling the audience that Guests’ adventure will start at Number 17 Cherry Tree Lane, but didn’t go any further into describing the attraction.
He did, however, describe the new neighborhood going into the United Kingdom Pavilion in World Showcase, saying that it would bring guests right into the story. A few weeks ago, I showed you a video of Tony Baxter’s pitch for a Mary Poppins ride. Tony told me that there were many, many pitches for Mary Poppins rides, so many that they had their own section at Walt Disney Imagineering.
By the way, Tony just redid his backyard to look like the park across the street from the Banks’ house, citing “Tripping the Light Fantastic” as his inspiration.
What will it be like?
The concept art shows the familiar Cherry Tree Lane from the Mary Poppins movies, with a small park, Admiral Boom’s House next door (seriously, please set off a cannon a few times per day!) and a lamplighter – from the sequel, Mary Poppins Returns, which garnered a respectable $250 million during its run. Will they use the original Mary Poppins? The new one? Both?
Well, why not? You can go on a horserace, have tea with penguins and take a deep dive into a bathtub – anything is possible with Mary Poppins!
But why the silence? It might be because they are working out contracts with the actors from the films to get their rights, if that wasn’t a part of the original movie contract. It might be that they’re using the as-yet-unannounced new ride system and don’t want to give anything away as of yet. It could be that they’re saving it for Destination D, since that takes place at Walt Disney World next year.
One thing I don’t see, however, is shade/shelter from the elements. This little piece of London is going to be located near Orlando, Florida, so let’s hope that they take the weather into better consideration.
It’s not like they haven’t had Mary in a ride before – Hollywood Studios’ The Great Movie Ride featured Mary and Bert in an intimate rooftop scene, singing “Chim Chim Cherree” so there is a precedent. Epcot desperately needs dark rides since it shortened or shut down most of its classic dark rides in the mid-1990s. Mary and her friends are characters that are well-known, very beloved and pretty much controversy-free; a fantastic choice for a dark ride.
There’s a lot more rumor here to explore and I’ll be keeping an eye on this particular project to let you know if it’s on track to be practically perfect or requires a spoonful of sugar.
Friday the 13th may have already passed, but you can still cash in on the lucky number 13 savings! Save $13 off gate prices on most Disneyland tickets. Offer valid on 3-Day and longer Park Hopper, 1-Park per Day and MaxPass ticket options.
Tickets must be booked by Thursday, September 19th. Valid for 2019 travel only.
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We address rumors here. We’ll make sure to always point out what IS a rumor, why it’s a rumor and encourage you to always take it with the grain of salt that makes rumors so delicious in the first place. Use it as a starting-off point for speculation and imagination, because, to be honest, rumors are fun. The author does not claim to believe nor disbelieve the rumors about which she is writing.
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