Disneyland Railroad and Rivers of America Attractions Return to Disneyland Park this Summer with New Magic

News from the Disney Parks Blog of the return of the Disneyland Railroad and Rivers of America attractions returning to Disneyland this Summer with New Magic!

"When the iconic Disneyland Railroad and the Rivers of America attractions return to Disneylandpark this summer, guests will discover new magic aboard these classic experiences. As we first shared last year, and seen in the artist’s rendering below (courtesy of Walt Disney Imagineering), the gorgeous new north bank of the Rivers of America will feature a beautiful new waterfront and an elevated trestle over which the iconic Disneyland Railroad will travel.



The Rivers of America will continue to celebrate the Mississippi, Columbia, Missouri and Rio Grande rivers, enhanced now with a new Columbia Gorge section, highlighted by thundering waterfalls – signaling the return of large waterfalls to the rivers. Longtime Disneyland park fans will remember Big Thunder River Waterfall and Twin Sisters Waterfall; five spectacular new waterfalls along the Rivers of America harken back to these favorites – all on display for guests aboard the Mark Twain Riverboat, Sailing Ship Columbia and Davy Crockett Explorer Canoes.

Guests will also experience these features from aboard the Disneyland Railroad, which will travel across the rocks on a trestle that will even extend onto the river, providing a breathtaking view of the new waterfalls. And, for the first time ever, the Disneyland Railroad will be making a left-hand turn as it circles the park!


In addition to the new waterfalls, Disneyland park fans will spot some familiar faces along the Rivers of America as well as throwbacks to Frontierland’s past. The Indian Village, now in a new location, will include a more prominently featured Shaman, seen telling the story of how the hummingbird taught the Indian chief to make a flute."

Pictures: copyright Disney

Universal Studios Awarded Patent for a New Flying Simulator Could be a Game Changer for Flying Theaters

Universal Studios was awarded on May 9, 2017 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office a new patent for a new Flying Simulator Design. What? Another flying theater? Yes, but as you'll see this one could be a game changer in the world of flying theaters  Below, some excerpts from the patent text as well as the patent pictures. The full Universal patent page is HERE.

So, according to the patent: "The flying simulator ride includes a track and a bogie coupled to the track. The flying simulator ride also includes a rotator ring and a plurality of cables suspending the rotator ring from the bogie such that the rotator ring is capable of rotating with respect to the track and such that the rotator ring is capable of motion in six degrees of freedom. The flying simulator ride also includes a passenger support system suspended from the rotator ring. The passenger support system includes a first passenger support unit; and a second passenger support unit, wherein at least one of the first passenger support unit or the second passenger support unit are configured to move relative to one another to assume a stacked configuration and a loading configuration, wherein a distance between the rotator ring and the first passenger support unit is decreased in the stacked configuration relative to the loading configuration."

"In accordance with another embodiment, a flying simulator ride assembly is provided. The flying simulator ride assembly includes a bogie configured to move along a track; a motion base; and a plurality of cables suspending the motion base from cable control assemblies coupled to the bogie to permit the motion base to move with six degrees of freedom. The flying simulator ride assembly also includes an extending portion fixedly coupled to the motion base and extending away from the bogie; and a passenger support system coupled to the extending portion. The passenger support system includes a first passenger row; a second passenger row; and a support coupled to the extending portion and the first passenger row and the second passenger row, wherein the support is capable of rotating with respect to the extending portion to change a position of one or more of the first passenger row or the second passenger row relative to the motion base."

If you're not sure that you understood everything from this patent description, that's normal. The way patents description are written is always a bit abstruse but thanks to the patent drawings we can at least understand that guests will stand up and not being sit as they are for instance in Soaring. There is more, of course, but even only this would be a game changer in the sensation of flying that flying theaters are supposed to provide.

Pictures: cooyright Universal Studios

FULL Ride MovieS of Tokyo Disney Sea's "Nemo and Friends Searider"

Here is the FULL ride movie of Tokyo Disney Sea's new attraction "Nemo and Friends Searider", and in 4K, please! Important note: what you may have seen previously was only the two and a half first minutes of the ride movie, stopping right before the so-so scary scenes began, here you have the full movie from the start to the end and filmed from the front row! Thanks to EnoEno who filmed it and posted it on Youtube! Also note that because it was filmed from the front row you won't see the additional small screens placed behind.




But wait a minute!, don't go away I've just found on Youtube ANOTHER ride movie, also filmed in 4K by EnoEno by the way, and also supposed to be the "Nemo and Friends Searider" ride movie... Does this mean that there is TWO different movies for the attraction?!? Apparently YES! Both movies are charming and obviously target the young children, and apparently some in-theater water effects have been kept from the previous Storm Rider ride.




Videos: copyright Disney - Oriental Land, EnoEno

Cool special effects inside Pandora - The World of Avatar Explained - Video

KingRCT3 has posted on Youtube a great video explaining some of the special effects used by WDI wizards in Pandora - The World of Avatar. Here is his presentation of the video embedded below:

"Imagineers did a terrific job with Pandora: The World AVATAR and its two rides Na'vi River Journey (boat ride) and Flight of Passage (Fying Theater). But beyond the architectural and technological marvels (floating mountain and animatronics), here and there are some neat special effects and tricks you might not even noticed. I wanted to share them and give an explanation for each one. I don't guarantee the exactitude of each statement I made, but I think this is pretty spot on."




Video: copyright KingRCT3

Pandora - The World of Avatar "Flight of Passage" Full Ride Video !

We have at last a video of the full movie of Pandora's "Flight of Passage" ride! Looks great to me, so enjoy the flight on the back of a Banshee!




Video:  copyright Disney, SW

Pirates of Caribbean 5 European Premiere at Disneyland Paris With Johnny Depp and the POTC Cast !

Yesterday, the European premiere of the new Pirates of the Caribbean film happened at Disneyland Paris and Johnny Depp and the other actors were at DLP, a first! For this unique moment, a scene was built in front of the Castle, see pictures above and below.

The POTC cast arrived on the stage at Central Plaza, with, right before, a short POTC parade with flying fishes and a gang of zombies pirates...

And here they came, Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Geoffrey Rush, Javier Bardem, and more of the cast, with also producer Jerry Bruckheimer and "Dead Men Tells No Tales" directors!

I'm sure you're dying to see a video of this Pirates of Caribbean 5 Premiere at DLP with Johnny Depp and the POTC cast, so here it is!



As i am currently on a break it's difficult for me to post dozens of pics from an iPad, but you can see many more pictures of the event on the D&M Facebook page. See you soon!
Pictures and video: copyright DLP Welcome