Grand Opening of Harry Potter Wizarding World at Universal Studios Japan

Harry Potter Wizarding World had its Grand Opening at Universal Studios Japan, and D&M has the video of it for you! Universal expect two millions more visitors this year thanks to the new land, and it will be interesting to see if this new Potter land will have an effect of Tokyo Disney Resort attendance, although probably less than in Orlando as there is hundred of miles between Tokyo and Osaka!




Video: copyright NTDTV

Night Vision Video of Harry Potter Escape From Gringotts Reveal All What You Don't Want to Know About The Ride!

The Coaster Views has posted on Youtube a night vision video which reveal all about the new Harry Potter Escape from Gringotts ride... if you really want to know it, as it's difficult to find a video with more spoilers of the ride than this one.

That said, it's a particular interesting video as it shows decor elements along the ride that you can hardly see on the others videos as well as the track "drop" during the first scene.

You're warned, watch it at your own risk!

Edited 7 / 24: If you've not watched yet the video i'm sorry to say that it's too late as Universal has blocked it on youtube and it is no longer available. No big surprise as the video was showing so much of the ride that it was probably "too much" for Universal!




Video: copyright The Coaster Views

Special " 101 " ! Technical Problems on Ratatouille, Transformers, Forbidden Journey, and more

Technical problems happen all the time in all rides around the world, Disney or not and most of the time no one is really to blame except the technology. In the old days, when rides technology was more simple than it is now the ride didn't had to stop because a POTC Audio-Animatronic was not working, for instance. But now, with the trackless vehicles, projection effects and more it seems that having a "101" the code for technical problem on a ride may happen more often.

Just a few days ago some "101" happened on WDS Ratatouille ride and Universal Orlando Transformers and D&M has videos about them for you,  always interesting as it allows to show the rides with the lights on. Let's start by the one of Ratatouille which happened when Max, D&M collaborator, and DLP Welcome webmaster was precisely riding... and filming "when suddenly something went terribly wrong" as they say (!) No one was hurt of course and WDS cast-members did a perfect job by escorting the riders back to the loading room where they've waited to ride again a few minutes later.


Ratatouille 1.0.1. from DLP Welcome on Vimeo.

Next one happened on Transformers last Tuesday and was a bit more serious. Fire rescuers were called to rescued guests from the ride as guests were stuck in one of the worst places on the ride - about 40 feet down from the ground and far enough from the top that fire rescuers had to rappel down with ladders to reach the car.  The 12 passengers were rescued by the firemen and everyone is safe.




101 can happen of course on any rides and the two next videos will show you another "101" which happened during Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey at Universal Orlando, showing all the mechanism of the famous Kuka robot arms upon which the guests are seated.




This next one, although filmed vertically, shows clearly decor elements placed all along the ride.




One more for the road with this great video showing Disneyland Space Mountain all lights on due to another "101"!




Finally, talking about Ratatouille you can see how the night lighting is stunning thanks to the great picture on the top showing Remy Plaza at night. I wonder if it's Michael Valentino, the great WDI Imagineer specialist in lighting - who did the one of Space Mountain - who did it... The picture is excellent too, so good that i thought it was a DLP official picture, but no, it was shot by a talented fan and apparently he might have more great shots to come!

Photo: copyright Disney Central Plaza

Avengers : Age Of Ultron Leaked Footage Description

The text below include a description of some footage from Avengers: Age of Ultron, which mean potential spoilers. So, if you want to avoid any spoilers, jump to D&M next article!

A reel from Joss Whedon's Avengers: Age of Ultron was screened in the UK recently when Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige was holding a preview and Q&A for Guardians of the Galaxy. The good folks of Radio Times were there, and thanks to them we have a description of the footage, which Kevin Feige said will probably never be shown again. Here's the description provided by Radio Times, which includes a scene with the Hulkbuster!

"Known as the ‘Hulkbuster’ in the comics, it looks like Stark’s normal red and gold armour after hitting the gym, and is almost the size of the Hulk himself. Where his normal suit is sleek as a missile, this is bruising like a tank. It’s the iPad to the original’s iPhone, Frasier to the original’s Niles. There’s no word on why the two heroes are fighting, but the Hulk doesn’t need much reason to get in a scrap. You can see some concept art of the fight above: it actually looks better here than the very unfinished footage we saw."

"Also sighted were new brother sister duo Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. Scarlet has mysterious reality warping powers (in the footage this mostly involved making some blocks float around) while Quicksilver can run really, really fast (although without the special effects, it was more of a light jog). Scarlet Witch was shown fighting alongside Hawkeye on a ruined Italian street, but earlier in the reel both she and her brother were locked in fancy Perspex prison cells. Designed by Stark out of the ruins of his New York penthouse, this has all mod cons: floor to ceiling windows, twin laboratories for Stark and Bruce Banner, and parking for supersonic jets. It’s reminiscent of the SHIELD helicarrier in terms of construction, with lots of shiny metal pillars."

With a bit of luck may be they'll show this footage again at San Diego's Comic Con next week! In the meantime you can discover a first set of official pictures from Age of Ultron just released officially today by Marvel on D&M Facebook page HERE.

Picture: copyright Marvel

Surprise! Japanese Trailer Reveal a Different Big Hero 6 !

Yesterday you've seen the first full trailer for Big Hero 6 and here is the one released in Japan. Surprise! , it's two different trailers, and this japanese one has a much more somber feel in the beginning. As you'll see, Hiro will apparently have to face some very difficult times before his adventure begins...




Picture and video: copyright Disney

HKDL Disney Paint the Night Will Debut October 1 - Plus : News From Tokyo Disneyland

Disney Paint the Night, the interactive night parade for HKDL will debut officially on October 1st. All the floats have arrived at HKDL and the first show is scheduled in September, but it will open for "all" HKDL guests not before October 1st because HKDL helds private parties in September as they usually do during the Halloween Season.

I remind you that a rumor says that a similar parade will also debut at Disneyland Anaheim for DL 60th Anniversary next year - we'll see if it's true or not!

Always in Asia, the Tokyo Disneyland Hotel which is already great will have soon even more greatness in 2015 with a total of 182 additional four different themed suites on the theme of Pixie Hollow, Alice in Wonderland, Beauty and the Beast and Cinderella ! Concept-arts below of the Alice in Wonderland and Pixie Hollow suites.

Pictures: copyright Disney - Oriental Land Co

Dawn Of the Planet of the Apes Review

Just come back from theater to watch Dawn of the Planet of the Apes which is absolutely great! It's still an in-between sequel, i.e the next one will be probably the "final battle" during which the apes will conquer the Earth but we're not in a lab anymore like during the first one and everything happen in a post-epidemic devastated San Francisco and forests nearby. Actors and script are great - and the great Gary Oldman is part of the cast!

But what will stun you is the unbelievably amazing realistic quality of the CGI creation of the apes. We all know that the technology now allows CGI wizards to create absolutely everything, but here it's not only the physical look of the apes which is stunning, it's how they've succeeded to give them emotions. Really exceptional, and some of the apes are definitely chilling. I mean, you really pray that this will never happen for real! Go out and watch it, you shouldn't be disappointed!

Below, the final trailer for those who've not seen it yet!