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Originally Posted by Michael
I can't confirm or deny anything.  |
Well I can.
Okay, here is the news - you can take it however you want as good or bad.
First off, I can definitely confirm that Cars attraction has not been given new life. It is still sitting on the shelf.
The Placemaking Project for the main entrance, Sunshine Plaza, and Condor Flats appears to be either dead or at least put on the back burner. The Placemaking Project for DCA has now been shuffled around to now be focused on Paradise Pier in order to make way for the recently greenlit Midway Mania (although now there will be a new name for the upcoming Paradise Pier attraction). The new name has yet to be determined.
For the sake of discussion, Midway Mania, as it is known right now, is slated for an early summer opening in 2008 with WDW's version opening a few month prior in what is now the Millionaire attraction there. Yes, that means Millionaire is marked for closing at the Disney/MGM Studios to make way for this new attraction.
Don't know if the Placemaking Project for the main entrance, Sunshine Plaza, Condor Flats will be brought to life as it was being designed originally, be changed, or scrapped altogether, but I do know it appears to be shelved for at least another 1 - 2 years.
There are some internal discussions now about whether the money is justified in doing these major projects when they have no direct affect on attendance. Gee, I wonder who's been arguing that case for the past several months?
The Incredibles attraction has some issues that WDI needs to fix first before it can be given a formal greenlight. Everyone loves the concept, but operationally there are some ugly issues that have to be corrected or improved greatly to make the attraction be successful. If The Incredibles gets approved I wouldn't expect it anytime before 2010.
Over at Disneyland is appears that Subs may get delayed to a June opening. Apparently John Lassiter is already demonstrating his influence and power. During a recent review of the attraction he decided that some additional effects needed to be added to further enhance the story and show. That added millions more to the budget and delayed the opening. There are possibilities that the delayed opening could be minimized in time if things go well during the construction and test phases.
This delayed will most likely affect the parade over at DCA being delayed as well to a June debut.
Well, that's all I have for now or at least what I'm willing to share at this time. One last tidbit for the Paradise Pier project, think Victorian, turn-of-the-century look and feel with Disney character influences sprinkled throughout. The color scheme of Ariel's Grotto is a test to see how the new color scheme might look for the area.
Until next time...