Long time Disney fan and follower of this site, first time post.
I decided to join to give a little more insight of what Disney May have up their sleeve. A friend of mine is a lawyer in the imagineering board at DL.
I recently visited the world 8/7-8/14. While down there I heard some interesting tid bits, some spoken here before, some not. These all were confirmed by a couple of cast members who have worked at the world for at least 8+ years, also these rumors were also confirmed by my friend but with unspecific dates.
Would love to hear thoughts. Hopefully I am not reiterating what others may have also stated.
#1 Captain EO is going to stay
#2 JII is going to be re-worked similar to the origional ride.. I know dont even say it people but this one I specifically asked my friend and he says their is heavy truth in this.
#3 The new star tours was tested in the seasons pavilion in the old body wars ride...
#4 Expedition Everest is to close sometime in January and they are going to do a lengthy refurb (I am hearing 6 months) to take off the face of the mountain to legitimately fix the Yetti. Also confirmed by my friend.
#5 I to am hearing rumors about a Villians Park sometime around 2020.
#6 All Operations and Maintenance to be centrally located at WDW for parks around the world including DL.
#7 Confirmed that HQ is truely going to be moving from DL to WDW.. The reason is Disney is implementing their "1 park" philosophy and from what I am hearing WDW is the most suitable choice as is it the most recognized worldwide and gives a lot of chance to experiment with things.
#8 New Pixar/Disney Movie-- we all know how Lassater loves trains like Walt, some may even know he has plans to also build a train in his backyard. In a recent trip pixar artists and such were at wdw and they were in and out of the trains here taking sketches, etc. I learned of this on the magic behind our steam engines tour from a couple of cast members that pixar is working on a train movie.
#9 carousel of progress will eventually be moving to the Smithsonian as a working attraction, date unknown.
#10 WDW imagineers, studying technology of Japan and close to deal to bring the technology to the us parks. Specifically Adventures Winnie the Pooh and how every time you ride it, it will be more interactive and a different ride.
On other notes:
#1 I heard Epcot almost filed bankruptcy in 2007.. not sure how true this is, can anyone comment?
#2 the launching system at epcot for fireworks does not work on an incendiary type system and is patented, which is why they can do illuminations rain or shine if they want to, yet they do not share this tech with the other parks??
#3 Seven seas lagoon not only shut down due to expensive maintenance but also due to severe foundation problems where water was leaking though into cast members locker area.
Sorry I meant to say 20k leagues under the sea.. relax people
Now look as you will learn, I will not post due to speculation I will report when I hear confirmations from credible sources.
Take these in stride. But I will assure you nah-sayers that they are confirmed, I cannot give you specific dates on most but I know within the next 5-7 years all will be complete.
