Mulholland Madness Closes 12 October, Bountiful Valley Farm 07 September

Last day to ride Mulholland Madness is 11 October 2010. It closes the next morning for its Goofy's Flight School makeover.

Bountiful Valley Farm will close 07 September 2010 to make way for Carsland construction.

UPDATE: Maliboomer will also close permanently 07 September 2010.

Cinema Blend: How Iron Man 2 Ruined Jon Favreau's Relationship With Marvel

Our source says Iron Man 2 wasn’t the movie Jon Favreau wanted to make. Marvel interfered heavily with his work on the movie and turned the project into an infomercial for The Avengers. Favreau felt the movie was rushed into production (and if you followed the development process you know it was) and they pushed him into making it without a fully realized script. Iron Man 2 wasn’t the movie he wanted to make and because of that, if there’s an Iron Man 3, there’s every reason to think he won’t be back. Marvel doesn’t want to pay him and Favreau may not want to deal with more Marvel interference.

Iron Man 2 was a rough production for many reasons. It was rushed, Mickey Rourke was a nightmare to work with and Marvel Studios controls their films (for better and for worse) with an iron fist. And no one was truly happy with the final result, including Marvel.

One unavoidable problem with having all of the Marvel-produced films connected is that at some point the pieces for The Avengers must be moved into place. Fans of serialized television programs know that the episodes spent arranging the pieces are the toughest, but are necessary for a later payoff. Iron Man 2 suffered from serving as the medium to kick-start The Avengers.

Shanghai Disneyland's Design Outsourced: A New Model for WDI

If you want clear insight into the business of Disney theme parks, you should be perusing the Laughingplace Discussion Boards. You have to wade through the garbage, but there's some fascinating stuff.

Commenter leemac in Post 16:

Bob Weis is outsourcing everything [for Shanghai Disneyland]. There is very little creative involvement from WDI hence why none of the director-level or senior folks that are recognizable names are working on the project. Bob has been given the blessing to do this all with consultants. This will be the model going forward if deemed successful. WDI won't exist in its current form if Bob delivers on his Shanghai brief.

This is the model most of Disney's competitors in the theme park space use, including Universal Creative. I've long held that the current way of doing business at Walt Disney Imagineering is bloated, slow and overly-expensive.

What has the WDI model created in recent years that competes with The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man or The Wizarding World of Harry Potter for innovation and pure "wow" factor? It's a change that is long past due.

Auditions for ElecTRONica at California Adventure

Disney Parks Talent Casting is seeking strong contemporary/hip hop dancers for a new nighttime celebration at the Disneyland Resort in support of the opening of the new Disney feature Tron: Legacy. Dancers will perform on stages outside in the Hollywood Pictures Backlot and main entrance areas at Disney California Adventure park. Seeking performers of all ethnicities.

Screamscape: Talking About Disney's Ticket Price Increase

It’s a sick trend really, as Disney and the other Orlando area parks have raised priced each and every year for about the past 15 to 20 years, and the overall impact is staggering at just how much more they are taking from your wallet than they were just 10 years ago.

Whenever Disney increases admission prices, there is a flood of pieces sharing similar sentiment published on the internet. But they systematically ignore two very important things:

1. Inflation. In 1993 a one-day, one-Park ticket at Walt Disney World cost $35. Compared to today's prices, that's astounding. But that number's meaningless unless it's adjusted for inflation. $35 in 1993 does not equal $35 in 2010. Here's a list of historical admission prices, adjusted for inflation:

1985: $21.50 ($42.30)

1988: $28.00 ($50.13)

1993: $35.00 ($51.32)

1998: $42.00 ($55.02)

2002: $50.00 ($59.28)

2. Higher Ticket Prices ≠ Greater Profit. Revenue from admissions does little to pad the bottom line. The cost of getting a guest in the door of a theme park is still highly subsidized. Theme park admission is like a magazine or newspaper subscription. The $15 you pay to have a magazine delivered to your home is a loss for the publisher. The real money is made from selling advertisements.

When you go to a Disney Park, Disney makes no money until you start buying souvenirs, eating at restaurants and staying in a Disney-owned hotel. Those are the high-margin profit centers. 

The difference between a newspaper subscription and admission to Epcot is that there is demand for Epcot.

Of course, all of this is ignoring that the vast majority of guests to Walt Disney World don't purchase a one-day, one-Park ticket. This is reflected in Disney's pricing. 

I'm not defending the price increases. My argument is not that a trip to Walt Disney World or Disneyland is a bargain. It's not. It's expensive and often prohibitively expensive. Even taking into account inflation, the rise in prices has been precipitous. 

Nor do I wish to unduly criticize Lance Hart, the webmaster of Screamscape. It's fair to feel sticker shock. His essay was merely brought to my attention, but there are dozens that could have been chosen.

But there is more to the discussion than simple greed.

Heat Vision: Beauty and the Beast 3D Delayed Indefinitely

It's getting a limited release in New Zealand shortly, but it's been delayed till 2012 or later in the States. According to the Hollywood Reporter's Heat Vision blog, it's all part of a bigger plan:

After all, converting pics to 3D costs $15 million or so per movie and theatrical prospects are limited for any re-release. So the campaign is really all about the eventual release of “Toy Story 3D,” “Beauty and the Beast 3D” and other converted animated features on Blu-ray disc.

A mercy killing.

Deadline: Disney Acquires Joseph Kosinski's Graphic Novel 'Oblivion'

Disney closed its deal to acquire Oblivion, the Radical Publishing graphic novel that will be turned into a directing vehicle for Tron: Legacy helmer Joseph Kosinski.

Clearly the Studio is thrilled with what they have in Tron: Legacy and Kosinski, as he's also tied to their The Black Hole remake.

Disney English Learning Centers Excel in China

Disney currently operates 14 centers in Shanghai and Beijing and plans to open more throughout the mainland.

I can't imagine this adds much to the company's bottom line, but it's an opportunity to introduce Disney characters to a Chinese people that are generally unfamiliar with the Disney brand.

This kind of indoctrination, for lack of a better word, was sorely lacking before Hong Kong Disneyland opened, and the Disney name just didn't have the cultural cache they were counting on. It was a costly mistake and one they can't afford to make with Shanghai Disneyland.

DLP.info: Photos From Inside Toy Story Playland

Looks good for what it is, but the attractions are lame.

Ticket Prices Up at Disneyland and Walt Disney World Starting 05 August

I still think all Annual Passes should be at least $100 more expensive.

MiceAge: Mathmagicland

As always, a very enlightening Disneyland update from Al Lutz.

But I'm not sure where he got those attendance numbers from, though the sentiment is correct.

Construction begins on Buena Vista Street mid-September.

Screamscape: Tron in Hollywood Backlot at California Adventure

From Monday's update:

... according to one report sent in Disney may be planning on giving a large portion of the Hollywood Pictures Backlot area a new Tron theme later this year as a promotion for the new film. One possible plan right now is to turn the old Millionare soundstage into ‘Flynn’s Arcade’. A lot of the blacklight theme from GlowFest may stay to be converted into a Tron theme, and a possible scale sized Recognizer may be built to appear as if it was looming over Hollywood Blvd. Can anyone else confirm this?

His tipster is not far off.

Orlando Sentinel Blog Reports on Expedition Everest's Lame Yeti

“The yeti is a complicated Audio-Animatronics figure whose complex functions have presented some challenges affecting its operation,” said Walt Disney World spokeswoman Andrea Finger. “We purposely took measures in 2008 to reduce unnecessary stress and preserve many of its functions while we studied possible long-term solutions.

“At this point,” she added, “we’re still considering those options.”

When will the figure once again work as intended? Never.

The design is fundamentally flawed and the current figure worthless. Someday we may see a fresh attempt, but bearing little in common with the original design.

First Artwork for Mickey's Soundsational

New parade coming to Disneyland Spring 2011.

I'm not much for parades, but I already find it more compelling than Celebrate! A Street Party.

I have heard that when Pixar Play Parade inevitably journeys to Disney Hollywood Studios, a complimentary parade with the same theme but featuring PIXAR characters could debut at Disney California Adventure.

Disney and More: Walt Disney Studios' Toy Story Playland Preview

Sounds like Flik's Fun Fair at California Adventure: the area is charming and well-accomplished, but the attractions are underwhelming. Capacity sounds painful.

An identical (but mirror-image) land is being constructed at Hong Kong Disneyland, scheduled to open next year. It seems out of place in a Magic Kingdom-style Park, but then so does Toontown.

Updated Effects in Snow White's Scary Adventure at Disneyland

From prolific blogger MintCrocodile. Al Lutz from MiceAge reported on the updated effects a few months back, but they've only now been implemented.

It's always encouraging to see these small improvements, since there is no monetary incentive to do so. A stark contrast to how the Magic Kingdom is managed. Part of it is the "local's park" nature of Disneyland. In many ways, being a hangout is detrimental, but it has benefits as well.

Main Street Electrical Parade at the Magic Kingdom Indefinitely

Not the least bit surprising, given the logistical headaches of having a nighttime parade run at California Adventure through the construction and heaving World of Color crowds.

If nothing else, it is nice to see the parade back on Main Street.

There are persistent rumors that when it returns to the west coast (next year?), it will do so at Disneyland proper.

it's a small world at Magic Kingdom Closed Until 22 October

Installing characters similar to those found at Hong Kong Disneyland and Disneyland?