As the continued process of re-themeing and enhancing takes place in Disney’s California Adventure park, Mulholland Madness is next on the list of attractions to receive an update. The family coaster, which has been called “unimaginative” in the past, will get a Goofy’s Sky Skool “refreshing” as part of the $1.1-billion effort to add a heavy dose of Mickey Mouse and friends to the under-performing theme park.

While not a horrible ride, Mulholland Madness is simply a stock “wild mouse” ride with little appeal beyond the typical wild mouse ride experience. The attraction has been blamed as part of the problem that earned Disney California Adventure its “on-the-cheap” reputation.

The new themeing will get its inspiration from the 1940 cartoon short “Goofy’s Glider” where the storyline follows the clumsy anthropomorphic dog’s attempts to teach a group of novice pilots how to fly in which things go awry, Goofy style.

Riders will climb to the top of the 55-foot-tall coaster through clouds festooned with Goofy-shaped holes and pass a series of step-by-step billboards explaining how to fly before finally exiting through an airplane hangar façade.

The Mulholland Madness cars themselves, which hold four riders, will get a modest makeover, replacing the automobile theme with a new paint job, Goofy graphics and a small winglet on the nose.

Scheduled to debut in 2011, the complete makeover will be the third attraction that Disney has retooled in the last three years in an effort to add more classic Disney characters to the California Adventure park, the other two being Mickey’s Fun Wheel and the Silly Symphony Swings.

Concept artwork courtesy of L.A. Times.

I just love all the great content that Disney Parks Blog puts out. Today they released a short video demonstrating the massive control room that controls over 18,000 active points in the “World of Color” show at Disney’s California Adventure. It is indeed one of the biggest show control systems ever built.

Of special interest is the fact the the actual control room is tucked away in one of the parade rooms, out of view of the lagoon itself. That certainly doesn’t hinder them from being able to completely see what is going on as you will see in the video.

The video also shows the telemetry for what Disney Imagineering calls “subs” which are comprised of three giant rooms, each about the size of a semi-trailer, which contain all the electrical distribution for the show.

Now with no further ado, enjoy this behind-the-scenes peek at the World of Color control room.

Have you ever fantasized about living on Walt Disney World Disney property? Sure it’s a great experience to stay at one of several accommodations  located throughout the Walt Disney World property in Orlando but what if you could live there on a permanent basis?

Now for the first time in history, that opportunity is available with a new luxury residential community Disney is building – Golden Oak at Walt Disney World.

Golden Oak is planned to be a luxury residential resort community within the Walt Disney World Resort, designed by Walt Disney Imagineering, and owned and operated by a newly formed Disney subsidiary, Golden Oak Realty. It is being developed in the Magic Kingdom Resort Area near Bay Lake with the first few home sites to be available for purchase in late 2010 and a projected for completion date in 2011.

The community will include approximately 450 lavish custom single-family homes and estates priced between $1.5 million and $8 million, featuring themes such as Spanish, Mediterranean and Colonial. The homes will be spread out amongst four gracefully arranged neighborhoods – Carolwood, Carolwood Reserve, Silverbrook and Kimball Trace. Residents will receive benefits such as a private concierge, VIP access to Walt Disney World parks, home maintenance and more.

Here are just some of the ammenities planned for the families of Golden Oak:

• Private VIP transportation
• A suite of in-park benefits
• Access to select special-event tickets
• Community-hosted activities throughout the year

Additionally, Golden Oak Concierge services will be just a call or click away. It will be their pleasure to take care of such arrangements as:

• Move-in services
• Travel and private transportation
• Disney parks and special-event tickets
• Golf tee-times
• Dinner reservations
• Private VIP tours
• At-home dinners and parties
• Holiday home decorating
• Grocery shopping and errands
• Pre-arrival and post-departure home maintenance services

If that was not enough, home owners will have access to certain features at the nearby planned Four Seasons Resort Orlando (also within the Walt Disney World Resort). These include a full-service spa, restaurants, facilities for private events and an 18-hole golf course designed by Tom Fazio.

With such a limited number of homes and prices exceeding the range that most can afford, this will definitely be a community for the elite. However, if you have the means and are fortunate enough to be selected from the Priority Reservation List, Golden Oak offers a dream-come-true opportunity to never have to leave the magic of a Disney park/resort experience.

For more information, visit the official site of Golden Oak at Walt Disney World.

Disney Imagineering has so graciously provided a sneak peek at the vehicle testing for Radiator Springs Racers, a thrilling new attraction that is set to open in 2012 with the debut of Cars Land at Disney California Adventure park.

Disney Parks Blog points out that vehicle testing is an important milestone in the development process. Testing is expected to continue through the end of July, then the car comes off the track while construction of the E Ticket attraction is completed.

The bright cars you see in the video below will each carry six guests through the twists and turns of Ornament Valley. Radiator Springs Racers covers a lot of ground – nearly half of the 12 acres in Cars Land. Check out the video and imagine what this high-speed adventure will be like.

Having see a full-length version of Disney’s Wonderful World of Color as captured by a park guest who then so graciously posted the footage on YouTube, I can say that the show is quite impressive. At just under 27 minutes, the attraction uses an array of water fountains and water screens, lighting, fire, video and other special effects to bring a wide variety of Disney characters to life in stunning color.

As a reminder, the world premiere of the show is tonight which Disney will be video streaming live on Ustream and the attraction officially opens to park guests tomorrow, June 11.

Disney Parks Blog which has been doing an excellent job chronicling the development of this amazing attraction has released the latest video which covers just about everything you might want to know about the show and also includes some interviews from the key people involved with “World of Color.”

Check it out and if not at the premier tonight, be sure to tune into the Ustream live feed at 8:30 pm PST tonight.

If you are like me and not one of the fortunate few who will be able to attend Disney’s “World of Color” premier on June 10th at Disney’s California Adventure Park, here’s good news for us all. Disney will now livestream the premier of their newest attraction on Ustream, allowing the whole world to watch as it happens.

The event is scheduled to take place June 10th, 2010 at 8:30 pm (PST) and will be livestreamed on Ustream. So mark your calendars and bookmark http://www.ustream.tv/worldofcolor so you can be part of the festivities. I know I’ll be watching.

I just hope Ustream can handle the traffic. YouTube did a pretty good job airing the U2 360 Pasadena concert to the world late last year but when trying to view the “preview” of the show at Ustream prior to writing this post, Firefox crashed … several times!

At any rate, if all works out, this is a great way to see what should be one of the most fantastic shows Disney Imagineering has put together to date. I can’t wait!

With an official opening date of June 11th, the newly renovated and re-themed Silly Symphony Swings began “soft opening” runs last Friday morning. What was formerly known as the “Orange Stinger” has been re-themed to the 1935 Mickey Mouse short feature “The Band Concert,” with the music of Rossini’s “William Tell Overture.” Corey Burton provides the attraction’s narration.

Here are a few highlights of the attraction:

• Unlike before, the attraction now has “tandem” swings, which will accommodate one child between 40″ and 48″ tall and one adult.

• There are two main lines—one for single swings and one for tandem swings.

• A separate entrance is available for guests with mobility impairments who need more time to board.

• If a family does not need a tandem swing, then a lone adult may sit in the adult (yellow) seat side. Adults, however, may not sit in the red seat of a tandem swing, and two adults are not permitted to share a tandem swing.

• The ride lasts about one minute, but the load cycle can take up to 5 minutes.

Along with the attraction comes the new boardwalk beneath the ride platform which has several alcoves with benches and serves dual purposes – an overflow queue on busy days and also perfect for enjoying the view of Paradise Bay.

Photo credits: Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix of MousePlanet

Disney Parks Blog has come out with some additional exciting details surrounding the current makeover portions of The Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim are receiving. They include enhancements to the pool area as well as the addition of two new dining establishments. The Dreams Tower (to be renamed Adventure Tower) has already been under renovation and is scheduled to be completed in 2010.

According to Disney Parks, the pool area is getting a whole new look, including a brand-new pool, all-new water play area and a complete redesign of the Never Land Pool. Plans also call for a new restaurant and bar, and re-theming of the hotel’s two additional guest room towers.

The Pool Area

With a nod to the iconic original park signage, “Disneyland” will be spelled out in familiar blocks atop a platform supporting two huge water slides. The larger slide will be 26 feet high and will stretch 187 feet before it plunges into a splash pool below. Then reminiscent of the original Monorail station at the Disneyland Hotel, at each slide’s entrance will sit a replica Monorail Car that guests will glide through as they twist and turn their way to the pool below. How cool! The pool will also feature a third, two-lane mini slide, perfect for little guests, which is just 3 1/2 feet high and is 19 feet long.

The Never Land Pool

This section of the resort will receive a complete cosmetic makeover but will retain its unique shape. A new, four-foot deep pool will be built between the Never Land Pool and the water play area. A footbridge will stretch over this new pool, connecting both sides of the courtyard area and giving easy access across the property (see illustration below). Additionally, six new cabanas will also be added.

New Eatery and Bar

Two new dining locations will be introduced in the current location of Hook’s Pointe, Croc’s Bites and Bits, the Wine Cellar and the Lost Bar. A new “smart casual” dining concept will feature Tahitian architecture that is reminiscent of the ’50s and ’60s era of the hotel and the original Tahitian Terrace restaurant in Disneyland park.

Finally, a  new bar will draw on the adventure theme from the Jungle Cruise attraction.

The new water play area, pool and dining locations are scheduled to be completed by summer 2011, and the remodeled Never Land Pool is slated to be completed by summer 2012. All makeover work on the two additional towers should be complete by 2012 as well.

So if you’re planning a trip to the Anaheim resort in the next couple of years and want to stay at Disneyland Hotel, you might want to wait until all makeovers are complete so as to enjoy everything that is being put into place. In the meantime, should you still want to stay on property, there is the Grand Californian and Paradise Pier for your consideration.

A new baby elephant has been added to the elephant population at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Donna, a 22-year-old elephant Donna is the proud mother of a 288-pound female calf who has yet to be named. Right now, baby and mom are in their backstage home, but in several weeks are expected to join the rest of the elephant herd on the Kilimanjaro Safaris.

Disney Parks Blog reports that Donna became pregnant through artificial insemination in July 2008 and received extensive pre-natal care throughout her pregnancy. In addition to regular ultrasounds, veterinarians and elephant managers monitored her hormone levels on a daily basis to help them determine when she would give birth. Labor appeared imminent last night and the animal care team stayed with her to provide round-the-clock care until the female calf was born around 11:30 p.m.

This is the fifth elephant born at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. In addition to Donna’s first female calf, Nadirah, Tufani, a male, was born in 2003; Kianga, a female, was born in 2004; and Tsavo, the youngest male, joined the herd in 2008. All remain on the savannah at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. This birth raises the total number of elephants in the Disney’s Animal Kingdom herd to thirteen, including five males and eight females.

Walt Disney World is planning the construction of a new 2,000-room resort that will open in 2012 adding to the already large list of hotels/resorts located in the Orlando Florida property.  “Disney’s Art of Animation Resort” will feature 1,120 suites with room for as many as six people per room and another 864 traditional rooms, with a design theme based on four of the company’s most popular animated movies.

The Art of Animation Resort will be built on a 65-acre plot across a lake from Disney’s Pop Century Resort. The location will allow Disney to use a pair of long-neglected, unfinished buildings that Disney originally constructed as a second phase of Pop Century but which it abandoned amid the 2001 recession. Pop Century’s first phase was completed in 2003.

Plans for the new resort show 10 wings of rooms and a separate building housing the check-in lobby and restaurants. The hotel wings will be separated into four distinct groups, each with a theme from a different animated movie: The Little Mermaid, The Lion King, Finding Nemo and Cars.

The resort will be priced as a “value” hotel, at the low end of Disney World’s scale, similar to Disney’s Pop Century and All-Star resorts, where standard rates begin at $82 a night. It is the first hotel that Disney has built on the property in seven years.

For additional information, see a more concise write-up at The Orlando Sentinel.