The Disney Frontier Blog

Sorry for the low quality. They were taken from a friend’s cell phone on like email setting. Anyway, at least you can get a sense of the new queue of Star Tours in Disneyland.

Even the Dark Lord Sith needs to take time to visit the happiest place on earth!

Screenshot from the video

This is an awesome video walkthrough of the Pirates of the Caribbean Suite at the Disneyland hotel. Prepared to be jealoius.

Cruft: The Pirates Suite at the Disneyland Hotel

via The Disney Blog

This last week, we got very lucky. We were hitting some Fantasy Land attractions on Saturday night during the fireworks show so we could avoid some wait times. We happen to time our trip on the Storybook Land Canal Boats so that the “Remember…Dreams Come True” fireworks started right when we got to Cinderella’s Castle – this timing was by complete accident. To our surprise, the cast member manning the boat stopped to allow us to watch the fireworks. I guess this is the proper protocol as all the boats stopped. It was a real treat to sit on the boat and watch fireworks from both sides (the majority launched from inside Mickey’s ToonTown and some launched from the closed part of Fantasy Land – Sleeping Beauty’s Castle I believe).

While the seats got a little hard after a bit, it was a truly unique experience. I’m not sure how you can try to time this since the length of the line and how fast the queue is moving determines when you get on. Anyway, it was pretty awesome.

From Disney’s PR Group:

Highly Anticipated Free-to-Play Massively Multiplayer Online Game Launches for PC and Mac Platforms

NORTH HOLLYWOOD, Calif. – October 31, 2007 – Disney Online today announced that Pirates of the Caribbean Online (www.PiratesOnline.com), an immersive massively multiplayer online game (MMOG) and virtual world inspired by the popular film franchise, has launched for the PC and Mac platforms. Pirates of the Caribbean Online allows thousands of players to fully experience the adventures made famous in the films and explore beyond these boundaries in a quest to become the most legendary pirate on the high seas.

“The launch of Pirates of the Caribbean Online opens up an entirely new world of pirate adventures to thousands of fans who can now play alongside their favorite characters in a fully-immersive environment that builds on and goes beyond the epic stories created in the films,” said Paul Yanover, Executive Vice President and Managing Director, Disney Online. “We believe the game’s focus on action and adventure, combined with many customization options will appeal to a broad audience of both gamers and fans of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise as they set out on their own course to live the legend.”

In Pirates of the Caribbean Online, players create and customize their own pirate, captain their own ship, and assemble a crew of their fellow rogues in an effort to become the Caribbean’s most legendary Pirate. Along the way, players will interact with characters made popular by the films, like Jack Sparrow, Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann, and will also encounter a host of new characters and enemies unique to the game. To become the most notorious pirate, players must forge alliances, hunt for buried treasure, battle evil undead forces, and use cunning and strategy to outwit their foes.

Game features include:

• Create your own Pirate character – Players choose from over a million combinations to fully customize their own Pirate (body type, face, hair, clothing, names, etc.).
• Set sail on your own Pirate ship – Captain your own ship then recruit a crew of fellow players to set sail for the adventure of a lifetime.
• Quest for adventure and treasure – Embark on ship and land-based missions to locate buried treasure. Explore lush jungles, volcanic caves, and vast tropical islands but beware of traps, ambushes, and double-crosses which are an every day occurrence when keeping company with Pirates.
• Use advanced weaponry – Players engage in epic battles using a variety of weapons such as cutlasses, grenades, pistols and cannons and can unlock more powerful weapons as they improve their reputation as a fighter to be reckoned with.
• Become a legend – Master a variety of skills, including sword fighting, card playing, and treasure hunting to become the most notorious pirate in the world.
• Work your Voodoo Magic – Voodoo magic is used to heal, travel and cast curses on enemies.
• Get some Booty – Earn extra loot by competing in parlor games such as poker and blackjack.
• Build a notorious crew or guild – Players band together with others for expanded adventures and added power, forming a crew for quick battles or joining a guild for longer-term strategy.
• Grow your wealth with money and rare items – Hunt for buried treasure including gold, precious gems and mysterious artifacts.

The successful Pirates of the Caribbean film franchise, including Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl (2003), Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006) and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (2007), has grossed close to $2.7 billion at the worldwide box office.

Pirates of the Caribbean Online, developed and published by Disney Online, is rated E10+ and features lower PC and Mac system requirements than most other games in this genre, allowing for easier access to a broader audience of players.

Players can download the game directly and access additional information at the game’s Web site, www.PiratesOnline.com. A portion of the game is available for free and players can get unlimited access for a monthly subscription fee. At launch, Disney Online is offering new players subscriptions to Unlimited Access for a first-month fee of $4.95 and continuing with a $9.95 fee for following months

I had previously blogged about this almost a year ago. I hope they got it right considering how long it took them.

LaughingPlace.com blog True-Life Adventureland has six tips for the Walt Disney World fans traveling to Disneyland for the first time.

LaughingPlace.com: Disneyland for Disney World Lovers (True-Life Adventureland)

I think the tips are spot on. And I totally think that the ferris wheel (Sun Wheel) in California Adventure is the scariest Disney attraction.

As part of their 15th anniversary celebrations, the resort has been working overtime to get two brand new rides, Crush’s Coaster and the Cars Race Rally, completed. Now all they needed was some willing volunteers to come and see what all their hard work had achieved.

Family Travel: Thrills and spills in Disneyland Resort Paris

I think it’s awesome that Disney would create and release a video of this. Using the top of the Matterhorn as a scenic photo opp, Disney took pictures of the Finding Nemo Sumarine Voyage construction and pieced it together into a time lapse video. I love seeing the Monorail flash in and out of frames. You have to check it out.

Releasing exclusively at Walt Disney World Resort and Disneyland Resort, get you pirate hands on the new booty – a 11 1/2″ porcelain statue of Pirate on Bridge. For the retail price of $250, this collectible will brighten any pirate collection.

Walt Disney Classics Collection

The Laughingplace.com has some awesome interviews in video format posted from the opening day ceremonies of the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage in Disneyland. I highly recommend checking them out:

LaughingPlace Lotion: Finding Nemo Subarinve Voyage Interviews and Pictures

This is video from the Disney-Pixar Cars attraction at the studios in Disneyland Paris.

This is the first video I’ve seen so far of the newly remodeled and newly opened Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage. With this opening, a whole new generation can experience the Disneyland Subs like their parents and their parent’s parents did.

After watching this video, I was surprised at how little the Nemo cast was integrated into the story of the ride. The ending of the video is dark and not much can be seen, but I’m sure now that the ride is open, more videos will flood the internet.

YouTube – Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage

Video of the new Pirate’s stunt how on the Pirate’s Lair. The show is very Pirates of the Caribbean based including Jack Sparrow.

This DisneylandTour.com video is a special Pirate’s Lair tour.

Earlier, I apologized for some server downtime – 7 days to be specific. Because of the release of the new Pirates movie, traffic to this site almost doubled. So my jenky hosting provider shut me off. You can read the whole story at my other blog. Now I know how John felt when he got delisted from Google last year.