1) Russia pavilion very close to being official for Epcot: http://jimhillmedia.com/blogs/jim_hill/ ... epcot.aspx My question is where would they put it? Where the 'temporary' festival building is? 2) DL's new Monorail Red/Maroon, which will have dark red interior LED lighting when in motion, is scheduled for public runs beginning on President's Day. 3) DL's Dream Suite is behind schedule, and the contractors have a knack for severing Fantasmic! communication lines, and cutting water lines above people waiting in line for POTC. 4) DCA's World of Color lagoon show has been delayed due to the DCA timeline for renovations 5) DCA's preview center has been cancelled until they find a new place for it. The planned place will become restrooms instead, due to the hostile takeover of the restrooms at the Golden Dreams building by WDI. 6) With the expanded space of the restrooms of the Golden Dreams, The Little Mermaid dark ride seems to be (as planned) probably the best dark ride Disney will have ever built on American soil, and will probably be compared to the ones that still dark the guests in, like HM and POTC. The seashell omnimovers will apparently travel in a direction they have never traveled before. I wonder if they will have seatbelts. 7) While Epcot got a really minor celebration of the 25th (because they aren't celebrating anniversaries anymore), DL is already planning a major year for its' 55th, in 2010, which oddly enough, is when The Little Mermaid attraction is due to be completed. Or almost completed. But at least the World of Color should be in place by then. Now that I think about it, I guess they have a reason for the 55th. (Duh!!!). My guess is that 2010-2012 will be a combined celebration of DL's 55th and MK's 40th. And because of that, I'm also now betting Dreams continues for just...one...more....year.....until the fall of 2009 or maybe even 2010 itself.
Re: the Epcot Russia pavilion (which would rock, IMHO!)...there's actually alot of expansion space at Epcot for additional pavilions. Aside from the space between Canada and UK, where the 'temp' building is, there are also pavilion spaces between France & Morocco, between Morocco & Japan, the huge space between Germany and China where they currently just have the 'outpost' area (which could support 1 large pavilion or two smaller ones), and the space between Norway and Mexico. A Russia pavilion would be nice - some different architecture which is unique to their region, good historical displays and facts, great opportunity to have Russian folk and step-dancers doing regular shows, a Russian tea house, vodka/martini bar for the adults, a soup restaurant with great stews and soups and borscht, piroghis, and blinis. Bring it on!
Ah that space, the space for the infamous "Mt. Fuji" coaster, brought to you by the Fujifilm S5 Digital SLR...take Dynamic Range to the next level.... too bad that an American company already has their grip on the parks. (Same thing is going on for Autopia at DL....Honda is waiting for Chevron's contract to expire, then, assuming their gimmick works this summer in SoCal, I'm betting 20-1 that the Autopia cars get a new drive engine. And a refueling station.)
I'll just mirror the sentiment for a Russia pavilion. Especially the vodka bar and the interesting food options. Is it too easy to predict that the architectural focus for such an area would be a scaled down St Basil's Cathedral? To refresh my memory I looked up some pictures of it and wow.. that thing looks Disney already. The bright contrasting colors on those onion domes are something else.
my guess for location for russia would be where the 'outpost' is currently located. tons of wasted space and it was originally the location for disney's south africa pavilion that fell thru a long time ago. here's hoping they put a high quality attraction in there; as much as i love world showcase, once you get past mexico, norway, and the american adventure... it's slim pickins' (not the deceased actor, either). i also hear from time to time rumors that the germany boat ride might be revisited and possibly built. that would be awesome. from what i understand, the infrastructure is already in place and being used as dressing rooms and storage. that would be a nice addition also.
Tim - I'm sure it was an oversight, but you overlooked the terrific English Pub Ride. I've probably been on that ride more than anything else at Disney. As for a Russian pavillion, that would be very interesting. I wonder what kind of attraction they might have ? A "dodge the Russian Mafia" car chase through the streets of Moscow ?
Regarding the ice hockey experience in true American fashion it would naturally feature the 1980 winter olympic games the only time the US had a good hockey team. Side note, I have to root for other teams in the world cup or hockey because the United States is near the bottom in both sports.
I don't think Russia with go for having the 1980 Olympic Hockey games in their pavillion. Maybe the 1972 USSR vs Canada series since both sides claimed victory would work.
they PROBABLY wouldn't want to bring back the USSR vs. the Broad Street Bullies, would they? Imagine an audio animatronic figure of Bobby Clarke...
on a more serious note, a replica of saint basil's and red square would be incredible to experience. perhaps a boat ride across moscow and st. petersburg would be nice. i would hope for more than a video or in japan, italy, germany, uk, or morocco's case... nothing. i enjoy those pavilions, but i prefer to have some form of attraction inside there as well (more than a band stand). imagine seeing the top of st. basil's across the landscape of world showcase, a la the eiffel tower. that would be really cool. BUT, where to put it?
