RUMOR - WonderSea Island Water Park Coming to Universal Orlando?

Not actual logo.

Yes, this is a really special update, as a new trademark has been registered by Universal. It is a name for a proposed new water park! It was rumored for years, and it would have been located in the big chunk of land that is located just behind Islands of Adventures. Is it finally becoming a reality? Will all these rumors be confirmed? Take a look at the trademark, from TRADEMARKIA.com

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Status Update! On Thursday, April 21, 2011, status on the WONDERSEA ISLAND trademark changed to APPROVED FOR PUBLICATION.

On Wednesday, March 09, 2011, a U.S. federal trademark registration was filed for WONDERSEA ISLAND. This trademark is owned by UNIVERSAL CITY STUDIOS LLC, UNIVERSAL CITY, CA 91608. The USPTO has given the WONDERSEA ISLAND trademark serial number of 85262245. The current federal status of this trademark filing is APPROVED FOR PUBLICATION.

Word Mark:	WONDERSEA ISLAND
Status/ Status Date:	APPROVED FOR PUBLICATION 4/21/2011
Serial Number:	85262245
Filing Date:	3/9/2011
Registration Number:	NOT AVAILABLE
Registration Date:	NOT AVAILABLE
Goods and Services:	Entertainment services in the nature of water parks
Mark Description:	NOT AVAILABLE
Type Of Mark:	Service Mark
Published For Opposition Date:	N/A
Latest Owner:	UNIVERSAL CITY STUDIOS LLC UNIVERSAL CITY, CA 91608 Why is this contact information displayed? [Close] The USPTO makes this data available for search by the public so that individuals can locate ownership information for intellectual property, much the same way a county might make real estate property ownership information available. Since our website is synchronized with the USPTO data, we recommend making any data changes with the USPTO directly. Our website will auto-update when the USPTO data is updated. You may also contact Trademarkia to make a request for the removal of your personally identifiable information or trademark data. Such requests must be made in writing and will be subject to verification of ownership. This policy allows verified trademark owners to specify: (A) that their identifiable information be masked, or (B) that their trademark pages permanently deleted from Trademarkia.com. Requests may be made directly to customer.service@trademarkia.com and every effort will be made to honor them within 48 hours. Click here for further details. [Close]
Mark Drawing Code:	Standard Character Mark
Design Search:	(NO DATA)
Register Type:	Principal
Disclaimer:	(NOT AVAILABLE)
Correspondent:	MONIQUE CHENG JOE 100 U... LRW 6 UNIVERSAL CITY, CA 91608
Related Tags:	entertainment, services, nature, water, parks
The correspondent listed for WONDERSEA ISLAND is MONIQUE CHENG JOE of UNIVE..., 100 U..., LRW 6 UNIVERSAL CITY, CA 91608 . The WONDERSEA ISLAND trademark is filed in the category of Education and Entertainment Services . The description provided to the USPTO for WONDERSEA ISLAND is Entertainment services in the nature of water parks.

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This would be surely something great! Of course, no official announcement has been made by Universal Orlando... yet. The name seems to refer to Islands of Adventure, so I wonder if they will change it or if they will maintain it as is. In our opinion, it may confuse a bit some people (because of the recurring word, "island/s"), but anyway, this could end up being Universal Orlando's first fully-themed water park! Will it be announced this May? We can only hope!

Brazilian Pavilion to Be Added to World Showcase?

After reading the title of this post, many of you will have already thought "Yes, of course...."

Well, I am as skeptic as you are, since World Showcase has not received a new pavilion in more than two decades (the last pavilion that was added, Norway, joined World Showcase in 1988... Can you believe that?).

Anyway, it looks like this time it MAY be the right time to add something.

According to a Brazilian newspaper article, translated by the Epcot Encyclopedia web site, Brazil is going to add their own pavilion at Epcot. That is one of the greatest honors a country can receive, and it looks like Brazil is willing to pay for it, since they say that "the government forecast is for a big comeback in tourism," with the addition of this new pavilion at Epcot. So, they think that adding the pavilion will help "advertise their beautiful country. I would also add that, since we have a lot of Brazilian guests in the parks here in Florida, it will also make them feel more like "at home", right?

With all that being said, nothing about this project has been officially announced, so, even though the Brazilian newspaper may be very reliable, we don't know what the real plans that Disney has in mind, therefore consider this as a mere rumor. At least, for now.

We would like to thank a lot Raphael Figueiredo for sharing with us the news!

Herbie soon replaced by... Lightning McQueen?

There have been many rumors floating around, that brought up the possibility of a change in the "Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show" at Disney's Hollywood Studios. It involves Herbie, which I am sure everybody knows, even though you may have never seen the Disney stunt show.

Anyway, these rumors (that have now been confirmed) said that Herbie might be soon (in June of 2011) replaced by a newer kind of car: Lightning McQueen, from the Disney-Pixar movie "Cars 2".

This actually make sense to me, as the movie "Cars" is much newer, so many people (especially the younger ones in the audience) will recognize the character as soon as they see it in the show. Herbie is from a fairly old movie (that I've never seen myself!), but with that being said, it was still one of the favorites characters in the show, according to some people. And we agree, its segment in the show was nice.

What do you think? Is McQueen a better choice? Or you're a Herbie fan?

New "Brave" artworks and Mickey's new movie

The Disney, etc. website shared with us two interesting articles today.

The first one (that can be viewed HERE) unveils some of the artworks for a new Disney Animated film, known as "Brave". Here's one of the artworks:

Copyright of the Walt Disney Company.

About the second article, there has been a rumor about a new full-length film of Mickey Mouse and Friends.

You can read everything HERE. Here's an excerpt of the article:

"During an interview with Disney veteran Burney Mattinson, Bleeding Cool discovered that a feature-length project for Mickey, Donald, and Goofy is in the very, very early stages of development."

What do you think? I am personally a fan of Mickey Mouse cartoons, so for me this is a great news, and i hope they'll continue to work on this project.

Universal's Water Park? - RUMOR comes back again

This rumor is one of the most recurring in the resort.

There are people that say that Universal will build a new theme park on the lot just behind Dudley Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls, while others say that they will build a new water park (and get rid of the largely un-themed Wet 'n' Wild, which is not as profitable as a whole new, and themed, Universal Orlando water park would be).

But, let's take a look at the place in question. The place is really big, as you can see from these photos:

You can't really notice it, but there are a lot of yellow cones behind these tarps. We wonder if they mean something, or if they've simply been there forever:

As of now, that piece of land is used as a storage for the resort boats. Space misused, at this time:

As we said before, this place could be really huge, but it is cut in half by a road that would have to be removed (unless they want to build two smaller parks. Hmmm... Could they?):

To conclude, this is all speculation, but as we reported some months ago, Universal is seriously thinking about building a new theme park or water park. According to Screamscape, "This time they are apparently not just in a Blue-Sky dreaming mode, as they have been previously when submitting a few guest surveys [...]  If the rumors are true, the idea this time may be to put a solid entry for the waterpark project into the new 5-year Masterplan that Universal is working on." (Screamscape)

Really interesting rumors, right? But, what do you think? Should Universal build a new theme park, water park, or just renovate Wet 'n' Wild and spend more money on their existing theme parks?

Personally, I would love to see a new theme park, but if they'll build a fully-themed water park, as we previously said, I would be happy.

Town Square Theater to open on April 1st?

According to several sources, the new Town Square Theater (at the Magic Kingdom) should open on April 1st, 2011. If you would like to know more about the features of the new Town Square Theater, please click HERE.

The official Walt Disney World site for Cast Members confirms this, giving these strange opening hours:

Character Meet and Greet (including Disney Princesses) at Town Square Theater 

8 a.m. - 11 p.m. April 1 & 2 / 9 a.m. - 7 p.m. April 3 - on

We are almost sure that the hours of April 3rd (and the following days) have not been decided yet, as we expect them to open the Town Square Theater from park opening to park close.

Grand Floridian to add a DVC building

A new blueprint has been leaked in the internet, and it involves a new section of the Grand Floridian resort & Spa. This new section would be a Disney Vacation Club area. Take a look at the blueprints, that are subject to the copyright of the source (sdavey41 on Flickr) and of the Walt Disney World resort:

Picture copyright of Sdavey41 on Flickr and of the Walt Disney World resort.  All rights reserved

According to Edward, a poster on WDWMagic, the beach in front of this new section of the hotel will be extended, to accommodate the new buildings. What do you think? There's not enough DVC on property?

Universal Orlando rumors

Today, two new rumors surfaced at Screamscape. One involves the replacement of Jimmy Neutron's Nicktoon Blast (about time!) at Universal Studios Florida with a "Despicable Me" attraction.

Here's the rumor, courtesy of Screamscape:

"While I still don’t have any more solid info on the opening of a Despicable Me attraction for 2012, I did uncover that Despicable Me 2 was in production for a 2013 release. Adding a theme park attraction for 2012 would make perfect sense to see the characters alive and in the public focus for the year ahead of the new film’s premier. After all, Universal did the same thing with Shrek 4D, by opening it a year in advance of Shrek 2 hitting the theaters, and hyping it as the official story to bridge the gap between the two films."

The second rumor reports that "The Amazing Adventures of Spiderman" may receive an expensive rehab this fall, to make it completely digital. The rumor (always according to Screamscape):

©2011 Universal Orlando. All Rights Reserved.

"I've heard an interesting rumors this week, claiming that at some point in the next 8-10 months we will likely see Spiderman close for an extensive rehab. I’m told that the plan is to replace the projection systems with new current digital projection systems, which may also result in the new of an improved 3-D system. Of course the switch to an all digital system will only make any future possible transformations of the attraction (if they give up the rights to Spiderman) a little easier to handle.

     Now, if I’m not mistaken, didn’t they already install an all-digital version of Spiderman in the Japanese park, or did I hear that wrong? Anyone know for sure? In any case, they want the new and improved Spiderman ready to go before the new Spiderman film hits the theaters in Summer 2012."

What do you think about these rumors? I'm actually not very sure about "Despicable Me", as I've never had the chance to see the movie because it didn't really appeal to me. Of course, I would take virtually any new ride to replace Jimmy Neutron, because it's simply worthless to keep something like that. It's neither for kids nor for adults. It's simply a huge waste of precious space. About the second rumor, I'm sure than an update of Spiderman would not hurt! Let's just hope they actually do it. If not, well... it's a great ride anyway, right?

How will Ariel's Castle look like?

The new Little Mermaid dark ride is still under construction at both Magic Kingdom here in Florida and at Disney California Adventure. They will be clones, speaking about the ride itself, but what about the outside?

Well, at DCA, the look of the building has to match with the nearby constructions, so it will look like a  fancy, but overall normal building (with some very nice mosaics on the top of the building).

In Florida instead, we're getting a major, great-looking facade! It will be a scaled-down reproduction of the Little Mermaid's Castle, just as seen in the movies!

Would you like to have a glimpse on how it will look like? Then, here's a nice picture, submitted by one of our friends, Mr. Lars (that we really thank a lot!):

So, do you see the castle's dimensions? Won't it look great? I can't wait to see it completely done, even though I'm aware it will only open late 2012 (if not 2013!), but I can tell you that it will NOT disappoint us!

Rumor: New trains for HRRR?

A new rumor has surfaced on Screamscape, and it sounds great for all Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit!'s fans!

It includes adding brand-new trains, that would be much more comfortable and that may actually make the ride reliable (no, I'm not even kidding. This coaster can become reliable. It's not a dream. Maybe.).

Here you are part of the article from Screamscape, that we really thank a lot. See what you think about it:

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Over the past few months the Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rockit did reopen and quietly went back into regular daily operations, all the while hoping everyone forgot about that long bout of unexpected downtime last year. Before the downtime, there were a few rumors about impending changes on the way to the ride which never took place, due to the last year’s problems. Now, almost everyone is silent on the matter. Almost...
    According to a Screamscape source, Universal and Maurer got together and performed a little upgrade to one of the ride’s trains in an effort to improve the ride experience. This new car has been running the rails for awhile now, mixed in at random with the other cars, in order to judge the guest reaction. Hearing comments from you readers all the time about this coaster, I’d have to say that the new car seems to have gone unnoticed, as the comments are generally the same as before, with the ride having a hot & cold reputation both before and after. As such, the cost to upgrade the entire fleet of cars may not be justified.
    This is where the other interesting rumor comes in, as I’m told that Universal is also rumored to have shopped around the idea of buying entirely new trains from other coaster companies. The list of those asked is pretty much the usual suspects… B&M, Vekoma, Premier and Intamin. Before you get too excited, I’m told B&M has already turned down the project, which isn’t surprising as they turned down the chance to build Rockit in the first place. The other three are said to have submitted basic bids on the project, and ideas on how they would do it, and any other items of note for Universal Creative to base their judgment on.
    Premier could be an interesting choice, and they do have a successful lap-bar only system that could handle the Rockit’s layout. The park maintenance team is also familiar with Premier trains from the nearby Revenge of the Mummy coaster as well, which is a plus.
    Vekoma would also be an interesting choice, if they were to opt to use Vekoma’s new and very comfortable restraint system, which is great for riders of virtually all sizes, but also has the safety of an OTS system, without the need for a redundant seat-belt for quick loading.
    Finally there is Intamin who have apparently submitted the idea of switching over to use their Maverick style train design, complete with standard Intamin OTS restraints. I would imagine they are thinking of using three of their 4-passenger cars per train to keep the train capacity up to at least 12 riders.
    So which way will the Rockit go? Nothing has been decided upon yet it seems, but it seems a safe bet that Universal doesn’t want to keep things going the way they are any more either. So stay tuned and maybe you can get a lucky ride on the new car.

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Yep, it looks like B&M is already out of the scene (but, as Screamscape said, it's not a surprise, as they didn't want to build HRRR from the beginning). Anyway, the other options don't sound bad! What do you think? Have you ever been on a coaster that uses Premier cars (no pun intended)?