It’s Tough to be a Bug, the 3-D attraction located in the Tree of Life in Disney’s Animal Kingdom, is closed for a short refurbishment this week. The attraction is quite a staple of the theme park since it provides entertainment with beloved Pixar characters.
Discover what it’s like to be a bug during this 3D film and live show inspired by the Disney and Pixar movie A Bug’s Life.
The refurbishment is set to take place from March 8 through March 11. The attraction will reopen on the 12th.
We aren’t sure what the refurbishment will entail, but we hope the Hopper animatronic will return soon. He has been missing from the attraction lately. These types of scheduled refurbishments are normal though. Especially since Disney uses such temporary closures to refresh visual details and technical issues that might not typically be handled when the attraction is open.
Kelly Marie Tran Says She Thinks Raya is Gay. SPOILER ALERT: This post contains information that may spoil aspects of Disney’s Raya and the Last Dragon. If you do not wish to have details of the story ruined for you before seeing the animated film we recommend you stop reading past this point. Thank-you!
Many fans felt a flirtatious tone during Raya’s prodding line to Princess Namaari of Fang at the gates of Spine: “Hey there, Princess Undercut. Fancy meeting you here,” and it turns out that was completely intentional!
Though the film does not rely on a romance to tell Raya’s story, actress Kelly Marie Tran has shared that she feels there were ““some romantic feelings going on there”” between Raya and her nemesis turned all ally, Namaari. Tran continued to share, “I’m obsessed with Namaari and I’m obsessed with Gemma Chan. So I’m really excited you brought this up.”
She continued, “I think if you’re a person watching this movie and you see representation in a way that feels really real and authentic to you, then it is real and authentic,” Tran added, “I think it might get me in trouble for saying that, but whatever.”
Kelly concluded her thoughts in her interview with Vanity Fair, “I want to live in a world where every single type of person can see themselves in a movie like this,” she says. “There’s a lot of work to be done in that respect. I’d love to see a Disney warrior who—I don’t know, can I say this without getting in trouble? I don’t care—is openly in the LGBTQ community. I would love to see representation in terms of someone who maybe isn’t able-bodied. And I’m hopeful. We’ll see.”
Have you enjoyed Raya and the Last Dragon? Did you feel there may be more between Raya and Namaari? We would like to hear your thoughts in the comments, but please be considerate of others with your words.
Be sure to check back here at Chip and Co. for updates and all things Disney!
‘Luke Skywalker’ Star Wars Series May Be Coming to Disney+. Since his appearance in the Season 2 finale of The Mandalorian, Star Wars fans have a new hope that we will get to take a deeper dive into the story of Luke Skywalker as a full fledged Jedi.
According to Giant Freakin’ Robots, Disney+ and Lucasfilm are developing a Luke Skywalker centric live-action series that will follow the events of Star WarsEpisode VI: Return of the Jedi and how Luke creates his own Jedi Academy. It is currently unknown if the series will include the eventual fall of the Academy and Ben Solo’s turn to the Dark Side along with the creation of The Knights of Ren.
The news comes after reports of Karen Gillan being eyed to play force-sensitive assassin Mara Jade, the currently non-canon wife of Luke Skywalker. Mara has yet to be featured, or even mentioned, in the Star Wars films and shows, but she could make her live-action debut in the rumored Disney+ series.
Though Mark Hamill reprised his role as Luke for The Mandalorian Season 2 finale, it is unknown if he would reprise his role for the series or if the role would be recast to save production costs. Popular fan re-castings include actors Sebastian Stan and Logan Lerman. It should be noted that neither Disney+ or Lucasfilm have confirmed the rumors at this time, so be sure to take it with a grain of salt until a confirmation is shared by the studios.
What do you think of a Luke Skywalker live-action series? Do you think Lucasfilm should recast the role fo the series, or grin and bear the high budget to keep Mark Hamill as Luke? We would love to hear your thoughts in the comments.
This is a developing story, so be sure to check back here at Chip and Co. for updates and all things Star Wars and Disney+!
A new Walt Disney World campaign has begun with the release of a heartwarming video. The “Tomorrow Begins Today” campaign encourages guests who have been avoiding theme parks due to the COVID-19 pandemic to begin booking their trips for “tomorrow”.
Now’s the perfect time to plan a magical Walt Disney World escape. To see favorite Characters. Whoosh down a wild coaster. Taste your favorite Disney treats. Or take in the smell of freshly popped popcorn on Main Street, U.S.A.
With new and classic magic happening throughout all four Theme Parks, there’s no better time to join family and friends to indulge every craving and celebrate your great big beautiful tomorrow together.
The new ad features families visiting the Disney World theme parks. The magic is not hindered by face masks, modified character experiences, or safety guidelines. Take a look at the ad below:
Are you looking to plan your next Walt Disney World vacation? Contact me today for a free, no-obligation vacation quote!
Disney Cruise Line has not sailed since early 2020 and all sailings are suspended through May of this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, DCL is being sued by guests who claim they caught the virus while onboard a Disney cruise ship last year.
The federal lawsuits were filed on March 2nd and are coming from Utah and Arizona tourists who claim they caught COVID-19 while on the Disney Fantasy last March just before the ship docked during the pandemic.
“The lawsuits accused Disney of refusing to let passengers cancel or reschedule their cruises even if they had “autoimmune diseases and compromised health conditions,” so they were “left without any option” to go on their March 7-14, 2020 trip. Disney continued to allow passengers … to eat in buffets settings, provide group entertainment activities aboard the vessel (such as dancing) and otherwise allowed passengers to fully participate in the subject cruise as if there was no COVID-19 outbreak or threat thereof aboard the vessel,” the lawsuits said.”
Cynthia Martinez with Disney Cruise Line shared the following statement concerning the lawsuit.
“Our thoughts continue to be with those around the world who have been affected by COVID-19. We disagree with the allegations and will respond to them in court. No guests or Crew reported symptoms of Covid-19 while aboard the Disney Fantasy during the March 7, 2020, sailing. Disney Cruise Line communicated health and safety information with guests in advance of and during their sailing and had numerous protocols in place at the time.”
Disney Cruise Line has been working to meet the CDC’s guidelines to resume sailings. Hopefully they will be able to resume in June this year.
Marceline’s Confectionery, Downtown Disney District
St. Patrick’s Mickey Apple – Granny Smith apple dipped in caramel, marshmallow ears, enrobed in milk chocolate, colored white chocolate, and a green top hat (available Mar. 10-17)
Pot of Gold Apple – Granny Smith apple dipped in caramel, dipped in dark chocolate, and embellished with yellow white chocolate and gold candy-coated milk chocolates, rainbow sour belt, and green chocolate shamrock (available Mar. 17)
Shamrock Krispy – Shamrock-shaped krispies dipped in green and white chocolate decorated with a yellow Mickey (available Mar. 7-17)
Mint Chocolate Cookie Marshmallow Wand – Mickey-shaped marshmallow dipped in mint milk chocolate, enrobed in chocolate cookie crumbles, and drizzled with green and white chocolate (available Mar. 10-17)
Ralph Brennan’s Jazz Kitchen Express, Downtown Disney District
Mint Chocolate Chip Glazed Beignets – A sweet blend of chocolate chips and fresh mint with a “touch of the Irish” green sprinkles (available Mar. 15-21)
Corned Beef and Cabbage Burger – Angus Beef patty resting on a bed of braised cabbage topped with Swiss cheese, sliced corned beef, and whole grain mustard a oli on a brioche bun served with garlic fries (available Mar. 17)
Irish Nachos – French fries topped with corned beef, Guinness beer cheese, pico de gallo and spicy a oli (available Mar. 17)
Irish Libations (available Mar. 17)
Will you be celebrating St. Patrick’s Day at the Disneyland Resort? What special eats are you excited to try?
Calling all mint chocolate lovers! This St. Patrick’s Day Ice Cream Sandwich is a must have!
If you love the combination of sweet chocolate with refreshing mint then you will for sure love this new treat. It features mint ice cream between two double chocolate chip cookies and rolled in shamrock sprinkles.
The cookies have some white and milk chocolate chips as well, making it even more delicious! The size of this treat is also big enough for two people, so its perfect for sharing!
Get ready to have the happiest brunch on Earth with these Dole Whip Mimosas!
Dole whip has been one of the most popular treats at Disney Parks for years, there are different versions from floats, soft-serve, and even mixed with different flavors but this version is for sure the best if you are looking to combine your favorite treat with some booze.
Peppermint Patty – Slush with mint, lemonade, and blue curaçao syrup served with whipped cream and peppermint bark topping. Available alcoholic and non-alcoholic (available Mar. 5-31)
Raglan Road Irish Pub & Restaurant, Disney Springs
Raglan Road Mighty St. Patrick’s Festival – Unplugged! Think more acoustic than electric. More intimate than boisterous. The same great live entertainment, with all bands imported from Ireland. The same delicious Irish food and drink. Visit www.raglanroad.com for reservations. (Mar. 17)
Tamu Tamu Refreshments, Disney’s Animal Kingdom
Isle of Java, Disney’s Animal Kingdom
Thirsty River Bar & Trek Snacks, Disney’s Animal Kingdom
Irish Coffee with Irish whiskey, Joffrey’s Coffee, whipped cream, and shamrock sprinkles (available Mar. 12-17)
Creature Comforts, Disney’s Animal Kingdom
Restaurantosaurus, Disney’s Animal Kingdom
Flame Tree Barbecue, Disney’s Animal Kingdom
St. Patrick’s Day Cupcake – Chocolate with mint ganache filling, vanilla frosting, and chocolate shamrock (available Mar. 2-17)
Nomad Lounge, Disney’s Animal Kingdom
St. Patrick’s Day Trio – Madeline rainbow cake, cream liqueur-coffee panna cotta, and vanilla chiffon cake pop with whiskey-caramel ganache (available Mar. 17-20)
Restaurantosaurus, Disney’s Animal Kingdom
St. Patrick’s Day Reuben Totchos – Crispy tater tots loaded with nacho cheese, sautéed corned beef, sauerkraut, Thousand Island dressing, and crunchy rye croutons (available Mar. 12-17)
Dino-Bite Snacks, Disney’s Animal Kingdom
St. Patrick’s Day Ice Cream Sandwich – Mint Ice cream between double chocolate-chip cookies rolled in shamrock sprinkles (available Mar. 1-17)
Creature Comforts, Disney’s Animal Kingdom
Tamu Tamu Refreshments, Disney’s Animal Kingdom
Mickey Colossal Cinnamon Roll – Green icing drizzle on Mickey Colossal Cinnamon Roll (available Mar. 17)
Landscape of Flavors, Disney’s Art of Animation Resort
Everything Pop Shopping and Dining, Disney’s Pop Century Resort
Luck of the Green – Chocolate cupcake filled with mint crème topped with vanilla buttercream and shamrock sprinkles (available Mar. 15-18)
Dahlia Lounge, Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort
Three Bridges Bar & Grill, Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort
St. Paddy’s Dessert – Irish cream mousse filled pâte à choux with pistachio cream and a chocolate shamrock (available Mar. 17-20)
Gasparilla Island Grill, Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa
Luck of the Irish Coffee Panna Cotta – Chocolate coffee mousse, Irish cream-Irish whiskey panna cotta, and vanilla cream topped with a shamrock cookie (available Feb. 22- Mar. 17)
Goods to Go, Disney’s Old Key West Resort
Key Lime Tart with graham cracker crust, key lime custard, and shamrock garnishes (available Mar. 8-18)
The Artist Palette, Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa
Irish Car Bundt – Irish stout Bundt cake with Irish cream mousse and Irish whiskey caramel (available Mar. 8-18)
Wind & Waves Market, Disney’s Vero Beach Resort
Shamrock Whoopie Pie – Green tea cake with gold citrus crème filling (available Mar. 12-20)
Are you planning on visiting the Walt Disney World Resort for Spring Break? Then you better hurry up because reservations are almost completely full.
Spring Break is a busy season at the Disney Parks, springtime is starting, it has holidays like St. Patrick’s Day and festivals like Flower and Garden and Easter on April 5th.
If you have theme park tickets for March or April, you should be aware most of the parks are already out of passes. Epcot seems to be the only one with reservations available, which is rare considering the Flower and Garden Festival is happening right now.
Looks like it’s the same for Disney Resort Guests, most park are already full with the exception of Epcot. Also it looks like next week, specially from March 15-18, will be one of the busiest this month.
Annual Passholders have more days in green which means all parks are available during those dates with the exception of this Saturday March 13.
Please be aware that Hollywood Studios doesn’t have any reservations left for the rest of the month for guests with theme park tickets or disney resorts reservations.
And if you don’t want to visit during March, that’s totally fine, the festival will be available until July 5th.
If you look at the first 2 weeks of April or Spring Break you will see the same thing.
This goes for Resort Guests as well. All of the parks but Epcot are completely full at this time. The only availability in April is for Annual Passholders.
So there you go, if you have plans to visit Disney World for Spring Break, you might be out of luck. Keep checking the Disney World website and maybe they will open up some more availability in the coming weeks.
John Stamos Shares ‘Full House‘ Behind the Scenes Photo with WandaVision‘s Elizabeth Olsen. As the world raves over the success of Marvel Studios’ WandaVision, fan favorite actor and Disney lover John Stamos shared an adorable post of himself and Elizabeth Olsen on set of ‘Full House‘ to celebrate the series finale on Disney+ last Friday and John’s upcoming Disney+ series, Big Shot.
Though Elizabeth Olsen herself never held a role in the popular sitcom, she regularly attended tapings of Full House for her sisters Mary-Kate and Ashley who played Michelle Tanner in the original series.
Stamos posted the behind-the-scenes photo along with the caption: “One day she’s a little girl wandering the set, and next thing you know, she’s taking over a whole town, mindcontrolling the citizens to play out her favorite TV Sitcoms! They grow up so fast… Wanda had a vision we’d both be on @disneyplus Check out #BigShot coming in April and @wandavision Tonight!“
Elizabeth Olsen recently shared with EW, “There was something very meta for my own life [working on WandaVision] because I would visit those tapings as a kid, where my sisters were working [on Full House].”
WandaVision series leads Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany have both shared their love for working on the series and coming into their own stories in the ever growing MCU. The stars especially loved the aspect of filming that let them explore their characters in the distinct eras of television sitcoms, while maintaining the action-packed expectation of being in a Marvel story.
All 9 episodes of WandaVision are currently available to stream exclusively on Disney+. Be sure to check back here at Chip and Co. for updates and all things Disney+ and Marvel!
‘Raya and the Last Dragon‘ Comes in First at the Box Office. Though movie theaters are just beginning to reopen their doors nearly a year after the global shutdown due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Disney’s new animated feature film, Raya and the Last Dragon managed to snag the #1 spot at the box office, earning $26 Million globally over its premiere weekend.
Domestically, the film only brought in $8.6 million over the course of the weekend, but that is much better than most films that have tried to brave a theater release with a majority of theaters still shuttered or in this case refused to screen the film after Disney’s refusal to offer exhibitors a larger cut of box office revenue. Theater chains such as Cinemark and others refused to screen the film due to the conflict over earnings.
Photo Credit: Disney
Regardless, the film has been performing well, and it is currently unknown how many Disney+ subscribers bought into the $29.99 Premier Access digital release, which may swing the numbers in Disney’s favor. The film was said to cost the animation studios around $100 Million to make and produce, but taking the pandemic into account and realizing a good amount of the film was recorded and finished from the homes of the cast and crew, we would say the movie is still a crowning achievement for Disney and we can’t wait for audiences to love Raya just as much as we did!
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