Photo copyright Disney

With heavy lifting recently completed on the reconstruction of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad‘s track, the construction crane near Disneyland’s Big Thunder Trail has been removed, reopening the pathway between Fantasyland and Frontierland full-time and returning the Big Thunder Ranch to daily operation. That’s good news, because that area can expect to see much higher attendance next month when the Toy Story team arrives.

Similar to the Big Thunder Ranch Jamboree held last summer at Big Thunder’s festival arena, Woody’s All-American Roundup will include character meet & greets, carnival games, kids crafts, and specialty snacks. New this year is “Talent Roundup” stage show, featuring Jessie the Cowgirl’s slingshot skills, Woody’s lasso tricks, and the musical stylings of Buckaroo Bob.

Between character shows, Billy Hill and the Hillbillies will perform their “Red, White and Bluegrass!” show on the outdoor stage. Billy was also moved here from their Golden Horseshoe home last summer, with mixed results (read here for more on the controversy). Hopefully the Hillbillies will get a better reception this time.

The Roundup begins on June 14 and runs through the summer season. No ending date is announced yet.

Woody’s All-American Roundup Arriving at Disneyland This Summer is a post from the TouringPlans.com Blog. Signup for a premium subscription today! Or get news via Email, Twitter, & Facebook.

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It is the event that we’ve been waiting for to officially kick off a great summer at Walt Disney World and at Disneyland. The weekend is officially almost here.

Guests who visit on May 24 will have the opportunity to spend 24 hours in either the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World or Disneyland and Disney California Adventure at Disneyland Resort.

Walt Disney World

Those attending at Disney World will have the opportunity to see Mike and Sulley take part in the Move It, Shake It, Celebrate It Street Party. In addition, before the two performances of the Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade, a special pre-parade will take place featuring the duo plus a cheer squad, a marching band playing the MU fight song, and flag corps.

In Tomorrowland, from 4 – 9 pm, guests will be able to boogie down at the Monster Mania DJ Dance Party over at the Rockettower Plaza Stage. From 11 pm – 5 am, that same area will feature back to back showings of Monsters, Inc. You’ll also have the opportunity to meet and greet Mike and Sulley.

Over in front of Cinderella Castle, from 2 am – 5:45 am, take part in the Disney Up All Night Dance Party.

Disneyland Resort

Are you visiting the Disneyland Resort’s version?

First, at Disneyland get ready with your jammies because after midnight in Mickey’s Tootown a Disney Character Pajama Party will take place. Party with your favorite Disney characters! In addition, there will be Disney cartoons, a Mickey Mouse Party Zone with activities for kids, and a DJ. And goodies like hot chocolate, milk and cookies, and other treats will be available for purchase.

Those in Tomorrowland will be able to meet Star Wars characters, plus be sure to take advantage of the TLT Monstrous Dance Club found at Tomorrowland Terrace starting at midnight and lasting until 5:30 am.

In addition, at the Fantasy Faire Royal Theatre, a Royal Swing Ball will take place from 10 pm – 1:40 am.

Over at Disney California Adventure, check out the Hollywood Viewing Party of Monsters, Inc. playing inside the Muppet*Vision 3D theater starting at 9 pm. The Mad T Party will also take place in Hollywood Land at 9 pm. Also found in Hollywood Land will be the Monsters University dorms. Make sure not to miss the new Monsters University themed float for the Pixar Play Parade, and stop by for a meet up where you can greet Mike and Sulley.

Merchandise and Food

©Disney

Lots of great new merchandise and food options will be available that evening. For example, there will be a special t-shirt featuring Mike Wazowski and special ear hats featuring designs specific to Mike and Sulley. These can be purchased at The Emporium at both Disneyland and Walt Disney World, as well as at Elias and Co. at Disney California Adventure.

©Disney

For the foodies, special food options will include blue and green cotton candy, candy apples, cake pops, and specialty cupcakes like the one show at the left, to name a few.

If you’ll be there attending the event on either coast, make sure to check out the special meets that TouringPlans is hosting.

The parks will be open from 6 am on May 24 until 6 am on May 25.

Limited Time Magic For Walt Disney World and Disneyland – Monstrous Summer All Nighter is a post from the TouringPlans.com Blog. Signup for a premium subscription today! Or get news via Email, Twitter, & Facebook.

We are slowly getting information about the 2013 Epcot International Food & Wine Festival, in my opinion one of the best times of year at Walt Disney World.

Earlier this week, we found out who some of the new artists performing during the Eat to the Beat Concert Series were (along with a few new details for this year’s Food & Wine Festival). They include The Go-Gos, Edwin McCain, The Manhattan Transfer, Spin Doctors, and Christopher Cross.

Here is a look at when they, along with the other performers, will be taking the stage:

• Sept. 27-29 – Starship starring Mickey Thomas
• Sept. 30-Oct. 1 – Go-Go’s
• Oct. 2-4 – Air Supply
• Oct. 5-6 – Sister Hazel
• Oct. 7-9 – Sugar Ray
• Oct. 10-11 – Edwin McCain
• Oct. 12-13 – Manhattan Transfer
• Oct. 14-15 – Wilson Phillips
• Oct. 16-17 – The Pointer Sisters
• Oct. 18-20 – Night Ranger
• Oct. 21-23 – Boyz II Men
• Oct. 24-25 – Survivor
• Oct. 26-27 – 38 Special
• Oct. 28-30 – Smash Mouth
• Oct. 31-Nov. 1 – Spin Doctors
• Nov. 2-3 – Christopher Cross
• Nov. 4-5 – Hanson
• Nov. 6-8 – Dennis DeYoung
• Nov. 9-11 – Big Bad Voodoo Daddy

The performances take place at the American Gardens Theater in the American Adventure Pavilion.  Concert times are 5:30 pm, 6:45 pm, and 8:00 pm and are included with your park admission.

Eat To The Beat Concert Series Artists Announced is a post from the TouringPlans.com Blog. Signup for a premium subscription today! Or get news via Email, Twitter, & Facebook.

We’re getting ready to stay up for a full 24 hours in Magic Kingdom for Monstrous Summer on May 24, 2013, and we want you to join us! I plan on being in the parks all day and will be roaming around handing out stickers, subscriptions, and water bottles…but there will be some scheduled meets as well.

Meet #1: Bi-Coastal Opposite Day Photo Opp: 1:00pm – The Partners Statue in the Hub: Disneyland has a small castle, Magic Kingdom has a big castle; Disneyland has a male researcher, Disney World has a female researcher; and if those researchers both want to have meets in front of their respective castles, why not make them full on opposites? Since Guy is having a meet in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle in the middle of the night at 1am, I’m having my meet at Cinderella Castle in the afternoon at 1pm! That way we can have two opposite pictures from opposite coasts to commemorate the day. Guests who come to this meet at Magic Kingdom will get a 3 month extension to their TouringPlans subscriptions, and there will be other giveaways.

Meet #2: 2nd Annual Babycakes NYC Midnight Sugar Rush Meet: 12:00 Midnight – Tomorrowland Terrace Seating Area: Last year at midnight we met and had some delicious treats from the BabyCakes NYC bakery located in Downtown Disney, and we are doing the same again. Join us for some yummy baked goods full of sugar to help you stay awake for the final 6 hours in the park. Please RSVP on Facebook so we know how many goodies we need.

Meet #3: Delirious Frontierland Hoedown: Time TBA – In front of Country Bear Jamboree: My favorite event at last year’s One More Disney Day was the 4:00am Frontierland Hoedown. Watching dozens of Disney fans do the Hokey Pokey after being awake for almost 24 hours was hilarious and a ton of fun. We’re hoping this dance party will happen again, and whatever the latest time is, that’s when we will be there. Be sure to watch @TouringPlans on Twitter for confirmation of the time for this event.

See you there!

Pull An All-Nighter With TouringPlans at Walt Disney World On May 24 is a post from the TouringPlans.com Blog. Signup for a premium subscription today! Or get news via Email, Twitter, & Facebook.

On May 24, 2013, Disney Parks will host a Monstrous Summer 24-hour event at Magic Kingdom in Orlando and Disneyland and Disney California Adventure in Anaheim. Just like at One More Disney Day last year, there will be special t-shirts and other merchandise available for the event. We were sent a picture of some of the items that will be available.

The button in the picture below is supposedly the free button all guests will receive upon entering the park (while supplies last, just like those given out for other special events). The special desserts pictured will likely be available for the rest of the summer but will debut on May 24. We don’t have any information about pricing or sizing of the merchandise but will provide updates as we know more.

Sneak Peek At Monstrous Summer Merchandise For May 24, 2013 is a post from the TouringPlans.com Blog. Signup for a premium subscription today! Or get news via Email, Twitter, & Facebook.

Here’s the map with all the information for Weekend 1 of the 2013 Star Wars Weekends at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. I don’t expect much to change for other weekends aside from the shows at Premiere Theater. For example, next weekend Warwick Davis will have a one man show called An Ewok’s Tale – My Short Story. Enjoy planning!

Star Wars Weekends Map for Week 1: May 17-19, 2013 is a post from the TouringPlans.com Blog. Signup for a premium subscription today! Or get news via Email, Twitter, & Facebook.

Today Mickey and Minnie got a new home at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. The Beastly Bazaar store closed several months ago to make way for this new meet and greet location, Adventurers Outpost. We were there this morning to check out the Big Cheese’s new spot.

Even though the official opening was today, there was still a lot of work being done on the building. Managers and Imagineers were all around working on things and excitedly greeting the first guests. The wait time sign out front wasn’t working properly, and the FASTPASS entrance sign was still covered up. Although there are two different rooms for meeting Mickey and Minnie, only one was in use today. The door to the other room was open; we could see there were still ladders and work materials around, and Cast Members were still painting.

The story behind the Adventurers Outpost is that it is a space for Mickey and Minnie to store all their keepsakes from their travels around the world. The queue is filled with pictures of the famous couple in exotic locations from Asia and Africa. The pictures are really cute and fun and will be something for guests to look at while waiting in line.

Once we got into the actual room with the characters, there was even more to look at. There was a board with field notes from their adventures, souvenirs from their trips, and luggage piled up. The backdrop they were standing against was a giant map showing locations around Animal Kingdom (DinoLand U.S.A., Asia, Africa, Tree of Life, etc.) they had visited. While we stood talking to them, Minnie used gestures to tell us about their adventure to Expedition Everest in Asia and how scared she was…but Mickey pointed out that he was brave and kept her safe. Mickey also conveyed that DinoLand was his favorite. In addition, they spent time showing us their luggage (Minnie indicated hers was from Africa) and pointing out other objects in the room. We really had quite a bit of time with them since it was early and there was no line. It was a great interaction!

I’m a big fan of this new meet and greet location. Everything was indoors and air conditioned, which was a nice change from the hot, all outdoors Camp Minnie-Mickey spot. Although putting the two characters together and the addition of FASTPASS may make for longer lines, at least the wait will be more comfortable. Also, the indoor location will mean the characters can go longer without a break, and the two rooms will also help things move more quickly.

Adventurers Outpost Opens At Disney’s Animal Kingdom is a post from the TouringPlans.com Blog. Signup for a premium subscription today! Or get news via Email, Twitter, & Facebook.

Do you have a podcast that discusses Disney or Universal theme parks? If so, we would like a word with you to discuss the development of the TouringPlans.com Podcast Network.

We are looking for a number of various podcasts to possibly form a new network which would combine the wonderful content that already exists in the podcasting world with the reach of a popular site like TouringPlans.com. No matter the style, format, or topics of your podcast, we would love to hear from you.

We’re looking toward the future…well okay, the Italy pavilion.

Very, very little would need to change about your podcast yet you would get the backing of a website that gets a few million hits a year (yes, this one). The basic idea is that your podcast, along with a handful of others, would be available via the TouringPlans.com Network feed. Listeners would get the benefit of finding great content all in one place and you would get the benefit of a very wide audience.

This could be a great opportunity for you as well as us and the theme park community as a whole. If you are interested in hearing all the details, please email Brian at Brian@TouringPlans.com by no later than Wednesday, May 22. Your email should include:

• The name of your podcast
• A brief description of what the podcast is about
• Any other details we should know (is your podcast only 20 minutes long, do you only record once a month, is it dirtier than George Carlin’s stand up, etc.)
• The name and email of at least one person from the podcast that we can contact
• A link to a fairly recent episode that you would like us to review for consideration

Simply applying is not a binding agreement so you can send us an email simply if you want to hear more about it and you can remove your application at any time. When we get all of this information we will review your podcast and give you all of the details about what we would expect and what you can expect from us should we decide to partner up. We are very excited to be starting this and we look forward to hearing from you. Thanks!

We Are Looking For Theme Park Podcasts! is a post from the TouringPlans.com Blog. Signup for a premium subscription today! Or get news via Email, Twitter, & Facebook.

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We are just now finishing up with Epcot’s International Flower & Garden Festival (its last weekend is May 17 – 19), so now it is time to look toward this year’s Epcot International Food & Wine Festival.

This year is the 18th annual event at Walt Disney World and will feature more than 25 special marketplaces along the World Showcase promenade. New for this year is the Scotland Marketplace serving up traditional flavors, as well as beers, scotch, and meads. This new booth is in celebration of the movie, Brave.

Also back will be last year’s hit booth, Terra (a vegan booth serving trick’n chicken curry), the Hawaii Marketplace (mmm…Kalua pork slider), and back after a year’s hiatus, Brazil (featuring exciting new menu offerings).

In addition, returning this year will be the Ocean Spray cranberry bog found in between Future World and World Showcase. Here guests will be introduced to the cranberry’s rich heritage.

One of the more popular events that takes place during the event is the Eat To The Beat Concert Series. This year, there will be five new acts. They include the Go-Gos (Sept. 30-Oct. 1), Edwin McCain (Oct. 10-11), The Manhattan Transfer (Oct. 12-13), Spin Doctors (Oct. 31-Nov. 1), and Christopher Cross (Nov. 2-3). Kicking off the event will be STARSHIP starring Mickey Thomas. Other acts include The Pointer Sisters, Smash Mouth, Boyz II Men, Sister Hazel, Air Supply, Hanson and Big Bad Voodoo Daddy.

Also popular are the celebrity chef demonstrations. Some of this year’s chef’s include Warren Brown, Paula DaSilva, Gale Gand, Jamie Deen, Robert Irvine, Dean Max, Rock Harper, Jeff Henderson, Art Smith, Buddy Valastro, Allen Susser, “Cake Boy” Eric Lanlard, Duskie Estes and John Stewart, Donald Link, Bryan Voltaggio and Emily Ellyn.

The 46 day event kicks off on September 27 and runs until November 11.

We’ll keep you posted as more information rolls out!

Details Released About 2013 Epcot Food & Wine Festival is a post from the TouringPlans.com Blog. Signup for a premium subscription today! Or get news via Email, Twitter, & Facebook.

Limited Time Magic for next week will help honor that special lady in your life: the one you call mom.

On May 12 (Mother’s Day; this is your reminder to make sure you have a present for your mom!), guests who enter one of the four Walt Disney World theme parks or one of the two Disneyland Resort theme parks will receive a special flower to mark the occasion.

For those who are looking for the perfect gift, take mom shopping. Disney will be offering some special watches for the occasion. At Walt Disney World, they can be found at Tren-D or World of Disney in Downtown Disney. On the west coast, they will be available at both World of Disney in Downtown Disney and Fortuosity Shop at Disneyland Park.

Happy Mother’s Day!

Limited Time Magic For Walt Disney World and Disneyland – Mother’s Day is a post from the TouringPlans.com Blog. Signup for a premium subscription today! Or get news via Email, Twitter, & Facebook.