News/Rumors — Page 9

Star Wars-Themed Lands Coming to Walt Disney World and Disneyland Resorts

August 15, 2015 By Daniel Hale

ANAHEIM, Calif. (Aug. 15, 2015) – Today at the D23 EXPO 2015, The Walt Disney Company Chairman and CEO Bob Iger announced to an audience of more than 7,500 fans that Star Wars-themed lands will be coming to Disneyland park in Anaheim, Calif., and Disney’s Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Fla., allowing Star Wars fans to step into the stories from a galaxy far, far away.

Ambitious plans to bring Star Wars to life in the two parks include creating Disney’s largest single themed land expansions ever at 14 acres each, transporting guests to a never-before-seen planet, a remote trading port and one of the last stops before wild space where Star Wars characters and their stories come to life.

“I am thrilled to announce the next chapter in the long and exciting history between Disney Parks and Star Wars,” said Iger. “We are creating a jaw-dropping new world that represents our largest single themed land expansion ever. These new lands at Disneyland and Walt Disney World will transport guests to a whole new Star Wars planet, including an epic Star Wars adventure that puts you in the middle of a climactic battle between the First Order and the Resistance.”

These authentic lands will have two signature attractions. Along with the thrilling battle experience, another attraction puts guests behind the controls of one of the most recognizable ships in the galaxy, the Millennium Falcon, as they take on a customized secret mission.

Iger also shared concept images of the Star Wars-themed lands, giving fans a glimpse at what is to come for Disney parks.

The partnership between Disney and Lucasfilm dates back to 1987, when the successful Star Tours attraction, inspired by George Lucas’s legendary Star Wars film series, opened at Disneyland. The attraction was then redesigned, emerging as “Star Tours – The Adventures Continue” in 2011 and featuring more than 50 different story outcomes and the possibility to visit five different planets.

For 60 years, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts has been delighting millions of people with fantastic storytelling, exceptional entertainment and extraordinary experiences, creating places where guests can make life-long memories with their friends and families. This announcement marks an unprecedented time of growth with exciting developments happening around the world – from Disneyland Resort’s Diamond Celebration to the anticipated opening of Shanghai Disney Resort in China.

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About Walt Disney Parks and Resorts
Walt Disney Parks and Resorts are where dreams come true. Sixty years ago, Walt Disney created a new kind of entertainment families could experience together, immersed in detailed atmospheres and vibrant storytelling. His vision now includes a collection of five of the world’s leading family vacation destinations – Disneyland Resort, Anaheim, Calif.; Walt Disney World Resort, Lake Buena Vista, Fla.; Tokyo Disney Resort, Urayasu, Chiba, Japan; Disneyland Paris, Marne-la-Vallée, France; and Hong Kong Disneyland Resort, located on Lantau Island. A sixth resort, Shanghai Disney Resort, is currently under construction in Pudong New District, Shanghai. In addition, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts includes the world-class Disney Cruise Line; Disney Vacation Club; Aulani, A Disney Resort and Spa; Adventures by Disney, a guided group vacation experience to some of the world’s most popular destinations; and Walt Disney Imagineering, which creates and designs all Disney parks, resorts and attractions.

Concept Art:

Scare LA Brings Halloween to the Pasadena Convention Center

August 15, 2015 By Daniel Hale

As the third year of ScareLA comes to a close we are so excited for Halloween season 2015!

The two day convention switched venues this year moving from downtown Los Angeles to a much more spacious location at the Pasadena Convention Center which welcomed over 10,000 fans. There was something for everyone including panels from the largest haunts in the industry including Universal Halloween Horror Nights, Knott’s Scary Farm and Queen Mary Dark Harbor. In addition to the panels there were seminars, classes, recreated home haunts and over 200 vendors covering all aspects of horror and Halloween. There was so much to see and do that it couldn’t all be done in one day.

Highlights

Mini Haunts
Home haunts were spotlighted (blacklighted) in their own area this year which was a nice touch. Each maze gave you a small taste of what their full haunt would be like. Each mini maze was able to use lighting effects and the darkness to their advantage. Much spookier than last year when they were sprinkled around the brightly lit show floor. There were even monsters wandering around in the dark scaring people as they were queued in line. The mini mazes included Field of Screams Haunted Stadium Exorcism, Spooky Hollow’s “Legends of the Swamp”, The Curse of the Devil Swamp, Drunken Devil Production’s “Hells Bells”, Fear Station’s “The Birth of the Windigo” and Figment Foundry’s “Goblin Underground”.

Classes
A huge part of ScareLA are the Scare Student classes. There were over 50 classes and seminars that covered everything from creating your own haunt soundtrack, prosthetics making, costume making, tombstone design, how to turn your home haunt into a business and everything inbetween.

91 Reasons live podcast
If you are a fan of 80s and 90s pop culture then you should be listening to Jeff Tucker’s 91 Reasons podcast. Jeff, the Director of Entertainment at Knott’s Berry Farm, has taken his love of retro pop culture and walks down memory lane with each episode. His live panel was both entertaining and horrific as he reminisced about growing up in Southern California and told a spine chilling story about his brush with a serial killer. Then, of course, there’s Don Burg. That alone would scare anyone.

Hatbox Ghost Panel
For any true Disneyland fan, the hatbox ghost returning to the Haunted Mansion was a long overdue homecoming. Legendary imagineer Tony Baxter was present along with current imagineer Daniel Joseph to talk about the history of this iconic character. The panel was rounded out with popular Disney artists, Kevin Kidney and Jody Daily and moderated by the Season Pass Podcast, Doug Barnes. They took the audience on a rare tour of the history of the Hatbox Ghost, why it disappeared and how it made its long awaited return to the Haunted Mansion. Episode 105 of the DisGeek Podcast contains the audio from this panel.

Universal Halloween Horror Nights
Universal Halloween Horror Nights filled the 750 seat hall and treated the audience to news that Michael Myers will be returning for 2015 with a maze completely inspired by John Carpenter’s version of this terrifying tale. Read more about it here.

Knott’s Scary Farm
Knott’s Scary Farm teased the standing room only crowd with what they had in store for their 2015 season. They will be doing a first-of-its-kind bright maze that is inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s tale of the Snow Queen with a horrific twist. They were quick to say it had no connection to the ice princess that lives down the road. In addition, they will be launching new children’s themed entertainment with Knott’s Spooky Farm for the little ones. And then of course.. Elvira.

Queen Mary’s Dark Harbor
The dark horse in the SoCal haunting land had the crowd screaming in delight as they announced their plans for the 2015 season. The Ringmaster was back to walk would be victims through the concepts of new mazes and the bigger and better freakshow and circus. What better place to spend Halloween than a historic ship that is filled with scary stories based on real events and real guests who still roam the ship after meeting their demise on this haunted vessel.

There was so much to see that we could not cover every single thing but we were very impressed by what we experienced with ScareLA this year. The future for this convention will be anything but dark.

Full Photo Gallery

Universal Studios Hollywood Announces All New, “Halloween: Michael Myers Comes Home” Maze for Halloween Horror Nights

August 12, 2015 By Daniel Hale

“Halloween: Michael Myers Comes Home,” Based on the Cult-Classic Horror Film,Slashes through Universal Studios Hollywood in an All-New Terrifying “Halloween Horror Nights” Maze, Beginning Friday, September 18

Press Release:

Universal City, California, August 8, 2015 – Michael Myers, aka “The Boogeyman,” takes a stab at Universal Studios’ “Halloween Horror Nights” beginning Friday, September 18, 2015 in a startling and terrifying new maze, “Halloween: Michael Myers Comes Home,” inspired by the unparalleled, original classic slasher film, Halloween, directed by renowned horror filmmaker John Carpenter.

Halloween, hailed as one of the greatest horror films of all time and starring Jamie Lee Curtis in her acting debut, will come to life in the demented new experience: “Halloween: Michael Myers Comes Home.” The haunted maze will take guests through the tormented town of Haddonfield, Illinois, where on one fateful Halloween night in 1963, a six-year-old child by the name of Michael Myers inexplicably and brutally stabbed his sister to death with a kitchen knife. Guests will relive the terror that a maniacal Michael Myers inflicted upon the once quiet town after his escape from a psychiatric hospital to take bloody revenge on new and unsuspecting victims.

Guests will have the sensation of stepping through the silver screen directly into unsettling and shocking film scenes as they navigate their way through Haddonfield, adorned in classic Halloween décor on a similar Halloween night in 1963. Meyer’s abandoned family home and its blood-splattered walls, where the violent murder took place, will set the stage for a new crime scene as guests attempt to evade the relentless killer–armed with his signature bloodstained knife.

“Halloween is the ultimate classic slasher film that spawned an entire horror film genre,” said John Murdy, Creative Director at Universal Studios Hollywood and Executive Producer of “Halloween Horror Nights.” “Bringing John Carpenter’s disturbing, cutting-edge vision to life as part of ‘Halloween Horror Nights’ is the ideal complement to our maze lineup as we continue to break creative ground with outstanding horror icons that raise the intensity level of our experience.”

“We are extremely excited to team up with Universal Studios Hollywood’s fantastic event, ‘Halloween Horror Nights,” said Malek Akkad, President of Trancas International Films and Compass International Pictures. “The attention to detail that the creative team gives to the Halloween maze creates a realistic and terrifying experience for guests that is truly authentic to the film. This year’s maze will be the best yet.”

The popular event brings together the sickest minds in horror to immerse guests in a living, breathing, three-dimensional world of terror. Featuring an all-new slate of unrivaled film production quality mazes, frightful scare zones and a fully re-imagined “Terror Tram” experience uniquely themed to today’s most definitive horror properties, “Halloween Horror Nights” will taunt, terrorize and torment guests with spine-chilling haunted attractions during Southern California’s most extreme Halloween experience.

Recent maze announcements include, “Guillermo del Toro Presents Crimson Peak: Maze of Madness,” based on Legendary and Universal Pictures’ much-anticipated Crimson Peak film directed, co-written and produced by celebrated filmmaker Guillermo del Toro; “The Walking Dead: Wolves Not Far,” based on season 5 of the critically-acclaimed, Emmy Award®-winning television series, and “Insidious: Return to the Further,” based on the bone-chilling Insidious film trilogy. This year’s event will also feature the global phenomenon and multi-talented dance crew, Jabbawockeez, direct from Las Vegas in an all-new original show, performing multiple times per night throughout the run of “Halloween Horror Nights.”

Join the “Halloween Horror Nights” conversation using #UniversalHHN on Facebook at Halloween Horror Nights – Hollywood, Instagram @HorrorNights, Twitter and Periscope @HorrorNights. Add us on Snapchat, username HorrorNights for nightly live content and watch the terror come to life on Halloween Horror Nights YouTube.

About Trancas International Films/Compass International Pictures:
Trancas International Films is a motion picture production and distribution company based primarily in Los Angeles, California, but operating worldwide. In addition to numerous other films in its library, Trancas, along with its subsidiary, Compass International Pictures, has been involved with each film in the iconic Halloween franchise, and production deals with companies including The Weinstein Company, Anchor Bay Entertainment, and Dimension Films. Halloween Returns, the next installment of this iconic franchise is currently slated to head in to production for release next year.

About Universal Studios Hollywood: Universal Studios Hollywood, The Entertainment Capital of L.A.SM, includes a full-day, movie-based theme park and Studio Tour; the CityWalk entertainment, shopping and dining complex, the Universal CityWalk Cinemas and the “5 Towers” state-of-the-art outdoor concert venue. World-class rides and attractions include the renowned, behind-the-scenes Studio Tour featuring the all-new “Fast & Furious—Supercharged” thrill ride and intense “King Kong 360 3-D” attraction. Other popular rides include the 3D-HD adventure, “Despicable Me Minion Mayhem” and immersive “Super Silly Fun Land,” the critically-acclaimed mega-attraction, “Transformers™: The Ride-3D,” “Revenge of the MummySM—The Ride,” “Jurassic Park® —The Ride,” “Springfield,” hometown of America’s favorite TV family, adjacent to the award-winning “The Simpsons RideTM” and the “Nighttime Studio Tour,” offering evening tours of the iconic movie backlot.

Disneyland Resort Announces Mickey’s Halloween Party Dates for 2015

July 15, 2015 By Daniel Hale

The Disneyland Resort has just released the dates for Mickey’s Halloween Party.

The official dates are as follows:

Friday, Sept. 25
Monday, Sept. 28
Wednesday, Sept. 30
Friday, Oct. 2
Monday, Oct. 5
Wednesday, Oct. 7
Friday, Oct. 9
Monday, Oct. 12
Wednesday, Oct. 14
Friday, Oct. 16
Monday, Oct. 19
Thursday, Oct. 22
Friday, Oct. 23
Sunday, Oct. 25
Tuesday, Oct. 27
Thursday, Oct. 29
Saturday, Oct. 31

You can purchase your Mickey’s Halloween Party tickets early – and on your mobile device – here. Be sure to mark your calendars for the following dates:

July 22: Tickets on sale to Disneyland Resort Annual Passholders, Disney Rewards Visa card holders and Disney Vacation Club members
July 29: Tickets on sale to general public

This year, Mickey’s Halloween Party will include “Paint the Night” parade and “Halloween Screams” fireworks. Mickey’s Costume Party cavalcade will not be featured this year and “Disneyland Forever” fireworks will be presented on non-party nights.

Halloween Time begins on September 11.

In addition to the popular Halloween Time seasonal attractions, Haunted Mansion Holiday and Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy, Mickey Mouse and his friends in Halloween costumes, the Dia de los Muertos celebration and the special after-hours Mickey’s Halloween Party (a separate, ticketed event), guests will also be able to enjoy the new nighttime spectaculars that are the signature of our 60th anniversary celebration – “Disneyland Forever” fireworks, “Paint the Night” parade and “World of Color – Celebrate!” as well as special sparkling Halloween decor in honor of the Disneyland Resort Diamond Celebration.

For more info, visit the Disney Parks Blog.

Knotts, Universal, Six Flags, and Queen Mary Join Forces at ScareLA on Aug 8 – 9 at the Pasadena Convention Center

July 2, 2015 By Daniel Hale

Can you believe it? We are just 5 weeks away from ScareLA, the ultimate summer Halloween event. Set to open doors for its third year on Aug 8 – 9, 2015 at the Pasadena Convention Center, the summer hit con is expecting over 10,000 of the most passionate scare fans, pros, and press. Growing to over 100,000 sq. ft. the event boasts 200+ vendors and 100+ hours of programming including theme park announcements, haunted attraction reveals, classes, demos, workshops, screenings and one-of-a-kind interactive experiences.

Here are a few highlights for this years program:

All major SoCal theme parks, Knott’s Berry Farm, Universal Studios Hollywood, Queen Mary, and Six Flags are gathering to reveal their Halloween plans.
Presentations from the masterminds behind American Horror Story, The Simpsons and Disney’s Hatbox Ghost.
World premiere of the first convention-wide zombie infection game designed in conjunction with leading horror cosplay community, Reel Guise and Gantom Lighting & Controls
Breaking a Guinness World Record with Sweet! and Sticky candy in Hollywood.

Scare LA’s full lineup can be found here:

Full Press Release:

Four Major Southern California Theme Parks Join Forces at ScareLA

Hit Summer Halloween Con First to Unite the Creative Masterminds Behind the Most Popular West Coast Scare Attractions; “Making Monsters: The Art of Terror” Presentation Coming to ScareLA this August

PASADENA / LOS ANGELES, CA — Following last year’s wildly successful “Making Monsters” stage panel, ScareLA, the first West Coast Halloween convention, is excited to announce its sequel presentation – “Making Monsters: The Art of Terror” to take place on August 8, 2015 at 1:30 pm at the Pasadena Convention Center. Hosted by Rick West, Programming Producer for ScareLA and Founder and Editor of Theme Park Adventure, the panel will bring together art directors from Southern California’s largest Halloween attractions: Knott’s Scary Farm, Universal Studios Hollywood’s Halloween Horror Nights, Queen Mary’s Dark Harbor, and Six Flags Magic Mountain Fright Fest to discuss the creative process behind each haunt.

This all-star lineup of haunt industry royalty is sure to be one of the highlights of ScareLA 2015, signifying only the second time anywhere that SoCal’s biggest Halloween attractions have come together on one stage in a show of support and unity, representing some of the the biggest Halloween events in the world.

Lara Hanneman will represent the granddaddy of all park haunts, Knott’s Scary Farm; JJ Wickham will reign from the fog of Queen Mary’s Dark Harbor; Mark Wing will creep out of the shadows of Valencia and represent Six Flags Magic Mountain Fright Fest; and Chris Williams will shed some light on the gruesome underside of Universal Studios Hollywood’s Halloween Horror Nights.

“It is terribly exciting to see ‘Making Monsters’ expand and continue to grow from what we accomplished last year,” says Rick West. “Southern California is the birthplace of the theme park haunt industry, so having these big players come together once again to chat about their roles in the creative process with fans is something we are very proud of. It’s groundbreaking and at the very core of what ScareLA is all about.”

Haunted attraction art directors play a key role in designing and developing the look and feel of ‘scare zones’ entertaining millions in Southern California each fall. From facades to individual scenes and more – art directors guide and build large teams to ensure the utmost quality of every facet of the experience.

In addition to hosting representatives from each top attraction, ScareLA is pleased to announce that major presentations by Knott’s Scary Farm, Queen Mary’s Dark Harbor, Six Flags Magic Mountain Fright Fest, and Universal Studios Hollywood’s Halloween Horror Nights will be on tap throughout the weekend during ScareLA, giving fans non-stop thrills and excitement from morning till night.
For more information and tickets, visit www.scarela.com. Be sure to follow ScareLA on Twitter, Periscope, Facebook, and Instagram. Join the conversation on social media using #ScareLA.

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About ScareLA

ScareLA is the Southern California convention dedicated to Halloween. It celebrates the unique spirit of the American scare season traditions and the deep local heritage of the Greater Los Angeles region. Founded by Lora Ivanova and David Markland in 2013, ScareLA is produced in partnership with Theme Park Adventure. Featuring more than 150 specialty vendors, hands-on workshops, world-class industry panels and presentations, ScareLA is a large-scale summer festival of all things Halloween, a $10 billion industry worldwide.

Here is a gallery of images taken from Scare LA 2014.

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