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Ears the News with Richard



For the first time in Star Wars Weekends history, Mark Hamill, the actor who played Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars movies will be appearing at Star Wars Weekends 2014.
Hamill is scheduled to appear on the 4th weekend, from June 6 to June 8 2014. Disney has said he will take part in the Legends of the Force Motorcade and a talk show in the Premier Theater. It is not expected that he will take part in autograph signings.

Photo courtesy WDWMagic
The 'Communicore' buildings of Future World East and West look to be set to receive a new color scheme. It is not yet clear if the paint job is the finished result, or if they are testing colors. The alternating color scheme appears on both East and West, and is currently over Mouse Gear and Club Cool.


Kouzzina by Cat Cora will be closing permanently at the end of September. The final day of operation will be September 30 2014. A new restaurant will be opening in the location on the BoardWalk late 2014.

The closure of Captain Cook's quick service restaurant at Disney's Polynesian Resort for its major refurbishment has been pushed back. Originally set to close on March 28, the restaurant will now close on April 9 2014. No confirmed reopening date is yet available, although it is expected to reopen again in the summer of 2014. During the closure, a temporary quick service location will be available in the Great Ceremonial House.

The Atlantic Dance Hall on Disney's BoardWalk is hosting a new live interactive band experience each Thursday night - 'Tom Casey's Let's Get Rockin!' Taking place every Thursday night, you can join in with the band - playing drums, guitar, bass, keyboard or vocals. There are over 400 songs to choose from, ranging from rock classics to Disney songs from Frozen.

The band is ran by Tom Casey, who you may recognize from the Scat Club at Port Orleans Resort.

The 'Let's Get Rockin!' experience takes place each Thursday from 9:00 PM through to May 15 2014. Check out the video below to hear and see exactly how it works.

Click here to watch the video from Tom Casey.


FastPass+ and MagicBands are planned to be available to offsite day guests beginning March 31 2014.

As with Annual Passholders, the offsite day guests using regular single day or multi-day tickets will be able to make FastPass+ reservation up to 30 days before their park visit. MagicBands will be available to purchase, although are not required to use FastPass+. The RFID enabled ticket media can serve as the entry to FastPass+ attractions in place of the MagicBand.

The day guests will also have access to the 'My Disney Experience' apps and website, and will no longer be restricted to using in-park kiosks, although some kiosks will remain available for anyone who does not have access to an iPhone or similar device.

To begin using advance FastPass+, guests will need to link their ticket in 'My Disney Experience' before any FastPass+ reservations can be made.

This rollout to offsite guests largely completes the first phase of FastPass+ with most categories of guests now being able to make FastPass+ reservations in advance using 'My Disney Experience.' Walt Disney World resort hotel guests still maintain an advantage by being able to make reservations 60 days out.

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