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Ears the News with Richard

Ears the News is brought to you courtesy of our friends at WDWMagic.com.

At Disney's Coronado Springs Resort, the Casitas leisure pool, the La Vida Health Club, and the Case de Belleza Salon are all closing for a lengthy refurbishment.
The closure begins on July 5 2015, through to October 12, with a planned reopening to guests on October 13 2015. During the refurbishment the resort's other pools will remain open as normal.

Splash Mountain has been added to the Magic Kingdom evening Extra Magic Hours line-up.
Although the EMH line-up has varied over the years, Splash Mountain has not been in the line-up for several years now.
Splash Mountain still remains unavailable during morning EMH.

The refurbishment of the Flame Tree Barbecue at Disney's Animal Kingdom has been extended yet again.
Originally planned to open in April 2015 - and then several other later dates, the refurbishment is now set to be complete on June 29.

Following its closure on January 5 2015, the remodel is expected to bring a number of improvements to the restaurants outdoor seating area. More covered areas will be installed, including covering the walkways between the seating areas. The ordering area will also see an expansion of its roof, covering guests placing orders.

Disney has filed plans to begin work on demolishing the Walt Disney World Speedway, former home to the Richard Petty Driving Experience, and will start work on expanding the Magic Kingdom parking lot at the Transportation and Ticket Center.
Disney had announced back in February of 2015 that both the Richard Petty Driving Experience and the Exotic Driving Experience would be closing later in 2015 to make way for transportation improvements.

With the addition of New Fantasyland, and the parks increased guest count, parking at the TTC has become a problem, sometimes reaching capacity before the park itself reaches capacity. The expansion of the parking lot should help in regard to that issue.
Roadway improvements in the area are also expected, with Disney already underway with a project to add traffic lights to a frequently congested area near the parking plaza.

Frozen Summer Fun kicked off on June 17th at Disney's Hollywood Studios - part of the Coolest
Summer Ever at Walt Disney World.
Image courtesy Disney Parks Blog
The Frozen Royal Welcome is a new procession for this year's Frozen Summer Fun event, with Anna, Elsa, Kristoff and Olaf taking to the streets with a cast of dancers.
This year's Royal Welcome does not use the event stage, and instead uses a couple of show stops, where Anna and Elsa give a walkabout performance of Let it Go, complete with snow fall on Hollywood Blvd.
The procession begins near the park main entrance, and uses the old parade route, ending at Star Tours. This helps bring much more viewing capacity, and to make things even better this year, there are now two performances. The first procession is at 10:30 AM, and the second at 1:30 PM. The best viewing spot for the show stop is near to The Trolley Car Cafe Starbucks.

Enjoy the video below from WDWMagic.com.  Click here if the video doesn't begin in your browser. 
  

New at this year's Frozen Summer Fun is Olaf's Summer Cool Down. A 10 minute stage show featuring Olaf, dancers and a very welcome icy blast.
You might also notice Olaf is a little more animated than normal in this show.
The show takes place on the Center Stage in front of the Great Movie Ride, with typical showtimes at 11:30 AM, 12:30 PM, 2:30 PM, 3:30 PM, 4:30 PM and 5:30 PM.

The video below is courtesy WDWMagic.com. Click here if it does not play in your browser. 



And finally, Disney's Hollywood Studios debuted a new version of Frozen Fireworks  as part of this year's Frozen Summer Fun.
Like last year, the show has an onstage appearance from Anna, Elsa and Kristoff. And this year it also includes Olaf taking the stage instead of appearing on screen. The script is mostly the same, with a few revisions and the removal of the host and trumpeters. Also gone is the section that played social media photos on screen.
The firework show features a new pyro design, and as always, the fireworks designers did a fantastic job. The show is really well paced and perfectly synced to the music.
You can see the Frozen Fireworks show at Disney's Hollywood Studios every day through to September 7 2015 at 9:30 PM (excluding July 4 and July 15).

Video below is from WDWMagic.com. Click here to view if it does not play in your browser. 






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