You may have seen this coming, but it’s being reported that Disney Parks, James Cameron and his Lightstorm Entertainment, and 20th Century Fox have come to an agreement that will see Disney Parks creating theme parks based on Cameron’s Avatar, the biggest movie ever made.

The first thing up will be at Walt Disney World within the Animal Kingdom where it’s assumed a little piece of Pandora will be built “with emphasis on living in harmony with nature.” Construction on the first park is planned for sometime in 2013.

Of the huge deal, Cameron said “Avatar created a world which audiences can discover again and again and now, through this incredible partnership with Disney, we’ll be able to bring Pandora to life like never before. With two new Avatar films currently in development, we’ll have even more locations, characters and stories to explore. I’m chomping at the bit to start work with Disney’s legendary Imagineers to bring our Avatar universe to life. Our goal is to go beyond current boundaries of technical innovation and experiential storytelling, and give park goers the chance to see, hear, and touch the world of Avatar with an unprecedented sense of reality.” [...]

For decades, Trekkies everywhere have surely fantasized about a special place dedicated to the world of Gene Roddenberry‘s legendary creation, Star Trek. A place where they could escape their own boring lives, and become their favorite Trek characters for a day or two.

Well, ladies and gentlemen, just such a place is on its way…though there’s a bit of a catch that comes with it.

As it turns out, Jordan’s King Abdullah II once appeared in a non–speaking role on Star Trek: Voyager while he was still a prince (you can see it here), and he remains to this day a massive, massive Trekkie. So much so that he’s willing and ready to drop a chunk of the jaw–dropping $1.5 billion cost to make the theme park a reality. [...]

If you’ve been to the Magic Kingdom at Disney World in Florida recently, you’ve seen that the Fantasyland area is under heavy construction — that’s because the area is currently undergoing a major expansion that will nearly double the size of the original Fantasyland.

One of the main objectives of the expansion is to add a whole bunch of new Beauty and the Beast-themed attractions, eateries, and architecture, including Beast’s Castle!

Check out the image here below, via Disney Parks Blog, that provides a sneak peek of Beast’s Castle, which will house the Be Our Guest restaurant, scheduled to open in late 2012. The restaurant is said to “offer a lavish dining experience in the castle’s elegant ballroom, gallery and mysterious “west-wing.” Eventually, other Beauty and the Beast-themed buildings will open around the Castle, like Gaston’s Tavern, Bonjour! Village Gifts, and the cottage of Belle’s father, Maurice. And of course, there will be a meet-and-greet with Belle and her friends [...]

Disney announced today the addition of three new ports and unique itineraries for the Disney Cruise Line that will open in 2012.

The new port cities are New York, NY; Seattle, WA; and Galveston, TX. The Disney Magic will sail 20 cruises from NY beginning on May 25, 2012 and will have three itinerary options. The Disney Wonder will sail 7-night Alaskan cruises from Seattle beginning May 28, 2012; and beginning September 22, 2012, the Disney Magic will sail 7-night cruises from Galveston to the Western Caribbean.

See below for more details on the itinerary options. Bookings for the new 2012 itineraries open on April 8, 2011 by phone [calling Disney Cruise Line at (888) DCL-2500] and through disneycruise.com [...]

Universal Studios Hollywood has officially announced that Jimmy Fallon will be their brand new virtual host on the famed Studio Tour, which over 150 million people have taken part in.

Fallon will be introducing and setting up videos that will play on the new HD screens that are now part of the tram cars after some major high-tech upgrades were unleashed on the park, including the insane new 3D King Kong experience.

On his new gig, Fallon said, “We really had fun with filming my role. We brought some writers out from our show and added some jokes, more play with the Studio Tour guides, the tram drivers and we added a song or two. The tour itself is a classic, a really great experience. For anyone with any interest in show business, it’s all there: the glamor, the glitz, all the hard work that goes into making a movie or a TV show can be experienced on the Universal Studios Hollywood Studio Tour. I’m very happy to be a part of it.” [...]

Disneyland Park will be showing an exclusive sneak peek of Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.

Beginning on March 25, 2011, visitors to the California theme park can check out an extended 3D film sequence of the upcoming fourth Pirates movie, due out in theaters on May 20, 2011.

Catch the “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides – Sneak Peek” on weekend nights from March 25 to May 30, and seven nights a week from April 15 through May 1. Check the park’s Showtimes guide for daily show times [...]

A new interactive queue is coming to The Haunted Mansion attraction at Magic Kingdom Park at Disney World Resort in Florida.

Disney Parks Blog has released a video sneak peek at the ride’s queue, which you can watch here below.

If you’ve ever visited this popular haunted attraction, you’ll recall seeing grave stones and other spooky elements throughout the queue that leads to the ride. Now, the Imagineers at Disney have taken some of those familiar elements and placed them throughout the area, and they’ve also added new features that not only introduced never-been-used concepts, but also make them interactive [...]

Disney Parks Blog has posted an non-captioned exclusive photo with the headline “Getting Ready For Something Wild,” asking its readers to guess who’s the woman in the photo and what she is doing.

The photo looks like it’s Olivia Wilde, star of TV’s House and Disney’s Tron: Legacy and the headline of the post hints to it being her. In the photo, she’s wearing the headdress of the Evil Queen, the popular Disney villain from Snow White, and having make-up applied.

All will be revealed at some point tomorrow, but in the meantime, why is Wilde being made up to be the Evil Queen? [...]

Deadline is reporting that The Walt Disney Company isn’t done with Tom Hanks and Tim Allen quite yet. The company is reportedly seeking to re-team the two actors, who voiced Woody and Buzz Lightyear in all three Toy Story movies, in a live-action project called Jungle Cruise.

The movie will be based on the theme park ride of the same name found at Disney’s Magic Kingdom. The ride sees park-goers jumping on a riverboat and navigating many rivers as animatronic animals pass by.

The script is being written by Roger S.H. Schulman, who was a writer on Shrek and has penned many of Disney’s sequels like Mulan II, The Jungle Book 2, and Bambi II.

This wouldn’t be the first time Disney took a popular ride and turned it into a movie; if you’ll recall, a little movie called Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl turned into one of the biggest multi-billion dollar movie franchises of all-time. The company has been trying to make this one for a while now as well, and if they can grab Hanks and Allen that process should become much easier. [...]

There’s lots of renovations going on right now at Disney World‘s Magic Kingdom in Orlando, FL, especially with the Fantasyland expansion.

Nearby in Adventureland there’s some new stuff too, like the refurbishing of El Pirata y el Perico Restaurant into what is now called Tortuga Tavern, named for the pirate island seen in the Pirates Of The Caribbean films.

Check out the image of the eatery’s new sign and entryway here above, taken by GDPinvestigator [...]

Star Wars creator George Lucas visited Disneyland Park in California today, giving a thumbs up on the progress being made on the theme park’s newly revised Star Tours attraction.

The picture above is of Lucas posing with the audio-animatronics figure of C-3PO in the motion-simulated ride’s Starspeeder 1000 cockpit. Lucas, along with Star Wars producer Rick McCallum, took some test runs on the ride aboard the Starspeeder, which will now “travel” to several Star Wars worlds [...]

The artist Shag will be at Disney World in Orlando today (Monday, January 31, 2011) signing deluxe art prints of his Disney World 40th Anniversary Map. This is the only day the print will be available until Shag’s entire Walt Disney World 40th Anniversary art collection is unveiled later this summer. The sneak peak and signing will take place today at the Main Street Gallery at the Magic Kingdom from noon to 2PM. The Deluxe Print dimensions are 16×20 inches, complete with double mat, and retail for $35.

The Disney World 40th Anniversary Map artwork, which you can view above, incorporates elements from the Magic Kingdom, Disney’s Contemporary Resort, Disney’s Polynesian Resort, and Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground, all with Shag’s original style [...]

New retro-style posters will adorn the entryway of Blue Sky Cellar, the Imagineers preview center which is scheduled to reopen on January 28, 2011 at Disney’s California Adventure theme park.

The posters feature the attractions from the Paradise Pier boardwalk at California Adventure, including California Screamin’, Silly Symphony Swings, and Mickey’s Fun Wheel.

These posters will also be available for purchase at retail locations throughout the park on January. 28, 2011 [...]

Disney has announced that Star Tours is coming back, and that the newly updated attraction will reopen May 20, 2011, at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in at the Disney World theme park in Orlando, Florida. Star Tours is a motion simulator attraction based on the Star Wars universe created by George Lucas. It was first launched at Disneyland in 1987 as a creative collaboration between Disney Imagineers and George Lucas with Industrial Light and Magic.

The new version, retitled Star Tours: The Adventures Continue, will be based on a story set between Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. Anthony Daniels, James Earl Jones, and Peter Mayhew reprise their roles as C-3PO, Darth Vader, and Chewbacca, respectively, for the attraction [...]

Dave3 and I are heading back now to Geeks of Doom headquarters in New York after having enjoyed a much-need vacation here in Orlando, FL, staying at the Disney World Resort and also spending a full day at Universal Studios Orlando. We got to go to Universal’s Wizarding World of Harry Potter, which was one of the highlights of the trip, so I’ll be doing a separate report on that in the future.

Thanks to all of you who entered our Disney World Postcard & Theme Park Prize Contest. The winners were chosen, and all 25 postcards sent from Disney World. Also, the item for the Grand Prize Winner was purchased and sent directly from the Disney World Resort, so lucky winner, expect your prize in about 10 days.

If you entered the Disney World Postcard & Theme Park Prize Contest, be sure to continue reading below to find out how you can win an extra prize!

The turnout for this contest was great and it was wonderful reading all of your entries, learning all about what you love about Disney. I tried my hardest to choose postcards that matched your Disney likes. While I could only select 25 people to send to, I truly wish I could have sent one to everyone who entered. I’m blessed to have such an awesome readership, and I hope all of you winners enjoy your postcard [...]

Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah, everyone! Some of here at Geeks of Doom are currently invading Disney World in Orlando, Florida, so we hope this contest is something that you’ll really love!

I happen to LOVE getting postcards from people from their travels, so if you’d like a postcard from us from Disney World, then go ahead and follow the instructions below to enter the contest. We’ll pick 25 people at random to receive the postcard, and then one of those winners will receive a special grand prize — a surprise souvenir from Disney World.

Since we want to actually send the postcards from Disney World, we’re making the contest only a few days long, so be sure to enter right away, and feel free to let us know your favorite things about Disney in the contest entry form in the “Optional Comments” section — you never know, you might get something extra special from us!

25 Winners will each receive:

– One (1) Postcard from Disney World

One (1) Grand Prize Winner

– One (1) Disney World Souvenir […]

Last week I wondered, do people who work at Disney theme parks are excited about their jobs or do they end up hating Disney?

I really wanted to know because I’m a great fan of theme parks, especially Disney’s, and in my heart I truly hoped that working at a Disney theme park is just as magical as I’d imagine it to be (yes, work is work, but there’s no denying that some jobs are more enjoyable than others.)

Now, a former Disney World employee has posted a video with his confessions of what it was like to work at the Orlando theme park. His video comes complete with some real funny stick figure artwork. Definitely check out the 11-minute video here [...]

Vinylmation – Star Wars Series #1 is coming to Disney theme parks in Florida and California this weekend.

If you’re not familiar with Vinylmation, these are collectible designer toys created by Disney Theme Park Merchandise, sold only at the Disney theme parks. Characters like Darth Vader, Yoda, C-3PO, R2-D2, Boba Fett, and more will be part of this first Vinylmation – Star Wars Series.

There will be a midnight release party tomorrow night (Thursday, January 13) at D-Street at Downtown Disney West Side at Disney World in Orlando, FL. Disney Design Group artist Mike Sullivan will be there until 2AM to autograph the collectibles. On Sunday, January 16, Sullivan will be signing at D-Street at Downtown Disney in California from 2PM to 5PM (D-Street will open at 8AM that day) [...]

Disney has released a TRON: Legacy Ear Hat, an all-new limited-edition collectible movie tie-in for their latest film TRON: Legacy.

Check out the image above of the new TRON: Legacy Ear Hat (click for larger view).

The ears on the hat each have a different color identity disc, one represents Sam Flynn, the other CLU — and both ears light up! The Ear Hat is packaged in a collectible hat box, which has the “glow found from The Grid.” [...]

Universal Orlando Resort announced that the one-millionth Butterbeer was sold today at The Wizarding World Of Harry Potter, the Harry Potter-themed area of Universal’s Islands Of Adventure theme park.

In honor of this event, 1,000 complimentary mugs of Butterbeer were handed out to guests at the Florida theme park today.

Butterbeer is the frothy beverage imbibed by the young wizards in the Harry Potter series. The Butterbeer sold at The Wizarding World Of Harry Potter is a sweet-tasting non-alcoholic version created from a “secret recipe” approved by Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling. The taste is said to be like shortbread and butterscotch, and the drink, which is sold at four locations within Wizarding World, is served cold or frozen [...]