Game Review: Dreamlight Valley

 

Have you ever wanted to interact with your favorite childhood story characters, and maybe some characters from stories after your childhood? There's a game in which you can: Dreamlight Valley.  In this adventure, you interact with a number of Disney and Pixar characters, sometimes multiple ones, to carry out quests and other objectives,

 

Read the review in Other Grids, MMOs, and Games.  

Magicland Ceases Operations, Sim Remains Up For Now

 

Last week, the owners of Magicland, a Disneyland tribute park, announced the place would soon be closing, the last day it would be open on Sunday April 14. Over the weekend, the park which often had just a few people, sometimes just one or two, swelled in numbers as people came by for one last look, to give the rides one more spin. Or perhaps they heard about the place and kept putting off making a trip over, and finally went when time was running out. 

 

There were also a number of comments in the park group, "I've seeen Mouseworld close. I've seen Enchanted Adventures close. I've seen Wedcot close like three times. This is the park I hoped I'd never see close. I'm heartbroken." "I'm gonna cry when its closing time, I've been coming since the beginning"

On Monday, the sim was still up. But most of the sounds were off, and most of the rides were still.

[16:33] Greeter: Thank you for visiting Magicland Park.  We have ceased operations.
[16:33] Greeter: All of the attractions are no longer operational.
[16:33] Greeter: Thank you, and we hope you have a great day.

Looking around, the rides were still, the scripts disabled. No longer would the monorail travel around. No more would the Carousel of Progress show how the family home had changed over the course of the 20th Century. Checking the castle, there was one sound clear, that of a ticking clock. Panning around, one could hear the sounds of the "It's A Small World" ride, faintly. 

 A number of people had gathered in the central area, talking about the park and how great it had been. A couple were in themed avatars. Among those there was Pixie Ella, one of the team behind Magicland was also there. 

That day, there would be an announcement from Kriste Beck, one of the owners

For the past 15 years, it's been nice having our own personal Disneyland in Second Life that we got to share with everyone.  It was kind of fun to be able to bring back certain attractions, such as Captain EO, the Peoplemover, the Carousel of Progress, and CircleVision.  There were magical evenings of stories being told at the Golden Horseshoe by Caledonia Skytower.  There were celebrations, achievements, happy moments, sad moments, and memories to be made for a lifetime.

I thank God for being able to share all of this with all of you.  Every show has an opening and a closing date, and as we close the show, we thank you for sharing your time and your lives with us and being a part of our 15-year story.

Viltrigen came of with a few videos of Magicland attractions, including this one of Tomorrowland. There was also the It's A Small World ride, and the Jungle Cruise. Nance Clowes would also state in the group there would soon be a new Disney-themed park opening soon. 

 

There are a few other Disney-themed parks still operational, Wedcot at Real Dreams (42/4/106), Sarah's Magic Kingdom at Toyah (203/161/51), and Enchanted Castle at Risian Flux (207/53/63).

"Goodbye, Magicland. I will miss you."

Bixyl Shuftan

Disney Tribute "Magicland" About to Close

 

 

 Some sad news for Disney fans in Second Life. Two days ago on Tuesday April 9, the owners of Magicland Park, a tribute to Disneyland, announced the place would soon be closing. 

Every good thing comes to an end and it's unfortunately time for us to say goodbye to Magicland Park. THANK YOU to everyone who has supported us over the last 15 years. This has been an amazing incredible journey that we were fortunate to be able to share with all of you. Magicland Park was a labor of love and we enjoyed this journey we were on.

 It was with a heavy heart that we came to this decision, but our lives have moved us into a different direction.

 We hope that you enjoyed the moments you had here with us on this amazing journey. Magicland Park's last day of operation will be Sunday, April 14, 2024. So grab your friends and family, come on down and take a last spin on the teacups or a final trip back through time on the Carousel of Progress. We have our favorite attractions and know that you do too.

Thank you for all your support and encouragement over all these years.

 

So there are just a few more days for visitors to come by. Besides walking around, one can check out the rides. There's a "Star Tours" attraction in which riders go on a ship supposedly piloted by R2D2. There's the "Captain EO" ride which is around a Michael Jackson music video. There's the "Carousel of Progress" which shows how households have progressed through the 20th century. And more. 

Once again, the last day the park will be scheduled to be up is Sunday April 14.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Bracket/252/125/27

Bixyl Shuftan

Wedcot Center Is Back

 

 

 In October, the Newser reported that Wedcot Center Park, a tribute to the EPCOT Center owned by Disney, had closed down. For fans, some good news. The place is back. 

Disney Epcot tribute - Celebrate the season with Nightmare Before Christmas, and Haunted Mansion Holiday! Festival of the Holidays, Spaceship Earth, Test Track, with access to mini golf.

The place is still under Trevor Sleydon and is still in the Real Dreams sim. A look at the park's group showed no announcement's in the past month, so it's safe to assume the place came back before the first of the month. The place isn't quite perfect. The "Spaceship Earth" attraction isn't quite working. But some things such as the monorail are. 

The landing location is at http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Real%20Dreams/42/4/105

Bixyl Shuftan

Disney Tribute Wedcot Center to Close

 

Some sad news for Disney fans in Second Life. The WEDCOT Center Park, an inworld tribute to Disney World, Disneyland, and Epcot Center, has closed. In the sim's group, owner Trevor Sleydon would say the following yesterday, Sunday October 1.

 

 Who would’have thought opening day that WEDCOT Center Park would welcome guests for 10 years? It’s our cast and guests who made the magic, through attendance and support. A park needs attention to keep it going.  Unfortunately, I cannot do that at this time, so WEDCOT and it’s properties have closed. I hope you all have empathy and understanding and carry these 10 yrs of memories in your hearts, be kind to each other and celebrate the future, hand in hand.

Who knows what my future may be, WEDCOT came back once. We'll just have to see, but I hope that you all will join us, if we return.

WEDCOT was a theme park located in the Real Dreams Sim. It was based on the Disney theme parks with numerous rides and attractions. The Newser first wrote about WEDCOT in July 2020. Less than a year ago in December 2022, Patch Linden would hold four Christmas candlelight events there. 

Hat tip: Merryjest

 

Bixyl Shuftan 

Disney Enchanted Adventures

For almost a hundred years, Disney has been producing a number of stories that captured the imaginations of kids and adults alike. Starting with Disneyland in California, it soon began opening theme parks around the world. Gemma Cleanslate came across a place in Second Life inspired by these parks: Enchanted Adventures. She decided to have a look around. So what did she find?

Read Gemma's article in Places.

Cartoon of the Day

Taken at the American Cancer Society sim while at Draxtor Despress' video shoot.

By Bixyl Shuftan

Toontown MMO Back: Toontown Rewritten

What happens when a multiplayer online game is closed down by the company that owns it? For those with devoted fans with time and money, some may take matters into their own hands to keep it alive. In 2013, Disney pulled the plug on it's "Toontown" MMO after ten years. But shortly afterwards, a fan-made version of it appeared: called "Toontown Rewritten." Five years, and many updates, later, the game is still going. And it's completely free to play.

Read more in Other Grids, MMOs, and Games.

Announcement: The Candlelight Procession

7PM Saturday, December 9th and Sunday, December 10th
at Magicland Park, Main Street

Magicland pays tribute to the classic celebration that began in Disneyland over 55 years ago: a combination of carols, music, and the story of the Christian Nativity. Caledonia Skytower narrates along with performers from the Magicland Cast. 

Narration In Voice, Music in Stream

Magicland Park
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Bracket/254125/27

Cartoon of the Day: "Frozen" Avatar

Taken at "Halloween Town." This avatar from "Frozen" seems a bit out of place in this spooky sim, but to each her own.

By Bixyl Shuftan

Hopps To It: Bringing a Touch of "Zootopia" to Second Life.

Taken by Rezzdammit Resident, Becky Shamen tries on an avatar and outfit looking a lot like the perky police officer Judy Hopps of the movie "Zootopia," which has gotten quite a bit of attention among my furry friends at Cutlass, notably the song "Try Everything" getting played many nights at the clubs. Although Judy was gray-furred in the movie, Becky's avatar did match an earlier concept sketch.

Zootopia has done extremely well at the box office, making 700 million by the end of last month, and is expected to make a total of over a billion. Not bad for a cartoon. As for the idea of a "Zootopia" themed event in Second Life, the running joke is that in this virtual world, it would be redundant.

SL Video: Giant Snail Races, Feb 20, 2016: Disney Theme

(Click here if the video fails to play)

Posted by RacerX Gullwing, The video of the Giant Snail Races on February 20, 2016. The theme was Disney. They've recently started using seats that move about at times, as well as putting subtitles in their videos.

"It was a wonderful tribute to a great man today,Walt Disney love his work. Also today Had 2 new racers Join the ranks of Giant Snail Racing today DynomiteSteve and LittleAbs (Abby Black) They both did very well. Oh and we had Ran Dal (Randal) Shady's brother on the show. He fit right in hope he comes back again"

Holocluck Henly on Disney's "Toontown" Closing

Among multiplayer online games, Disney's "Toontown" stood out. Besides it's link to the company known for it's founder's cartoons, it was kid-friendly and one of it's themes poked fun at big business. Unfortunately in late August came some bad news for the game's fans: Toontown would soon be closing. One Second Life resident who played the game, Holocluck Henly, met up with Second Life Neweser to talk about Toontown and some things that made it special.

Read the article in Extra.

BREAKING NEWS: Disney Buys Second Life

* Update - April Fools *

Late Sunday, March 31st, Linden Lab made a stunning announcement. In a press release, they stated that they had sold controlling ownership of Second Life to the Walt Disney Company. It is believed the negotiations were conducted behind the scenes over several months.


"Linden Lab is pleased to have Second Life in the hands of such a prestigious company," Rod Humble stated, "We were happy to run the virtual world we created a decade ago. But as a maker of shared creative spaces, we need to be able to focus on new products. With Second Life being run by Disney, we can devote more time and effort to applications and platforms for today's market."

Disney has been active with online virtual worlds before. It's Internet division, the Disney Interactive Media Group has produced the "Virtual Magic Kingdom" and "The World of Cars Online." Both efforts were considered less than successful and were closed down.

There has been no official statement from Disney, although former president of Disney Online Jake Winebaum, who was involved in the negotiations, wrote on his blog that Disney plans "sweeping changes" to the virtual world, "The company is determined that Second Life and its residents are properly Disneyfied." All sims will be given General/PG status, and all adult content is to be removed from both the land and personal accounts. All human avatars are required to have underwear permanently fixed to them. While nonhuman avatars can still be nude, they must be completely covered in fur, feathers, scales, etc. with no "bits" showing. Adult animations will also banned.

Winebaum stated that there were some concerns about copyright violations. So Disney planned to suspend content creation "temporarily" until a new system could be developed that would ensure "no resident could expose Disney to a lawsuit." Of music and other media broadcasted inworld, "Only those owned by Disney and it's associated companies will be permitted." DJs and theater owners will need a license to continue to play.


For more on this stunning development, Click Here.