Disney Slashes Reservations, Hotels, Dining and FastPasses

The new 'Disney World Resort' in a post COVID19 world will have a new look and extremely limited service, reservations and options for guests.


Honestly, I'm not sure what the world expected in a post-plague world but it seems that the changes coming to Disney World are not what the public expected.

Today details dropped from Disney World in regards to exactly what changes would be happening around the resort. The changes are massive, and from dining plans to FastPasses, the world will not look the same when it reopens and likely not for a long time.


Full Stop on Sales
Reservations and Ticket Sales are gone. Disney has decided to currently halt all new ticket sales and reservations for the resort. The parks state this is to help accommodate those who have already repurchased or moved reservations due to the closure due to COVID19. Meaning you cannot currently reserve a hotel room, purchase a package or buy a ticket to visit any Disney World park now or for the current future.   Only existing reservations will stay in place, with no word on when things may resume.

Yes, you read this correctly: You cannot currently buy a ticket to visit Disney World.


Booking Window Cuts
The normal booking period for Disney is normally 180 days in advance, in this new world that time has been slashed and is now currently only 60 days in advance.


Extra Magic Hours Halted
Disney has stated any and all previously planned 'Extra Magic Hours' are halted and will not be used in the forthcoming reopening.


Dining Reservations and Plans Slashed
Disney stated today that all current dining plans and dining reservations are cancelled. You can't make, book or otherwise use dining reservations previously made at the parks. Those with a dining plan will no longer have that option and will need to make other arrangements.
You can re-book some limited dining experiences within a 60 day window.


FastPasses Suspended
The FastPass system is fully suspended. Until further noticed, the current system of FastPass+ will be suspended to allow for all additional line space to be used to accommodate social distancing.
No more FastPasses.


Magicband Sales Halted
Disney has suspended and removed all sales of MagicBands for the foreseeable future. Only current orders or already shipped MagicBands will be received.


Experiences Cancelled
Disney has cancelled all "high touch experiences" within the parks. Meaning make-over experiences like 'Bibbity-Bobbity Boutique' are closed. Along with this the parks stated that playgounds. golfing and character experiences are also unavailable to guests.


These details were released and clarified in the last two days. With these new and massive changes to the park the landscape of Disney World continues to evolve in this pre-reopening phase. The reservation system for visiting the parks has not yet been released, details of that are expected to drop in the coming dates.

For more details, you can read all the changes on the Disney World information page.

Disney World Announces Reopening Dates

Disney World announced dates for post-coronavirus re-opening. 

In no real shock to anyone, Disney World in Orlando, Florida has broken their silence on their reopening. The parks have been closed since mid-March along with most other amusement parks and attractions in the Central Florida area.

News broke today that states Disney World's reopening plan has been approved. The parks will reopen with Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom on July 11th, 2020. Epcot and Hollywood Studios will follow four days later, opening on July 15th, 2020.

This date follows the news that both Universal Orlando and several other parks across the country have dropped opening dates for what is left of the 2020 summer travel season. What many aren't considering in the light of this announcement, are the restrictions which will be in place. The gates are just not being thrown open to the 'happiest place on earth'.

Disney has stated both employees and guests will be REQUIRED to wear masks in the parks and also undergo a temperature screening prior to admittance.  Considering how openly flaunted these restrictions have been at Disney Springs (which reopened on May 20th), it doesn't bode well for those who are concerned with safety. Will Disney actually enforce this rule? How will it be enforced? Will those openly violating the rules face consequences? There are no details it be found in regards to how this will be handled.

Park capacity will be 'greatly reduced' and they will offer no parades, night time fireworks shows or other events which cause large gatherings of people. This means that we're likely looking at these parks having a 20-30% capacity in effect, if they follow the model used in the reopening of Shanghai Disneyland. I can tell you already, this will lead to a massive rise in complaints (please be kind to Guest Services, they are trying.) The shows are one of the great draws of the parks, and missing these will lead to a changed experience.

The resort will enable cashless transactions by expanding contactless payments. This is not much in the way of news, but the expansion is a bonus. Over my years of experience both working at theme parks and visiting them, cash transactions have become rare. Most people are using cards or the debit system linked to their Magicbands.

Disney has stated they will increase the number of available hand sanitizing stations.  This is good, but I've heard the argument put that this will 'ruin the immersion'. After a quick poll on Twitter we found that is a 'weak at best, stupid at worst' argument. If a hand sanitizing station ruins your vacation, you probably shouldn't be on vacation.

While this is a good step in the right direction, concerns still arise from the logistics involved, some of which we have mentioned. By no means are these even the tip of the iceberg but Disney, along with Florida as a whole, are pushing hard to get the tourists rolling back in and thus boost the flagging economy during what should be the busy summer season.

There has also been no word in regards to the reopening of the numerous Disney Resort Hotels, Resort Pools, or the Disney Water Parks.

US Disney Parks New Ban.. and it's not a smart move.

US Disney Parks Create New Bans.. And It's Dumb. 

I'm sure you've heard, and if you haven't, I'm sorry to tell you this.

Disney has decided on the bonehead move of the decade- To completely ban smoking and larger strollers for their parks.

Along with this, all strollers over 31x52 are banned also. This means anything bigger than your basic umbrella stroller or slightly nicer models are out. No more wagons, no more double strollers and who knows what people with more than two kids are going to do. Also, Loose Ice is now banned. You cannot carry in a cooler with bags of ice or any type of 'dry ice'.

All of this insanity begins on May 1st.

Now, I can't be sure but I'm willing to bet the complaints are going to be.. something akin to an avalanche. Allow me to explain why this is the highest level of idiotic.

Overseas Travelers.
These people are used to being able to smoke anyplace and everyplace, most other countries don't have the clean-air laws the US does. This is going to create an issue of people hiding in corners or simply standing anyplace to smoke. Sure, cast members will try to explain it but a lot of them also don't speak English. The rest will simply ignore them and continue, by the time security appears, they'll be long gone.
Where as nearly everyone understands a smoking section and can figure out map icons. Not seeing them will translate into 'whatever they don't care'.

 The Mess.
With people hiding in corners and various other locations to smoke, the mess will increase and once again you'll be finding cigarette butts in random locations.

I mention this because Disney has a habit of moving smoking sections rather consistently, and people tend to go to the areas they remember (which often have changed). Over the years I've seen plenty of people smoking in old sections who never get told to stop. Because they are out of the way areas that aren't patrolled by cast members beyond housekeeping.

Strollers.
Now, none of us like the massive strollers. They move slow and take up a ton of space but without them we'll see an increase in lost children. Along with this, the dreaded 'Mom Panels' will have a field-day with customer service and not being able to tote their precious darlings around in whatever $200+ doller job they brought along. Management will have to be at the front lines to explain this, because everyone will demand a 'manager' over it. They'll loose a ton of money giving out free rentals to people due to complaints.

Loose Ice/Dry Ice.
Now, they don't state WHY this is suddenly a problem but it seems.. it is. This, in my opinion, is just the last move in Disney's quest to ban outside food/drink from the park along with coolers. They've been trying, for years, to make this happen. With banning 'ice' they'll likely be looking into banning coolers next.

Overall, I wouldn't be to shocked to see these rules quietly disappear in a year or two when things don't work out. Less time if this hits the way I'm expecting.

D23 and Epcot- Oh my!

 "Oh my.." Because honestly folks, I don't have a clue what to say about this much less react. 

Epcot is finally getting some love and a much needed influx of money for Disney. Mostly to bring the park 'up to snuff' for the 50th anniversary happening in 2021, which leaves me feeling very conflicted.

D23 and Magic Kingdom- The Changes are Coming

Dear friends, 
Please. Sit down.
No. Really, you should probably be sitting down and buckled into something for what's coming. 

It's Good! It's Bad! And 'WTF Are They THINKING?'




As a firm believer in 'Always start with good news', we are starting there today!
(Also, please excuse any mistakes in this first edit. I've just arrived home from a several thousand mile road-trip, but more on that later!)

So, if you haven't heard the news from D23 yet..

We're getting a Tron Lightcycle Coaster into Magic Kingdom at the Disneyworld Resort!  So that's some very impressive good news, the question is- What does it mean for the park?



Firstly, we need to look at what exactly this ride is. 
Disney hasn't exactly released details of this attraction but many of us believe that it's going to be a nearly exactly copy of the ride located at Shanghai Disneyland, "Tron Lightcycle Power Run" to be exact, which is wildly popular at the new park. 

Image from.motorscribes.com

An Enclosed roller coaster, created by Vekoma that seats 7 people in a 2 across style. The trains are unique and in a 'steeplechase' style that gives you an interesting change compared to normally roller coasters. 

The speed of the Shanghai ride is roughly 59 MPH with a maximum height of 78 feet. Which not exactly impressive by coaster standards, between the 'lightcycle' trains and the enclosed ride building- it's said to be a fun experience.


Now, we have no date on opening for this newest attraction beyond "Open by 2021" which is the 50th anniversary of Disney World.  Along with very few details, all the information I've used has been taken from the ride in Shanghai via RCDB.

All that said, we leave the question of WHERE?!

From the teaser art seen above, we know this ride is going in BEHIND Space Mountain.

The 'BAD' News- Tron Lightcycles are FULLY replacing the Tomorrowland Speedway.  

The area lined in red will be changed completely. Which brings up another pet-peeve of mine- Disney has ACRES UPON ACRES OF LAND. Why do they feel the need to remove and replace attractions?

Although this leaves the question- In the concept art, you can kinda SEE the Speedway. Perhaps it's moving or being cut down? Also, it is just concept art so it's nearly impossible to say. Well will have to find out more as Disney released details!


Either way, it is nice to see more 'thrill' rides coming to Magic Kingdom although this still begs the question of "Does Tron REALLY belong in Tomorrowland"?

BREAKING NEWS- Disney Confirms "Frozen" to Replace Maelstorm

BREAKING NEWS- Disney World Confirms that "Frozen" and "Arendelle" will Replace Maelstorm at Epcot's Norway Pavilion.

 Is a surprise and un-wise decision, Disney has confirmed today that they will replace the 'Maelstorm' ride at Epcot's Norway Pavilion with a ride based entirely on their blockbuster movie "Frozen".

 In what I'm now called "The dumbest move of a lifetime" Disney has completely abandoned their original plans an dreams for the Epcot Center Theme Park and World Showcase as a whole. By moving in Frozen and Arendelle it's obvious that Norway refused to shell out the demanded $9 Million dollars which Disney has been demanding in order to 'upgrade' and 'update' the pavilion. They have followed through with the threat to turn the area in Arendelle and Frozen, thus the first steps in loosing Epcot has begun.

 Today Disney Stated- The new attraction which replaces Maelstorm, will take our guests to Arendelle and immerse them in many of their favorite moments and music from the film. The pavilion will also include a 'Royal Greeting Location" where Anna and Elsa can meet our guests. We think these "Frozen" elements are great compliments to the Norway Pavilion, which showcases the country and region which inspired the film.
 You can read more of their 'spin' about this on Disney Parks Blog

What. The. HELL.
You had ONE JOB, Disney!

Epcot's 'Norway' May be Safe.. for now.

 Epcot's "Norway" May be Safe.. for now.



 For several months now we've been reporting rumors that Walt Disney World has been considering changing Epcot Centers "Norway" area to something with a 'Frozen' theme based off the hit movie as well as the countries reluctance to pay $9 million for updates to the land and ride found within.

In-case you missed these
The rumor of Frozen/Norway can be found here.
The Norway/Disney $9 Million Demand can be found here.

 For the last few days, Disney has been hinting at a 'Big Announcement' coming at the end of their "The Making of Frozen" special which aired last night ABC Family. This had whipped the speculation wagon into a full gallop with many believing we'd finally learn the fate of Disney's Norway and Maelstorm.

 Well, we can take a relaxed breath, for now. The only annoucement found at the end of "The Making of Fozen" involved the movie getting a new 'movie shot' and not a peep about the World Showcase country. While this may be good news, I hesitate still to accept it as gospel. It could be that Norway is just getting the massive refurbishment the ride Maelstorm and the country overall has needed for years.. or it could mean something else.

 Frankly, I don't know. Speculation exists on both sides of the argument with fans of the movie crying for a Frozen-Norway make-over while fans of Epcot and World Showcase scream that it doesn't belong. Personally, I stand firmly with the Epcot/World Showcase folks.

 We'll simply have to wait and see what the next hints from Disney and rumors mill involve.

Disney World- Monorail Evacuated *UPDATED*

Image from +WDW News Today 

Monorail Evacuated at Disney World.

 Last night around 6pm, Monorail Gold was evacuated while stranded between the 'Transportation and Ticket Center' and 'Epcot Center', Around the area of Fort Wilderness Lodge.

 Early reports stated this was due to a lightning strike, while the official report doesn't mention that, it does state the monorail system lost power multiple times during the evening. Mostly due to heavy thunderstorms which where moving through the area, it also states that other monorails on the system had to be 'restarted multiple times'. Which suggests either the suspected lightning strike or a power system surge, which stopped the transportation system in it's tracks. While others where able to make it back into their respective stations, Monorail Gold had to be evacuated by Reedy Creek Fire Department.

 Guests where safely removed and bused to their respective locations. No word on the status of Monorail Gold or if the Epcot/TTC line will be up and running this morning.

**UPDATE**
A Disney Spokesperson announced that the monorail lines and fully up and running today for standard operations.

 Info from Orlando Sentinel

Disney World- Seven Dwarfs Mine Train OPEN for 24-hour Disney Day

Image from Orlando Sentinel

Seven Dwarfs Mine Train is OPEN for the 24-Hour "Disney Day".

 Just breaking into the new this morning, Disney World has announced that the newest addition to Magic Kingdom WILL be open for today's 24-hour Disney Day.

 While Seven Dwarfs Mine Train isn't set to open to the public until next week, this hasn't stopped testing of the ride. While guests have slowly been allowed to ride during the 'cast member testing' which has been going on this week, this was kept rather quiet until word began spreading though the blogging community.

 It appears the ride opened as a surprised for the 24-hour theme park marathon currently underway. At least according to Orlando Sentinel!

Disney World- "Eat with the Beat" Food and Wine Concerts

 Well Folks,
It's that time of the year again, when preparations for the Epcot International Food and Wine Festival announcements begin!

 While this is one of our favorite events to happen at Disney World over the year, it also happens to be one of the largest and most popular. Drawing in hundreds of thousands, between the established pavilions, the 'country' stands and the concerts, Food and Wine Festival has a winning combination.

 Disney has announced the "Eat with the Beat" concert series artists, which is another one of the large draws to the Food and Wine Festival. Needless to say, we've got the complete list for all your possible planning needs!

The Seas with Nemo and Friends- You Annoy Me

 Many moons ago, when I was a small child I used to love "The Living Seas" pavilion at Epcot Center. It wasn't the most impressive to most people but I always loved how you felt underwater, plus they had one of the only aquariums in Orlando.  However, this new incarnation of the pavilion, featuring projected cartoon Disney fish? It just annoys me.

(Keep Reading- More Below!)

Parking Prices Raise at Disney World

Image from ThemeParkInsider

Disney World Raises Parking Prices Overnight. 

 In another stealthy and sneaky move, Disney World has raised their parking prices across all theme parks overnight.

 Prices at Disney World are now $17 per car, a raise of $2 per car. The price hike is across the board, including over-sized vehicles and motorcycles.  This is far sooner then any expected, the last price raise for parking at Disney World was in June 2013. Yet another move in Disney hiking their prices overnight and hoping none will notice. This comes after the sneaky move which raised Magic Kingdom gate prices overnight over a month ago.

 The only thing that can be said for this is unlike some other parks around the country, Disney does both maintain and patrol their parking lots. Other amusement parks out there charge far higher prices without the benefit of maintenance or security.

Frozen- Disney's "Next Big Thing "in the Theme Parks and Beyond.

Frozen IS Disney's "Next Big Thing" in the Theme Parks and Beyond.

 Disney's newest movie, Frozen, has been making a killing in theaters. Along with a great cast and wonderful music, the movie is officially becoming the "next big thing" for Disney.

 Already plans have been make to expand upon the property. Disney has announced it will be made into a Broadway Musical, following in the steps of other great movies like Lion King and Little Mermaid.  Disney is already talking Sequels for the movie as well as Video Games and one thing all Disney World Fans are dreading- Integration into the theme parks.

 Bob Iger, the current talking head in charge of The Walt Disney Company, has stated as much on Wednesday according to Variety Magazine.

 We've talked about this before, when rumors first began that "Frozen" could likely take over the attraction "Maelstrom" in Epcot Centers, World Showcase Norway Pavilion (Please See- Rumor Alert: Could Maelstrom become a "Frozen Themed Ride at Epcot?"). However, how Frozen could be developed into the theme parks is still unknown. We're still classing "Frozen Taking Over Maelstrom" as a rumor until some harder news comes to light to change that fact.

Inside Seven Dwarfs Mine Train

 Inside the New "Seven Dwarfs Mine Train" Attraction.

 The Disney Parks Blog has favored fans with a treat over the weekend. A quick and teasing look inside the new attraction coming to Disney World's Magic Kingdom in 2014, The Seven Dwarfs Mine Train.

 Showing off some of the mysterious interior of the attraction as well as the theme work going on, the park is building up the hype for this newest addition to Fantasyland.

 This new ride, themed off "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" replaced the old attraction of "Snow White's Scary Adventures". A family roller coaster, it's the newest mountain range to be added to Disney World.

 We've included another image from the post below! Overall, it's looking pretty awesome but still leaves a LOT of questions about the ride.

All images are from Disney. You can see the full post by visiting- The Disney Parks Blog: All in the Details for more images.

Rumor Alert-Disney World's New Seven Dwarfs may be Running Behind

Rumor Alert- Is the New "Seven Dwarfs Mine Train" completion running behind?!

 According to Screamscape rumors, this could be true.

 Some seem to be suggesting that despite effect's the new "Seven Dwarfs Mine Train" roller coaster attraction set to open soon at Disney World's Magic Kingdom, may be behind schedule. The 'best guess' date has lately been sometime in February but it seems a new rumor suggests that the time frame for soft opening of the ride could be pushed back in to March-April of 2014. 

Star Wars Weekends- Dates for 2014 Announced!

2014 Dates for Star Wars Weekends

I hope everyone is already planning because the dates for the 2014 "Star Wars Weekends" at Disney's Hollywood Studios have been announced!

 This all out geek-fest of Star Wars goodness started in 1997 and operated various years until 2003 when it grew to such popularity, the event became yearly. Drawing thousands upon thousands of fans, the event also boasts special guest actors and performances all celebrating Star Wars.

Currently, No guests have yet been announced for the 2014 event but should be coming soon. Keep an eye on Star Wars Weekends- Walt Disney World for updated information.

2014 Star Wars Weekend Dates

Weekend I: May 16-18th
Weekend II: May 23-25th
Weekend III: May 30th- June 1st
Weekend IV: June 6-8th

Camp Minnie-Mickey Closes Soon, Makes Room for Avatarland

Image from MousePlanet.com

 Disney Confirms a Closure Date for Camp Minnie-Mickey, Making Room for Avatarland.


 The last days of Camp Minnie-Mickey are upon us and by default so are the last days of the popular so "Festival of the Lion King" All to make room for the new addition of Avatarland to the Animal Kingdom park.

 You last day to visit will be January 5th- Disney World has announced that the closing date for this land will be January 6th, 2014.

 While 'Festival of the Lion King' will eventually move to it's new theater home, it will be closed for several months while construction finishes. Camp Minnie-Mickey will never be see again, Not for the much desired "Beastly Kingdom" which fans have been clamoring for since they learned about it. It's closing to make way for the seven-foot-tall-blue-cat-people from James Cameron's "Avatar" movie.  Avatarland is Disney's Newest "Big Budget" expansion, hoping to draw in millions even though no one is sure if Cameron plans to release the next two movies on their proposed dates.

 Like it or Not- Avatarland is coming.

Signs of AvatarLand- Festival of the Lion King has a Closing Date

Image from Disney World

 Well Folks, Like it or Not- Signs of Avatarland looks to be coming soon.

 Yesterday Disney's Animal Kingdom announced that 'Festival of the Lion King' which is currently housed in Camp Minnie-Mickey, will be closing on January 5th.  This will be a six month closure until their new theater in Africa is complete, this could also mean new changes coming to the show for the future.

 It also shows that heavy construction on Avatarland will probably begin shortly after this January 5th closure as 'Camp Minnie-Mickey' is the area of Animal Kingdom where the new land will be placed. Frankly, it' about time they get started on the heavy construction if they plan to keep their 3 year deadline to open in 2017.

 At this time it's unknown if Avatarland will open in Phases. However, it's probably safe to guess this will happen as it's pretty much a standard at the Disney World Parks at this point.

Disney Hollywood Studios- Yup, Star Wars is Coming..

 Well outside of a massive press release, this is about as much conformation as we can get.

 On Sunday- November 10th Bob Iger, the talking-head in charge of the Walt Disney Company stated this bit to  Bloomberg.  "There is a fair amount of development going on at Disney Imagineering right now to expand the Star Wars Presence in Disneyland and Walt Disney World and eventually other Disney theme parks around the world".

 So what does this mean?

 Simply that Disney Hollywood Studios will change massively. In the past we've speculated about the topic of both Star Wars Land and a Cars Land coming to Hollywood Studios and we suspect we know where this will take place. However, without a full press release we can't tell you if we're right or not.  We also now believe this massive change will effect Disneyland also, although where they plan to stuff this in.. I can't tell you till March!

 Never Fear, I'll either find out or make my own guesses!

 It's an educated guessing game.  If you'd like to take a look into the past when we've talked about this topic, check this post from June: Rumor Alert- Star Wars Land coming to DHS?  Inside you'll find maps and various speculation about where I personally suspect the changes will happen.. but again, that's just my guess.

 My Early Guess- This will happen sometime near after the opening of the train wreck new movie in 2015. So likely Disneyland in 2016 and Disney World in 2017.

 Information from the cool folks over at Disney and More!

The Silence is Broken- Mickey Mouse Speaks at Magic Kingdom

 News today from Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida.

 For a very long time, when kids and adults alike meet Mickey Mouse he's always been silent... until today. The beloved characters which only used to communicate through gestures and motions finally have a voice. Through a new system, Mickey Mouse can now speak and interact with guests who visit him at 'Backstage with Mickey'  where you will find the icon dressed as a magician.  This meet-and-greet is located near the entrance of the Magic Kingdom Park and offers a Fast-Pass option. 

 Mickey, who speaks in a high pitched voice, now interacts verbally with visitors. Not only is the voice there but Mickey's eyes and mouth move in sync along with several phrases.  Some of these are "Well, Hi There" and "Can I sign that for you?".  Orlando Sentential also reports Mickey will engage the audience in longer bits with 'magic tricks'.

 While it's no secret that Mickey Mouse has never been my favorite among the wide range of Disney characters (I'm a strict Donald Girl when it comes to the main  Disney characters), I think this will be a great improvement to characters park wide. Perhaps, in time, Disney will implement this system for their other iconic characters.

 Disney also states this is NOT a 'Limited Time Magic' item and will be a permanent addition to Magic Kingdom.