The last month was a pretty major one for Disney World, given the start of the 50th anniversary celebrations! I actually took two quick weekend trips in October to try and see as much as I could (and test out the new Genie+ system). I still have a lot of content I need to write and publish – if there’s anything in particular you’d like to see first please let me know and I’ll attempt to prioritize that! So far for the new stuff I’ve got a look at Le Creperie de Paris in Epcot and the new Harmonious fireworks, but I have about eleven billion more things to write and share.
Disney News
- Disney World saw a lot of new things open or begin on October 1st for the 50th celebrations – major ones include Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, Harmonious, Disney Enchantment, and KiteTails.
- Possibly the biggest news is the release of Genie+ on October 19th. I went down to test it for a few days and will have a blog post up tomorrow with details about my experience and my overall thoughts.
- Over in Disneyland, their new annual pass system is not exactly well loved by passholders – seems like park pass reservations don’t always have a lot of availability, making it difficult to actually use the “Magic Key” to its fullest.
- For RunDisney fans, the medals for Princess race weekend have been revealed! I’m pretty excited for this one and to be back out there.
- Dates for Epcot’s Festival of the Arts have been announced! It will run from January 14th-February 21, 2022.
- The Disneyland monorail has now reopened in California.
- Orange County, FL has now ended its state of emergency due to COVID-19.
- If you’re headed to Disney World for the holidays, make sure to check out all of the holiday treats available!
- There’s also some exciting new holiday entertainment coming out this season!
- If you want to learn more about the Disney Wish cruise ship, there’s a display in Hollywood Studios at the Walt Disney Presents attraction all about it.
- Select character meet and greets will be returning, though they will be modified and are being referred to as character “sightings.” These include Princess Fairy Tale Hall (Cinderella, Tiana, and others), Mickey Mouse in both Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios, Disney Junior characters in Hollywood Studios, and Anna and Elsa in Epcot.
- Disney World released its first “discount” in awhile but it’s very limited and availability is scarce – it’s only for Florida Residents and annual passholders. Despite having multiple trips coming up and being an AP I couldn’t get any discounts (and I couldn’t find any for my clients who have APs either).
Disney rumors
Disney World // There’s some buzz about whether or not Disney World will get rid of the indoor mask rule again. This could happen soon, especially now that Orange County is no longer in a state of emergency and Disney will be doing some indoor character meet and greets.
Genie+ // There’s already some speculation about the “individual lightning lanes” attractions being offered with the new Genie+ system (two rides in every park cost an additional fee to ride on the lightning lane and are not included in Genie+). At Animal Kingdom one of those is Expedition Everest, which is scheduled to go down for a major refurb starting in January. If that happens will they convert a different attraction to an “individual lightning lane”? Or will there just be one in Animal Kingdom? I think their best bet is to only have one ILL, since there are already only a limited number of attractions with Genie+ in Animal Kingdom.
Characters // As some character “meets” return, lots of people are guessing which ones might come next. It’s interesting to me that they started with the indoor ones (probably because they are the most popular and will absorb some extra crowds and people). I don’t think it will be too long before we have most of them back.
Like staying organized? Consider vacation planning printables – 41 pages of trip planning, including a budget worksheet, guide to characters, trip comparison worksheet, info about the Disney Genie system, daily itineraries, packing checklist, and much more.
Other Disney blogs
If you’re like me and trying to figure out all things Genie+, Tom from the Disney Tourist Blog has a ton of great posts on it. One day he and his wife did the same park with the same goals, but one purchased Genie+ and one did not. You can read about Tom’s day at Magic Kingdom without Genie+ as well as Sarah’s day at Magic Kingdom with Genie+.
Want to find all the 50th anniversary golden statues around the parks? Allyson at WDW Prep School has a guide to where they are all located.
As far as I’m concerned, it’s still time for pumpkins and fall until Thanksgiving – so try this easy pumpkin cannoli recipe from PizzeRizzo created by Diznify.
Rachel from Rachel’s Reviews has a spoiler-free look at the new Marvel movie, Eternals. If you wanted to get an idea of why people didn’t like the film without any mention of spoilers this is a good one to read.
Did you know there used to be sloths in Animal Kingdom? Well, maybe. Shane from Parkeology has a fascinating look at the fabled sloths of Animal Kingdom.
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