Downtown Disney to Expand into Disney Springs

A few years after it announced and then scrapped plans to reformat Pleasure Island, the official Disney Parks blog has revealed that Downtown Disney is getting an upgrade. A years-long project will transform Downtown Disney into Disney Springs, an even larger shopping and entertainment district. Downtown Disney is so popular with Florida residents and Disney World guests alike that it was time to expand. Don’t worry about suddenly needing a ticket to get into the area: just like before, Disney Springs will be open to the public (though individual entertainment venues still might require tickets for entrance). Tom Staggs, the … Continue reading →

Epcot Flower & Garden Festival Kicks Off This Week

This week the Epcot International Flower Garden Festival officially opens. It’s one of Epcot’s longest events, in the length of time it’s going on at the park. So from year to year it might not seem like a lot changes. This year, though, it’s got something special up its sleeve. One of Disney’s big films of the year is “Oz: The Great & Powerful,” which tells the story of how a man from the American Midwest became the wonderful, terrible Wizard of Oz. It opens on March 8, two days after the kickoff of the Flower & Garden Festival, and … Continue reading →

Become a Wilderness Explorer at the Animal Kingdom

If “Up” is one of your favorite Disney/Pixar movies, then Disney World’s Animal Kingdom has a great new surprise coming for you this spring. Soon guests to the Animal Kingdom can become Wilderness Explorers, just like Russell from “Up.” Wilderness Explorers was the Boy Scout-style troop to which Russell belonged in the film. An early version of this new experience was tested at the Animal Kingdom way back in the fall of 2011, and now it’s finally going to be making its debut this spring. Wilderness Explorers isn’t a proper game like Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom; it’s closer to … Continue reading →

Benefits Cut for Disney World Premium Annual Passes

The lobby of the Grand Floridian, one of Disney World’s most exclusive hotels Walt Disney World continues to aggravate its most loyal fans, as it announced in December that discounts for premium annual pass members will be cut. The Orlando Sentinel has all the details. Since 2010 Disney World’s been pulling back a lot on the discounts it offers various pass holders. This time, the target is premium annual passes, which already cost around $750 (Florida residents get a discount at around $600). Now the shopping discounts premium annual pass holders receive have been cut in half. Let’s take a … Continue reading →

New Events at Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party

If you’ve ever been to Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party — Walt Disney World’s tickets-only, after-hours, month-long Christmas bash — then you think you’ve seen it all. While that’s not entirely untrue – most of the major elements of the party don’t change from year to year – visitors in 2012 can expect to see something a little bit different this year. Disney Parks site Inside the Magic has, well, the insider’s details on the new things you can expect to see at this year’s Very Merry Christmas Party. Of course the biggest thing on everyone’s minds is the brand new Fantasyland … Continue reading →

New Disney World Attraction: The Legend of Captain Jack Sparrow

The cycle is complete: “Pirates of the Caribbean” was a movie based on a classic Disney World ride. Now there’s a new Disney World attraction based on the movie that was based on the ride. The Legend of Captain Jack Sparrow is a new immersive walk-through at Disney World that opened on December 6. The Disney Parks released a behind-the-scenes video with the Imagineers detailing the attraction, and the famous talent that helped bring it to life. The centerpiece of the attraction is the virtual image projected onto the deck of a pirate’s ship: that of Captain Jack Sparrow. But … Continue reading →

Disney Christmas Day Parade Filming Dates

Big news first: I know the filming dates for the 2012 Disney-ABC Christmas Day Parade. This is an elusive event where the tickets go on sale and sell out almost immediately. This year I have an inside line on the taping; the daughter of a friend of mine is going to dance in the parade. They’re taping the last week of November/the first weekend in December. The big day should be Saturday, December 1. I couldn’t verify this information online, because Disney hasn’t posted anything official about it yet. They probably won’t until November. But I can guarantee that the … Continue reading →

Finding the New Fantasyland

As if it thinks it wasn’t getting enough buzz already, Disney World execs are trying to up the hype surrounding the Fantasyland expansion. They’ve launched a website – Finding Fantasyland – to increase both the expansion’s mystique and guests’ interactivity with the wait. The site contains a mysterious poem: “A fantastical land exists, a curse hides it from our view. A hero is needed to break the spell, that hero could be you.” The only other hint about what is going on is a colorful map of the upcoming Fantasyland. It gives blurbs about each of the new parts – … Continue reading →

Special Shopping and Tours at the Animal Kingdom

Well, we’ve finally come to it. Today is the last in my series looking at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. As special events and other highlights happen at the park I’ll cover them, but today I’m finished my peek at what you can find on a normal basis at the Animal Kingdom. We’ll conclude with shopping and special tours. There’s not a lot of unique shopping at the Animal Kingdom. Most of the stores are of the typical shirts-and-stuffed-animals variety. However, there is the Mombasa Marketplace, in the Africa section of the Animal Kingdom, near the Tusker House. It’s divided into two … Continue reading →

Magic Kingdom to Serve Beer, Wine

A bar inside the Dolphin Resort at Disney World Last week the official Disney Parks blog revealed a detail about the Be Our Guest Restaurant in the new Fantasyland expansion, one that breaks a tradition held by the Magic Kingdom since its inception: Be Our Guest will serve alcohol. The decision came when Walt Disney World execs contemplated the theme of the restaurant. In keeping with the setting of “Beauty and the Beast,” the film on which the restaurant is based, execs wanted to offer the finest French cuisine. Part of the French dining experience is to serve alcohol, so … Continue reading →