24/05/2022
WDW, as of todayโฆ
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On May 5 Disney officially announced that MagicBand+ is โlaunching this Summerโ (despite mistakenly being put out on the shelves of one store in early May).
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According to a notice from Disney, and as shown on the official calendar, Epcot will be closing early on June 5th, at 8PM, and Harmonious will not be presented that night. It is confirmed now that this is for an event for the IPW trade show. The event begins at 7:30 p.m., so it is not clear how and when Disney will clear the park.
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The Special Olympic Games has indicated that it will have a special evening at Walt Disney World on Thursday, June 9, 2022. Animal Kingdom park will close at 6:00 p.m. Some resorts may also be cordoned off.
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Sales of most annual passes are currently suspended. Renewals unaffected.
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Park pass reservations required in addition to admission, and park hopping begins at 2pm. Officially, both are permanent.
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At the Magic Kingdom, the new permanent fireworks show is Disneyโs Enchantment, which is presented almost every night. (Public) dessert parties and fireworks cruises have returned. Special fireworks dining packages are offered at California Grill.
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At EPCOT, the new permanent fireworks show is Harmonious, which is presented almost every night. ๐๐ณ๐ช๐ท๐ข๐ต๐ฆ dessert parties and fireworks cruises have returned. Special fireworks dining packages are offered at Rose and Crown and Spice Road Table.
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At Hollywood Studios, Disney Movie Magic and Wonderful World of Animation (projection shows with some pyrotechnics) are presented in Hollywood Studios most nights. It is not clear whether Star Wars Galactic Spectacular will return.
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Fantasmic will return in 2022; the theater is currently undergoing major renovations. Disney had refilled the moat, but then drained it again.
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At Animal Kingdom park, Tree of Life Awakenings is a projection show that operates seasonally (most consistently in the winter, when the park itself is open significantly beyond sundown), celebrating the eternal balance and harmony that exists in all living things.
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The Festival of Fantasy Parade has returned and will be presented twice each day. Scheduled cavalcades continue at some parks, including the brand-new โDisney Adventure Friends Cavalcade!โ. At Destination D last year, Disney announced that cavalcades are here to stay (continue to be presented alongside parades).
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Enchanted Extras Keys to the Kingdom, Caring for Giants, Wild Animal Trek, Up Close with Rhinos, Savor the Savanna, Starlight Safari have returned.
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Adapted versions of live stage shows currently operating include: The Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular, For the First Time in Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along Celebration, Celebration of the Festival of The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast Live On Stage.
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Disney officially announced via tiktok that the Tumble Monkeys and aerialist will return to Festival of the Lion King this summer.
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โLet the Magic Beginโ on the castle stage in the Magic Kingdom continues as the opening stage show.
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โMickeyโs Magical Friendship Faireโ is now being presented on the Cinderella Castle Forecourt Stage, multiple times a day.
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Other live stage entertainment currently operating: Feathered Friends In Flight!, Monsters Inc Laugh Floor, Turtle Talk with Crush.
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KiteTails is moving to shorter and more frequent performances, supplemented by character flotillas.
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Other continuing and returning live entertainment includes: Dapper Dans on Main Street USA; the piano in front of Caseyโs Corner in the Magic Kingdom; the JAMMinators and Alberta Bound on the Mill Stage in Canada; Voices of Liberty in the rotunda; Mariachi Cobre in the American Gardens Theater; Sergio, the juggler in Italy; drummers in Japan in Epcot; DiVine, Tam Tam drummers, and other live music in Africa and Asia in Animal Kingdom park. Also: Yeehaw Bob (and Mickey Beignets) at Port Orleans; Jellyrolls; evening performers on the BoardWalk.
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Drawn to Life presented by Cirque du Soleil & Disney is now being presented.
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A reimagined Finding Nemo musical called โThe Big Blue and Beyondโ is coming โin the coming monthsโ (spring or summer 2022), taking place in the timeline of the film Finding Dory. The theater will be themed as the Marine Life Institute and the show will feature the fish from Dr. P. Shermanโs office. Still puppetry.
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Voyage of the Little Mermaid remains dark.
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Disney officially announced through its official IG that International exchange cast members will return to EPCOT and/or Animal Kingdom theme park soon, so we can hope to see more country-specific entertainment and cultural interaction soon.
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Disney ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐จ๐ข๐ฏ restoring regular character greetings. They announced publicly that they plan to continue to reintroduce regular character greetings, โin phases throughout the spring and early summer.โ
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The Disney Visa photo spot has reopened in Epcot.
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Jedi training has not yet reopened.
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Interesting statisticsโฆ
โฃ The average wait time for attractions with posted wait times, for the first hundred days of ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ต was ๐ฐ๐ฐ minutes.
โฃ The average wait time for attractions with posted wait times, for the first hundred days of ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฎ was ๐ฏ๐ฐ minutes.
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Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind roller coaster will officially open in EPCOT May 27, 2022. The official opening will be preceded by cast member, cast member family and friends, DVC, D23 and passholder previews, as well as a Media Event, which took place May 4-6.
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Canada Far and Wide will not be operating from the end of June until mid November. As has been the case during the Food and Wine Festival, the venue is used as a festival venue instead.
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Disney is currently not using virtual queuing for standby entry to any attractions. (That will change with the opening of Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind.)
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Disney Genie service began October 19, 2021. On November 23, 2021, Disney fixed the bug that was leveraged for the main Genie+ stacking hack. On June 8, 2022, advance purchase of Genie+ is no longer offered. FastPass will not return.
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Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway, Expedition Everest, Frozen Ever After, and Space Mountain will be treated as Genie+ attractions (rather than ILL attractions) through August 7. There are new Genie+ options for Festival of Fantasy parade viewing and for Disney Stars at Red Carpet Dreams.
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Construction on the new Journey of Water attraction in EPCOT is well underway.
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Construction on the Tron roller coaster continues, with no announced opening date or year. The Magic Kingdom Railroad is currently not operating due to Tron construction, but engine testing has begun.
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Effective July 16, 2021, Rider Switch allows only the waiting guardian and one other to ride.
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Typhoon Lagoon has reopened as Blizzard Beach went down for its annual refurbishment.
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The EPCOT Flower and Garden Festival will run through July 4. Disney has now confirmed my earlier wild guess for the EPCOT Food and Wine Festival; it will run from July 14 through November 19.
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Mickeyโs Not-So-Scary Halloween Party returns to Walt Disney World Resort this fall. The party will take place after normal park operating hours, from 7 p.m. to midnight. August: 12, 16, 19, 23, 26, 30; September: 2, 5, 9, 11, 13, 16, 18, 20, 23, 25, 27, 29, 30; October: 2, 4, 6, 7, 10, 11, 13, 14, 16, 18, 20, 21, 23, 25, 27, 28, 30, 31. (We can expect the MK to close early to day-guests on those dates; probably at 6 p.m.)
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Victoria & Alberts, Takumi-Tei, Monsieur Paul, 1900 Park Fare, Akershus, Marrakesh, Garden View Lounge have not yet reopened. Hoop-Dee-Doo reopens June 23. The Connections eatery in EPCOT is open. The menu was recently shared. All other dining that will be reopening has already reopened, including California Grill, Citricos, Yachtsman Steakhouse, Toledo, Flying Fish, and Jiko.
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Character dining experiences may be found at Garden Grill (EPCOT), Chef Mickeyโs (Contemporary Resort), Topolinoโs Terrace (breakfast only) (Riviera Resort), Hollywood and Vine (Hollywood Studios), Tusker House (Animal Kingdom park), Storybook Dining at Artist Point (Wilderness Lodge Resort). At Cinderella's Royal Table (Magic Kingdom), Cinderella greets guests at a distance as they arrive, and at Be Our Guest (Magic Kingdom), the Beast does an occasional greeting to the whole dining room.
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Space 220 Lounge and La Crรชperie de Paris are now offering reservations for full-service dining. Reservations are no longer offered for Spice Road Table at EPCOT.
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Connections Cafe has opened in World Celebration at EPCOT. The Starbucks at EPCOT has relocated to the Connections Cafe.
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Narcoossee will be closed for refurbishment as of June 18. My wild guess is that either V&A or Park Fare will reopen by then. Just a wild guess though.
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Several restaurants have resumed self-service buffets: Boma, Biergarten, Cape May Cafe, Crystal Palace, Ale & Compass.
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The DVC lounge at Bay Lake Tower (Top of the World) will reopen โsoonโ.
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Most Disney-run restaurants are operating under adapted protocols backstage, so we can expect smaller menus and simplified menu items to continue for a while longer.
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The dining plan will be offered again but Disney has said nothing else about that for over six months.
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There is no indication whether Tables in Wonderland will return.
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Roundup Rodeo BBQ, a new full service restaurant in Toy Story Land, will open in 2022.
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The Cake Bake Shop by Gwendolyn Rogers, a new table service restaurant and bakery, is expected to open on the BoardWalk in 2023. Simultaneous with this announcement, ESPN Club was removed from the WDW website.
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All monorails, the Skyliner, MK ferryboats, MK resort-to-park boats, EPCOT and EPCOT resorts Friendship boats, and Disney Springs resort boats are operating. Buses are operating between Disney resort hotels and Disney theme parks, as applicable.
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Parking lot trams are operating at the Magic Kingdom, will *officially* return to Animal Kingdom on May 27th, and will return to other parks later in 2022.
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Disney officially announced via TikTok that Minnie Vans will return this summer.
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According to Disneyโs official website, buses ๐๐ง๐ค๐ข ๐ฉ๐๐๐ข๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ง๐ ๐จ to Disney Springs are not operating at all at this time. (Buses between Disney resort hotels to Disney Springs are operating.)
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Mears Connect replaced Disney's Magical Express: $16 for adults, $13.50 for children, one way. Sunshine Flyer competes with it: $17 for adults, $12.50 for children, one way. Sunshine Flyer operates until 10:00 p.m. In addition, Disney is now reselling Mears airport connections as part of Disney packages.
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Brightline train has nothing to do with Magical Express. It is an Intercity train from Miami eventually to Orlando Airport, and the connection between Orlando airport and Disney is up in the air, and at best will open in 2028 or later.
๐๐ฐ๐ต๐ฆ๐ญ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ฐ๐ต๐ฆ๐ญ ๐๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ง๐ช๐ต๐ด
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Vacation packages for 2023 go on sale on June 8th.
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There is currently a promotion available to Disney VISA cardholders providing hotel package discounts for certain rooms in certain hotels.
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All Disney resort hotels have reopened and are operating. Warnings about limited housekeeping service have been removed from the WDW website, indicating a gradual return to normal housekeeping service. During your stay, your room will receive a light cleaning service every other day.
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Regular hotel room safety checks, which began after the 2017 Las Vegas shooting, continue. Compliance with the safety checks is not optional. If you don't want staff members entering your hotel room while you are in the room then engage the safety bar. The room occupied sign on the doorknob is not sufficient.
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All parks now open 30 minutes early for Disney resort guests. Not all Good Neighbor hotels are eligible.
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Select parks on select nights will remain open for Deluxe Disney resort guests. (Of the Good Neighbor hotels, only Swan and Dolphin, and Shades of Green, are eligible.)
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No bounce back offers are being offered.
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The Grand Floridian spa reopened. No other Disney resort hotel spas have reopened or are scheduled to reopen.
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All Disney resort hotel club levels have reopened.
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As of July 25, 2021, Disney will no longer transfer perishables between hotels, for guests with split stays.
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Souvenir Pick-Up (at the front of the park) and Resort Hotel Delivery for purchases of park merchandise are both currently unavailable. Home Delivery shipping service is available for a fee.
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DVC 50% borrowing limit remains in effect with no end date in sight.
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DVC pool hopping is suspended.
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A new accommodations building will replace the luau cove at the Polynesian Resort, evidently the next DVC property after the current conversion of Big Pine Key at the Grand Floridian to DVC, which is currently underway.
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Harmony Barber Shop will reopen July 31.
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In the announcement about the reopening of the Harmony Barber Shop, Disney announced that Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique will reopen later in the year.
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Updates are marked: โฃโฃ or โฃ (the difference between the two being just how long since the last update that item was added/updated).
