MickeyBlog News Edition #8 – Disney Holiday News
Let’s Talk Disney Holiday Stuff!
‘Tis the season at Disneyland and Walt Disney World! Disney’s in Halloween mode right now, but they’ll quickly transition to Christmas on November 1st. For the next month, we’re going to receive plenty of news about all three major holidays, with New Year’s Day being the other one.
Today, let’s begin with Halloween stuff. Both North American theme parks are now offering commemorative food and drink collectibles such as a Disney pumpkin full of popcorn. Here’s the full list of limited time offerings cut and pasted from the Disney Parks Blog.
Disneyland:
Halloween Travel Mug
- Disneyland park
- Disney California Adventure park
- Disneyland Hotel
- Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa
- Disney’s Paradise Pier Hotel
Halloween Popcorn Bucket (trick or treat-themed)
- Disneyland park
Halloween Popcorn Bucket for Annual Passholders (Disney Villain-themed)
- Disneyland park
Halloween Popcorn Bucket (with Headless Horseman and Oogie Boogie)
- Disney California Adventure park
Mickey Pumpkin Premium Popcorn bucket
- Disneyland park
Oogie Boogie Premium Popcorn Bucket
- Disney California Adventure park
- Disneyland park (New Orleans Square)
Traffic Cone Sipper with Halloween Stickers (16 and 32 ounces)
- Cozy Cone Motel, Disney California Adventure park
Poison Apple Stein
- Disneyland park
- Disney California Adventure park
- Disneyland Hotel
- Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa
- Disney’s Paradise Pier Hotel
Poison Appletini Halloween inspired cocktails at Carthay Circle in Disney California Adventure Park
Poison Apple Glow Cubes
- Disneyland park (red cube)
- Disney California Adventure park (red cube)
- Carthay Circle Restaurant and Lounge (exclusive green glow cube)
- Disneyland Hotel (red cube)
- Disney’s Paradise Pier Hotel (red cube)
- Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa (red cube)
Halloween Time_Novelty_Headless Horseman Straw at Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure Park
Headless Horseman Glow Straw/Clip
- Disney California Adventure park
- Disneyland park (Exclusive to Mickey’s Halloween Party)
Mickey Pumpkin Glow Bottle Topper
- Disneyland park
Tire Pumpkin Glow Straw
- Disney California Adventure park (Cars Land – Flo’s V8 Café, Cozy Cone Motel)
Hitchhiking Ghost Tiki Mug (2nd Edition)
- Disneyland Hotel, Trader Sam’s Enchanted Tiki Bar
Walt Disney World
Halloween Popcorn Bucket (Trick or Treat)
- Magic Kingdom Park
Mickey Pumpkin Premium Popcorn Bucket
- Magic Kingdom Park
- Disney’s Hollywood Studios
- Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park
- Epcot
Oogie Boogie Premium Popcorn Bucket
- Magic Kingdom Park (Exclusive to Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party)
Hitchhiking Ghost Tiki Mug (2nd Edition)
- Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort, Trader Sam’s Grog Grotto
Go nuts, my friends!
Terrifying News at the Happiest Place on Earth
Let’s face it. The entire Halloween holiday at Disney theme parks is predicated on the pure joy of The Haunted Mansion. At Disneyland, one of the most famous aspects of the celebration at the attraction is its gingerbread house. Park planners added this element in 2001, and it has entertained guests ever since. The 2017 edition of the Haunted Mansion gingerbread house is now available for public consumption (well, viewing…don’t you dare try to eat it!). Better yet, it’s Oogie Boogie-intensive!
Yes, everyone’s favorite gothic villain, the one who looks like Jabba the Hut in a burlap sack, is back after a 13-year absence. A seven-foot tall likeness of O.B. towers over the six-foot gingerbread house. Yes, Jack Skellington’s mortal enemy is the star of the show this year at the Haunted Mansion. You’re going to want to visit over the next four weeks.
While you’re at Disneyland this Halloween, you will want to check out the Frightfully Fun Parade. It too is slightly different this year. Villainess Ursula gets her own float this year, as she leads the charge of Disney bad guys.
The Most Wonderful Time of the Year
Like me, a man with a TiVo full of Hallmark holiday movies, Walt Disney World is ready for Christmas season to begin. Disney announced a couple of huge things for the end of 2017 and start of 2018. The first reveal is that you can ring in the New Year at Mickey’s BBQ. Yes, the news at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground wasn’t pleasant in the wake of Hurricane Irma, but it’s back up and running in time for the holiday season. On New Year’s Eve, you can attend a special event with food, dancing, and a special spot for the fireworks display.
As for the other big announcement, it’s unsurprising but huge. The Epcot International Festival of the Arts that debuted this past January clearly did well. Disney has chosen to bump up the event from three days a week in 2018. Starting in January, it will be open to the public seven days a week, giving the World Showcase yet another exciting calendar event.
Between this exhibition, the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival and the Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival, the park will have food kiosks more days than not in 2018. This is a huge step toward bring Walt Disney’s vision for a permanent World’s Fair to life at Epcot. Of course, the only way to make dream a reality is for Disney to have these events each and every day of the calendar year. Get to it, park planners! You’re more than halfway there!
You’ll Never Guess My Wife’s Favorite Disney Movie…
Let’s start with the most important news item this week, at least it is to my favorite target audience, my wife. Yes, that scream you heard from hundreds, possibly even thousands of miles away, were her squeal of delight when she heard that Disney has replaced the perennially atrocious Stitch’s Great Escape, with something new.
The building that once hosted ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter is now providing a much gentler alien encounter. And it’s conveniently named…Stitch’s Alien Encounter Character Greeting. A few months ago, the Stitch character meeting at the front of the park vanished, an odd choice since it was so popular. We now know the reason why.
Disney has cleaned out a part of the building to make it the permanent (?) home for Experiment 626. Okay, that’s likely an exaggeration. Disney’s going to use this space for a new ride at some point because it’s prime real estate. Until then, walk up to our friend Stitch and tell him those oh so magic words: Ohana means family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten. (You don’t want to know how many times I’ve had to watch that movie over the past 15 years. My marriage hangs in the balance any time I’m tempted to say no.)
Technically, Disney hasn’t confirmed this change yet. They HAVE altered the sign on the attraction to reflect the change, though. So, let’s call this one a rumor that’s unofficially official.
Baby, You Can Drive My Car
Imagineers love to plus existing attractions. That’s Disney-speak for adding new elements to improve rides. Without such changes, your favorite park distractions such as Space Mountain and Pirates of the Caribbean would have grown stale many years ago. It’s a loving detention to detail that’s one of the many reasons why we all love
Over the past couple of weeks, Disney has refreshed the two most famous car rides at Walt Disney World. Test Track has added something called a SIMporium. It’s an electronic device that accesses your SIM card for the ride you created while standing in the line queue for Test Track. You can upload your car creation to the simulator, and it will produce a card that shows your unholy abomination of a vehicle, probably something that looks like the Bat Mobile on steroids. This service isn’t free, but it is fun. Anyone who has ever built a Test Track vehicle that gave them a sense of pride can now immortalize the car with a card. This is a nice change, but a 3D printout of the car would be even better, Disney! Hint, hint!
At the Tomorrowland Speedway, you can also buy a new add-on. To the side of the line queue, you’ll notice a bright tent that’s thematic with the attraction’s color scheme. Enter this tent, and you’ll discover a surprise. For $5, you can print out a Tomorrowland Speedway driver’s license that takes your picture and everything!
Okay, for adults, this is no big deal other than the rare opportunity to have a decent driver’s license photo. For kids, it’s a marvelously fun way to show that they’re ready to take the wheel of the family car. As a responsible parent, try not to shatter their dreams by pointing out that cars will be automated by the time they’re ready to drive.
So, that’s all the news I can add today before your eyes glaze over and you get bored. Believe it or not, I’ve only covered about half of the recent Disney news, though. Expect another news update in just a couple of days!