MickeyBlog Updates, News, Info & Much More
Prepare yourself to be inundated with Disney theme park updates! The latest edition of MickeyBlog News is full of tidbits that will help you plan your next Disney trip!
The All-in-One Water Park Option
Let’s start with a trial offer at Disney’s water parks. Now that spring has arrived, everyone’s ready to spend the day splashing around. Disney wants to encourage guests to spend more time at places like Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon. A new package should do the trick.
From March 26th through May 4th, water park visitors may purchase the Splash Pack Bundle. It’s an all-in-one package available for $44 per person plus tax. What do you get for that money? You’ll have your option of specific food and beverages at the water park plus a refillable mug. You’ll get a commemorative beach towel that’s yours to keep when you leave, too.
With this package, a day at the water park becomes a fixed price event. You’ll have your food and drinks plus a towel to keep you dry. It’s reasonable to expect that Disney will extend this offer into the summer, presuming it proves successful during the trial period. The one caveat is that you may only purchase the Splash Pack Bundle once you’re inside the park, and it’s valid exclusively for that day.
One Restaurant Tests Mobile-Only Option
Park strategists are currently debating many ideas at Disneyland. Their end-goal is to reduce congestion at the Happiest Place on Earth once Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge opens. One strategy that has some promise gets a test next week.
Would-be diners at the Tiki Juice Bar in Adventureland must pull out their phones to get a Dole Whip. The restaurant will only accept Mobile Orders from March 28th through March 30th. Guests who don’t or can’t use the online ordering system will be directed to the nearby Tropical Hideaway.
This test could help Disney eliminate the unseemly lines for Dole Whips. It could at least theoretically turn this spot into purely a counter pick-up location. It may not seem like a huge improvement, but every little bit helps. To a larger point, this sort of required Mobile Ordering sounds like the future of theme park counter service.
Speaking of Extended Trials…
A couple of weeks ago, Magic Kingdom opened Aunt Polly’s restaurant. At the time, the restaurant was only supposed to be in operation for a week of Spring Break. Then, something funny happened. Reviews of the new menu started popping up across Disney forums. In particular, the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches blew away foodies.
Park officials heard the outcry of support for this Tom Sawyer Island eatery. They decided to extend Aunt Polly’s through April 28th. You now have a full month of unexpected bonus time to sample the small but daring menu here. Disney even added two new PB&J sandwiches for guests to enjoy.
You owe it yourself to eat lunch here at least once over the next few weeks. If you love it, speak up! Aunt Polly’s may get another extension!
Some Strange Animal Kingdom Updates
Park officials recently announced that Disney’s Animal Kingdom will stay open a bit longer on specific dates in April and May. It’s welcome news to those of us who can’t get enough of watching nocturnal animals in their natural habitats.
Disney then turned around and announced something a bit odd this week. For reasons involving traffic flow and maintenance, DINOSAUR will close one hour earlier than the rest of the park. These changes won’t occur until March 31st and are apparently temporary. They’re a by-product of the extra hours during the ever-busy spring season at Walt Disney World. Every attraction but one at Animal Kingdom will have the extended hours. You’ll just need to ride DINOSAUR earlier than the other attractions.
Over at Pandora – The World of Avatar, there’s good news and bad news. The good news is that Disney has introduced a convenient system for parents. Whenever you’re waiting in line for Avatar Flight of Passage, you’re no longer stuck.
Historically, a sudden need to use the bathroom would require guests to lose their place in line. So, people had to decide whether to hold it and be uncomfortable for a while or abandon the line and be forced to start all over again when you return. For parents, the situation is especially problematic since kids aren’t exactly patient when they need to go to the bathroom.
Thankfully, a new system is in place. Called the Queue Re-Entry Pass, it allows guests to track down a cast member and ask for a pass. This item enables re-entry at a later spot in the line queue. Specifically, you’ll stand at the FastPass queue until the rest of your party reaches this spot. And yes, that’s also the catch. This system is only available to parties of two or more, not solo park guests. Someone must remain in line to maintain your group’s place in the queue.
The bad news is that for the second time in a year, Pandora got messed up by a fire alarm. It’s an open secret among Disney insiders that Avatar Flight of Passage and Na’Vi River Journey are housed in the same building.
When a fire alarm sounds, protocol dictates that Disney shut down both attractions, which isn’t ideal due to their lengthy wait-times. It’s an extended period wherein everyone is forced to lose their place in line and head elsewhere.
Park officials aren’t any happier about this situation than guests, as the sudden influx of people walking around/out of Pandora wreaks havoc with projected traffic patterns. With two instances of the World of Avatar attractions shutting down simultaneously, Disney needs to find a solution that prevents an alarm from borking Pandora.
The Magic Word Is Crêperie
For a while now, rumors have persisted that a new restaurant would open at the France Pavilion. Tucked in one corner of Epcot’s World Showcase, this pavilion already provides some of the best restaurants at Walt Disney World. Soon, another will join the lineup.
Disney and world-renowned chef Jérôme Bocuse have confirmed that the culinary titan will add a third restaurant. Already responsible for Chefs de France and Monsieur Paul, Bocuse will build the menu for a crêperie. I’m not French enough to know what that is, but it does serve crepes, both sweet and savory versions of the delicacy.
The new crêperie will be a Table Service restaurant, but it will have a Quick Service counter for convenient grab-and-go pick-up, too. The Bocuse family is royalty in the cooking world, and this latest offering sounds like another can’t miss dining experience.
Speaking of Epcot…
Disney announced another addition coming to Epcot. This one will happen at Future World. The Land Pavilion will get a new movie presentation on its second floor. Called Awesome Planet, this new show replaces Circle of Life: An Environmental Fable. And it will be incredible. Disney has Industrial Light & Magic working on the effects and visuals for Awesome Planet. When the Star Wars crew is involved, you know it’s going to be good.