MickeyBlog News for June 14, 2021
Hoo boy, much has changed at Disney theme parks lately. Folks, this is the MickeyBlog News you’ve wanted since the start of the pandemic!
Let’s talk about all the good news.
Disney Updates Face Covering Policy
From reading the comments (I know, I know), I realize that many of you have felt safe and secure at Walt Disney World thanks to the safeguards in place.
You loved the face-covering policy, which ensured that sick people couldn’t cough all over healthy ones.
More than half the adult population has received vaccinations, though. As such, Disney’s pandemic policies have started feeling a bit draconian.
I know that a vocal minority has indicated it won’t visit Disney as long as the parks require face masks.
To you folks, I have good news. Disney will drop its indoor face-covering mandate on June 15th. Yes, that’s two days from now!
On that date, park guests won’t need to wear a face mask indoors. Now, you CAN wear one if that makes you feel safe and/or thoughtful. It’s just not a requirement.
Disney will assume that you’ve received at least one if not both vaccination shots. It won’t require proof, though.
Park officials will trust guests to take care of themselves. So, it’s a matter of personal responsibility now.
For vaccinated guests, this update means that everything is nearly back to the way it was in January of 2020, the time before the pandemic.
However, Disney has kept the face-covering policy in place in very specific situations.
When you ride various forms of Disney transportation – boats, buses, and the Disney Skyliner – you must wear a face mask.
Other than that, the honor system is 100 percent in place throughout the parks as of June 15th!
Cast members also received some welcome news, as they didn’t need to wear face shields anymore.
More about Boo Bash
Okay, I mentioned last week that Disney After Hours Boo Bash tickets go on sale for some this week.
You needed a confirmed Disney resort reservation until June 15th. So, not everyone could book yet.
Well, qualifying guests tried hard to get Boo Bash tickets when their booking window opened. But, unfortunately, it…didn’t go great.
Frankly, first-day technical hurdles have become a fact of life for Disney fans.
I say that as someone who tried to book Park Passes that fateful first morning. I broke a stress ball squeezing out my frustration.
However, the standard behavior applies to Boo Bash. After the first day, the system rallied and became manageable.
Guests have since booked Boo Bash so much that Disney has introduced new dates. As a result, magic Kingdom will host the event on these five Sundays:
- September 5th
- September 12th
- September 19th
- October 10th
- October 17th
So, you’ll have five more opportunities to enjoy this after-hours event at Magic Kingdom.
Currently, Halloween has sold out, even at the higher price of $199 per person. So if you’re set on that date, keep reading MickeyBlog.
We’ll let you know if/when more tickets go on sale. I suspect it’ll happen when Disney increases park capacity again.
Restaurant Reopenings
Obviously, Disney officials are planning for larger crowds this summer. Unfortunately, as I’ve mentioned countless times, many restaurants didn’t reopen with the parks.
Disney had no need, as there weren’t enough customers to justify operating all its eateries.
The news I’m about to reveal demonstrates one of the strongest signs that capacity will increase soon.
Several Walt Disney World restaurants will reopen over the next few weeks. I mentioned Tusker House last week, but that was just the start.
Disney’s Animal Kingdom will also reopen several snack shops and kiosks, including Terra Treats, Trilo-Bytes, Isle of Java, and Drinkwallah Snacks & Frozen Beverages.
The BoardWalk Ice Cream Shop also opened to the public for the first time.
Still, the headline grabber will occur next month at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort & Spa.
Yes, the restaurant I recently ranked as the place we miss the most is about to return!!!
‘Ohana will reopen on July 9th, and you can already book Advanced Dining Reservations! Well, you could.
Dinner already sold out for the first 60 days. Seriously, we’ve all missed this place.
The internet staged a group complaint about one aspect of the comeback, though. A(nother) vocal minority swore they wouldn’t visit.
What was their justification? ‘Ohana didn’t list the noodles as part of the service. So, Disney quickly posted this TikTok:
@disneyparks Our favorites are back at ‘Ohana! 🤩 #Disney #DisneyParks #DisneyWorld #OhanaNoodles #Ohana #Noodles #PolynesianResort #FoodTikTok
I enjoyed the Moana quote thrown in for punctuation.
By the way, Disneyland Resort is also reopening some restaurants. Here’s the list:
- Alien Pizza Planet – Disneyland Park
- Docking Bay Food & Cargo – Disneyland Park
- Lamplight Lounge – Disney California Adventure
- Oga’s Cantina – Disneyland Park
- Ralph Brennan’s Jazz Kitchen – Downtown Disney
- Rancho del Zocalo Restaurante – Disneyland Park
- Wine Country Trattoria – Disney California Adventure
Disney Park News
The strangest story at Walt Disney World has occurred twice recently. Animal Kingdom has suffered park-wide power outages within a week of each other.
When the power goes out, most attractions go down. However, Animal Kingdom includes several redundancies that prevent total power loss.
Thankfully, some attractions remained open while other rides, stores, and even bathrooms shut down for a time.
The fact that the power went out on different days is rather alarming. The second time was actually worse, as less than five rides remained operational.
Some rides coming back up with long waits and getting longer pic.twitter.com/NcztWkvORx
— Tricia Meyer (@sunshinetricia) June 10, 2021
Disney hasn’t announced the cause of the outages yet. I would imagine that some electricians are rerouting various power connections as we speak, though.
In other park news, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad at Magic Kingdom had closed for its planned renovation.
However, Disney didn’t perform the significant maintenance that had been under discussion recently.
So, this roller coaster was actually running again on Saturday, June 12th – a day earlier than Magic Kingdom had scheduled its return.
In Disneyland news, Avengers Campus continues to struggle with the shocking demand.
Mobile Ordering users were reporting pre-noon sellouts for the entire day! Park officials have taken some steps.
The most significant one is to task users to wait until they’re in Avengers Campus before ordering.
You may wonder why demand was so high, and it’s hysterical. Some folks placed orders so that they would have an excuse to enter Avengers Campus.
Yes, they tried to skip the line this way. The new rule is Disney’s way of saying, “Nope, that won’t work. So, don’t bother.”
Disney Miscellany
Disney fans should be aware of a new feature coming to Apple SharePlay. It’ll allow Disney+ users to stream shows and movies while using FaceTime.
You could be watching Loki with friends right now! However, before you do that, you should watch this trailer:
https://twitter.com/Ubisoft/status/1403807210644328450
Oh yes, an Avatar game is coming to next-generation videogame consoles. It’s gonna look soooo shiny!
Feature Image: Disney