MickeyBlog News for November 15th, 2021
Disneyland and Magic Kingdom both debuted their holiday events this week.
Meanwhile, Disney’s CEO, Bob Chapek, revealed some fascinating details about the current state of theme parks.
We’ll talk about these things and some character greetings in today’s MickeyBlog News.
Disney Very Merriest After Hours
Mickey’s Very Christmas Party isn’t coming back, at least not this year. Instead, Disney has replaced it with a new after-hours experience.
This past week, Magic Kingdom unveiled its new event, Disney Very Merriest After Hours.
MickeyBlog was on the scene to capture some of the best moments.
Most importantly, Main Street, U.S.A. hosted a full-fledged parade for the first time in 18 months.
We didn’t watch a Cavalcade or a modified version of a previous parade at this event. Instead, we watched Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmastime Parade in all its splendor.
Character greetings have returned as well, albeit with some practical social distancing rules in place.
Here are some photos of Santa Claus holding court at Magic Kingdom.
Because he’s always a good little boy, Santa gets his own gazebo at Liberty Square. By the way, that’s not the only spot you’ll find him at Walt Disney World. Keep reading!
The decorations for Disney Very Merriest After Hours wowed our staff, reminding us how beautiful Magic Kingdom looks when properly decorated.
MickeyBlog also livestreamed from the event. As always, you should follow our Facebook feed so that you never miss an event.
Doesn’t Main Street, U.S.A. look gorgeous? No, Orlando didn’t have any snow that day. That’s pure Disney magic right there.
If you want to watch a longer clip, Magical News Live hosted a six-hour stream of the event. You can see it here:
Disneyland Merriest Nites
The Happiest Place on Earth also debuted its new after-hours event, Disneyland Merriest Nites.
Disney officials could do no wrong here, as all events sold out before opening night for the first one!
Still, Disneyland fans have been kinda cranky lately due to annual pass changes, Park Pass limitations, and other aggravations.
So, a lot was at stake despite the massive pre-sales for Disneyland Merriest Nites.
Fortunately, management knocked this one out of the park, as the after-hours celebration opened to glowing reviews.
Fans saved the highest praise for the new Muppets Christmas Caroling Coach stole people’s hearts.
You can watch the full performance of the first show here:
Give Disney credit. That’s an instant hit right there! It’s ten minutes of pure joy!
New food and merchandise were also available to party guests. Here’s Magic Journeys trying all of it.
Their smiles speak volumes, don’t they? Disneyland closed more than a year ago, and its loyal fans needed a win.
Disneyland Merriest Nites gave everyone that win. Also, I NEED those Pot Roast Loaded Fries in my life.
All the Candlelight Processional Narrators
While Disney has introduced those two new after-hours events this year, an old favorite will return soon.
EPCOT’s Candlelight Processional comes back on November 26th. We already knew who some of the narrators would be for this event.
However, Disney recently updated with the full schedule. Here are the narrators you can watch this holiday season:
- Auli’i Cravalho
- November 26th through November 28th
- Chita Rivera
- November 29th through December 1st
- Jodi Benson
- December 2nd through December 4th
- Alton Fitzgerald White
- December 5th through December 7th
- Bart Millard
- December 8th through December 10th
- Lisa Ling
- December 11th through December 13th
- Andy Garcia
- December 14th through December 16th
- Ana Gasteyer
- December 17th through December 19th
- Courtney B. Vance
- December 20th through December 22nd
- Steven Curtis Chapman
- December 23rd through December 25th
- Blair Underwood
- December 26th through December 28th
- Pat Sajak
- December 29th through December 30th
Please understand that these events book completely on most nights. Therefore, if you want to watch a show, you must arrive quite early.
Alternatively, you may book a Candlelight Processional Dining Package at one of four participating restaurants.
- Biergarten Restaurant ($62 for adults, $35 for children)
- Coral Reef Restaurant ($74 for adults, $25 for children)
- Garden Grill Restaurant ($71 for adults, $46 for children)
- Rose & Crown Dining Room ($63 for adults, $25 for children)
You can theoretically book these reservations up to 60 days in advance…but the calendar indicates that’s impossible. So, look now if you want this package!
Disney Park News
As mentioned, Bob Chapek and some of his employees held the quarterly earnings call to wrap up fiscal 2021.
During the conversation, we learned two important details about the parks. The first is that per-guest spending has improved by nearly 30 percent in two years.
As a reminder, that timeframe encompasses the entire pandemic and a bit before then.
Disney ostensibly should have seen a decline due to any number of negative factors.
Instead, all the company’s much-derided price increases have led to a more sustainable business model…as long as Disney doesn’t lose customers.
The most interesting price increase is Disney Genie+, which Chapek indicated has sold reasonably well.
Nearly one-third of guests have purchased the paid service to skip most of the lines. That’s a reasonable number if it holds over the long haul.
Disney also reported that 40 percent of its new Magic Key sales have gone to new customers.
In other words, people who hadn’t previously owned annual passes at Disneyland are purchasing two out of five Magic Keys.
That’s music to Disney’s ears, as is the knowledge that the Dream Key, the top tier of the Magic Key program, sold out in just two months!
In other park news, Minnie Mouse will return to Red Carpet Dreams at Disney’s Hollywood Studios on November 19th.
Mickey Mouse will appear as a character greeting at Magic Eye Theater in EPCOT on that same date.
Disney Springs fans should also know that Santa Claus is now appearing. If you want to meet with him, you must join a virtual queue.
This step saves everyone the aggravation of standing in a line that can grow quite long. So, it’s a welcome addition.
Finally, the Tam Tam Drummers have returned to Disney’s Animal Kingdom! All is right with the world!