MickeyBlog News for December 19th, 2022
After Disney’s craziest year ever, things are starting to calm down. Now, the theme parks can finally get back to dominating the industry.
We’ll talk about lots of good news and big plans in the latest MickeyBlog News.
Disney Says Be Kind
I recently wrote an end-of-year article about Disney’s Strangest Stories of 2022 that will go live over the next week or so.
In researching that story, I found more than a dozen instances of absolutely unacceptable guest behavior at Disney theme parks.
For whatever reason, Disney guests have gotten crazier during the pandemic.
Not coincidentally, Disney just updated its official website with a Know Before You Go addition. Disney calls this section “Courtesy,” so yeah. They’ve noticed.
The new text states the following:
“Be the magic you want to see in the world. You must always remember to treat others with respect, kindness and compassion. Those who can’t live up to this simple wish may be asked to leave Walt Disney World Resort.”
Generally speaking, that’s just good life advice. The world got meaner for a while, and Disney is telling guests it expects them to return to pre-pandemic standards.
Disney also links to a list of Property Rules so that everyone knows what to expect when they visit.
MickeyBlog’s Melissa Roden thoughtfully posted the full list here. So, guests will know from now on what’s expected from them although almost all of it is common sense anyway.
In short, be nice.
DuckTales World Showcase Adventure Debuts
Today is bittersweet for Kim Possible and Phineas and Ferb fans.
From 2009 through 2020, these two beloved Disney Channel programs anchored an interactive attraction at EPCOT’s World Showcase.
First, guests played Kim Possible World Showcase Adventure, a scavenger hunt throughout the various EPCOT pavilions.
In 2012, Disney transitioned to a new intellectual property. At that point, the game became Agent P’s World Showcase Adventure. It was mostly the same, though.
Participating guests received interactive controllers akin to remotes that provided mission intel. Then, they would decipher clues to unlock puzzles.
In 2016, Disney added smartphone access, which is how the overwhelming majority of people have played since then.
Alas, both Disney programs stopped airing new episodes. So, park officials switched IPs to keep the game fresh.
In late 2019, Disney announced similar plans for a new iteration. It would have arrived in the summer of 2020. Disney ended the Agent P game on February 16th, 2020.
Remember the pandemic that occurred less than a month later? Yeah, that sank the plans for an Agent P replacement until now.
Thankfully, after a 30-month delay, we finally have the new thing.
DuckTales World Showcase Adventure is now up and running at EPCOT!
MickeyBlog has already had the opportunity to play the new version.
As an FYI, you’ll need to download the Play Disney Parks app to participate. Since Disney park Wi-Fi can be hit-or-miss, I strongly encourage you to download it ahead of time.
From there, the game plays out as you remember from the previous iterations.
If you read the MickeyBlog article, we’ve posted videos of gameplay from the Mexico pavilion portion. It looks like a LOT of fun!
Most importantly, parents once again have a fun way to distract their kids at the World Showcase.
Refurb Season at Disney
During the chaotic post-pandemic era at Disney theme parks, some much-needed enhancements haven’t happened yet..
Tourists have flocked to Disney now that they can travel and socially gather again. So, park officials needed everything operational as much as possible.
Meanwhile, longtime Disney fans have started posting images of various rehabs that the parks need.
Well, I’m happy to report that refurb season is arriving soon, and it’ll include a comical number of improvements.
Historically, Disney has chosen the first quarter of the New Year as renovation time. That’s when park attendance is lowest.
Also, several wet/cold rides won’t be popular during this time of year anyway. For this reason, Disney performs wide-reaching repairs then.
Park officials have confirmed that Kali River Rapids will follow this trajectory, which is typical for the raft ride.
Starting on January 9th, the splash attraction will close for an undetermined length of time. It likely won’t stay down that long, though, since Disney has the Splash Mountain closure looming.
Speaking of which, Splash Mountain’s neighbor, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, will undergo a quick refurb from January 9th through January 13th.
Disney absolutely cannot have that attraction offline when Splash Mountain closes. Fans would lose their ever-loving minds.
Two other Walt Disney World locations will undergo 2023 enhancements.
Winter Summerland will remain operational in January, but it’ll only offer one available course at times.
From January 17th – January 23rd, the Summer Course will undergo improvements. Then, the Winter Course gets its rehab from January 24th – January 30th.
We don’t know full details about the other refurb yet, but Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa plans to update its hotel lobby next summer. That should be interesting.
Meanwhile, at Disneyland, Disney has announced that Mickey’s PhilharMagic will temporarily close on January 23rd.
Disney Miscellany
First, let’s offer our congratulations to the geniuses at Walt Disney Imagineering. The company turned 70 on December 16th!
In tribute to this achievement, Disney posted this video:
If that doesn’t make you appreciate Imagineering, nothing will.
In other news, Disney revealed the opening timeline for Rodeo Roundup BBQ. It’s not ideal but also unsurprising. The restaurant won’t open until the spring of 2023.
Fortunately, that’s only a few months away from now, but Disney had previously indicated that it would debut in 2022.
You can look at the calendar and tell that was never gonna happen.
Speaking of the spring, Disney has confirmed that Harmonious will end soon.
The official website includes Harmonious on the “Don’t Miss Your Chance to See…” page.
So, a reasonable guess would be that Harmonious departs around the same time as the 50th-anniversary celebration ends at Walt Disney World.
Hopefully, Disney tears down that eyesore of a barge the following day.
Finally, in tragic news, Stephen Boss, the celebrity nicknamed tWitch, died this week.
Disney fans know Boss best as the co-host of Disney’s Fairytale Weddings on Disney+.
MickeyBlog extends our condolences to his family, including Boss’ wife, Allison Holker, who co-hosted Fairytale Weddings with him.
Don’t forget to hug your loved ones this holiday season, my friends. You never know who might need it the most.
Thanks for visiting MickeyBlog.com! Want to go to Disney? For a FREE quote on your next Disney vacation, please fill out the form below and one of the agents from MickeyTravels, a Platinum level Authorized Disney Vacation Planner, will be in touch soon!
Feature Photo: Disney