MickeyBlog News for January 2nd, 2023
As we enter 2023, Walt Disney World sneaks one new restaurant onto the list of new 2022 dining options.
We’ll talk about that, unprecedented Genie+ demand, and the Southwest Airlines debacle in the first MickeyBlog News of 2023!
Now Open: Carousel Coffee
One of the curiosities about Disney’s BoardWalk Inn is that it works as half of a joined pair.
Management expects guests to spend time at Disney’s BoardWalk while staying at the hotel.
Photo: Disney
For this reason, the BoardWalk Inn has never been big on internal dining options. Everyone just grabs something on the BoardWalk instead.
Well, the BoardWalk Inn just solved a longstanding problem by bending its rules a bit.
Now, guests can grab some coffee and snacks on the way out of the hotel.
Carousel Coffee has opened near the hotel lobby. This small coffeehouse serves everything guests need to start their day or replenish a bit.
At Carousel Coffee, you’ll find several kinds of Joffrey’s Coffee plus expressos and macchiatos. The place serves some Twinings Tea as well.
You can also grab-and-go various menu items likes salads, sandwich wraps, and non-alcoholic beverages.
MickeyBlog was first in the door for the grand opening the other day. Here are some pictures and videos we took at the restaurant.
Note that you can walk through the entire space in 10 seconds – no joke – as it’s a somewhat narrow, rectangular area.
However, the line never grew excessively long, even on opening morning. So, it’s an ideal way to start your day with a coffee fix.
The coffee prices start at $3.49 and max out at $5.49, making it reasonably priced, all things considered.
Of course, those of you who prefer Starbucks coffee will still need to enter EPCOT.
Connections Café remains your closest option. The walk will take about 15 minutes to reach from the hotel, plus however long you need to go through security and enter the park.
For this reason, Joffrey’s at Carousel Coffee is much easier, right?
The Southwest Airlines Debacle
Some stories make me so irrationally angry that I struggle to maintain neutrality. This is definitely one of them.
Photo: Getty
Southwest Airlines just ruined the holiday season for tens of thousands of people.
Here’s what happened. The weather took a sudden turn across the country.
Seriously, we had a wind chill of -10 here in East Tennessee. That’s one of the three worst cold spells I can ever recall in my area.
The sudden chill wreaked chaos on many holiday plans and impacted the travel industry. Still, most companies overcame the issues…but not Southwest.
(Photo by KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI / AFP via Getty Images)
An outdated communication system and other infrastructure issues created a cascade effect. Simply stated, Southwest wasn’t up to snuff technologically.
For this reason, the airline canceled most of its flights this past week. In the process, Southwest stranded countless customers.
So, a bunch of Disney fans found themselves stuck in Orlando for substantially longer than they’d anticipated.
Image: OrlandoAirports.net
Obviously, that’s not the worst place to get stranded, but the stress undid some of the joy of being at Disney.
Suddenly, these holiday vacations turned significantly more expensive due to unexpected extra days.
The New York Times has posted a detailed explanation of what happened. It’ll make you see red.
Credit: Breeze Airways
The central takeaway is that Delta, American Airlines, and United Airlines canceled less than 40 flights each due to the weather.
Southwest’s single-day totals were in the 2,500 range. There were flight crews who couldn’t even find out what they were supposed to do since Southwest stranded them, too.
If you were a tourist who got stranded this past week due to his nightmare, you have my sympathy.
Photo: Yahoo finance
If you were a MickeyTravels agent or another kindly person who helped someone get one, I thank you. We had some big heroes this week.
The Big Park Stories
We’ve got two theme park stories this week that bear special attention. One occurred at Disneyland.
As I’ve always said, Christmas Week is always the most crowded time at Walt Disney World and Disneyland.
We’ve got objective data to support the argument this week. For the first time ever, Disneyland Resort sold out its entire allotment of Disney Genie+.
As a reminder, when Disney introduced the service, this wasn’t even supposed to be possible. Nobody ever expected demand to reach these levels.
Photo: Disney
That’s exactly what happened on December 27th, though. Then, it happened again on December 28th…and December 29th.
I’m not joking. Disney Genie+ had never sold out before now, but then it happened for three consecutive days!
The other seemingly innocuous story involves Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith.
This attraction will close for several months for refurbishment starting on February 20th, 2023.
Credit: Disney
Thus far, Disney has indicated nothing about a quick re-theme or the like. As far as we know, it’ll return in the summer 2023.
However, a longstanding issue involving Aerosmith lead singer Steven Tyler has just become radioactive again.
Photo: Deadline.com
This topic isn’t very Disney, so I won’t get into the specifics. However, you can read all about the lawsuit here.
I recently discussed some potential Disney attraction re-themes, and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster made the list.
Given the negative headlines that will occur during this lawsuit, Disney may choose to cut ties. It’d be easy to re-theme to something else.
After all, Disneyland Paris just did the same thing with Avengers Assemble: Flight Force, which had previously been the Aerosmith ride.
Photo: AirMagic.com
So, this story appears innocent based on what Disney has confirmed thus far. It could get exciting, though. Stay tuned!
Have a wonderful New Year and a great 2023, my many loves!
Photo: MickeyBlog
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