MickeyBlog News for February 20th, 2023
Friends, we just experienced another week jam-packed with Disney news.
I’m gonna go fast because there’s so much to cover in the latest MickeyBlog News!
Photo: Disney
Disneyland News
Let’s start at the Happiest Place on Earth, where one dynamic character greeting has already started!
Photo: Disney
Yes, guests can meet Moon Girl and her BFF, Devil Dinosaur. I feel compelled to say that Moon Girl’s outfit is the shiniest thing ever!
Take a look:
Moon Girl has arrived at DCA! #MoonGirlAndDevilDinosaur pic.twitter.com/toA0U1aW2Q
— Patrick Dougall (@PatrickADougall) February 15, 2023
With those glasses, she’s like a walking Hubble Telescope!
Of course, Moon Girl isn’t the only character you’ll find at Avengers Campus. Another one is coming soon, and he’s terrifying!
Yes, Kang the Conqueror will take up residence at DCA. Specifically, you’ll meet the version from Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.
@disneyparks It’s time! Kang the Conqueror has made his way to #AvengersCampus at #DisneysCaliforniaAdventure 👀 #DisneyParks #Disneyland #Disney #Villain #Avengers #Anaheim #AntMan #Wasp
Disney describes this Kang encounter as a limited-time engagement.
Based on what we know of the multiverse, I suspect this won’t be the last we see of Kang, though!
Photo: Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG
Also appearing at Disneyland the other day was…Patrick Mahomes II. The Super Bowl MVP celebrated his victory the right way!
In other park news, Disney just announced two new Disneyland After Dark events, both of which you’ll likely want to attend.
The headline grabber is Star Wars Nite, which definitely sounds familiar to old-school Disney’s Hollywood Studios fans.
If you’re like me and miss Star Wars Weekends, this is the next best thing! You can enjoy Star Wars Nite on May 2nd, 4th, 8th, and 11th.
I strongly suspect one of those dates will prove more popular than the others, even though they’re all likely to sell out.
Before then, you can spend April at Throwback Nite. Imagine Dapper Day as a paid after-hour event, and you get the gist of this one.
Photo:Dapper Days
Disneyland Resort will host it on April 18th and 20th.
For more information, speak with a Diamond Level MickeyTravels agent.
Their services are free, and they know more about this stuff than you and I ever could.
Walt Disney World Park News
TRON Lightcycle / Run
We’ve got so much happening at Walt Disney World right now. First, Tron Lightcycle Power Run previews are well underway.
On Thursday, annual passholders and Disney Vacation Club members could sign up for the free previews.
As has become the norm recently, Disney’s tech struggled a bit due to the high volume of would-be Lightcyclists.
Thankfully, several people I know managed to book a ride on this roller coaster, which won’t officially open until April 4th.
Disney has also added a second batch of cast member previews, which is welcome news. Remember that some of the initial previews didn’t go well.
Riding TRON!
Critics maintain that Disney has designed the Tron Lightcycle Power Run ride carts too small, although the back seat works fine for everyone.
Notably, the new Mario Kart ride at Universal Studios Hollywood opened on Friday; it has faced the same complaints.
So, this is an evolving problem that theme park designers should examine more carefully.
TRON Lightcycle / Run
Speaking of Tron, a snack stand or merchandise shop has seemingly popped up overnight in the area.
While we’re on the subject of Tomorrowland, I’m also happy to report that Sonny Eclipse has returned at Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Café!
At Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Twilight Zone Tower of Terror is finally operating at full capacity again.
This should reduce wait times, at least once the President’s Day holiday ends.
At EPCOT, we’ve got two fun updates! First, Akoya Pearls has finally reopened at the Japan pavilion’s Mitsukoshi Department Store!
Then, there’s this:
@disneyparks The Muppets x Figment crossover we never knew we needed 🎆💜 #DisneyParks #Figment #EPCOT #Imagination #Gonzo #Walter #Ride #WDW #Disney
Dear Disney TikTok people: THIS is the content I crave!
Also, as we were preparing to post, Walt Disney World sold out Disney Genie+ for the first time ever. Expect this to become typical behavior on holiday weekends!
DVC News
We don’t cover Disney Vacation Club news often, but two aspects could impact your upcoming visits.
Most significantly, Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa spent half the pandemic building a connecting walkway to Magic Kingdom.
Now, Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort is constructing a new expansion tower.
This construction zone has forced the temporary closure of the Grand Floridian walkway. So, you shouldn’t expect to walk to the park from either of these resorts for the time being.
Remember that the monorail remains the best option anyway, though.
The other news involves One-Time-Use (OTU) Vacation Points. Disney allows DVC members to purchase up to 24 of these points annually.
If you have no idea what these are and haven’t joined DVC, none of this applies to you.
Photo: DVC
If you are a member, I’m about to annoy you with the knowledge that the cost of OTU points just increased from $19 to $22.
Yes, that’s a lot. Even worse, the change occurred immediately.
Disney suddenly increased the price by 16 percent on a random Thursday morning, which isn’t great.
Photo: Center Watch
Disney News
I’ve got three other stories to mention. The first is that Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania won the weekend box office crown.
Disney has dominated this title since the opening of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. In fact, Disney has won all but two weekends since its release.
Photo: Courtesy of Hollywood Records/Universal Music Canada
Yes, a lot of that happened due to Avatar: The Way of Water. Still, Quantumania started well with an opening week of $104 million domestically and $225 million worldwide.
As a word of warning, reviews are less than stellar, though. In truth, while I adored Kang, I thought the movie was lower-tier Marvel. I sincerely hope you like it more than I did!
Photo: Disney
Speaking of Disney releases, the studio just reconfigured its upcoming schedule. It made one modest change and one fairly shocking choice. Haunted Mansion has moved its release date to a sooner date, July 28th.
If that date sounds familiar, it should. Disney had previously reserved that date for The Marvels, the upcoming Captain Marvel sequel.
Photo: CNBC
Disney has delayed that project until November 10th. It’ll now debut around the same time that Wakanda Forever had in 2022.
This move does raise questions about Disney’s confidence in its other November release, Wish.
That’s a story to track, and a delay into 2024 for that project wouldn’t surprise me.
Photo: Disney
Finally, while we’re on the subject of all things Walt Disney, I should mention that you can sort of meet the man himself at Disney100: The Exhibition.
Disney has created a holographic version of Uncle Walt for this event!
Photo: MickeyBlog
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Feature Photo: Disney
