MickeyBlog News for March 6th, 2023

This past week, EPCOT hosted its latest festival, Disney Princesses returned to a familiar spot, a new puppet appeared at It’s a Small World, and…something else happened.

Welcome to another wild week in MickeyBlog News!

The Food & Wine Festival Begins

My friends, I am begging you to follow MickeyBlog on social media.

I say this because we had the most comprehensive coverage possible on the first day of the 2023 EPCOT International Flower & Garden Festival.

Flower & Garden Festival

Seriously, we posted dozens of stories, reels, and Tiktoks:

Along the way, we chronicled the opening of the most ambitious Flower & Garden Festival to date. Just check out these Encanto topiaries!

EPCOT is hosting this year’s event through July 5^th. However, we’ve already gotten a look at this year’s food booths and merchandise.

We posted the complete list of Outdoor Kitchens and highlighted a few incredible products like this one and this one.

The Garden Rocks concert series is also well underway. Here is this year’s lineup of musicians. That’s right! You could watch Daughtry tonight! Yay?

Remember that Garden Rocks dining packages remain available for many nights. They’ll guarantee you good seats to Daughtry!

You have three full months to experience this year’s Flower & Garden Festival.

Photo: Disney

So, be sure to speak with a MickeyTravels agent to find the best possible price on a Disney vacation.

Even though these Authorized Disney Travel Planners have reached Diamond level, the highest possible status, their services remain entirely free to you!

Reedy Creek Ends

As the song goes, every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.

The Flower & Garden Festival started just as a Disney legislative act from the 1960s came to an end.

Florida’s legislature had previously voted to dissolve the Reedy Creek Improvement District.

As we said at the time last year, that proved to be a terrible idea, as it would have cost taxpayers $1 billion.

Photo: Fox Business

Instead, Florida voted again this year. Now, the de facto government entity has changed names and voting practices.

The new version, the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District (CFTOD), went into effect immediately.

Photo: The Business Journal

As part of the historic change, Florida eliminated Disney’s ability to appoint its own members to the district board.

So, the new people theoretically in charge of Walt Disney World governance are Martin Garcia, Bridget Ziegler, Brian Aungst Jr., Michael A. Sasso, and Ron Peri.

Photo: Spectrum News 13

Theoretically, Florida just removed Disney’s ability to self-govern, although that’s overstating the matter.

Disney officials deftly gave themselves the power to expand a highway during the final meeting of the former Reedy Creek.

Photo: Fox Business

Before that, the previous board members empowered Disney with the ability to build some minor projects like a water park/hotel and even a fifth theme park.

Disney’s bigger concern here isn’t governance inasmuch as the new panel members will almost assuredly behave wildly during early CFTOD meetings to grab more attention.

Photo: WKMG ClickOrlando

In other words, Disney’s continued inconvenience here involves cyclical negative headlines rather than park operations.

That statement may change over time as Disney requires new permits and the like. We’re in wait-and-see mode on that part of the conversation.

Photo Credit: https://www.worldofwalt.com/disney-private-government-disneys-reedy-creek-improvement-district.html

Still, the story here is that Reedy Creek isn’t dead per se, but the current Florida legislature has forcibly re-themed it.

The Disney Princesses Return!

Here, enjoy the Happiest TikTok on Earth this past week:

Yes, that’s MickeyBlog’s Miranda and Ed dining at Cinderella’s Royal Table…with friends!

I’m happy to report that after a nearly three-year absence, the Disney Princesses have returned to Cinderella’s Royal Table. Yes, it’s a true character meal once again!

During the pandemic, Disney suffered through the so-called Princess Crisis, as the company struggled to staff some of its face character roles.

The Great Resignation and other factors led to a staffing crisis at Walt Disney World.

Photo: Greg Angel/Spectrum News 13

To the company’s credit, Disney stubbornly refused to lower its standards for casting its face characters. So, we had a shortage of Disney Princesses for a while.

The return of Ariel, Aurora, Jasmine, and Snow White definitely made the experience feel more fulfilling.

By the way, Ed had a busy couple of days. He also visited Chef Mickey’s for breakfast the previous morning. What was the story there, you ask?

Disney brought back the buffet for the first time since March 2020!

This turn of events makes me look like an idiot, as I thought buffets might be gone for good. I shouldn’t be allowed to talk to people.

To a larger point, the changes at Chef Mickey’s and Cinderella’s Royal Table leave only one previous character meal/buffet absent from Walt Disney World’s current lineup.

Photo: Disney

We’re still awaiting word on 1900 Park Fare, which a manager point-blank told me would open this spring.

Since then, Disney has apparently decided to update the restaurant’s look as one of the final renovations to Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa.

Disney Miscellany

The iconic It’s a Small World attraction at Magic Kingdom got even better this past week.

Overnight, Disney added a diversity doll to the experience. Eagle-eyed patrons will notice that one of the characters sits in a wheelchair now.

Walt Disney World added a new doll in a wheelchair on “It’s a small world” ❤️🥰 #disneyworld #magickingdom #disney pic.twitter.com/IyuVQ6fTj0

— MickeyBlog.com (@MickeyBlog_) March 2, 2023

The best part is that Imagineers painted the wheels such that it perfectly matches the other décor of the scene. Isn’t this splendid?

In less predictable news, Walt Disney World’s water park cycling will continue this month.

Photo: Disney

On March 19^th, two weeks from now, Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon will reopen after its latest batch of refurbishments.

The surprise involves, Disney’s Blizzard Beach, which just returned in November after an extended absence.

Olaf

Apparently, that water park already needs additional renovations. So, it will close for a while starting on…March 19^th.

Yes, yet again, Disney will switch water park operations, meaning we still haven’t had both water parks open simultaneously during the pandemic.

In Disney Springs news, Cirque du Soleil has revealed that Drawn to Life will add new acts.

The updated list of entertainers performs feats of strength, daring maneuvers involving hoops, and something called “flying guitarists.” I kinda have to see that.

Photo: Cirque de Soleil

Finally, in Downtown Disney news, you can’t keep Earl of Sandwich down for long! Now, it’s back…and twice as good as ever!

Disney has added a tavern Quick Service concept in addition to a standard Earl of Sandwich as the entertainment district continues its transformation.

We eating good this year, Disneyland fanatics!

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