Month: December 2021

Typhoon Lagoon to Re-Open Next Week

Walt Disney World has confirmed that it’s Typhoon Lagoon water park is scheduled to re-open January 2nd.

Blizzard Beach was expected to close on December 26th for its annual refurbishment. This was pushed back to January 2nd in order to give Disney an operational water park prior to the re-opening of Typhoon Lagoon.

Disney had originally planned to re-open Typhoon Lagoon in late December, but delays to the refurbishment pushed that slightly back.

Typhoon Lagoon will also re-start Surf Programs, including the Learn to Surf and Private Surf Bookings. Guest can make bookings now.

Disney’s All Star Sports Resort Finally Gets a Re-Opening Date

Walt Disney World announced yesterday that they will re-open Disney’s All Star Sports resort on March 31, 2022

Guests will be able to make bookings for arrivals in March starting today December 22nd.

With the re-opening of Disney’s All Star Sports resort, Walt Disney World will have completed its phased re-opening of all of its resort hotels and will have all properties open for business in Florida.

2022 EPCOT International Flower & Garden Festival to Begin March 2, 2022

With the official start of winter is still a few days away, spring is already in the air because Walt Disney World has announced that the 2022 EPCOT International Flower & Garden Festival will open on March 2, 2022 and run for 125 days and end on July 4th, 2022.

Disney is busy producing topiaries, hanging baskets, flower towers along with planning fresh cuisine, colorful gardens, playful topiaries and vibrant entertainment.

There will be a new main entrance topiary display that will feature Goofy and a 50th-themed birthday cake since the festival will be taking place during the Walt Disney World Resort 50th Anniversary celebration.

There will also be other fan-favorite Disney Character topiaries such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs at the Germany pavilion or Lumiere and Cogsworth welcoming you to the recently expanded France pavilion.

It’s important to note that next year’s festival doesn’t carry the “Taste of” tag, so the conjecture is that we can expect a return of the full festival offerings.

The Garden Rocks Concert Series will be returning for the 2022 festival along with 18 Outdoor Kitchens. More details are coming soon on both on both of these.

Guests who attend the festival will also find blooming keepsakes including vibrant apparel, drinkware, accessories and more with new merchandise collections launching just in time for the event.

To experience the EPCOT International Flower & Garden Festival, guests must have both valid admission and a park reservation for EPCOT on the same date.

Disney Genie and Disney Genie+ Service Coming to Disneyland Resort on December 8th

Late yesterday Disneyland Resort announced that the Disney Genie service will be available at the Disneyland Resort beginning tomorrow December 8th.

The Disney Genie service will be built right into the existing Disneyland app, the service will offer new features to help guests create their best Disney day. All guests will need to make sure that they’ve downloaded the latest version of the Disneyland app and they need to make sure that their notification and location services are turned on so that they can get the most out of the app’s features.

At the Disneyland Resort the service will include:

Complimentary Disney Genie Features

The key part of the Disney Genie service are features like a personalized itinerary creator inspired by the things you tell Disney what you love, helping guests make the most of your park time so you can have more fun! Just tell Disney Genie your favorite things such as foodie experiences, must-do attractions, Super Heroes or princesses; experiences that make your Disneyland Resort day special, and Disney Genie does all the work to suggest fun options tailored to you.

The Disney Genie service will also offer other great features like a personal tip board to see your favorite attractions and dining options in one central place, and forecasted future attraction wait times, helping you predict the best time to visit during the day.

These features are designed to help guests spend less time waiting in line, enjoying more of what they love. The Disney Genie service will even work around your existing plans, even dining reservations!

Disney Genie does all the work behind the scenes and and will update your itinerary continually from morning to night so you can stay spontaneous and make the most of your time in the parks!

Ability to Access the new Lightning Lane Entrance

If guests have been to the Disneyland Resort recently, they may have noticed some new signs being installed for Lightning Lane entrances at a number of popular attractions. The Lightning Lane offers the convenience of saving you time waiting in line. Guests can access the Lightning Lane entrance for select attractions two ways:

1) Disney Genie+ service.

Disney Genie+ will be available for $20 per ticket per day, and allows guests to select the next available arrival window for Disney Genie+ Lightning Lane entrances at a variety of attractions, one at a time (subject to limited availability; limit one Lightning Lane selection per experience each day).

Disney Genie+ will also include unlimited Disney PhotoPass digital photo downloads from the day, as well as fun new audio experiences that let you discover the parks in cool new ways, through fascinating fun facts and behind-the-scenes insights.

Disney Genie+ service will be able to be purchased in the Disneyland app after guests have entered the park and have linked their park ticket. After December 8, guests will also be able to choose to purchase Disney Genie+ prior to their visit when you the park ticket is purchased. Guests can begin making Lightning Lane arrival window selections as soon as they enter a theme park!

AND/OR

2) Individual Lightning Lane Entrance Selection.

This new “a la carte” option allows the individual purchase of Lightning Lane entrance arrival windows for some of the most popular attractions: Radiator Springs Racers and WEB SLINGERS: A Spider-Man Adventure at Disney California Adventure park, and Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance at Disneyland park (subject to limited availability; attractions not included with Disney Genie+).

Pricing for the “a la carte” option will vary by date and attraction. Be sure to check the Disneyland app on the day of your visit for the latest pricing for each available Lightning Lane attraction entrance arrival window. If you choose this option, you may purchase the next available arrival window, one at a time, for up to two (2) attractions per day upon entering a theme park.

It’s important to note that guests can select one, both or none of these options.  Attractions will continue to offer a traditional standby queue, or a virtual queue may be used at select attractions. Check the Disneyland app for attraction queue status.

Disneyland’s ‘it’s a small world’ to Re-Open Next Week

According to ABC7 in Los Angeles Disneyland’s beloved “it’s a small world” attraction is expected to reopen next week, in time for Christmas.

A flood that occurred last month threatened to close “The Happiest Cruise that Ever Sailed” for the entire holiday season, but testing began this past Thursday.

Disneyland Resort officials had said that the repairs would normally would have taken months to fix, but crews have been working nonstop to get it done in about three weeks.

Even though the ride has been shutdown, the “it’s a small world” lighting ceremony has continued to take place nightly, and “It’s a Small World” projections have been an ongoing part of the park’s “Believe…In Holiday Magic” fireworks display.

Walt Disney World Announces that Parking Lot Trams are Returning

Last night Walt Disney World announced that parking trams will be returning to the Walt Disney World theme parks parking lots in a phased reopening.

According the announcement, parking lot trams for the Magic Kingdom will resume later in December 2021, with the other parks seeing a return throughout 2022.

Despite a lot of guest consternation, the trams have been out of service at all four of the theme parks since they re-opened in July of 2020 due to physical distancing requirements and labor shortages. Guests have been required to walk from their cars to the main entrances of each of the parks.