Farewell Splash Mountain at Walt Disney World

Photo courtesy of Blog Mickey

Well the day has finally come, Splash Mountain is now closed at Walt Disney World for its transformation into Tiana’s Bayou Adventure opening in 2024. On its last day, Splash Mountain reached waits of up to 220 minutes as fans rushed to get their last ride ever. Disneyland’s Splash Mountain will eventually close as well, although no date has been announced yet. Part of me believes it will close next month around the time the French Market closes to become Tiana’s Palace.

Photo courtesy of WDWNT

Park maps were updated today (January 23rd, 2023) with the Tiana Bayou Adventure logo over the previous Splash Mountain spot advertising that it is coming in 2024.

Do you have any favorite memories or pictures of your time on Splash Mountain you would like to share? Please put them in the comments below! Are you excited to ride Tiana’s Bayou Adventure next year? Let us know down below!

NOTE: Be kind and courteous in the comments, ANY rude comments WILL be deleted, thank you!

Advertisement

Peoplemover at Magic Kingdom To Get an Extensive Refurb

VIDEO: Take a 360° Ride on the Tomorrowland Transit Authority ...

Earlier this year the Tomorrowland Peoplemover was having several issues that led to multiple unexpected down times. That had caused Disney to close the attraction up until the eventual theme park closure which closed due to covid-19.

Well the theme parks have reopened, but the peoplemover is still closed and many guests have been wondering why the attraction has not been open recently. Well according to insiders, Blog Mickey, and Cast Members at the entrance of the attraction, Disney has decided to a full refurb of the attraction starting soon and lasting for nearly two months.

During this refurb Disney will replace every single LIM (Linear Induction Motor) along the track and these motors are custom made leading the ride to be down for a pretty extensive time period. At one point it was also rumored that the scenes inside the attraction were going to be updated for Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary, but due to budget cuts those additions have been cancelled, so this will be a purely maintenance based refurb.

Walt Disney World Ticket Sales and Hotel Bookings Resume Tomorrow for 2020!

After an underwhelming response for existing ticket holders on the Parks Pass Reservation System, Disney has just announced that they will be resuming new ticket sales and hotel bookings starting July 9th.

There is high demand from Annual Passholders, suggesting that for potentially years to come Walt Disney World and Disneyland will have to focus on the local market as much as possible. Disneyland should have no problem with that, but Disney World may see a bit of an issue.

I also think they should only sell park hopper tickets at least in Disneyland or allow park hopping for annual passholders. What do you guys think? Let me know in the comments below!

RUMOR: Disney World and Disneyland To Not Use Virtual Queues Initially

According to several sources and cast members Disney will not be using virtual queues for attractions at Disney World and most likely Disneyland upon reopening. This includes the mega popular Rise of the Resistance attraction where at both parks spots for the attraction in the virtual queue would fill up in mere seconds.

Disney has stated that they will also be temporarily eliminating Fastpass+, Fastpass (Disneyland), and Single Rider queues upon the reopening of the theme parks. Disney will use the Fastpass + and Fastpass queues as extended space for the Standby queue to practice social distancing.

What do you think of this decision? How long will it be before you visit the theme parks? Disney World will open in phases between July 11th and July 15th and Disneyland is proposed to reopen July 17th in time for its 65th anniversary.

BREAKING: Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom Proposing to Reopen On July 11th, Hollywood Studios and Epcot July 15th

It was just announced that Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom are proposing to reopen July 11th with Hollywood Studios and Epcot to reopen July 15th. There will be a required reservation system.

Photo By Disney

All guests will be required to wear facemasks. Capacity will be reduced throughout the parks and at all retail stores and eateries. Increased sanitation will be present as well as temperature screenings and social distancing. All restaurant and stores will have plexiglass and contactless payments. Parades, fireworks, and shows will be temporarily suspended.

Disney plans to have great communication for guests and cast members.

Here are some examples of social distancing and safety signage:

Will you be attending on opening week? Let me know in the comments below!

Disney Springs To Begin Phased Reopening May 20th!

NEWS: Disney Springs Parking Garage Re-Opens for Cast Members ...

Just as I mentioned on my livestream yesterday, I was hearing that Disney Springs and Universal Citywalk would begin reopening this month. I keep hearing Citywalk is slated to partially reopen May 11th and it is now confirmed that Disney Springs will partially reopen May 20th.

The shopping district will reopen with limited capacity for dining and parking as well as reduced operating hours. I encourage you to check disneysprings.com as the date nears for more information on hours and what stores and restaurants will be open. Guests will be required to wear a face covering when dining or shopping.

Bob Iger Takes Over Takes Control of CEO Bob Chapek’s Duties During Pandemic

If you were wondering why Bob Chapek has been so silent ever since he became CEO we now have an answer as to why. The New York Times did an article covering Disney during the past few weeks from the leadership changes to COVID-19 to the future of the company when everything resumes normal operation.

Here is a snippet of the article that explains Iger taking back the reigns as CEO of Disney:

“And now, Mr. Iger has effectively returned to running the company. After a few weeks of letting Mr. Chapek take charge, Mr. Iger smoothly reasserted control, BlueJeans video call by BlueJeans video call. (Disney does not use Zoom for its meetings for security reasons.)

The new, nominal chief executive is referred to, almost kindergarten style, as “Bob C,” while Mr. Iger is still just “Bob.” And his title is “executive chairman” — emphasis on the first word.

Mr. Iger is now intensely focused on remaking a company that will emerge, he believes, deeply changed by the crisis. The sketch he has drawn for associates offers a glimpse at the post-pandemic future: It’s a Disney with fewer employees, leading the new and uncertain business of how to gather people safely for entertainment.”

In my opinion, I think Chapek was never a good decision for CEO as he definitely has more of a middle management style to him than a CEO type of vibe. For example, take a look at the past D23. Chapek seemed very uninspired when talking about the future projects and you can tell he was clearly reading from a teleprompter. By contrast, Iger was clearly excited and passionate while talking about projects such as Galaxy’s Edge. I feel that the Disney company is in much more secure shape with Iger taking back the reigns.

Iger is planning multiple strategies as how to handle this pandemic and the future of the company as described below:

Mr. Iger, meanwhile, is trying to figure out what the company will look like after the crisis. One central challenge is to establish best practices for the company and the industry on how to bring people back to the parks and rides while avoiding the virus’s spread — using measures like taking visitors’ temperatures.

Mr. Iger also sees this as a moment, he has told associates, to look across the business and permanently change how it operates. He’s told them that he anticipates ending expensive old-school television practices like advertising upfronts and producing pilots for programs that may never air. Disney is also likely to reopen with less office space. He’s also told two people that he anticipated the company having fewer employees. (Mr. Iger said in an email on Sunday evening that he had “no recollection of ever having said” that he expected a smaller work force. “Regardless, any decision about staff reductions will be made by my successor and not me,” he added.)”

As Iger said, I can see a future where initially Disney checks temperatures and reduces capacity when first opening the parks. I can also see them having a significant reduction in office space (like most companies probably will) because companies are realizing they do not need as many people in an office due to things such as telecommuting and being more efficient.

What do you think of this developing situation? Who do you want to be the CEO of Disney?

Disney Purchases Additional Land Near The Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World

Photo Courtesy of WDWNT

Disney announced today that they purchased an additional 26.2 acres of land near the Magic Kingdom. It is not known what this land will be used for, but there could be a variety of reasons.

One of them could be land protection. Disney most likely has no plans to build on this land anytime soon due to their current financial situation, but land is good forever so they could just keep it and use it for a future use in years to come.

The other reason could be for land conservancy. Due to a deal Disney has with Florida, they have to keep a certain amount of open space. If they decide to build something on land that was previously open space, then they must buy more land or demolish something to get back to that open space goal.

What do you think Disney is planning to do with this newly acquired land? What do you think they should do with it?

People Mover at Magic Kingdom Comes to a Halt

The Tomorrowland Transit Authority at the Magic Kingdom has been temporarily closed since 1pm yesterday.

Photo courtesy of wdwnt

This sign was put up by cast members today stating that the attraction will not be reopening today and it is unknown when the attraction will be reopen. It also unknown if this has anything to do with the electrical fire the attraction experienced last year or the incident a few weeks ago where two trains collided.

This has been a very rough week for the Magic Kingdom and Disney World in general as incidents have happened at the Contemporary Resort, Jungle Cruise, and the Haunted Mansion.

Jungle Cruise Boat Sinks With Guests at Walt Disney World

This afternoon guests aboard the Jungle Cruise at the Magic Kingdom were in for a bit of a surprise as their boat started to sink while touring the jungle.

Photo courtesy of WDWNT
Photo Courtesy of WDWNT

All of the guests were okay and the water pathways are very shallow so hopefully nobody got too drenched. Disney has not stated the cause of the sinking, but the attraction is running normally again.