Tag: Walt Disney World

Disneyland and Walt Disney World Halt Annual Passholder Payments

by socalthemeparkwizard, posted in Uncategorized

Disney released some new information regarding annual passholders in their updated travel and information page. The main changes are that if you have already paid your pass in FULL then you will get an extension of your expiration date by however many days the parks are closed. If you do not want an extension you can request a partial refund on however many months you still have left to go on your pass.

If you are doing the MONTHLY PAYMENT PLAN then:

Monthly payments will be waived for the length of the closure.

Payments made between March 14th through April 4th will be refunded.

You will not get an automatic extension on your pass.

You may choose to extend their pass the length of the closure and pay the amount at a later date.

The full statement released by Disney is below:

Photo courtesy of disneyland.com

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

by socalthemeparkwizard, posted in Uncategorized
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

by socalthemeparkwizard, posted in Uncategorized

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.

France Expansion Added to EPCOT Map

by socalthemeparkwizard, posted in Uncategorized
Photo Courtesy of Blog Mickey

An updated map was installed by Disney for the start to EPCOT’s International Flower and Garden Festival. In this new map you can see that the France expansion has been added and that includes the Ratatouille ride as well as the new courtyard and crepery.

This year’s Flower and Garden Festival runs through June 1st and since these new expansions are on the map it is highly likely that the area before the Festival ends. On May 26th Spaceship Earth will be going under an extensive two year refurb and opening the expanded France pavilion could be a great way to supplement that closure.

Are you excited for the new expansion? Let me know in the comments below and follow this blog for constant theme park updates!

Women Jumps From Walt Disney World Resort

by socalthemeparkwizard, posted in Uncategorized

Earlier today there was a heavy police presence at Walt Disney World’s Contemporary Resort. It was reported a woman jumped from the window of the resort in an apparent suicide. At around 4pm EST the police were called to the area. There is no more information to provide at this time, but this story will be updated as more news develops. This is the latest in a string of weird incidents at the Walt Disney World Resort including a major breakdown on the Haunted Mansion that occurred last night.

Image result for contemporary resort

Haunted Mansion at Walt Disney World Closed Indefinitely

by socalthemeparkwizard, posted in Uncategorized
Photo Courtesy of WDW News Today

Last night at about 9:30 PM EST, the Haunted Mansion was abruptly closed to the public for an unknown reason with cast members stating that they did not know when it was going to reopen. Today photos on social media as well as guest evacuated from the attraction confirm that something was horribly wrong with the omnimover ride system.

Photos posted to social media show the doombuggies (ride vehicles) faced the complete opposite direction in several locations of the attraction. For example in the attic scene the doombuggies usually go on a slope in reverse, but this time they were going down the slope face forward which was quite uncomfortable for riders.

Photo Courtesy of Blog Mickey

It is unclear what caused the rift in the omnimover system, but here’s hoping they can get it fixed sooner rather than later before the Spring Break crowds start to arrive at the resort. This comes after a recent string of bad luck for the Walt Disney World resort where a Jungle Cruise boat sank, a heavy police presence, and today a women unfortunately was killed when she jumped from the Contemporary Resort.

Jungle Cruise Boat Sinks With Guests at Walt Disney World

by socalthemeparkwizard, posted in Uncategorized

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.

Disneyland Resort Increases Ticket Prices

by socalthemeparkwizard, posted in Uncategorized

It is that time of year again, Disney has released ticket price increases overnight for Disneyland and soon Walt Disney World. Due to soft attendance last year, the increases were small to modest, but still increases nonetheless. The biggest change came to the pricing structure. Disneyland got rid of the (Value, Regular, Peak) tickets and introduced a five tier system.

Ticket TypeOriginalNew
1 Day – 1 Park$104, 129, 149 (Value, Regular, Peak)$104, 114, 124, 139, 154 (Tiers 1 – 5)
1 Day – Park Hopper$154, 179, 199 (Value, Regular, Peak)$159, 169, 179, 194, 209 (Tiers 1 – 5)
2 Day$225$235
2 Day with Park Hopper$280$290
3 Day$300$310
3 Day with Park Hopper$355$365
4 Day$325$340
4 Day with Park Hopper$380$395
5 Day$340$360
5 Day with Park Hopper$395$415

New annual pass prices are below as well.

Pass TypeOriginalNew
Select$399$419
Flex$599$649
Deluxe$799$829
Signature$1149$1199
Signature Plus$1399$1449
Premier$2099$2119

Now fear not as my Disneyland Discount deal is still the same price as well as is the one for SoCal residents. You also hace 10 more days to purchase your tickets at the old prices right here!

What do you think of these new price increases? Will you be going to the parks or getting an annual pass anytime soon?

Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway Marquee Installed at Disney’s Hollywood Studios

by socalthemeparkwizard, posted in Uncategorized
Photo Courtesy of WDWNT

Walt Disney Imagineers last night installed the marquee sign for Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway. The ride is set to open March 4th, which is less than a month from now so things are really getting into high gear in terms of finishing touches during this home stretch. To check out a scene by scene layout of the attraction click right here!

This attraction replaced The Great Movie Ride and will be the first ever attraction based on Mickey and Minnie in any Disney park! Are you excited to ride this ride next month? Will you be riding it? What do you think of the final look of the marquee? Let me know in the comments below and follow this blog for constant Disney updates!

Millennium Falcon Smuggler’s Run to Offer Fastpass+ at Walt Disney World

by socalthemeparkwizard, posted in Uncategorized

Starting February 19th Smuggler’s Run at Walt Disney World will begin offering Fastpass. Guests are currently able to make a Fastpass+ reservation on the My Disney Experience app. This ride will be in the same tier as Slinky Dog Dash, meaning you can only choose one or the other at one time to make a reservation.

So far this is only at Hollywood Studios, but expect it to come to the Disneyland Resort in the next couple of months as waits at the attraction are not insane. Rise of the Resistance at both parks will contiune using a virtual queue system for the time being.

What do you think of this new development? Do you think Smuggler’s Run needs Fastpass? Do you think it will bump up the stand by wait times? Let me know in the comments below!