WDW Daily News

By: Disney DestinationsDecember 4, 2019

The votes are in and the global panel of experts at Cruise Critic have chosen Disney Cruise Line and Adventures by Disney® as the “Best for Families” in the annual Editors’ Picks Awards! We are absolutely thrilled that our cruise line and river cruise experiences have been recognized in this category each year since 2016. 

These accolades are a true testament to the magical experiences our Cast and Crew Members create every day whether they are a part of our support and operations teams, sailing aboard the Disney Cruise Line fleet or hosting adventures around the world with Adventures by Disney.

Cruise Critic’s international team of editors combine first-hand experience with industry knowledge to select cruise vacations that are perfectly suited for every member of the family. And with more than 350,000 cruise reviews, that cover approximately 700 cruise ships and nearly 500 worldwide ports, they are definitely the ultimate online cruise resource. 

But don’t just take our word on it … here’s some feedback on our experiences from real cruisers in the Cruise Critic community!

“Cannot say enough good things about this experience. We felt the service was off the charts … Everyone on the ship is super helpful so no need to stress about not knowing where to be.”

“It was all fun … Overall we consider this the best vacation we’ve ever taken. Highly recommended!”

“It really was quite magical. Being treated with respect and having to worry about nothing … exhausted from the excitement that filled our souls.”

For the full details of this year’s winners, visit 2019 Cruise Critic Editors’ Picks Awards. 

Since we first set sail in 1998, Disney Cruise Line has combined the magic of Disney entertainment with the excitement of ocean cruising, offering incredible onboard experiences and itineraries to the sun-drenched destinations of the Caribbean year-around and awe-inspiring seasonal sailings throughout Alaska and Europe. Most Caribbean itineraries also include a stop at Castaway Cay, Disney Cruise Line’s award-winning private island in The Bahamas. Plus, for the first time next year, Disney Cruise Line will set sail from New Orleans onboard the Disney Wonder. 

In 2020, Adventures by Disney will offer more European river cruise sailings than ever before, including a record-breaking 26 departures along the Danube, Rhine, Seine and Rhône rivers. Sailing with AmaWaterways, a premier luxury river cruise line, these all-inclusive vacations allow guests to explore the heart of Europe in a way that’s active, immersive and hassle free. To complement the increased selection of family vacations in 2020, nine river cruise departures are reserved exclusively for adults. Adventures by Disney will also launch new Escape itineraries in Paris, Amsterdam and Budapest, which can be booked as pre- or post-cruise stays or as standalone trips. 

In a special presentation Tuesday at Walt Disney World® Resort in Florida, Disney Parks, Experiences and Products Chairman Bob Chapek announced Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway will open March 4, 2020, at Disney’s Hollywood Studios®. 

This will be the first Disney ride-through attraction featuring Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse, that will draw you inside a Mickey cartoon for a fun-filled adventure where “Mouse rules apply” and anything can happen! 

Stay tuned for future updates on the progress of this attraction!

Our favorite web-footed family is heading to Epcot®!

Disney’s DuckTales World Showcase Adventure invites Guests to join Scrooge McDuck, Donald, Launchpad, Webby and the nephews in search of priceless treasure. Using the Play Disney Parks mobile app, you can take a trip around World Showcase discovering exotic destinations, exciting mysteries, and maybe even a few thieves, villains and supernatural guardians of ancient artifacts. This will be the next iteration of a popular interactive scavenger hunt around World Showcase Guests have enjoyed for years as they experience the magic of possibility at Epcot. 

Stay tuned  for more information on this new adventure!

Roundup Rodeo BBQ Restaurant

Coming in 2020 to Toy Story Land at Disney’s Hollywood Studios is a new table-service restaurant that invites you to a rootin’, tootin’ rodeo right in Andy’s back yard! Guests will be immersed with all their favorite toy pals in the western atmosphere of Woody’s Roundup providing a fun, family-friendly dining experience that could only be had in Toy Story Land. A new artist concept image released today emphasizes the theme of the new dining locale constructed from Andy’s favorite larger-than-life playsets and games.  

Space 220 Restaurant

Space 220 is a new table-service restaurant debuting this winter at Epcot next to Mission: SPACE. When guests enter the restaurant, they’ll step into a special space elevator that will take them 220 miles above the earth’s surface and offer incredible celestial views. Guests will feel as if they’re traveling straight up into space to dock next to the Centauri Space Station suspended just beyond the orbit of Mission: SPACE. Upon arrival, guests will be guided to their seats past the grow zone, a spinning wall of produce that mimics Earth’s gravity and represents some of the fresh ingredients used by the restaurant’s culinary team.

The new fast-casual restaurant opening this winter at The American Adventure in Epcot will serve classic barbecue and home-style craft brews. When Guests step into the pavilion, they’ll be greeted by the enticing aromas of barbecue coming from a large smoker located in the center of the outdoor bar and seating area. Regal Eagle Smokehouse: Craft Drafts & Barbecue will celebrate American backyard barbecue with flavors from different regions around the United States.

We’re excited to share that the new Mickey Shorts Theater is on its way to Disney’s Hollywood Studios® – opening in March 2020! 

As you can see from the new artist concept rendering above, the interior of the theater will evoke the same wacky fun of the Disney Channel cartoon series. You will see an original short in this same style, plus have the chance to take their picture in special photo locations. 

Next year is going to be a big one for Mickey Mouse at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, as in addition to this new theater experience, the park will unveil Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway, the first ride-through attraction in Disney history featuring those true originals! 

Stay tooned for more on these new experiences in the weeks and months ahead. 

Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser will begin transporting Guests from Walt Disney World® Resort in Florida to a galaxy far, far away beginning in 2021, Walt Disney Imagineering announced tonight. This is a new type of immersive vacation that only Disney could create – a two-night, cruise-style itinerary where you become the hero of their own adventure in an experience that surrounds them 24/7 in Star Wars storytelling.

In a new artist concept rendering just released (above), you get a first look at what guests will see when they arrive for their Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser vacation. The Galactic Starcruiser Terminal is where guests will begin their Star Wars experience!  

Whether you show up via personal vehicle, Disney transportation or by landspeeder, curb-side check-in prepares them to leave Earth behind, jump to lightspeed and begin their Star Wars story. From the Starcruiser Terminal, Guests will enter an exclusive launch pod (above) for travel up to the Halcyon, the starcruiser in a galaxy far, far away. Through the pod’s viewports, it looks as though Guests are traveling through space to approach the massive ship that is much too large to land on any planet. 

A “spaceport of call” to Black Spire Outpost is included in the itinerary, where special passenger transports take you to the planet Batuu (also known as the destination for Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disney’s Hollywood Studios®).

To get from Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge and back, you will remain fully in-story as they step aboard the transport ships designed specifically for this new immersive experience, which you can see in the artist concept rendering above, released today. It will connect you directly to a spaceport at Black Spire Outpost on Batuu, where the story they began in the starcruiser will continue and evolve while exploring the 14-acre land at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. 

Sign up to receive updates as exciting new details are released about Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser at starwarsgalacticstarcruiser.com.

Earlier this year, details on new film experiences coming to Epcot® were unveiled at the D23 Expo.

Today we’re happy to share that three new films will debut Jan. 17, 2020, at Epcot, on the same day the Epcot International Festival of the Arts begins! 

“Awesome Planet” in The Land pavilion showcases the Earth’s beauty and diversity in a 10-minute film featuring spectacular imagery, in-theater effects and an original musical score from Academy Award-winning® composer Steven Price. 

“Beauty and the Beast Sing-Along” in the France pavilion is directed and produced by Don Hahn, producer of the animated and live-action “Beauty and the Beast” films, and invites Guests to participate in a twist on a tale as old as time. It also features narration from Angela Lansbury, who played Mrs. Potts in the original film. The new sing-along will run in rotation with “Impressions de France,” which will receive an upgrade to 4K projection. 

And “Canada Far and Wide in Circle-Vision 360” in the Canada pavilion is an update to the previous “O Canada!” film with new scenes, a new musical score by Canadian composer Andrew Lockington and new narration by award-winning actors Catherine O’Hara and Eugene Levy.