WDW Daily News

“Magic Happens,” the all-new parade now swirling through Disneyland® Park, celebrates the awe-inspiring moments of magic that are at the heart of so many Disney stories. 

While the stories and music featured in “Magic Happens” are rooted in iconic Disney lore, the soundtrack is heavily influenced by today’s pop culture, putting a contemporary spin on the classic Disney hits. “Magic Happens” features an energetic musical score and new songs, co-composed by singer-songwriter, Todrick Hall. Learn more about the creative musical process in the video below:

“This is a full circle moment for me,” said Todrick, who began his career at Walt Disney World® Resort in Florida as a performer in ‘Beauty and the Beast – Live on Stage.’ “I learned how to dance from watching Disney parades, so the fact that I am getting to create the music that these iconic Disney characters are going to be performing to is pretty much the most epic thing that has happened to me in my life!”

Set in a suburban fantasy world, Disney and Pixar’s “Onward” introduces two teenage elf brothers who embark on an extraordinary quest to discover if there is still a little magic left out there. Pixar Animation Studios’ all-new original feature film is directed by Dan Scanlon and produced by Kori Rae—the team behind “Monsters University.” “Onward” releases in theaters on March 6, 2020.

4DX’s immersive cinematic experience presents the future of the movie industry

4DX is widely considered to be the biggest innovation in cinematic technology to date. … Providing a revolutionary cinematic experience which stimulates all five senses, the 4DX includes high-tech motion seats and special effects including wind, fog, lightning, bubbles, water, rain and scents, in both 2D and 3D formats.

By: Disney DestinationsMarch 4, 2020

It’s time for guests to get their gardening on with the EPCOT International Flower & Garden Festival, which starts TODAY and runs through June 1, 2020. This annual event transforms the park with brilliant gardens, topiaries featuring favorite Disney characters, Outdoor Kitchens with fresh flavors, the popular Garden Rocks Concert Series, and more. Guests won’t want to miss any of it! 

The festival menus are always the icing on the cake! In addition to returning favorites like the frozen desert violet lemonade slushy from Pineapple Promenade, grilled street corn on the cob from Trowel & Trellis, and the ADORABLE Orange Bird novelty sipper filled with a delicious orange cream shake at The Citrus Blossom, there are a few new offerings this year.

A few of these new offerings include a brand-new Outdoor Kitchen, another cute sipper featuring Spike the Bee at the Honey Bee-Stro Outdoor Kitchen, and a Spike the Bee reusable souvenir spork available at various Outdoor Kitchens throughout the park while supplies last.

The new Magnolia Terrace Outdoor Kitchen is located at The American Adventure and features several incredible seafood dishes, house-made boudin, and a couple southern-style desserts. The Southern Seafood Boil features shrimp, mussels, crawfish, potatoes, corn, and andouille sausage. If that’s not enough seafood, your Clients can chow down on grilled oysters served with a Cajun butter – YUM! The favorite dish at this food booth, however, is the house-made boudin two ways served with spicy mustard. It’s a great savory dish that’s bursting with flavor. After guests have gotten their fill of savory, they can satisfy their sweet tooth with a couple southern classics: a pecan praline or pecan cake topped with maple whipped cream.

Other favorites from this year’s menus are the new lamb curry dish with sweet plantains and rice from La Isla Fresca, seared scallops from Northern Bloom, and the gluten-friendly roasted cauliflower from the Honey Bee-Stro. 

There is also a great selection of plant-based options this year and the best way for guests to try them is by participating in the Garden Graze Food Stroll! 

For this fun activity, all they have to do is purchase five designated items from the Outdoor Kitchens and make sure to get their Festival Passport stamped when they make their purchase to keep track along the way.  Once guests have completed the stroll, they can visit Pineapple Promenade to redeem their complimentary treats: a seed packet and a special plant-based Dole Whip dessert served in a souvenir vessel! The five plant-based items they’ll need to purchase to complete the stroll are:

• Grilled Baby Vegetables – Flavor Full Kitchen Hosted by AdventHealth (Located at Future World West)
• Impossible Farmhouse Meatball – Trowel & Trellis Hosted by Impossible Foods (Located at the front of World Showcase)
• Pineapple Skewer – Refreshment Outpost (Located at the African Outpost)
• Potato Pancakes with House-Made Applesauce – Bauernmarkt: Farmer’s Market (Located at the Germany pavilion)
• Watermelon Cucumber Slushy – Florida Fresh (Located between the France and Morocco pavilions)

Special dining packages are also available for the Garden Rocks Concert Series. This concert series runs for 90 nights and features over 250 performances by tons of popular artists. This dining package allows guests to have either breakfast, lunch, or dinner at select table-service restaurants in the park and grants them guaranteed seating at one of three concert performances that day. 

Rise of the Resistance is finally in place at both Disneyland and Walt Disney World, and while that may mean that Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge is “finished” (at least for now) there is so much more planned for Star Wars at the Disney parks.

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Disney attractions in the U.S. have implemented ‘stringent’ sanitation precautionary procedures in the wake of the almost worldwide novel coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak.

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We’re a little more than a month away from the multi-day celebration at Disney’s Animal Kingdom® for the 50th anniversary of Earth Day AND the 25th anniversary of the Disney Conservation Fund.  And today, we’re happy to tell you about the new “A Path Less Traveled Tour” – a unique experience being offered as part of our Earth Month activities. 

While on this onstage walking tour, guests will learn more about the authentic details, clever construction and imaginative design throughout the park. They’ll also have the chance to meet with animal care experts to learn how we care for the hundreds of animals in the park and what we’re doing to save wildlife species worldwide. This limited-time opportunity provides a glimpse into what it takes to bring the magic of animals, culture and conservation to life at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.

The tour will be $69.00, plus tax per guest. Check-in begins at 7:45 a.m. and the tour runs 8 a.m. – 10 a.m. daily from March 29 – May 2, 2020, with the exception of April 21, 2020. All guests must be 10 years of age or older to participate. Tour participation requires park admission and ticket cost is not included in the tour price. 

To reserve a spot in an upcoming A Path Less Traveled Tour, book in advance by calling 407-WDW-PLAY, or you may visit the Curiosity Animal Tours kiosk at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, across from Kilimanjaro Safaris, during park hours. 

At 91 years old, Mickey Mouse has waited a long time to finally get his own ride at a Disney theme park.On Wednesday, Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway will open inside Disney’s Hollywood Studios at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida.

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With Florida first presumptive cases of coronavirus, the state’s many theme parks are bracing for the damage a virus scare can do to tourism.

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Whether it’s your first Disney vacation or their fiftieth, there’s always something to add to their Disney must-do list. One spooktacular favorite is seeing a few happy haunts materialize in the Haunted Mansion attraction photo. With so much to see and do at Walt Disney World® Resort, you are sure to create tons of memories you won’t want to forget – and Disney PhotoPass can help make sure that they don’t! 

If you have Memory Maker, you might be wondering how to easily and securely store all of the memorable moments they captured. The new Disney PhotoPass Archive USB is a great option!*

Once you arrive home from your vacation, you can order their USB from Disneyworld.com/PhotoPass (and maybe unpack) before your photos expire. All of their Disney PhotoPass photos and videos viewable in their Disney account at the time of purchase will then be loaded onto the USB and shipped to their doorstep.

When you are missing the magic, you can simply plug in your USB and relive the memories of their Disney vacation again and again!

The Disney PhotoPass Archive USB is available for $34.95, plus applicable taxes and shipping fees, only at Disneyworld.com/PhotoPass and only for guests with Memory Maker or a Walt Disney World Resort Annual Pass with a Disney PhotoPass download benefit. 

*Guests with Memory Maker One Day are not eligible for the Disney PhotoPass Archive USB.

For a limited time beginning March 20, you will get an early glimpse of scenes from Disney’s epic new adventure, “Mulan” when visiting Disney Parks. Sneak peeks of the film will be shown in the Tomorrowland Theater at Disneyland® Park, as part of the Walt Disney Presents attraction at Disney’s Hollywood Studios® and aboard Disney Cruise Line® during select sailings in late March.  

An all-new sequence featuring “Mulan” will also be incorporated into the nighttime projection show, “Disney Movie Magic,” when it returns to Disney’s Hollywood Studios for a limited run, beginning March 13. “Disney Movie Magic” is a cinematic nighttime experience that transforms the park’s iconic Chinese Theater with state-of-the-art projection mapping technology, placing guests in the middle of a celebration of films from the Disney family of studios. 

Acclaimed filmmaker Niki Caro brings the epic tale of China’s legendary warrior to life in Disney’s “Mulan,” in which a fearless young woman risks everything out of love for her family and her country to become one of the greatest warriors China has ever known. 

Here’s a special message from two of the stars of the film, Yifei Liu and Yoson An, who play Mulan and Honghui:

Disney’s “Mulan” arrives in theaters on March 27, 2020.