WDW Daily News

Conde Nast Traveler readers have made their voices heard, naming Disney Cruise Line as the best for the tenth time! 

Earlier today, Conde Nast Traveler released the results of its 2021 Reader’s Choice Awards and we’re honored to share that their readers have once again ranked Disney Cruise Line as the #1 Top Large Cruise Line in the World for the tenth straight year. These awards are a true reflection of our Crew Members and their unwavering commitment to deliver one-of-a-kind experiences to our Guests every day, and we could not be prouder. 

Conde Nast Traveler shared with us that this year’s results highlight the travel experiences their readers longed for most when they could not travel and what they decided to do first once they could. More than 800,000 Condé Nast Traveler readers submitted tens of thousands of ratings and comments, sharing their recent travel experiences with their favorite cruise lines, hotels, resorts, airlines and more.  

Conde Nast Traveler’s Readers’ Choice Awards is one of the longest running and most prestigious honors in the travel industry. This year’s full list of winners can be found here.

Cast members have always been the heart of the magic at Walt Disney World Resort, creating timeless memories and magical moments for the millions of guests who spend their vacations with us. Over the years, guests have shown their appreciation for our cast by sharing positive feedback about their experiences through emails and posting their photos and messages of gratitude on their social media channels.

In honor of the 50^th anniversary celebration of Walt Disney World, we’re providing an additional way for guests looking to share their positive cast member experiences across our parks and resorts. With the touch of a button, guests on the go can now access a new feature via the Walt Disney World 50^th Anniversary Destination Guide in the My Disney Experience mobile app. Guests can simply select a positive statement and location from an easy-to-navigate dropdown menu that reflects the magic they experienced made possible by the cast members at the heart of “The World’s Most Magical Celebration.” Watch this video to learn how the new, searchable feature works.

Whether thanking cast members for taking time to share a unique tip, helping to celebrate a guest milestone, or going above and beyond to make a guest’s experience extra magical, we love hearing about all of the positive experiences our cast members create every day. This new mobile cast compliment feature provides an additional way to identify and share those positive interactions with us immediately while on the go. Of course, we still welcome all of the emails and social media posts sharing specific stories and magical moments made possible by our cast members — so please continue to keep them coming! 

This is just the beginning! We continue to enhance the way guests provide appreciation for our cast, so look forward to additional updates and exciting improvements to this mobile cast compliment feature in the future.

Be sure to follow Walt Disney World Cast and Community Facebook and Walt Disney World Ambassador Instagram to stay up to date on stories of cast members making magic.

A special new shop will be opening soon at Disneyland park! It’s an all-new holiday store called Plaza Point, coming to the corner of Main Street, U.S.A., and East Plaza Street. 

Today we have Dawn Keehne, Resort Enhancement Manager sharing some of the store details and providing a sneak peek of the skilled artistry that’s underway in preparation for opening day.

This Victorian-era space will envelop Guests in the warmth of the holidays as soon as they step into the wood-paneled space decorated with garlands, nutcrackers and festive décor! Careful observers will notice displays that reflect seasonal holidays around the world and our ongoing commitment to diversity and inclusion.

Once the store opens, Guests will see a variety of holiday goods available to purchase for themselves or as gifts for family and friends including ornaments, housewares, linens and accessories. And Guests will want to visit throughout the year because other holidays like Hanukkah, Lunar New Year, Spring and Easter, and Fall and Halloween will be reflected in merchandise and store decor at appropriate times, along with Christmas-themed merchandise year-round.

Here’s also a first look at some of the inspirational pieces and décor Guests may see during the year:

Stay tuned to learn more about this new holiday store!

It’s time to eat, drink, and be spooky!. From the spellbinding shopping at World of Disney to all the ghoulish good treats and sips! Guests will find some returning favorites and sweet new additions this spooky season, including the Haunted Mansion Petit Cake, Pumpkin Donuts, Monster Cookies, and more.

We’ve rounded up all the “fa-boo-lous” and yummy details. (Most of these are only available through Oct. 31)

Amorette’s Patisserie

• Haunted Mansion Petit Cake – Chocolate and vanilla chiffon cakes, with chocolate brownie, and diplomat cream sprinkled with candy-coated chocolate pieces and chocolate chips
• Pumpkin Pecan Cheesecake Roll – Pecan Chiffon cake, pumpkin cheesecake filling, and dulce nutmeg chocolate mousse
• Pumpkin Crème Brûlée – Pumpkin custard with brûléed sugar, candied pecans, spiced whipped cream, and raspberry cranberry tuile

Coca-Cola Rooftop Beverage Bar

• FANTAween Punch – Fanta Orange, Simply Orange, muddled cherries, and whipped cream
• StrawScary Float and BlueScary Float with Ice Cream

It’s an exciting time to be at Walt Disney World Resort! We just launched The World’s Most Magical Celebration, with dazzling new EARidescent experiences in every corner of our world. Of course, our Cast is at the heart of everything, and since the reopening of our theme parks, Walt Disney World Resort is proud to have returned more than 50,000 Cast Members to work. Now, more than 65,000 are working across the resort, and we are hiring hundreds more each week as we continue to open more resorts and guest locations. Today, we’re thrilled to tell you we’re bringing back more Entertainment Cast Members this fall, as we relaunch some favorite live entertainment experiences at all four theme parks and beyond!

Some of our atmosphere entertainment resumed October 1 with the start of the Walt Disney World 50^th Anniversary Celebration. Early birds at Magic Kingdom Park are now starting their day with “Let the Magic Begin” on the Cinderella Castle Forecourt Stage, and we’ve welcomed back the ragtime piano player at Casey’s Corner on Main Street, U.S.A. Over at EPCOT, World Showcase travelers are dancing to the Canadian rhythms of Alberta Bound, laughing at the antics of Sergio in Italy, and experiencing the majestic percussion of the Taiko drummers of Matsuriza in Japan.

Next week at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park, guests visiting Asia can once again enjoy the music of Chakranad, and Kora Tinga Tinga returns to the streets of Harambe in Africa. And guests can look for the Tam Tam Drummers to come back to Africa in early November. Performers will also soon be captivating guests strolling along the waterfront at Disney’s Boardwalk Resort, and the inimitable Yeehaw Bob will have his audience in stitches of fun starting October 14 in the River Roost Lounge at Disney’s Port Orleans Resort – Riverside.

Over the past year, beloved Disney Characters have been popping up in cavalcades, motorcades, flotillas, and surprise sightings, much to the delight of our guests, and we’re pleased to tell you many of those experiences will be continuing. Although the environment is not right just yet for hugs and autographs, guests will soon be able to have individualized time with some of their favorite characters, getting to visit with them in a themed location and snap a photo or two. Look for the Disney Princesses to return to Princess Fairytale Hall in Magic Kingdom Park. At Disney’s Hollywood Studios, guests will soon find Minnie Mouse at Red Carpet Dreams and the stars of Disney Junior in Animation Courtyard. And when guests stop in to see Mickey Mouse backstage at Town Square Theater on Main Street, U.S.A., he’ll be sporting his all-new EARidescent look designed just for the Walt Disney World 50^th Anniversary Celebration! Each of these locations is planned to start welcoming guests in November.

Nov. 7 also marks the return of “Disney Movie Magic,” the cinematic nighttime experience at Disney’s Hollywood Studios celebrating Disney’s live-action film legacy, and when this projection show resumes, it will feature a new sequence from Disney’s epic adventure, “Mulan.” And guests can mark their calendars for December 19, when the cast and crew of “Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular” bring back all the comedy and thrills of that action-packed show.

Live entertainment experiences such as these are among the reasons Walt Disney World Resort truly is The Most Magical Place on Earth. We are incredibly grateful to our cast and guests for the patience they’ve demonstrated as we presented modified forms of some entertainment while continuing to work through the details required to resume others. We’re delighted to be welcoming back so much live entertainment – and so many of our favorite entertainers – this fall and look forward to sharing news about even more additions very soon. Stay tuned for news and updates throughout the 18 months of The World’s Most Magical Celebration!

Innovation is essential to The Walt Disney Company story, dating back to its inception nearly a century ago. As Walt Disney once said, “We’ll always be introducing and testing and demonstrating new materials and new systems.” Well, that promise will come true once again next year when Walt Disney World Resort releases our next-generation wearable technology, MagicBand+.

The original MagicBand was introduced in 2013 at Walt Disney World, making the guest experience in our theme parks and resorts more convenient and hands-free for things like park and guest room entry, retail and dining, Disney PhotoPass and more. MagicBand+ will retain those popular features and add functionality that unlocks new moments of magic for you.

After Guests enter a theme park, MagicBand+ will come alive at various times with color-changing lights, haptic vibrations and gesture recognition. The wearable will allow Guests to engage with favorite Disney moments in new ways, including:

• Play like a bounty hunter in a galaxy far, far away and find virtual bounties throughout Black Spire Outpost in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
• Interact with the “Disney Fab 50 Character Collection,” the golden sculptures spread throughout the Walt Disney World theme parks.
• Experience nighttime spectaculars in a new way as you see the band light up and complement the magic in the skies, including the new “Harmonious” at EPCOT and “Disney Enchantment” at Magic Kingdom Park.

MagicBand+ will be available for purchase beginning next year, including a discounted, pre-arrival price for Disney Resort hotel guests as well as new and renewing Walt Disney World Annual Passholders. Current MagicBands will continue to be available, too, along with the complimentary Disney MagicMobile service that extends MagicBand features, such as park entry, to smart devices.

MagicBand+ will help immerse Guests in Disney stories and connect with characters you love like never before. We’ll have more to share about this exciting new technology in the future, so stay tuned for updates. And be sure to check out all our coverage of the Walt Disney World 50^th anniversary, because “The World’s Most Magical Celebration” begins tomorrow!

Shared by Zach Riddley on the Disney Parks Blog:

What a week this is for EPCOT! Tomorrow we’ll mark the official grand opening for Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure and La Crêperie de Paris in the newly expanded France pavilion in World Showcase. And then tomorrow night we’ll see the grand premiere of our new nighttime spectacular, “Harmonious,” on World Showcase Lagoon.

And while I’m so excited for you to discover all those new experiences, there’s even MORE in store as we continue to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Walt Disney World Resort over the next 18 months. This morning, I announced our next major attraction, Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, will debut in 2022. That’s right, our friends from Xandar will open the first “other-world” showcase pavilion at EPCOT next year, inviting us on an intergalactic chase through space and time!

Today my fellow Imagineers Tom Fitzgerald (left) and Scot Drake (right) gave us a new look inside the Wonders of Xandar pavilion currently under construction. Here you see them in the Galaxarium, which when completed will feature a planetarium-type presentation where the Xandarians show us their world, their people and their advanced technologies.

Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind is a family-friendly adventure, featuring a totally new type of roller coaster experience we’re developing just for this attraction – it’s a storycoaster that rotates 360 degrees so you’re always focused on all the action as you help the Guardians save the galaxy. Not only that, but Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind will also feature the first reverse launch on a coaster in Disney history and is one of the longest enclosed coasters in the world. It’s a massive experience that will match the scale and adventure of the Guardians of the Galaxy films.  

As part of the ongoing transformation of EPCOT, we’re infusing this park we love and cherish with more ways to dream, to be inspired and to connect with our world – or other galaxies, in this case. Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind is going to be a big step in that direction, and we can’t wait for you to experience it.

The inaugural voyage of Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser at Walt Disney World Resort will depart March, 1, 2022! General bookings for this immersive adventure in a galaxy far, far away will open less than one month from now, on Oct. 28, 2021. 

Some Disney and Star Wars fans – including Club 33 members, Golden Oak residents, Disney Vacation Club Members, Disney Passholders and Disney Visa Cardmembers – will receive communication about special booking opportunities just for them. During these early booking periods, you may only book during the windows for which they are eligible.

Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser is a first-of-its-kind vacation experience that goes beyond anything Disney has created before. Guests will become the hero of their own Star Wars story during this two-night adventure, traveling the galaxy in style aboard the Halcyon starcruiser and eventually making their way to the Outer Rim for a planetside excursion to Batuu. Guests choose how to make their way in the galaxy – maybe as a member of the Resistance, or by learning the ancient ways of the Jedi lightsaber. Maybe Guests prefer loyalty to the First Order or the excitement of living life like a smuggler? The decisions are up to them.

We’ve shared a lot of new details about Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser recently. Here’s a quick recap to explore as you prepare for bookings to open:

• Today, Disney Imagineer Ann Morrow Johnson provided a first look at the starcruiser’s bridge as part of this special announcement.

• Disney Imagineers sat down for an in-depth discussion about Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser in this video, sharing all sorts of new details about the experience, including the characters you may meet, the food you may eat and much more.

• The first commercial for Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser gives you a first glimpse at what life on the ship may be like.

Get ready for a special unlike anything you’ve ever seen from Disney Parks! This Friday “The Most Magical Story on Earth: 50 Years of Walt Disney World” airs on ABC and you won’t want to miss it. The primetime special takes viewers on a fascinating journey of Walt Disney World Resort from its origins to its development over time to the impact the Resort has had on pop culture to a special look into the future of the Resort. This riveting story is told through incredible interviews with celebrities, athletes, Disney Imagineers, and Disney executives and cast members past and present. We asked the interviewees to describe Walt Disney World in one word; check out what they had to say:

Hosted by Disney Legend and moderator of ABC’s “The View,” Whoopi Goldberg, the two-hour program will also feature spectacular visuals and musical performances from Christina Aguilera and Halle Bailey in front of the legendary Cinderella Castle at Magic Kingdom Park, accompanied by the renowned Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra. We are excited to share a behind the scenes look at the making of these iconic performances:

This special is produced by ABC News and Disney Parks. Tune in this Friday October 1 at 8/7c on ABC, stream on Hulu starting October 2, or watch on Disney+ starting October 8.

The 50th anniversary celebration of Walt Disney World Resort starts next week on Oct. 1! And now, air travelers at the Orlando International Airport will feel immersed in the magic as soon as they arrive in Central Florida, after a magical transformation of the passenger arrival experience.

This transformation of exciting Disney touches includes a wide-spanning art installation in the terminal train stations featuring the Disney Fab 50 Character Collection, found throughout all four Walt Disney World theme parks, as well as a photo opportunity with a golden teacup inspired by the famous Mad Tea Party attraction at Magic Kingdom Park, and a glistening glow of projected EARidescent light patterns engaging passengers as they walk through the airport terminal just outside the Magic of Disney Store in the East Hall. Here guests will also pass a 36-foot long video screen showcasing the shimmering EARidescence of the four parks “Beacons of Magic.”

This magical makeover has arrived at Florida’s busiest airport just in time for the start of “The World’s Most Magical Celebration” at Walt Disney World Resort and will stick around through March 2022. Whether flying into Orlando at the beginning, middle or end of the 18-month 50^th Anniversary celebration, Disney can’t wait to share this magical milestone!