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Ears the News with Richard



The hugely popular 'Be Our Guest Restaurant’ in the Magic Kingdom's New Fantasyland is carrying out another round of FASTPASS+ testing during the next few days. Guests have been preselected from those staying at select resorts, and will be invited to try the FASTPASS+ reservation system for lunch.
Selected guests are going to be given the chance to choose an arrival time for lunch online, and even choose items from the menu prior to their arrival. This will all be done on a website, similar to the new FASTPASS+ system that is already in testing with guests. Once the arrival time and menu items have been selected, the guest will arrive at the designated time, check in and pay at an express location, take the magic rose to the table of their choice, and the food will be delivered.

A new set of “My Disney Experience” inspired guide maps will be coming to all Walt Disney World properties on 3/3/2013. The new and improved maps have a similar look to the electronic “My Disney Experience” apps and website, using similar icons and artwork. The new maps will be available at the four theme parks, water parks, ESPN Wide World of Sports, and Downtown Disney.

MyMagic+ “Touch to Enter” has now been added to Typhoon Lagoon water park. As in the main parks, the introduction of the RFID “Touch to Enter” is being installed in phases, with the second half of the turnstiles now being converted.

If you have a trip coming up in the next couple of months, keep a close eye on the park hours. The operating hours for March and April have been extended for most days at the Magic Kingdom, Disney's Animal Kingdom, and Disney's Hollywood Studios. Additional parades and performances of Fantasmic! have also been added

It is a new week of Limited Time Magic and the 'Original Boy Band' the Dapper Dan’s take center stage at the Magic Kingdom. You can catch them on Main Street USA several times each day through until 3/3/2013. After singing a few of the old classics, the Dan’s turn to some more modern tunes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=qKpIt8fqhoQ
Video from WDWMagic

Epcot's Mission: SPACE is beginning an exterior refurbishment. The attraction remains open as normal but the exterior is being covered in a construction scrim.

Disney is rolling out some system fixes to the in-room WiFi service at all resort hotels. Apparently some issues with dropped connections had been identified and the system update addresses that, with the hope of delivering better internet performance to the rooms.

The second phase of the MyMagic+ “Touch to Enter” turnstiles are now open at the parks. 50% of the turnstiles have now been converted to the naew “Touch to Enter” RFID system. Resort guests, and those using newly purchased tickets are now using this system. As expected, guests are moving much quicker through these new turnstiles compared to the old insert ticket system.


The check-in location for the Wild Africa Trek at Disney's Animal Kingdom has been moved to the Kilimanjaro Safaris FASTPASS distribution area. It was previously located behind the Dawa-Bar area. This is fueling the rumors that the construction for a new Festival of the Lion King Theater will start soon.

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