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Ears the News with Richard

The 2013 Disney Parks Christmas Day Parade is now scheduled for taping at the Magic Kingdom on 12/6/2013 and 12/7/2013. No special participation tickets are required, and this year guests in the park during regular hours can take part in the filming and may appear in the TV show.


Photo Courtesy of Disney Parks Blog
Photo Courtesy of Disney Parks Blog
Disney has just released some new concept art for the upcoming 'Disney Festival of Fantasy Parade' which is set to open at the Magic Kingdom in Spring 2014. The new images are of the Little Mermaid and Brave floats.






FastPass+ at the Magic Kingdom is set to add additional offerings for the month of October. Wishes, the Main Street Electrical Parade, and Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade will all be available for FastPass+ from 9/30/2013 to 10/30/2013. FastPass+ for these attractions will not be available on days with a Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party.

The Wishes viewing location for FastPass+ holders is in the Rose Garden area, and the parade viewing area is in the castle forecourt area of the hub.

Epcot's secondary entrance is now fully converted to MyMagic+ touch-to-enter with all legacy turnstiles removed. The new RFID entry points allow guests to enter with the touch of a card or MagicBand, and there is no physical barrier to entry.

Downtown Disney's Disney Quest is hosting a hard ticket Halloween Party on 10/31/2013 from 6:00 PM to 11:00 PM. The party includes access to all the Disney Quest games, character meet and greets, trick or treating and DJ dance party. Tickets are $45 + tax and can be purchased in advance from 407-W-DISNEY, or from any guest relations location on property.

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad at the Magic Kingdom is scheduled to be closed for a single day refurbishment on 11/5/2013. The coaster will be back open again on 11/6/2013.

Epcot's United Kingdom Pavilion Winnie The Pooh meet and greet is expected to reopen on 10/4/2013 after its refurbishment. Changes include a reversal of the entry and exit, with the entrance now being at the rear of the gardens with a small queue area, and a new exit into the gift shop.

Disney introduced a major change to table service dining back in October 2011 when it began to enforce a $10 per person penalty for failing to provide 24 hour notice of a reservation cancellation. Previously this policy only applied to signature restaurants, but Disney will now be applying the policy to all table service restaurants at Walt Disney World. 

The new cancellation policy will come into effect on 10/31/2013, when guests will be required to provide a credit card for all table service reservations. A charge of $10 per guests will then be automatically applied if a cancellation is not provided at least one day in advance. 

In the case of pre-paid locations such as dinner shows, the entire amount will be retained in the event of failing to cancel. The new policy also applies to non-Disney operated restaurants.  Disney has been trying to reduce the number of cases where guests book multiple restaurants, then simply do not appear at several of their reservations.


Cancellations can be made on the Disney Dining website, at guest relations, a restaurant podium, or via a special phone number at 407-WDW-CNCL. To avoid the penalty, the cancellation must be made up to 11:59 PM on the day before the reservation.

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