Skip to main content

Ears the News with Richard



Captain Cook's at Disney Polynesian Resort is scheduled to be closing for a major refurbishment in late March. The quick service restaurant closes on 3/28/2014, and is expected to reopen in the summer of 2014. During the closure, a temporary quick service location will be setup in the Great Ceremonial House. The menu offering will be very similar, but there will be no Dole Whip offering. The temporary location will be operating daily from 6:30 AM to 4:30 AM.


The hugely popular Hyperspace Hoopla will not be part of this Star Wars Weekends, but fret not fellow Star Wars fans. Disney announced that Symphony in the Stars fireworks will play each night during Star Wars Weekends
2014 event logo, courtesy Disney Parks Blog
ar's

There will be a 'nightly curtain call moment featuring Star Wars characters,' but it is not clear what that will involve.

Disney also announced that an additional week will be added to this year’s Star Wars Weekends.
The full schedule is now:

Weekend 1: May 16 – 18, 2014
Weekend 2: May 23 – 25, 2014
Weekend 3: May 30 – June 1, 2014
Weekend 4: June 6 – 8, 2014
Weekend 5: June 13 – 15, 2014

This year's theme will be “Join the Rebellion,” and James Arnold Taylor will once again return as celebrity host. Still no word on which other Star Wars celebrities will be appearing.

The moats around Cinderella Castle will have been drained as part of an extensive refurbishment  for the hub. The details of which can be seen in this video from the Disney Parks Blog.

As you can see a good bit of the landscaping will be removed and replaced with pathways. This should help to improve the overcrowding and traffic problems that occur almost nightly before, during and after Wishes!.

Disney Festival of Fantasy Parade- Photo courtesy Disney Parks Blog
 Disney has finally revealed the start date for the new Disney Festival of Fantasy Parade. The parade will debut on 3/9/2014 at the Magic Kingdom.
Preferred viewing near Cinderella's castle became available as a selection for Fastpass+ earlier this week.





Walt Disney World will be increasing ticket pricing  effective 2/23/2014.

A single day ticket to increase by $4, which puts the Magic Kingdom at $99, and Epcot, Disney's Hollywood Studios, and Disney's Animal Kingdom at $94.

Walt Disney World Annual Pass prices are also increasing with a regular Annual Pass seeing an increase of $25, up from $609 to $634 + tax.

The Premium Annual Pass which includes water park admission increases from $729 to $754.
For Florida Residents, an Annual Pass increases from $464 to $485. A Florida Resident Premium Annual Pass from $584 to $605, and a Florida Resident Seasonal Pass from $309 to $319.
In addition to the ticket price increase, Disney has also offered a special ticket deal for larger parties.
Get a free additional day on each ticket when you buy 6 or more 4-day or longer Magic Your Way tickets.
 Offer Details:
Eligibility - Valid with party of 6 or more Guests.
Purchase Through - June 14, 2014
Ticket Requirements - Tickets are valid for one theme park per day and must be used within 14 days of first use.
Offer Restrictions - All tickets and options are non-transferable and non-refundable, are only valid during regularly scheduled operating hours and exclude activities/events priced separately.
No additional discounts apply


Disney made the announcement of the official opening earlier this week, along with providing a couple more videos giving us a look behind the scenes at the creation of the parade:


A new bridge connecting the Marketplace to Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort is now under construction at Downtown Disney. Part of the Disney Springs project, the new walkway links Saratoga Springs Resort near to the original walkway running alongside the Marketplace.

The Walt Disney World Resort hotel refillable mugs have a new design for 2014.
 New resort refillable mugs- Photo courtesy WDWMagic

Being introduced now across the resorts, the new Rapid Fill mugs feature Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy and Pluto. Colors appear to be limited to four, available in red, blue, yellow and purple. Click the gallery for photos.
The mugs are available at the resort quick service locations and are priced as follows:
(Days are counted as a calendar day, and not a 24 hour period).
$8.99 for 1 day
$11.99 for 2 days
$14.99 for 3 days
$17.99 for length of stay


 The Disney blog was nice enough to give us a near complete ride through of the new Seven Dwarfs Mine Train Coaster, which you can see here.


Starting 3/1/2014, Disney will begin providing Braille menus at some of their theme park restaurants at both Walt Disney World and Disneyland Resort. The new Braille menus come in addition to all of Disney's other assistance for guests with vision disabilities, which includes a menu reading service that is also available at all Disney restaurants.

All guide maps for the four Walt Disney World parks have now been updated to include FastPass+ enabled attractions, along with the FastPass+ kiosks and service center locations. The Magic Kingdom and Disney's Animal Kingdom maps were released early in the year, with Epcot and the Magic Kingdom now completed.

The desktop and mobile versions of 'My Disney Experience' website now support changing your resort PIN code, saving a visit to the hotel front desk.

You can find the PIN code reset in the 'Manage Payments' section of the website, and as well as changing your own PIN, you can also change any guests who are registered as family. The functionality is not yet available on the 'My Disney Experience' phone apps however.

The PIN code is used by Walt Disney World Resort hotel guests to make purchases with RFID, such as MagicBands.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Chronos Club Review at Disney's Coronado Springs Resort

I recently stayed at the Chronos Club at Disney's Coronado Springs Resort. I've been a fan of Disney's Coronado Springs Resort since my first visit as it reminds me of my hometown, San Antonio. I've stayed in rooms ranging from preferred, Casita Suite, Tower King, and now Club Level access. The Chronos Club is located on the 15th floor of the Gran Destino Tower and can only be accessed with a key card or MagicBand to a corresponding Club Level reservation. I've previously stayed Club Level at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge, Disney's Polynesian Village Resort, Disney's Grand Floridian Resort, Disney's BoardWalk Inn, and Disney's Grand Californian Resort. These are all considered Deluxe Resorts. Something that makes the Chronos Club stand out is that it is located in what Disney considers a Moderate Resort. I was really excited to check out the difference in experience, since there can be a notable difference in price tag for Moderate vs. Deluxe Res

Universal's Volcano Bay Private Cabana Review

On a recent training in Universal Orlando Resort, agents Maci, Ashley, Aubrey and Yaritza and I rented a private cabana for the day at Universal's Volcano Bay. There are multiple locations around the park along with the option to have an upper or lower level, all of which reflect in various pricing. Agent Ashley received an email the day before informing her of where to check-in the next morning. While we were personally escorted to the cabana shortly after check in, the line at the check in location is the same as those getting towels, meaning it was not short. As expressed by an additional guest checking into a different cabana, we would have greatly appreciated a separate line, since this caused our group about a half hour wait. We're all adults and made great use of our time getting some fun pictures before the park was filled with guests, but this is important to be aware of if you are traveling with children.  We had an upper level Cabana which came with a splendid view!

Black Tap Craft Burgers & Shakes

Black Tap Burgers & Shakes is located at the Downtown Disney District at the Disneyland Resort.  It is a fast-casual restaurant, meaning you order your items at the counter, but then they bring it to the table for you.  They have a selection of burgers, wings, salads and chicken and a fun milkshake menu.  If you just want a shake, there's also a walkup window outside, but some special creations can only be ordered for dine-in. We placed our order at the counter and noticed all the tables inside were full. We found a table outside and hung out while we waited for our food to come. They have a full bar and craft beers on tap, but I was surprised to get wine in a can. Strawberry Shortcake Shake We had hoped to have this Crazy Shake for dessert, but it actually came before any of our food. The Strawberry Shortcake is described as a vanilla frosted rim with crumbled cake topped with a strawberry shortcake ice cream bar, pink & white twisty pop, whipped cream, strawberry drizzle