Costco member exclusive: 10% off $250 Disney Gift Cards!
If you have a Costco membership, log into your Costco account to save $25 (10%) on a $250 Disney gift card.
It seems to be valid only for the $250 one but this is the largest savings I’ve ever seen for them. Stock up for your next trip or holiday gifts!
These gift cards can be used for Disney tickets, resorts, merchandise, or dining at Disney World, Disneyland California, Disney Cruise Line, Aulani, Disney stores, and ShopDisney.com.
The cards will be delivered a few hours after purchase as eCards to the email address you give them. You can then re-send it to another address if you’re gifting it to someone else.
If you don’t want to carry multiple gift cards, you can combine them onto one card at the Disney Gift Card site. Some people prefer physical cards instead of eCards. In that case, you can separately buy a physical card with a small denomination, add that to your gift card account mentioned above, and transfer the $250 from the eCards to that physical one.
You’re limited to two cards per membership. It’s not specified how long the offer will last so buy soon if you’re interested. The cards themselves don’t expire once you buy them.
Feel free to contact me if you want me to help you plan your next Disney trip with these gift cards!
Be part of Universal Studios Hollywood’s EVE event on December 31, 2023, where you can party til 2am!
There will be multiple party areas with music, dancing, and a midnight countdown celebration with fireworks.
EVE festivities are included with valid theme park admission for Dec 31st. Entertainment begins at 9pm and ends at 2am. Select rides and attractions will close early during the event. All rides and attractions will close by 1am.
In the meantime, celebrate the holidays at Universal Hollywood’s You Do Yule festivities with new foods, shows, and more!
Feel free to contact me if you want me to help you plan your Universal trip.
There are several notable changes and updates that you should be aware of for a Disney World trip this holiday season.
December 5, 2023
Big day! The walls are finally coming down in EPCOT…well most of them anyway. Disney just announced that the new World Celebration Gardens area behind Spaceship Earth, which includes a new Walt the Dreamer statue, will be revealed on December 5th, Walt Disney’s birthday!
In addition, a new nighttime show, Luminous A Symphony of Us, will debut in the World Showcase lagoon that night!
So, this day will be exciting but probably be pretty crowded at EPCOT. Plan accordingly.
December 3 – December 8, 2023
If you don’t already know, the EPCOT Festival of the Holidays has started and will run til the end of the month. It has many fun holiday events and delicious foods, so definitely check it out.
One big draw of the festival is the Candlelight Processional, a beautiful retelling of the Christ story by a celebrity narrator and a huge choir in the America pavilion theater. Even if you don’t sit for the whole show, walk by the theater and catch a bit of it. It’s included with your park admission.
The week of Dec 3rd will have two of the most super popular narrators ever – John Stamos and Neil Patrick Harris! All of the narrators are really really good, but these two are like narrator legends and folks will line up for their shows hours in advance. So, plan to line up early too, or reserve a Candlelight Processional Dining Package if you want to see them.
Expect higher than normal crowds at EPCOT, especially towards the evening, for these days. Note, Dec 5th will also have the added crowds for the events mentioned above as well.
Here’s the current narrator schedule but always double check the Disney site in case of last-minute changes.
If you want to attend while you’re there, buy your tickets asap. Let me know if you want me to help book them. Some dates are already selling out.
Both will cause the parks to close earlier than usual and you will not get to see the usual nighttime fireworks shows those nights if you don’t have a party ticket. On the one hand, you will probably get a lighter crowd day during the day, but on the other hand, you will have a shortened park day without nighttime shows.
Always double check the park hours for your trip days often and see if you want to avoid a party day or not. Modify your park reservations ASAP if you need to before they start filling up too.
Christmas Parade
Normally, the Christmas parade, Mickey’s Once Upon A Christmastime Parade, is only done in the evenings during the Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party for party guests only. However, during the days immediately around Christmas, it is usually done during the day and available to all guests in Magic Kingdom. Check the MDE app for parade days and times.
Of course, those are usually the busiest days in the park also so plan accordingly. Christmas Day will be especially crowded so make your park reservations now before it fills up. It could even be closed to park hopping due to max capacity.
Meet Santa
If you want to meet Santa, there are several places to do so. He will be in the Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, and Disney Springs. Check your MDE app for times and locations.
For the Disney Springs one, they may also run a Virtual Queue. Check the Virtual Queue section in the app to see if they’re doing that and if slots are still available. If they’re doing the VQ, you can’t just show up and line up on standby. A queue slot is required. They could run out quickly so check first thing each morning.
If you just want to see him from afar, you can just walk by the park ones. They’re visible in the open. He also comes on a flotilla boat in the Animal Kingdom river and on a parade float during Mickey’s Once Upon A Christmastime Parade.
Also, in the Christmas Shoppe store in Magic Kingdom, there’s a mailbox to drop off your letter to Santa year-round!
Gingerbread Houses
Build in some time in your trip to visit the elaborate gingerbread displays in the Disney resorts. The Grand Floridian has a life-sized gingerbread house inside its lobby. The Contemporary has a huge wall-sized gingerbread castle. The Beach Club has a revolving gingerbread carousel. The Boardwalk has a miniature gingerbread recreation of the boardwalk stores. The Yacht Club has a huge gingerbread lighthouse. The Animal Kingdom Lodge has some gingerbread animals. They will all have gingerbread and other holiday treats you can purchase there too. All of these displays are so detailed and beautiful. Look out for hidden Mickeys!
In addition to the gingerbread houses, the resorts will also be decked out with holiday trees and decor. In fact, all of the Disney resorts will have fun holiday decorations, snacks, and merch. We love resort hopping during our trips. This is a good way to take a break from your park day or on the way to your next park if you’re park hopping. Oh, in the American Adventure building in EPCOT, you can also see gingerbread recreations of some national monuments.
You don’t have to be staying at these resorts to visit them. Just take the Disney buses or monorails to them from the parks. Parking at their lots is iffy if you don’t have a dining reservation there. However, these resorts do have many great restaurants. I suggest you check some out.
Frozen 10th Anniversary
Did you know that it’s already been 10 years since the first Frozen movie was released?!? Time flies!
To celebrate this occasion, there are many Frozen themed PhotoPass photo ops around the parks and Disney Springs if you have any Frozen fans.
Don’t forget to look for holiday photo ops too!
Water Park Closures
Speaking of Frozen, be aware that the water parks and other water-related activities can close if the temperature is forecasted to be really cold. Now, I know that cold is subjective but I guess Florida cold. For example, Blizzard Beach has announced closures for Nov 28-29th so far where the temps look to be around the 50s.
Just be aware that it could happen if you’re planning to go to a water park and check their hours page. Currently, only Disney’s Blizzard Beach water park is open. Typhoon Lagoon is closed for its seasonal refurbishment.
New Restaurants
Two new restaurants are opening soon in Disney Springs. Summerhouse by the Lake will feature West Coast style cuisine and Eet by Maneet Chauhan will feature Indian-inspired cuisine. Yum!
Update: Opening dates have been announced! Eet will be opening on December 4, 2023 and Summerhouse opens December 14, 2023.
New Years Eve
To celebrate New Year’s Eve, Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, and Epcot will have special festivities or fireworks to countdown to 2024! Magic Kingdom will be open 8am til midnight on Dec 30th and 8am til 1am on Dec 31st. EPCOT will be open 9am til 1am and Hollywood Studios will be open 8:30am til midnight just on Dec 31st.
These will be very popular days, so make your park reservations now, and can potentially close to park hopping due to max capacity so plan accordingly.
As always, if you want to chat more about these events or would like me to help you plan your trip, feel free to contact me. We hope to see you there!
Disney just announced the lineup of performers for the Disney on Broadway concerts and the list of food booths coming to the EPCOT Festival of the Arts from January 12, 2024 through February 19, 2024.
Visit my post for the details on this fun festival:
Today’s Trivia: November 18th is celebrated as Mickey and Minnie’s birthdays because they first appeared publicly in the short film “Steamboat Willy” on November 18, 1928.
Happy Birthday Mickey & Minnie!
The pic above is from our last Very Merrytime Disney cruise. So much fun! We love the holidays at Disney!
Do you have a Disney parks or cruise trip planned or want me to help you plan one? Feel free to contact me.
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Would you like to get more Disney or general trip trivia?
Disney World opened bookings today for a new offer. You can get 50% off children’s (ages 3 to 9) theme park tickets and dining plans with the purchase of a nondiscounted Disney World package that includes a room at a select Disney Resort hotel, theme park tickets, and a dining plan.
It is valid for trips that begin:
March 3, 2024 – March 24, 2024
April 7, 2024 – June 30, 2024
A minimum 4-night stay and 4-day park tickets are required, with a max of 14 nights. Dining plan must be purchased for the entire length of stay and the entire party (ages 3 and up). Children must stay in the same room as adults. Package and restaurant availability is limited, so book soon.
A dining plan allows you to prepay for a certain number of meals and snacks at Disney restaurants and kiosks based on the length of your trip. I have a separate post about the Disney Dining Plans:
If used well, these plans can provide you with some savings on your trip meals. I suggest you view the menus of the restaurants you may want to eat at and calculate how much that meal would cost you if you paid directly vs using a dining plan credit.
For more details on this offer, visit the Disney offer page:
Since we are doing a much longer than usual 3-week road trip this year, much more planning and prepping is involved. I’ve compiled a list of planning steps and tips to hopefully help you too. Check out how I planned our itinerary, plus packing and other prepping info.
Today is Veterans Day in the United States. We honor and thank all military personnel and their families.
Many places are offering ways to honor the military. One of them is the US National Park Service. Many national parks have direct connections to the American military—dozens of battlefields, military parks, and historic sites commemorate and honor the service of American veterans.
The National Park Service invites all visitors to remember our veterans by visiting any National Park Service site for free on Veterans Day (November 11).
In addition, they offer a free Military Pass as a way to thank current US military members and their dependents, Gold Star Families, and US military veterans for their support of our country and to encourage them to explore recreational opportunities on their public lands and waters.
Feel free to contact me if you’d like to chat more about a national parks trip. We have been to over half of the major ones in the US so far and plan to get to all of them soon. We do a bunch on our 2023 cross-country road trip (posts coming soon). They’re all beautiful and unique. I encourage you to visit as many as you can.
Adventures By Anne 