Category: Travel Places

Skyliner Closures

Heads up if you have a Disney World trip planned for January 2024. Disney just announced the following closures for the Skyliner for its annual maintenance.

Jan. 16-21, 2024
- The line between Disney’s Pop Century Resort, Disney’s Art of Animation, and Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort will be closed.
- The line between Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort and Disney’s Hollywood Studios will be closed.
Jan. 16-27, 2024
- The line between Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort, Disney’s Riviera Resort, and International Gateway at EPCOT will be closed.

Buses will be available for affected Skyliner resort guests to get to/from EPCOT and Hollywood Studios, which are the only parks normally accessible via the Skyliner.

If your trip is affected or if you want to chat about any other aspect of a Disney trip, feel free to contact me.

Haunted Mansion Parlor

Are you a Haunted Mansion fan?

Disney Cruise Line just announced that a Haunted Mansion themed lounge will be on the new Disney Treasure ship when it sets sail next December 2024!

This new lounge will bring to life the fan-favorite lore and styling from the Haunted Mansion park attractions around the world. Of course, specialty cocktails will capture the spirit of our ghostly friends and a new collection of Haunted Mansion inspired merchandise will be available.

This will be the first Haunted Mansion inspired venue on the ships and parks. Perhaps, they’ll bring this concept to the parks next. I know many fans of the franchise have been hoping for this for a while.

The artist renderings look really cool so far! Are you excited? Do you want to sail on the Treasure?

Visit my Disney Treasure post for more revelations about this new ship.

Contact me if you want to chat about booking a cruise.

Hurry baaccckkkk!

Pics ©Disney Cruise Line

Holiday Events Beginning Soon at Disney World

Disney announced that a new Frozen Holiday Surprise show will be coming to the Magic Kingdom at Disney World.

Anna, Elsa, Kristoff, Olaf, and over 100 of his Snowgie siblings will decorate Cinderella Castle for the holidays, with Elsa transforming Cinderella Castle into a “shimmering crystallized palace” with her frozen fractals.

The show will start November 7, 2023 and will occur nightly during the holiday season. This means you can watch them light up the castle even if you’re not going to Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party.

Don’t miss the holiday events at the other parks either. The Merry Menagerie, life-size, artisan-sculpted animal puppets, will return to the Animal Kingdom, the International Festival of the Holidays will be taking place in EPCOT, and a new Jollywood Nights party will be held on select nights at Hollywood Studios. More info coming soon on that one.

Disney also shared that preparations are underway to create the beautiful gingerbread houses and displays at the Disney resorts. They should start going up around mid-November. This year, there will be gingerbread displays at the following resorts:

Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge
Disney’s Beach Club Resort
Disney’s BoardWalk Resort
Disney’s Contemporary Resort
Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa
Disney’s Yacht Club Resort

Disney Springs will join in the holiday fun with new decor and dining starting November 10th. You can also visit Santa and look for all of the incredibly themed trees on the Christmas Tree Stroll presented by AdventHealth. They are amazing!

Are you excited for the holidays at Disney? It is an especially beautiful and magical time to go.

Feel free to contact me if you want to chat about planning a Disney trip.

Pics ©Disney

DisneyBand+ Available on the Dream

Disney Cruise Line announced that the DisneyBand+ will now be available for use on the Disney Dream ship starting November 20, 2023.

The band functionality is currently available on the Wish, Fantasy, and Magic ships already. They give you another way to open your cabin door, charge purchases to your cabin, and enhance your shipboard experience with fun sounds and lights. It is not required though and you will still get the current key cards.

The DisneyBand+ is the same as the MagicBand+ at the Disney parks and in fact, will work at both locations if you have one. There are some cool cruise designs but it doesn’t matter what the design is or where you buy it from – cruise ship, park, online. You can link the same one to both your park and cruise apps.

If you have a cruise booked on one of the enabled ships, you will see the link to purchase a MagicBand+ in your reservation 45 days before your sail date. That means those of you on that Nov 20th sailing can buy them now. You can’t buy from there before your 45th day if you have a farther sailing, though you can buy from other sources sooner.

You also have to buy them at least 10 days before your sail date so they have time to mail them to you, though I recommend at least two weeks, and don’t forget to factor in extra days if you’ll be leaving home sooner than your sail date.

Do you think you’ll get a DisneyBand+?

As always, feel free to contact me if you want to chat about booking a cruise.

Pics ©Disney Cruise Line

Blizzard Beach Reopening

Disney World’s Blizzard Beach water park will reopen on November 6, 2023! This winter-themed tropical wonderland is ready for another fun season!

If you don’t know, the two Disney water parks alternate closing for refurbishment in the winter months. Currently, Typhoon Lagoon is open, but it will close for a bit once Blizzard Beach reopens.

New this year, you can buy a Disney Water Park Seasonal Pass valid for unlimited visits at either park from now until May 24, 2024 for $79 (adults) or $73 (child). Considering that a one-day ticket is just a few dollars less, it’s worth it to buy the annual pass if you visit two or more times before it expires. The seasonal pass has no block-out dates and no reservations are necessary.

Have you ever been to the Disney water parks? It’s a good way to do a semi-rest day and cool off between multiple theme park days. We love the water slides, wave pool, and lazy river. Don’t forget about the mini donuts either! Sooo good! There will be new churros and other snacks this year too.

If you want to chat about adding the water park pass or single-day tickets to your Disney trip, feel free to contact me.

Pics © Disney

2023 Holidays at Universal Orlando

Celebrate the holidays at Universal Orlando from November 17, 2023 – December 31, 2023!

See the Grinchmas Wholiday Spectacular for a live retelling of the classic holiday tale starring the Grinch. You can also meet the Grinch himself and Earl the Squirrel, Universal’s mini-celebrity, at various times of the day.

Listen to the iconic holiday music of Mannheim Steamroller. Live performances at the Universal Studios stage on December 2, 3, 9 and 10. No separate ticket needed.

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter will join in the festivities with holiday decor in Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley, and the gorgeous projection show against the Hogwarts Castle on most nights from dusk to park close. Also, sing along to holiday tunes by Celestina Warbeck and the Banshees, the Frog Choir, and more.

Don’t miss the fun Holiday Parade featuring the gigantic Macy’s parade balloons, popular Universal characters, and of course, Santa Claus!

Of course, there will be plenty of holiday-themed food for your belly and merchandise for your shopping list.

Special events include The Grinch™ & Friends Character Breakfast. Join the mean green one himself and the Whos too for a morning feast. Start your day with a tasty buffet with food and fun for everyone. Additional ticket purchase required.

You can also join in the celebration with the Universal Holiday Tour on this 4.5 hour evening event. Experience special meet and greets, foods, shows, and more during a special walking tour around the parks. Additional ticket purchase required.

Feel free to contact me if you want to chat about a Universal trip.

Pics © Universal

Disneyland Price Increases

In case you haven’t heard already, Disneyland in California increased prices for tickets and other items effective October 11, 2023. Here’s the rundown.

Magic Key Annual Passes increased by $50 for the “Imagine” and “Inspire” tiers, and $150 for the “Enchant” and “Believe” tiers.
Single-day tickets increased up to $15 depending on date. The lowest tier price remains unchanged. There are now date-based dynamic pricing tiers for tickets.
Multi-day tickets increased by $25 – $65 depending on length.
Park Hopper add-ons for multi-day tickets increased by $5 – $15 depending on length.
Genie+ add-ons increased $5 per day for pre-arrival purchases, but you can add them up to 120 days in advance now.
Genie+ day-of purchases start at $30 and go higher depending on the date. Magic Key holders still get a 20% discount for day-of purchases.
Parking at the theme park and Disneyland resort lots increased by $5.

For a bit of good news, Disneyland has announced a Child Ticket offer (ages 3 to 9) for as little as $50 per day for some visits between January 8, 2024 and March 10, 2024. These tickets will be available for purchase beginning Oct. 24, 2023.

Also, the Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway and The Little Mermaid ~ Ariel’s Undersea Adventure rides will be added to Genie+.

As always, feel free to contact me if you want to chat about planning a Disney trip.

Disneyland Small World Closing for Holiday Overlay

Heads up! The It’s a Small World attraction at Disneyland Park in California will be closed from Oct 23, 2023 through November 10, 2023 for its annual holiday overlay. Just be aware if you have a trip planned for this timeframe. It starts next Monday.

It’ll be gorgeous when it’s done. The above pic is from our trip there last December. Look at all those lights! There are holiday overlays inside the ride too. Beautiful! Check it out if you can.

As always, feel free to contact me if you want to chat about planning a Disney trip.

Disney 100 Celebrations

October 16, 2023 is officially the 100th Anniversary of the Walt Disney Company. This was the day when Walt and Roy Disney signed the contract to create their first animated short in a little humble studio in California soon after arriving from their hometown in Missouri. The rest, as they say, is history.

To celebrate these 100 years of great stories and characters, Disney debuted a new short film featuring over 500 beloved characters from its long list of featured films. Once Upon a Studio is available now for streaming on Disney+.

In addition, Disney has restored a 4K version of its first full-length feature animation, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, now also available for streaming on Disney+. There is a 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray version too.

TikTok and Disney have partnered together to create a unique Disney100 interactive experience on TikTok that features “unique Disney videos, trivia challenges, ‘Character Cards’ of favorite Disney characters to collect and trade, unique profile badges, and more. The new destination also lets you participate by creating your own videos with custom Disney effects and music. You can engage and connect with Disney fans while reliving favorite memories”. TikTok is also creating a Disney100 Playlist featuring popular hits from the Disney catalog.

Disney100: The Exhibition is traveling to various museums around the world still, currently in Chicago and London. The exhibit features tons of items from the Disney Archives and provides a look at the company’s achievements in films, parks, and many other facets.

If you’re going to any of the Disney parks worldwide, you’ll see new decorations, events, foods, merchandise, and more commemorating this milestone. Some new rides and attractions are opening and for the next few months, there will be new Disney100 PhotoPass Magic Shots. Join in the festivities!

It’s been an amazing 100 years of unforgettable stories and memorable experiences. Do you have a Disney story?

Happy Disney100!

Pics ©Disney

Leaf Peeping

Do you love the colors of Fall foliage? I do! Leaf peeping season is officially in full swing now for most of the northern United States and moving across the country fast!

If you are planning a trip to some popular viewpoints, do so within the next few weeks before the leaves fall off and book early before hotels fill up.

If you are not sure of the best places to go, start with a search for “fall foliage near <location>“. To check the peak dates for a location, search for something like “fall foliage forecast for <location>“. Also, look for live webcams for a given location if you want to see what the locations currently look like. A lot of places have them.

We just did a mini road trip yesterday driving through northern New Jersey, northeastern Pennsylvania, and the southeastern part of the Catskill region in New York to check out the situation there. The leaves are definitely starting to change, but not fully at peak yet. Probably by next weekend though. I’ll have more details in a trip recap coming soon and more pics on my Instagram, but the above pic is a quick preview for now. Stay tuned!

If you would like me to help plan your leaf-peeping trip, feel free to contact me.

Sending you some virtual apple pie that we made with NY apples we got on the trip.

Happy Fall!

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