Many of us are craving the comfort of our favorite holidays right now. Thankfully Disney always has a supply of Christmas and holiday season goodies to satisfy your need for holiday comfort, any time of year. At Ye Olde Christmas Shoppe at Magic Kingdom you can always get your fix. We spotted a new line of Mickey Ear Hat ornaments that focuses on attractions found throughout Walt Disney World.
Frozen Ever After
Soarin’ Around the World
The Enchanted Tiki Room
The Haunted Mansion
Toy Story Land
Mission Space (see you soon Disney outlets)
Journey Into Imagination
Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin
Frozen Ever After Mickey Ears Hat Christmas OrnamentFrozen Ever After Mickey Ears Hat Christmas Ornament – BackSoarin’ Around the World Mickey Ears Hat Christmas OrnamentSoarin’ Around the World Mickey Ears Hat Christmas Ornament – BackEnchanted Tiki Room Mickey Ears Hat Christmas Ornament – BackEnchanted Tiki Room Mickey Ears Hat Christmas Ornament – BackThe Haunted Mansion Mickey Ears Hat Christmas OrnamentThe Haunted Mansion Mickey Ears Hat Christmas Ornament – BackToy Story Land Mickey Ears Hat Christmas OrnamentToy Story Land Mickey Ears Hat Christmas OrnamentMission SPACE Mickey Ears Hat Christmas OrnamentMission SPACE Mickey Ears Hat Christmas OrnamentJourney Into Imagination Mickey Ears Hat Christmas OrnamentJourney Into Imagination Mickey Ears Hat Christmas Ornament – BackBuzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin Mickey Ears Hat Christmas Ornament
One of the neat features about these ear hat ornaments is that they are on a detachable loop, so if you prefer to simply display the ear hat rather than use it as an ornament, you can. There are great details on the front and back of each ornament.
It does not appear these ornaments are available at shopDisney online at this time.
Do you have a favorite attraction from this collection?
From our friends at touringplans.com Filed Under: Attractions, Holidays, Magic Kingdom, Merchandise, disney christmas, disney ornaments, figment, Frozen Ever After, Mickey ears, tiki room, Toy Story Land
You’re going on vacation to Walt Disney World! The only problem? You’re not sure which attractions are right for you and your kiddos and you have questions. Which attractions are too intense for little ones? What rides do I really need a FastPass+ reservation for? What’s the disability access like for certain attractions? We’re answering all those questions and more in our Everything You Need to Know attraction series with today’s focus on the Tomorrowland Speedway at the Magic Kingdom!
What is the Tomorrowland Speedway?
The Tomorrowland Speedway is a miniature motorway where little princes and princesses, as well as the young at heart, can take to the open road along a guide rail at an exhilarating 7 mph.
Where is the Tomorrowland Speedway?
The Tomorrowland Speedway is located in Tomorrowland at the Magic Kingdom next to the Mad Tea Party and across from Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe.
What is the History of the Tomorrowland Speedway?
The Tomorrowland Speedway is one of the original Walt Disney World attractions that opened on October 1, 1971.
The attraction’s track has changed through the years, as has its name. Originally known as the Grand Prix Raceway, in 1994 its name was changed to the Tomorrowland Indy Speedway before being shortened to simply the Tomorrowland Speedway in 2008.
What You Need to Know About the Queue
The queue for the Speedway winds outside the entrance and across a pedestrian bridge to the ride’s loading area.
Tip: Turn right off the bridge and then head to the first loading area rather than continuing to the second one.
What You Need to Know About the Experience
The Tomorrowland Speedway is typically about a four-and-a-half-minute ride in a sleek, somewhat retro-inspired gasoline-powered car. Guests putter around gentle curves and even over the roadway at one point with views of Storybook Circus, Space Mountain, the Tomorrowland PeopleMover, and other areas of Tomorrowland.
Be prepared for the smell of gasoline and loud, continuous noises. Also, even though drivers are constantly warned not to bump the cars in front of them, it still happens. Despite that, the Tomorrowland Speedway is a great family-friendly attraction offering more of an experience than thrills.
In 2019, the Tomorrowland Speedway received a holiday overlay complete with lights, holiday displays, and more for guests of Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party and later for all park guests towards the end of December.
What You Need to Know About the Ride Vehicles
Standard capacity is two guests per car. However, Cast Members can load one adult plus two small children, or two adults plus one small child.
Guests sit on a hard bench with a back with one fabric lap belt for all riders. Guests must step over a small wall and then down a moderate step into the car.
Note: The driver must be a certain height to reach the foot pedals. This is why there are two height requirements. While children must be 32 inches tall to ride, no one can drive alone unless they are 54 inches tall. If you decide to let an older child drive alone, be sure to explain that they are in control of their ride vehicle and provide instructions for how to work the car.
What You Need to Know About Accessibility
Guests must transfer from a wheelchair/ECV to experience this attraction.
What You Need to Know About Health and Safety Advisories
For safety, you should be in good health and free from high blood pressure, heart, back or neck problems, motion sickness, or other conditions that could be aggravated by this adventure. Expectant mothers should not ride. Also, be aware that bumping can (and usually does) occur.
What are the Height Requirements?
Guests must be at least 32 inches to experience the Tomorrowland Speedway, and drivers must be at least 54 inches to drive unassisted. This ride does offer rider swap.
Does Weather Affect the Tomorrowland Speedway?
Since the Tomorrowland Speedway is an outdoor attraction, it will shut down due to inclement weather. Guests waiting in the queue are mostly exposed to the elements.
What’s the Best Time of Day to Experience the Tomorrowland Speedway?
For the shortest waits, try to check out the Tomorrowland Speedway before 10 a.m. or during the last 2 hours before park closing.
This chart shows you roughly how long you’ll wait for Tomorrowland Speedway when you visit on a day with a given Magic Kingdom Crowd Level. The blue bars represent the average “peak” wait time (that is, how long the line will be at its busiest). The bottom and top black lines represent the range of peak wait times to expect (for you fellow nerds out there: it’s the 5th percentile and 95th percentile of peak wait times). Please note that these are estimates, and for a better forecast for your travel dates, see Tomorrowland Speedway Wait Times.
Did I answer all of your questions about the Tomorrowland Speedway? Is this attraction at the top of your family’s vacation to-do list? Let us know in the comments.
From our friends at touringplans.com Filed Under: Attractions, Magic Kingdom, Disney Attractions, disney world, Tomorrowland Speedway, walt disney world
A few weeks back we published about some new Wristlets by Loungefly. Turns out some of our readers wanted to know more about the Loungefly Wristlets. How big are they? Can they fit a phone?
At Magic Kingdom we spotted a new wristlet, the Mickey Mouse Faces Backpack Wristlet by Loungefly, which sells for $40.00 and is available at shopDisney online too. This wristlet features classic Mickey Mouse’s various facial expressions.
Loungefly Backpacks and Wristlets at Magic KingdomLoungefly Wristlets at Magic Kingdom
Wristlets are a good alternative for the mini backpacks by Loungefly, if you want a smaller price tag. Of course, that means a small storage space too. It can *barely* fit an average size phone, but the front mini pocket holds cash and credit cards easily. Convenient features like a belt loop so you can wear it on your hip, and a detachable wrist strap with clasp can make it easier to access your items rather than taking a mini backpack off your backpack.
Mickey Mouse Loungefly Wristlet at Magic KingdomMickey Mouse Loungefly Wristlet at Magic Kingdom – Back
What do you think of the Loungefly wristlets? Do you have one?
Walt Disney World Weather: August edition! Everything is on track for normal August weather behavior in Central Florida: heat, humidity, and some seriously strong, long-lasting thunderstorms.
In August, years of observation have taught me, Orlando has a slightly stronger and wetter storm pattern than what we typically see earlier in the summer. Last week we definitely saw it: hot days with searing humidity, passing showers in the afternoon, and storms that didn’t really get rocking until well after five o’clock on some days. Lightning stuck around well after sunset, the power flickered for many people around Walt Disney World, and we even saw some wind damage.
Ask me about August in Orlando and I will describe to you a sultry evening in Frontierland, looking west, seeing the high icy tops of a distant storm behind Splash Mountain filled with a lacy web of pink lightning. It’s a beautiful image and to me it sums up the big, drifting storms of August evenings, their boundary collisions which cause new storms to explode in a matter of minutes, the spreading cloud tops of cumulonimbus stretching over the sunset.
The mornings and middays, though? They’re just hot. That heat index of 105 at 1 p.m. will have you feeling every step you take in the sunlight.
Empty skies, a temp of 89, and a relative humidity of 80%… must be 10 a.m. in August.
This week’s weather at Walt Disney World
This week, expect a weather setup that favors more afternoon storms and more midday heat to continue the August pattern. With high levels of moisture in the atmosphere, sea breezes will not have any trouble kicking up storms each day.
For the interior peninsula, including Orlando and the surrounding area, afternoon storms will blow in each day and their boundaries will kick off new storms which wander around until just after sunset. For the Space Coast, rain chances go down later in the week as the Atlantic ridge adjusts position, increasing the onshore flow on the east coast and pushing rain towards the west.
Sunday afternoon will continue be a hot one with a high of 96, before storms pop up in late afternoon and evening. Storms will concentrate north of I-4, so that includes all the theme park areas. With erratic movement and boundary collisions sparking new convection, rainfall could top two or three inches, and there’s a chance of small hail as well.
On Monday, look for a high of 94 degrees with a 50% chance of storms beginning around midday and lasting into the evening. A light breeze should pick up from the east southeast in the afternoon. The evening will cool slowly to around 76.
Tuesday, there is a 50% chance of afternoon storms with a high of 94 degrees and a low of 75. The east coast sea breeze should be stronger today and could fuel more early storms along the coast before they cluster and build over the interior.
Wednesday has a higher chance of numerous showers and storms throughout the day. The high will be 92, with a rain chance of 60%. Low will be around 75 for the evening. Around this time the Atlantic ridge will have shifted north, and the stronger onshore flow from this could push most of the evening storms towards the west coast. However, the atmosphere is so moist, rain could just stick around anyway.
On Thursday, the hot and sunny start will give way to another 60% of afternoon storms. The high will be 93, low around 75. Southeast winds pick up here — there might be a nice breeze! Steering flows remain light for the rest of the week, so there continues to be a chance of lingering storms into the late evening.
Friday, another elevated rain day with sunny skies before a 60% chance of showers and thunderstorms, with a high near 94 and a low of 75.
On Saturday, once again, likely showers and storms with a high of 93, and a 60% chance of rain.
Tropical Weather Outlook
One lonely tropical wave. Courtesy NOAA
Although August is typically a time of hot hurricane season development, this weekend all’s quiet on the Atlantic front. There’s a single tropical wave located off the coast of Africa which has a low chance of development — 20% over the next five days. Other than that, as of today, nothing is stirring in the warm waters of the Atlantic, Caribbean, or Gulf of Mexico.
July 2020: Warmer than Normal
Worried you were missing out on some great theme park weather this summer? Let’s go to the averages. The National Weather Service in Melbourne reported that July 2020 was both warmer and wetter than normal in East Central Florida. That’s the region that stretches from the WDW area in the west to the Space Coast in the east, and also includes Daytona Beach, Sanford, and The Villages.
July’s weather was first dominated by a southwesterly flow, which created widespread afternoon showers and storms from Orlando to the coast. In the second half of the month, the northward movement of the Atlantic ridge caused the onshore flow to switch to an easterly. This caused storms to develop over the interior and push west towards the Gulf—drying out east coast beaches, but still soaking the interior of the peninsula.
Temperatures were normal to near normal, with highs in the upper 80s to mid 90s, and lows in the high 70s with a few nights in the 80s. A few spikes in temperature and record highs were recorded, often due to a suppressed east coast sea breeze caused by that strong western flow.
It looks like Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando had their busiest post-reopening days yesterday, with long lines in the Magic Kingdom, Universal Studios, and Islands of Adventure. We took a look at our Crowd Calendar and remembered this is the weekend before many of Central Florida schools go back in session.
Let’s take a look at the actual wait times pulled from our Lines app and compare them to the posted wait times. We use exclusive technology to constantly update our app, Lines, to provide you with real-time wait times, as they are actually experienced.
Magic Kingdom Actual Wait Times August 8, 2020
Currently Magic Kingdom is open 9:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. and we have found that all of the parks wind down leading up to the final hour of operations, now that there is no nighttime finale to anchor them. The peak wait times tend to be in the very middle of the day and early afternoon. Such was the case yesterday.
Around 2:45 p.m. we saw many wait times peak. However, there were quite a few cases in which Disney’s posted wait time was 10 – 15 minutes higher than the wait times being calculated and reported in our Lines app. To make sure the data in our app is accurate we often wait in the lines and ride attractions ourselves to verify the actual wait times.
Guests in Line for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad August 8, 2020Splash Mountain Wait Time August 8, 2020Magic Kingdom Expected Wait Times in Lines App August 8, 2020Magic Kingdom Expected Wait Times in Lines App August 8, 2020
Expected Wait Times below are the wait times expected based on data calculated in our Lines app. Any Actual wait times below are from people actually waiting in line and riding.
Big Thunder Mountain
Posted Wait Time 40 / Expected 30
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
Posted Wait Time 40 / Expected 35 / Actual 30
Space Mountain
Posted Wait Time 20 / Expected 24
Splash Mountain
2:10 p.m. Posted Wait Time 65 / Expected 47
2:45 p.m. Posted Wait Time 45 / Expected 53 / Actual 49
Haunted Mansion
Posted Wait Time 45 / Actual 29
A few pieces of insight can be gained by looking at these Expected and Actual wait times. It is pretty well known that Splash Mountain has the lower wait times in the morning, because everyone wants to ride it in the sweltering summer heat in the afternoon.
And it is interesting to see how Disney’s posted wait time changed by 20 minutes in the span of 35 minutes. Our Expected Wait Time in our Lines app stayed within a 6-minute difference in that same time-frame, and ended up being very accurate.
You can also see that some of the minor attractions at Magic Kingdom still had manageable wait times when the major attractions had longer waits. In a few cases, such as Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, our Expected Wait Time was slightly higher than Disney’s posted wait time.
Guests at Magic Kingdom Frontierland August 8, 2020Haunted Mansion Expected Wait Time in Lines App August 8, 2020Splash Mountain Expected Wait Time in Lines App August 8, 2020
We all know this year is dramatically different than any other time in Walt Disney World’s history. But, since we have the data (we’re nerdy and scientific that way), let’s take a look at the wait times for this equivalent day last year (the Saturday before school was back in session locally in the Walt Disney World area).
Magic Kingdom Wait Times in Lines App August 10, 2019Magic Kingdom Wait Times in Lines App August 8, 2020
Seeing this comparison makes us realize that yes, Magic Kingdom was busier yesterday than it has been since the parks have reopened, but wait times are still dramatically less than this same day last year. It is also interesting to see that yesterday the Expected and Actual wait times we observed were on average less than Disney’s posted wait times, whereas this time in 2019 observed wait times were longer than what Disney posted. If you’re interested in viewing Magic Kingdom’s actual wait times from yesterday and other past days, check them out on our site.
On our site you can view graphs with observed wait times compared to expected wait times for any past days. Anytime you see a green dot, that is an actual wait time submitted by a Lines app user, or a Liner as we affectionately call them.
Haunted Mansion Actual Wait Time in Lines App August 8, 2020Splash Mountain Actual Wait Time in Lines App August 8, 2020Guests at Magic Kingdom Tomorrowland August 8, 2020
Highest Crowds Since Reopening
The overall crowd level for the Magic Kingdom was a 2 on our scale of 1 to 10. This is the first time the Magic Kingdom has been above a 1 since the park reopened on July 11, 2020. In addition, Universal Studios Florida was a 9 on our scale, and Islands of Adventure was a 7. Both of those are the highest crowd levels recorded since the parks reopened.
Seeing that attendance has picked up this weekend compared to other recent weekends makes us think that other historically busier weekends, like Labor Day weekend coming up, may continue to see an uptick. Certainly, wait times will not be what there were in the past, but it seems possible that holidays and historically busy weekends may continue to provide a small boost to attendance.
We are constantly evaluating data and observing the Disney theme parks. Stick with us on our social media channels and our blog for helping planning information and news.
We’re also testing out different content to find new ways to help our readers.
What do you think of this style of post? Would you like more in-park observations? How about pairing those observations with data from our Lines app and website?
From our friends at touringplans.com Filed Under: Crowd Calendar, In the Parks, Magic Kingdom, Trip Planning, disney crowds, disney reopening, disney wait times, Haunted Mansion, Splash Mountain
The Tomorrowland Speedway is a miniature motorway where little princes and princesses, as well as the young at heart, can take to the open road along a guide rail at an exhilarating 7 mph.
The queue for the Speedway winds outside the entrance and across a pedestrian bridge to the ride’s loading area.
The Tomorrowland Speedway is typically about a four-and-a-half-minute ride in a sleek, somewhat retro-inspired gasoline-powered car. Guests putter around gentle curves and even over the roadway at one point with views of Storybook Circus, Space Mountain, the Tomorrowland PeopleMover, and other areas of Tomorrowland.
Standard capacity is two guests per car. However, Cast Members can load one adult plus two small children, or two adults plus one small child.
For safety, you should be in good health and free from high blood pressure, heart, back or neck problems, motion sickness, or other conditions that could be aggravated by this adventure. Expectant mothers should not ride. Also, be aware that bumping can (and usually does) occur.
