Category: Other

We are reporting LIVE from Disney World’s Magic Kingdom today. Though the park will not officially reopen to guests until this Saturday, July 11th, today is the first day of Cast Member previews.

We were invited by a friend, so today we are giving you a sneak peek of all the updates to the park experience in Magic Kingdom. And one of our first priorities of the day was to pay a visit (and our respects) to the 999 Happy Haunts that reside in the Haunted Mansion.

Of course, there are some changes to the experience in light of new health and safety measures around the park (as well as the rest of the Resort), and they begin upon entering the attraction.

For instance, one of the most memorable moments of the Haunted Mansion is when your Ghost Host welcomes all “Foolish Mortals” into the Stretching Room featuring four iconic portraits of beings as they appeared in their “corruptible, mortal state.”

However, as you most certainly recall if you’ve ever visited the Haunted Mansion, it is in this room that guests are asked to kindly step in and gather together in the “dead center of the room.” Seeing as that one primary measure to promote the safety of both guests and cast members is the encouragement of physical distancing between people…

…guests are now quickly ushered into the moving queue to enter their Doom Buggies (with seating of guests taking place in every other Buggy).

To put it another way, when your Ghost Host inquires: “Is this haunted room actually stretching??”

No, it’s not. Now, since there is no other way into the queue than through the Stretching Room, guests still do get a glimpse of the portraits (though, from our experience today, it is a pretty quick walk-through).

Beyond that, however, you’ll be accompanied by all the Grim Grinning Ghosts you’re accustomed to seeing throughout the ride!

From our Tomb Sweet Tomb in Liberty Square, we’ll be seeing you from Magic Kingdom throughout the day. We’ll be sure to “Hurry Back… Hurry Back…” In the meantime, you can catch up on all the information regarding the phased reopening of Walt Disney World Resort by visiting any of the links below.

Is the Haunted Mansion one of your favorite attractions? Please let us know with a comment!

 

From our friends at www.disneyfoodblog.com
Filed Under: disney parks, Featured, magic kingdom, Walt Disney World, Haunted Mansion, Haunted Mansion Portraits, Haunted Mansion Stretching Room, health and safety measures, magic kingdom reopening, Physical Distancing, The Haunted Mansion, walt disney world reopening

Today is the day that many have been waiting for! Guests who were looking to book dining and experience reservations for their Walt Disney World Resort vacation may now do so!

As a reminder, Guests will not be able to book 180 days in advance, like they previously could. Instead, Disney has now instituted a rule where Guests can only make these reservations up to 60 days in advance.

Here are some things to keep in mind, however, when making your reservations:

• In-Park Dining: Theme park guests will need valid park admission and a reservation for park entry through the new Disney Park Pass system, as well as a dining reservation for in-park, table-service restaurants for the same park on the same date. Keep in mind that dining reservations do not guarantee admission to the park.
• Disney Resort Hotel Dining: A confirmed reservation is required for day guests and reservations are highly recommended for guests staying overnight at a Disney Resort hotel.
• Disney Springs: Select locations at Disney Springs are currently accepting reservations.

Looking to make a dining or experience reservation? Here is what will be open in the parks and here is what is open at the resorts.

As another reminder, Walt Disney World is introducing a brand new way that Guests can check in for their dining reservations when it’s their time to dine. With the new Mobile Dine Check-In, Guests will be able to bypass the host podium and check in for reservations at select table-service restaurants on their own mobile devices through the My Disney Experience app. More details can be found here.

With the parks reopening officially here soon, stay tuned to the blog for the latest information!

The post Dining And Experience Reservations Open For Walt Disney World appeared first on TouringPlans.com Blog.

From our friends at touringplans.com
Filed Under: Dining, News, Walt Disney World (FL), Advance Dining Reservation

Relaxation Station locations for the Magic Kingdom and the Animal Kingdom

Today is cast member previews at both the Magic Kingdom and the Animal Kingdom. This is the first time the parks have been open for months!

While visiting the Disney World Theme Parks guests 2 and up are required to wear Face Masks.  You can imagine it can be quite hot in Florida in the summer so sometimes you need to take a break and take your mask off for a breather.

Disney World has setup Relaxation Stations throughout the parks to give guests a chance to take a breather and remove their masks.

Let’s take a look where you can find the Relaxation Stations in the Magic & Animal Kingdom theme parks:

Magic Kingdom

• Tomorrowland Terrace in Tomorrowland
• Pete’s Silly Sideshow in Storybook Circus
• Golden Oak Outpost in Frontierland

Disney’s Animal Kingdom

• Pizzafari in Discovery Island
• Upcountry Landing across from UP! A Great Bird Adventure

Please note guests will be spaced 10 feet apart from other parties inside the relaxation zone.

 

For other social distancing measures at Walt Disney World check out the articles below:

• Social Distancing Measures onboard the Disney Monorails
• Social Distancing Measures on Disney World Buses
• Social Distancing At Walt Disney World Resorts
• Social Distancing Measures At DisneyStyle At Disney Springs
• Social Distancing Measures on Kilimanjaro Safaris in Disney’s Animal Kingdom

From our friends at chipandco.com
Filed Under: Parks & Resorts, Do and See, Walt Disney World, COVID-19, Disney World, Face Masks, Relaxation Stations, Social Distancing Measures

Walt Disney World is gearing up to officially reopen on July 11th but first have two days of passholder previews. The preview events had to be registered for in advanced and you must have a reservation confirmation to go. Walt Disney World has recently sent out an email to passholders with a confirmation and guidelines for the event.

Passholder Preview Dates

The passholder preview days are at Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom and will take place on July 9th and 10th. Check your confirmation to make sure you have the correct park and date.

What to Bring to the Event

• Valid annual pass and a government-issued photo ID for each registered Passholder.
• One copy of your confirmation page.
• Face coverings are required for all Guests (ages 2 and up).

Check-in for the events are at the front of both parks at any time during the allotted time. Park hours are 9:00-7:00pm for Magic Kingdom and 8:00am – 6:00pm for Animal Kingdom. Make sure to have an activated annual pass and your ID ready.

Transportation

Guests staying at resorts for preview days will need need to have their own transportation to the parks. There will also be no tram service during previews. There will be monorail and ferry boats to take guests from the TTC to the Magic Kingdom.

Additional Information

Reservations may not be sold and are nontransferable. There are no modifications to reservations. “Restaurants, attractions, experiences and other offerings may be modified and will be limited in capacity and subject to limited availability or closure, based on direction from health experts and government officials to promote physical distancing.”

It’s amazing to see Walt Disney World start to reopen. Make sure you bring your masks and your patience. This is all new for the Cast Members. Thank you to all of them for working hard so we can all be back home.

 

Feature image is from A.Magical.Life.For.Me. All information is from the Disney Passholder email. 

From our friends at chipandco.com
Filed Under: Parks & Resorts, Walt Disney World, animal kingdom, Magic Kingdom, Walt Disney World Passholder Previews, Walt Disney World Reopening

Disney World has implemented a lot of new health and safety measures since our last visit to the theme parks back in mid-March.

And while we’ve been sharing with you our live coverage from Magic Kingdom today (including pics of the nearly finished Cinderella Castle!) the time has come to ride some attractions and see what changes have been made.

One of our favorite rides at Magic Kingdom debuted a few years ago with the rest of New Fantasyland. Of course, we’re talking about Seven Dwarfs Mine Train!

Once upon a time, getting a FastPass for this attraction was NOT an easy feat while standby wait times could easily exceed 2 hours. But due to the parks operating at such a greatly-reduced capacity, there are NO reservations (reminder FastPass+has been suspended) required to hop on this Snow White-themed experience — for now! We only waited about 5 minutes to get on! As a reminder, wait times will likely vary over the next few days.

But before we get way too ahead of ourselves, let’s talk about what riding Seven Dwarfs Mine Train was like today one-step-at-a-time!

Queue Area

Seven Dwarfs Mine Train is using its standby queue which is partially outdoors. They’ve installed some temporary barriers to help guests socially distance themselves since the line has a lot of switchbacks.

They’ve roped off the interactive sections since this Disney World is trying to reduce the number of touchpoints.

A hand sanitizer station has also been installed just before entering the attraction.

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Guests are being seated every-other row with an empty row of seats in between each party. Cast Members did’nt touch our lap bars, instead, we were directed to push up on it ourselves. Masks must be worn for the duration of the entire ride.

When it came to riding with a mask on, the speed of the attraction actually helped to keep the mask in place.

We will be checking out even more lines and attractions today to see what has changed. If you have any questions about our experience on a Disney World ride please let us know!!

Follow along with us LIVE from Magic Kingdom today! 

Which rides do you want to see photos of? Let us know in the comments below. 

From our friends at www.disneyfoodblog.com
Filed Under: Disney News, Featured, magic kingdom, Walt Disney World, Disney World, health and safety measures, new fantasyland, no fastpass, phased reopening, queue area, reopening, seven dwarfs mine train