A Blog About Disney Stuff

Wait times at the Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, and Hollywood Studios were not as high as you might’ve thought.  EPCOT’s wait times were the highest of the past month, probably because today is the first day of EPCOT’s Festival of the Holidays – here’s our Festival of the Holidays photo tour from today!  We received 114 actual wait times from the parks. Let’s do the numbers!

Magic Kingdom Wait Times

Only Splash Mountain had its highest average posted wait times of the week today.  Splash’s average wait time today of 79 minutes. Its 7-day average is 66 minutes, so today ranks #1 for this week. Its 30-day average is 53 minutes, so today ranks #1 for the past month too.

Hollywood Studios Wait Times

Average posted waits at the Studios today were the second lowest of the past month!

Rise of the Resistance had a solid day of operations. The first boarding groups were called around 9:45 a.m., and subsequent groups were called steadily until just before 2 p.m.  Boarding groups resumed around 2:30 p.m. and ran steadily until 3:45 p.m., when there was a delay of just under 30 minutes.  But the ride ops team made up ground quickly, and Rise was even with its 7-day pace by 5 p.m. today.

Animal Kingdom Wait Times

The 8 a.m. opening the day after Thanksgiving meant crowds were relatively light for the first couple of hours the park was open today.  Crowds remained steady through 6 p.m.

EPCOT Wait Times

I know EPCOT’s posted wait times were the highest of the past month, but the actual wait times we got today were barely over half of the posted waits.  So perhaps things weren’t as bad as the posted waits implied.

The post Not So Black Friday – Disney World Wait Times for Friday, November 27, 2020 appeared first on TouringPlans.com Blog.

From our friends at touringplans.com

Filed Under: Walt Disney World (FL), wait times

This year the merchandise available at this year’s Festival of the Holidays is special. Because of the cancellation of Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, EPCOT’s merchandise is the only park specific merchandise available this holiday season.

Here’s what we spotted today:

• Cozy Spirit Jersey
• Festival T-Shirt
• Festival T-Shirt Passholder Edition
• Cookie Stroll Cookie Jar
• Chip and Dale Festival Glass Ornaments
• Festival Magnets
• Festival Cell Phone Case

This year Chip and Dale are the unofficial mascots of the merchandise, with a fun tagline “May Your Holidays Be Nutty and Bright” – very 2020 on brand. The ornament is especially cute because it is the shape of Spaceship Earth. And the cookie jar has a Spaceship Earth pattern.

Which of these items has caught your eye? Do you generally purchase festival exclusive merchandise?

The post PHOTOS – Check Out The New Festival of the Holidays 2020 Merchandise appeared first on TouringPlans.com Blog.

From our friends at touringplans.com

Filed Under: Christmas, Epcot, Festivals, Holidays, Merchandise, epcot christmas, Epcot Festival of the Holidays, Epcot merchandise

Starting today, the Taste of EPCOT International Festival of the Holidays will bring seasonal fun from around the globe to the Walt Disney World Resort theme park. Through Dec. 31, 2020, this magical event features delicious food, activities for the whole family, a chance to see Disney characters in their holiday finest and more. 

We were out in the park today to chronicle some of the merriment as guests got their first taste of the festival. Check out the photos below for the seasonal fun already underway at EPCOT! 

Still making notes on your holiday shopping list? There is plenty of festive merchandise available throughout World Showcase as part of this year’s festival, including fragrances, apparel, ornaments, dolls, stocking stuffers, tree trimmings and so much more. And don’t miss the special holiday collection featuring everyone’s favorite dynamic duo, Chip ‘n’ Dale. The mischievous chipmunks can be found playfully adorning apparel, cookware and more. 

For the full download on the exciting new sips, treats, character appearances and family fun available at this year’s Taste of EPCOT International Festival of the Holidays, take a look at our festival overview here. And learn more about the celebrations happening all season long at Magic Kingdom Park, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park, Disney Springs and Disney Resort hotels here.

Happy holidays from Walt Disney World!  

From our friends at disneyparks.disney.go.com

Filed Under: Epcot, Walt Disney World Resort, WDW

Today is the day! EPCOT’s International Festival of the Holidays kicks off today. We’ll be bringing you the highlights of this year’s food, entertainment, merchandise, and more. But we figured we’d let you take a peek at a few of the festival’s holly jolly offerings. The weather today is glorious and it’s a great time to snap some photos, let’s take a look.

The Festival of the Holidays has some lovely signage that feels very cozy and traditional. The Holiday Kitchens around World Showcase offer traditional holiday flavors from around the world – a great way to experience a sampling of how the holiday season tastes in other cultures. We’ll have reviews of some the best offers at the Holiday Kitchens a little later.

This year there is a new scavenger hunt inspired by the holiday animated short “Olaf’s Frozen Adventure” in which Olaf explores holiday traditions in hopes of finding one for Anna and Elsa. The crowds are fairly light this morning, but we anticipate things to pick up this afternoon and evening as locals finish their Black Friday shopping and become ready to celebrate the start of the festival.

We’ll bring you more in-depth coverage and information about this year’s EPCOT International Festival of the Holidays on our blog, so stick with us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

If you’re visiting Walt Disney World this holiday season, make sure you have holiday magic at your fingertips. Become a TouringPlans Subscriber and gain access to our Lines app. Our Lines app users save 2-3 hours on average per day in the parks, so you’ll have more time to savor the magic of this festive season.

Are you excited about the International Festival of the Holidays? Which of the four Disney parks is your favorite this time of year?

The post PHOTOS – Festival of the Holidays Arrives at EPCOT appeared first on TouringPlans.com Blog.

From our friends at touringplans.com

Filed Under: Christmas, Epcot, Festivals, Photos and Video, epcot christmas, Epcot Festival of the Holidays, epcot food

It may not come as much of a surprise that many TouringPlans bloggers happen to enjoy buying Disney merchandise. And although there are some wonderful items on our personal wish lists with shopDisney, our little secret is a different web site that sells officially licensed merchandise: BoxLunch.

With a huge selection of Disney, Marvel, and Star Wars merchandise, and brands like Funko, Loungefly, and more, there’s a little something for everyone. What makes this site of personal interest for me is that they offer merchandise based on different Disney movies than you typically see offered for sale by Disney. A Loungefly bag for Rescuers Down Under? Check. Emperor’s New Groove socks? Of course. A Robin Hood spirit jersey? Hey, you do you!

Boxlunch tends to have comparable “rack rate” prices to shopDisney, but also runs quite a few sales and specials offers beyond what you’ll find on shopDisney. Although there’s a lot of merchandise that is exclusive to each site, some items are the same on both sites. It pays to comparison shop, especially after looking at what special offers and coupon codes are available.

Naturally, like every retailer, Boxlunch is doing their Black Friday sales. What sort of items are catching our eye? Here’s our picks to help you finish your holiday shopping for your favorite Disney-phile.

The post Buying Disney Merchandise without shopDisney on BoxLunch appeared first on TouringPlans.com Blog.

From our friends at touringplans.com

Filed Under: Merchandise, Walt Disney World (FL), boxlunch, Loungefly