Author: disneyfoodblog.com

When Walt Disney World announced that the theme parks would be reopening, they also shared that select experiences such as fireworks, parades, and character meet and greets would be temporarily suspended.

Although Disney has put these experiences on hold, for now, they told us that guests would STILL be able to see some of their favorite characters in new and exciting ways! TODAY, during Cast Member previews at Magic Kingdom and Disney’s Animal Kingdom, we got to see some of these new entertainment offerings for the first time EVER!

We’ll keep updating this post as we spot more of Disney World’s new Character Cavalcades, but this morning, we’ve already had a chance to see this adorable Pooh & Friends Cavalcade riding down Main Street, U.S.A. on a horse-drawn trolley! No sign of that silly old bear yet, but Piglet, Eeyore, and Rabbit all made cameo appearances!

Everybody got their ears on as the Mickey & Friends Cavalcade made the rounds in front of Cinderella Castle! Mickey, Minnie, and Pluto were wearing their special 90th-anniversary celebration outfits!

Over in Frontierland, we ran into the Main Street Philharmonic! They were marching on through while playing their brass instruments and drums at full blast!

Jack Sparrow was hanging around Adventureland today! While you couldn’t go up to him, you could interact with the notorious Captain Jack from afar!

Other Magic Kingdom entertainment offerings guests will be able to check out include:

• The Royal Princess Processional
• Fantasyland Friends Cavalcade
• A Goofy Cavalcade
• Tinker Bell & the Lost Treasure

And don’t forget EACH of the newly reopened Disney World theme parks will have their own unique Character Cavalcades which we’ll be hoping to see in the next few days and next week when the remaining theme parks welcome guests back!

At Disney’s Animal Kingdom, guests will be able to spot their favorite characters as they cruise down the Discovery River. Today we’ve already spotted Pocahontas and Meeko waving to guests from their riverboat.

We also spotted Chip and Dale in their Donald’s Dino-Bash! costumes along with Goofy looking VERY DAPPER. 

At Disney’s Animal Kingdom, guests can watch:

• Discovery River Character Cruise
• Discovery Island Drummers
• Donald’s Dino Boat Bash!
• Mickey & Friends Flotilla

If you find yourself in Disney’s Hollywood Studios next week, you can see Character Cavalcades throughout the day, with favorite Disney friends appearing along Hollywood Boulevard, including:

• Disney Junior Stars Motorcade
• Mickey & Friends Motorcade
• Pixar Motorcade

And if you’re in Epcot, be sure to check out:

• Frozen Promenade
• Mickey & Friends World Tour
• Princess Promenade

Don’t forget Taste of EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival will kick off on July 15th — the same day the theme park reopens to the general public. Check out which 20 food booths we’re hoping to see return this year HERE!

We’re LIVE inside the Magic Kingdom today — follow along here!

When are you planning to visit Disney World? Let us know in the comments below. 

From our friends at www.disneyfoodblog.com
Filed Under: Animal Kingdom, disney parks, Featured, magic kingdom, Walt Disney World, character cavalcades, Character meet and greets, Disney characters, disney news, disney world parades, entertainment, Epcot, Hollywood Studios

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

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

We’re finally back INSIDE Magic Kingdom for the first time since March!

And while we got to check in on Cinderella Castle’s makeover progress during our stay at Disney’s Contemporary Resort a few weeks ago, we got to see the (almost) finished goods today!

Just for reference, here’s what Cinderella Castle looked like before she underwent her royal makeover.

And just like that, it appears Cinderella Castle’s refurbishment is just getting a few final touches!

With Magic Kingdom’s 50th-anniversary coming up, Disney World wanted its iconic centerpiece to look her absolute best! We learned Cinderella Castle would be receiving a royal makeover back in February, and that its paint job would entail a new rosy-pinkish hue! Here’s the artists’ concept they shared with us at the beginning of the year.

We weren’t really envisioning such a bright shade of PINK as what we saw in person today! The renderings made Cinderella Castle’s new pink look a bit softer with a muted blushy pinkish tone. But in person, the pink is more of a salmon color and it’s pretty vibrant!

The lower half of the castle will remain its former grayish color while all of Cindy Castle’s architectural features have been turned to gold.

Even the spires have received a much deeper, bolder blue hue than we were expecting! Don’t get us wrong — the colors are really visually striking, but it’s going to take us a little time to process our thoughts on such a different-looking castle! The deeper blue really sticks out against the sky now!

For now, the cranes are still up. We will continue to keep you posted on the progress of the castle as the finishing touches are completed. So, stay tuned for more details!!

We’re reporting LIVE from Magic Kingdom today. Follow along with us here!

What do you think of Cinderella Castle now that its royal makeover is finished? Let us know if you’re a fan of the new paint job (or not!) in the comments below!

From our friends at www.disneyfoodblog.com
Filed Under: Disney News, Featured, magic kingdom, Walt Disney World, 50th anniversary, Cinderella Castle, completed, construction, Disney World, done, finished, finsihed, pink castle, refurbishment, reopening, rosy pink, royal makeover, transformation, welcome back guests

Walt Disney World is preparing to re-open this week while many of the Disney hotels are already open and operational. Some restaurants will modify the dining experience while others are not set to re-open until further notice.

Disney’s Riviera Resort was one of the Disney resorts to re-open first. Here, we got our first taste of what it is like experiencing character dining under the new conditions. As operations continue to update we noticed that one of the resorts onsite bars has been removed from Disney’s list of available dining locations.

Earlier, we reported Bar Riva, the resort’s pool bar, as being listed under the available dining experiences at Disney’s Riviera Resort. In fact, when the resort reopened on June 22nd, we checked out the newly reopened pool bar ourselves!

Disney has unexpectedly removed the bar from the list of available resort restaurants while other resort bars like Barefoot Pool Bar at Disney’s Polynesian Villas & Bungalows remain on the list.

Some establishments like Jock Lindsey’s Hangar Bar were closed immediately due to the Florida Alcohol Ban. After some evaluation, Jock Lindsey’s has since re-opened again. There is no indication of reasoning behind Bar Riva’s unavailability as of yet. We will continue to keep you updated as events unfold.

Are you visiting Disney World soon? Check out all the restaurants that will re-open with the parks this week! 

What do you think of Bar Riva’s unexpected removal from the list of dining experiences? Let us know in the comments below!

From our friends at www.disneyfoodblog.com
Filed Under: Disney News, Featured, Riviera Resort, Walt Disney World, Bar Riva, disney closure, disney hotels, Disney Pool Bars, Disney World, disney world closure, disney world hotels, disney world re-opening, Disney World Resorts, Disney’s Riviera Resort, Pool Bar, riviera resort