Minnie Vans Service Expanded to Polynesian Village Resort Guests Starting Today

WDWNT on September 27, 2017

While initially only available to guests staying at Disney’s Yacht and Beach Club and Boardwalk Resorts, Minnie Vans have since rolled out to Wilderness & Animal Kingdom Lodge hotels, as well as the Grand Floridian, and today are joined by the Polynesian Village due to popular demand.

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Starting today, guests at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort (as well as the Villas there) can now go to the front desk at the resort to activate the point-to-point transportation service for their use.

Minnie Vans is a paid transportation service that is operated by Disney and summoned through the Lyft app. Please check out our review to see how it works and if Minnie Vans will be right for you.

Magic Kingdom Getting a Secret Menu Item, Pecos Bill’s Ending Giant Nachos

WDWNT on September 27, 2017

A new secret menu item will be introduced at Magic Kingdom Park later this fall, while Pecos Bill’s will retire the Nachos Real Grande offering.

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Secret menu items are unadvertised offerings that Guests may learn about from a friend or discover on their own. While Disney won’t say what the dish is, the My Disney Experience app will soon list this new offering, which is said to be “out-of-this-world!”

The Nachos Real Grande, a limited time secret menu offering at Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn & Café, will no longer be available starting October 1st.

Guests can look for the next secret menu item later this fall.

BREAKING: MyDisneyExperience App, FastPass+, and Reservations Currently Down at Disney World

WDWNT on September 27, 2017

Guests are currently not able to obtain or modify any FastPass+ reservations, dining reservations and more due to outages with the MyDisneyExperience mobile application.

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Guests are being instructed to use in-park kiosks for FastPass assistance, but it is unclear how they can arrange or modify dining reservations at this time.

UPDATE: Digital wait time boards at many attractions across all 4 parks are also not operating at this time.

Atlanta Braves Leaving Walt Disney World After 2018 Season

WDWNT on September 27, 2017

The Atlanta Braves are ending their 20 years of Spring Training at Walt Disney World  in favor of building a new stadium near Sarasota, Florida.

As we reported earlier this year, the Atlanta Braves’ contract with Disney at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex will expire after the 2018 season, and it looks like the team isn’t going to extend the deal.

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The new stadium will put the Braves much closer to the other teams in the Grapefruit League, which mostly seem to be along the Gulf Coast.

The new stadium has already received final approval and is set to open in time for the 2019 Spring Training season. This 8,000 seat stadium will reportedly cost $100 million, with funding being split between the Braves, Florida tax payers, and private funding. The Braves are looking to sell naming rights to the new complex to offset some of the cost.

The Atlanta Braves have been playing at Disney’s Champion Stadium at the ESPN Wide World of Sports ever since the complex opened in 1997, making this year the 20th anniversary. If you want to see the Atlanta Braves play at Walt Disney World one last time, it looks like Spring 2018 will be your only chance.

PHOTOS: New “You Are Here” Starbucks Mug at Disney’s Animal Kingdom

WDWNT on September 27, 2017

The popular “You Are Here” mugs available at the Starbucks inside of Creature Comforts at Animal Kingdom have changed designs.

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The new mug replaces the former design featuring the Tree of Life.

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The new design features only attractions from the Asia area of the park, including Expedition Everest, Kali River Rapids, a tiger, and bats.

Here’s what the old design looked like:

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Disneyland also updated their version of the “You Are Here” recently to feature just Fantasyland, so it is possible that all parks will soon have land-specific versions for sale.

UPDATE: Guests Can Now Take Their Test Track Cars Home at Epcot’s Test Track

WDWNT on September 27, 2017

For the last few days, we have been speculating what the new Stat Stations at the newly renamed SIMporium inside of Test Track will do. Well now we know…

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Guests can scan their MagicBands or tickets at the kiosks and create a custom card featuring the car they built on Test Track. Guests may then purchase this card to take home with them.

Sadly, we don’t have pricing or any additional information yet, but we should soon.

Disney Announces Special Ceremony, Fireworks, and More for Epcot’s 35th Anniversary

WDWNT on September 27, 2017

 

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Disney today announced the many festivities that will be taking place on October 1st, 2017 for the 35th anniversary of Epcot. Here the list of what you can expect:

Commemorative Guide Map – Be sure to pick up a commemorative Epcot Guidemap and Times Guide on your way into the park. They’ll be available at the park’s Main Entrance, at International Gateway and Guest Relations.

Anniversary Celebration – A special celebration will be held at the Fountain View stage at 10:01 a.m. Gather to celebrate the 35th anniversary of Epcot with Mariachi Cobre and Voices of Liberty.

Exclusive Anniversary Merchandise – Guests visiting Epcot on October 1 will have the chance to grab anniversary merchandise as a part of the “I Was There” collection, which has been specifically designed for this year’s milestone. Items in the collection will be available only at a “pop-up” shop (which will be open for one day only/while supplies last), located just past the Art of Disney location at Epcot on October 1. Additional Epcot 35th Anniversary logo merchandise  will be available in select merchandise locations at the park, such as Mouse Gear and on the Shop Disney Parks app. Some of this merchandise was released yesterday and you can see it here.

Special Edition: IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth – Conclude your day at the park by attending a special edition of the park’s nighttime fireworks show, “IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth,” which begins at 9 p.m. If you would like reserved viewing for this and a selection of drinks and snacks, WDWCelebrations still has tickets for sale to their Illuminations Dessert Party for October 1st.

Take a WDWNT Poll for a Chance to Win a Disney Prize Package!

WDWNT on September 27, 2017

WDWNT is conducting a short poll. Your answers will help us with a future project. In addition to assisting us, and to show our appreciation, you can be entered in a random drawing for a WDWNT prize pack just for answering the questions! Answer below or click here to open the poll up in a new window. Thank you!

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Construction Has Begun on Epcot’s Ratatouille Ride for the France Pavilion

WDWNT on September 27, 2017

Walt Disney World has announced that they have commenced with the construction of the Ratatouille attraction for the France Pavilion at Epcot.

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Work began on September 20th, 2017 for the ride that will open sometime before October 1st, 2021. Construction is not yet visible to guests and is only taking place backstage.

The ride, already a popular attraction at Disneyland Paris, was announced at the D23 Expo 2017 as part of phase 1 of the Epcot park overhaul.

The Ratatouille ride will be part of a larger expansion of the France Pavilion that will include new shopping, dining, and more.