Category: Magic Kingdom

Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party returns to the Magic Kingdom in 2016, now on 29 evenings. Here is the full list of this year’s dates:

September – 2, 8, 11, 13, 16, 18, 20, 23, 25, 29, 30
October – 2, 4, 6, 7, 10, 11, 13, 14, 16, 18, 20, 21, 23, 25, 27, 28, 30, 31

With new security procedures in place, Disney has revised their costuming guidelines for special events in the theme parks. While costumed attire may be worn, guests ages 14 and older are strongly discouraged from wearing layered costumes or costume props that surround the entire body as they may be subject to additional security screening. Additionally, costumes may not contain any weapons that resemble or could easily be mistaken for an actual weapon.

Tickets are not yet on sale, but should be soon.

Earlier this week we told you about Disney After Hours, a $149.00 event that gives you three hours after park close to enjoy the Magic Kingdom. Well, now we’re finding that Disney will be rolling out an early morning option as well, one that will let you into select Fantasyland attractions early and provide a little bit of breakfast:

Fantasyland Fun Before the Park Opens

Make your Walt Disney World mornings more magical than ever with a first-access experience in the park!

Rising with the sun on select mornings, Disney Early Morning Magic gives you the chance to be among the first to enter Magic Kingdom park and experience a trio of Fantasyland attractions:

• The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
• Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
• Peter Pan’s Flight.

Plus, in addition to the early-morning fun, you can get your fill of a fantastic continental breakfast at Pinocchio Village Haus—featuring such scrumptious breakfast fare as:

• Chilled juices, coffee and teas
• Seasonal fruit and berries
• Freshly baked pastries
• Cheese and cured meats
• Scrambled eggs with assorted toppings
• Vegetable frittata
• Smoked bacon
• Pork and turkey sausages
• Fried potatoes with caramelized onions
• Mickey Waffles

Available with the purchase of a separate ticket, Disney Early Morning Magic takes place on select dates from 7:45 AM to 10:00 AM. However, admission is limited—be sure to buy your tickets before it’s too late!

Admission to Disney Early Morning Magic is available $69 per adult and $59 per child (tax not included).

Learn all you need to know about this special event—including where to check-in and when you can enter the park.

• Official check-in will take place near the far left turnstiles of the Main Entrance to Magic Kingdom park beginning at 7:30 AM.
• Guests who have purchased both regular theme park admission and a special event will receive an event sticker for identification upon check-in.
• Starting at 7:45 AM, event Guests will be admitted into the park and guided into Fantasyland.
• The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and Peter Pan’s Flight are the only attractions that will be operational during this special event.
• From 8:30 AM to 10:00 AM, breakfast will be available at Pinocchio Village Haus.
• Around 9:00 AM, the theme park will open to Guests with regular Magic Kingdom admission tickets and event-only attraction access will end.
• Please note that regular theme park admission is required for this event, in addition to a Disney Early Morning Admission ticket.
• The number of tickets for these events is limited. In addition, all tickets are non-refundable, non-transferrable and are only valid for admission during the special event date and hours.
• All attractions, entertainment and experiences are subject to change without notice.

The event is now official and on sale. Event dates are most Tuesdays and Saturdays.

After 10 years, Dream Along with Mickey will come to an end, holding the longest reign of any show ever performed on the Cinderella Castle forecourt stage. What’s replacing it? “Mickey’s Royal Friendship Faire”…

Against the majestic backdrop of Cinderella Castle, Mickey Mouse and his friends will welcome favorite characters from some of Disney’s newest classics: “The Princess and the Frog,” “Tangled” and “Frozen.”

In “Mickey’s Royal Friendship Faire,” Mickey and his troupe of Merry Makers have been preparing to host a joyous festival and have ventured far and wide to invite friends from other lands to join their celebration. From the Land of the Bewitching Bayous, Goofy has invited Tiana, Naveen and Louis to add a little spice of New Orleans jazz to the party. From the Land of the Enchanted Woods, Donald Duck brings some new friends he met at the Snuggly Duckling, and Daisy introduces us to her special guests, Rapunzel and Flynn Rider. Finally, Mickey shares a surprise with Minnie, as he has traveled to the Land of the Mystic Mountains to invite Olaf, Anna and Elsa, who contributes a blast of her icy magic. It all culminates in a grand dance, as the Merry Makers invite all their special guests to join in the fun on this special day in Magic Kingdom Park!

Marking the first appearances by Tiana and Rapunzel in a show on the castle stage, “Mickey’s Royal Friendship Faire” brings to life beloved Disney stories both classic and contemporary in a spectacular performance featuring an original song, memorable music, lively dancing and special effects magic.

Look for “Mickey’s Royal Friendship Faire” to make its debut in summer 2016!

I’ve been trying to find the right words to say before putting out this story over the last few months, but after a fair amount of research and such, I think it’s safe to say that Walt Disney World has “culturally diversified” the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction during a 2015 refurbishment.

What does this mean? Well, without any mention from Disney, several audio-animatronics characters were re-skinned with darker skin tones. These are characters who were very clearly white-skinned in the attraction previously, but are now much darker in relation to what they once were.

While the photo above isn’t perfectly clear, it’s a photo I had of the Well Scene from a few years ago. Here’s a photo I took on Sunday:

Besides costume changes, the skin color of the character has very clearly been drastically altered. Another example can be found in the next scene:

At the center of the photo, you can see a pirate with a hat on. On Sunday, not only was his hat gone…

But he had gained an eye-patch and an entirely different ethnicity.

While I could not get a clear picture (as it is constantly in motion), one of the women chasing the pirates in the following scene had a skin color change.

Now, these aren’t main characters in the attraction, and I’m not sure any of them have ever appeared on a single piece of Disney merchandise, but this was clearly a concerned effort to diversify the ride. The changes can be viewed positively and negatively: it’s probably more historically accurate and representation of other ethnic backgrounds might help more guests resonate with the attraction, but on the other hand, Disney is altering history and something very much beloved after many decades. While it might seem silly to those outside of theme park fandom, these changes have a historical significance as Pirates of the Caribbean is a part of the fabric of American pop culture and that’s really the reason I posted this story.

In the late 1990’s, the women being chased by male pirates was changed to women fighting off and chasing the pirates instead in all domestic versions of the attraction. Those changes were made based on complaints that the scene came across as degrading to women and that something provocative was being implied in the chase, along with the naked woman in the barrel as well (even though women are being auctioned in the previous scene). At the end of the day, this is a ride that was developed in the mid-1960’s and the look of the scenes and the characters has always reflected that. Is it wrong for Disney to change that? Absolutely not. Should it be a secret and never even mentioned? That I’m not so sure about. Either way, this isn’t the first time Disney has tried to make the ride “politically correct” and it probably won’t be the last.

I’m sure Disney would rather it not be mentioned, but it was noticed and I wanted to point it out as honestly, we’ve pointed out far less significant changes in the Disney Parks like paint-schemes and new benches. For those of us who love to examine park history, it should be documented and that’s what we’re doing. I’m not trying to stir anything up with this post, although it may open the channels for some healthy conversation.

Similar changes have not been noticed on the Disneyland version of the attraction, but that doesn’t mean they won’t be installed at some point.

What do you think of these changes? Are they taking away from the classic attraction or is it OK to correct what might be viewed as mistakes of the 1960’s?

No than long ago, Nick LoCicero (of WDW News Tonight) and myself went to lunch at Liberty Tree Tavern at the Magic Kingdom. For those unaware, lunch does not offer the all-you-care-to-eat feast, but rather a menu quite different from the offerings at dinner. In year’s past, it had actually been my favorite lunch location in the park (I never enjoyed counter service in this park until some recent changes and additions). Our real reason for dining here was to acquire the swanky new metal souvenir mugs that had recently debuted, but for research purposes, we decided to try some appetizers and other items we had not had before:

I hadn’t been to lunch at Liberty Tree Tavern in quite a while, so the menu had some changes

The main reason we went was to get this souvenir mug

The sweet corn fritters were good, but not as flavorful as some I had had in the past at other places

The clam chowder is a must for me here. It’s nothing out of the ordinary, but a tradition of sorts for me.

The lobster and crab dip for 2 was surprisingly good. Honestly, this can feed 3-4 people for an appetizer. You get an entire loaf of buttered bread and big bowl of the dip which was honestly far beyond my expectations.

The “BLT” with pork belly was delicious. The multi-grain bread was fantastic and the pork cooked to tender perfection. The arugula tasted very fresh as well.

Pardon the blurry pic, but I ordered the hamburger with mushrooms and provolone. Again, this is kind of just a tradition for me. I LOVE their fries and the hamburger is usually the right portion following the clam chowder. They recentlt changed the bun, which I would say is a improvement over the former. One of the better burgers on property if you’re in the mood.

The wreckage…

While the new souvenir cups are great, the new plate-ware and plain glasses seem a bit out of place…

Overall, this is still my favorite lunch spot in the park. It’s quiet and nothing was really bad. With the serene setting and solid menu, you would be hard pressed to find a much better table-service lunch in this park (although Plaza is another one of my favorites).