While announced quite some time ago, we have heard little about the 4 planned Club 33 locations at Walt Disney World since. While not confirmed, it appears that the Magic Kingdom location for the exclusive club is finally under construction.
The remainder of the Adventureland Veranda restaurant that wasnât utilized by the Skipper Canteen appears to getting repurposed for Club 33.
The outside portion of the Veranda has had a large section of the awning removed to be rebuilt.
This area will likely be reconfigured to offer a view of fireworks at the Magic Kingdom. Some trees will need to be removed.
Disney has yet to confirm any of the Walt Disney World locations for Club 33.
A smaller version of The Dress Shop has opened towards Casey’s Corner. Many of the dresses, purses, and more from the Disney Springs shop can be found here now.
For some reason, this limited release shirt from ShopDisney is being sold in the parks concurrently. The location makes sense as this space was the House of Magic many years ago. Hopefully, more limited release shirts like this get released at the parks as well. Sadly, the matching MagicBand is online only.
The more confusing part is putting the shirt in a window that’s currently boarded up and no one can see…
Even though a few parties remain, any guest at the Magic Kingdom can now buy select items from the event.
As I said last year, I don’t agree with this. At least wait for the last party to end or send it to the outlets. It takes away one of the parks of the very expensive party ticket.
The Club That’s Made Not for You and Me
As we reported over the weekend, work has begun on what will likely be the Club 33 locations for the Magic Kingdom, the remainder of the old Adventureland Veranda.
The path into Adventureland is quite narrow right now due to the work.
Some are speculating that this work is actually for a permanent Moana meet and greet, but it seems way too extensive for something so minor.
Giant sections of awning that have been there since the 70’s have been removed. This wouldn’t be necessary for a meet and greet and could have been kept.
With a little tree clearing, the patio would offer some unique fireworks views for Club 33 guests.
This and That
All of the trees between Be Our Guest Restaurant and the village had to be removed due to hurricane damage.
In fairness, it doesn’t look terrible since all of the walls the trees covered are well-themed.
We’re still hoping they plant some new trees, at least to cover this speaker tower.
Work continues on the outdoor covered seating area at Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe. Should open very soon.
Pecos Bill’s has added an menu with pictures… it’s a window cling.
Splash Mountain is still closed for refurbishment.
Some new holiday plush for sale. Goofy’s sweater features bulbs that actually light up.
You can get the blown-glass Monorail ornament personalized at Ye Olde Christmas Shoppe.
For some reason, they have a Haunted Mansion merchandise cart out in front of the store selling accessories. I suppose this is to capitalize on Halloween Party guests.
Princess ApparelÂ
A number of new Princess items were released recently, including this Snow White line.
$36.99
$39.99
$36.99
$39.99
Sir Mickey’s has the new Little Mermaid line as well.
The collection also includes this hoodie, $49.99.
Jasmine top, $36.99
Aurora top, $36.99
Belle long sleeve top, $44.99
There are also 4 new Tinker Bell shirts. They range in price from $36.99-39.99.
In a rather strange turn of events, the facade of the classic House of Magic shop on Main Street U.S.A. has returned.
This classic store opened with the park in 1971 before closing in 1995.
While the facade is back, the inside is still home to a section of the Emporium, but you will find the House of Magic shirt for sale here. The shirt was made to commemorate the return of this iconic building.
The new window display even pays homage to the classic shop.
The new facade is permanent and will remain on Main Street.
Despite currently being closed through November 16th, 2017, Splash Mountain at the Magic Kingdom will be closing again for refurbishment in early 2018.
The second refurbishment will take place January 8th through February 1st, 2018. The reasoning for this second closure is unknown, but may be related to some leftover work that can’t be completed during this ongoing refurbishment. The Magic Kingdom would want the attraction open again for the busy holiday season, thus why it will still reopening in November but going down once more in January.
This information was distributed today to Disney travel agents.
Every week on WDW News Tonight, we poke a fair amount of fun at Tony’s Town Square Restaurant at the Magic Kingdom. Is it warranted? Well, yeah. So why would I keep going back? Tradition. My family has been eating at Tony’s for as long as I can remember. You have to remember that many years ago, there wasn’t a whole lot of options at the Magic Kingdom for table service and Tony’s was actually one of the better ones, comparably at least. However, the Magic Kingdom dining renaissance of the last few years has left Tony’s low on the totem pole, but it remains a popular mainstay of the park with many tourists feeling comfortable with “Italian cuisine”.
Let’s start with something positive, the new menu design.
The new menu features the window designs with Lady and the Tramp from the exterior of the restaurant.
The alcohol menu is now inside the folding version of the menu.
New to the menu is the Italian Trio, essentially a “Taste of Tony’s” dish. More on that later…
The back of the menu is pretty adorable.
Italian Trio ($32)
Italian Trio ($32)
Including the Chicken Parmigiana, Baked Rigatoni, and Fettuccine Alfredo, this dish is perfect for the guest who isn’t sure what kind of stomach pain they want to have after the meal.
Honestly, I don’t think the Fettuccine Alfredo is that bad, and if it wasn’t for the tomato sauce, the chicken is a healthy and well-cooked piece. The big issue I have is the baked rigatoni, which is nearly inedible. Again, the red sauce was pretty awful, and it tasted as if it had been blasted with pounds of black pepper.
Tony’s doesn’t offer an authentic Italian meal and it never has, but I can at least appreciate when the American version of Italian cuisine could be enjoyable, and I think the fettuccine is one of those items. Personally, I like to order the Chicken Parmigiana with the Alfredo sauce instead of the red tomato sauce, because I think it allows you to enjoy what I think is a pretty solid piece of chicken that could benefit from not being sold at Tony’s.
My special order, the chicken with the Alfredo sauce, rather than Parmigiana
Overall, I’m not going to recommend dining at Tony’s Town Square Restaurant at the Magic Kingdom, because I can’t in good conscience do that. That being said, it’s not impossible to have an okay meal here, but why settle for OK in a park the offers Skipper Canteen, and I’d even say Be Our Guest and Liberty Tree Tavern while we’re at it.
Our latest photo report brings us to the Magic Kingdom for Fall weather and the lighter crowds of the season. I’m of course joking, it has been above 90 degrees everyday and the parks have been super crowded, but we went anyway…
Welcome to the Magic Kingdom
Annual Passholder entrances don’t seem to be leaving anytime soon as they now have more permanent signage.
Thor Raganrok merchandise is now available throughout the resort.
The Citrus Swirl Orange Float has been added to them menu boards at Sunshine Tree Terrace. You can check out our review here.
Columbus Day Week has been particularly busy. Here, the Jungle Cruise FastPass return line stretches back almost to the entrance of the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse.
The line goes on for niles…
And niles, and niles, and niles, and if you don’t believe me, you are in…
Well, probably you’re in the standby line then, because who would believe this?
The refurbishment of Splash Mountain rolls on. For a better look at the all of the work being done (mostly repainting), check out our video below:
Permanent signage for the lines and exits at the Lunching Pad has arrived. There had been big “foamcore” signs here for the last few weeks.
Mobile Order is available there as well, which I’ve already used a few times just to order a soda with no wait on these hot and busy days at the Magic Kingdom.
The sign informs guests that viewing areas between the end of Main Street and the Castle may appear on camera during the broadcast.
Per the Disney Store announcement:
“In the back of the store screens will be replaced with newer LED displays where guests can watch the parade stream ‘LIVE from Disney Parks’ in the afternoon, and at night a digital fireworks display will be presented just before the store closes.”
No start date has been provided for this streaming at the Disney Store.
Not to be outdone by Animal Kingdom and Disney’s Hollywood Studios, the Magic Kingdom also now has a new Starbucks “You Are Here” mug for sale at the Main Street Bakery.
The new mug does away with other park icons, now focusing on just Fantasyland attractions like the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train.
Our thanks to WDWNT reader Shaun for sending in these pics!
Disney has informed us that the Jingle Cruise WILL return to the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World for the 2017 holiday season. However, it remains unknown if it will return to Disneyland Park, but it at least sounds like, as of right now, that it will not be in Anaheim this year.
Despite not being promoted with all of the other seasonal offerings for this year, Magic Kingdom will add the holiday delight from November 2017 through January 2018. For whatever reason, California is looking to cut the offering, at least for this year. This is somewhat surprising as the Disneyland Resort relies on a mostly local audience who return every season for such overlays, as opposed to Walt Disney World where many guests are either first-timers or only return every few years.
The t-shirt retails for $29.99, while the tank top is $27.99.
The ornament was released at the September 26th party and retails for $14.99.
Of course, all of these items are only available to party guests. It remains unknown what the reason was for pulling the original merchandise, but it is said to have been some legal quarrel over the rights to the artwork in use. Here is what the merchandise would have looked like:
Our thanks to reader Stephanie Jensen for the shirt photos above.
