Walt Disney World (FL) - 3/33 - TouringPlans.com Blog

Bird’s Eye View of a Magic Breakfast

Gearing up to celebrate a monumental birthday is likely different for everyone. Some people plan lavish parties with lots of excitement, but for me, there was a lot of crying, panic, and anxiety. When I found myself with a work-free day on my 30th, I decided to make the best of it and celebrate WDW style! If you have to turn 30, you might as well turn 30 at Disney’s Polynesian Resort, right?

A few days prior, I made a reservation for myself at Kona Cafe, and promptly sent an e-mail to the WDW Special Diets team (thank you Disney Hipsters Adam and Andrew for the advice!). You see, I had heard tell of vegan Tonga Toast. Though I had never had traditional Tonga Toast, I figured: if there’s any way to celebrate a birthday, it’s with vegan deep fried bread and cinnamon, so I might as well give it a whirl!

I received a reply from WDW Special Diets the day following my request. They assured me it wouldn’t be a problem, and to just notify the host or hostess that I had spoken with them. Bingo bango, right? I can’t say I wasn’t skeptical, or preparing myself for potential disappointment, but I figured if nothing else, there was Kona coffee in it for me, so it would be a win/win either way!

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Today I visited Epcot to collect and update menus. To break up the day I also visited some of my favorite attractions, wandered around World Showcase, and had lunch. It was a gorgeous sunny day with a few sprinkles (I managed to leave the park before the heavier evening rain) and a perfect day for exploring Epcot.

I began the day by visiting Journey into Imagination with Figment. I know, I know…It’s a shell of its former self…but honestly, I think it’s a cute ride. I’m sure this is only helped by the fact that I don’t really remember the original (I hadn’t been on it since I was 2) and don’t feel the same nostalgia many do. While nothing significant was different on the ride, I did notice the post-show was in great condition. Okay, wait. Let me rephrase that. The post-show is still fairly plain and unexciting for most people…but for ages I felt like a lot of it was broken or turned off whenever I went through. Today everything was turned on and working properly, and there was nothing roped off. It looked great for what it is.

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Disney

Olé!

Walt Disney World is going to celebrate Cinco de Mayo all week! From May 5 – 11, Epcot will host a special celebration honoring Mexico and its people and culture.

First, for guests who love meeting characters, a special meet and greet will take place where the Three Caballeros (Panchito, José Carioca, and, of course, Donald!) will be available to pose for photos.

In addition, there will be the opportunity to enjoy special entertainment with folklore dancing, marionettes, and performances by Mariachi Cobre.

For exact times for the entertainment options, make sure to pick up a Times Guide.

For the foodie, San Angel Inn and La Hacienda de San Angel will offer Cinco de Mayo menu items. They will include:

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Today marks 24 years since Disney’s Hollywood Studios opened (although then it was called Disney-MGM Studios). Even though it wasn’t a big anniversary with a celebration like I attended at Animal Kingdom last week, I still wanted to visit the park to commemorate the day.

I’m going to be honest. I’m not the biggest fan of Hollywood Studios. I think some of the shows are stale, the theme doesn’t excite or interest me, and there aren’t many rides. However, even though it isn’t my favorite park, there are still several things I enjoy there, so I was off to hit the highlights and check out a couple of new things.

The Crowd Calendar had Hollywood Studios predicted at a 4.8 out of 10, and it was raining, so I knew crowds wouldn’t be too bad. I arrived at the park late in the morning, and even though I was hungry I decided to go straight to Toy Story Mania to see if there were any FASTPASS tickets left for the day. There were! But the return window did not start until 7:15pm. I then headed to ABC Commissary to try the Seafood Platter that had been recently added to the menu.

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While the theme park attractions may be the reason that people come to Walt Disney World, often the reason they stay at Walt Disney World is the hotel pool. All of the Disney World hotels have at least one, if not several, pools on site, many of which have elaborate themeing, kiddie play zones, or other enticements that can make a day at the resort just as fun as a day at the parks.

Zero entry pool at the Polynesian.

Over the next few weeks, I’ll be doing some deep water exploration of the pool situation at Walt Disney World. So put on your swim fins, folks, and get ready to dive in.

What’s the overall pool situation like at the Disney World resorts?

While all Disney hotels have pools, there is a great deal of variation between the resorts in the size, atmosphere, and amenities of the pools at each location. The pools range from basic water-in-the-ground (albeit with colorful themed elements) at the All Star Resorts, to a de facto mini water park, with multiple slides, sandy play areas, and a lazy river at the Yacht & Beach Clubs.

Some resorts have elaborate interactive water play zones for children, some have hot tubs, some have deluxe cabana rentals, some have quiet pools for restful relaxation, some have zero entry approaches to the water. Sometimes these features, or the lack thereof, can have a big impact on your vacation enjoyment.

In a future post, I’ll get into the specific set-up at each hotel, but for now we’ll cover issues that apply to the pools in general.

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We now have the official dates and prices for Night of Joy, Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party, and Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party in 2013. Tickets for all three events go on sale tomorrow, May 1, 2013.

Night of Joy

Described by Disney as a “contemporary Christian music festival,” Night of Joy will be held on September 6 and 7 from 7:30 pm to 1:00 am. Prices are $55.00 for one night in advance, $65.00 if bought the day of the event, and $99.00 for both nights if bought in advance. Tickets can be purchased via Disney’s website or by calling 407-939-7211.

Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party

In 2013 Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party takes place from 7:00 pm to midnight on the following dates:

• September 10, 13, 17, 20, 24, 27, and 29
• October 3, 4, 6, 10, 11, 14, 17, 18, 20, 22, 24, 25, 27, 29, and 31
• November 1

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I love Animal Kingdom. I really do. I know, I know…lots of people think it isn’t up to Disney’s usual standards or that it is a half-day park, but I disagree. Animal Kingdom is a wonderful park. It’s beautiful, well-themed, provides great views of amazing animals, has fun attractions, and features the best shows Disney has to offer. This love of Animal Kingdom led me to be super excited to celebrate the park’s 15th anniversary on April 22, and I wasn’t disappointed.

Unfortunately, Disney doesn’t always do very much for these events. Disney announced that there would be special merchandise and a ceremony, but not too much else. Luckily, during Epcot’s 30th I became aware of an unofficial group called WDWCelebrations that has been commemorating Disney park anniversaries since 2007. I knew if I combined the official Disney offerings, the unofficial WDWCelebrations events, and included a few things I wanted to do to enjoy the park on its birthday, I would have a very full and celebratory day.

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Over the past few years writing for the TouringPlans blog, I have been honored to get to help so many people from all walks of life plan Disney World trips for their families. In helping folks, one thing that I notice time and time again is how overwhelming planning a trip to one of the world’s most popular travel destination can be, especially for someone preparing for their first visit. Many people do not know where to start with planning. Some prospective visitors end up either giving up or making rookie mistakes which they pay for later on.

Many of our posts here at TouringPlans aim at Disney World guests who are already seasoned veterans. I imagine that for a first timer, the nitty-gritty details seem unimportant when you are trying to just figure out how the heck to get to Disney World. The next two posts of mine are for those of you that still need those trip planning training wheels. Get out a pen and piece of paper and let me walk you through the basics. 

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© Disney

Merida, from Brave, will officially become Disney’s 11th Princess in a royal coronation that is scheduled to take place on Saturday, May 11, at 9:30 am at Cinderella Castle in the Magic Kingdom.

She will join her fellow princesses, Snow White, Aurora, Cinderella, Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, Mulan, Pocahontas, Tiana, and Rapunzel, all of whom will likely join her on stage. She will be the first Pixar Princess ever. This special event is a part of the Limited Time Magic Festivities for the week.

These special coronation ceremonies started in 2010 when Tiana was first established as a princess. Rapunzel soon followed in 2011.

All Magic Kingdom guests are invited to witness this special event.

Today was a beautiful, sunny, 70 degree day in Central Florida…too pretty a day to not be at Magic Kingdom.

I started my trip as I always do, walking through the Emporium to see if there was any new merchandise. Much to my surprise, an entire wall of Monsters University merchandise had just arrived. From what I have seen so far, it’s all really cute and well done. Based on how many guests I saw grabbing items today, you may want to pick up whatever you want next time you’re in the park. I especially like the blue Monsters University adult shirt and the iPhone cases (available for iPhone 4/4S and iPhone 5). They also have plush and other toys featuring characters from the movie, hats, children’s shirts, and monster light-up headbands.

After leaving the store I headed to Adventureland to see if the new Pirate’s Adventure: Treasure of the Seven Seas game was play testing like it had earlier in the week. Unfortunately it was closed for the day, so I instead headed to Splash Mountain. Splash Mountain reopened just over a month ago from a much-needed refurbishment and I wanted to see how it was holding up.

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