Welcome back for a look at what happened in the theme park world this week. On top of Disney World news, we have two Disneyland updates (California and Hong Kong) as well as Legoland New York news.
Disney World finally started sharing some specifics about the 50th anniversary celebration. Dubbed “The World’s Most Magical Celebration“, the party will kick-off on October 1, 2021 and continue for 18 months. That should give folks plenty of time to plan their visit (or visits)!
Image Courtesy of Disney
Meanwhile, the parks are still full even after the President’s Day weekend is in the rear-view mirror. That was definitely a surprise to me. Florida tourism is at a lower level than we’ve seen in over a decade and yet the parks are still hitting the reduced capacity limits. That leads to the question of whether you should visit Disney World now or wait until the pandemic is over. Disney Tourist Blog lays out the arguments for both, with plenty of pros and cons.
Annual passholders are getting a special 4-day discount on both shopDisney.com and in Disney stores. From February 21st to 24th, they’ll receive 25% off any purchase of $75 or more. Alas, there are a number of exclusions.
Now that Disney World has extended the calendar for room reservations, we can also see that they plan to still require park pass reservations until at least the beginning of 2023. That’s a bit disappointing. It can be tough to get all the park pass reservations you need for your specific dates. Just one more detail to trip up folks when planning their Disney World vacation.
Disney World also raised their ticket prices, while not raising their ticket prices. While the priciest ticket hasn’t gone up in price, there are a lot fewer “cheap” ticket days.
The newest hotel at Disney World is also one you can redeem your Marriott Bonvoy points at. Disney World Swan Reserve is now accepting reservations for arrivals on or after September 1, 2021.
Disney World Swan Reserve
Raya and the Dragon is the newest cinematic creation coming to Disney+ soon. To celebrate, artists are working on a 30-ton sand sculpture at Animal Kingdom. Pretty cool! If you’d like to see a sneak preview of the movie, due to be released in June:
Outside of Orlando, Mice Chat updates us on the limited time Disneyland event coming up. It appears guests will be able to stroll through much of the park, though rides are still out of the question. Across the Pacific, Hong Kong Disneyland has reopened in time to celebrate their 15th anniversary.
Lastly, a bit closer to home, Legoland New York looks like it will finally be able to open its gates in April, almost a year after the opening was originally scheduled.
Can’t wait to see you all out in the parks!
