Animal Kingdom

Disney Parks News Updates: Kevin from UP! Spotted at Animal Kingdom! and more…

Hello Everyone! Lots of Disney Parks News Updates to share with you today!! Some of these updates I’ve already shared in Instagram stories or Facebook lives on the DisneyCastleDreaming page, but I know a lot of you don’t check those places…and for those of you that did catch any of those stories, I had promised to post some of the pictures and videos I mentioned.

AND I’ve got a couple of additional updates to give you as well! We will start in California, and then move on to Florida today.

Disney Parks News Updates: Disneyland/California Adventure

The Disneyland After Dark: Heroes Assemble at Disney California Adventure

Disneyland After Dark Heroes Assemble California Adventure Marvel Superheroes — Disneyland After Dark: Heroes Assemble at California Adventure

As I have discussed before, I’m a fan of the Disney After Dark events. Yes, they are a separate ticketed event BUT Disney limits the number of tickets they sell, and usually lines are fairly short for attractions that are open, and there are some fun extras included.

Disneyland has announced a new Disneyland After Dark event. It’s called Heroes Assemble at California Adventure. Tickets are already on sale for Annual Passholders, and they go on sale on Thursday, February 21st for the general public. Tickets are $109; children under 2 do not need a ticket.

So far, only two dates have been announced, and based on the dates, it looks like this is a tie in with the release of the Avengers: Endgame movie coming out in May. This event is being held on April 30 or May 1. Event hours are 9 pm to 1 am. It’s not clear yet if your ticket will grant you access to California Adventure earlier than 9 pm on the night of the event, as is usually the case for Disney After Dark events in Florida.

For this event, Disney is encouraging you to come dressed as your favorite super hero; however, they are also reminding everyone to check the rules regarding costumes and accessories. To review the rules, click here for Disneyland Park Rules, and here to view the costume guidelines for special events.

Celebrating 80 years of comic art, Disneyland After Dark: Heroes Assemble at California Adventure promises to feature encounters with superheroes, “rockin’ dance party” and heroic show moments. There’s also a fun scavenger hunt planned where you and your friends will have to hunt to find artifacts to help save mankind!

You can also expect lots of great photo opportunities, special event only merchandise and themed food and beverage offerings. Your ticket will entitle you to free downloads of all Photopass pictures taken of you that evening, so make sure to take LOTS!

The Soundsational Parade is BACK!

I mentioned this a while back, but the very popular Soundsational Parade is back at Disneyland Park as part of the Mickey and Minnie Celebration, Get Your Ears On!

Downtown Disney

In Downtown Disney news this week, Disney has announced a new ticketed event/attraction coming soon to Downtown Disney called Pop Up! Disney.

They haven’t given us a whole lot of information yet, but it sounds like this will be sort of an exhibit, sort of an adventure in Photo Opps. It’s going into the space near the Monorail Station where the ESPN Zone used to be. They’re describing it as a bunch of themed rooms, all dedicated to 90 years of Mickey and Minnie. I will let you know more as soon as I actually know more! Disney did release this artist’s rendering of one of the themed rooms/Photo opportunities, see what you think:

Disney Parks News Updates: Walt Disney World

Epcot

A few pieces of news from Epcot this week. First from Mexico, beloved Mariachi Cobre is expanding their repertoire and adding a new show featuring the story of Pixar’s Coco. (If you haven’t seen Coco yet, go watch it now. I’ll wait. Seriously, it’s on Netflix, and you can rent it on Amazon or Vudu or YouTube. Go watch it. It’s about family and dreams and there is so much love and joy…it’s really lovely.)

Ok, now that you’re back 😉, beginning March 6, Mariachi Cobre will be joined by a pair of Folklorico dancers to tell the journey of Miguel Rivera. They are also joined by a puppet of Miguel.

Disney Epcot Coco Miguel Mariachi Cobre — Miguel from Pixar’s Coco

Ralph and Vanellope are coming to Epcot!

You may have seen Ralph and Vanellope briefly in November when they popped up at Hollywood Studios to promote Ralph Breaks the Internet when it came out…but they are moving into a new (potentially) long term location at the Imagination Pavilion at Epcot.

Disney Epcot Ralph and Vanellope Character Greeting — Ralph and Vanellope from Ralph Breaks the Internet

Here’s what’s happened: The Imagination Institute has been conducting a new experiment to open portals into other dimensions….and they’ve opened a portal into the Internet. This has allowed Ralph and Vanellope to come visit us at Image Works at the Imagination Pavilion!

I’m pretty happy about this. This pavilion has been largely ignored for a long time, so it’s exciting to see it get something new. I’m also really happy that Figment will have some fun company!

In somewhat related news, you will soon be able to take Ralph and Vanellope home with you on DVD with the release of the Blu Ray of Ralph Breaks the Internet on February 26.

Garden Rocks Concert Series

The Epcot Flower and Garden Festival starts in just 2 weeks! Can you believe it??

Disney Epcot Flower and Garden Festival — Epcot Flower and Garden Festival: Cogswell

I can’t!! As you probably know if you have been following me for any length of time F&G is one of my FAVORITE times of the year, and my absolutely favorite time to visit Epcot. One of the fun elements of F&G every year has been their Garden Rocks Concert Series. Garden Rocks concerts are held at the America Gardens Theatre in the American Adventure Pavilion, and are included in your Epcot admission.

Artists are usually nostalgic favorites from the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s, like Night Ranger, Tony Orlando, Berlin, Herman’s Hermits, Dennis DeYoung and Rick Springfield, among others. New this year: Air Supply, Journey former lead vocalist Steve Augeri, Wang Chung, The Smithereens, A Flock of Seagulls, Christopher Cross, Sister Sledge….the list goes on and on. Click here for the full list of performers, and the dates they will be performing during the Festival.

What’s new THIS year is that instead of Garden Rocks Concerts only happening on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, the concerts are now going to be held EVERY NIGHT OF THE FESTIVAL! 7 nights a week!

Kevin from UP! at Animal Kingdom

In one of my favorite stories of the week, Kevin, our favorite colorful bird friend from Pixar’s UP! has been seen wandering around Animal Kingdom’s Discovery island area. So far, it doesn’t look like there are any plans to set up an official character greeting area for Kevin–so his visit may be temporary–we’re not sure yet. For now it appears that he’s exploring and interacting with guests, along with his Wilderness Explorer guides.

Coincidentally, Disney is releasing a new Kevin plush toy in Animal Kingdom gift shops this month, so keep your eyes open for him. Look how cute he is! You KNOW that if you meet Kevin in the Park, you are going to HAVE to take one of these home, so be careful! 😉

The Lion King, 25th Anniversary

As you or may not know, this year marks the 25th Anniversary of the Lion King animated movie’s original release. As The Lion King has always been a big part of the Animal Kingdom story, I’m sure you are not going to be surprised that Disney is ramping things up a little bit for the 25th Anniversary of the Lion King.

Disney Animal Kingdom Hakuna Matata Dance Party — Live musicians help guests let their inner animal loose on the dance floor during “Hakuna Matata Time Dance Party” at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.

Hakuna Matata dance parties are already taking place daily at Discovery Island. These feature animal inspired popular songs from the Lion King performed in a World Beat style. Timon, Rafiki, Baloo, Korda, Meeks and Terk stop by too! (Kinda feels like all the animated movies with animal characters got together and decided who could participate in this, doesn’t it?)

Disney has said they are releasing new fun photo spots themed to the Lion King. They also say we should watch for a 3D scene that looks like it leapt right out of the film. If I had to guess, I’d bet this 3D scene will be outside the main entrance, as Animal Kingdom is usually very good at preseving its theming and I can’t really picture a three dimensional cartoon scene plopped down in the middle of the park. But who knows? I could be wrong. I guess we’ll have to wait to see where they put it when it shows up.

Disney Animal Kingdom Tree of Life Awakenings — Animal Kingdom Tree of Life Awakenings

Coming this summer, also in celebration of the Lion King’s 25th Anniversary, a special new story for the Tree of Life Awakenings projection show. The new story will depict moments from Simba’s journey in an “artistic style”, which I’m interpreting to mean NOT the art from the original film. The new story will also feature music inspired by the score of the Lion King–rather than from the movie itself.

And in another shocking coincidence, Disney’s new “Live Action” version of the Lion King is being released this summer. Have you seen the teaser trailer yet? If not, here it is:

What do you think? I suspect it will be very good, but I’m not sure how much “LIVE ACTION” it is…I’m thinking a lot of it has to be CGI, right? It looks good though, at least what we’ve seen so far, and I love the Lion King, so I’m in. I’d love to hear what you think, so post in the comments below.

Hollywood Studios

Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy

We are starting to get a tiny bit more information about the new show at Hollywood Studios that is coming this spring. It’s definitely a SHOW, which wasn’t 100% clear originally, and it sounds like it will allow for some audience interaction with Lightning McQueen. Check out the video below that Disney released:

I think it sounds like fun, and a welcome addition to Hollywood Studios, which still struggles a bit with all the things that closed in the last two years to make ways for Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge and the new Minnie/Mickey ride that will replace the Great Movie Ride. Toy Story Land is terrific, but there’s still a fairly big gap at Hollywood Studios, so I think this will definitely help, and it pairs nicely with the other Pixar attractions and character greetings at Hollywood Studios. Now if we could only get our own Cars Land…

Disney Springs

In our final news story this week, Disney Springs welcomes a new store, The Art Corner. Located near The Art of Disney store, not far from Goofy’s Candy Company, this new pop up store sounds like a lot of fun!

It seems to offer several different opportunities to get one of a kind, handcrafted souvenirs–in some cases, even handcrafted by YOU.

Walt Disney World Disney Springs The Art Corner — Disney Springs’ The Art Corner

Disney is calling this a Pop Up store, which makes me think this is most likely a temporary offering…but if it’s popular, it could stick around! The Art Corner features works and hands on activities that were popular at the recent Epcot International Festival of the Arts. For example, pictured above is the ancient art of Suminigashi, also known as artistic marbling, used to custom make silk items.

The store also features:

Coffee and Canvas—Coffee themed paintings

- Caricatures, both the new digital sketch version and the classic watercolor style. (I LOVE caricatures! I think they are a terrific souvenir, especially if you have kids–a really fun way to track how their interests change over the years, as usually the artist will incorporate the child’s interests into the work.)
- Name Works, hand drawn names personalized with your choice of illustrations

Ron Jon Surf Shop Coming Soon to Disney Springs

Coming later this year to Disney Springs, a Ron Jon Surf Shop. The famed Surf Shop is moving into a 10,000 square foot space located near the Polite Pig. I don’t have dates yet, but will update you when I do.

Well that’s all I have for Disney Parks News Updates this week. IWhich of this week’s news stories are you most interested in? I’d love to hear from you in the comments below.

P.S. In case you missed it, Disney released the teaser trailer for Frozen II last week. Click here to check it out.

Happy Dreaming !

Brooke

Top 5 Reasons to Visit Disney World in 2019

For lots of Disney fans, EVERY year is a good year to visit Disney World. In fact, if you ask me, almost every month of every year has lots of terrific reasons to visit Disney World!

Disney vacation planning disney trip planning tips top reasons to visit Disney — Freezing at Disney?

I never met a Disney day I didn’t like. Croaking hot or freezing cold. Crowded, rainy, crabby people, phone calls from the office, giant group, or just me and my husband–never matters. I always love my time at Disney. (Of course, I might be just a LITTLE crazy, so there’s that).

However, this year, a lot of die hard Disney fans are deciding to wait to visit Walt Disney World until 2020, wanting to ensure their next trip includes the long anticipated Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. I don’t blame them at all. If Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge is a MAIN attraction for your next trip to Disney, I am recommending 2020 to a lot of my Disney travelers.

Right now, it looks like Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge will open at Disneyland in California some time this summer. Hopeful reports say June…more practical reports are anticipating July or August. I suspect we’ll know more by March or April. At Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Florida, early reports predicted late October/early November, but more recent reports have indicated December is more likely. Again, we’ll know more later this year.

Disney Star Wars Galaxy's Edge Update — Jan 2019 Update Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge

However, Disney has SO much more to offer than Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, especially THIS year. Yes, I’m SUPER excited that Galaxy’s Edge is coming and I’m DYING to check it out, but that doesn’t mean that 2019 isn’t still the PERFECT time to visit Disney World. Here are my Top 5 Reasons to Visit Disney World in 2019.

Ticket Prices

Disneyland raised its ticket prices a few days ago. I’m sure there are a variety of reasons behind this decision. Most of you are probably aware that ticket prices have been steadily increasing at BOTH Disneyland and Walt Disney World every year for quite a while now. Here are a few things to consider:

Disney has invested more money in BOTH Disneyland, California Adventure AND Walt Disney World in the last 10 years (adjusted for inflation) than they have at any other time in the Company’s history. Toy Story Land opened to record crowds and crazy long lines. Pandora’s VERY popular Flight of Passage attraction continues to routinely attract crowds and lines in excess of 90 minutes. While the Toy Story franchise is of course much beloved, it doesn’t hold a candle to the popularity of Star Wars. Avatar’s fan base is tiny in comparison to Star Wars and while it will probably grow over time as more films are released, it will never touch the popularity of Star Wars. I do believe Disney’s Pandora (as a land) will grow it’s own fan base, separate and distinct from the Avatar movie franchise, but again, a drop in the ocean against the size of the Star Wars fanbase. And of course, there are are tens of thousands of Star Wars fans that are not necessarily “Disney” fans or Disney theme park fans that will be VERY interested in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge…and may discover a previously undiscovered love of Disney in the process. (I suspect there is more than one executive at Disney betting their bonus on this possibility!)

Star Wars is a unique phenomenon in fandom. It has fans from all over the world, in almost all age groups, and in most ethnic groups. Star Wars fans are passionate and voracious for new Star Wars “stuff” and Disney hasn’t been the number one leader in entertainment for the last fifty years without learning a few things about how to provide new “stuff” and how to make lots of money related to all that new “stuff”. Disney has gambled BIG with their acquisition of LucasFilms and the Star Wars franchise, and they’ve had some major victories as well as some pretty significant setbacks. They have invested BILLIONS in these theme park expansions, and while I fully expect they will earn BILLIONS more as a result, that’s going to take a while. And Disney is a publicly traded company–some of you probably own stock.

Disney has shareholders to keep happy–and shareholders like to see VERY healthy bottom lines. So in the short term, I personally think Disney theme parks is going to justify (and help offset) those giant investments and shore up profit margins with higher ticket prices, merchandise prices and probably resort prices heading into late 2019 and 2020. (I think this is also why we have so many feature films on the docket this year. Disney movies tend to be VERY profitable and make lots and lots of money!)

Movies…boy, do we have movies…

Note: Disney’s fiscal year is unusual–it runs October through September instead of January through December like many companies. Disney’s fourth quarter ends with September.

What does this mean for you, and why do I think you should visit Disney this year? While I do suspect Walt Disney World ticket prices will see another ticket price increase later this year, I believe ticket prices are set for right now, especially in packages. Disney World released their “date based” ticket pricing last fall, and scheduled ticket prices right up through mid December 2019. I’m hopeful that indicates that tickets prices will hold steady through most of the year.

Planning ahead is always best, and booking sooner rather than later will always protect your pricing–this holds true for trips next year as well. Plan your trip as early as you can–lock your prices in early. If prices decrease, you can usually get the discounts added, especially if you work with a Disney travel agent (like me 😉), but if they increase, you won’t have to pay the higher prices. Ticket prices are lower now than they are likely to be next year: a great reason to visit Disney World in 2019!

Lighter Crowds

The reality is that many people will not have the budget to visit this year AND next year–and SO many people will want to make sure to visit Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, they’ll be planning their trips to Walt Disney World for late 2019 or 2020. Which means you, my savvy traveler, can benefit from lighter crowds (in theory at least) THIS year.

Disney's Magic Kingdom Disney vacation planning Disney trip planning tips top reasons to visit Disney — It’s a beautiful day to be at the Magic Kingdom! Let’s pretend the crowds will be this light ALL DAY!

I’m not promising empty streets and no lines…those days are long gone, I’m afraid. And of course there are TONS of families that just don’t care about Star Wars (REALLY??? Who ARE these people??? Just Kidding). BUT, the numbers don’t lie, and current resort bookings support lighter crowds at this point for much of the year. Of course that can change at any time, especially as Disney adds special promotions designed to attract higher crowds. [FREE DINING, anyone?]

But lots of folks have already booked their trips for next year and aren’t likely to move them. And here’s the real hardcore truth: this year is probably the last year where the crowds won’t be just BANANAS all the time. If you look at how aggressively Disney has been adding resorts, expanding resorts, partnering with local “good neighbor” hotels–they are anticipating a LARGE increase in visitor volumes in the coming years, once Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge opens.

Here’s my thoughts on all this expansion: all those lovely people occupying all those lovely rooms are NOT going to be spending ALL their time (and money) inside Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. They ARE going to visit the rest of Hollywood Studios and the other three parks. They won’t be able to resist the MAGIC. We have all known it for years…The magic of Disney is irresistible. They will attracted to a particular character or attraction and they will visit a park “just for a little while to check it out” and twelve hours later, they’ll still be there. It’s happened to all of us. It’s the magic of Disney. And what it means is that crowd volumes won’t just rise in Hollywood Studios for Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge…they will rise EVERYWHERE.

There simply will be no more “lighter crowd” periods, I suspect. Of course, I could be wrong. But Disney is adding capacity for thousands of additional hotel rooms. THOUSANDS. And Disney resorts, for the most part, tend to stay at 80% or better capacity most of the time–and they usually don’t have to work too hard to do it.

Disney's Riviera Resort Disney vacation planning Disney trip planning tips top reasons to visit Disney — c Disney. Artist Rendering of Disney’s Riviera Resort, the 15th DVC Property, expected to include 300 family villas. And this is just ONE of the new resorts they’re working on…

Bottom line: Unless you are a fan of wall to wall crowds, you may want to plan a visit for this year just to bask in the glory of what will soon be fond memories of “normal” crowds and the “good old days”.

I trust Disney, and I am sure they have lots of creative ideas up their sleeve to help with crowd management…but I also know the reality is that “if you build it, they will come”…and Disney has built it, and THEY are COMING. 😉 So visit this year if you can…before they get here!

Special Celebrations

Disney Magic Kingdom Mickey Minnie Surprise Celebration Top reasons to visit Disney trip planning tips vacation planning — Mickey and Minnie Birthday Celebration

This year features several new limited time celebrations you won’t want to miss. First up: Mickey and Minnie’s Surprise Celebration. This begins January 18, 2019 and finds Mickey and Minnie at the Magic Kingdom wearing their fabulous new 90th birthday outfits. The “Move It! Shake! MousekeDance It! Street Party” has been updated for the celebration, and Magic Kingdom will feature new merchandise and specialty food and beverages in honor of our favorite duo. You’ll also be able to meet both Minnie and Mickey together, in their birthday outfits, at the Town Square Theatre! I’m a sucker for Mickey and Minnie together, so this is a MUST DO for me!

Animal Kingdom Mickey and Minnie vacation planning top reasons to visit Disney trip planning tips — Linda and Brooke with Mickey and Minnie at Animal Kingdom

Disney’s Hollywood Studios turns 30! This year marks the 30th Anniversary of Disney’s Hollywood Studios (though it was originally called MGM Studios, and was conceptually quite different than the park we have today…sigh), and Disney is planning to honor this anniversary all year with a special logo and of course, special anniversary merchandise. There will also be a new “Party with Pixar Pals” at Disney’s Hollywood Studios starting January 18, 2019, where you can celebrate the 30th Anniversary with the Incredibles at a Dance Party–and you’ll be able to meet Edna Mode, as well as other Pixar favorites, like Mike and Sully from Monsters, Inc. and Woody, Buzz Lightyear and Jessie from Toy Story.

Disney Hollywood Studios vacation planning reasons to visit Disney trip planning meet Edna Mode — Edna Mode at Hollywood Studios

The Lion King turns 25 this year, and not only do we have the new live action movie to look forward to, we have a 25th anniversary celebration happening at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, starting January 18, 2019. Rafiki and Timon will lead guests in dances and games during the Hakuna Makata Time Dance Party on Discovery Island.

Farewell to Illuminations

If you are a fan of Epcot’s long running nighttime show, Illuminations: Reflections of Earth (It’s been running since October 1999!), it is scheduled to end sometime during the second half of 2019. We don’t have a final performance date yet; hopefully Disney will give us some advance warning before this beloved show goes dark–but if you want to see it one last time, don’t wait too long–you won’t be able to see it in 2020.

Epcot Illuminations Reflections of Earth top reasons to visit Disney vacation planning trip planning tips — Epcot Illuminations Reflections of Earth

Disney will of course be presenting a new nighttime show at Epcot, but we do not have any information about the new show yet.

This one is pretty tough for me. Frank and I love Illuminations, and on our wedding day, we hosted a dessert party for our guests so that everyone could watch it together. It was really magical and is a memory I will never forget… I am definitely sad that this show will be no more.

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I still haven’t recovered from Wishes being replaced. {sigh}. I may have an issue with change. 😉 Or I’m really sentimental. Or a combination of both…

New Attractions

Believe it or not, Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge is not the ONLY new thing on the horizon. There are some other really big things coming, especially if you look ahead to 2021 and 2022. (Guardians of the Galaxy and Tron roller coasters, a Ratatouille attraction…lots of good stuff ahead…)

But there are some exciting things happening THIS year, too!

Disney Springs Jaleo Spanish Tapas Jose Andres Disney Vacation Planning disney trip planning tips top reasons to visit Disney — c Disney Jaleo Disney Springs Artist Rendering

At Disney Springs, there is a new restaurant coming. (Ok, that’s not necessarily an attraction unless you’re a foodie, but I’m excited about it, so I’m sharing). It’s called “Jaleo”. It is coming to us from Chef Jose Andres and will bring the flavors of Spain. The new restaurant will feature Spanish tapas style food and a lively atmosphere. Sounds like a winner to me!

Disney's Hollywood Studios vacation planning trip planning tips top reasons to visit Disney Disney vacation planning advice — Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway

Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway is opening later this year at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. This is officially the first EVER ride through attraction featuring Mickey and Minnie Mouse. I’m not sure how I feel about this one, but I’m hopeful.

Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway Disney Vacation Planning Disney trip planning top reasons to visit Disney — c Disney Artist Rendering Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway

It’s replacing the Great Movie Ride, which has left a GIANT hole in my heart, but the Studios really needs another attraction, and I’m hoping it will be cheerful and fun and that kids will love it.

Also at Hollywood Studios this spring, Lightning McQueen is bringing his new “Racing Academy to town this spring. This will be a show featuring Lightning McQueen, and will hopefully be lots of fun for CARS fans.

Disney’s Hollywood Studios is also getting a new cinematic nighttime experience…hopefully to put a little Hollywood back into the studios. This show is also part of the anniversary celebration, and will begin on the actual anniversary date, May 1, 2019. It’s called “Wonderful World of Animation” and uses technology to take us through 90 years of animation–back to where it all started…with a mouse.

Disney's Hollywood Studios Nighttime Entertainment Disney vacation planning tip planning tips top reasons to visit Disney — Disney’s Hollywood Studios’ Wonderful World of Animation

I’m pretty excited about this show. I saw the special Star Wars show last May 4th (may the fourth be with you) and was BLOWN away by what Disney did with technology. Hopefully they are breaking more new ground with this Animation show.

Disney Skyliner: I’m not sure this REALLY counts as an attraction as it’s considered “transportation”, but it should! (In my opinion, anyway!) I am SO excited to see these gondolas in action. What an amazing way to move from the Studios to Epcot! As a reminder, we don’t have a concrete opening date yet; all we know is “Fall“. Gondolas have been seen on site at construction locations and we’ve heard that preliminary testing of the cables is happening. It’s all very exciting.

Disney Skyliner Gondola Images Disney Mickey Mouse Minnie Mouse Disney World

Disney Skyliner Gondola animation graphics showing what the gondolas will look like

Disney Skyliner Gondola vacation planning top reason to visit in 2019

Top 5 Reasons to Visit Disney World in 2019

So there you have them: my top 5 reasons to visit Disney World in 2019. I actually have a much longer list, and had a difficult time paring it down! To summarize: if you CAN visit in 2019, I highly recommend it. Ticket prices are going to be climbing in the coming years. Make your reservations for travel this year before ticket prices rise.

Disney Trip Planning Disney vacation planning disney trip planning tips top reasons to visit Disney — Keep Calm and Call Your Travel Agent

Crowds are going to be lighter in 2019 than they will be for the foreseeable future. Once Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge opens up, crowd levels are likely to set new records. I suspect those crowd levels will stay high for many years to come.

There are quite a few special celebrations happening this year. Most celebrations are starting in January and will continue throughout the year. Visit this year to enjoy these limited 2019 celebrations.

Epcot’s Illuminations: Reflections of Earth is ending later this year. 2019 is definitely your last opportunity to see this show if you love it. We don’t have a final end date yet; however, Disney has confirmed the show will end in the second half of 2019.

And finally, there are several new attractions opening in 2019. Don’t you want to be among the first to check out these new attractions?

Are you considering a trip to WDW for 2019? What are YOUR top 5 reasons?

Happy dreaming!

Brooke

Disney After Hours Events

The good news? Disney has recognized that the near constant high volume of crowds has dampened some fans’ enthusiasm for Disney’s beloved theme parks. Over the last couple of years, Disney has piloted a few different ideas to offer visitors the opportunity to visit their favorite park or parks with significantly lower crowds, and the “After Hours” events seem to have won the battle, at least for the short term, as Disney has recently announced a slew of new Disney After Hours Events dates for 2019.

The bad news? Disney has also recognized that many fans are willing to pay a premium for that “lower crowd level” experience. Based on Disney’s raging success with the Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Parties and Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Parties, Disney already had a fairly good idea that some guests would be willing to purchase an extra ticket to attend a “special event” at the Magic Kingdom–but they weren’t sure if that willingness would extend beyond special holiday themed parties or beyond the Magic Kingdom.

Last year, Disney tried several experimental “After Hours” events, with varying degrees of success. Early reviews from attendees raved about the low crowd levels, and being able to walk on favorite rides (something I remember from the early days of the MVMCP and MNSSHP, too) and taking pictures of an almost empty park near the end of the night… But those events were very limited, not publicized a great deal, and in many cases, priced significantly lower than these new offerings.

In the current round of After Hours events, there are dates scheduled through April 2019, and events are being held at three of the four theme parks: Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios.

Here’s a video Disney has released from a recent Disney After Hours Event at Animal Kingdom:

The Bottom Line: What Does An After Hours Event Cost?

Tickets for each Disney After Hours Event are $125 per person + tax if purchased in advance. Tickets purchased the day of the event will be $129 per person + tax. Discounts are available for Annual Passholders and DVC Members. Contact me for more information.

Technically, this is officially a three hour event. The event begins when the regular park day “ends” and runs for three hours after that. Guests without After Hours event tickets will not be permitted to enjoy the After Hours events or attractions.

What’s Included in my Disney After Hours Event Ticket?

Disney After Hours Events Disney trip planning Disney vacation planning — Enjoy the parks after dark with an After Hours event ticket!

There is some really good news about these events, in addition to the lower crowds and easy access to your favorite rides.

Ice Cream, popcorn and select beverages are included in your Disney After Hours Event Ticket. (Most likely “beverages” is limited to soft drinks).
Your After Hours event ticket will grant you access to the park where your event takes place as early as 7 pm–so if your park “closes” at 11 pm that day, that’s an extra four hours of park time you’ll be able to enjoy on your park ticket, in addition to the three hours of “After Hours” event time. BUT, there are some event days where the park closes at 8 pm, so you’ll only be getting 1 extra hour. It’s important to consider the total amount of time you’ll have in the park when determining if this ticket will have value for you and your family.
Character Greetings with little or no lines! If you are a person who enjoys Character Greetings, but hates sacrificing valuable park time to stand in lines for Characters, you may really enjoy the short lines or no lines to be found at the Character Greetings at After Hours events.
There are usually some “special” After Hours “experiences, including Dance Parties, unique Character Greetings or Streetmosphere.
Some quick service places will be open during each party, so you will have some options for late night dining if you are so inclined.
Generally speaking as these events run pretty late into the night, there will be fewer very young children and strollers in the mix. These events are not being actively marketed as adults only, but there are no discounts for children ages 3-9, which is a fairly good indicator that Disney does not expect much participation from that age group.
With some proper planning, you can sleep in the day of the event and have a mostly “lazy day” and not spend a “park ticket” day on the day of the event, enter the park at 7 pm and stay until the party ends to maximize your value. If you’re an annual passholder, this doesn’t really help, but if you’re purchasing park passes or a package, you could theoretically, reduce your ticket package by one day.
If you are someone who struggles with large crowds or too much overstimulation from all the noise associated with the crazy mid day crowds, you may discover the later night lighter crowds are much more comfortable for you.

What Dates Are Available?

Animal Kingdom: January 8, 16, 22 and 31, 2019; and February 5, 6, 12, 13, 19 and 26, 2019; and March 5, 20 and 27, 2019; and April 3, 2019.

Magic Kingdom: The event takes place from 10:00 PM to 1:00 AM on the following dates: March 21 and 28, 2019; and April 4 and 11, 2019.

The event takes place from 9:00 PM to midnight on the following dates: February 14 and 21, 2019 and March 7, 2019.

The event takes place from 8:00 PM to 11:00 PM on the following dates: January 7, 17, 24, and 28, 2019; February 7 and 28, 2019.

Hollywood Studios: January 5, 12 and 19, 2019; February 2, 9 and 16, 2019; March 2, 9, 16, 23 and 30, 2019; and April 6 and 13, 2019.

Disney After Hours Events: Are They Worth It?

Short answer? It depends. You’ve heard me say it before, and I’m sure you will hear me say it again–everything is relative, based on what is important to you and your family or travel group. It also depends on your financial situation, and what kind of park ticket or vacation package you’ve purchased.

For me personally, lower crowds and shorter lines are becoming a higher priority. Having a day to sleep late on vacation? That might also be a nice change. I’m not sure it’s worth $125, though.

I love the idea of getting more pictures without hundreds of strangers in them, especially for the blog. And I would like to attend a couple of parties as the year goes on to see what changes Disney makes. I’m just not sure 3 hours is enough time to really justify the expense. I feel that three hours with light crowds is probably enough time (although for me personally…10 hours would probably never be enough, much to my poor husband’s chagrin!), but I think $125 is a pretty high price for three hours. Of course, that’s probably the point. If it was affordable for everyone, you wouldn’t have the lighter crowds and shorter lines they’re promising. So they don’t WANT to sell this to everyone. They want to sell this to a few thousand people for each party and that’s it.

I think for me personally, it would be worth it. At least so I can report back to all of you! 😉

What do you think? Do you think Disney After Hours Events would be worth it for you and your family? Are you anxious to attend one? Please comment below, I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Happy Dreaming!

Brooke

P.S. If you are interested in booking tickets for a Disney After Hours Event, I can book them for you. We can add them to an existing package, look for discounts, and/or book them all on their own. Email brooke@disneycastledreaming.com to get started.

Favorite Nighttime Entertainment?

Do you have a favorite nighttime show that you MUST SEE every trip? For Frank and I, it was always Wishes. While we enjoy Happily Ever After a lot, I’m not having quite the same emotional response to it that I used to have with Wishes…but I suspect that may come in time…Happily Ever After is SO spectacular and there is SO much going on…I think my brain stays super active, and my heart just doesn’t have time to catch up!

I also have a soft spot for Illuminations: Reflections of Earth, and am sad that I most likely won’t be seeing it before that show is over forever to make way for whatever the next extravaganza will be…

I have seen Rivers of Light at Animal Kingdom several times now, and I really like it. It’s different from the other shows, but really pretty.

And of course, Fantasmic. I’ve always loved that one…but it occurs to me I haven’t made time for it in a few years….Hmmmm….Maybe next trip….

Check out the video below for Disney’s brief summary of the nighttime shows at Walt Disney World currently:

Which show is a MUST NOT MISS? Or would you rather ride attractions during the shows, or get to bed early to be raring to go for the next day? I’d love to hear what your approach is to nighttime entertainment!

Photo provided by Disney Parks Photography.

Happy Dreaming!

Brooke

We’re BACK!

This was a WONDERFUL trip! We had a terrific time, and I learned a few things I hope to incorporate into future trips…

I’ll be doing a detailed day-by-day trip report over the next couple of weeks, but for now, here are some highlights:

Parks: All four parks looked great this trip. We visited Animal Kingdom, Epcot and Magic Kingdom each twice. Hollywood Studios was a blink and you’ll miss it visit this trip—we went in for dinner at the Hollywood Brown Derby (AMAZING!) and caught the nighttime shows after dinner–but that was it.

Weather: We had absolutely glorious weather most days—but we did have a couple days with a LOT of rain. Saturday, our pre-planned Typhoon Lagoon/Disney Springs/Rest Day ended up with torrential downpours that lasted several hours. Fortunately, we still got a few hours in at Typhoon Lagoon before the rain rolled in, and hey, if you’re going to be caught in the rain, somehow it’s better if you’re already in a bathing suit and flip flops with wet hair, right? Our evening at Disney Springs had some sporadic rain showers, but they were fairly light and didn’t bother us hardly at all. Sunday was a little more challenging as it was our last full park day…it rained off and on most of the day. Fortunately, we were prepared with our ponchos, so it didn’t really affect us much…and had the bonus benefit of reducing the crowds a little bit.

The rest of the time, we had lovely blue skies with lots of sunshine. Mid-afternoons to early evenings got pretty HOT and humid. Us northerners don’t do as well in the heat as southerners more used to the heat, and I have to admit, I was a bit of a wilted flower most days around 3pm. But a cold drink, a little A/C, and a little sitting and people watching usually recharged my batteries just fine.

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Disney’s Magic Kingdom (Photo: Brooke Hudson)

Magic at Cinderella Castle! (Photo: Brooke Hudson)

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Crowds: Originally, when I booked the trip, crowds were projected in the 3-5 range (out of 10, with 10 being so crowded it’s hard to walk, and parks at or near full capacity) for most days. The closer we got to the trip, the higher the projections went, with crowds projected to be at 6-8’s most of our days. In actuality, I think most days ended up being around 6’s, especially in the afternoons…maybe creeping into seven territory on Monday. Our mornings were especially lovely, and crowds stayed lighter until around 11am most days. Lots of strollers, lots of ECVs, but not unbearable by any stretch. We did not see many big tour groups, either.

Resort: We stayed at Old Key West this trip and really loved it. It’s such a pretty resort, and has the largest studios of all the DVC resorts, with 2 queen sized beds—so it was perfect for us. We had a second floor villa, so thank goodness for the wonderful bell services that helped us with all our stuff! They are in the process of rehabbing this resort, but we saw no signs of construction during our visit. The landscaping here is really lush and pretty; everything looked terrific! We took the ferry to Disney Springs one night, and wow, that was so nice! The ferries come every 20 minutes between 10 am and 11 pm, and it’s a really scenic ride to Disney Springs. Our balcony had a nice golf-course view, and parking for our rental was very close by. The gift shop at Old Key West is a really good one; OKW has some of the best DVC resort specific shirts and related souvenirs of any of the DVCs we’ve stayed at. Cast members were all really nice and very helpful. We had two meals at Olivia’s, the OKW main table service restaurant and they were ok, but not great. The first was a lunch, and we had club sandwiches which were good. The highlight of the meal was sitting out on the patio, though, honestly. The second meal was breakfast on Saturday morning, and it really wasn’t great. The service was very slow, and both of us had issues with our eggs. The biscuits were very good, though. Again, the highlight was our table out on the patio.

Old Key West Resort (Photo: Brooke Hudson)

Old Key West DVC Resort (Photo: Brooke Hudson)

Disney Transportation: We rented a car this trip, so we did not use a lot of Disney transportation; however, what we did use was great, and we never had to wait very long. We used the resort Ferry to Disney Springs, as I mentioned above, and that was a big highlight of the trip for us. We used the Ferry at the Ticket and Transport center to get to and from Magic Kingdom a few times; I love that Ferry! Also did a couple monorail rides—again, not much waiting, and they got us where we needed to go. We rode LOTS of parking lot trams, haha. The only real waiting we had to do there was on Friday when we left the park at the end of the night, along with about 20,000 of our closest friends 😉. We waited about 20 minutes and through 4 tram loads before we got on one, but it wasn’t too bad, considering. We did NOT use Magical Express or any bus transportation this trip.

Merchandise: Mom and I both love to shop, and we shopped our hearts out on this trip. Financial limitations meant we didn’t necessarily BUY a whole lot, but we SHOPPED and SHOPPED, haha. Lots of fun merchandise, as always, for the Flower and Garden Festival, but we were a little disappointed. It’s been a few years since we have been to the Festival, but in the past there was a pretty big variety of Festival merchandise, including, usually, several different pins. This year, there was only one pin available, and we found it sold out in many locations—with three weeks still left to go in the Festival! Perhaps there were more options available earlier on? I’m not sure, but there were no special Passholder pins available for the Festival and only the one pin option. Of course we DID buy the pin they had…but I would have liked to see a couple of different options. One of the things I like about Festival time is that there is usually more variety in the shirts, hats, mugs, etc. at the Festival park than you’ll see everywhere else. And that did hold true this year as well, although there wasn’t as much varied merchandise as I recalled from previous Festivals. Other than Festival or Park specific merchandise, most of the shirts, sweatshirts, mugs, toys etc. were found in most shops across all four parks and Disney Springs. The advantage of this, of course, is that you don’t have to buy something when you first see it, as you’ll likely see it many more times during your trip. This is good for me, since I usually buy all my presents and souvenirs at the end of my trip when I think I’ve seen everything and can make a good decision. But the big disadvantage is that the merchandise doesn’t feel as SPECIAL when you see the same stuff over and over and over. Yes, it’s a big pain if you fall in love with the one shirt that you can only find at that little shop in the corner of Adventureland…but that makes it more FUN and more memorable, even if it means having to go back to that park on the last day to go to that little shop in the corner. I have lots of memories of long ago trips when the last day was all about running around to find that special something we’d seen at the beginning of the trip and looked for in every store we went to after that….

Mom and I DID manage to find a very special and unique souvenir, but I can’t tell you about that one yet, as we got one as a present for someone and I don’t want anyone to see it until that person gets to see it. 😊

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One of the things I love about Animal Kingdom is that it has a lot of merchandise that is truly unique to Animal Kingdom—not just shirts and ears and mugs, but really different merchandise that is in line with the conservation and nature missions that Animal Kingdom promotes. Now, there is one merchandise line that really stood out…in a fairly dreadful way, I must admit. I’m just as excited about the upcoming Meghan Markle/Prince Harry nuptials as any self-respecting Disney Princess loving girl could be….but this? This goes just a little too far, even for me:

Royal Wedding TEA TOWELS???? — Tea Towels???

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Nighttime Entertainment: To be honest with you, neither of us are big night owls, especially after a long, hot day of theme-parking. Our nighttime extravaganzas usually entailed whatever nighttime show was at whatever park we were in, followed by returning to the resort, showering off the day and CRASHING 😉. We really enjoyed the nighttime entertainment in each park though. Our very first night, we got to watch Rivers of Light at Animal Kingdom. We had great seats, and Mom loved it as much as I’d hoped she would.

Friday night we did a quick Hollywood Studios visit for dinner and entertainment–once dinner was over, we were just in time for the Disney Movie Magic projection show on the Mann’s Chinese Theater and surrounding buildings, followed by a special Star Wars themed Galactic Fireworks and projection show in honor of May 4 (“May the fourth be with you”). The Star Wars Spectacular was truly SPECTACULAR! The show incorporated video clips and stills from all Star Wars movies released to date and a few from the upcoming SOLO movie (SOLO merchandise was VERY prevalent in the parks and at Disney Springs this visit). It used lights, lasers, pyrotechnics, music, audio clips and fireworks to really dazzle the audience. There were lasers coming out of the screens (buildings) that looked like blasters were firing and lasers coming from the back that looked like shots fired back…. It was pretty immersive and VERY impressive. It was just a taste of what Disney is cooking up for Star Wars fans with Galaxy’s Edge, but I personally found it VERY exciting and can’t wait to see what the future will bring.

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Sunday night, the last night of our trip, we actually left Magic Kingdom about an hour before the fireworks and hopped a Monorail over to the Contemporary and went up to the Top of the World Lounge at Bay Lake Tower. Available exclusively to DVC Members staying at a DVC Resort, the Top of the World Lounge features a large bar and several indoor seating areas, surrounded by a very large patio area with a spectacular view of Magic Kingdom. We had drinks and appetizers here, and I popped out to take pictures of the show from the unique “Top of the World” perspective, while Mom watched the show from her seat at the bar inside. They pipe in the music, which is great, because the music adds SO much to the show. Of course, you can’t really see all the castle projections that are an integral part of the Happily Ever After show, but the music and the fireworks are pretty fantastic, even without the projections.

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Another highlight: On Saturday evening while we were at Disney Springs, we caught two different groups performing on the main stage there. The first was a group of high school kids from Rome, New York. They danced and sang, and were really terrific. The second was a dance troupe, and each song was danced by a different group of kids–it seemed to be primarily by age groups. They were very fun to watch, especially the littler kids. 😊

Needless to say, I could go on for DAYS (and probably will!! 😉 ) about our trip, but I’m anxious to get this quick summary posted, so I’ll stop here.

Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival. (Photo: Brooke Hudson)

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Bottom line: The trip was WONDERFUL! The parks looked terrific, we had some really wonderful cast member interactions and some AMAZING meals. I’m so glad we went, and I can’t wait to go back!!

Happy Dreaming!

Brooke

Happy Anniversary Animal Kingdom!

Animal Kingdom is celebrating it’s 20th Anniversary this month. Here’s a link to a post I wrote about our Animal Kingdom Bridal Portrait shoot. I hope you enjoy!

Happy Dreaming!

Brooke

New Adventures in Animal Kingdom

I saved Animal Kingdom for Monday, the last full day of our vacation. Although I enjoy Animal Kingdom, it’s been my least favorite park of the four. Don’t get me wrong—it’s still AMAZING, and there’s a LOT to do and see…I just have a stronger affinity for the other three parks. BUT, I’m not sure I can say that anymore! With the addition of Pandora (a new “land” themed around James Cameron’s epic AVATAR movie), and the expansion of Animal Kingdom hours to include the evenings, and the staggering beauty of this park at night—Animal Kingdom moved into the “MUST NOT MISS” category from the “We’ll visit every other trip” category.

Animal Kingdom is an interesting theme park, and unlike any other Disney theme park. It’s part zoo, part theme park, part conservation education experience. Visually, it’s very beautiful, especially if you love the outdoors and plants and trees. There’s green pretty much everywhere.

Animal Kingdom is very large and spread out; you definitely want to wear very comfortable walking shoes for your day at Animal Kingdom. I tend to put Animal Kingdom near the end of my trips when I include it because I don’t want to get too worn out the first couple of days—BUT putting it at the end was a challenge this trip, because we were both pretty tired by the time we got to Animal Kingdom!

Next trip, I will probably plan Animal Kingdom for the middle of our trip, and I’ll try to plan a rest day or a light day for the day after AK. This trip, I had a pretty good plan, I thought, heading into our Animal Kingdom day. The park opened early that day, plus it had extra magic hours that started at 7 am, which is VERY early for most vacationers. In my experience, if you arrive at the park early, you can usually crank through a lot of attractions in that first couple of hours the park is open. We had a fast pass for the most popular new attraction at Animal Kingdom, Flight of Passage, located in Pandora, but it wasn’t until early afternoon. We’d been anticipating the opening of Pandora for years, and I had heard really good things about this attraction, so I planned for us to go to Pandora as soon as we entered the park, and get into line for Flight of Passage.

My theory was that we’d have a short line, ride the attraction, check out Pandora, perhaps ride the other Pandora attraction, Na’vi River Journey, which is a boat ride, and which we were unable to get a Fast Pass for. (Note: When booking FastPass Plus reservations, Disney often groups the most popular rides in a separate “tier” and allows you to only book a FP+ for ONE of those attractions. In the case of AK, Flight of Passage and Na’vi River Journey are in their own tier, and you can only choose one of the two when making your FP+ reservations. You can choose two more FP+ reservations from ALL the other AK attractions when you are booking your initial three, but only one of the three will be able to come from the “Pandora” tier. For more information on FastPass Plus reservations, read here and here) I had gotten up at 5 am on the first day I could book our FastPass reservations for our vacation, but unfortunately, the earliest reservation I could get for Flight of Passage was 1:45 pm. I wasn’t too worried though. Based on my experience, I usually use FastPass+ reservations to book attractions I know we’ll want to ride a second time, and plan to get to the park early and take advantage of lighter crowds in the early hours to ride everything we want to ride and then hit our FastPass attractions later in the day.

In this case, however, my plan did not work as well as I’d hoped. Perhaps it was the combination of Pandora being new and SO popular and the first day of Thanksgiving week, but there were a GAZILLION people there for extra magic hours and EVERYONE headed straight for Flight of Passage. Now, I have to say this: I do not regret our day AT ALL. It didn’t work out like I planned, but we had a great time and LOVED everything we did. Having said that, if I had it to do again, I would make some different decisions—and I will definitely take what I learned into account when planning my next Animal Kingdom visit.

Pandora is BEAUTIFUL. If you’ve seen Avatar, I think you will have a greater appreciation for what they’ve done here, but even if you haven’t, it really is gorgeous, and looks like something not-of-this-world. A lot of people weren’t happy when Disney chose to partner with James Cameron and theme a “land” and attractions around Avatar, even though it was one of the highest grossing movies in history—it wasn’t a Disney property, and while I personally really enjoyed the movie, it had its flaws. Many also questioned how it “fit” with Animal Kingdom. If you’ve seen the movie, you’ll know that it has a very strong emphasis on protecting the natural environment and the symbiotic relationship between the natural world and all the species that inhabit it. (Granted the “natural world” in the movie is on a planet VERY far away…but the basic theme is inherently, take care of the planet…or you’ll destroy everything that is good and beautiful.) Since Animal Kingdom has such a strong emphasis on appreciating nature as well as conservation, the decision to put “Avatar” in Animal Kingdom always made sense to me personally, but I know there are many differing opinions on the topic. That said, there are at least two more Avatar movies coming, and if they do well—which I suspect, they will, I think Disney’s decision here will be validated and embraced. Even without the new films, though, it’s hard to deny the popularity of these attractions. I’ve been watching, and the stand-by lines for both the Pandora attractions pretty routinely stay ABOVE 2 hours. Even if you’re not an Avatar fan, I think this area of the park is really something to see. AND, it looks and feels very different at night than it does during the day, so it’s worth a second look if you visit during the day.

To cut to the chase, we were in line at Flight of Passage by 7:10 a.m. We waiting in line for more than two and a half hours. I’m not kidding when I tell you I have NEVER waited that long for an attraction in my life, and I specifically plan our trips around the concept of short lines and avoiding waiting longer than 30 minutes for anything. I’m not a patient person, and I really don’t like to stand in line. That said, it had been three years since our last trip. This is a new, very popular attraction. Also, the first hour, we had NO IDEA how long we’d be waiting, since we were in a line that was WAY outside the attraction. It was about 1 hour before we even reached the attraction entrance. By that time, we’d already invested so much time, we decided to stick it out. We took a lot of pictures, we chatted with the people around us. We had a lot of fun playing with the kids from the family behind us. And once we were inside the “mountain”, Disney’s theming helped keep things interesting, and while it didn’t make the wait seem short, it certainly wasn’t terrible. I’m glad we waited, because if we hadn’t, we would have only ridden once…with our FastPass Plus reservations that afternoon…and I definitely would have regretted that. This is an attraction that AS SOON AS IT WAS OVER, I wanted to ride again. It is, quite honestly, the best attraction I have ever ridden.

The queue for Flight of Passage at Animal Kingdom has some cool scenes (Photo: Brooke Hudson)

To provide some perspective, my favorite attraction is the Haunted Mansion. I am also a HUGE Pirates of the Caribbean fan….I love a good classic dark ride, and I am NOT a fan of motion simulators. I always ride Star Tours at least once with my husband. It’s a very cool attraction, and I love Star Wars, and I love seeing the new scenes every time we ride…BUT I don’t feel very good after that attraction. I tend to leave that ride a little queasy and it takes me a while to shake the feeling. I could NOT ride the old body wars attraction at Epcot—I tried once and it made me miserable. I am a girl who gets carsick if I ride in the back seat of a car. I have to take Dramamine to fly. I really struggle with motion sickness and it is no JOKE. Interestingly, Soarin’ doesn’t bother me at all—and I have heard that some people have issues with that one, but I do not have any issues with Soarin’.

I don’t know what it is about this ride, but it does NOT feel like a motion simulator. It feels more like Soarin’ to me than it does Star Tours. This attraction is trying to make you feel like you are riding your own banshee (a dragon-like flying animal from the Avatar movie), and it works on every level. The attraction “vehicle” looks a bit like a motorcycle to me, and it represents the banshee. Guests must be at least 44” tall to ride Flight of Passage, and I have heard that some guests have had issues fitting into the ride vehicle—I am plus size woman, and I did not have any issues fitting the vehicle. You get on the bike-like seat and scoot forward; then some padded surfaces come up behind you…as long as those can safely get into place, you can ride. I’ll admit to worrying about it while I was waiting in line; I didn’t want my husband to know I was concerned—and I knew if I couldn’t ride it, I was going to make sure he still did…BUT I did worry….Fortunately, in my case, there was nothing to worry about. I rode the ride quite comfortably. I will admit, I was much less stressed the second time, knowing that a) the ride would not make me feel sick and b) I had no issues “fitting” into the ride vehicle. This is really an amazing experience. Again, I compare it to Soarin’—you feel like you are riding a hang glider (well, I’ve never ridden a hang glider in real life, so I don’t know what that actually feels like, but on Soarin’ I feel like I’m flying, which I figure has got to be close, right?). On Flight of Passage, I had a similar feeling, like I was on a hang glider or something, flying, diving, climbing—it was beautiful, visually, and definitely evoked the look of Pandora in the Avatar movie. One word—EXHILARATING!!! I really, really, loved this attraction. And honestly felt it was worth EVERY MINUTE we waited for it. Of course, I was REALLY happy to have Fast Pass Plus reservations to ride it again later, without the wait 😉! Now that I’ve ridden it (twice), I really want to ride it again…but I don’t think I’ll ever wait that long for it again…but for the first ride? Totally worth it.

The only downside to spending the first 3 hours of our day in line for Flight of Passage is that it sort of jumbled our plan for the rest of the day. SO, we basically threw the original plan out the window, and focused on what was most important to us, and worked those things around our dining reservations, and the nighttime show we planned to attend. As a major planner, just “going with the flow” is sometimes difficult for me, but it worked pretty successfully on this day. It might have helped that I was pretty worn out by now, and really just wanted to SIT, haha.

So for this visit to Animal Kingdom, we spent a lot of time in Pandora (we visited again after dinner so we could see it in the dark…and it was GORGEOUS), visiting first thing in the morning, and again in the early afternoon for our FastPass Plus for Flight of Passage. We never were able to ride the other popular Pandora attraction, Na’vi River Journey. It’s a boat ride, and looks pretty great, but the lines stayed at 100+ minutes all day, and we just were NOT up for waiting in another extremely long ride. We also spent a lot of time just wandering around Pandora and LOOKING at it. They did a great job of making you feel like you are someplace ELSE. And of course, Flight of Passage empties into a giant gift shop with LOTS to look at. We also enjoyed the Na’vi Drum Ceremony.

We saw the Festival of the Lion King show (as always….amazing), we saw the Finding Nemo show (one of my favorite shows on Disney property), we had lunch with characters at Tusker House, dinner at Tiffins (new, I’ll be doing a review separately), we rode Everest and saw It’s Tough to be a Bug (one of Frank’s favorites).