Thinking of heading to the Most Magical Place on Earth in 2021?

Well, we’ve only gotten through our first full week of the new year but there are already some BIG things you should know about that could impact your future trips to Disney World including some ticket and hotel deals, an EPCOT festival, and more! And we’re breaking it all down for you today.

1. There Are SEVERAL Ticket & Hotel Deals Now Available

Let’s be real here, a Disney trip can be very expensive. But, sometimes there are ticket or hotel deals that can make your next magical vacation more affordable. Right now, there are quite a few deals going on that you’ll want to look at carefully to see if they will work for you.

First, there’s the Florida Resident Discover Ticket, which lets Florida residents buy several days of park tickets at discounted prices that can be used consecutively OR non-consecutively through June 2021. With this deal, you could get a 2-Day Discover Ticket for $75 per day ($149 total), a 3-Day Discover Ticket for $60 per day ($179 total), or a 4-Day Discover Ticket for $50 per day ($199 total).

Some block out dates apply and the tickets expire by certain dates, so if this is a deal you want to take advantage of, be sure to check out all the details.

See more about this Florida Resident deal here!

Disney’s FREE ticket offer is also now available for booking. We heard about this deal back in December, but this week the offer became available for booking for future vacations. With this special deal, guests who book a 4-night/3-day room and ticket package at select Disney resorts on most nights between January 8th to September 25th, 2021 will receive two additional days of theme park tickets!

What is a better deal? Discounted rooms or free tickets? Check out our thoughts here!

Click here to learn more about this FREE tickets deal!

Looking for a hotel discount? While we already knew about some hotel discounts for 2021, this week we got even more info about deals that can help you save BIG through July 2021 on select Disney World Resort hotel stays. First, you can book now to save up to 30% on your Disney World hotel stays most nights April 18, 2021 through July 10, 2021. If you’re a Disney World Passholder, you could take advantage of a different deal that could help you save up to 35% on your Disney World hotel room most nights from April 18 through July 10, 2021.

If your trip is a bit earlier than those dates, check out these deals for early 2021. There are certain exceptions that apply to these discounts, and dates by which some of them must be booked, so be sure to look at all of those details to see if these deals can work for your next trip.

Click here to see more about the new hotel deals announced through July 2021!

2. The Festival of the Arts Is Here!

The 2021 Taste of EPCOT International Festival of the Arts officially begins today, January 8th! Earlier this week we FINALLY got the full Festival of the Arts MENUS and made our list of all the new, delicious drinks and snacks we’re looking forward to trying this year.

Recently, we also got a look at the menu items that will be on the returning Wonderful Walk of Cuisine, got a peek at the booths up in EPCOT, snagged a Festival of the Arts EPCOT map, and spotted some photo ops and other art decorating the park.

Did you know that 4 candy-themed donuts and coffees are coming to this year’s Festival?! Be sure to grab our FREE, exclusive DFB printable checklist for the Festival of the Arts so you don’t miss a thing! We’ll be at the Festival today (of course) and bringing you ALL the photos, videos, food reviews, and more. So stay tuned for our coverage of the Festival of the Arts.

Click here to see more information about the 2021 Festival of the Arts!

3. Some Rides Have Potentially Been Delayed and One Interactive Experience is Closing

Recently, we also got some updates about current ride refurbishments, upcoming attractions, and one interactive experience that’s closing for the time being. First, this week we got news that the opening of the epic TRON coaster being built in Magic Kingdom is likely delayed.

The Journey of Water, Inspired by Moana, is also now expected by some to likely open after 2021. Some projects, like Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure and La Creperie de Paris, have been confirmed to have a 2021 opening date, but it seems other things may not open this year in time for Disney World’s 50th Anniversary celebrations, likely due to the delays caused by the pandemic.

Click here to learn more about these delays.

In addition to delays happening for upcoming attractions, one fan-favorite existing attraction in Magic Kingdom, which has been under refurbishment for MONTHS has had it’s opening date delayed…AGAIN. Yes, we’re unfortunately talking about the relaxing and wonderful Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover.

Most recently, refurbishment on the attraction appeared to be scheduled to end on January 9th, but that has now been extended through more of the month of January. We did see some people working on the attraction back in December, but it doesn’t seem to be ready for guests just yet.

Click here to see more about the latest extension on the PeopleMover refurbishment.

Recently, we also heard that one interactive experience in the Disney parks is closing. Yesterday, we spoke with a Cast Member who said they had just learned that day that Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom will be coming to a halt. The Cast Members were also told, however, that this would be a “break.”

So, hopefully, this means it will return in the future. We’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for more details on that.

Click here to see more about Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom being suspended.

And that’s our round-up of some of the biggest news stories for this week that you might have missed.

Wondering what other Disney news was also shared recently? Well, Disney has announced the date for their next quarterly earnings call (you know we’ll be listening and will bring you all the updates), Tokyo Disney Resort is reducing its hours through January, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster FINALLY reopened in Disney’s Hollywood Studios, we’ve got some Blizzard Beach hours of operation for March, we got a peek at the monthly Stitch merchandise collections that will be released soon, AND we’re on the lookout for more information about Garden Grill Restaurant in EPCOT since it wasn’t showing any hours for some days next month.

We’re always on the lookout for the latest Disney news, so be sure to come back to DFB for all the updates!

Disney further confirms 6 projects for 2021, but left out 4 BIG ones! See which ones they left out here.

Are you planning to visit Disney World soon? Tell us in the comments!