It’s another month down in Disney World and now we’re on to the 50th Anniversary celebrations!

Well, you know what the end of the month means. That’s right! It means we’re back to check in on all the most unexpected and vacation-altering news that happened in Disney World last month! September was pretty wild as we geared up for the 50th, so let’s take a look at the news!

1. BIG Opening News

We’re starting our unexpected list with some news from the very last day of the whole month. Disney decided to close out September with some MAJOR opening news for both Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind in EPCOT and Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser, the upcoming Star Wars Hotel.

Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind is the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy-themed indoor rollercoaster coming to World Discovery in EPCOT. Disney announced that the new coaster will open sometime in 2022!

With an innovative, 360-degree omnicoaster system and lovable characters from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, this ride is much anticipated! We’ll be keeping a close eye out for more news about its opening.

Click here to learn more about the opening of Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind!

And that’s not the only big opening news we got. We also got an opening date for the first-ever “voyage” of the Star Wars Hotel! Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser will accept its first reservations for March 1st, 2022!

This experience will function more like a cruise ship with interactive stays available for two nights. Reservations open for the new hotel on October 28th.

As a note, Annual Passholders and Disney Vacation Club Members will have access to an early booking window from October 7th through October 9th. If you’re wanting to pay the hefty price to stay “in space,” pencil those dates into your calendar!

Want to learn more about the opening of Galactic Starcruiser? Click here!

2. MagicBand+ Announcement

This morning also brought us the unexpected announcement of a new generation of MagicBands! With the discontinuation of free MagicBands, it was unclear whether Disney would continue to invest in the offering. Now, a whole new version of the MagicBand is coming soon!

MagicBand+ will debut in 2022 and will improve on the capabilities of MagicBands. In addition to the existing offerings, MagicBand+ will bring several interactive capabilities to enhance your Disney World experience!

Expect to see color-changing lights, haptic vibrations, and gesture recognition that interact with the park around you. They will even light up along with some nighttime spectaculars! We’ll be keeping an eye out for more news about this offering, so stay tuned.

To learn more about MagicBand+, click here!

3. Rise of the Resistance Standby Queue

Alright, let’s step back a little earlier in the month. We were SHOCKED to learn that Rise of the Resistance would be moving to a regular standby queue. Previously, the ride has exclusively used the Virtual Queue system.

Disney has not announced whether this change is permanent or if Rise of the Resistance will return to a Virtual Queue model. We got in line with a posted 150-minute wait on opening day and ended up waiting 100 minutes, but the ride has shown lower wait times of around an hour (in fact, at the time of writing, it has just a 55-minute wait!).

Click here to see more of Rise of the Resistance’s standby queue!

4. Early 50th Releases

No surprise that September brought us 50th preparations, but we weren’t expecting some of the 50th offerings to open early! Sure enough, though, we got to see a LOT of 50th merchandise, PLUS Harmonious AND Disney Enchantment during September! 

Several 50th Anniversary collections debuted in late September and we are NOT complaining about a chance to peruse this awesome merchandise early. Check out the stores in Disney World to see some positively amazing merchandise for the big occasion.

Harmonious, EPCOT’s new nighttime spectacular, ended up debuting on September 29th. Yep, at long last, we can see if the barges were really worth it.

Want to decide for yourself? You can watch our full video of the show!

Want to see Harmonious for yourself? Click here!

5. Main Street Confectionery Backstory

This next one is a little different but surprising nonetheless. Main Street Confectionery has been closed in Magic Kingdom for several months now. We knew the spot would be getting some TLC, but we didn’t expect the refurbishment to include an all-new backstory!

Now, the Confectionery features “The Sweetest Spoon Showcase,” a fictional competition that features some talented confection competitors. Add in new sweets and a new customizable popcorn offering at the Kernel Kitchen, and we’ll call this refurb a pleasant surprise!

To see more of the refurbishment, click here!

Bonus! Monorail Party Lights

Alright, this last one is just a bonus. It might not be vacation-altering but it certainly was unexpected. Why did no one tell us the monorails would be getting PARTY LIGHTS for the 50th Anniversary!?

Yes, we’re serious. The monorails had new lighting installed underneath that matches the stripe on the side. When you see a monorail cruise by at night, it’s probably going to look a little extra snazzy. What a fun surprise!

Want to see more of the party lights? Click here!

And that’s all the BIG SURPRISES we got in Disney World last month! September sure was a newsy month, but it’s not going to stop. The 18-month 50th-anniversary celebration has officially started in Disney World and we’re ready to party! You can count on us to bring you all the updates!

Click here for EVERYTHING you need to know about the 50th!

Headed to Disney World in October? Tell us in the comments!