Today, March 31st, is the LAST DAY of Disney World’s 50th Anniversary celebrations!
These celebrations lasted for 18 months (!!) in the parks, and we got to see new snacks, nighttime shows, and everything in between. We were live from the first day of the event, which means we HAD to be live on the last day, so come with us!
Crowds
This morning, there were a lot of crowds entering the parks for the last day of the celebration.
Hollywood Boulevard in Disney’s Hollywood Studios stayed pretty busy as usual.
However, some areas of the park were a little quieter than we expected. Sunset Boulevard seemed a little slow, although this section of the park has been a little less busy since Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith has been closed for refurbishment.
In Magic Kingdom, Main Street U.S.A. saw lots of crowds throughout the day. Tons of activity around Cinderella Castle is pretty standard, and the last day of the 50th anniversary is no exception.
We weren’t surprised to see that the parks were busy today for this celebration early in the day — it does feel like the end of an era after all! However, we did head to EPCOT later in the day, and it was packed.
We’ll continue to watch out for crowds for the rest of the day.
Entertainment
The 50th anniversary introduced us to quite a bit of new entertainment, from Disney Enchantment in Magic Kingdom and Harmonious in EPCOT to interactive 50th statues all over the parks! While the two nighttime shows will be ending soon, we still have a couple more days to enjoy them.
As for the statues, they were still scattered throughout the park.
Edna Mode even made an appearance near her statue in Hollywood Studios!
Another one of the best entertainment additions to the parks for the celebration was the Beacons of Magic show that dressed up all four major park icons in Disney World. While the lights have been confirmed to stay permanently in EPCOT, we do expect to see the rest of the 50th anniversary Beacons of Light ending shortly. We’ll be back to see how Disney handles the end of these nighttime transformations, so stay tuned!
Food
The 50th anniversary brought us tons of new food to enjoy throughout the celebration. While some of our favorites have already started disappearing from parks, there were still a few 50th anniversary items on the menu on our last day of the event.
We were sad to see that the Glimmer and Shimmer Funnel Cake had been removed from the menu at Epic Eats in Hollywood Studios, but there are still a few festive eats around the park today.
You can still get the Shimmer Over the Moon cocktail and the Magical Beacon Cocktail at The Hollywood Brown Derby Lounge…
…and in Magic Kingdom, The Plaza Restaurant menu remains unchanged. You can still find the EARidescent Sip-a-bration here!
If you were hoping for one last 50th anniversary drink from Joffreys, there’s good news and bad news. Some of the Joffreys locations across the parks are still listing the Celebratory Sips. At the Joffreys in Hollywood Studios, you can still get the Golden Age.
However, some of the locations in EPCOT have stopped serving their version of the Celebratory Sips. The Golden Stardust was listed on the menu at the Joffrey’s by Port of Entry, but they weren’t actually able to make them.
At the Joffrey’s near Canada, the item has been completely removed from the menu board altogether.
The 50th anniversary snacks have been disappearing for weeks now, but a lot of the menu items have remained on the menu without their celebration decor. The Glimmer and Shimmer Blondie from Fairfax Faire, for example, is now the Toffee and Coconut Blondie. Same dessert, but no 50th chocolate coin on top!
We think a few of these favorites will probably stick around for a while, so don’t stress too much if you missed a few of them!
Merchandise
The 50th anniversary merchandise has been an epic part of the 18-month-long celebration, so it will be strange to see it go away! We still saw quite a bit of it in the parks today, however.
The Vault Collection was an ongoing collection of merchandise that celebrated the 50 years that Disney World has been open. This decades-themed merch still was on display in Main Street Cinema in Magic Kingdom today. A cast member confirmed that it would not be doing away tonight, so you still have a bit of time to stock up!
There were also quite a few 50th anniversary merchandise displays around Hollywood Studios.
You can still get a 50th anniversary balloon on Main Street U.S.A., but we were told by a cast member that they would not be sticking around after the celebration.
We also saw that some of the previous store sections have turned into new 100th anniversary displays, like this one of Mickey and Minnie in Mickey’s of Hollywood!
The 100th anniversary merchandise is starting to take over the main areas of stores.
We’ve also seen some new 100th anniversary Collectible Medallions added to the parks today.
There is one in Hollywood Studios’ Celebrity 5 & 10 that features Mickey and Minnie, Donald and Daisy, Pluto and Goofy, and Chip and Dale.
We also found these shiny 100th anniversary gift cards in EPCOT!
We’ll probably be seeing more 100th anniversary merchandise hit the parks soon, now that the 50th anniversary is just about over, so stay tuned.
We’re so glad we got to be in the park for the final day of this celebration, but not everything is going away! Some of the entertainment offerings and decorations will be sticking around after the event ends, so you don’t need to say goodbye to everything.
Get ready to say hello to some more Disney 100 offerings that may be entering the park soon now that the 50th Anniversary has wrapped up, and stay tuned to DFB for all the latest Disney news!
Could this be a sign that Cinderella Castle will change soon?
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What was your favorite part of the 50th Anniversary celebration? Tell us in the comments!
AlanC says
Good Riddance, I say. This was NOT a commemeration of genius storytelling, a daringly crazy, risk-all plan, and brilliantly executed land acquisition and park-building that put Orlando, FL on the map. It was a pure-play “one time only” marketing ploy and now it’s time to make way for the next one.