food IS a theme park
It’s a Christmas miracle!
Magic Kingdom
The hugely popular Mickey and Minnie Gingerbread House Popcorn Bucket is now available in Magic Kingdom during the daytime! At the beginning of the season, it was only available at Disneyland, but then it became available at Magic Kingdom ONLY during Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. Then it was available in limited quantities at some of the Disney World hotels with gingerbread displays.
Happy holidays and Merry Christmas! It’s officially the week of Christmas, and we’re hitting the parks to enjoy all the festive activities.
Christmas at Magic Kingdom
The week of Christmas is one of the busiest times of the year. Many people enjoy spending the holidays with friends and family at the Disney World resort. It truly is one of the most magical places on Earth to celebrate Christmas. You can celebrate at Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, Jollywood Nights, and the EPCOT Festival of the Holidays. You can enjoy special holiday treats and the jolliest holiday atmosphere ever. But when we say that this time of year is BUSY, we really mean it. Here’s a bit of proof for ya!
Missing out on the BIGGEST Lightning Lane changes, the NEWEST dining reservations, and those DREAM hotel stays is NOT on our 2025 Disney World list for you.
Magic Kingdom
You’re in the right place to make sure you make zero mistakes on your next Disney trip!
So it’s been a bit of a quiet week — at least when it comes to food — in Disney World.
Ice cream in EPCOT
But that’s okay because we’ve been busy exploring Disney’s newest hotel expansion, Island Tower at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort. One of the BEST parts of exploring this new property, though, was getting a chance to eat at Wailulu Bar & Grill, the tower’s quick-service restaurant — let’s just say we were impressed (you can read the full review here). However, other Disney World restaurants had some changes this week, so let’s see what’s been updated.
He’s mischievous. He’s sassy. He’s also the sweetest and most lovable alien in Disney World. Stitch is a Disney icon!
Stitch!
Over the past few years, it seems like Disney REALLY leaned into the Stitch craze. It felt like everywhere you turned, Stitch was there. He was taking over Cinderella Castle (yes, he really did cover it with toilet paper), attacking snacks, and crashing other Disney stories. But could 2025 mark a new era? We found an interesting sign that could indicate Disney is FINALLY ditching Stitch.
Isn’t it wild how close we are to 2025?!
Welcome to the Most Magical Place on Earth!
And if you’re planning a Disney World trip in 2025, you’re going to want to brace yourself. Three of the four parks – Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, and Hollywood Studios – are about to enter construction chaos. Big changes are coming, which is exciting in the long term, but in the short term? It’s going to be a mess. Let’s break down why these parks might have you reaching for an extra churro (or three) to cope.
Every week, we report the average Disney World wait times in every park so that you can be prepared for your next trip to Orlando!
Magic Kingdom
Disney World’s average wait times were surprisingly low this week (considering we’re so close to Christmas), though the Magic Kingdom’s TRON Lightcycle / Run topped the list with the highest average wait at the resort. This was one of the (shockingly) few instances where the wait time averaged over an hour.
It might be winter in Florida, but we’re celebrating the reopening of a pool at Disney World!
Port Orleans — French Quarter
A pool at Disney’s Port Orleans Resort—French Quarter briefly closed, but it is once again open to hotel guests! Not too many people might be going swimming in December, but it’s still good to see these refurbishments come to an end.
A lot will be changing at Magic Kingdom in the upcoming years!
Magic Kingdom
A new Villains land is getting added to the park, a new Pirates of the Caribbean lounge is being created, a new nighttime parade will debut in 2025, and two new Cars attractions will be replacing Tom Sawyer Island and Rivers of America. A few months ago, Disney filed a permit that appeared to be for the early stages of construction for these two Cars attractions. Then, in September, the South Florida Water Management District requested some additional information for the permit, and now we have an update on the status of this permit!
If you’re not a big fan of waiting in long standby lines in Disney World, especially around the holiday season, you may consider purchasing one of Disney’s Lightning Lane options, like Lightning Lane Multi Pass and Lightning Lane Single Pass.
Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway Lightning Lane
However, if you want a bit more flexibility, you might even consider purchasing Lightning Lane Premier Pass. This is Disney’s more expensive skip-the-line option that gives you the ability to skip the process of pre-book Lightning Lanes for specific times (like you do with the other options) and simply enter a ride’s Lightning Lane whenever you want. Well, if you’re looking to purchase that option for specific dates, you could be out of luck.
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