food IS a theme park
It’s been A WEEK at Disney World, and we’ve been running around trying to put Disney Genie through its paces!
Caribbean Beach Resort
We want to make sure we have ALL the information you’ll need to use the service for your next Disney World trip, so be sure to read our posts on it! And in the meantime, we’ve also been visiting Disney World’s hotels to see what’s new with them.
Hello, DFB Friends!
Grand Floridian
Well, as you can tell, we’ve been pretty busy covering everything about Disney World’s MASSIVE 50th Anniversary Celebration, and, yes, we ate SO many blue cupcakes! But we also managed to get over to some of Disney World’s hotels to see if anything new was going on with them, so on with the updates!
It’s official! Disney World’s 50th anniversary celebration has kicked off!
Animal Kingdom Lodge
Not only have we been in all four theme parks today, but we’ve visited the resorts to see how they are getting in on the celebrations! A good amount of Disney World’s long list of 50th anniversary treats are at the resorts, so let’s check out one of the sweet treats at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge!
Disney World has been announcing and releasing some new technology features lately.
Disney’s Contemporary Resort Hotel Room
Many more spots are now available via Mobile Order; not too long ago Disney launched MagicMobile — turning your phone into your MagicBand in many ways, and recently we shared some details about a new service that’ll be available through Amazon Alexa in your Disney World hotel room and at home. Just how will this new Disney service through Amazon’s Alexa enhance your hotel stay? Today we got some updates on just that!
The 50th Anniversary is set to bring all kinds of new things to Disney World.
We’re Going to Disney World!
One of the perks that will be available starting on October 1st is Early Theme Park Entry. This special benefit gives all guests staying at Disney World Resort hotels and select other hotels the chance to enter any Disney World theme park 30 minutes early on any day! As we noted above, this perk was set to begin on October 1st, but it looks like plans have changed.
Are you planning a trip to Hawaii?
Mickey Shave Ice at Aulani ©Disney
If so, you might have plans to visit Aulani, A Disney Resort & Spa, where you can meet some cool characters and attend a fun luau. But if you’re not actually planning to stay there, you might want to get updated on the latest policy change that could affect your visit.
When it comes to hotels, Disney World offers something for everyone — and there are SO many great hotels to choose from at a variety of price points. And then you’ve got even more hotels on Disney World property that aren’t owned by Disney, like the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin.
Swan Reserve
One of the newest hotels to arrive at Disney World is the Walt Disney World Swan Reserve. This hotel is located next to the Swan and Dolphin, putting it super close to EPCOT and Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Reservations initially opened up for the hotel in February, with an opening date of July 2021.
We know, we know — when it comes to reporting on prices, most of the time, we have to announce that Disney has raised prices on things. And believe us — we’re not big fans of price hikes either.
Wishables saw a recent price hike.
From price increases at our favorite snack spots (Les Halles Boulangerie Patisserie, we’re looking at you) to our favorite restaurants (hello, Chefs de France [seriously, what’s up with France RN!]) to Wishables to Spirit Jerseys to masks, it seems like everything at Disney World is starting to cost more. So we have to ask the question — has Disney ever REDUCED prices? And well, you what? It has!
Some things at Disney World have stayed (relatively) the same over several years. You can still hop on a boat and sing an extremely catchy tune at “it’s a small world,” there are still lots of Disney hotels to stay at, and (of course) you can still say “hello” to Mickey Mouse in the parks.
Hey There Mickey, Minnie, and Pluto!
But, lots of things in Disney World have also changed over the past few months, and many more changes are on the way. The Magical Express will be ending, new PAID FastPass-like systems will be introduced to the parks soon, and more changes have already been announced. When fan-favorite things go away or new things are introduced to the parks, there can be some frustration. So, we reached out to our fantastic DFB readers via Facebook and Instagram to see what upcoming changes frustrate them the most.
Although Disney World’s deluxe and moderate resorts generally get better reviews from guests, its value resorts aren’t anything to scoff at either. The whole point is value, and let’s face it — some of these resorts have the most fun theming on property.
Disney’s Art of Animation Resort
From the All-Star Resorts to the fun decades theme of Disney’s Pop Century Resort to all the cool animation decor at Art of Animation, Disney World’s value resorts have a little something for everyone. But how do YOU, our DFB readers, rate the value resorts? Well, we asked you and you delivered! Here’s what you had to say:
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