Disney News

Category: Walt Disney World

  • Man Banned from Disney World After Flying Drone Over Magic Kingdom

    Man Banned from Disney World After Flying Drone Over Magic Kingdom

    A Florida man received a trespass warning last month after flying a drone over Magic Kingdom, according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.

    Disney security noticed a drone flying overhead about 100 feet from Cinderella’s castle.

    Not far away, the 40-year-old, who was not identified, but said to be an experienced drone pilot, was found by an off-duty Orange County deputy in an apartment complex near the theme park. The incident took place May 20, according to the incident report.

    Several sheriff’s deputies reported to the scene, where, along with Disney security, they confronted the pilot.

    “I asked him why he was in a parking lot of an apartment complex he did not live in and standing behind trees out of view from Reams Road. He did not have a clear answer to the question,” a deputy said in the report.

    According to the Disney World website, drones and remote-controlled toys are prohibited from entering the park. Both Disney World and Disneyland are also designated as no-fly zones for drones, or other such devices.

    The man asked to delete the footage, but was not arrested for a crime. He was, however, issued a trespass warning which comes with a indefinite ban.

  • BREAKING: NBA Approves Plan to Resume Season at Disney World with 22-Team Format According to Sources

    BREAKING: NBA Approves Plan to Resume Season at Disney World with 22-Team Format According to Sources

    The NBA board of governors voted Thursday to approve a 22-team format to restart the 2019-20 season at Disney World in Orlando, Florida, the league announced.

    The vote was 29-1, with the Portland Trail Blazers voting against the proposal according to ESPN sources.

    Under the plan, 13 Western Conference teams and nine Eastern Conference teams will play eight regular-season games, a possible play-in tournament for the eighth seed and playoffs at the Walt Disney World Resort, sources said. To see the details of how the 22 team season will work look below:

    The top 16 teams in the Eastern and Western conferences will be joined by teams currently within six games of eighth place in the two conferences — New Orleans, Portland, San Antonio, Sacramento, Phoenix and Washington, sources said.

    The play-in tournament will include the No. 8 and No. 9 teams — if the ninth seed finishes the regular season within four games of the eighth. In that case, the No. 9 seed would need to beat No. 8 seed twice to earn the playoff berth, while the No. 8 would need one win from the two potential games.

    The league is targeting a start date of July 31, where 22 of the 30 NBA teams are expected to participate in Orlando.

  • Refunds for Disney World Annual Passes are Starting to Appear for Passholders

    Refunds for Disney World Annual Passes are Starting to Appear for Passholders

    After Disney World closed on March 12 due to the coronavirus, Disney announced that Annual Passholders could recieve refund if they wanted and Passholders are now finally starting to see those refunds showing up in their accounts.

    In April, Disney announced that as an alternative to extending annual passes the number of days the parks are closed, “Passholders who have paid in full may choose to receive a partial refund for the park closure period.”

    A Disney World Annual Passholder who finally received their refund took to Twitter to share the news as you can see below:

    For those not choosing to recieve a refund, the website states: “All active Walt Disney World Resort theme park and water park Annual Passes will be extended for the number of days the parks are closed. The new expiration date will be reflected on the Annual Passholder’s account prior to the reopening of the parks.”

    Back in April, Disney world stated on thier website that if you’re on the monthly payment plan, “We automatically stopped and will waive monthly payments due while the theme parks are closed. We will also retroactively refund payments made between March 14 through April 4, 2020. Payments will resume on the Passholder’s regularly scheduled payment dates once the parks reopen. Please note, pass expiration dates will not be extended and passes will expire upon their originally scheduled expiration dates.”

    As an alternative, Guests who are paying for Walt Disney World Annual Passes using the monthly payment program may choose to have their monthly payments postponed starting with payments due April 5, 2020 through the park closure period, and then resumed on the Passholder’s regularly scheduled payment date once the parks reopen. Postponed payments will be collected in the months following the end of the Passholder’s currently scheduled payment term. The pass will be extended the number of days the parks are closed. The new expiration date will be reflected on your Annual Passholder account prior to the reopening of the theme parks.

  • EPCOT’s World Showcase May be Staffed Without Cultural Representatives During Reopening

    EPCOT’s World Showcase May be Staffed Without Cultural Representatives During Reopening

    Disney World received approval from the state of Florida to reopen it’s four Orlando theme parks and along with the the new saftey measures you may notice some staffing changes in World Showcase at EPCOT.

    The cultural representatives who staff EPCOT’s World Showcase may not return to the parks right away, according to a reported agreement between labor unions representing Disney World employees and Walt Disney Company.

    Until Disney World is able to resume normal staffing, Cast Members who “do not meet the culturally authentic theming at EPCOT may be temporarily assigned to work in positions which are otherwise reserved for Cultural Representatives,” according to the agreement.

    Disney suspended it’s cultural representative program April 18 due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic as you can see in the tweet below:

    Disney also said that it will invite back its Cultural Representative to complete their program at “a later date.”

  • Disney World Gets Approval From Florida For July 11 Phased Reopening

    Disney World Gets Approval From Florida For July 11 Phased Reopening

    Walt Disney World received approval from the state of Florida to reopen it’s four Orlando theme parks starting July 11.

    Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom will open first, on July 11. Then, Epcot and Hollywood Studios will follow on July 15.

    The plans were reportedly approved Friday by the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation in a memo sent to Orange County officials, according to multiple news reports. Disney reps weren’t immediately available for comment.

    Disney submitted its reopening plans on Wednesday to the Orange County Economic Recovery Task Force and received an endorsement from Orange County Mayor Jerry Dennings shortly after the meeting.

    In Disney’s presentation, Jim MacPhee, Senior Vice President of Operations, Walt Disney World Resort, described plans for temperature checks of guests and staff, face masks and social distancing, frequent signage, numerous hand washing stations throughout the park and backstage and use of plexiglass barriers at retail and food and beverage locations.

    Capacity will be reduced at park attractions, restaurants, retail stores and transportation connecting the parks. Fireworks, character-meet and-greets, water displays and other events that might create crowds or make social distancing difficult will be temporarily suspended. The park will expand mobile ordering platforms at its restaurants. It will clean ‘high touch areas frequently.

    MacPhee said Disney’s strategy will focus around three keywords — “education, communication and engagement.”

  • Disney World Officially Canceling Their Fireworks & Parades Indefinitely

    Disney World Officially Canceling Their Fireworks & Parades Indefinitely

    Disney World received approval from the state of Florida to reopen its theme parks and to help control the crowds, Disney World has canceled Fireworks Displays and Parades until further notice during their phased reopening.

    “This phased reopening will demonstrate a deliberate approach, with limits on attendance and controlled guest density that aligns with guidance on physical distancing” Disney said. “That means certain experiences we know draw large group gatherings – such as parades and nighttime spectaculars – will return at a later date.”

    In addition, “high-touch” experiences such as makeover opportunities, playgrounds and character meet and greets will remain temporarily unavailable, but characters will still be in our parks to entertain and delight our guests. 

    Walt Disney World received approval from the state of Florida to reopen its four Orlando-based theme parks starting July 11.

  • Mobile Order Adds Apple Pay and Arrival Times at Disney World Ahead of Reopening

    Mobile Order Adds Apple Pay and Arrival Times at Disney World Ahead of Reopening

    Disney World received approval from the state of Florida to reopen its theme parks and now they are adding some new changes to mobile ordering that you may want to hear.

    Previously guests would place a Mobile Order and you would receive a notification when the order was ready to be picked up, but now guests will have to select an arrival time and pick up their orders within a thirty minute window.

    Another new feature added to Mobile Order is the addition of new payment method options. You can now pay for your order with Apple Pay and Disney Gift Cards and well as with Disney Dining Catds and Disney Reward Redemption cards.

    Disney World is making a number of changes to make reopening safe for it’s guests and the new additions to the Mobile Order service will make cashless transactions even easier.

    Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom will open first, on July 11. Then, Epcot and Hollywood Studios will follow on July 15.

  • Passholder Preview Announced for Disney World Reopening

    Passholder Preview Announced for Disney World Reopening

    Disney World unveiled it’s reopening plans and now an email has gone out to Annual Passholders about a Passholder Preview for the occasion.

    Take a look at the details of the email below:

    Dear Valued Passholder,

    In case you missed it, this week we shared some big news about Walt Disney World Resort, including plans to welcome Guests back to the Theme Parks as part of a phased reopening beginning July 11.

    We truly can’t wait to welcome our Passholders back! And we will do it with a great deal of thought. As we reopen, our phased approach will be a deliberate one with limits on attendance and density controls that align with expert guidance.

    And so, to foster recommended physical distancing during this unprecedented time, we will soon be introducing a new Park reservation system and requiring all our Guests to make advance reservations for their Park visits.

    We’ve put together some of the details of what this new system will mean to Passholders on our website. So please take the time to read this important update.

    We truly value the role our Passholders play in making the Walt Disney World Resort experience so magical. And as our re-opening progresses, we are planning a special Passholder preview opportunity to access the magic.

    Walt Disney World has gotten the go-ahead from the state of Florida to open its four Orlando theme parks starting July 11 along the lines of plan executives presented to Orange County officials on Wednesday.

    The phased reopening starts with the Magic Kingdom and Disney Animal Kingdom on Saturday, July 11 and Epcott and Disney Hollywood Studios on Wednesday, July 15.

    The plans were reportedly approved Friday by the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation in a memo sent to Orange County officials, according to multiple news reports.

  • Disney World Reopening Only Available to Passholders and Exsiting Ticket Holders

    Disney World Reopening Only Available to Passholders and Exsiting Ticket Holders

    Now that Disney World has announced a reopening date, theme park reservations will be limited due to attendance limitations and will only be available to Annual Passholders and those with existing tickets.

    “At this time, we are temporarily pausing new ticket sales and Disney Resort hotel reservations so we can focus on guests with existing tickets and reservations,” Disney said on it’s website.

    Existing ticket holders and Annual Passholders will be able to make a theme park reservation before new tickets are sold; they will be reaching out to these guests soon to provide additional details.

    Disney World will resume new sales of tickets and Disney Resort hotel reservations after that period of time. 

    After Walt Disney World presented it’s reopening plan to the Orange County Economic Recovery Task Force this week and the company is now preparing for that reopening by canceling all of its dining reservations for the rest of the year and suspending its FastPass+ reservation system as well.

    Pending approval from government agencies, Magic Kingdom park and Disney’s Animal Kingdom theme park will begin a phased reopening on July 11—with Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios reopening on July 15, but advance reservations will be required to visit.

  • Disney World Cancels Dining Reservations and Suspends FastPasses as part of Reopening Plans

    Disney World Cancels Dining Reservations and Suspends FastPasses as part of Reopening Plans

    Walt Disney World presented it’s reopening plan to the Orange County Economic Recovery Task Force this week and the company is now preparing for that reopening by canceling all of its dining reservations for the rest of the year and suspending its FastPass+ reservation system.

    Pending approval from government agencies, Magic Kingdom park and Disney’s Animal Kingdom theme park will begin a phased reopening on July 11—with Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios reopening on July 1, but advance reservations will be required to visit.

    The parks will reopen with some important updates to promote physical distancing, including. Take a look below:

    • Park Reservations: Initially, park attendance will be managed through a new park reservation system. To enter a park, both a park reservation and valid admission for the same park on the same date is required.
    • New Ticket Sales: At this time, new ticket sales are temporarily paused. Existing ticket holders and Annual Passholders will be able to make reservation requests in phases before new tickets are sold. Additional details will be shared with these Guests soon. New ticket sales will resume after that period of time.
    • New Disney Resort Hotel Reservations: At this time, new reservations at Disney Resort hotels are temporarily paused so we can focus on Guests with existing reservations (Disney Vacation Club Members can still make new reservations). Reservations will resume after that period of time.

    All existing dining reservations and experience bookings, including Disney dining plans included in packages, are canceled through the end of 2020. New ones will be able to made closer to when the parks reopen, and the booking window will shift from 180 days to 60 days.

    The company has established a new “Know Before You Go” web page at DisneyWorld.com/Updates for the latest news on operations, including details on how to change plans.