For years, Disney fans have been bracing for the moment artificial intelligence would work its way into the Walt Disney World experience. The conversation has come up constantly in fan circles, usually in the context of the big stuff. Would AI eventually write the scripts for attraction preshows? Would it replace the concept artists at Walt Disney Imagineering? Would guests ...
Read More »Author Archives: Erica Lauren
New Disneyland Halloween Merchandise Will Cost Guests Almost $200
Halloween has completely taken over the theme parks, and we are only in late August. Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party has been running at Magic Kingdom for weeks now, with multiple nights already sold out. Oogie Boogie Bash is underway at Disney California Adventure. Halloween Time officially kicked off at Disneyland Resort on August 21, which means Main Street, U.S.A. is ...
Read More »“It Looks Like an Airport”: Disney World Fans Turn on Disney’s Makeover of EPCOT
Last week, I wrote about what is happening to Walt Disney World’s hotels. The short version is that the whimsy is going. One resort at a time, the heavily themed rooms are being replaced with something cleaner, calmer, and considerably more neutral. Muted palettes. Simple lines. A framed character silhouette where a full mural once stood. It looks nice. It ...
Read More »Walt Disney World Hotel Room Leaves Disabled Guest in Tears
Disney has spent the last few years absorbing criticism from disabled guests, and it has not found a way out of it yet. The DAS overhaul brought a wave of it. Guests who had relied on the old system for years found themselves reclassified, denied, or funneled into alternatives that did not fit their needs. Some of that criticism was ...
Read More »New Disney World Filing Points to Growing Transportation Fleet
Most of what makes a Walt Disney World vacation work happens somewhere guests never see. Nobody thinks about where the monorails sleep. Nobody wonders where the parade floats go when the parade ends, or where the buses get serviced, or where the fireworks shells are stored between shows. The resort runs on an enormous backstage operation that exists purely so ...
Read More »Disney Restores Free Transportation at Two Disney World Resorts, Effective Immediately
A few days ago, we covered a transportation perk disappearing at two of Walt Disney World’s most popular resorts. That story is worth revisiting, because the news this time is good. Free transportation is one of the biggest advantages of staying at a Disney Resort hotel. Every property offers bus service to the parks and Disney Springs, but a handful ...
Read More »Disneyland Reopens New Haunted Mansion, Classic Version Gone
For thirteen days, one of Disneyland’s most famous attractions sat behind scrims with nobody going in. That is not an unusual sight in New Orleans Square this time of year. Haunted Mansion is not a ride that closes casually, and when it does, the walkway past it feels noticeably emptier. Guests visiting between August 8 and August 20 found no ...
Read More »Jim Cummings Faces Backlash After Disney Legends Ceremony Reaction
D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event wrapped up in Anaheim last weekend, and Sunday brought the moment a lot of attendees look forward to most. The Disney Legends ceremony is the company’s highest individual honor. Performers, Imagineers, executives, and creatives get recognized for work that shaped Disney across decades. It is the closest thing the company has to a hall ...
Read More »Heinz Condiment Dispensers Arrive at Disneyland, Disney World Still Waiting
Back in July, we covered a Disney announcement that did not fit the usual parks-and-rides mold. The Walt Disney Company and The Kraft Heinz Company announced a long-term, multi-year partnership bringing ten Kraft Heinz brands to Disneyland Resort, Walt Disney World, and Disney Cruise Line sailings across North America. HEINZ ketchup. Philadelphia cream cheese. Kraft Mac & Cheese. At the ...
Read More »Walt Disney Company Confirms Employee Benefits Changes, Cast Members Affected
A few days ago we covered Disney expanding its Center for Living Well network with three new locations for cast members, and we framed it as a genuine positive. That framing still holds. Adding health centers in Central Florida, Burbank, and Anaheim gives more cast members actual access to primary care, behavioral health, and physical therapy without burning a day ...
Read More »