This is part two for everything new that happened in Disney World this year.
On August 12, 2019 the NBA Experience opened in Disney Springs. The NBA Experience is where you can do hands on activities in basketball. If you are a big fan of basketball you will love the NBA Experience! If you would like to learn more about the NBA Experience click here!
Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge opened in Hollywood Studios on August 29, 2019. It is supposed to transform you into the world of Star Wars with themed restaurants and rides. You can even build your own droid or lightsaber! If you would like to learn more about Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge click here!
In the fall, the Disney Skyliner opened! It is a transportation network in the sky. The Skyliner takes you from Pop Century, Art of Animation, Caribbean Beach, and the Disney Riviera Resort to the International Gateway at Epcot and Hollywood Studios.
The Disney Skyliner!
On November 12, Disney+ launched. Disney+ is a new streaming service where you get to watch your favorite Disney movies and shows without commercials. They have Disney+ original shows and movies as well as Disney movies and shows. If you want to see what shows I recommend to watch (and one movie for the holidays) click here!
2019 is almost over and I thought it would be a good idea to review everything new that happened in Disney World this past year. The list is so long that I will be making a part two.
Back in early January of 2019 Disney announced an offer for free dining! It was for stays between July 5, 2019 and September 30, 2019. You had to sign up for the free dining offer and stay for a minimum of 4 nights. You can no longer use this free dining offer, but if you are curious to learn more about the free dining offer click here!
In March Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy opened. I even was able to go on the ride back in August! Basically, Lightning McQueen teaches the next set of rookies (you) to become awesome racers but something happens! If you want to know what happens go to the ride in Hollywood Studios!
In April, Haunted Mansion started having an on-ride photo. That means that when you ride the Haunted Mansion while wearing your MagicBand a camera will take a picture of you and you will see a Haunted Mansion themed photo. Click here to learn more about that!
Also in April, Disney banned oversized strollers. They now need to be no larger than 31 inches wide and 52 inches long. If you would like to know more about this rule click here!
In May, you could buy Mickey Bars at your local supermarket. They were delicious! They are no longer available. If you would like to see me review this delicious treat click here!
In June the parking rates for overnight guests at Disney World Resort hotels rose, prices on reusable shopping bags rose, and annual passholder prices rose.
You can learn more about the raise in parking rates here, you can learn more about the rise in price for reusable shopping bags here, and the rise in annual passholder prices here.
The Mandalorian is a Star Wars show on Disney+. If you want to know more about Disney+ and what shows I recommend to watch click here!
The movie Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker comes out on Friday, December 20. The Mandalorian’s new episodes always come out on Fridays and since Star Wars The Rise of Skywalker comes out on Friday, the next episode of The Mandalorian comes out on Wednesday, December 18.
Here are The Mandalorian shows!
Hopefully we will get to see more of Baby Yoda and see it use the force!
Disney+ launched on November 12 and in my first review I promised you guys that I would do a more in depth review of Disney+. I have also been watching some shows on Disney+ and I want to recommend them to you.
First of, if you don’t know what I am talking about, Disney+ is a streaming service where you get to watch your favorite Disney movies and shows with no commercials. It is literally Netflix except everything is Disney.
Disney meaning Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, and National Geographic. Yep, there is something for everyone here!
If you speak another language Disney+ original shows and movies are in English, Spanish, French, and Dutch. Some shows, like The Mandalorian, have more languages. How exactly do you choose for your show to be in a different language? When you are watching a show click on the tiny box in the upper right corner. Do you see it?
Audio means that the show is in a different language. Subtitles mean that you will see the words on the bottom.
Wow!
Not all shows will have this many languages though. Some may just look like this.
You can also download as many shows and movies as you want!
Okay now I will tell you about some of the new shows on Disney+ that I recommend.
First up is The Mandalorian. The Mandalorian is Star Wars so if you like Star Wars you will enjoy this show. Have you heard of Baby Yoda? Baby Yoda is from the Mandalorian!
Another show I would recommend is The World According to Jeff Goldblum. The show is hilarious! Jeff Goldblum goes on a journey with you to learn more about things from sneakers to gaming.
The show is not only funny but you learn a lot more about the topic in a fun way.
Here are some of the other topics he talks about.
If you like cooking shows then I would recommend Gordon Ramsay Uncharted. Gordon Ramsay is a chef who goes to Peru, New Zealand, Morocco, Hawaii, Laos, and Alaska to learn how the people in these countries or states make food in their environment.
If you’re a fan of High School Musical then you should watch High School Musical The Musical The Series. I have not watched this show yet but I am going to. It has been 13 years since the first High School Musical and now the next generation is putting together a new production. High School Musical: The Musical.
Christmas is right around the corner! If you are trying to find a new movie to watch then I found one for you! Noelle is a fun Christmas movie. Noelle’s brother Nick is having trouble with taking over for their father so Noelle suggests he takes a break. When he doesn’t return Noelle must find her brother and bring him home.
I just recommended to you 4 shows and 1 movie. There has to be at least one show that you will enjoy. Episodes for The Madalorian, The World According To Jeff Goldblum, and High School Musical The Musical The Series new episodes come out on Fridays.
Disney+ has old Disney movies and shows but I wanted to talk about some new shows on Disney+.
California Grill is located in the Contemporary Resort. We went to California Grill last time I went to Disney World. Did I enjoy it?
They gave us bread.
DELICIOUS!!!!!
They also gave us an assortment of cheeses.
It looks really pretty!
Here is a list of the cheeses.
I had the wood-burning oven pepperoni pizza with no basil oregano pistou. It was really good!
My mom got the exact same thing as me except with basil oregano pistou.
My dad had the Oak Fired Filet of Beef. He liked it.
My brother got the cheese pizza from the kids menu.
For dessert my mom and I had the Warm Valrohna Chocolate Cake. It comes with one scoop of vanilla ice cream and chocolate whipped panna cotta. IT WAS SO GOOD!!!!!
My dad and brother had for dessert Plant-Based Lavender Donuts. They liked them. (One of the donuts contains alcohol so make sure you know which one this one is so you do not eat it. My brother did NOT eat the alcohol donut. My dad ate it.)
I give California Grill 4 Mickey Bars! The food took way too long but you get a great view of the fireworks and California Grill has a balcony so you can watch the fireworks.
Disney does have competition and I will tell you how they stay ahead of their competition.
First off, it’s Disney’s merchandise. They always have merchandise for special events like Christmas or Halloween.
Disney also has different collections so if you have, for example, an Imagination Pink Loungefly backpack then you probably want to match with the same color pink hat, shirt, and water bottle.
The Imagination Pink collection!
The merchandise is really expensive and Disney is making a lot of money because they have the merchandise in different colors.
The Rose Gold Collection!
Another way Disney is ahead is the Cast Members. The Cast Members (the people who work in Disney World) are always friendly and in a good mood. This is not the case in other amusement parks. In Universal they have friendly people too but besides Disney World and Universal other amusement parks just do not have very friendly people. The people that work at other amusement parks always look annoyed and like they don’t want to be there. Friendly cast members are very important because if a person has a good interaction with a cast member then they will want to come back to Disney World or Universal.
Disney is also constantly updating its parks by adding new rides. If, for example, you’re a big Star Wars fan then you probably want to go to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge in Hollywood Studios. Then you will make the long journey to Disney World and Disney gets a lot of money! While we are on the topic, Rise of the Resistance opened on December 5.
Other rides that are coming are Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Train in the spring of 2020 in Hollywood Studios, Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure is coming next summer in the France pavilion, and Beauty and the Beast Sing Along debuts January 2020.
These are a few ways that Disney stays ahead of its competition.
Chef Mickey’s is located in The Contemporary Resort. Back in August, I went to Chef Mickey’s for the first time.
The moneral is in the background!
Chef Mickey’s is a buffet. A buffet means that the chefs put out the food and you have to get it yourself.
I had macaroni and cheese, a croissant, and piece of turkey.
My food!
It was okay but not extraordinary or something so good that I would have seconds. My mom had macaroni and cheese, meatballs, green beans, a salad, and tater tots. She said it was okay.
My moms food!
My dad had shrimp, corn, tater tots, turkey, asparagus, beef, and olives. He thought it was good.
My dad’s food!
My brother had chicken tenders, tater tots, a hot dog, shrimp, and turkey. “It was good,” he said.
Al’s food!
Another thing that is really cool about Chef Mickey’s is that while you are eating Chef Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, and Donald all come to take pictures with you at your table.
Pluto!
They are all dressed up like chefs!
Donald!
Can you tell?
Goofy!
Minnie!
The star of the restaurant, Chef Mickey!
I give Chef Mickey’s two Mickey bars! We all agreed that the food was only okay. A pro to Chef Mickey’s though is that you get to see Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, and Donald all dressed up. The people at Chef Mickey’s make sure you see all the characters before you finish your meal. A con is that we waited for an hour to get seated. When we complained the people that work at Chef Mickey’s gave us a FastPass+ to make up for the wait.
Today (December 1) marks DisneywithIzzy’s first birthday!
While I started writing blog articles in October of 2018, I launched DisneywithIzzy on December 1, 2018. Exactly one year ago! The blog has come a long way. I want to say thank you to all my users. Without you this blog would not be a reality. There have been over 1.5k new users that have visited DisneywithIzzy. I can’t thank you enough.
DisneywithIzzy has been visited by 35 countries: United States of America, France, United Kingdom, Canada, China, Japan, Germany, Australia, Brazil, Mexico, The Philippines, Turkey, Ireland, Italy, Russia, Serbia, South Korea, United Arab Emirates, Poland, Portugal, Hungary, Puerto Rico, Finland, Armenia, Argentina, Austria, Netherlands, Nigeria, Chile, New Zealand, Sweden, Tanzania, Czech Republic, India, and Pakistan.
I would also like to thank Disney World for constantly changing so I have a lot to write about.
Back in August I stayed at Disney’s Contemporary Resort. Want to know what it was like? Keep reading to find out!
Since the Contemporary Resort is a Disney hotel, you can arrive in a Minnie van! (A Minnie van is just like an Uber or Lyft.)
Photo by Al.
When you walk inside don’t forget to trade a pin!
The Contemporary Resort has three restaurants: The Wave…. Update: Steakhouse 71 has replaced The Wave.
…Chef Mickey’s……..
and California Grill. I went to both Chef Mickey’s and California Grill and will give you separate reviews on those restaurants.
Do you want to know the best part about The Contemporary Resort? You can walk or take the monorail to get to Magic Kingdom. The monorail goes into the hotel!
Here are some pictures from the room we stayed in.
The TV has a channel that plays the same music live from the fireworks in Magic Kingdom so you can watch the fireworks on the balcony.
The couch is very comfortable.
The people who cleaned our room were really nice. One of them gave us a balloon! We still have it 3 months later.
They also did this to my Minnie ears.
The view from the balcony was amazing and perfect for seeing fireworks in the sky and light shows on the water.
The view from the balcony!
Here is the view of the fireworks at night.
The Contemporary Resort also has many stores that you can shop in.
Don’t forget to get involved in the activites at the resort! Many of them are free!
If you haven’t noticed I REALLY liked the Contemporary Resort and think you should stay there on your next Disney World trip.
