Have you ever wondered how Disney World or Disneyland decorates for the holidays? Well, now you can find out!
Decorating Disney: Holiday Magic is a one hour holiday special that brings you behind the scenes to see how Disney World and Disneyland are decorated for the holidays. You will see how It’s A Small World in Disneyland gets redecorated for the holidays, the spectacular Gingerbread display in Disney’s Grand Floridan Resort And Spa in Disney World and how it is made, how The Haunted Mansion in Disneyland gets decorated for the holidays, and much more!
I loved Decorating Disney: Holiday Magic because it really makes you feel like you are in Disney World or Disneyland. Decorating Disney: Holiday Magic will put you in a holiday mood! The entire family can watch this holiday special.
Happy New Years everybody! Can you believe it’s 2020? I can’t!
Disney World is bringing new restaurants, shows, and more in 2020!
First off, to me this news is just awesome, a new M&M store is coming to Disney Springs! How cool is that!?! The new M&M store will take the place of Curl and Fit2Run stores.
In early 2020 a new restaurant called Regal Eagle Smokehouse: Craft Drafts & Barbecue will be coming to Epcot. Disney has said that this restaurant will be a modern barbecue with a smoker preparing food and a redesigned patio.
Beauty and the Beast Sing-Along will be coming to the France pavilion on January 17, 2020. This new sing along will be similar to For the First Time in Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along that is in Hollywood Studios. (If you would like to learn about For the First Time in Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along click here.)
Also happening on January 17, 2020, both Canada and China will have new Circle-Vision 360 shows. Canada’s show will be named “Canada Far and Wide.” China’s new show will be named “Wondrous China”.
A new show is coming to the land pavilion on January 17 called “Awesome Planet”. This new show will have nature photography, theater effects, and space sequences.
In February a new restaurant will be coming to Epcot. Gosh! Epcot is getting a lot of changes! The new restaurant will be named Space 220 and will be located between Mission: Space and Test Track. I am really excited to see this new restaurant because I really like space and in Space 220 you are able to see space from your table!
Construction of Space 220 back in August!
Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway will be open in Hollywood Studios on March 4. Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway will be inside the Chinese Theater. You will get to be put in the world of a Mickey Mouse cartoon with new technology called 2 1/2 D.
Another attraction expected to come to Hollywood Studios in March is Mickey Shorts Theater. It will take the place of Star Wars: Path of the Jedi theater. Mickey Shorts Theater will have short film just like the show Mickey Mouse on Disney Channel.
On April 17 in Disney Springs, Draw To Life will open. Draw To Life will celebrate the art of animation. It will follow a girl named Julie who tries to finish an unfinished animation piece.
The Swiss Family Treehouse will be closed for refurbishment from April 27-May 3, 202o.
Big Thunder Mountain will also be closing for a refurbishment from May 4-21.
Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure is coming to the France pavilion in the summer. It will be like the ride in Disneyland Paris with a trackless track. The ride will be Ratatouille themed.
Authentic Creperie is also coming to the France pavilion near Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure in the summer. The restaurant will have sweet and savory crepes. It can have a quick-service and table service dining option.
HarmonioUS will be a nighttime show coming this year (we do not know when in 2020). Disney says it will be “a worldwide celebration of Disney music.”
A new resort will be located in the Boardwalk area. It will be called The Cove. It is mostly focused on being for conventions and being group oriented.
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.
Some people take a plane to get to Disney World but lots of people go by car. Here is a list of fun activities for your ride to Disney World or anywhere!
Do you have Netflix on your iPad or iPhone? Well now you can download shows and movies on Netflix in the car without using wifi. The thing is though you can only download certain shows. Here is how it works:
First when you click the Netflix app it asks you who’s watching. Click on yours or whoever you watch Netflix from. Now you are on the home page. On the bottom click downloads. Now you are on a page that says My Downloads. Click the word Find Downloads. You are now on the page with everything you can download. Click next to a movie or show to download it.
We found this book on Amazon.
Another fun game to do is find license plates. This is a really fun game! All you have to do is find license plates from different states. I found 39 out of 50 states when I did this game on my way to the beach a few weeks ago. I even found a Hawaii license plate!
I STILL can’t believe I found a Hawaii license plate!
You can also play the alphabet game. First you pick a theme. For example: food. Now if you are starting you would say “a is for” and in this case apple. Then another person would say “b is for” and so on.
The Guess That Music game is fun too! First you turn on the radio and hide the name of the song and singer with whatever you want! As long as you can’t see the name of the song and singer!
I hope these activities are helpful in breaking the boredom of the ride to Disney World or anywhere.
Disney World gets rid of rides and attractions very often, usually to replace them with new ones. Here is a list of rides and attractions that I have been to that are no longer in Disney World.
Mickey’s and Minnie’s House were attractions in the Magic Kingdom when I was a toddler. You could basically walk inside and look around Mickey’s house and you could do the same with Minnie’s. It was removed to make room for the new Fantasyland.
Mickey’s Bedroom!
Maelstorm was a ride in the Norway pavilion. It was a boat ride with creepy trolls. Frozen Ever After is now where Maelstorm used to be.
Snow White’s Scary Adventure is a ride I never went on because I was little and heard the ride was very scary. Fantasyland is now where Snow White’s Scary Adventure was.
Ellen’s Energy Ride was a very slow ride in Epcot that made my dad fall asleep. You traveled back in time with Ellen and visited dinosaurs. A Guardian’s of the Galaxy ride is under construction where Ellen’s Energy Ride was.
Finally Walt Disney World has announced when Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance will open in Galaxy’s Edge in Hollywood Studios.
In Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance you will get to experience a battle between the Resistance and First Order. You will be asked to join General Leia Organa and Rey too. You will also get captured by the First Order.
This is so exciting!
Just as a reminder Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge opens in Disney World on August 29. It is already open in Disneyland.
Now for the moment you have been waiting for: Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance opens in Disney World on December 5. Walt Disney’s birthday! It will open in Disneyland on January 17, 2020.
The badge they gave me at the end of Jedi Training!
Another one of my must do activities at Disney World is Jedi Training. Jedi Training is a Star Wars themed show in Hollywood Studios that you can take part in. They train you how to us a lightsaber and in the end you get to fight a Sith and you get badge. ( For more information on Jedi Training click here!) Jedi Training is only for kids between 4-12 and you have to sign up for it before you do it. I recommend getting there early.
Sure Disney World has great rides but did you know they have many activities?
One of my favorite activities is looking for hidden Mickey’s. Hidden Mickey’s are basically Mickey’s head and ears that are hidden on rides, shops, and even your Disney resort! They are everywhere! Hidden Mickeys are super fun to find and add a little extra magic to your trip.
Here are just some of the Hidden Mickey’s that I have found at Disney World.
Spotted on Living with the Land!
More from Living with the Land!
As you can see, there are a lot of Hidden Mickey’s on Living with the Land!
Rose and Crown Dining Room is located in the United Kingdom Pavilion. (For a review of the United Kingdom, click here!)
Rose and Crown has indoor and outdoor seating. I enjoy seating outside because you get a great view of the World Showcases Lagoon. One time it was storming while we were eating outside at Rose and Crown and the Cast Members pulled down these plastic covers to protect us from the rain. (There was thunder and lightning too!)
The rain is just starting!
Now the screen is pulled down, but it was raining hard and windy!
The rest of the meal was with the closed screen.
I had fish and chips. In the United Kingdom chips are French fries. The fish and chips are really good! I recommend trying them. My mom had the Shepherd’s Pie and said she loved it. For dessert I had the English Trifle. It has layers of strawberries, vanilla custard, graham crackers, and whipped cream with Mickey Mouse Sprinkles.
The kid size Fish and Chips!
An adult Fish and Chips!
Shepherd’s Pie!
If you make a reservation to go to Rose and Crown for dinner at 8:30 pm or later, you have a great view of the fireworks.
In the background you can see the fireworks being set up on the World Showcase Lagoon.
