New Mickey & Minnie LEGO set Announced
LEGO has posted about a new, almost 1800 piece LEGO set that has both Mickey & Minnie. It looks fantastic.
Disney Fashion for everybody!!
Fantastic News re Disney Fashion Y’all
I like Disney; I like fashion; ipso facto I love Disney fashion.
That means I’m going to be spending ALL OF THE MONEY on our next trip at The Dress Shop, Disney’s new store/fashion line designed specifically for me. The shop will be located in the Co-Op at Disney Springs and is set to debut at the end of this month. There better still be plenty of cute things in stock when I’m there in April!!! (The line will also be available in the Shop Disney Parks App, but I’m the type who can’t buy anything without trying it on.)
Disney fashionistas will be quick to point out you can find plenty of great dresses like this on ebay and etsy if you look in the right places, don’t mind online shopping, and are up for a gamble on quality/price/fit. I’ve also always been a big fan of seeking out “regular” pieces that can be turned into Disney fashion a la Disneybound. The pic below is me and my girl Minnie in our matching outfits. The new shop will make this sort of fun that much more accessible to other people, and I’m a big fan of spreading awesomeness.
Before I go, question for the masses: am I allowed to wear the Tower of Terror dress if I’ve never ridden Tower of Terror?
Tweet me @LadyKivus
*P.S. guess who wrote this post!
News Nuggets from Around Disney World
Here are Rope Drop [dot] Net HQ we’re still recovering from the price increase that happened this weekend. Of course, even 8-10% ticket price increases can’t stop us from publishing the next edition of the News Nuggets!
- All-New ‘Mickey’s Royal Friendship Faire’ Stage Show Coming This Summer to the Magic Kingdom – Putting Anna, Elsa, Rapunzel, Flynn and Tiana in a show in front of the castle seems like a no-brainer. I wonder if this is the start of a trend that will see more and more entertainment being updated (Illuminations, anyone?)
- Frozen Ever After and Royal Sommerhus now to open in Summer – This, obviously, could just be a typo, but would anyone be surprised if it took a few more months to get this ready to open?
- Symphony in the Stars Fireworks to Continue through at least April. – This leads into the next nugget, which happens in April:
- New Star Wars Entertainment coming to The Studios this Summer – With the new “Star Wars Stage Show”, the march of Captain Phasma, and the new “Star Wars: A Galactic Spectacular” firework show, it sounds like this Disney is going “all in” with Star Wars at The Studios this summer.
- Disney Moves Magic Kingdom’s May 24th Morning Extra Magic Hour to May 27th – I link to this not because of the actual content of the news, but for Josh’s analysis as to what it could mean for 24-hour day. Even though Elyssa and I wouldn’t be able to make 24-hour day this year, I’ll be bummed if we’ve seen the last one.
- New Concept Art Released for Star Wars Land – The special itself was a little bit of a letdown, but the “concept art” sure looks pretty. (Are we still thinking 2018 before this is done? 2020?)
- WDW News Today explains how It thinks the “eternal sunset” will occur in Kilimanjaro Safaris. – A nice little rumor / insight from WDW News Today about how Disney might be planning to achieve its “eternal sunset” effect.
- Kylon Ren joins Jedi Training at The Studios – I’m surprised with how quickly they’ve integrated Kylo Ren into the various Star Wars attractions at The Studios. I’m probably equally surprised that they haven’t done something to allow photos with BB-8, yet.
- Toy Story Midway Mania Closed March 15 to Prepare for Third Track. – The third track is rumored to open in summer 2016. It should help a lot with the capacity issues for this attraction. Also, re-book you Fastpass+ for March 15 so you can do what you want instead of the backup Disney gives you (I might just plan to go to another park that day).
Phew. That was a lot of News Nuggets. Let’s take a quick break to relax in the early morning glow of World Showcase:
Now, back to the News Nuggets!
- DFB Rumor about Star Wars Ice Cream coming to the Boardwalk – The DFB has to connect a lot of dots to get there, but it’s a nice little rumor. Of course, nothing is stopping Disney from just branding any ice cream as “Kylo Ren Tracks” on its own.
- Rumors of Rivers of Light Dining Packages Possibly Coming to Tusker House – Some more rumor scooping by DFB. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if this happened.
- A light test of Rivers of Light at Animal Kingdom? – Speaking of Rivers of Light, this picture seems to be a test of the lighting effects they will be using during Rivers of Light at the Animal Kingdom. I wonder how close they are to really having that show ready.
- The Land of Avatar Rises at the Animal Kingdom. – Da Mouse is always great with these types of photo essays. If you’re interested in the Avatarland..err..”Pandora” construction, then you should give this a look.
- A few menu items for Tiffins at Animal Kingdom Revealed. – The pork ribs sound pretty amazing.
- Disney Springs Water Taxi hours to be reduced – This seems consistent with rumors of budget cutbacks at Disney World, but it’s tough for me to get too upset about the water taxis not running after midnight.
- No more Turkey Legs at the Animal Kingdom – Elyssa and I aren’t big turkey leg people, so this doesn’t really impact us too much. That said, it’s always a little weird when something iconic is removed from one of the parks.
- All-New Character Meet featuring Olaf and Mickey & Minnie Coming Soon to The Studios. – Putting Olaf in The Studios while Anna & Elsa are in Epcot is pretty brutal for families that want to make sure they get to all the Frozen meet-and-greets. I imagine the line for Olaf is going to be quite long for some time.
- The next Phase of the Disney Springs Expansion Announced. – Wow. This is a ton of stuff. I definitely am looking forward to trying out the burger place, and I am hoping Fulton’s really steps up its game. I understand people are “upset” that stores “they have in their local mall” are showing up at Disney Springs, but it doesn’t really bother me.
- Two big new features coming soon to MyMagic+ – I hope WDW Magic is right on this one. Being able to make the 4th (5th, 6th, etc…) Fastpass+ reservation from my phone instead of at a kiosk would be a really nice change.
- All-You-Care-To-Enjoy Dining Coming to The Diamond Horseshoe in Magic Kingdom Park – All-you-care-to-enjoy BBQ with a nice apple dessert sounds like it might be okay.
- Same Day Reservations at the Skipper Canteen Extended. – Personally, I’m glad that Skipper Canteen exists and allows me to get a reservation in the Magic Kingdom almost any day. That said, I have to wonder how long it will be before it starts using a more traditional ADR system.
- Orlando bids for 2017 & 2018 Wrestlemanias. – Okay, this isn’t really Disney news, but I am about 99% sure I’d go to Wrestlemania weekend if it took place in Orlando.
- Dates Announced for 2016 Epcot International Food & Wine Festival – Much like Flower & Garden, this year’s Food & Wine festival is going to be longer than before, running from September 14 through November 24. That’s a start about 2 weeks earlier than normal.
We’ll finish things up with a couple of “events” from Disney World. First, they recently had a DVC 25th Anniversary “party” at the Magic Kingdom. It featured, among other things, a rare appearance by the Haunted Mansion’s tightrope girl and a special fireworks show. Here are the videos of that show from DVC News, Inside the Magic, and The DIS:
Also, Flower & Garden festival starts tomorrow. There’s a nice primer to the festival at TouringPlans and Denise at Mouse Steps has put together a really nice preview. If you’re still looking to get more hyped for the festival, I’ll leave you with this video from The DIS:
Thanks for reading!
News Nuggets (Special, Double-Sized Edition!)
While we were away on an actual visit to Disney World, we fell a little behind on the various bits of news that came out over the past couple of weeks. We intend to rectify that situation with today’s special, double sized, edition of Rope Drop [dot] Net’s News Nuggets:
NOTE: While I was preparing this News Nuggets update, Disney released additional details about the nighttime “Rivers of Light” show coming to the Animal Kingdom. I couldn’t wait to share that news, and already posted about it here.
- The Epcot Flower & Garden Festival will run from March 2 – May 30 in 2016 This expands the festival from 75 to 90 days (and, my guess, tries to get people to still visit Epcot while Soarin’ is shut down and Frozen Ever After isn’t quite ready to open).
- Rumor of a Pizza Planet getting a Muppets-based Re-Theme Pizza Planet is closing on January 11, 2016, and Tom Corless from WDW News Today suggests this could pave the way for a Muppets-based re-theme for the restaurant. Tom’s track record has been pretty stellar recently, so I’m inclined to believe this will happen until someone else tells me otherwise.
- UberBLACK now available for rides from Orlando’s MCO Airport It’s not as good as having uberX available, but it’s a start. Elyssa and I have used various flavors of Uber a few times while at Disney World and (while Elyssa isn’t a huge fan of the “sharing economy” overall) it has been invaluable for things like early morning ADRs.
- Rope Drop Procedure Expands at The Studios You see the name of the site? How could I not post a link to a story about rope drop procedures changing?
- Tiffins Restaurant Coming to Animal Kingdom in 2016 Disney has said this new “Signature” restaurant “will celebrate the art of traveling, featuring a diverse menu drawing from places that inspired the creation of Disney’s Animal Kingdom.” The restaurant will be open for both lunch and dinner (and you assume will be table service for both if it’s getting the “Signature” label) and will apparently “include waterfront views from comfortable indoor and outdoor seating areas.”
- Captain EO shows to end on December 6, 2015 The theatre is going to show a “Disney & Pixar Short Film Festival” when Captain EO’s run ends. I hope, however, that there are bigger plans for the Imagination Pavilion before too long.
- Epcot’s Fastpass+ tiers to change in January, 2016 With Captain EO going away, and Soarin’ closing for a lengthy refurbishment, I assumed something like this would happen. The big change is that Mission: SPACE (both versions) becomes Tier 1. (I assume when Frozen Ever After opens, it will also be at the tier 1 level.)
- Colortopia has opened in Innovations East at Epcot I, admittedly, never really give these smaller attractions in Innovations much of a look. That said, I’d rather they actually have something in that space than just have a building full of construction walls and hallways.
- Sephora, Lilly Pulitzer, and Vera Bradley coming to Disney Springs I am hoping the presence of these stores (along with the nearby lululemon outlet) helps convince some more of my family members to join Elyssa and me at Disney World for various events in the future.
- Victoria & Albert’s wins its 16th straight AAA Five Diamond award Victoria & Albert’s is clearly an amazing dining experience (it’s just one that doesn’t really fit with Elyssa’s & my personal tastes.)
- Planet Hollywood to close in January 2016 for its “redevelopment” into The Observatory They probably would have loved to start this refurb. earlier, but I would imagine they need that restaurant’s capacity during the holiday season. An unfortunate, related note is that Disney is laying off the restaurant’s 468 employees when it closes (but says those employees will have first shot at getting jobs at the “new” restaurant.)
- The once a year hidden Mickey made an appearance You can only view this hidden Mickey on November 18 (Mickey’s birthday) at noon. So cool.
Lastly (and of particular interest to Elyssa), next year’s Dapper Days have been announced:
* April 16 – Magic Kingdom
* November 12 – EPCOT
I think we already have a Kivus & Camera wedding booked for April 16, so I guess we’ll see how badly Elyssa wants to go down for the one in November.