Walt Disney World News and Rumors 12/30/13 - 1/5/14

News and Rumors are gathered from various different sources. All rumors are rumors and are to be taken as such.


News


Magic Kingdom

• The Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade has now ended it's run.  The new Festival of Fantasy Parade is rumored to debut on March 16.  
• Pirates of the Caribbean is set to have a short refurb from April 28th - 30th.  It is rumored to be receiving an on-board photo system.
• Big Thunder Mountain Railroad will see a short refurb from April 7th - 9th.  It's rumored to also be receiving an on-board photo system.

Epcot

• The Frozen meet and greet at the Princesse Plasse in the Norway Pavilion has been extended to last until Jan. 31st. 

Disney's Animal Kingdom

• Camp Minnie-Mickey is now closed to make way for Avatarland.  The characters that could be found there have been relocated to other areas of the park and Festival of the Lion King will be relocated to the Africa section of the park starting in the summer. 

Downtown Disney

• Work on the Marketplace Co-Op will begin on 1/27 in the location of the former Team Disney shop.  The shopping experience will open later this spring.  

General Walt Disney World News

• A reworked version my My Disney Experience should be on it's way to the public in the next few months.
• FastPass+ should be rolled out to all guests (both onsite and off-site) at Disney's Hollywood Studios, Epcot, and the Magic Kingdom sometime this Spring.  The rollout should be similar to how it is being tested at Disney's Animal Kingdom with off-site guests being able to stop at MyMagic+ kiosks within the park to make their reservations.  
• As part of additional MyMagic+ testing, all Walt Disney World Resort hotels will be testing MagicBands only in place of Key to the World cards.  This test will roll out to all hotels by Jan. 31st. Key to the World cards will still be available to guests who request them, but they will not work to obtain Legacy FastPass tickets.  Resort guests will need to make FastPass+ reservations only.  Here is the schedule of the rollout:  
  • Jan. 6 – Disney’s Art of Animation Resort
  • Jan. 7 – Disney’s Port Orleans Resort
  • Jan. 8 – Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort and Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort
  • Jan. 9 – Disney’s Old Key West Resort and Disney’s Saratoga Spring Resort & Spa
  • Jan. 10 – Disney’s Wilderness Lodge
  • Jan. 13 – Disney’s Yacht & Beach Club Resorts
  • Jan. 14 – Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge
  • Jan. 15 – Disney’s BoardWalk Inn
  • Jan. 16 – Disney’s Contemporary Resort
  • Jan. 17 – Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa and Disney’s Polynesian Resort
  • Jan. 20 – Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground

Rumors

•  A Frozen attraction is currently being looked at for the Norway Pavilion.  It is currently being BlueSkied, so really, the sky could be the limit here. 
• We can likely say goodbye to the garlands that would hang on Main Street during Christmas.  It's said that the new parade will be too tall for the garlands to remain.

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