We know we’ve been piling a lot on your plate lately, but Disney World is dishing up a heaping amount of news lately! Our cup runneth over, TOO!

Now that Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom are officially reopening on July 11th along with Epcot and Hollywood Studios on July 15th, Disney World has created a new Annual Passholder webpage with some VERY important information!

Disney has shared that they are rolling out a brand new reservation system to limit capacity therefore Disney World has temporarily stopped selling park tickets and isn’t currently accepting new reservations.

Disney has kind of been piecing together what will be needed in order to obtain a reservation. For starters, they have shared “When our theme parks reopen, we will manage attendance through a new theme park reservation system on DisneyWorld.com that will require all guests to make a reservation in advance for theme park entry. Over the coming weeks, we will be making some necessary updates to prepare for the launch of this park reservation system,” They also informed guests that “Guests with existing Resort reservations will have priority access to the new park reservation system when it becomes available.” 

Accessing the New Webpage

Now, Disney has rolled out a new webpage with updated information for Annual Passholders. This webpage is pretty hard to find you guys so we thought we’d walk you through it a bit.

1. Visit the Disney World website.
2. On the website, you will see a large chunk of text describing the closures. Click view important details at the bottom of this text and you will be taken to a new experience update page.
3. If you scroll to the very bottom of this experience page you will see a blue text box that reads Annual Passes.
4. Click learn more and you will be redirected to the new Annual Passholder update page

New Annual Passholder Information Regarding Reservations

Information on this page shares that due to high-demand for re-entry (and the parks not being able to accommodate as many guests each day) Annual Passholders will only be allowed to hold a certain number of reserved days at one time once the new reservation system is put in place. They also share that it may be difficult for Annual Passholder’s to get reservations on certain dates. Here’s how the statement reads on Disney World’s website:

Disney World also notes some AP member benefits and features might not be available while Annual Passes will still be subject to blackout dates.

We know that this statement can be rather confusing. But what we can take from it is that dates for Annual Passholders may be limited and that passes will be subject to block out dates and depending on your pass type, these dates may vary.

So while this can all be confusing and even overwhelming, take a deep breath! Disney is still saying that Annual Passholders will have the ability to make reservations. Those reservations just may have a few limitations based on the type of pass you have. We’re not gonna lie, things are gonna be a little bit weird for a while. But we here at DFB have got YOU! We will do our best to brake these weird statements down and will do our best to get you all the answers you need. So, if you have any questions, please let us know!

Are you an Annual Passholder? Let us know in the comments below!

Now that Disney World has dropped a bombshell of updates to their policies regarding their July 11th reopening date, there’s a lot of confusion going around!

Following the announcement that a new reservation system will be needed to gain access to the parks,  all previously booked Fastpass+, dining reservations, and Disney Dining Plans have been canceled, many guests are now left wondering if they’re even ELIGIBLE to gain access to the parks when they reopen.

While we’ve known for some time Disney World would reopen with a limited capacity, we didn’t know to what extent they’d be scaling back admission (and it’s still unknown at this time!). BUT, we DO know guests who have previously purchased theme park tickets AND have hotel reservations ON THE BOOKS will be given priority access.

Disney World has temporarily paused ticket sales and new hotel reservations! Learn more here!

Some of our readers who have BOTH of these essentials still feel in the dark following the announcements. We’re going to help clarify.

Walt Disney World Partner Hotels

What does this mean for guests who have booked stays at non-Disney operated hotels such as Disney’s Swan and Dolphin Resort as well as Shades of Green? Remember — while these properties are situated on Disney World’s property, they’re only partnered with the resort.

We reached out to Disney World today to get some answers. We chatted with a Cast Member who told us guests staying at Disney World’s partner hotels will also count as resort guests.

 

That means if you have already purchased Disney World park tickets and have a hotel reservation at a partner resort, you will be among the first group of guests to gain access back in the parks if you’re staying at one of these hotels.

Disney Vacation Club Hotels

It has been previously announced that Disney Vacation Club Resorts will begin reopening to guests on June 22nd. While regular guests cannot book reservations at this time, Disney Vacation Club Members are STILL able to book new room reservations with their points at the time of writing this.

So if you’re a DVC member, you might still be able to snag a reservation around the reopening.

Disney-Owned Hotels

Finally, Disney-owned hotels on property are a bit trickier. It was announced that Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort and Campground will be reopening on June 22nd along with the DVC resorts.

Aside from Ft. Wilderness, no reopenings have been officially announced for other Disney hotels. Prior booked reservations have not been canceled by Disney at this time.

We know all this news to come out of Disney in the past few days is a massive bomb dropped on many guest’s vacation plans, and we’re doing all we can to get you answers. Please share in the comments ANY questions you may have about your upcoming trip and we will do everything we can to help you get answers.

It’s official! Disney World theme parks and hotels will be reopening soon! Learn more details here!

Are you one of the lucky folks with valid tickets and a hotel reservation? Let us know in the comments below!

This week, Disney-owned locations like World of Disney reopened in Disney Springs.

Now, a few more third-party locations have just reopened their doors and one of these spots had QUITE the appeal!

We went to check out Sephora this morning to see what new safety and health procedures have been put into place only to find that the store had already hit capacity!

But while this might make it sound like there were a lot of folks shopping, we mostly had the store to ourselves! You see, Sephora is only allowing a few guests in at a time, so we waited outside until a group of guests left. Then it was our turn to enter the store!

An associate handed us a freshly sanitized shopping basket so we could do some serious damage!

New safety signage was sprinkled throughout the store. This includes notices about testers no longer being offered and all Beauty Bar services being temporarily suspended.

Sephora was also providing a special 10% off your entire purchase offer for healthcare workers and first responders as a nice way of saying thank you!

The store itself looked immaculate. Associates were busily wiping down counters. While Sephora is still accepting all forms of payment, contactless pay is being highly-encouraged.

And here’s something interesting — Sephora employees have been trained to help match your shades just by looking at you! Normally you can apply some foundation to the back of your hand to find your perfect match, but the friendly lady who helped us find ours from six-feet-away!

She was also able to look up our account to make sure we went home with the right color! All of the Sephora employees are also wearing a button with their faces on it so you know what they look like without a mask! While the store hopes to sell masks soon, they are currently accepting returns and have a free bag offer with any $75 purchase!

At check out, they’ve placed social distancing markers designating where each guest should stand while waiting to make their purchases.

After ringing us up, the cashier gave our bag a fresh spritz of sanitizer before handing it to us!

All in all, while it is a different shopping experience since we can’t test out our favorite fragrances and cosmetics, the store was clean and the experience and the process overall went very smoothly.

Check out our recent shopping trip to Basin in Disney Springs here!

Have you visited Disney Springs yet? Let us know in the comments below! 

Attention CHOCOLATE LOVERS! (And ice cream fans! And people who love caramel and pretty much anything that tastes yummy!) Ghirardelli Soda Fountain and Chocolate Shop is now reopen in Disney Springs!

Mostly, that is… the Soda Fountain portion is now open to guests looking for some sweet treats. The Chocolate Shop (retail) section remains closed for the moment. But we’re here to show you around the newly reopened space, check out the new safety measures, and grab a (HUGE) sundae while we’re at it. So, let’s head in!

Aside from the lovely Ghirardelli sign and a not-so-small reminder of what’s in store (LOTS of ice cream, as evidenced by the larger-than-life sundae prop), you’ll also notice hand sanitizer available right when you enter.

You’ll also see plenty of clear reminders around the store to “Please keep a safe distance.”

Additional signage provides more reminders of the new safety measures for shopping and dining in Disney Springs, which also include the required wearing of face masks, more distancing notices, and more.

There is no indoor dining available at the moment, with the inside tables sectioned off from the ordering area.

But even though the indoor dining and the store part are closed, you can still pick up some of those classic Ghirardelli Squares!

And another noticeable difference is the reduced menu upon the reopening. Previously, the paper lists guests picked up to peruse was packed with a huge selection of sundaes and more (including the family-sized Earthquake).

But things are starting back up with a more limited selection for the time being featuring three Sundaes, ice cream scoops and some toppings, shakes, and cocoa — including the Frozen Hot Cocoa in time for the rising Florida temps!

So it was impossible NOT to notice the intriguing Gold Rush Caramel Sundae — designated as NEW!

But, wait a minute… how can it be new? We’ve had a Gold Rush Sundae at Ghirardelli before. (Okay, more than one — it was a favorite!)

When we asked about it, it was confirmed that this Gold Rush is indeed a new version, featuring (obviously) Salted Caramel instead of the old Gold Rush Peanut Butter Sundae (pictured below) that was once one of our absolute favorites.

Yeah, that’s it…. and it was a beautiful thing. Of course, since Ghirardelli stopped serving up peanut butter as an ingredient in 2015, this is not a huge surprise — we haven’t had the “old” Gold Rush in Disney World for years. (The Disneyland Ghirardelli location did continue to be the only spot to serve it for a while.)

So, how is the new Gold Rush different? Well…

Instead of peanut butter as the toppings star, this one serves up oodles of caramel sauce over vanilla ice cream with sea salt, diced almonds, and whipped cream. It’s topped with a White Chocolate Caramel Ghirardelli Square.

Before we dig in, here’s how serving works now. After placing your order, you step outside to wait. A cast member brings your treat on a tray with your spoon and a napkin.

You, in turn, take the whole thing, including the tray. (It’s also worth mentioning that cast members were wiping things down the entire time.)

And NOW… here’s a full look at the NEW Gold Rush Caramel Sundae!

I mentioned those “oodles” of caramel, right? Check it out… they’re not playing around!

And you know what? As much as we loved the old Gold Rush… there’s really nothing to complain about with the new one, either! In fact, it’s better than just “no complaints.”

It’s really, REALLY good. It’s flavorful, while not being as rich as the chocolate sundaes (in a good way, what with it being SO HUGE.) The sea salt brings some terrific balance to the super sweet caramal, and the almonds — which are plentiful — really deliver a nice crunch.

All in all… things are still decadent and delicious at Ghirardelli’s! We’re still checking out all of the recently reopen shops and restaurants around Disney Springs. And speaking of reopening… Walt Disney World theme parks have received the official approval to open to guests starting on July 11th. You can read more about the reopening and catch up on all the latest news by visiting any of the links below.

Will you be trying a new Gold Rush Sundae? Please let us know with a comment!