The all-new Club Cool will feature a new design, including brand new flooring. Disney Imagineer Zach Riddley recently shared some photos on Instagram about the carefully chosen unique three terrazzo finishes the floor will have.
But here’s what’s most interesting about this new flooring: Imagineers recycled Coca-Cola green glass chips INTO the terrazzo. And if you look closely, you can actually see parts of the red bottle labels in the floor! It looks so cool!
The terazzo also uses a natural binder that’s made of biodegradable materials. Disney really has thought of ALL the little details in making the new Club Cool even COOLER than the original! And we’re looking forward to seeing it — we’ll also keep you updated on any new details about Club Cool that come in.
Order Your Copy of the 2021 DFB Guide to Walt Disney World Dining Today!
With more than 750 pages, the 2021 DFB Guide to Walt Disney World Dining is full of tips and planning tools developed by Disney World experts over 30+ years of visits. We’ve done the research for you, so you’ll know just which spots will uniquely suit your family’s needs!
With mini-reviews of every single restaurant, bar, lounge, kiosk and more; an entire chapter on the best snacks in Disney World; full Disney Dining Plan analysis (and how to get FREE dining); and a full chapter on discounts and deals; you’ll have everything you need to plan your best vacation yet.
It’s the Circle of Life! After being closed for over a full year, the Festival of the Lion King returns today. This comes after the announcement that the show would be returning mid-May, albeit modified as a Celebration of Festival of the Lion King. Cast members set up the extended queue for the show. Physical distancing measures are in place with markers on the ground. Preparation happened for this early this month. Here cast members are setting up sanitizing stations […]
Hello everyone and welcome to another day Epcot, with testing, painting, water works and more construction as work continues on our favorite experimental community. With most lanes closed, Epcot Center Drive is still being painted, and by the end of the day has reached over the halfway mark. Pin Trading Headquarters has reopened once again. The pathway allows guests to get to west areas of Future World with ease and fulfill all of their pin needs. The pin area in […]
Freeform’s “Cruel Summer” is a brand-new series that takes you back to the ’90s. To commemorate the launch of this new show, which stars Disney Parks superfan Olivia Holt, you have a chance to win a vacation to The Most Magical Place on Earth through Freeform’s Cruel Summer ’90s Sweepstakes!
There are lots of ways that social distancing is encouraged and enforced in Disney World: from signage to barriers and more. There have been some changes in distancing measures over the past year. So, what does social distancing look like in Disney World now?
Capacity and Crowds
The first factor that we need to keep in mind is that Disney World is still operating at a limited capacity. This limit allows guests to social distance in the parks and lets Disney keep capacities in stores in restaurants, and on attractions low.
A large piece of this is that many rides are operating with significantly limited capacities which means fewer guests are on attractions at any given time. Add in limitations at restaurants and in stores, and that means more guests may be out in the general park areas.
If you find yourself faced with a pinch point and don’t want to sacrifice social distancing, you may want to plan for another route. Don’t worry about turning around and coming back during a less crowded time or finding another path to your destination!
Crowds!
Social distancing can also be difficult in some special instances — during Character Cavalcades and rain to name a few.
This image can definitely be a source of stress!
Getting a vantage point further back can help to make sure you stay distanced during cavalcades.
Overall, it’s still easy to socially distance in most instances, but you won’t always be away from others. Plus, your ability to stay distanced can depend on other guests as well.
Disney World is not lacking in social distancing reminders either. Posted at park entrances and throughout the park, you’ll see health and safety signage that reminds guests to stay six feet apart from one another.
Distancing Sign
There are also a LOT of different guides to help you keep track of distance; most of them in the form of stickers on the ground! Any place where a queue may form, attractions and otherwise, you’ll see “Please Wait Here” markers every six feet or so.
Refreshment Port Distancing Markers
Keep in mind that these may seem like they’re farther than six feet at times. This is because queues sometimes wrap around and the added distance may help you to keep your distance from those to your sides as well as the parties in front and behind you.
Distancing Markers for the Monorail
Markers can also be found in spots where people might gather. For instance, standing outside of the Canada Mill Stage where the JAMMitors have been performing during EPCOT festivals.
Social Distancing
We’ve seen these removed in a few places recently, such as outside the area where Anna and Elsa sometimes pop up in EPCOT’s Norway, but markers are largely still the norm.
Both table-service restaurants and quick-service restaurants have limited capacity in dining areas. You’ll notice that table seating is still distanced to six feet apart both indoors and outdoors.
Once in the actual attraction, you might find that some pre-shows are unavailable. Sometimes you walk straight through the pre-show room like with Haunted Mansion and Dinosaur and sometimes you see an abridged version like with Flight of Passage.
Walking through The Stretching Room
In some cases, pre-shows are still happening but Cast Members will direct you to stand on a specific social distancing mark. This is true for the pre-show areas on Rise of the Resistance.
Rise of the Resistance
Once on the ride, you may notice some changes to the loading pattern. In some cases, this means one party per car. In others, it may mean a certain number of rows between you and another party. And, you might spot plexiglass on some attractions too.
Plexiglass dividers on Frozen Ever After
In most cases, these measures are similar to the ones that were in place when the parks reopened last year. In other cases, things have changed.
The Skyliner has been loading one party per gondola since the reopening. That’s still the protocol!
Skyliner
As for the buses, social distancing has been similar for a while. At reopening, the buses had zone seating. They still do, but Disney has upped the number of zones to increase capacity and decrease wait times.
We hope this social distancing update is helpful! Of course, we’ll be keeping an eye out for any changes with social distancing and other health measures so you can stay tuned to DFB so you don’t miss any updates!
Order Your Copy of the 2021 DFB Guide to Walt Disney World Dining Today!
With more than 750 pages, the 2021 DFB Guide to Walt Disney World Dining is full of tips and planning tools developed by Disney World experts over 30+ years of visits. We’ve done the research for you, so you’ll know just which spots will uniquely suit your family’s needs!
With mini-reviews of every single restaurant, bar, lounge, kiosk and more; an entire chapter on the best snacks in Disney World; full Disney Dining Plan analysis (and how to get FREE dining); and a full chapter on discounts and deals; you’ll have everything you need to plan your best vacation yet.
This week’s SATURDAY SIXtakes a look at recent theme park news via memes! Our motto here at the SAT 6 news desk has always been All The News That’s Fit To Print (and a Whole Lot More That’s Not). Today we continue our exalted tradition of excellence by checking out all the latest happenings at Disney and Universal. First up…
# 6 – The Muppets meet the Haunted Mansion
On any given day you could tell me that Disney just released The Muppets like a professional sports team does with a player they no longer want, and I would believe you. To me personally, The Muppets are the most underused IP today. They have a unique appeal that can reach multiple generations of family members. Their sense of humor is razor sharp and on point, while also being accessible to anyone. The Muppets walk on an entertainment tightrope that very few brands can, as most fall flat on their face. However, since Disney bought The Muppets they have had a very small impact on pop culture, and often seem to have just disappeared of the face off the planet for years at a time.
Those of us who follow theme park “rumors and innuendo” over the years have heard the plans of The Muppets having a bigger presence in the Orlando parks, only to be completely dropped or – in the case of the PizzeRizzo restaurant in DHS – budget cut to the point where it lacks almost all of the whimsical charm associated with the brand. This week we got a rare piece of good news, the announcement of a new Muppet special coming to Disney+ this Fall. Not just any special though, as The Muppets will be interacting with The Haunted Mansion! Finally we get to see more Muppets inside the theme parks we all love!
This wonderful news inspired DisTwitter to create some fun artwork, including this piece below featuring the Great Gonzo – in the Haunted Mansion’s “stretching” room..
999 Happy Haunts but always room for one more weirdo. (meme by @GratDismemes)The ghostly spirits of Statler and Waldorf from A Muppets Christmas Carol are seen in the ballroom. (meme by @GratDismemes)Rizzo the rat brings some of his themed pizza boxes to the Haunted Mansion’s dining room table. (meme by @ThemeParkUmpire)Gotta love Fozzy the bear from Muppet Babies in the foreground! (meme by the always excellent – and now expectant – @sincerelyivy)
I’m a huge fan of theme park mashup drawings, but the ones I love the most involve the “dog with a key” scene from Pirates of the Caribbean, and the stretching room portraits from The Haunted Mansion. Below we have Miss Piggy in one of the stretching room portraits, as drawn by the talented Hollie Ballard.
During the last week or so, one popular meme format has been people taking a photo of a Halloween Horror Nights entrance sign and photoshopping something fun on it, the idea being to tease a haunted house experience that will be used later this year in Universal’s HHN 30. Below we see a Johnny-on-the-spot quickly adding the Muppets Haunted Mansion special’s logo on to the screen.
# 5 – Heaven Needed a Phallic Structure
We’ll cover more of this next story in our annual In Memoriam article later this year, but we can’t skip over one of the most mind blowing changes to EPCOT since Horizons was replaced Mission: SPACE. Now, what many people might not realize is that the country of Morocco has pulled out of their sponsorship of the Morocco Pavilion in World Showcase. Disney itself now officially runs all aspects of this “country,” similar to how it runs the state of Florida. Despite thousands of Cast Members still unemployed and needing financial assistance, Disney instead found money to fix what many refer to as the “penis wall” in Morocco. This phallic looking wall has become a guest favorite for photo-ops over the years.
Female guests estimate the rock structure on the right to be two stories tall. Male guests estimate it to be “at least 3 stories. Maybe 4.” (photo by @Blog_Mickey)
The vast majority of EPCOT park guests don’t even realize that this wall even existed. Although when seeing it, often times they will have the following expression…
“Is that what I think it is?” (photo by Andy Castro)
The infamous wall was changed over to this weird door.
Morocco Pavilion door to nowhere. (photo by @Blog_Mickey)
We are proud to announce that the artist @SonderQuest – fresh off his incredible Smislands of Adventure series of paintings – is going to debut his newest piece of artwork here. It features the former “penis wall” and the new “weird door” in the Morocco Pavilion.
“Suggestive Pillar and Door.” (artwork by @SonderQuest)
# 4 – Universal Studios Japan Unveils 20th Anniversary Food
The SATURDAY SIX is staunchly in support of the “Be Fair To Florida” movement and we will strenuously object when theme parks outside of the Sunshine State get cool stuff that we do not have. Case in point, when overseas theme park blogger @TDRExplorer introduced to us the Universal Studios Japan 20th Anniversary next level bonkers food items.
First let’s check out the Back to the Future “DeLorean White Bean Paste Churro.” Keep in mind when looking at the photo below that this is the most NORMAL of all the food options. The base is a chocolate churro, with red and orange icing for the “flame” trails that the Delorean leaves behind once it hits 88 mph and travels through time. White bean paste, which is not a phrase often used for American dessert snacks, is the “smoke trail.” The Delorean vehicle is a piece of white chocolate, much like we would see just plopped on top of a cupcake here in the states.
This one almost feels like it should come with a NSFW tag. Visually, the E.T. “I’ll Be Right Here” chocolate crunch sundae seems less like comfort food and more like nightmare fuel. However, you can’t go wrong with anything based around vanilla soft serve ice cream.
This one is for the all time books. It’s weird enough to have any food themed to the film Backdraft, a movie about the dangers of firefighting, but the design of this Backdraft Super-Smoked Turkey Leg is to simulate a a burnt human corpse inside of a body bag. That’s called chutzpah.
As a longtime fan of the movie JAWS, for me the highlight of the 20th Anniversary items was the Jaws Dog. The idea itself is so insane that it is brilliant. A shark themed bun, ketchup for “blood,” and a hotdog. BRING THIS TO AMERICA IMMEDIATELY.
Our DisTwitter memesmiths weren’t going to let this one go. When we first found out that the JAWS Dog was coming to Japan, our Jaws shark at Universal Studios Florida was still going through a refurbishment. The shark’s iconic photo-op spot sat empty.
The good news is that Bruce the shark is back in his “home” at USF, and while getting there he gave several Florida drivers a moment they will never forget.
# 3 – The Snow White “Controversy”
It’s no secret that several media programs in this country are eschewing anything resembling news for what is essentially televised clickbait. There is a cottage industry built upon feeding the Outrage Machine, and they must keep feeding it no matter what. You may remember this year alone we got the ridiculous stories of Dr. Seuss books being “cancelled” (they weren’t), Mr. Potato Head was becoming gender-neutral (“he” isn’t,), and most recently “the woke left” destroying the Snow White ride in Disneyland.
The gist of this current nonsense is this: during the pandemic shut down, Snow White’s Enchanted Wish had a major makeover in Disneyland, with several improvements being made to this cherished attraction. Everyone who has ridden the attraction since Disneyland’s reopening seems to praise the experience. However, the Outrage Machine is constantly hungry, and to satiate it for one day a manufactured story about a “non-consensual kiss” had to dominate one particular section of media programs.
The silver lining to this absurd story is that it brought us the following meme, in which Prince Charming uses an air horn to wake up Snow White rather than kissing her.
# 2 – Boo Bash
Breaking News occurred yesterday as Disney announced that Boo Bash would be replacing Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party for this year. For many of us, Mickey’s Not-So-Scary was a highlight of the theme park calendar. The candy trails, Boo-To-You parade, and an E-Ticket nighttime fireworks spectacular made for an incredible event. Boo Bash will unfortunately not have the popular parade or fireworks, and we will have to see if their replacements can fill those big shoes.
The good news is that the treat trails will be back, the Cadaver Dans will still be singing, and the Magic Kingdom will be open to midnight or later during the party nights (speaking as a Floridian, 7:00 p.m. in August is just about when the weather switches from unbearably hot to tolerable).
Theme park meme icon @Superweeniehutjr succinctly summed up the Boo Bash news.
Before we go to our next set of memes, let’s refer back to a meme from a couple months ago which went viral on all forms of theme park social media. If you’re in a Disney Facebook group, you saw this meme after the news of Disney discontinuing the Magical Express bus transportation.
As someone who has been to both Walt Disney World and the Universal Orlando Resort since they reopened, I have found it fascinating to see a group of people try to make the case that Disney has been much safer than Universal during the pandemic. Most, if not all of these comments come from people who have something to related to Disney in their screen name. From the beginning, I think both Disney and Universal have been leagues above almost anywhere else you can go in Florida. Personally, I think Universal has done a better job overall at safety procedures. The amount of plexiglass WDW installed for indoor queues is looking worse and worse by the day, and Disney Springs might as well be like one of those Panama Beach party nights that the rest of the country uses to think all of us in Florida are jumping on cars and having midnight raves packed like sardines. I think for some it is unfathomable that Universal could be as good, if not better, than Disney at anything. The fact is Disney got rid of tens of thousands of front line Cast Members (and others) just to improve their bottom line along with their stock price. Universal didn’t. Disney just canceled their annual Halloween and Christmas events. Universal thought outside the box and created several workarounds that are probably going to end up helping their regular Halloween, Christmas, and Mardi Gras events for years to come.
Like everyone, both companies were dealt a bad hand with the coronavirus, but they handled it in very different ways. Neither company has been flawless, but to suggest Disney has been overwhelmingly better than Universal over this past year? I’ve gone to the Disney parks. I’ve gone to the Universal parks. I’ve stayed onsite at Disney. I’ve stayed onsite at Universal. I’ve gone to Disney Springs and I’ve gone to Universal CityWalk. For me they have both been really good with Universal having the overall edge. To say that Disney has been somehow better reminds me of the people who jumped through hoops trying to explain that Disneyland being a ghost town after Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge opened was actually a good thing.
# 1 – Bob Iger Takes a Photo
With our long national nightmare finally ending and Disneyland once again reopened to guests after a 9 month shut down, who else was there to greet them other than former chairman Bob Iger. Possibly the smartest man in the history of theme parks, Iger saw the looming pandemic and quickly stepped down on February 25th, saying “Yikes. Well, good luck with all that…” just a couple weeks before everything shut down.
Bob Iger was back in the park when Disneyland opened its gates to guests, and – just like us – grabbed his phone to take a picture of the people coming in. I can’t tell you how much it warms my heart that Iger is taking his photo in landscape orientation, and if he’s ever looking for a spot as an official Theme Park Photographer, I will gladly put in a reference for him.
Bob Iger showing Millenials how to take a picture with their phone. (photo by @MiceChat)
This started an instant meme format.
Who among us doesn’t view The Land Pavilion as one of the greatest places on Earth?
While we wait for the Tron coaster in Magic Kingdom and the Guardians of the Galaxy coaster in EPCOT to open in “TBD,” Bob is probably like the rest of us snapping photos of Universal’s Velocicoaster.
As a huge fan of the show The Office, I loved seeing Bob holding the Sabre pyramid. Epic callback.
So there you have it: The SATURDAY SIX Looks at Recent Theme Park News via MEMES!See you next weekend for the latest installment of the SATURDAY SIX, where we’ll look at something fun from the world of Disney and Universal. If you enjoyed yourself, be sure to check out The Magic, The Memories, and Merch! articles covering the latest from the Disney Outlet Stores. You can also follow Your Humble Author on Twitter (@derekburgan).
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With more than 750 pages, the 2021 DFB Guide to Walt Disney World Dining is full of tips and planning tools developed by Disney World experts over 30+ years of visits. We’ve done the research for you, so you’ll know just which spots will uniquely suit your family’s needs!
