Picture this: you’re meditating on a yoga mat in front of a lit-up Cinderella Castle with the park calm and quiet around you. Life is good.

Cinderella Castle

Yesterday, some people got to experience this exact scenario! It’s Disney Princess Half Marathon Weekend in Disney World and the festivities kicked off with a sunrise yoga session in Magic Kingdom. Sounds pretty awesome, right?! Well, if you’re a morning person — if not, then you would probably rather be sleeping! But, outside of the runDisney races, not many guests get to see the park before the sun rises. So, let’s take a look at how it went!

The event kicked off at 5:30AM in front of Cinderella Castle. Yep, 5:30AM! The sun actually doesn’t rise until closer to 7AM in Orlando around this time of year, so it was dark during the hour-long session.

Via @runDisney on Instagram

The cost of the event was between $95-$105 depending on when you signed up. This included the one-hour yoga session, a yoga mat with a carrying cover, bottled water, and complimentary parking at Magic Kingdom until 5AM. As you can see in the below video, the mats and water bottles were already laid out for participants when they arrived!

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Cinderella Castle was all lit up and there were even a few fireworks spotted at the end of the session! What a great way to get into the zone for a weekend of racing, or just to kick off your day in the parks.

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A post shared by runDisney (@rundisney)

Sunrise yoga is also available on March 31st, 2022 during the runDisney Springtime Surprise weekend, and, as of this writing, it’s not sold out yet! You can register right now for $95. But, on March 1st, it goes up to $105, so do it now if you want to save $10. Stay tuned to DFB for more updates from the Disney Princess Half Marathon Weekend!

Click here to learn more about the Disney Princess Half Marathon Weekend!

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Would you be up for doing sunrise yoga in Disney World in the future? Tell us in the comments!

The post See Why Guests Were Inside Magic Kingdom at 5AM Yesterday first appeared on the disney food blog.

The Disney parks changed a LOT when they reopened in 2020, so what still remains of those pandemic-era adjustments?

Scanning In!

Face mask requirements have been relaxed somewhat in the parks, many buffets have returned in full force, and the social distancing markers and language are almost entirely gone. But there’s one BIG change that has stuck around: Park Pass Reservations. And from a recent interview with the president of Disneyland, it sounds like they could be here for a while.

When Disneyland and Disney World reopened, they instituted a new Park Pass Reservation system that requires guests to have reservations for the park they are going to attend each day (in addition to park tickets). The reservations are free, but you cannot enter a park without them.

Animal Kingdom Ticket Counter

Guests who are not Annual Passholders can hold reservations for any days that they have park tickets for, and Annual Passholders have a limit to the number of reservations they can hold at a given time. We do see reservations run out, especially for holidays or other Disney event times. Usually, Magic Kingdom is the first park to sell out on any given day, but that sometimes changes if there are major events in other parks (such as a festival in EPCOT).

Main Street, U.S.A.

You can see the reservation availability on Disney World’s website. Because these passes sell out, we recommend reserving your passes as soon as you book your tickets (or plan your vacation, for Annual Passholders). So how long are these passes going to remain a thing? A recent interview with Disneyland President Ken Potrock gave us a hint.

©Disney

The Orange County Register recently conducted an interview with Potrock about several pandemic-era changes at Disneyland as well as some upcoming plans for the park. They asked about the Park Pass Reservations, which Potrock responded were “a really important opportunity for [Disney] to be able to manage the demand more effectively than we ever could.”

©Orange County Register

Basically, the reservations allow Disney to monitor capacity and crowd levels in the park, which was important when the parks reopened and continues to be helpful in tracking and controlling demand.

Crowds in Magic Kingdom

When asked if the passes will ever go away, Potrock responded, “I don’t think so.” He said that “the objective here is to spread that demand, whether it’s a Tuesday or a Saturday,” meaning Disney wants to disperse the crowds so that the parks aren’t super busy one day and then much emptier the next.

EPCOT Crowds

This is helpful to Disney in two ways, according to Potrock: “One, it’s a better experience for all. Two, we can better manage the labor scenario in a more efficient way.” Disney has been having some problems with staffing shortages, so maybe the Park Pass Reservations will help them better decide where Cast Members are needed on any given day.

Cast Members

So it looks like Park Passes are here to stay for a while, and maybe even indefinitely! We’ll keep you updated with all the latest Disney news, so stay tuned with DFB.

Click here to learn more about the Park Pass Reservation system, including how to book your passes.

Looking to grab some of the latest and greatest (and most exclusive) Disney merchandise? Then you’ll probably be making your way to shopDisney early in the morning for the release of popular collections like the Stitch Crashes Disney series and more.

Merchandise in Disney World

With the Mickey Mouse: Main Attraction collection and likely other limited-edition items coming soon, you might be wondering just how Disney is managing the big crowds that can flood their website. Well, we’ve seen some methods used in the past, and now things have changed just a bit!

For previous limited edition or limited release items or merchandise that Disney expects will sell out quickly, Disney has sometimes utilized an online waiting room. When the waiting room is in effect, guests visiting shopDisney will be placed in a waiting room and then given a certain amount of time to shop once they’re allowed to enter the site.

In the past, the waiting room has looked much like the image below.

Screenshot from shopDisney

But today, when the Stitch Crashes Disney Pocahontas collection released online, we noticed that things looked DIFFERENT! Today’s waiting room featured different images and colorful backgrounds. It also noted when the event would start and what the product availability looked like. 

That’s a great benefit because if you’re shopping for a particular item and it has already sold out, the page should display that, saving you valuable time and effort.

©shopDisney

The waiting room also shared how many users were in front of us in line, which can be helpful in giving you an idea of how many people are shopping and how much longer you may have to wait. Overall, we didn’t wait long to get into the website.

©shopDisney

Though the page noted that we would have 10 minutes to shop once we were allowed into the website, we didn’t experience an issue staying on shopDisney for longer than that. Just be sure to check and see how things are being arranged when you visit the website.

©Disney

The next time you want to shop for a limited-edition Disney item, keep an eye out for this updated waiting room page. We expect it could be used in releases for things like the Mickey Main Attraction series and more Stitch Crashes Disney merchandise in the future. Stay tuned for more Disney news!

Click here to see 6 of the best Disney Amazon deals right now!

Join the DFB Newsletter to get all the breaking news right in your inbox! Click here to Subscribe!

Are you a fan of limited-edition merchandise collections like the Stitch Crashes Disney items? Tell us in the comments!

The post See the CHANGE Disney Has Made When it Comes to Shopping for Limited Edition Items Online first appeared on the disney food blog.

Yet ANOTHER Stitch Crashes Disney collection has dropped, and it’s available online NOW!

Stitch Crashes Disney pins in Disney World

We’ve seen Stitch crashing the Jungle Book, Sleeping Beauty, Lady and the Tramp, and so many more. And now, the 10th of 12 collections has dropped on shopDisney, and it’s all themed to Pocahontas!

You can get the Stitch Crashes Pocahontas Plush, which is covered in all of the colors of the wind and has John Smith’s hat!

©Disney

The plush is $29.99.

Click here to get the Stitch Crashes Pocahontas Plush!

There is also a Pin version of the plush design, which is $24.99.

©Disney

A great addition to your pin collection!

Click here to get the Stitch Crashes Pocahontas Pin!

And, you can get Stitch’s Pocahontas look on a mug, too!

©Disney

The mug is customizable and is $16.95.

Click here to get the Stitch Crashes Pocahontas Mug!

Finally, there is a customizable shirt with Stitch on it in this collection!

©Disney

You can pick the cut you want for this shirt from several different options for $19.95.

Click here to get the Stitch Crashes Pocahontas Shirt!

If you want to grab any of these items, we recommend you do it NOW because they could quite possibly sell out! Stay tuned to DFB for more Disney merchandise news and updates.

Click here to see more Stitch Crashes collections!

And, check out our video on 10 big Disney World rip-offs in 2022!

We stayed at Disney’s Star Wars Hotel and it’s time to find out if this truly is a “revolutionary vacation experience” or a failure. It’s time to weigh in on what makes this hotel so contentious among fans, so outrageous to Disney outsiders looking at that $6,000 price tag, and so alluring for the folks who have already booked their outer space vacations.

Star Wars Hotel Atrium

We’re gonna find out why Disney went all-in on an experience that seemingly puts only the wealthiest guests inside a windowless bunker for two full days surrounded by aliens, possibly questionable food choices, and endless decisions to live out their own “epic Star Wars story.”

Check out our video below The Truth About Disney’s Star Wars Hotel!

Watch the video and let us know if you’re planning to visit the Star Wars Hotel. 

The post DFB Video: The Truth About Disney’s Star Wars Hotel first appeared on the disney food blog.

The DIS has shared their video of the climactic lightsaber battle between Rey and Kylo Ren on Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser. In this video, we can see the “real” lightsaber wielded by Rey.

Unlike other lightsabers, the illuminated blade of this saber actually fully extends from the hilt. You can see Rey extend the blade about one minute into the video below.

In somewhat clunky choreography (which is no fault of the actress), Rey then dodges a blaster bolt, ducking to the ground. This is where she swaps the “real” lightsaber for a prop that can actually be used for the battle.

Watch most of the battle in the Halcyon atrium:

Footage today is being released from media previews for the Galactic Starcruiser. Stay tuned for full, detailed coverage and reviews when we board the first public “flight” on March 1.

For the latest Disney Parks news and info, follow WDW News Today on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

The post Rey’s Clumsy ‘Real’ Lightsaber Swap on Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser Leaves A Lot To Be Desired appeared first on WDW News Today.