Disney World is slowly returning to a new form of “normal,” and this week was PACKED with exciting news.

Character meet-and-greets are changing again (in a BIG way), we’re already learning more about the 2022 EPCOT Food & Wine Festival, and a popular treat is BACK in Magic Kingdom. Find out all the unexpected and surprising Disney World news here!

Character Meet-and-Greets Are Changing

Since October 2021, character meet-and-greets have been modified to keep characters at a distance from guests, and hugging, autographs, and any close contact were not allowed. But this is all changing very soon, because Disney announced that traditional meet-and-greets will be returning to Disney World!

In fact, Disney also gave us a date! You will finally be able to hug characters in Disney World as soon as April 18th. Disney noted that they will reintroduce traditional meet-and-greets with a phased approach, which they plan to roll out throughout the spring and summer, so it’s almost time to dust off your autograph book!

Read more about the return date for traditional character meet-and-greets here!

Dates Announced for 2022 EPCOT Food & Wine Festival

We’re still celebrating the 2022 Flower & Garden Festival in EPCOT but this week Disney announced the dates for the 2022 Food & Wine Festival! The festival will run from July 14th to November 19th, which is a whopping 129 days.

Disney also announced that there will be more than 25 food booths, including five returning booths, as well as plenty of entertainment, activities, merchandise, and more!

Check out everything confirmed to return to the 2022 Food & Wine Festival!

Connections Cafe & Eatery Menu and Prices

Connections Cafe & Eatery is a new quick service restaurant coming soon to EPCOT, and this week Disney revealed the FULL menu! Selections will include burgers and chicken options, pizza, salads, desserts, drinks, cocktails. This location will also be the new home of Starbucks in EPCOT!

Prices range from $11.99 to $12.99 for sandwiches and burgers, $10.49 to $10.99 for salads, salads for $10.29 to $11.49, and kids’ menu items will be between $7.49 to $7.99.

Check out the full menu for Connections Cafe & Eatery here!

Reopening Date for Hoop-Dee-Doo Revue

While a lot has returned to “normal” in Disney World, we were still waiting to hear about the fate of the dinner entertainment show known as Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue. This week, Disney announced the official return dates for this popular show!

Hoop-Dee-Doo will return to Pioneer Hall in Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground on June 23rd, and reservations will open on May 26th. The script and scenery will feature some updates, so we’re excited to check it out this summer!

Learn more about the reopening date for Hoop-Dee-Doo Revue here!

Whispering Canyon Cafe Antics

Whispering Canyon Cafe in Disney’s Wilderness Lodge Resort is a restaurant known for having spicy servers and unique interactions, but a lot of the usual antics were toned down since the restaurant reopened following Disney World’s closure. When we visited the restaurant this week, we discovered that more of the fun is back!

Asking for ketchup got us a table full of ketchup from other diners in the restaurant, and we also got tons of straws from our server after requesting only one! We’re so happy to see more of the fun shenanigans back at Whispering Canyon Cafe, so it might be a good time for you to make a reservation.

Check out all the Whispering Canyon Cafe antics that are BACK!

Citrus Swirl Returned!

After all the drama of wondering whether we’d ever see the Citrus Swirl again in Disney World, the fan-favorite treat returned to Magic Kingdom this week! We noticed it back on the Mobile Order menu for Sunshine Tree Terrace for $4.99, and we couldn’t wait to order this beautiful swirl of Frozen Orange Juice and Vanilla Soft-serve.

It’s not yet on the Sunshine Tree Terrace in-person menu, but you can still order it at the counter, and it tasted just as delicious as we remembered!

Read more about the return of the Citrus Swirl here!

And that’s all the unexpected news from Disney World this week! We’re keeping our eyes peeled for more announcements from Disney, so stay tuned to DFB for more Disney news and updates!

Check out 14 changes that hit Disney World this March!

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

What was your favorite piece of news this week? Tell us in the comments!

The post A BIG Character Change and 5 Other Surprising Updates from Disney World This Week! first appeared on the disney food blog.