The new snack stand outside TRON Lightcycle / Run in Magic Kingdom has been painted ahead of its opening.

Wet paint signs and painter’s tape are visible on the side of the stand. Protective plastic was wrapped around it a few days ago for painting and water pumping.

The gray stand matches the architecture of the new roller coaster.

We don’t know what exactly the stand will sell, but a lightcycle-shaped popcorn bucket was available for TRON Lightcycle Power Run in Shanghai Disneyland when it first opened. We are hoping that this location may sell a light-up TRON popcorn bucket, similar to the version that was sold at Shanghai Disneyland.

The snack stand may or may not be available during Annual Passholder, Disney Vacation Club, or D23 Gold Member previews. 

TRON Lightcycle / Run opens to all guests on April 4, 2023. We got to experience it during Cast Member previews. Watch our full ride POV below.

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

The post TRON Lightcycle / Run Snack Stand Painted at Magic Kingdom appeared first on WDW News Today.

More new ticket scanners have been installed at what is currently being used as the exit to Universal Studios Florida.

Construction walls went up around the exit two weeks ago. We could see new turnstile podiums at the entrance near Guest Services.

The exit now has the same podiums with new scanners built-in. There are four podiums, each with two scanners.

Last year, Universal’s Islands of Adventure also got new, themed entry points. The new scanners at Universal Studios Florida aren’t as themed but match the surrounding architecture of the entrance and exit.

Right now, the new ticket scanners aren’t being used at Universal Studios Florida.

What do you think of these updates to the Universal Studios Florida entrance? Let us know in the comments.

For more Universal Studios news from around the world, follow Universal Parks News Today on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. For Disney Parks news, visit WDWNT.

The post Construction Walls Down, More New Ticket Scanners Installed at Universal Studios Florida appeared first on WDW News Today.

“Nants ingonyama bagithi Baba Sithi uhm ingonyama.” Yep, we’re singing that iconic Zulu introduction to “Circle of Life” because that song reminds us of Disney’s Animal Kingdom. (Also, yes, we googled how to spell the lyrics.)

The Tree of Life

We can’t help it — it’s the song that comes to mind every time we look up at the gorgeous Tree of Life. We’ll also admit to hearing it often because we LOVE Festival of the Lion King. Animal Kingdom just has something the other Disney World parks don’t — it’s got a relaxed vibe, LOADS of animals, cheeseburger pods, and lots of trees (and that means shade, which other parks are sorely lacking). So let’s head on over to this chill park and see what’s new!

Animal Kingdom Merchandise Updates

Discovery Trading Company

Okay, so who doesn’t love this Disney100 Steamboat Willie Loungefly Mini  Backpack? You can grab it now for $88.

How cute is this backpack?

You can also grab a Disney100 Mickey and Minnie Plush Set — they’re in classic black and white. The set is $44.99.

Mickey and Minnie plush set

We also spotted a new addition to the Disney Critters collection, and we have to say, we are LOVING all this Meeko representation we’re seeing lately. This is a Meeko Activity Box.

It’s MEEKO!

The activity box is $29.99.

Check Out The NEW Amazon-Exclusive Disney 100th Anniversary Items Now Available

Those are the only updates we have from Animal Kingdom this week, but we’re still keeping an eye out for news about the potential future of DinoLand, U.S.A. We’ll let you know if we find out anything, and as always, stay tuned to DFB for more Disney news!

Hold up for a sec! Before you plan your next trip to Disney World, check out our DFB Guide Everything Bundle here. You will get ALL of our best-selling eBooks with details on Disney World Dining, EPCOT Festivals, the BEST snacks in each park, and soooooo many tips and tricks we’ve learned over decades of visiting our happy place.

Click here to find 5 places to escape in Animal Kingdom when your anxiety is through the roof.

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What’s your favorite thing in Animal Kingdom? Let us know in the comments!

The post What’s New at Disney’s Animal Kingdom: A Steamboat Willie Loungefly Backpack first appeared on the disney food blog.

It’s official, another Disney park is getting a 2023 after-hours event!

Spaceship Earth

Disney has had after-hours events for Magic Kingdom and Disney’s Hollywood Studios so far this year, and now it’s been announced that EPCOT will be getting after-hours events this year as well. Here’s everything you can experience during this special late-night event!

Attractions

During the event, you can ride most of your favorite EPCOT rides with much lower wait times! Attractions you may be able to experience (as this list is subject to change) include the following:

• Frozen Ever After
• Gran Fiesta Tour Starring The Three Caballeros
• Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind
• Living with the Land Presented by Chiquita®
• Mission: SPACE
• Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure
• The Seas with Nemo & Friends
• Soarin’ Around the World
• Spaceship Earth
• Test Track Presented by Chevrolet®

Cosmic Rewind

This means that you can ride Cosmic Rewind WITHOUT buying an Individual Lightning Lane or getting a spot in the virtual queue. You can also ride it as many times as you want!

Snacks

No after-hours event is complete without snacks! You’ll be able to dine on all the ice cream novelties (like Mickey Premium Bars), popcorn, and select bottled beverages you want for FREE — it’s all included with your ticket price.

Nothing like a good ‘ol Mickey Premium Bar!

Select dining locations will also be open late to serve heartier meals as well, but we recommend entering the park early at 7PM to eat before the event fully begins, as many restaurants will be closed later on.

Characters

You’ll also get to meet special characters during EPCOT’s after-hours events!

Ariel in EPCOT

We don’t have a list of characters that will host meet and greets at this event just yet, but when we head to check it out, we’ll be sure to tell you all about it.

You could avoid ALL of these crowds!

While the event itself doesn’t start until 10PM, ticketholders can enter the park as early as 7PM to get a headstart on the fun. Remember too that this is a separately ticketed event, so you’ll need to buy an after-hours ticket separate from a normal Disney World ticket. As always, stay tuned to DFB for all the latest Disney news!

FULL LIST of Ticket Dates and Prices for EPCOT After Hours Events

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What park do you think is the best for an after-hours event? Tell us in the comments below!

The post FULL LIST of What’s Included in EPCOT After Hours Events first appeared on the disney food blog.

Did you hear about the major CHANGE at Disneyland’s newest ride?

Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway in Disneyland

Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway opened recently at Disneyland with a virtual queue system instead of a standby line. But the way you get on this popular ride has CHANGED, starting today.

Disney sometimes uses virtual queues for new attractions when they expect there to be high demand for the rides. Instead of going to stand in a physical line, guests reserve their spot in a virtual line using the Disneyland mobile app. They’re given a boarding group number, and they return to the attraction once their number is called. This virtual queue system has been used in several other attractions, like Rise of the Resistance and Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind in Walt Disney World.

Queue area

Now, however, Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway will utilize a normal standby line in Disneyland instead of the virtual queue. If you want to ride, you’ll need to head to the attraction and hop into the physical line.

Standby Entry

This change went into effect today, February 22nd, 2023. When we checked the wait times for the new ride, the standby line had a wait of 65 minutes, which isn’t too bad for a brand-new attraction.

It’s important to note that you can still purchase an Individual Lightning Lane if you don’t want to wait in the standby line. Today, that option cost $20 per person, but that can vary each day.

Learn more about Individual Lightning Lanes here.

As always, stay with us at DFB for the latest in Disneyland updates!

Classy or Flashy? Weigh In On THIS Disney Ears Battle!

Are you excited to ride Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway without a virtual queue? Let us know in the comments.

The post How You Get On Disneyland’s Newest Ride Has CHANGED first appeared on the disney food blog.

We’re really starting to see — and hear — construction progress at Tiana’s Bayou Adventure!

Tiana’s Bayou Adventure Construction

In case you haven’t heard, Splash Mountain is being re-themed to become Tiana’s Bayou Adventure at both Disneyland and Disney World. The Disney World ride is already closed, and Cast Members are hard at work transforming this attraction. Come with us to check out some recent updates!

Guests visiting Magic Kingdom can’t help but see and hear what is going on to transform the former attraction into Tiana’s Bayou Adventure. If you take a ride on the Walt Disney World Railroad, you can get a great view of the work being done.

Windows and entry way to interior queue closed for drilling

One of the first visible changes to note is that Cast Members have started to contain some of the progress. It appears the windows and exposed areas of the queue line are now blocked with sheets. While we were taking these photos, we also could hear drilling or jackhammering taking place indoors so it’s possible this is a precaution to ensure guest safety from debris.

That wasn’t the only change to the queue line we spotted!

Outside queue construction

The outside queue line already looks markedly different from its former days. It appears that most of the hanging birdhouses in the trees are now down and that Imagineers are widening some of the walkable queue space.

Imagineer painting the exterior queue for Tiana’s Bayou Adventure

There was also a little bit of painting going on, as we saw Cast Members mixing paint colors just outside the queue building. Disney seems to be focusing on the ride as a whole because the queue wasn’t the only part where Cast Members were actively working.

Tiana’s Bayou Adventure construction is underway

A glance up from the walkway in front of the ride shows the addition of more scaffolding and scrim put up around areas that the log flumes would typically be coming down or up.

From the same walkway, we saw some welding happening under the bridge!

There’s some welding happening over at Tiana’s Bayou Adventure (as seen from the walkway over the lake in Frontierland)

Credit: @rachdressing_ pic.twitter.com/x80Z2Fjn4j

— Disney Food Blog (@DisneyFoodBlog) February 22, 2023

In addition to the drilling, here we have a daytime look at some less visible progress. The moat area is still drained but this seems to be in progress as well since underneath the bridge has walkabout planks for construction workers.

Former Splash Mountain ride vehicle moat

Disney seems to be moving right along with their construction efforts on all fronts with this attraction and the progress keeps becoming more visible to guests!

As always, stay tuned to DFB as we bring you more Tiana’s Bayou Adventure construction updates.

The Disney World Wait Time That’ll SHOCK You

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What do you think about the construction progress for Tiana’s Bayou Adventure? Tell us below!

The post VIDEO: Check Out the PROGRESS at Tiana’s Bayou Adventure in Disney World first appeared on the disney food blog.

You’ve got to be CAREFUL when you go to Disney World!

Trattoria al Forno

Why? Well, some of the things you might love may go totally missing without notice! Disney lost 6 food items in 2022 and we’ve even seen animatronics go missing for a while. You never know what surprises you might be met with during your next trip. Now, it seems another item may have disappeared without a trace!

A wonderful Disney Food Blog reader (Rachael) recently told us about a menu change at one of the restaurants on Disney’s BoardWalk so we made a stop over there to see what was going on. The restaurant in question? Trattoria al Forno! And when we stopped by this restaurant recently we were met with some sad news. According to the Cast Member we spoke to, our DFB reader’s tip was spot-on — the Mickey-shaped pizzas that once graced the kids’ menu here are NO longer being offered! Again, keep in mind that this is based on what we were told by a Cast Member so things can change.

How Fun Is That?!

We had these fun pizzas back in 2021. The dough was house-made and topped with the same marinara sauce used in some of the other dishes. It gained massive points for style with those Mickey ears but gained even more points with taste since the ears were made of CHEESY GARLIC BREAD! YUM!

We thought this pizza was fun and delicious. The crust was wonderful (thank you stone oven), and we felt it was a big hit for a kids’ pizza dish. While we got the cheese pizza version, there was a pepperoni version available at that time too.

Mickey Cheese Pizza

It’s not clear what caused the sudden disappearance of this deliciously cheesy snack. But it’s also not clear if this will be a permanent change. Both the My Disney Experience app and Disney World website for Trattoria al Forno continue to list the Mickey Pepperoni Pizza on the menu. Hmmm… So it’s possible that the change will be temporary, but it’s also possible that the menu will soon be changed to reflect the adjustment.

©Disney

We’ll keep an eye out for updates and let you know what we find. In the meantime, if you’ve simply GOT to have Mickey on your pizza, consider making a pizza at home and arranging the bread or toppings to be in the shape of the #1 mouse.

Mickey Pepperoni Pizza

Need a pizza recipe? Check out this Soul-inspired NYC pizza recipe or opt for a breakfast pizza! And stay tuned for more Disney restaurant news.

Click here to see the full menu and prices revealed for Narcoosseee’s restaurant!

Were you a fan of this pizza? Tell us in the comments.

The post An Iconic Snack Has DISAPPEARED from Disney World first appeared on the disney food blog.