The spooky season may have just started at Walt Disney World, but this year’s pins for Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party and the Festival of the Holidays events at Walt Disney World and Disneyland Resort have just been revealed at the 2023 Magic HAP-Pins pin trading event in Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort.

Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party 2023 Pins

The two pins revealed at the event are Limited Edition and Limited Release, and presumably exclusive to this year’s parties.

The Limited Edition pin on the left features Goofy, Pluto, Mickey, Minnie, Daisy, and Donald, all decorating the Christmas tree for the holidays. Two small gift tags on the right have the party’s logo and “Magic Kingdom 2023” printed on them. Below the tree, and between Donald and Daisy, is a dark green scroll that reads, “Holiday Cheer.”

The Limited Release pin on the right features Santa Mickey driving his sleigh, with a single reindeer pulling it along. Two gift tags attached to the pile of presents in the back of the sled have the party’s logo and “Magic Kingdom 2023.” Above the reindeer is script font that says “Holiday Magic.”

Disney Festival of the Holidays 2023 Limited Release Pin

The Limited Release pin for this year’s Disney Festival of the Holidays at Disney California Adventure features park icons and images representing holidays celebrated around the world in its print. The card backing is also shaped like an ornament, and has a cut-out at the top, so it can be attached to gifts or hung on a tree with ribbon.

EPCOT International Festival of the Holidays 2023 Pins

On the left, this EPCOT International Festival of the Holidays 2023 Passholder pin features park icons and subtle fireworks and snowflakes in its print, as well as other festive imagery. The pin is printed with “EPCOT International Festival of the Holidays 2023.” This pin has a dangling “Passholder” charm attached to it.

In the center, a Limited Release pin for the same festival is in the shape of a Mickey head ornament. The pin reads, “EPCOT International Festival of the Holidays 2023” in raised letters. The white background is printed with park icons and holiday imagery, as well as more Mickey ears.

On the right, a Limited Edition Season’s Greetings 2023 festival pin is in the shape of a holiday ornament. The text on the ornament reads, “2023 Season’s Greetings” with the festival logo beneath. A more subtle print with Mickey heads, fireworks, and snowflakes is printed behind the text on the ornament pin.

Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party returns to Magic Kingdom on select nights from November 9 through December 22. The EPCOT International Festival of the Holidays will run from November 24 through December 30, and the Disney Festival of the Holidays in California will take place between November 10 and January 30.

Are you excited to attend this year’s events? Will you be buying these pins once they’re on sale? Let us know in the comments.

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

The post FIRST LOOK: Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party & Festival of the Holidays 2023 Pins Revealed for Walt Disney World & Disneyland Resort appeared first on WDW News Today.

It’s about that time of year when Disney starts dropping new Coco merchandise in honor of Día de los Muertos.

So we know Disneyland will soon get a TON of Coco-themed snacks in time for Día de los Muertos, but we usually expect to see some new Coco merchandise turn up around this time, too. Well, we did find a new GORGEOUS pair of Coco Ears in Disney World. Let’s take a look!

We were visiting EPCOT recently and stopped into the Creations Shop to see if we could find any new merchandise. Our search turned up these beautiful Coco Ears. Just look at them — they are SO pretty, right?

Each ear is made out of a leather-like material with braided edges and embossed images of skulls and flowers. If you look closely, you’ll even see an embossed image of Miguel with his painted skull face!

That embossed pattern is on the back of the ears, too.

The center of the ears has vibrant flowers with a sugar skull in the middle. We LOVE these bright colors; they really pop in front of the black ears. And that skull is EVERYTHING.

If you’re looking to add these to your collection, you can get them for $34.99. They are PERFECT for this time of year, but also great if you love Coco! We’ll be keeping an eye out for these online, too, so stay tuned to DFB for more!

While you’re in the shopping mood…have you checked our DFB exclusive graphic tees and merch? It’s super fun stuff to wear to the parks, or to rep your happy place at the grocery store! Click here to visit the DFB Merch Store!

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What’s your favorite scene in Coco? Let us know in the comments!

The post EVERYONE Will Be Wearing Disney’s Newest Souvenir This Fall first appeared on the disney food blog.

Disney’s Hollywood Studios can be the hardest Disney World park to navigate — and we get it! We go to Disney World every day and we see how hard it can be to try to do everything in the park.

With summer break, we saw wait times skyrocket at many of the popular attractions including rides in Hollywood Studios like Rise of the Resistance and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster. Now, it’s Halloween season in the parks and crowds are changing, but one thing remains certain — looooooooonnnnggggg wait times at Slinky Dog Dash!

In case you couldn’t tell from how many “o”s we used in “long”, this is consistently one of the longest waits in the parks if not THE longest each week. Last week, the ride reached a 102-minute average wait time. Yikes! But we bring you good news this week because the ride’s wait time has decreased significantly.

We get it, Slinky Dog Dash is super fun and one of the newer rides in the park. If you want to ride without waiting in the longest line in Disney World, here are some things you can do.

• Rope drop/use Early Theme Park Entry — Disney World hotel guests can enter the park 30 minutes early and get a jump start on the crowds. If you aren’t staying at a hotel, the wait will still be shorter in the morning.
• Stay until park close — Fantasmic! is a super popular show in Hollywood Studios and draws lots of parkgoers away from the rides. As long as you are in line before the park officially closes, you can ride, and you’ll usually see a shorter wait time at this point.
• Buy Genie+ — Genie+ has been a controversial topic but it can be useful. We recommend grabbing Slinky Dog Dash as your first Lightning Lane of the day at 7AM because it can fill up very quickly.

Now, take a look at the rest of the average wait times in Disney World to see which rides you should watch out for on your upcoming trip!

Magic Kingdom

Starting in Magic Kingdom, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train had the longest average wait time of 70 minutes. Last week the average wait time was 66 minutes so the average has increased a bit.

Next, Peter Pan’s Flight averaged 61 minutes, Space Mountain averaged 45 minutes, and Jungle Cruise averaged 44 minutes.  Average wait times held Haunted Mansion at 37 minutes, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad at 30 minutes, Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin at 31 minutes followed by The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh at 29 minutes, Pirates of the Caribbean at 27 minutes, Astro Orbiter at 27 minutes, and Enchanted Tales with Belle at 25 minutes.

After that, “it’s a small world” averaged 19 minutes, Tomorrowland Speedway averaged 17 minutes, closely followed by Hall of Presidents, Barnstormer featuring the Great Goofini, and Under the Sea – Journey of the Little Mermaid at 15 minutes, and Mickey’s PhilharMagic at 14 minutes. Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover and Magic Carpets of Aladdin averaged 12 minutes, Dumbo the Flying Elephant and Enchanted Tiki Room averaged 11 minutes, and Mad Tea Party faired at 8 minutes.

Prince Charming Regal Carousel also averaged 9 minutes while Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse, Carousel of Progress, and Liberty Square Riverboat all tied at 5-minute average wait times.

The Country Bear Jamboree and Tom Sawyer Island were walk-ons this week.

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EPCOT

Heading over to EPCOT, Frozen Ever After has the spot for the longest wait time in the park with a 65-minute average. This is an increase from last week’s 61-minute average. Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure was not far behind with a 61-minute average.

Next up is Test Track at 58 minutes, Soarin’ at 34 minutes, Mission: SPACE at 16 minutes, Turtle Talk with Crush at 15 minutes, and Spaceship Earth at 13 minutes.

Then, Journey into Imagination averaged 15 minutes, followed by The Seas with Nemo and Friends at 10 minutes, Gran Fiesta Tour at 9 minutes, and Living with the Land at 8 minutes.

Awesome Planet, Beauty and the Beast Sing-Along, Disney and Pixar Short Film Festival, Impressions de France, and Reflections of China had no wait times this week.

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Hollywood Studios

This week, Slinky Dog Dash saw a major decrease this week from 102 minutes to 85 minutes on average. While this is still the longest wait time in the park, it has gone down significantly and will hopefully post some slightly lower wait times going forward. Rise of the Resistance is right on the coaster’s tail with 79 minutes which is an increase from 68 minutes last week.

Other wait times in the park include Tower of Terror at 66 minutes, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster at 62 minutes, Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway at 60 minutes, Millenium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run at 57 minutes, and Toy Story Mania at 56 minutes.

After that, Alien Swirling Saucers averaged 31 minutes, Walt Disney Presents averaged 17 minutes, Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy averaged 15 minutes, Star Tours — The Adventure Continues averaged 14 minutes, and Muppet*Vision 3D averaged only 10 minutes.

This Disney World App Update Will Make Your Hollywood Studios Day Better!

Animal Kingdom

Now, let’s head over to Animal Kingdom! Avatar Flight of Passage still had the longest average wait time for this park this week with 86 minutes. The wait time increased quite a bit from last week’s 77 minutes.

Following that, Na’vi River Journey at 73 minutes, Kali River Rapids at 31 minutes, Expedition Everest at 24 minutes, Kilimanjaro Safaris at 23 minutes, and DINOSAUR at 22 minutes.

It’s Tough to Be a Bug averaged 10 minutes and Triceratop Spin averaged 5 minutes. Both The Boneyard and Gorilla Falls Exploration Trail were walk-ons.

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Stay tuned to DFB for more updates from Disney World!

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What is your favorite thing to ride in Hollywood Studios? Let us know in the comments below!

The post Whew! Slinky Dog Dash’s Average Wait Time Sees HUGE Drop in Disney World first appeared on the disney food blog.

We’ve eaten some…questionable things in Disney World.

We once had a drink with an Octopus Tentacle in it, after all. We’ve even indulged in Gummy Mac ‘n’ Cheese. Most recently, it was the Pickle Shake that had everyone talking. However, as strange as those snacks might have been, we may have just found the most disgusting thing of all.

So, if you’ve followed us for a while, you know we like to play with our food. Meaning that we love seeing what we can combine to make tasty treats even tastier. Well, we decided to do the OPPOSITE of that, and we paired together some things that, well, probably should NOT be paired together. But we did it. Because we could. And for science. So, our experiment took us to Sunshine Tree Terrace.

At Sunshine Tree Terrace, you can get a float with a variety of beverages, including Barq’s Root Beer, Coca-Cola, Fanta Orange soda, Fanta Strawberry soda, Powerade Mountain Berry Blast, or Sprite, served with your choice of Dole Whip or soft serve. Now, to make it an official float, you can pair any of those drinks with vanilla, chocolate, Dole Whip Orange, Citrus Swirl, Orange Cream, or Dole Whip Strawberry soft serve.

In the past, we’ve tried combining Citrus Swirl with the Powerade Mountainberry float, but this time, we felt like getting a little weird. So we got the Powerade Mountain Berry Blast Float with Chocolate Soft-Serve. Yes, we really did it.

Here’s the thing, though. Separately, the Powerade and the Chocolate soft serve are good. So, if you drink it fast, you might get just the Powerade flavor before the ice cream melts and blends into it. But when they inevitably melt together, that’s when things get…well…bad.

This is Florida, so you know that ice cream melted FAST. The result is something too weird for words; you just have to trust us. Because once the ice cream becomes liquid, it’s like drinking Powerade and chocolate milk at the same time. But the flavors don’t even mix, so each sip gives you a confusing blast of BOTH flavors. It doesn’t help that the ice cream served at Sunshine Tree Terrace already has a subpar fake chocolate taste.

We got creative with our Disney World snack this afternoon! This is a Powerade Mountain Berry Blast Float with chocolate ice cream. We tried it for $5.99! pic.twitter.com/wvdk1G6nS0

— Disney Food Blog (@DisneyFoodBlog) August 26, 2023

Our little experiment cost us $5.99, so now we can inform you that if you get that Powerade float, do NOT get it with chocolate soft serve. We do this for you, people. Instead, we recommend getting the Citrus Swirl with the Powerade Mountainberry float — it’s a MUCH BETTER treat.

Stay tuned to DFB for more Disney food reviews!

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What’s the worst snack you’ve ever had in Disney World? Tell us about it in the comments!

The post BEWARE – This May Be One of the Most DISGUSTING Snacks in Disney World! first appeared on the disney food blog.

August 30th is a BIG day for Disney Cruise Line.

That’s because we’re expecting to learn a lot more about the newest ship in the cruise line’s fleet, the Disney Treasure. We already learned a little about the ship’s theme, and Disney has shared concept art of what the ship’s Grand Hall will look like. But we just received an ACTUAL treasure chest from Disney that has a lot more clues about the Treasure.

The Disney Treasures is inspired by “Walt Disney’s lifelong love of adventure,” so the characters associated with the ship will come from adventurous movies like Peter Pan, Aladdin, and more. Well, we just got a special package that offers some more hints about the new ship. What got our attention were the stamps on the outside of the box representing some iconic Disney movie locations, like Peter Pan’s Neverland…

…Queens, New York (Spider-Man!)…

…Somewhere Beyond (aka, the Haunted Mansion)…

…Aladdin’s Agrabah…

…Santa Cecilia (a Coco reference)…

…and Ems River. Okay, so this one has us perplexed because the image is from the Jungle Cruise. But the Ems River is a river in northwestern Germany. Well, the Treasure is being built at the Meyer Werft’s shipyard in Papenburg, Germany, which is on the Ems River.

There’s also a stamp marking the date of the Treasure’s big reveal, August 30th.

But what’s inside the box is even more intriguing because we received an important letter.

The letter is from an adventurer named Arthur Quinn. We wonder…is he part of the Society of Explorers and Adventurers? Our letter also offers a very important hint, along with a story of a “scrambled misadventure.”

That misadventure led us to the back of the letter, which had some riddles. Yes, this whole thing is a puzzle — brilliant. The answers are found in the letter itself, and the puzzle reveals the word “HEART.” We entered that password to access the website, which gave us a video greeting from Arthur Quinn.

From there, we used our sleuthing skills to figure out how to open this mysterious box! We had a hint about the treasure chest but no visible key. And as you can see, this box has a lock on it. So we heeded Arthur’s words and looked at the box from a different angle and found that it had a false bottom. We removed that and found the key!

When we opened the box, there it was — A TREASURE MAP. We can’t even with this, Disney. This is AMAZING.

So let’s take a look at this map, shall we? We’re sure it’s full of hints…but where are they? WHAT are they? Take a good look at the whole map, though — look at its shape. It’s shaped like a Disney Cruise Line ship.

Let’s take a look at the left side of the map. At the top, we see Olaf hanging around a Frozen area — will the Disney Treasure have a dining experience like the Frozen one on the Disney Wish? Underneath that, we see Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde enjoying some ice cream, which could suggest a Zootopia-themed ice cream spot on the new ship. Captain America’s shield is at the bottom near a Quantum core, which could be a hint that there will be a Marvel-themed experience onboard.

There are some rocks that look like Lumiere and Cogsworth, with a rose bush nearby, which could mean there will be Beauty and the Beast-themed dining like Enchanté and the Rose Lounge onboard the Wish. So what’s up with the volcano? Is that a reference to the Pixar short Lava? The alien robot thing, though — is that an Omnidroid from The Incredibles?

If you look carefully enough, there’s even a Star Wars rock formation with Porgs nearby. Dare we hope for a Star Wars theatrical production? However, it seems like this part of the map is about dining, so what does that mean? A Star Wars-themed dinner show? Remember, we WERE once promised something along those lines with Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge (although it never happened). Perhaps Disney will take some of the lessons learned aboard the closing Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser and put those to use on the new ship!

In the center of this part of the map, we see the Palace of Agrabah, which will serve as inspiration for the ship’s Grand Hall. Jasmine and Aladdin are on a flying carpet nearby. Then there’s Spaceship Earth in front of a mountain range. We’ll be honest — we have NO idea what that means. To the left of the palace is a series of huts and a river with a Jungle Cruise ship on it.

At the top is a pyramid that has a slide coming out of it — right underneath that is Goofy as a lifeguard next to a pool. Will the pool have a pyramid-themed slide? Below that is a Mulan-themed garden and pool. We also see Rex and Trixie from Toy Story near some geysers. At the bottom, there’s a reference to 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Hmmm…. To the right of the palace, we see Hei Hei and a hut from Moana. So maybe this is a look into what the pools on the ship will be like.

Above Hei Hei is a teapot pouring tea into stacked cups, a la Alice in Wonderland, probably a nod to Wonderland Theater, which is one of the movie theaters on the Wish.

At the bottom left are what seem to be character-inspired dining kiosks. We’re thinking a buffet — what do you think?

But we’re not done yet. The right side of the map has an X-Wing from Star Wars at the top, meaning we might get a Hyperspace Lounge on the Treasure. The middle of this part of the map looks like The Jungle Book. There’s also an area that’s definitively from The Lion King. These might be references to some of the kids’ activities onboard, but we’re just speculating, here.

The Cave of Wonders is at the bottom. We’re thinking that means the Treasure may have an Aladdin show, like on the Disney Wish. We see the city of Santa Cecilia from Coco towards the bottom right of the map (we don’t know what that means, but we love the idea of Coco being represented somehow on the Treasure). Below that appears to be Mermaid Lagoon (perhaps symbolizing Neverland Theater) from Peter Pan. We also see what appears to be Castaway Cay on the map (next to the pirate ship) and Rapunzel’s Tower.

We have to say that’s the most fun we think we’ve ever had with a Disney package, and we can’t wait to learn if some of our interpretations of the map were correct when it comes to what we’ll see on the Disney Treasure. Don’t forget that Disney will be officially revealing the ship on August 30th at 11AM ET in a virtual event, so everyone can tune in and watch.

Oh, and if you’re interested in sailing on the Disney Treasure, you can join the waitlist courtesy of our friends at Small World Vacations.

Stay tuned to DFB for more!

What we know about the Disney Treasure so far

What do you think some of these things mean? Help us crack the code, and leave us a comment with your theories!

Disclosure: In nearly all circumstances, Disney Food Blog writers and photographers pay full price for their own travel, hotel, food, beverage, and event tickets. We do this because it’s important to us as journalists to ensure not only that we give you unbiased opinions, but also that you can trust us to do so since we’re paying our own way. On rare occasions, when we are invited by a company to attend a preview as media, and when we choose to accept that invitation, we will always make you, our readers, aware of that situation. Today, we received a package from Disney Cruise Line with details on the new Disney Treasure cruise ship. Note that when we attend events or receive mail as media we are 1) Not required to review that event on any of our channels, and 2) Not required to review that event favorably. You can always count on DFB to give you a 100% unbiased and honest review of any event that we attend, food that we eat, or beverage that we drink. You can see more in our Disclosure Policy. Thank you for reading. — AJ

The post Disney Dropped Over a Dozen NEW Clues About Its Treasure Ship! first appeared on the disney food blog.

There are lots of different dining options in Disney World, that’s for sure.

Some of these are fantastic, while others may make you regret you spent your money on it at all. There are a few select meals that we just can’t stop thinking about, and we want to share one of those with you today — so if you’re in Magic Kingdom, you NEED to stop and check this out!

Over at Sleepy Hollow Refreshments, you’ll find a few different options, including egg rolls and funnel cakes, but we are NOT focusing on those today. Today we’re talking about the two waffle sandwiches that are less than $12 each and are 100% shareable.

First up is the Sweet-and-Spicy Chicken-Waffle Sandwich for $11.59 which comes with Broccoli Slaw on top covered in Honey-Sriracha Glaze.

This sandwich is SO filling and super delicious for those who love sweet and spicy savory items. As you can see, the chicken piece is huge, and the waffle is more filling than you think, so we totally recommend sharing if you’re not a big eater, or are just looking to snack throughout the day.

If you prefer sweeter options, we recommend grabbing the Fresh Fruit Waffle Sandwich for $8.49. It’s the same size waffle covered in a chocolate hazelnut spread and fresh strawberries, blueberries, and bananas.

Trust us when we say this sandwich is usually piled high with the fruit. The chocolate hazelnut spread can be skimped out a little bit at times, but it doesn’t make this sandwich any less filling.

This is also great to share, because that waffle will, once again, fill you up faster than you think! Overall, if you’re looking for a simple, quick-service meal to share with someone, we strongly recommend heading over here. These are solid options that continue to impress us. However, there is little-to-no outdoor seating here, so keep that in mind!

WE KNOW – there are SO many great snacks at Disney World! How do you choose (we don’t want to choose but will blow our budget on Day 1 otherwise)? We’ve got you covered! We have reviewed nearly EVERY snack available at Disney World, and we’ve written a series of DFB Guides about them! Check out our DFB Guide to Walt Disney World Dining + Snacks Bundle for all the details you need to plan your snackin’ and spending. You can even download them to your smartphone – it’ll be like we’re right there with you in the parks!

As always, stay tuned to DFB for all the latest Disney news, tips, and tricks!

These are the best snacks in Magic Kingdom for 2023!

Which of these waffles would you choose to get? Tell us in the comments!

The post The Disney World Meal We Can’t Stop Thinking About first appeared on the disney food blog.

New details have been released for the previously-announced Shopping Spree at Destination D23 for Gold Members this coming September.

Shopping Spree at Destination D23

D23 Gold Members can purchase a ticket to shop collectibles, exclusives, and other merchandise at Disney’s Contemporary Resort at Walt Disney World during Destination D23 weekend.

Priced at $12 with an additional $3 processing fee, D23 Gold Members can enjoy exclusive shopping with Mickey’s of Glendale, the Walt Disney Imagineering campus store; the new Ink & Paint Marketplace; and, making its first appearance at Destination D23, The Walt Disney Company Store. Ticket holders will receive one-hour “shopping windows” to browse all three locations. This will take place September 9 and 10, between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. the first day, and between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. the second.

Mickey’s of Glendale will offer exclusive Destination D23 and Walt Disney Imagineering merchandise. Ink & Paint Marketplace will feature a variety of items from brands like Lug, Sunglass Hut, Citizen, and more. As for The Walt Disney Company Store, guests will find D23: The Official Disney Fan Club-branded merchandise among other company exclusives.

This event is for D23 Gold Members only, and one ticket is allowed per Gold Member. Guests are not permitted to join.

If you are a current ticket holder to this year’s Destination D23, you don’t need to purchase a ticket to the Shopping Spree; you’ll instead get priority access to these stores throughout the weekend. This event is geared more toward D23 Gold Members who do not have Destination D23 tickets, but still want to participate in the shopping experiences included with the event.

If interested, you can purchase your ticket to the Shopping Spree here.

This isn’t the first time D23 gold members have been welcomed to exclusive shopping experiences — in February, members were invited to a spree at the Disney Grand Central Creative Campus in Glendale, California, along with other experiences earlier in the year.

Would you be interested in a Disney-related shopping spree? Let us know in the comments.

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

The post Details Revealed for 2023 Destination D23 Gold Member Shopping Spree appeared first on WDW News Today.