Disney+ will be introducing new updated pricing plans in Australia and New Zealand. This will include new Disney+ Standard and Premium offerings. What’s Happening: Disney+ will be introducing updated pricing plans for offering in Australia and New Zealand with a multi-tiered approach providing consumers greater choice and value, including new Disney+ Standard and Premium offerings. Disney+ […]
The five-star Disneyland Hotel has been completely reimagined with new luxury rooms, gourmet dining, and more, with loads of touches all inspired by Disney’s “royal stories.” You’ll find references to Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, The Little Mermaid, and more.
Room types include Superior, Deluxe, and Castle Club, as well as Signature Suites. The rooms have unique design elements inspired by those royal stories. The Princely and Royal Suites take inspiration from movies like Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Tangled, Beauty and the Beast, and Frozen. You’ll see details inspired by Aurora’s color-changing dress as well as Elsa’s Ice Castle.
The hotel’s restaurants have also been reimagined. At Royal Banquet, you’ll find a new gallery of paintings, including King Triton and his daughters, Merida and her family, King Magnifico from Wish, the Evil Queen, and more. The menu takes inspiration from Disney Princesses, too. You can also meet Mickey, Minnie, and their friends, who are dressed in royal outfits.
La Table de Lumière, which is inspired by Versailles’ Hall of Mirrors, is now inspired by the ballroom from Beauty and the Beast. The gourmet restaurant will feature a menu that is locally sourced while guests dine with Royal Disney couples.
Fleur de Lys Bar overlooks the hotel’s Fantasia Gardens with a menu of flower-themed signature cocktails and fine wines. The bar also hosts an afternoon tea and a champagne experience.
The hotel also features the Disneyland Hotel Spa by Clarins and Health Club with classic and signature treatments, while the Crystal Pool lies under a magnificent glass and metal roof.
There’s also the Royal Collection Boutique, where adults and children can get a royal makeover, along with a professional photo session. There’s even a Royal Kids Club, which is themed to look like a royal library. Here, kids can take part in “interactive and augmented reality experiences” within their favorite stories.
The Disneyland Hotel in Paris is open now, so if you are planning a trip to Disneyland Paris, you’ll want to drop by (even if you’re not staying there) just to see all its new royal updates!
Oh boy, planning a Disney trip can be quite the adventure, and we totally get it! But fear not, dear friends, we compiled EVERYTHING you need (and the things to avoid!) to plan the ULTIMATE Disney vacation.
Whether you’re a rookie or a seasoned pro, our insider tips and tricks will have you exploring the parks like never before. So come along with us, and get planning your most magical vacation ever!
Have you been to Disneyland Paris? Let us know in the comments!
Something EPIC (and historic) has happened at Disneyland Resort!
Disney California Adventure
At Disney California Adventure in Disneyland Resort, the Lunar New Year is being celebrated from January 23rd through February 18th, 2024. Sure, you can go there to stuff your face with new and delicious snacks or spend all your cash on special merchandise. But if you want to see something REALLY unique, you HAVE to check out the entertainment because a BRAND NEW character meet-and-greet has debuted(!!!).
Let’s break down ALL of the entertainment available at the festival so you don’t miss a thing.
The characters have Chinese-Canadian heritage, so it’s really fitting that they should first appear at this festival. You’ll find them over at San Francisco Street. And Meilin is so excited about observing Chinese traditions with her mom that you might just spot her starting to show her Red Panda side!
Considering that this is the FIRST TIME these characters have made a meet-and-greet appearance in this way, the line for the meet-and-greet could get long so you’ll want to keep that in mind.
Meilin Lee and Ming Lee
Mulan’s Lunar New Year Procession
Of course, it’s not a Disney day without a parade right?! Well, you can catch a sort of mini-parade — Mulan’s Lunar New Year Procession — during the Lunar New Year Festival. This procession goes from Hollywood Land to Paradise Gardens.
Mulan and Mushu!
Things start off with music filling the air and performers filling the street. Then you’ll catch appearances by Mulan, Mushu, some Disney characters, and some incredibly talented Asian entertainers. Keep an eye out for the Chinese dragon — that’s a particular highlight of this unique show!
Mulan’s Lunar New Year Procession
The Procession lasts around 20 minutes and is offered a few times each day — typically around 12:45PM, 2:30PM, 5PM, and 6:45PM (but check the Disneyland app for the latest updates).
Lunar New Year Performer
More Characters
Want to see more characters? Throughout Disney California Adventure, watch for Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse (who you’ll see dressed in some colorful outfits).
Happy Lunar New Year with Mickey and Minnie!
You’ll also want to stop by the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail, which is where you’ll be able to meet Raya from Raya and the Last Dragon!
Redwood Creek Challenge Trail
Hurry Home – A Lunar New Year Celebration pre-show
In the evening, you can watch a special pre-show for the World of Color nighttime spectacular. The pre-show is called Hurry Home – A Lunar New Year Celebration.
Hurry Home 2020
The pre-show starts at 9PM (check the times guide for the latest updates) and lasts around 6 minutes.
Hurry Home 2020
During the pre-show, you’ll follow Little Lantern on a special adventure home for a celebration of good luck. The music for the show was actually created by Academy Award-winning composer Tan Dun so be sure to listen closely to the tunes featured in it!
Lunar New Year Wishing Wall
Want to participate in some Lunar New Year activities? Those are available too! Head to the Lunar New Year Wishing Wall in Paradise Gardens to make a wish and add your own message of hope and happiness for the new year.
2022 Wishing Wall Area
It’s a great way to really immerse yourself in the situation and can give adults and little ones alike a great activity to participate in (in between all the snacking!).
Musical Performances
There are a number of musical performances available throughout the Festival in a few different spots. Here’s what you need to know.
Vocal Seoul at Sonoma Terrace
Stop by Sonoma Terrace to hear the a capella group Vocal Seoul! The group is made up of Korean-American singers.
You’ll find this group performing Fridays to Sundays during the Lunar New Year Festival.
Paradise Gardens Bandstand Presents New Tradition
At the Paradise Gardens Bandstand, you can watch New Tradition — a Los Angeles-based trio that, according to Disney, “bring a unique improv performance style to music classics and modern day hits through their versatile musicianship and Vietnamese cultural roots.”
New Tradition will be performing on January 23rd, 24th, 25th, and 26th; and February 5th and 6th, 2024.
Paradise Garden Bandstand Presents Melody of China
Melody of China is a Chinese music ensemble formed by “professional musicians from some of the most prestigious conservatories in China,” according to Disney. They perform classical, folk, and contemporary music.
You can see them perform January 29th, 30th, and 31st; and February 1st, 2nd, 14th, 15th, and 16th, 2024.
Paradise Garden Bandstand Presents Luna Lee
If you want to hear something really unique, visit when Luna Lee is performing. She performs a centuries-old traditional Korean stringed instrument called the gayageum, and she plays it in a modern rock style!
According to Disney, “Luna Lee is a recording artist, performer and gayageum sound engineer.” You can see her perform on February 7th, 8th, 9th, 12th, and 13th, 2024.
And that’s a look at the entertainment you can’t miss at the Lunar New Year Festival. But don’t forget that the Festival will also be full of unique merchandise items to pick up and (of course) all kinds of tasty snacks!
Don’t miss out on a Disneyland trip and don’t let the idea of planning a trip overwhelm you! Speak to our friends at Small World Vacations. They can help you plan your vacation and even help you save money!
DON’T DO IT ALONE!
Our favorite people over at Small World Vacations are ready to help you save time, headaches, and best of all, money, when you book your Disney trip or cruise.
Their agents compare current offers to find the best deal for you — they’ve literally saved their guests millions of dollars since 1996. Plus, their services are 100% FREE FOR YOU! (They’re DFB’s recommended travel agency, and you can see why here!)
So book that trip now, then sit back and enjoy planning your Disney World Trip with a DFB-approved expert! Click here for a no obligation price quote today, and let them know DFB sent you
Stay tuned for more Disneyland info, and check out our video below to prepare for your next trip.
Which part of the entertainment are you most interested in? Tell us in the comments!
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 were invited by Disneyland to attend their media preview of the Lunar New Year Celebration in Disney California Adventure. Note that when we attend events as media we are 1) Not required to review that event/food on any of our channels, and 2) Not required to review that event/food 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
Looking to try NEW eats in Disneyland? If so, we know exactly where you should go!
Wrapped with Love Marketplace
The 2024 Lunar New Year celebration has started in Disney California Adventure Park at the Disneyland Resort, and it has a lot to offer! There’s special merchandise, entertainment, and (of course) PLENTY of food to try. For now, we’re making our way over to the Wrapped with Love food booth. Is it a place you absolutely MUST visit? Let’s find out!
2024 is the Year of the Dragon. The park will mark its arrival with the annual Lunar New Year celebration, which takes place from January 23rd through February 18th this year.
Menu
Wrapped with Love was a new booth addition to the 2023 Lunar New Year celebration, and we’re excited to see it return with all new offerings!!
The menu!
The booth features 2 new snacks — Fried Lemongrass Chicken Dumplings and Steamed Pork & Vegetable Dumplings — as well as a new drink that we’ll be trying. Last year, we found that this booth was pretty hit or miss for us. We liked some menu items, but others were super disappointing. So… how will the menu items this year compare?
Eats
We’ll start with the food. New to this booth and the festival are the Fried Lemongrass Chicken Dumplings with plum sauce. This is priced at $8.75.
Fried Lemongrass Chicken Dumplings
Our lemon grass chicken had a bit of an artificial lemon flavor that was reminiscent of lemon cleaning supplies. Not ideal. The outside texture was also harder than we would have liked. These are fried, so they’re not supposed to have that sticky texture like a steamed dumpling, but the crunch here was a bit more like plastic coating than fried dumpling.
Not our favorites from this booth
In theory, though, we love what Disney was aiming for with these dumplings. We really hope future batches are tastier, because we wanted to like them! As of right now, though, it’s a skip from us. We do not recommend.
Next, we have the Steamed Pork & Vegetable Dumplings with a black garlic sauce for$8.75.
Steamed Pork & Vegetable Dumplings with a black garlic sauce
These were excellent! The garlic sauce wasn’t too overpowering, and we much preferred the sticky texture of these dumplings. The flavor was nice and the dumplings were cooked perfectly. These are definitely picky-eater approved and we think anyone who loves Asian cuisine and garlic will really enjoy them. We actually recommend dipping the lemongrass dumplings in this sauce to doctor them up a bit.
Alright, enough with the new eats, let’s hop to those drinks!
Drinks
This booth features a brand NEW non-alcoholic cocktail — the Yuja-Pineapple Cooler. It’s made with Pineapple juice, yuja purée, rice milk, and condensed milk garnished with a cherry and coconut foam, and it’s priced at $7.00. Is this fruity drink worth it?
Yuja-Pineapple Cooler
This drink was very sweet, tropical, and refreshing! We LOVED it and recommend it to anyone who is looking for a refreshing, non-alcoholic beverage. It’s also a great dessert drink!
Next, we have the Raspberry Oat Milk Tea. This drink is also new to this booth, but we saw it at last year’s Lunar New Year celebration at the Longevity Noodle Co. booth. It’s made with Joffrey’s Coffee & Tea Co. Ceylon Tea, raspberry and demerara syrups, and is then splashed with oat milk and garnished with skewered raspberries. It could be yours for $6.50.
Raspberry Oat Milk Tea
We’ve had this drink in the past and loved it, and we’re happy to report it’s just as good as we remember! Sweet (but not too sweet) and the raspberry garnish is a winner. This is another great non-alcoholic option for anyone looking for a refreshing but dessert-y drink.
Finally, you can kick your drinks up a notch by grabbing the Lotus Flower Glow Cube! This is a returning decoration that you can add to any of the drinks for $6.00. There’s a limit of 10 per guest, per transaction, so just keep that in mind in case you were planning to shove 10 lotus flowers into your cup.
Lotus Flower Glowing Cube!
These add a fun glowing effect to your drink, which is great if you’ll be staying in the park until it gets darker. Plus, they act as a souvenir and reminder of your time at Lunar New Year!
Overall
Overall, this booth is mostly a success. While we were not fans of the lemongrass chicken dumplings, the steamed pork and vegetable dumplings truly won us over. Plus, we LOVED the drinks. This is a great booth if you’re really wanting a drink paired with a small snack — we’d just recommend getting the pork and veggie dumplings over the others.
We’ll be sharing full reviews of ALL of the food booths so stay tuned for more details.
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 were invited by Disney California Adventure to attend their media preview of the Lunar New Year Celebration. Note that when we attend events as media we are 1) Not required to review that event/food on any of our channels, and 2) Not required to review that event/food 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
Disney recently got rid of Park Pass Reservations for most ticket types, but Annual Passholders still need to get those park passes in order to enter the theme parks. One of the exceptions to this rule is “Good-to-Go” days. On these days, Passholders can enter any theme park with no reservation required. We’ve already seen some of these days pop up on the calendar, but now NEW ones have been added!
Annual Passholders can view “Good-to-Go” days on the Annual Pass calendar. Check out our complete guide to viewing “Good-to-Go” days here. Disney previously shared that these days would be added on a rolling basis, “days or weeks in advance.” Previously, the last “Good-to-Go” day was February 1st, but now two more dates are “Good-go-Go”: February 4th and 6th.
Both days are available for Passholders who have the Incredi Pass, Sorcerer Pass, and Pirate Pass, but only the 6th is available for the Pixie Pass since weekends are blocked out for that pass.
The 4th and 6th are only a couple of weeks away, so if this trend continues, it seems like we won’t get much heads up at all when it comes to “Good-to-Go” days. We recommend Annual Passholders make Park Pass Reservations for their trips ASAP, and then if those days become “Good-to-Go” later on, Disney will remove the reservation from your account automatically, freeing up that reservation to be used on another day.
Disney World Annual Pass
You might’ve noticed that we said “Good-to-Go” days are ONE of the exceptions to the rule that Passholders must make Park Pass Reservations to visit the theme parks. The OTHER exception is after 2PM. Excluding Magic Kingdom on Saturdays and Sundays, Passholders can enter any theme park without a reservation after 2PM.
Oh boy, planning a Disney trip can be quite the adventure, and we totally get it! But fear not, dear friends, we compiled EVERYTHING you need (and the things to avoid!) to plan the ULTIMATE Disney vacation.
Whether you’re a rookie or a seasoned pro, our insider tips and tricks will have you exploring the parks like never before. So come along with us, and get planning your most magical vacation ever!
Are you a Disney World Annual Passholder? Let us know what you think about “Good-to-Go” days in the comments!
But, throw a wrench into those plans and things can get pretty hairy pretty quickly. Between hotel construction, dining reservation woes, and ride closures, any number of mishaps can happen on your vacation. And, folks heading to Disney World this morning will likely have to learn that the hard way!
Quite a few major rides in Disney World were plagued by closures on the morning of January 25th, 2024. This can happen for any number of reasons, but when it does — it can cause some headaches throughout the rest of the park. Both Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios had some popular rides on the list.
In Magic Kingdom, Space Mountain was temporarily closed, along with the Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover. Big Thunder Mountain is also closed, but that’s for a scheduled refurbishment.
Space Mountain
Over in Hollywood Studios, Rise of the Resistance — a ride that often boasts the highest wait of any in Disney World — was also hit with a temporary closure.
Rise of the Resistance
And, judging by the crowds we’ve already seen at the Transportation and Ticket Center it’s looking like today might be a rather busy one — at least in Magic Kingdom!
But, if this ever happens to you — don’t panic! More often than not, these closures are only temporary and rides will open back up a short time later. Sometimes the closures do last all day if it’s a serious issue, in which case, you’ll have to adjust your plans. If you’ve purchased a Lightning Lane for a ride that closes, head to Guest Relations and they should be able to help you out.
Monorail crowds
Stay tuned to DFB for the latest news, tips, tricks, and more for Walt Disney World!
Oh boy, planning a Disney trip can be quite the adventure, and we totally get it! But fear not, dear friends, we compiled EVERYTHING you need (and the things to avoid!) to plan the ULTIMATE Disney vacation.
Whether you’re a rookie or a seasoned pro, our insider tips and tricks will have you exploring the parks like never before. So come along with us, and get planning your most magical vacation ever!
Have you ever been stuck on a Disney ride? Tell us in the comments.
A preliminary plan filed in Orange County reveals a massive new resort complex that will be coming soon to the Lake Buena Vista area, near I-4 and Disney Springs, according to a report from the Orlando Sentinel. What’s Happening: AIC Hotel Group, associated with Nobu and other hotel brands, has reportedly filed preliminary plans for […]
Almost a year after the Reedy Creek Improvement District was renamed the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District and Governor DeSantis appointed his own Board of Supervisors, the Reedy Creek Fire Department has revealed a new name: the District Fire Department.
The Reedy Creek Fire District has just unveiled their new brand: the District Fire Department. @WESHpic.twitter.com/wbV9yhibYV
Megan Mellado with WESH shared a photo from the unveiling ceremony on Thursday morning. A new District Fire Department logo is similar to previous logos used by the department but with the tree from the CFTOD logo in the center and “District F. D.” on the border.
Source: Megan Mellado, WESH
The fire department serves the Walt Disney World Resort area.
The fire department supported DeSantis’ takeover of the Reedy Creek Improvement District, citing issues with the former board regarding a new employment contract. After initially reaching an agreement with the new District Administrator regarding the contract, District Administrator Glen Gilzean suddenly reopened negotiations, which fire department union president Jon Shirey blamed on members who shared the contract on social media. An agreement was ultimately reached in July 2023.
Disney Theatrical Group has announced that a newly-reimagined North American tour of Beauty and the Beast will hit the road in June 2025. What’s Happening: Disney Theatrical Group, under the direction of Andrew Flatt, Anne Quart and Thomas Schumacher, announced today that a newly-reimagined North American tour of Beauty and the Beast will launch in June 2025. Based […]
