Time for another dose of the latest Walt Disney World News & Rumors. The big news in our Walt Disney World News & Rumors October 2019 is the opening, and then the closing, of the Disney Skyliner. We also cover the new Enchanted Rose Lounge, recently closed attractions, changes at Epcot, and more. Plus, will Primeval Whirl ever reopen?
Enchanted Rose at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa
The Enchanted Rose at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa is now open. The lounge is inspired by the magic and romance of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. The lounge is located on the 2nd floor of the Grand Floridian and replaces Mizner’s & some retail space.
The lounge features “four unique gathering spaces inspired by Belle and the Beast”. Highlights include a gorgeous chandelier inspired by Belle’s flowing golden ball gown, a library that will showcase classical baroque designs, a garden room, and an outdoor patio that evokes the romance of Beast’s garden terrace.
The lounge will serve some sensational shareable dishes which can accompany a selection of unique cocktails and martinis.
New Year’s Eve 2019 at Disney’s Animal Kingdom
Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park will be open until midnight to celebrate New Year’s Eve on December 31, 2019. This is the first time there has been a New Year Celebration in the park since the Millenium.
There will be DJs in Asia, Discovery Island, and DinoLand U.S.A. Plus there will be special food & drink available throughout the park.
The highlight is likely to be a New Year Countdown on the Tree of Life. We are promised this will be accompanied by music and lighting displays.
Magic Kingdom’s Fireworks Dessert Party Price Increases
A massive 18% price rise is coming to some of the Magic Kingdom Dessert Parties in the New Year. The price for the party at Tomorrowland Terrance will increase from $84 to $99. We think this is far too steep a rise.
Closed Attractions
It seems traditional that Fall introduces some annual cutbacks in entertainment offerings at Walt Disney World. The following changes have recently been introduced:
- The Muppets Present Great Moments in American History has closed.
- The Royal Majesty Maker has closed.
- Mickey & Minnie’s Surprise Celebration has now finished.
- ‘Move It! Shake It! Dance and Play It!’ Street Party has been reduced to two shows per day.
- Hakuna Matata Time at the Animal Kingdom has closed
- Lightning McQueen’s Pit Crew dance party has closed.
- Incredibles Super Shindig has closed
While some of these closures were expected others have been unexpected.
Plant-Based Diets
All major quick-service and table-service locations at Walt Disney World now serve plant-based options. In total over 400 dishes are available, and are made without animal meat, dairy, eggs or honey
Mickey Shorts Theater
A new Mickey Shorts Theater will be opening at Hollywood Studios. The new attraction will open in Spring 2020 and will be in the theater, which has been showing Star Wars: Path of the Jedi.
Epcot Experience Opens in Odyssey Pavilion
The Epcot Experience has opened in the Odyssey Pavilion. The Epcot Experience allows guests to preview all the upcoming attractions at Epcot. Click the link to read a great review of the Epcot Experience.
Also, visit our special news section which has all the latest on the Epcot Expansions.
Epcot IllumiNations Reflections of Earth final show
IllumiNations Reflections of Earth at Epcot has now finished. Here is a fantastic video of the very last showing of this legendary production.
Epcot Forever is now showing
The day after IllumiNations final showing we welcomed the new Epcot Forever. Epcot Forever is a short-term show before being replaced by “HarmonioUS” in 2020.
Primeval Whirl is it reopening?
Primeval Whirl has been closed since June due to a “technical issue”. There have been various rumors of why the closure has happened, but there has been no confirmation from Disney. Also, there have even been rumors the attraction might never reopen.
However, there have been some sightings of testing on the attraction in recent weeks. Unfortunately, there has still been no confirmation on when or if Primeval Whirl will reopen.
Animal ‘Villain’ Drawing Tutorials
One attraction that isn’t closing this Fall is Rafiki’s Planet Watch. The area reopened this summer and included the new Animation Experience at Conservation Station. Beginning October 18th guests will have the opportunity to draw a Disney Villain.
There will be 6 characters in rotation: Scar and Ed from The Lion King, Bruce from Finding Nemo, Hopper from A Bugs Life, ShereKhan from The Jungle Book, and Tic Toc from Peter Pan.
The Disney Skyliner Opens and then Crashes!
The big planned event in the last month at Walt Disney World was the opening of the Disney Skyliner.
The biggest UNPLANNED event at Walt Disney World in the last month was the Skyliner closing after a crash! At the moment, the Skyliner remains closed with no information on when it will eventually reopen.
We were never convinced of the wisdom of building a gondola system as a form of mass transport at Walt Disney World. We have mentioned the comparisons with the white elephant Emirates Air Line in London
Unfortunately, things did not go to plan, and less than one week later, October 5th, a crashed occurred between two gondolas at the Riviera Resort station. Some guests waited over 3 hours to be rescued and were advised to use an emergency kit located in each gondola. Although a couple of guests were taken to hospital, thankfully nobody was seriously hurt.
As you would expect Twitter was exploding with all the news from the Skyliner crash, and here are some tweets which give you a picture of what happened.
We will be back with another Walt Disney World News & Rumours update in November and hopefully will have some positive news about the Skyliner. If you have missed any of our previous updates you can find them all here.
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