Club Level Guests to be Able to Buy Additional FastPasses; Resort Child Activity Centers to Close

WDW InfoClub Level Guests to be Able to Buy Additional FastPasses:

According to WFTV's Chip Skambis Disney will roll out a pay-for-Fastpass program this Friday to Club Level guests at resorts. Here is what he revealed in a series of tweets yesterday:

As part of efforts to expand premium services at a surcharge, Walt Disney World is planning to offer club-level resort guests the ability to purchase three additional, no-strings fastpasses to use on a given day, sources say.

— Chip Skambis (@chickenlilchip) January 9, 2018

Sources say the three additional fastpasses will cost $50 a day and can be used at any park. The service will require a 3 day minimum and will only be available to club-level resort guests, sources say. Disney officials did not immediately return a request for comment.

— Chip Skambis (@chickenlilchip) January 9, 2018

I have confirmed Walt Disney World is going to roll out the club level pay-for-FastPass program Friday.

— Chip Skambis (@chickenlilchip) January 9, 2018

Club level resort guests who buy the additional fastpasses will also be able to book them up to 90 days in advance. They will also get an additional fastpass to see any of the nighttime spectaculars at the parks.

— Chip Skambis (@chickenlilchip) January 10, 2018

So that would be $50/day per guest with a minimum 3-day stay and would be booked up to 90 days in advance. This also included an additional fastness to see any of Happily Ever After, Fantasmic!, Star Wars Galactic Spectacular, Illuminations: Reflections of Earth, and Rivers of Light.

While this has not been officially confirmed by Disney, it seems they pay-for-FastPass system is coming to Walt Disney World, kind of like MaxPass at Disneyland, only this will be exclusive to Club Level resort guests. If you are a club level resort guest will you be buying the extra Fastpasses?

Source: WFTV

Resort Child Activity Centers to Close July 31:

Due to lack of use, Walt Disney World will be closing its remaining Child Activity Centers at its resorts effective of their final day of operation on July 31, 2018. These activity centers are at Disney's Polynesian Village Resort, Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge, and Disney's Yacht & Beach Club Resorts. 

Disney will be exploring other options for its other guests. Any existing reservations will be honored through July 31. 

Source: WDW Info

First "Cars 3" Poster Revealed; New Highway in the Sky Dine-Around Coming Soon

First "Cars 3" Poster Revealed:

Last week, the very first teaser of Pixar's "Cars 3" was released showing Lightning McQueen, the veteran now, lagging behind and him flipping. The teaser ended with it saying, "From this moment, everything will change." The new poster released today takes on the same concept shows McQueen in midair of his crash. Could this be the end of the career of Lightning McQueen? Here is the poster:

"Cars 3" hits theaters June 16, 2017. 

New Highway in the Sky Dine-Around Coming Soon to Walt Disney World:

Beginning this Friday, December 2 a brand new dining experience is coming to the Walt Disney World. The new Highway in the Sky Dine-Around will allow guests to travel around on the monorail for an unparalleled dining journey to Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, Disney's Polynesian Village Resort, and Disney's Contemporary Resort. 

The tour begins at The Wave... of American Flavors at Disney's Contemporary. Here you'll begin with a welcome cocktail. Then you will board the monorail and head over to Disney's Polynesian Village Resort to celebrate the Spirit of the South Pacific with island-inspired sips and appetizers. 

You will then head over to Disney's Grand Floridian for a sumptuous entree and meal with wine pairing at the award-winning Citricos. After dinner guests will enjoy wine and sample artisanal cheeses in the lavish lobby of the resort. Guests will finish the tour by heading back to Disney's Contemporary. Here guests will enjoy desserts, cordials, and coffee on a private patio where they will also enjoy a viewing of Wishes over Cinderella Castle. 

The dining experience will take place on Tuesdays, Fridays, and Sundays beginning December 2. The Highway in the Sky Dine-Around will not be available December 23-31. Reservations are open today and it will cost $150/person, gratuity included and tax is not included. Valet Parking is included. For reservations, you can call 407-WDW-DINE.

"Today's Special Moments, Are Tomorrow's Memories." Trip Report Part 2

Magic Kingdom:

We woke up early, so we could meet my sister, brother-in-law, and their kids at Magic Kingdom to celebrate my nephew's 13th birthday. After we all got done eating breakfast and getting ready we were off to the park arriving shortly after 9:30. I really couldn't complain about the weather just look how beautiful the sky looked entering into the park.

We headed straight to First Aid to drop off my insulin and my sister stopped at the bakery for some coffee for her and my mom. While waiting for my sister to get the coffee I captured some of the best photos I've ever taken. Check some of them out:

Once my sister came back with the coffee, it was time to head over to Adventureland to meet up with my nephew on his birthday along with the rest of my family. Walking through the park you just get this magical feeling inside of you that makes you so happy. I guess that's why they call it the most happiest place on Earth. So we headed over to the Jungle Cruise to meet up with everyone. 

After my sister's family got off the Magic Carpets, we headed over to Jungle Cruise to ride one of my favorite rides in the Magic Kingdom. It's also a classic ride that I believe is a must-do anytime you go to Disney World. 

After an amazing ride on the Jungle Cruise, we headed over to Pirates of the Caribbean, a ride I hadn't been on since two trips before that. It was down when I went in May. You still get wet if you're in the first row and the water is still collecting in the bottom of the boat. So even though they fixed the animatronics in the ride the boat issue still there. We then tried to get on the Haunted Mansion before lunch but the line was too long. We headed over to Tony's for our lunch with the birthday boy. 

I hadn't been to Tony's in years as I was disappointed the last time we went there. This time though it was quite good. I had the pepperoni pizza, my father had the sausage pizza, and my sister and mother both had the margarita pizza. My sister and brother-in-law had the chicken parmesan with a white sauce. The kids had spaghetti and chicken tenders and noodles. Everything was quite delicious. We even got a cake for Zachary, my nephew. The service was just wonderful.

After the wonderful lunch we rushed over to Seven Dwarfs Mine Train for our FastPass. I know after riding this for the first time in May I said it was one of the best rides in Magic Kingdom, I stand by that statement. This was truly special as my youngest nephew Ben is now able to ride it. He loved it as he was sitting in the first row with my sister and had his hands up in the air the whole time. 

Once we got off the Mine Train it was time to go our separate ways for a little bit as we had different FastPasses. My Mom, Dad, sister and I headed over to Tomorrowland for our FastPass on Buzz. My Mom and I always have a little competition on this ride as its my most favorite ride at Magic Kingdom. I won this round as I do most other times. We then went to visit Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor, another one of my favorite shows in the park. This show makes me laugh every time. Like Roz says in her raspy voice, "I'm watching, always watching Wazowski." 

It was then time to meet back up with my sister, her husband and the kids to go on some of nephew's favorite attractions. First up was my nephew's favorite show in Carousel of Progress. Now this isn't my favorite attraction but it is one of those classics I believe can't be passed up. My nephew if he could would ride this for hours upon hours. Next, was a FastPass for Splash Mountain. My sister, Zack, my niece Abby, and I went on. With how hot it was it was the perfect time for riding Splash Mountain. Plus with the heat, we dried off rather quickly.

We headed back to Tomorrowland to meet up with the rest of my family. It was then that I finally got my picture taken with Buzz Lightyear. Buzz is really my favorite Disney character of all time. This was my first time ever I got my picture taken with him as every time we go the line is usually crazy long. 

It was getting late as we had to be out of the park by 7 because we didn't have tickets to the final Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party. My sister did however have tickets so we decided to get a family picture to remember the amazing time we had.

We then went our separate ways, my family is seriously the best. We may be imperfect at times but I wouldn't replace them in the whole world. My sister's family went to enjoy the party and we started to head out of the park. Before we left however we stopped in the emporium to buy some things. We then decided to head over to the Polynesian for dinner at Captain Cook's since we didn't have any reservations. 

Now the Polynesian is probably my family's resort to stay at so it wouldn't be a trip without at least visiting there. We headed over to take the monorail over. Once we arrived we headed downstairs to Captain Cook's. For dinner I had the Grilled Chicken Sandwich minus the pineapple salsa, it was delicious. I somehow failed to take any pictures at the Poly, major fail by me since its my favorite resort and the most beautiful. 

It was then time to head back to Port Orleans to rest up before we left the next day. It was a successful trip. I was sad that I was going home the next day and was thinking of when my next trip back to the World would be. The next day as I wrote in my resort review we just walked and toured around Port Orleans Riverside. By midday it was time to be picked up and head back to the airport to begin our trip back home to Pennsylvania. 

I finish this trip report with the title and what it means, "Today's special moments, are tomorrow's memories." This was said by the Genie in Aladdin and it holds so much meaning in this trip. The special moments with celebrating my nephew Zack's birthday in Disney World were truly special. The memories that were made I will cherish forever. 

New Force Awakes Footage Released on Instagram; First Glimpse of Battle of Jakku in Star Wars Battlefront; and More

New Force Awakens Footage Released on Instagram:

In 112 days, Star Wars: The Force Awakens will debut in theaters nationwide and today we got a little glimpse with a 15-second clip that was released on the Star Wars Instagram. The footage released opens with a voice saying, "There has been an awakening."

Then you get the clip of Kylo Ren igniting his cross guard lightsaber that we saw in the first trailer. Now we know who he was getting ready to fight. In the very next clip we see Finn wielding a blue lightsaber of his own, believed to be Luke's lightsaber. Here is the clip that was released.

There has been an awakening... #StarWars #TheForceAwakens

A video posted by Star Wars (@starwars) on Aug 27, 2015 at 10:00am PDT

First Glimpse of the Battle of Jakku from Star Wars Battlefront:

We even got a first glimpse today of what's to come in the upcoming game Star Wars Battlefront as we see our first look of the Battle of Jakku. The Battle of Jakku takes place 29 years before The Force Awakens. Here is what it said in the release from EA:

"As debris from battles above shower the desert ground, the feeling of chaos intensifying. A Star Destroyer has just crash-landed and some of its engines are still smoking. The battle has just begun...."

The Battle of Jakku in Star Wars Battlefront will be available December 1, 2015 for all those who pre-order, and a week later for everyone else. It was the pivotal moment when the New Republic confronted key Imperial holdouts on the desert remote planet. Jakku takes place in the aftermath of the Rebel victory in the Battle of Endor. Players will experience the events that created the massive, battle-scarred landscape of Jakku as seen in "Star Wars: The Force Awakens."

DICE Concept Artist Anton Grandert said, "There's a David and Goliath theme to this. The epic, huge super structures of the Star Destroyers contrast against the tiny but brave Rebel soldiers fighting the Imperial forces."

Together with Jakku, players will visit other iconic Star Wars locations like Hoth, Tatooine, Endor, and a previously unexplored planet of Sullust will be a part of Star Wars Battlefront. 

Resort Guests to Bypass Magic Kingdom Toll Plaza in the Future Among Other Changes:

Within the next five years, guests staying at Disney's Polynesian Village Resort and Disney's Contemporary Resort will no longer have to stop at the Magic Kingdom Toll Plaza. A flyover (bypass) will be built to allow traffic to pass the Toll Plaza along with other major changes to the Magic Kingdom parking area and vehicle main entrance that will be accommodated by the removal of the former Walt Disney World Speedway. 

This was revealed in an article by the Orlando Sentinel. Here are some of the other changes:

• A reconfiguration of Osceola Parkway at Victory Way, southeast of Disney’s Hollywood Studios and north of ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. A traditional intersection will be replaced with a flyover design similar to that at state roads 50 and 436 near Orlando. The flyover would take Osceola Parkway traffic over Victory Way.
• An extension of Western Way to Avalon Road, or County Road 545. Currently Western Way ends around the Flamingo Crossings development under construction.
• A Center Drive bypass to the west that will allow traffic heading south off Reams Road more direct access to Floridian Way.

This all ahead of major expansion of Hollywood Studios with Star Wars Land and Toy Story Land as well as the continuing construction of Pandora: The World of Avatar that will be taking place over the next few years. 

"Don't Know Where I'm Going, Only Know Where I've Been." Trip Report Part 2

Last week, we ended part 1 after my first full day in the park at Magic Kingdom. We now move onto Tuesday and Wednesday of the trip. So without further a do let's move into the next part of the trip report and create some memories.

Tuesday

It was Tuesday and we were going back to Epcot to enjoy the day. We just made it to the park for our first fastpass, Spaceship Earth, literally with just about 15 minutes to spare. We got in line to begin our journey to the future.

We had some time before our next fastpass at Figment, so we went to drop off my medication at First Aid. We decided to go into the past and learn about energy and dinosaurs at Ellen's Universe of Energy. This 40 minutes takes you into the past where energy began and even though most of the animatronics don't work or Ellen and the Elasmosaurus are missing, I still enjoy this attraction. After being cooled off in Universe of Energy it was time for a quick bathroom break. My sister and I headed over to Figment. This is one of my favorite attractions as Figment is one of my favorite Disney characters.

It was time for lunch at the Electric Umbrella. Now the Electric Umbrella is probably one of my favorite counter services in Disney World. You probably think I am nuts with how busy it is all the time. This time they have this French Dip Burger. It a 1/3 pound Angus burger with beef brisket, crispy onion straws, and muenster cheese served with grapes or fries. It is quite good and I enjoyed it not once but twice on this trip. For dessert they now have a chocolate cupcake that reminded me of a bakery that we have here near my house.

It was then time to head over to The Land pavilion and experience Soarin' over California. An adventure like no other, I love this attraction as it is my favorite attraction in Epcot. Hang gliding over California where you can literally smell everything like you really are hang gliding over California. Disney Imagineers are really amazing. After soaring over the west coast it was time to take a stroll around the countries for the afternoon before our dinner reservation at Coral Reef.

We first headed through Canada to enjoy "O Canada!" a fourteen-minute show hosted by actor Martin Short. This 360 degree circle theater has no seats so you must stand to enjoy the show. It was interesting as I haven't seen the show in quite some time. It was time to stroll the rest of the countries.

Now this is all leading up to Norway which as we discussed this week is under major renovation with the new 'Frozen Ever After' attraction coming to the pavilion.  I took some photos around Norway and of the walls  that are surrounding what is to the come of the area.

It was almost time to head over to The Sea pavilion for dinner but first it was time to stop at First Aid to pick up my medication. It was just about time for our reservation at The Coral Reef so we headed over for dinner under the sea. This is another restaurant that I hadn't been in years. For dinner I had the Grilled New York Strip Steak that is served with cheddar mashed potatoes, seasonal vegetables and a bercy butter. It was delicious but that wasn't even the best part of the meal. The dessert was exceptional and simply the best dessert I had while there. I had the Turtle Cheesecake which is a caramel cheesecake in the shape of a turtle with hazelnut praline and chantilly cream. I raved about this dessert even when I came home. 

After dinner we headed over to The Seas with Nemo & Friends. Another one of my favorite attractions in Epcot, you get to dive into the big blue world. The seas pavilion is amazing and the aquarium with all the fish makes it that much better. We took some pictures in The Sea pavilion before we headed off to Mouse Gear. We planned on staying for Illuminations that night so we still had time before we stopped to find our spot for that. 

After a visit to Mouse Gear, it was time to head over to World Showcase to find our spot for Illuminations. I'm not going to go into great detail into this great show of fireworks and the reflections of Earth. I'm just going to let the pictures show how beautiful it is. 

That ended our day at Epcot, the next day we were heading back to the Magic Kingdom.

Wednesday

This was going to be our last day in the Magic Kingdom so besides our fastpasses that we had it was going to be kind of a relaxing day to enjoy the beauty of it all. We arrived mid morning and just all around took it easy that day. I don't have many pictures until later in the day. We headed over to the Haunted Mansion for a ride with our favorite ghosts. That ride never gets old and is a classic attraction that has to be seen every trip. We had reservations for lunch at Be Our Guest. I'm not sure if I like lunch or dinner better as we just had lunch there this trip. Dinner is great I know because the steak is perfect at dinner but lunch the carved chuck roast beef sandwich was delicious as well. 

After lunch we headed back over to the Mine Train for our first fastpass of the day. Again I say one of the best attractions imagineers have created. We then headed towards Tomorrowland for our fastpass with Buzz. I won again in this friendly competition of a ride. My family and I headed over to the Carousel of Progress for a mid-afternoon break. Before we headed to our last fastpass at Big Thunder Mountain. We headed over to Main Street to enjoy Festival of Fantasy parade one more time. 

The parade once again was wonderful but we still had one last fastpass at Big Thunder Mountain. We headed over to Frontierland for the "wildest ride in the wilderness." The Magic Kingdom has so many great and classic rides. It is simply one of my favorite parks in Disney World. After our wild ride it was time to head to Main Street and the Emporium before we headed off to the Polynesian for dinner. At the Emporium we picked up some souvenirs for our family and ourselves. It was getting time to say goodbye to the Magic Kingdom and head off to dinner.

We headed to the monorail to get over to the Kona Cafe at the Polynesian, one of our favorite restaurants in all of Disney World. Now the Polynesian is one of my family's favorite resorts as we have stayed there multiple times when I was younger and most recently a few years ago as well. I knew about the renovations to the lobby are but I still miss the waterfall in the center. Maui, the Polynesian's official mascot has replaced it.

The Kona Cafe is amazing, the ginger-rubbed steak that has since been replaced on the menu was excellent. I have a new favorite dish though, the Pan-Asian noodles with chicken are quite delicious. My mother had the grilled New York strip steak with bacon molasses butter another very exquisite dish. My sister and father both had the grilled curry-crusted lamb chops. I was going to skip dessert but then I saw the Kilauea torte, my arm was twisted and I just had to have it. We decided to head around the resort and look around at all the new and exciting things at the Poly. A visit to Trader Sam's Grog Grotto was a must we couldn't get inside because of how busy it was. We decided to head outside to the Tiki Terrace out there. Another great job by imagineers on this bar/restaurant. 

After our visit to Trader Sam's it was time to check out what else the Polynesian had to offer. So I took a quick stroll around the resort and snapped some photos of the new pool area and the bungalows. After that it was time to go back to the Art of Animation to enjoy the pool. Here are the photos of what I saw at the Poly.

It was off to the monorail to the Magic Kingdom to catch our bus back to Art of Animation. It was a bittersweet day all capped off by swimming at our hotel in the Big Blue Pool I have one last photo a view of the bungalows at the Poly as a boat makes its way to the park from the Magic Kingdom bus area. It is beautiful and serene as your looking over the water to end the day at the parks.

This ends part 2 of my trip report and we are now half way through the trip with 3 days left. Be on the lookout for part 3 it will be up soon.