Celebrate National Roller Coaster Day with Virtual Rides on 8 Disney Coasters!

Posted on by Mathew Corn Animal Kingdom, Disney Parks, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, Magic Kingdom

Today is National Roller Coaster Day, so Disney is celebrating with a mashup video of Disney coasters from around the world. Plus, they have also shared links to 8 Disney coasters for as much virtual rides as you’d like.

When you click on the video below, it’s like you’re magically transported from one Disney park to the next and dropped right into a seat on your favorite coaster. Be sure to keep your arms inside the vehicle at all times and remove your hats and glasses, because you’ll experience high-speed launches, climb to the top of a mountain, brave a forbidden temple and much more. And along this high-speed journey, you may learn a thing or two about Disney coasters, too! If you can keep your eyes open, that is.

So, happy National Roller Coaster Day, everyone! If you want even more Disney fun, follow the links below to the full “Ride & Learn” video from each coaster you saw here.

Find more “Ride & Learn” videos:

Select Walt Disney World Restaurants May Remain Open After Park Hours Are Reduced

Posted on by Mathew Corn Animal Kingdom, Disney Parks, Disney+, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, Magic Kingdom

While Disney has yet to make an official announcement, when looking at restaurant reservation availability on the Walt Disney World website after the park hours are reduced, guests can make reservations at select restaurants that are scheduled to remain open after the park closes.

Magic Kingdom’s park hours will be 9am to 6pm beginning September 8. Two restaurants including Be Our Guest Restaurant and Liberty Tree Tavern are open for dinner until 7pm, an hour after park closing. Reservations are available for the 6pm – 7pm hour. Table service restaurants showing closure at 6pm with the park include Jungle Navigation Co. LTD Skipper Canteen, The Plaza Restaurant, and Tony’s Town Square Restaurant.

Disney’s Hollywood Studios’ park hours will be 10am to 7pm beginning September 8. Three restaurants including 50’s Prime Time Cafe, Oga’s Cantina, and Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater Restaurant are open for dinner until 8pm, an hour after park closing. Reservations are available for the 7pm – 8pm hour. Table service restaurants showing closure at 7pm with the park include The Hollywood Brown Derby and Mama Melrose’s Ristorante Italiano.

All table-service restaurants at EPCOT and Disney’s Animal Kingdom are currently showing they are scheduled to close at park closure which is 7pm for EPCOT and 5pm for Disney’s Animal Kingdom beginning September 8.

Thousands of Walt Disney World Cast Members Remain on Furlough

Posted on by Mathew Corn Disney Parks

We’re thrilled Walt Disney World parks are open after COVID-19 closures. With social distancing guidelines, resort hotel closures, and shorter park hours however, thousands of Walt Disney World Cast Members remain on furlough.

As shared by OrlandoSentinel: In Central Florida, thousands of employees are sidelined even as the theme parks have reopened for business. Some are unsure if they will ever go back to their old jobs.

About 10,000 out of the 18,000 Disney hotel housekeepers and food/beverage workers in Unite Here Local 737 haven’t returned to work yet, said Jeremy Haicken, a leader of the union.

“It’s an enormous number. All of them are at the mercy of this horrible unemployment system. They’re now living at most $275 a week while the Congress and the president squabble. It’s unreal what people are going through,” Haicken said. “At the moment, there isn’t a light at the end of the tunnel.”

The theme parks, which once never had a slow time in the year, are cutting expenses. After a $2 billion dollar quarterly loss, Disney World plans to shorten park hours so some days in September the Magic Kingdom will close as early as 6 p.m.

At SeaWorld Orlando, the company has advertised to hire some new workers when it hasn’t recalled all the furloughed employees, several workers said, and they complained the company isn’t communicating with them. SeaWorld Orlando is no longer open seven days a week and delayed the opening of its newest coaster Ice Breaker to 2021.

At Universal, an undisclosed number of employees were laid off July 31. 

The tourism-driven Orlando metropolitan area ranks as the No. 9 most vulnerable in the nation to job losses from the pandemic following behind other vacation destinations that include Las Vegas and Atlantic City. In June, metro Orlando’s unemployment rate reached 16.5%, the highest in the state.

Cinderella Castle Finishing Touches Are Complete at Walt Disney World

Posted on by Mathew Corn Disney Parks, Magic Kingdom

The Cinderella Castle makeover is finally complete! When visiting Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom, you’ll see the royal makeover dazzle at the end of Main Street U.S.A.

Zach Riddley, Walt Disney World Site Portfolio Executive at Walt Disney Imagineering took to Instagram to share three photos of the final touches.

Zach shares: “Last month I joined members of our @waltdisneyimagineering team behind the new #CinderellaCastle design as finishing touches were completed. Did you know that the castle was hand painted from the rocks in the moat all the way to the spires at the top of the castle? This allows us to compose each stone and surface for perfect views all around. And many areas were painted with glistening gold for the very first time. 

We’re so glad the makeover is complete! What do you think of the new Cinderella Castle look?

New Baby Yoda PhotoPass Magic Shot at Disney’s Hollywood Studios

Posted on by Mathew Corn Disney Parks, Hollywood Studios

Do you ever wish you could step into the world of “The Mandalorian”? With this new Baby Yoda Magic Shot inside Galaxy’s Edge at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, you can! In photographic form, at least.

Baby Yoda, otherwise known as The Child, floats alongside you and your family in his little hover pod in this new Magic Shot being offered by Disney PhotoPass. Next time you’re at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, head on over to the exit path leading over to Toy Story Land and you’ll find a PhotoPass photographer (we’ve seen them on either side of the path) waiting to take your photo with Baby Yoda. Do note that these Magic Shots do take a while to load onto your My Disney Experience account, so be patient, you must.

The lovable creature was made famous by the Disney+ series, “The Mandalorian”. The show debuted to critical acclaim and was even nominated for 15 Emmy Awards. If you want to take home your own Baby Yoda, you can find one that talks or one that’s especially good to cuddle right here at Walt Disney World.