The land where “once upon a time” happens every day is about to become even more magical as princesses Belle and Ariel return to the Enchanted Forest in Fantasyland.
These beloved experiences will return on the following dates:
Meet Ariel at Her Grotto: Jan. 22
Enchanted Tales with Belle: Feb. 19
Both returning experiences will be added as selections to Disney Genie+ service on their respective reopening dates. With these additions, guests will have even more options to choose from when using Disney Genie+ service. As a reminder, the purchase of Disney Genie+ service is available in addition to a standby entrance.
There are a lot of shows that are synonymous with Disney, one of them being the nighttime spectacular Fantasmic!. At Walt Disney World Resort, Fantasmic! takes place in the Hollywood Hills Amphitheater at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and, at Disneyland Resort, the show takes place along the Rivers of America in Frontierland at Disneyland Park. Since the show first premiered at both Disneyland and Disney World, it has undergone several changes — with new versions of the show premiering at both Resorts last year.
In a surprising turn, Guests visiting Disneyland will find themselves unable to watch the classic show, starting immediately. According to the Disneyland Resort website, all nightly viewings of Fantasmic! have been canceled through February 2. At this time, Disney has not released a statement as to why it has chosen to stop the theme park show. It has been raining a lot in Southern California, but that wouldn’t account for canceling nearly three weeks’ worth of shows.
Haven’t had a chance to see Fantasmic! at Disneyland Park yet? Here’s some more info on Disney’s iconic nighttime show:
When Dreams Come to Life
As darkness falls, dazzling special effects transform the Rivers of America into an epic canvas for this extravagant live show.
Fast asleep, Mickey dreams he is the Sorcerer’s Apprentice. With a wave of his hands, he conducts scenes from Fantasia across enormous screens of water while brilliant sparks burst overhead. Pink elephants, swashbuckling pirates, princesses and more—including memorable scenes from Disney classics such as Aladdin, The Lion King, Tangled and Pirates of the Caribbean—appear on and around the Rivers of America.
When Mickey is suddenly pulled into the Magic Mirror, his dream takes a dark turn. The Evil Queen from Snow White conjures up some of Disney’s most dastardly villains—including Maleficent as a 45-foot, fire-breathing dragon! Mickey must use the power of his imagination to vanquish his foes—and save the day.
Featuring a fantastical array of live performers, beloved Disney characters, enhanced special effects, state-of-the-art projections and superb pyrotechnics, this show will wow the entire family.
Disney Dining will update readers if changes are made to Disneyland’s schedule and Fantasmic! resumes its shows at Disneyland Park before the February 2 date.
Guests need a Park reservation to visit each of the four parks at Walt Disney World. Guests can still park hop, but they will need a valid ticket and reservation date to do so. Guests also need to wait until 2 p.m. to visit their second Park.
Once Walt Disney World and Disneyland reopened to Guests after temporarily closing due to the ongoing pandemic, the theme parks implemented a new reservation system to help monitor Park capacity called the Park Pass system. In order to enter a theme park at Walt Disney World or Disneyland, Guests must not only have valid Park admission but a valid Park Pass reservation.
NEW: At Walt Disney World, Annual Passholders will be able to visit theme parks after 2 p.m. without needing a park reservation. The only exception is Saturdays and Sundays at Magic Kingdom. pic.twitter.com/9DsOwLsKKo
At Walt Disney World, Annual Passholders will now be able to park hop after 2 p.m. without needing a reservation. There are exceptions, however, with Magic Kingdom being unaffected by this new policy on Saturdays and Sundays.
To enter a theme park, you will need a theme park reservation and valid admission for that theme park—for each day you’d like to visit:
Before You Make a Purchase
Please check to see if your desired date and theme park is currently available before purchasing your ticket, Annual Pass or vacation package. Keep your reservation date preference in mind when selecting your ticket, Annual Pass or package. Different types of admission—such as tickets, Annual Passes or packages—may have different reservation date availability.
Park Hoppers have been a major asset to Disney Parks, especially at the Disneyland Resort, where Disneyland and Disney California Adventure Parks are closer together and somewhat easier to go back and forth.
As the Parks have reopened since COVID, there have been Park Hopping restrictions, only giving Guests certain times of the day when they could begin Park Hopping to ensure that Park capacity and health regulations were being met. As time has gone on though, these restrictions have been continually modified to comply with health guidelines.
Disneyland made a major announcement regarding Park Hopping restrictions.
Reporter @ScottGustin shared on Twitter that starting February 4, the Park Hopping hours at Disneyland will start at 11 a.m. instead of 1 p.m., which were the previous Park Hopping hours.
NEW: Park hopping hours at Disneyland will begin at 11 a.m. starting February 4. Also starting on that date, guests will also be able to receive complimentary PhotoPass attraction downloads for the Disney100 celebration pic.twitter.com/9a9bTYiN9K
The policy lists that starting February 4, Guests who have a Magic Key pass or Park Hopper ticket can begin Park Hopping at 11 a.m., two hours earlier than the previous restrictions allowed. This gives Guests more time to enjoy both Parks.
The new policy also indicates that Disneyland’s reservation calendar would allow Guests to be able to enjoy almost two months’ worth of the $104 Park ticket dates throughout 2023. This price is currently the lowest tier of ticket prices for one-day, one-park tickets.
And, to add icing to the cake, Disneyland is offering free Disney PhotoPasses to all Guests who have tickets and are using the Disneyland app, starting February 4 and lasting throughout the Disney100 celebration at the Resort.
During this celebration, starting January 27, Guests have the opportunity to view the two new nighttime shows: the new fireworks show “Wondrous Journeys” at Disneyland, as well as the World of Color – One show at Disney California Adventure.
These current policies are not yet updated on Disneyland’s website, as of now. But we expect these changes to be made relatively soon, especially as Guests buy tickets and Park Hoppers in the next few weeks.
While we prefer to think of everything at Walt Disney World Resort being covered with magical pixie dust, the truth is, when that many people come together, incidents are bound to happen even in a Disney Park. A recent fight erupted at Magic Kingdom Park, leaving Disney fans to debate what the rule should be for holding spots in line.
From physical altercations to verbal fights, we’ve seemingly seen an uptick in the amount of hot-headed Disney Park Guests. Just this past summer, Magic Kingdom made national news as a massive brawl broke out between two parties of Park Guests as a person left an attraction line to retrieve her forgotten phone, then reentered, passing by others that felt she was skipping the line.
EPCOT has had its share of disruptive behavior, with a fight that occurred near the Living With the Land attraction, as well as a fight that broke out at Toy Story Land at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. But Walt Disney World Resort is not alone. We’ve also seen altercations unfold at Disneyland Resort despite it being “The Happiest Place on Earth.”
Guest behavior can be unpredictable… so much so that it wasn’t too long ago that Walt Disney World Resort issued a statement warning Guests to be courteous. Disneyland Resort followed suit and issued a statement soon after. While there are numerous reasons these fights have unfolded in the Disney Parks, many of them point back to potential line cutting while waiting for an attraction.
A new video captures a verbal fight that took place while Guests were in the notoriously long standby line for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train at Magic Kingdom Park.
As you’ll see in the video below (which contains some language), an individual attempted to reunite with her family after reportedly leaving the line to go to the restroom. She was stopped by a Park Guest that refused to let her pass. @themeparkettes took to TikTok to share the video, along with the message:
“Note: This is not my normal content. I try to share only helpful and fun theme park content and travel tips. But at every park I’ve been to, at least once a day, the question of “is it saving a spot or is it cutting?” comes up. Every so often, it leads to an argument. This one was louder than most. And because of where it was in line, could not have been handled by a Cast Member, so it was really up to the people in line, the “court of public opinion” to decide. But no one seemed to definitively know if it was against the rules or not. What do YOU think the rule should be?”
Note: This is not my normal content. I try to share only helpful and fun theme park content and travel tips. But at every park I’ve been to, at least once a day, the question of “is it saving a spot or is it cutting?” comes up. Every so often, it leads to an argument. This one was louder than most. And because of where it was in line, could not have been handled by a Cast Member, so it was really up to the people in line, the “court of public opinion” to decide. But no one seemed to definitively know if it was against the rules or not. What do YOU think the rule should be? #themeparktiktok#themeparktok#disneyfights#linecutting#themeparkqueue
