Every wonder what there is to do at one of Walt Disney World’s two waterparks? Let these kids tell you the highlights of their visit to Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon.
Video Courtesy of Disney Parks;
Galaxy’s Edge – Fully Interactive
When you visit Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at either Disneyland or Walt Disney World’s Hollywood Studios, you are not just visiting a new Disney world, but an all immersive and interactive experience.
Galaxy’s Edge isn’t a place built for vacationers to check things off a list. With nine shops and one ride— a second is due later this year for WDW and January for Disneyland — it’s designed to encourage guests to participate in the action, be it role playing with in-character staff, strolling among the shops or playing the app.
Soon after you arrive to Batuu, the Play Disney Parks app will transform into the Star Wars: Datapad—designed to guide you deeper and deeper into an adventure in a galaxy far, far away.
Whether you’re interacting with droids or taking on jobs, the Play Disney Parks app will be a vital tool when it comes to living your own Star Wars story!
Get ready to bring your adventure to life in the following ways:
- Translate galactic languages—both written and spoken.
- Discover precious cargo and digital goods as you scan objects all around the spaceport—including items hidden inside space-shipping crates and containers.
- Tune into communications sent by the planet’s many residents to uncover stories and secrets throughout the land—and unscramble transmissions being sent from far, far away.
- Use the Play Disney Parks app to hack into the land’s many devices, control panels and droids.
As the app guides you along, you’ll have the chance to pledge your loyalty to the First Order, support the Resistance, or strike out on your own as a scoundrel. And with each job you complete, you’ll receive digital rewards like ship schematics, star maps, galactic credits and more!
NBA Experience Store Open at Disney Springs
The official opening of the new NBA Experience is set for August 12th, 2019. In advance of the opening, the merchandise store for the location is already open and ready for guests. Guests will find a variety of great items at the store like clothing, matted basketball photography, special Loungefly backpacks, collectibles, hats and other great items that basketball fans will love. There is also a special station where guests can personalize Magic Bands, water bottles, phones, etc. for purchase.
Here are some of the previously announced details for NBA Experience from Disney Parks Blog:
- When you enter NBA Experience, you’ll feel like you’re walking through the players’ tunnel out onto the court at an NBA or WNBA arena.
- A ticket to NBA Experience grants you access to every activity in any order you choose, and you can return to stations multiple times to try and improve your performance or learn more about the game, the players and the teams you love.
- In an activity that tests shooting skills, spots will light up on the court as you move from one location to another attempting to sink as many shots as possible in 15 seconds.
- In a slam dunk challenge, you can change the height of a standard 10-foot-tall rim to as low as seven feet so you can perform your own superstar moves – captured by burst photography.
- See how you stack up to some of the world’s best basketball players by measuring your vertical leap, wingspan, and shooting and dribbling skills.
- Various activities can be personalized with your name and associated with your favorite NBA or WNBA teams, and your stats will be tracked just like a real pro game.
- Real-time technology will aggregate stats of NBA and WNBA games and players for continuous updates, while leaderboards will show top NBA Experience performers throughout the day – will your name be at the top?
Tickets are already available for NBA Experience. For guests that are interested in purchasing tickets, they are on sale for $34, plus tax for guests ages 10 and older or $29, plus tax for guests ages 3 to 9. They are available at locations where Walt Disney world theme park tickets are sold, including online.
Disney Skyliner May Partially Open Next Month
Many guests are excited to take their first ride on the Disney Skyliner high above the Vacation Kingdom of the World, but also want to know just when that might be.
While those adverse to heights, claustrophobic spaces, or perhaps those just afraid of the possible high temperatures inside of the gondolas may not be quite as excited, those of you anticipating the newest Walt Disney World transportation system will be happy to know that you’ll likely be able to ride through the skies beginning in August 2019.
According to WDW News Today and construction personnel working on the project, the Disney Skyliner will open to guests on August 28th, the day before the official opening of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
They expect that the Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort, and Disney’s Art of Animation/Pop Century Resort stations and lines will be open on that date. For whatever reason, they stated implicitly that the Epcot line will not be ready for August 28th.
Obviously, the Disney’s Rivera Resort station will not open in August either, as the resort will not be operating until later in the year.
Disney has yet to announce these dates officially, but several employees on-site for the project freely provided this information. At the very least, it seems to be a targeted opening date, and based on the visible progress we’ve seen, it seems HIGHLY likely. Things can certainly change, but the Skyliner operating by the time Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge opens feels like a safe bet.
Permit Filed for Walkway From Magic Kingdom to Grand Floridian
More construction is in the works around the Magic Kingdom. There has been a permit filed stating that there will be a walkway put in place between the Grand Floridian Resort and Spa and Magic Kingdom Park. I know this makes many happy as people enjoy the walk from the Contemporary Resort to Magic Kingdom. We have no other info on the walkway at this time.
As you can notice from the monorail, there is a pedestrian walkway already starting from the Grand Floridian resort but it stops at the canal. Some have speculated that is because that is where the Water Pageant floats use the canal to go to and from storage after the nighttime water parade.
If this is completed, this would give guests at the Grand Floridian and Polynesian an additional route to get to the Magic Kingdom. More access is never a bad thing.
Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa is a deluxe resort at Walt Disney World and is home to some of the best restaurants on Walt Disney World property, including one of the our personal favorites, 1900 Park Fare.