It’s been another beautiful week out at Walt Disney World. With so much returning to normal around the resort, things are really feeling like old times in many ways. But it’s not all sunshine and roses (even though EPCOT’s Flower & Garden Festival is running!), Lightning Lane has been causing problems and not meeting guest expectations. We’ll take a look at all that, plus projects, construction, new attractions and much more in today’s EPCOT-centric Walt Disney World Update!

Next to Normal – News in a Nutshell

With the latest wave of reveals from Disney, operations at Walt Disney World are normalizing. While there may be some issues with the recent integration of Genie+ and Lightning Lane, it’s nice to see the rest of the resort looking like itself again. Here’s a list of the latest resumptions, and what’s to come later this year:

• Disney Vacation Club Moonlight Magic extra hour events have resumed as of March 17th. See more from our experience below!
• Disney’s All-Star Sports Resort re-opened last week. With its reopening, all of WDW’s hotels are now in operation.
• Typhoon Lagoon H2O Glow After Hours returns; a 3-hour long glow party with lower wait times, included snacks and beverages, and a DJ dance party. Tickets are now available for select nights from May 28 through August 27. 
• No more distanced character selfies: Character Meet & Greets will return to normal as early as April 18th. We can hug Mickey again!
• Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Review is set to return to Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground on June 23rd (reservations open on May 26th)
• Minnie Vans, connected by Lyft ride-share service, will return to the resort this summer.

• Later this summer, the Disney Cultural Representative Program is resuming at EPCOT with a phased introduction. Initial recruitment will start in Norway, Germany, Italy, France, UK, and Canada for their respective countries within the World Showcase, welcoming the first group of participants in August. (Additional countries will be able to apply once possible with cleared travel restrictions.)
• While the Parking Lot Trams returned to the Ticket & Transportation Center for Magic Kingdom guests in December 2021, the Trams for EPCOT, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and Disney’s Animal Kingdom haven’t returned yet, but will resume sometime this year. 
• A revamped Fantasmic! will be returning to Disney’s Hollywood Studios this year.

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Limited Lightning Lane

Disney is resetting expectations when it comes to Genie+. The early marketing of the $15/per person add-on made it sound like guests would be able to ride any of the Lightning Lane attractions they wanted. Unfortunately, the reality is Lightning Lane return times book up early in the morning, often leaving guests with little to nothing to choose from, facing longer standby lines as a result. Even when guests purchase the add-on, they’re rarely able to experience more than two or three attractions with Genie+ Lightning Lane access if they can time it right.

Disney has clarified this themselves:

“On average, guests can enter 2 to 3 attractions or experiences per day using the Lightning Lane entrance if the first selection is made early in the day.”

The statement was added to the Lightning Lane portion on disneyworld.com:

With lines now longer than ever due to Genie+ and guests only able to enter 2 or 3 attractions IF they make their first selection early in the day, is Lightning Lane making the park experience better or worse in your opinion – Lightning Lane or Lame?

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Celebrate with a Coke

Disney unveiled a new line of Coca-Cola bottles celebrating the resort’s 50th anniversary, and they are now available at all four WDW parks. The bottles feature each of the four park icons with their own unique EARidescent colors on the labels, plus a fifth bottle with a special gold label. The bottles are shaped just like the bottles that were sold at Walt Disney World when it opened in 1971!

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Everything’s Coming Up EPCOT

EPCOT’s Food & Wine Festival Returns this Summer

EPCOT’s International Food & Wine Festival kicks off July 14th this year and will continue through November 19th. 4 months of Food & Wine!

Over 25 Global Marketplaces will serve familiar favorites along with new festival offerings. The Eat to the Beat Concert Series will return, as well as Remy’s Ratatouille Hide & Squeak scavenger hunt. We’ll keep you updated as more festival info becomes available! Until then, enjoy the flower and food of Flower & Garden, which continues through July 4th.

https://www.micechat.com/316315-now-blooming-epcot-international-flower-garden-festival/

Assuming the limited-time festival Points of Light segments on Spaceship Earth continue… any bets on what Food & Wine’s could be? Perhaps something to the tune of “Be Our Guest”?

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Cosmic Rewind: Coming Soon!

Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind will be the first other-world showcase pavilion at EPCOT, hosting the park’s first roller coaster. The attraction will officially open on May 27th, as part of Walt Disney World’s 50th-anniversary celebration. But there will be Cast Member, Passholder, and DVC Member previews before that date. 

Last week, Disney shared an inside look at the queue for EPCOT’s first coaster, Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind. Within the Wonders of Xandar pavilion is the Galaxarium – an observatory of the entire galaxy, from Earth to Xandar.

Read more about the upcoming roller coaster for EPCOT here:

NEW RIDE: EPCOT’s Guardians of the Galaxy Coaster Reviewed!

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This Way, That Way 

With EPCOT’s ongoing transformation, there are still plenty of construction walls surrounding the former Future World. Recently, the pathway from the entrance to World Showcase has shifted. There is now direct access from the front of the park to the World Showcase Lagoon without zig-zagging through the east or west world Neighborhoods.

With this pathway shift, the west exit for Project Tomorrow (Spaceship Earth’s post-show) has reopened:

Also accessible from this route is Connections Cafe, the park’s newest Starbucks and dining location opening soon. Connections Cafe replaces the now-defunct Electric Umbrella, located just across from the Creations shop. 

Planters block the entrances, and the windows are blacked out for now, but some of the eatery’s lights are on!

In addition to being your new Starbucks stop, Connections will host a quick-service dining menu. Last week, Disney Parks Blog shared a look at the menu, including salad, burger, chicken, and pizza options. View the full lunch and dinner menu here!

See anything you’d like to try? 

Zach Riddley recently shared some images of Connections’ flooring which honors the geometry and symmetry of Walt’s original vision for EPCOT:

 

 

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Zach Riddley (@thezachriddley)

Additionally, an original handpainted mural stretches 160 feet along the back wall of Connections, demonstrating how we’re all connected through global cuisine. Riddley shares:

This original piece, titled “Global Gathering,” is a celebration of various food and beverage staples from around the world, and how we are all connected by enjoying a meal together. Highlighting eight distinct regions of the globe, this vibrant installation depicts people cultivating or gathering around food, such as potatoes from the Andes Mountains in Peru or black pepper from the Malabar Coast of India. The piece also evolves from sunrise in the east to sunset in the west across the full span of the eatery – culminating in one of the largest art installations Imagineering has created. That scale and stunning vibrancy celebrates global diversity with a simple, universal concept: the moments we have in common around food, meals, traditions and memories.

An official opening date has not been announced for Connections, but it looks like it’s just about ready! It’s likely the new eatery will open along with Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind next month.

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Moonlight Magic Returns

Disney Parks are best at night. Especially after they’re closed and fewer guests are in the park… While Disney After Hours events returned in late 2021, free DVC extra hours events have only recently returned for the first time since March 2020. EPCOT’s first Moonlight Magic event took place on March 17th, and again on the 31st. Here is our experience from the 31st! 

Moonlight Magic is an exclusive benefit for Disney Vacation Club members, taking place after the park closes. Activities include access to select attractions with shorter-than-usual wait times, rare character sightings, special entertainment, and free treats. 

While the event begins an hour after the park closes to guests, DVC members receive complimentary admission to the park as early as 6 PM on the event date. (or even earlier as long as they have admission and a park reservation.)

At event check-in, you’ll receive three complimentary snack vouchers, along with an informational pamphlet outlining the available food and beverage locations, characters locations, entertainment, and open attractions during Moonlight Magic.

Lower Wait Times – Select EPCOT attractions are open during the extra hours: Spaceship Earth, Journey Into Imagination, Test Track, Soarin’ Over the World, Living with the Land, Gran Fiesta Tour, Frozen Ever After, and Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure.

(We were able to experience Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure with a 20-minute standby line. The event concluded at 1AM, but on the night we visited, some of the more popular attractions – including Frozen Ever After, Test Track, and Spaceship Earth – all went down 11:50PM. At that time, Frozen Ever After closed for the night, and we’re not sure if the other two attractions became available again. Just before Frozen Ever After closed, we had waited 15 minutes before being turned away at the loading dock.)

Complimentary Snacks – In addition to the three snack vouchers which can be redeemed at select Flower & Garden Outdoor Kitchens and dining locations; Premium Mickey Ice Cream Bars and Strawberry Fruit Bars are unlimited and free during the event. The lines for ice cream are basically non-existent, so bring your sweet tooth!

Entertainment – Exclusive firework shows were once a highlight of Moonlight Magic events. We’re hopeful these will return as the parks continue to resume normal operations. In the meantime, Moonlight Magic grants DVC members early access to EPCOT to experience the park’s nightly spectacular, Harmonious, before the after hours event starts. 

Another highlight… the music! A Moonlight Magic setlist plays over EPCOT’s speakers all around the park. We Go On from Illuminations, Baroque Hoedown from the Main Street Electrical Parade, remixes of Stand Out from a Goofy Movie, and Grim Grinning Ghosts with lines from the Ghost Host himself – it’s a party for any Disney enthusiast’s ears to sing and dance along to those tunes at an empty EPCOT. We overheard several guests discussing and asking if the soundtrack is available for purchase or download. Maybe someday?

Rare Character Sightings – This is where the event really shines. Seeing characters you may not ever see anywhere else at a Disney park! Character sightings happen intermittently from 10PM to 12:30AM, most characters alternate every 20-30 minutes. EPCOT’s Moonlight Magic is themed to Disney Villains. On the evening we attended, Oogie Boogie, The Evil Queen/Old Hag, Pain & Panic, Gaston, and the Queen of Hearts were stationed around the park. (We had seen Kronk was out during the 3/17 event. Sadly, he was missing on 3/31 – if you can even count him as a villain at all!)

 

PRO TIP: Redeem your snack vouchers and popcorn bucket voucher early in the evening, as lines tend to get really long as guests prepare to leave:

If doing rides isn’t important to you, skip them! Once the event kicks off at 10PM, enjoy the shorter lines for free ice cream bars, the fun playlist playing throughout the park, and seek out those rare characters! With a park as vast as EPCOT, this could easily take three hours.

Let’s Hear From You

That was a whole lot of WDW news to cover in just a short span of time! With the parks recording record profits, is the resort moving toward normal operation quickly enough? Do you think it’s fair to only expect to use Genie+ 2-3 times a day if you’re paying a surcharge for the service? Are you excited for the upcoming Food & Wine Festival? Looking forward to Guardians of the Galaxy Mission Breakout? Share your thoughts in the comments below!