Watch This Before You Go Back to Disney World

after a long period of disney world closures announcements and numerous other changes are you finally ready to book that dream vacation if it's been a minute since your last visit or if this is your first time visiting ever then stick around i've got a few things you need to catch up on [Music] hey everybody it's aj for disney food blog today i'm gonna fill you in on all the different changes disney world has undergone lately now trust me friends disney world has changed a lot over the past year and a half so if you don't want to be blindsided by the latest updates and price increases before you take those first steps to securing your disney world tickets and reservations then hold on tight buckle up because we're about to take you on a ride through this hectic time in disney world history what a time to be alive let's go okay disney technology is a force to be reckoned with because there is a lot going on when it comes to technological advancements disney parks have always prided themselves in getting ahead of the game except when it comes to tomorrowland where they never can't seem to catch up one of the ways disney helps guests stay connected and keep guest reservations pictures park maps all in one place is the my disney experience app now this app isn't brand spanking new like some of the other techie things i'll be talking about in just a second rather this app launched back in january 2013 so if you've been to the park since then you've probably heard about all the things this app can do for you however over the years the my disney experience app mde mdx however you refer to it has been updated and upgraded how so for starters you can now use the my disney experience apps mobile checkout feature to purchase items in disney gift shops without having to wait in crazy long lines not every gift shop just select gift shops as disney likes to call like certain they always use the word select for some reason but you can also mobile order quick service meals at disney parks and hotels and the my disney experience app also provides you with another way to hold on to your park tickets without having to carry around a physical ticket or wear a magic band the disney magic mobile keeps yours and your travel parties valid admissions on the app you can even customize your virtual tickets with cute little disney characters because disney knows we're always suckers for customization and then there's a virtual cue option which has been a rodeo lately let me tell you once upon a time and not too terribly long ago one of the only ways to ride disney's hollywood studios top tier star wars attraction rise of the resistance was to get a spot in its virtual queue and to do that you had to snag a boarding pass on your my disney experience app however on september 23rd disney paused boarding pass distributions for rise of the resistance now guests will have to wait in the traditional queue line or pay for line jumping privileges which i'll talk about again in just a second this doesn't mean boarding passes are gone for good though in fact disney will still be using boarding pass distributions and virtual queues for the newest epcot dark ride remy's ratatouille adventure which opens to the public october 1st and since disney announced that rise their resistance boarding passes are on pause and not cancelled altogether the team and i are taking that as a big sign that disney will more than likely use them for the star wars attraction at a later date and help control massive crowd levels keep an eye on our channel so you can keep track of when or if boarding passes will return for rise of the resistance or if they'll be announced for other attractions later on in the meantime you're more than welcome to check out my videos covering the boarding pass procedures of the past so that you'll know what to expect when it comes to securing your place in line for remy's ratatouille adventure okay just a second go i mentioned how you'll eventually have the option of paying to skip the line for rise of the resistance so let's move on to that next in the not so distant future the my disney experience app will feature a new extension which will connect you to the disney genie app the disney genie will be at base level a complimentary app that'll help guests maximize their time in the parks according to disney the free version of disney genie will create customized itineraries for you and your travel party based on park preferences through these itineraries disney's going to be able to guide you around the parks give you helpful tips as to what times of the day you should hit up certain rides and attractions to avoid those overly excruciating wait times so it's basically disney's version of a touring plan however these itineraries won't guarantee that you won't still have to wait in a super long queue especially if you're trying to hit up a more popular attraction during a crowded disney day and that's where the disney genie plus comes in yep you have to pay to skip the lines now for an extra 15 per person per day you can pay for the disney genie plus feature which will give you access to disney's lightning lanes remember those fastpass queues that's basically the lightning lanes now they allow you to bypass the standard q line for select attractions and enter a line that's much much much shorter so you don't have to worry about waiting hours to board certain rides the main differences between lightning lanes and the old fastpass system are that a fastpass was a free service and lightning lane is a premium one and b you could schedule three fastpass selections 30 to 60 days before your trip started whereas now you'll only be able to make lightning lane selections on the day of your visit i've got a video breaking down all your questions surrounding this new service you can go check that out but for now that's the basic gist of the new system with the lightning lanes you'll be able to choose to bypass the main lines of over 40 different rides and attractions there are a few exceptions though the more popular rides like rise of the resistance remy's ratatouille adventure and seven dwarfs mine train will not be included in lightning lane selections those are what we call fancy rides always a loophole instead you'll have to pay extra for an individual attraction selection to skip the line at these premium rides meaning you'll have to pay a separate price to skip the lines of these premium rides so you've already paid for disney genie plus and then to ride these guys you've got to pay an extra individual attraction rate now i'm splitting hairs here but you don't actually have to have disney genie plus in order to buy the special fancy rides those can be bought separately but you cannot get them through just disney genie plus again i already did lots of videos on this lots of stuff explained in those videos so definitely go check those out now when the disney genie app goes live this fall i recommend you go ahead and download it to at least study up on its features even if you're not a fan of what you're hearing about regarding this new service it's still good to familiarize yourself with the latest park edition and check out what it can do for you for free you got nothing to lose right and if you still don't like it your phone has a delete option for a reason but disney's invested a lot of money and a lot of time and a lot of marketing into this and i don't think it's going anywhere anytime soon so might as well get used to it now the biggest thing you need to take away from all this techie talk is this when you go to disney make sure to keep your phone charged bring portable chargers so you can charge while you're on the go and bring usb cords so you can charge your phone while at select stationary spots that have charging ports available for you to use did you forget both of those items no worries you can always purchase that fuel rod for 30 bucks at one of the fuel rod machines around the property fuel rods are portable chargers and when your fuel rod is drained of all its charging juice you're more than welcome to swap it out for a fully charged one at the next fuel rod station you come by okay you are gonna need to stretch your wallet this is the next thing you need to know if you're thinking about going to disney world not even wishing upon a star is gonna keep away those disney price increases not for any of us during your next disney visit you might run across some hidden fees on your vacation bill that you weren't expecting and though some of those price hikes seem fairly insignificant they are still fierce because there are many expect to pay for all magic bands from here on out even if you're staying at a disney hotel you'll no longer be able to select complimentary magic bands to be delivered to your house so if you're still wanting new magic bands before the start of your trip and you want them delivered to your home you'll need to purchase them ahead of time magic bands range in price on the shop disney website from 20 bucks to 24.99 and up depending on if you're looking for a basic style or you're wanting to purchase something with more bling or you're trying to snatch an exclusive design another thing that's no longer complimentary with your disney hotel state is parking if you drive to disney and park in your resorts lot expect to pay around 15 to 25 per night to keep your car on property so what other major changes are happening over at the disney hotels that you should know about pricewise starting in october guesting at disney resort will be able to enter the disney parks 30 minutes before opening that's not too different from how extra magic hours used to work back in the year old days besides the fact that guests were once able to enter an hour before instead of just 30 minutes before however the price increase comes for those who are wanting to stay at the parks after they close previously all disney hotel guests had the opportunity to stay in the parks later on select evenings but now guests will be able to stay in any park after closure but this perk will only be available for those staying in a deluxe hotel so aside from the resort price hikes expect to find multiple price hikes for different disney foods merchandise and drinks as well most food price increases are going to range from an extra 25 cents to a dollar difference but some can be a little steeper and push into that three and four dollar range like the canton pepper beef over at nine dragons restaurant went from twenty bucks to twenty four dollars or the baja tacos de pescado over at la hacienda they stand in hell that went from 29 to 38 as far as merchandise goes there are a handful of items i've seen jump up in price this year savvy's workshop customizable lightsabers are a big one originally the build your own saber experience was 199 plus tax but it jumped across the 200 threshold and now sits at 219 plus tax per builder plush toys like wishables and nuemos also face the wrath of price increases this year wishables blind bags now cost 12.99 a piece though they used to cost 9.99 a piece and nuemos now cost 19.99 instead of their original 17.99 and that's not even including the clothes and accessories you can purchase for those little guys on top of that 20 price tag so yeah price increases across the board food we keep see going up drinks we keep see going up merchandise is going up as per usual this is normal for disney they often do price increases around this time of year the dollars and cents absolutely add up so be prepared and that's only scratching the surface of the price increases around the parks i know we hate to see it happen but these can be managed and some of them can even be avoided for instance you don't have to buy a magic band that's just a fun extra accessory nowadays you can always continue to use the physical park tickets or the magic mobile option on your my disney experience app to keep hold of your theme park admission instead you can also purchase disney souvenirs ahead of time on the shop disney website shop disney often has seasonal discounts and sales going on that'll help take away the sting of the multiple price increases in a general sense you don't have to do a lot of these things you don't need to stay in a deluxe resort or make a reservation for savvy's workshop or even take a car to disney if you're choosing to fly to orlando instead however if you want to pay for these prices for the convenience added perks and just splash of extra fun make sure to plan ahead and save up for the future expenses we've got a whole video on hidden charges in disney world that's a good one to watch as well all right the next thing you're going to need to do if you're going back to disney world is catch up on what's actually open a lot has changed since last year's park closures and reopenings and experiences are still being impacted by covid many restaurants are still temporarily unavailable including hoop-de-doo musical review at disney's fort wilderness resort storybook dining at artist point disney's wilderness lodge monster paul in the france pavilion in epcot and lots of other park and resort dining experiences as well you can find the complete list of all the restaurants that still haven't opened in disney world on the dfb website a handful of hotels are also still unavailable at this time but all of them should be back up and running by the end of the year except for all-star sports disney's port orleans resorts are going to be opening in october riverside on october 14th and french quarter on october 28th all-star sports was supposed to open on december 9th but has postponed its opening inevitably at this point they're not giving us an opening date right now now inside the parks we're still waiting for a few shows and attractions to return like walt disney world railroad which come to think of it has actually been closed going on two years now enchanted tales with belle indiana jones epic stunt spectacular voyage of the little mermaid up a great bird adventure phantasmic and disney's festival of fantasy parade disney's typhoon lagoon waterpark has also been kept dark since last year's closure but disney's blizzard beach did reopen to help fill the waterpark-shaped hole in your heart and then there's the poor old nba experience over at disney springs now this experience opened in august 2019 and closed up shop with the rest of disney world during the shutdown but disney announced last month that the experience would not return permanently there are also a variety of shops and specialty entertainment like character meet and greets and various sideshow performances that haven't yet returned but there's no news on whether some of these disney experiences are going to see permanent closures or are just waiting for the opportune time to reopen to the public again i'll keep on the lookout for when i hear more about them after all there seems to be a new announcement about a reopening daily now as exciting as it is to hear about disney world's reopenings disney's also getting ready to welcome some new experiences that i'm just as excited for a ton of new things are starting up october 1st of course just in time for the 50th anniversary celebration over in epcot the france pavilions hop in with new activities both the dark ride remy's ratatouille adventure and the table quick service crepery restaurant like creperie de paris that you guys have heard me talk about like every day for the past three months will be officially opening on october 1st so be prepared for that area to be crowded when those experiences first open up even though yes they've basically been open for a month with lots of previews and in the evening epcot is going to introduce its new nighttime spectacular harmonious it's been years in the making but i'm hoping this new show filled with music pyrotechnics and choreographed fountains those big giant fountains in the middle of the world showcase lagoon right now is everything it's been hyped up to be and i hope those giant barges in the middle of the lagoon are worth it because they're real big and they're right in the middle of everything and just doesn't feel right okay now magic kingdom is also getting a brand new fireworks show called disney enchantment which will feature a projection show no longer limited to just cinderella castle it's gonna be taking over all of main street usa that being said i'm sure gonna miss happily ever after the show guests have grown to know and love over the past four years will be retired to make way for disney enchantment and will not return after the 18-month long celebration has concluded a-f-a-i-k now let's pick the mood back up again with exciting things like how disney's animal kingdom will also be getting a new outdoor show starting october 1st called disney kite tales it's going to feature some of our favorite disney animal friends as they soar through the air as kites you are so excited about that i know and let's not forget all the gold statues in the disney world parks these represent some of the most influential characters that have helped shape the disney parks and the company we probably would have made a few tweaks here and there like adding tangled characters somewhere in that mix but hey beggars can't be choosers and we do have 50 new statues all the statues have been installed and if you go to the parks right now you can go on basically a little scavenger hunt to find all of them lastly if you're in the parks after nightfall expect to see each of the four main park beacons icons weenies whatever you want to call them brought to life under a dazzling cacophony of iridescent colors i don't even know what it's going to look like but disney's concept art has lots of glowing stuff floating up in the air so we'll see some experiences are going to be opening sometime after the anniversary kickoff though disney hasn't officially announced when they're going to be ready for the public eye tron lights uncle power run is currently being constructed in tomorrowland at the magic kingdom that's why the train's been closed forever and this is gonna be a high-speed roller coaster where you'll take charge of your very own light cycle and ride it through twists turns and light tunnels meanwhile epcot's also busy constructing their newest high-speed roller coaster guardians of the galaxy cosmic rewind will feature a reverse launch and a 360 degree rotation system for each ride vehicle plus you're going to be able to rock out to some groovy tunes peter quill's style we still don't have an official launch date get it for either of these rides but their construction is well underway so we'll let you know as soon as we get a whiff of a possible time frame the same goes for the experiences that will be closing for an extended period of time for re-hauling and re-imagining splash mountain that'll be ceasing operations soon to make way for the newest princess and the frog attraction recently disney released concept art for the rio mansion log flume ride from the looks of the pictures prepared to see new characters mardi gras themes and princess tiana taking charge after staying quiet since the shutdown disney's finally announced that the old finding nemo the musical production at disney's animal kingdom will be closed for good instead an updated version of the production will take its place sometime soon again keep in touch with me and i'll let you know when i hear about any official opening dates for any of this stuff but do you know what new disney show does have a release date that i do know for certain i'll give you a hint it's not at the parks actually it's at disney springs and it's what i'm really looking forward to seeing drawn to life presented by cirque du soleil and disney is as the disney springs website describes it a love letter to the art of disney animation through acrobatics music and dance and there's also a giant glove that kind of looks like the hamburger helper guy which is super interesting now this show is going to begin november 18 2021 you can make your ticket purchases and reservations today on the cirque du soleil website but what about the new experiences that have already opened well just recently space 220 welcomed space travelers into its centauri space station on september 20th so that we could dine 220 miles above epcot itself we released our review of space 220 not too terribly long ago so i'll link it here for you to check it out later and i could probably keep going but i'll wrap up this point for now like i mentioned earlier you can always learn more about the parks openings reopenings and closures on our website we write about it every single week and you can also subscribe to our dfb newsletter and we'll drop those types of announcements directly into your inbox for you you're welcome all right let's talk crowds crowds are back in full swing though regulations on masks have gone back and forth since the park's reopening last year physical distancing regulations have not returned and the park capacity continues to increase meaning crowds have come back full force and may arguably be bigger than before but not recently of course september is usually disney's down season where things calm down quite a bit but this summer the crowds came in hordes for families and travel parties who were ready to get back out and vacation once again people who had had to cancel their trips in 2020 and i'm no psychic or anything but i bet you a nickel that we're gonna see those intense crowds once again when the 50th anniversary celebration begins leading into the christmas season yeah let's keep an eye on it not a fan of intense crowds well let me give you some tidbits of advice for navigating around the potential masses first off if you want to avoid crowds then you're going to need to avoid getting in the standard queue lines of those popular rides because even if you're attempting to give the people in front of you some space there's no guarantee that the guests behind you are going to be as courteous plus in some lines any amount of distancing feels nearly impossible if you don't want to miss out on these rides try hitting them up closer to closing time remember cast members will let you jump in line right up until the park officially closes no matter what the predicted wait time may state so if you don't mind waiting in the after the parks have closed lines you might still be able to hit up that super popular attraction and wait in a shorter line for it when it comes to the magic kingdom fireworks the front of the castle or somewhere down main street usa is going to be your only option for being able to see those projections that being said those crowd levels in the main hub they can be wild so if you don't have to see the projections you really rather just watch the fireworks display try choosing a spot in one of the less crowded areas like near prince charming's regal carousel or the new tangled rest area you'll still get a clear view of the fireworks while also maintaining plenty of elbow room also plan on hanging back after magic kingdom closes to avoid the mass exodus after the show gift shops down main street usa will remain open for those trying to linger a little longer in the park and also avoid the shoulder to shoulder crowds trying to shove their way onto disney transportation that's another good reason to see the show from somewhere back in tomorrowland or fantasyland because then you're not in the middle of all of the bumper-to-bumper madness trying to leave the hub you can just sort of wander slowly out of the park and not have to deal with those unbelievable crowds now you can also ditch the fireworks all together yeah yeah i know that's the killjoy way of looking at things but if avoiding the sea of guests is your goal at the end of the day it's always an option you can consider we're just saying so what about masking you may ask as of the release of this video massacre still required at all indoor locations around the disney world parks could this change tomorrow sure could it change back a couple of days later absolutely to be on the safe side at all times always always always keep multiple masks in your travel bags it's best to have them on hand and find out they're no longer required then not have them and find out they're required okay getting around disney has changed and i probably could have added this into my point about catching up on what's open at disney but this really deserves a section of its own disney's magical express which takes resort guests to and from the orlando international airport is retiring at the beginning of next year if you're flying in for your disney vacation in 2022 you'll need to make a reservation with disney's newest transportation system mirrors connect you know what's kind of funny this point could have also been in the stretch your wallet section because though disney's magical express was a complimentary service for resort guests it'll now cost you and your travel party to arrive and depart from the most magical place on earth there are two services you'll be able to choose from the standard service and the express service prices are probably going to fluctuate after mirrors connect has been around a bit but for the introductory prices we've got 32 dollars per adult 27 per kiddo for standard service and for premium express service you'll be paying up to 200 for four passengers and an extra 55 dollars for each additional passenger now if you're iffy about that new service you can also call in a ride-sharing service like uber or lyft to get you from point a to point b or you can use a taxi but do the math beforehand and see if it'll really be any cheaper in the long run it might be it definitely might but it's all going to depend on how many people will be in your travel party how much luggage you're going to be bringing and what time of year you're planning on visiting lots of variables now once you're at disney you'll find out how you navigate the parks and hotels has changed a bit since reopening last year too before your vacation begins you're going to need to purchase your park tickets and make park pass reservations let's break this down you got several different park ticket options to choose from standard park tickets start at a base price of 109 per day and prices will fluctuate depending on what days you're visiting and how many days you're visiting then you've got your park hopper or park hopper plus options that's an extra 65 on top of your regular ticket price and a park hopper will provide you with the capability to visit multiple disney world parks in one day now we've got a couple of caveats catch a you must visit the park you make a park pass reservation for first and catch b you can only jump to another park after 2 pm once the clock strikes two you're free to roam as you please and you don't have to worry about having a park pass reservation for the other parks just the first one you visit now if you get a park hopper plus for an extra 85 on top of your regular ticket price you'll be able to add an extra disney experience outside of the four parks to one of your vacation days just know that the choices for this ticket option are a bit limited nowadays many of the added experiences you could have used for the park hopper plus option before are still awaiting reopening like typhon lagoon or are closed all together like the nba experience the last option i want to talk about real quick is disney world's new annual pass holder program those who are wanting to visit disney world multiple times during the year will now be able to purchase an annual pass once again however as i've probably made very clear during the course of this video the annual passes look different than they used to if you're a florida resident you got a few different pass holder options to choose from that range in price and experience but if you're from out of state you only have one option available the disney incredipass which will cost you 1 299 per pass holder now that's quite a sticker shock but if you do plan on visiting multiple parks several times throughout the year maybe the ends will wind up justifying the means there are some nice perks with being a passholder after all you'll have access to exclusive passholder merchandise be able to park for free and you'll receive 20 off select restaurants merchandise purchases and activities you'll also be able to make up to five park pass reservations without having to worry about blockout dates and for an extra 99 per ticket you'll be able to access all your photo pass photos for each of your trips that's right annual passes no longer have photo pass automatically we did a whole video about it go check it out okay so navigating the parks has definitely changed what about navigating the hotels before the shutdown disney encouraged guests to resort hop so that they could sample all the different places to stay on property now resort hopping is no longer encouraged if you try to drive to a resort just to visit you'll be turned away by a cast member at the front gate the only way you'll be able to drive into a hotel that you're currently not staying in is if you've made a dining reservation ahead of time as long as a front gate cast member can scan your park ticket and see your valid dining reservation you'll be welcomed in in conclusion there's a lot that's happened within the past year and a half lots of openings closures reimaginings price hikes overall changes that to be frank can feel like a crashing wave engulfing you over and over again we know that's where we live right now especially if you're trying to finalize that dream disney vacation of yours so that is why we're here that is why we do videos like this we know that you are in the middle of something very very confusing overwhelming and extremely expensive and it's our job this is what we do every day to clarify it for you help you understand the pros cons the ups downs the good the bad so that you can make the best possible choices for your family and not waste a ton of money literally that is why we do what we do that's why we get up in the morning that's what we talk about all the time how can we make this easier for you so hopefully this video has helped to sort of get you the lay of the land but something else i want to tell you about is our dfb guide books we have a giant dfb guide that will tell you everything you need to know about dining in disney world specifically so if you're planning on going back to disney world and your next step is figuring out your dining i can highly recommend that book i know i wrote it but it's everything i know so much information in there it gets updated twice a year with all the details you're gonna need and it is unbelievably useful every time i go into that book and i read that stuff i'm just overwhelmed with the information in there and honestly it's gonna help i promise so if you're feeling stressed out about dining next go ahead and grab our dfb guide to walt disney world dining you can get it over at dfvstore.com that's where we sell it there's a money back guarantee if it's not right for you absolutely let us know we will get your money back to you but it's a great ebook super useful and will help walk you through booking your dining in disney world and a lot of other things as well and don't forget to use code youtube for a discount if you do decide to purchase that okay so if you're finally thinking about going back to disney world hopefully this video helped there's still a lot that's changing but this will set the path for you thanks so much for listening everybody thanks for watching as always this is aj for disney food blog and we'll see you real soon

Channel: DFBGuide

Views: 97,789

Rating: 4.9369841 out of 5

Keywords: disneyfood, disney, disney world, disneyland, disneyvideo, disneyvacation, food, disney parks, disney travel, disney tips, disney guides, disney planning, disney trip, disney how to, disney vlog, disney vlogger

Id: yNuhWgAbgBs

Length: 27min 2sec (1622 seconds)

Published: Wed Sep 29 2021