This week at Walt Disney World, Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge has a blockbuster opening at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, changes come to FastPass+, The 2019 Food and Wine Festival opens at Epcot, and more
Outside Walt Disney World, SeaWorld and Busch Gardens Tampa reveal that a rare joint announcement will be coming in just a few weeks, Universal announces a very special Wizarding World contest, plus
1. Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge now open at Disney’s Hollywood Studios
Image: Alex Parker
After several weeks of Cast Member, Annual Passholder, and Media previews, Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge is now finally open to the general public. This new land officially made its debut on August 29th, 2019, and guests began lining up as early as 3:00 AM to be among the first to enter this new land before the wait time for the Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run ride swelled to 300 minutes, at 6:00 AM!
Though the first day of operations for this new land was a little crazy, in the days since it first opened, crowds have calmed down a bit, with wait times generally hovering between 70-110 minutes for Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run, and guests able to move freely in and out of this land without the need for “boarding passes”.
Image: Disney
Of course, though this land is now technically open, the countdown in on for December 5th, which is the opening date for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, this land’s hotly anticipated “E-Ticket” attraction, which will complete Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge when it debuts.
2. New FastPass+ tiers now in effect at Disney’s Hollywood Studios
Image: Disney
Now that Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge is open, Disney’s Hollywood Studios has overhauled its FastPass+ system, making the following attractions all Tier 1 Fastpasses (meaning guests can only select one):
- Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
- Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster
- Toy Story Mania
- Slinky Dog Dash
- Alien Swirling Saucers
This leaves Star Tours as the only Tier 2 ride at this park, which means that getting a FastPass+ reservation for the only other Star Wars attraction at the park just got a whole lot more difficult, as guests will likely be looking to make FastPass+ reservations for rides while they are visiting Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. As announced previously, FastPass+ reservations are not available for Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run
3. 2019 Epcot International Food and Wine Festival kicks off
Image: Disney
August 29th wasn’t just opening day for Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, as it was also the kickoff date for the 2019 Epcot Food and Wine Festival, which will be longer than ever this year at 87 days, running until November 23 2019.
4. Massive Epcot closures coming next week
Image: Disney
In just one week Epcot will begin work on the transformation of Future World, with the following locations will be closing on September 8, 2019:
- Club Cool
- Mickey, Minnie, and Pluto meet and greet
- Joy and Sadness character meet and greet
- Baymax character meet and greet
- FountainView Starbucks
- Colortopia (Innoventions)
- Fountain of Nations
- Art of Disney
- Pin Central
Though characters Mickey, Minnie and Pluto are being relocated, Joy, Sadness and Baymax will not be meeting guests at Epcot after September 8. And while Disney has confirmed via social media that Club Cool will return in some form at a later date, we don’t know when that will be as no timeline or potential replacement location has been given.
5. UP! A Great Bird Adventure to close next week for refurbishment
Image: Disney
Back in 2018 Disney’s Animal Kingdom changed its Flights of Wonder show at Disney’s Animal Kingdom to include characters from the movie UP! alongside the show’s cast of birds, and changed the title to the more IP-friendly UP! A Great Bird Adventure.
6. SeaWorld and Busch Gardens Tampa to make rare, joint announcement later this month
Image: SeaWorld
Though most theme park fans are aware that SeaWorld Orlando and Busch Gardens Tampa Bay are owned by the same parent company, these two parks don’t often make announcements together. However, a special joint media event will be held on Thursday, September 12 that will include a one-of-a-kind, simultaneous announcement about the future of both of these Florida parks.
7. Universal announces special Wizarding World contest for Harry Potter fans
Image: Universal Orlando Resort
Universal has announced a special social media contest for Harry Potter fans who have not been able to visit The Wizarding World of Harry Potter quite yet. In order to enter, guests need to follow Universal Orlando on Instagram or Twitter and post a photo showing off what they would wear for their first visit to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Guests must use both hashtags #WizardingWorldOrlando and #Sweepstakes for the chance to win a trip for them and up to three friends.
