This week at Walt Disney World, Spring Break crowds make Disney Parks unavailable until mid-April, Cinderella Castle gets new enhancements for the resort’s 50th anniversary, plus a main street mainstay is confirmed to be closing for refurbishment.
Outside Walt Disney World, Universal Studios Florida extends its annual Mardi Gras event and SeaWorld opens a new, reimagined restaurant!
1. Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure to open on October 1, 2021
Disney has confirmed that Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure will have its grand opening at EPCOT’s France pavilion on October 1, 2021, coinciding with the resort’s 50th anniversary. In addition to Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, the new La Crêperie de Paris will also be opening on October 1 in the France expansion area. This new restaurant will have both table- and quick-service options including sweet crepes, savory buckwheat galettes and authentic French hard cider.
2. First 50th anniversary enhancements added to Cinderella Castle
And speaking of Walt Disney World’s 50th anniversary, Disney Imagineer Zack Riddley has shared via Instagram that the first “EARidescent” enhancements have been added to Cinderella Castle as part of the upcoming anniversary celebrations. More embellishments will be added to other park icons in the coming months, which you can read about here.
3. Disney Parks Passes unavailable for Spring Break
Spring break is always a busy time at Walt Disney World and since guests missed out in 2020 when the theme parks closed, it looks like demand has gone up quite a bit, as theme park passes are all sold out for the coming week, with some of the parks also fully-booked through mid-April. For the latest on theme park reservation ability, you can check out Disney’s official Parks Pass page here.
4. MagicMobile service coming soon
Guests will have a new option for entering the parks soon called MagicMobile, which is a brand new smartphone-based technology will allow guests to store tickets, passes, and more right on their phone through the My Disney Experience app and then scan it at the front of the theme park to gain admission. MagicMobile also supports several digital wallet systems (including smartwatch digital wallets like the one found on the Apple Watch), so guests who don’t want to use My Disney Experience will have options when it comes to accessing their tickets. Though this option will be available on all mobile platforms Disney has confirmed that the MagicMobile service will roll out first on Apple devices.
5. Main Street Confectionary closing later this month for lengthy refurbishment
Main Street icon the Main Street Confectionery at the Magic Kingdom will be closing later this month for a lengthy refurbishment. According to the official Walt Disney World calendar this attraction will be unavailable beginning March 29 2021 through to at least May 22 2021, which is the furthest date published on the operating hours calendar. Given this it seems likely that refurbishment will extend beyond this date.
6. Brightline Disney Springs station could be open by 2027
One of the biggest projects in the state of Florida right now is the Brightline high speed rail, which will eventually connect Miami to the Orlando International Airport, which will then have a line that goes directly to Disney Springs. And now the company has said that they anticipate construction to start on this part of the project by mid 2023, with work potentially finishing in late 2026, which means this new station could be open by 2027!
7. Universal Orlando Resort confirms Extended 2021 Mardi Gras Festival Dates
Though this year’s Mardi Gras 2021: International Flavors of Carnaval was originally set to run through Sunday, March 28, Universal has announced that this popular event has now been extended an additional two weeks through April 11 due to popular demand. This is definitely a good thing, as like Walt Disney World, this park has been seeing capacity crowds due to Spring Break, which may make it difficult for guests to check out this event for the remainder of March.
8. Altitude Burgers opens at SeaWorld Orlando
Altitude Burgers, which is a re-theme of Mango Joe’s designed to tie in with the new Icebreaker roller coaster is now open at SeaWorld. As you might expect, this locations serves burgers, as well as pizza, and beers on tap. This location has plenty of outdoor seating where guests can take in views of SeaWorld’s newest roller coaster, which will hopefully be opening soon!
