This week at Walt Disney World, the first of Walt Disney World’s golden statues make their debuts inside the theme parks, an interesting change comes to the process for obtaining a Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance boarding group, plus yet another exciting preview is released for Disney Enchantment.
Outside Walt Disney World, Halloween celebrations come to Universal Orlando Resort’s Islands of Adventure, plus SeaWorld announces the extension of a limited-time event, meaning that the park will now be hosting THREE simultaneous special events this fall!
1. Disney Fab 50 gold sculptures debut around Walt Disney World
As part of Walt Disney World’s 50th anniversary, 50 gold sculptures of beloved Disney characters will be placed around the theme parks. And starting this week, guests can see some of these sculptures around the Magic Kingdom, including Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, Donald Duck, and even Chip and Dale! You can check out these brand-new sculptures in the video above.
2. Refurbishment announced for Expedition Everest
Disney’s Animal Kingdom favorite Expedition Everest will close early next year from January 4 2022 until mid-April 2022 for an equipment refurbishment. No major changes to the actual ride experience are expected, so if you’ve got your hopes up for a repair for the Yeti, unfortunately, it looks like that won’t be happening this time around.
3. Disney makes changes to Rise of the Resistance Boarding Group process
A small change has been made this week to the Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance boarding group system, which should make things a little bit easier for guests trying to get a spot on this blockbuster ride. In an effort to make the process a little bit faster, guests can now confirm their party up to one hour before boarding groups open so that they have fewer screens to click through and can shave a precious few seconds off the process.
4. Mobile order coming to confectionary locations this month
Mobile order is coming to several confectionary locations at Walt Disney World in the coming weeks, including the following:
- Candy Cauldron, located at Disney Springs – available September 14
- Karamell-Küche featuring Werther’s Original Caramel, located at EPCOT – available September 16
- Zuri’s Sweets Shop, located at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park – available September 21
- Goofy’s Candy Company, located at Disney Springs – available September 23
5. New behind the scenes look at Disney Enchantment released
We are getting closer to the October 1 release of Disney Enchantment and Disney has released yet another sneak peek of this new show, focusing this time on the music that guests will hear during this stunning new nighttime spectacular. The video above features the new original song from Grammy Winner Philip Lawrence that will be a central part of this show.
6.Creations Shop and new location for Club Cool both opening this week
Disney has confirmed that the brand new Creations Shop as well as the updated Club Cool will open next week on September 15, 2021. As part of the announcement, Disney shared a sneak peek of the new “Light” line of merchandise from the EPCOT Light & Color Collection, which will be exclusive to the Creations Shop, which you can see above.
7. Craft Beer Festival at SeaWorld Orlando extended to the end of the month
SeaWorld Orlando has announced that it is extending its Craft Beer Festival until the end of next month. This fan-favorite festival will now run Fridays, Saturdays, & Sundays through October 31 alongside SeaWorld’s Halloween Spooktacular which features the trick-or-treat trail, there is something fun for everyone this Fall at SeaWorld Orlando. SeaWorld Orlando is also hosting its own Howl-O-Scream event from now through October 31, which you can read more about here.
8. Dark Arts at Hogwarts Castle returns to Islands of Adventure next week
Universal Orlando Resort’s Islands of Adventure is getting in on the Halloween fun beginning next week and will be bringing back its Dark Arts at Hogwarts Castle nighttime projection show, During this show, guests will witness sinister creatures and villains – such as Dementors, Aragog, Mountain Trolls, Thestrals and more – cloak Hogwarts castle in an awe-inspiring display of light, music and special effects.
