food IS a theme park
Have you been to a galaxy far, far away lately?
DJ R-3X
We’re, of course, talking about the planet Batuu in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge in Disney World! We decided to swing by the most hoppin’ place in the system at Oga’s Cantina and we noticed some changes!
If you’ve been to Disney World before, chances are you know that feeling: you just want to get from one side of Magic Kingdom to the other, but you’re met with a wall of crowds or a parade or cavalcade, slowing you down big time! Well, did you know that there are SECRET walkways that can help you avoid those crowds?
Main Street, U.S.A.
Okay, so maybe these walkways aren’t a complete secret, but there are often-overlooked walkways in the parks that can help you save some time while getting from point A to point B — or, at least it will make your walk more pleasant and crowd-free. With the 50th Anniversary Celebration bringing in plenty of visitors, it’s more important than ever to be aware of where the shortcuts and alternate routes are in the parks!
Is it the holidays already? Well, Disney has started putting up decorations in Hollywood Studios and in Disneyland. Plus tons of new holiday merch has been dropping online, so the yuletide season must be close!
Hollywood Studios is already starting to decorate!
Recently, we spotted, even more, holiday merch that’s going to be at Disney World very soon!
Hey, DFB friends! We’re here with a quick update from Disney’s Animal Kingdom!
Tree of Life
The Disney Genie service debuted this week and let’s just say we had a very different experience at Animal Kingdom than we did at other Disney Parks! Let’s discuss.
UPDATE: This technique no longer works to its full extent. To learn about the recent changes to Disney Genie, check out this article.
Whew, Disney Genie has certainly brought us a LOT of news this week.
EPCOT
We’ve been breaking down the free offerings of Genie, the Genie+ Fastpass replacement system, and the not-included Individually Selected Attractions. Add in a bunch of nuanced rules about how the system works and things have gotten pretty complex. You might’ve heard that you can only select one Genie+ Lightning Lane at a time…but that’s not totally true.
Hello from EPCOT!
Spaceship Earth is looking good!
We like to regularly check out what’s going on around all of the Disney World parks so we can keep you updated, so let’s take a look at what’s new in EPCOT!
Both Disney World and Disneyland release awesome holiday merchandise all year, and you can find Christmas merchandise all year in Magic Kingdom at the Ye Olde Christmas Shoppe. But what about Disneyland?
©Disney
Disneyland is adding a brand new holiday shop to Main Street, U.S.A. and it officially opens today! This new store is not just a Christmas shop either, so let’s take a look at what Disney has shared about this shop and everything it has to offer, including a special behind-the-scenes video.
UPDATED July 24, 2024
We’ve spent a lot of time in Disney World playing around with the Genie, Genie+, and pay-per-ride systems.
Lightning Lane
We know how to buy Genie+, how to purchase Individual Attraction Selection (pay-per-ride) reservations, how many rides we can get on using both, and a whole lot more. We’ve already mentioned that you CANNOT cancel or modify a pay-per-ride Lightning Lane reservation. But what about the normal Genie+ Lightning Lane reservations? [Read more…]
For a while now, we’ve been able to say “hello” to Mickey, Minnie, and more Disney pals through distanced photo ops and character cavalcades.
Hey There Mickey!
But, soon character meet-and-greets will be returning to Disney World in a modified way. In October 2021, Disney announced that character meet-and-greets would be coming back with changes. Just what characters will you be able to see in the parks with these modified meet-and-greets? We’ve got a list right here!
Let’s face it. Disney World can get BUSY. One way to skip the lines and ensure that you enjoy all that you want throughout your Disney vacation is to purchase Genie+, the service that replaced FastPass+ in 2021.
©Disney
The Disney Genie service is still unfamiliar to many and can be tricky to use (to say the least). We’ve used the service a LOT over the past two years, and have shared all of our findings with our readers — from our biggest takeaways, to the free aspects of Genie, to how the service affects wait times — even tips on booking for all the members of your party. Now, let’s take a look at how Disney Genie interacts with Park Hopping in Disney World.
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