How To Get Rates As Low As $85 At Disney Springs®

Special rates starting at $85 are available to book now through June 30 at Disney Springs Resort Area Hotels for stays April 21 through July 31, 2025. Some blackout dates may apply, and availability may be limited. The rates do not include Resort Service Fees, daily parking fees (if applicable), taxes, or gratuities.

Magical Memories Await at Walt Disney World® Resort

This spring, find magic in bloom at the enchanting EPCOT® International Flower & Garden Festival. Experience classic favorites at Magic Kingdom® Park, thrilling attractions at Disney’s Hollywood Studios®, and wild adventures at Disney’s Animal Kingdom® Theme Park.

Stay Steps from the Magic

Each resort is an official Walt Disney World Resort Hotel located within walking distance of the area's finest shopping, dining, and entertainment via the pedestrian sky bridge to Disney Springs®.

All Disney Springs Resort Area Hotels offer spacious accommodations, luxurious amenities, dining, and recreation offerings, and include the DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Orlando, Drury Plaza Hotel Orlando, Hilton Orlando Buena Vista Palace, Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista, Holiday Inn Orlando Disney Springs, Renaissance Orlando Resort and Spa, and Wyndham Garden Lake Buena Vista.

This offer is exclusively available through the promotion website and is not valid with any other special offers, promotions, existing reservations, or groups.

DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Orlando - $138

Drury Plaza Hotel Orlando - $127.49

Hilton Orlando Buena Vista Palace - $209

Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista - $192

Holiday Inn Orlando Disney Springs - $85

Renaissance Orlando Resort and Spa - $109

Wyndham Garden Lake Buena Vista - $95

Guests of Disney Springs Resort Area Hotels receive additional benefits to add value to their Orlando area vacation experience, including:

Complimentary transportation – Hourly bus shuttle service for Disney Springs Resort Area Hotels guests is available to all Walt Disney World Theme Parks. Individual hotel shuttle schedules vary.

Early Access – Disney Springs Resort Area Hotels guests enjoy even more magic with exclusive 30-minute early entry to any theme park daily.

Golf—Tee times can be booked up to 90 days in advance, and there are discounts on greens fees and rental equipment for all four Walt Disney World Golf courses.

Passport to Savings—an exclusive booklet featuring discounts and special offers from select Disney Springs restaurants, shops, and kiosks.

Guests can purchase theme park tickets, including the 4-Park Magic Ticket, which includes admission to each of the four Walt Disney World theme parks. Additional terms may apply.

Spring Festivities for the Entire Family

Now through June 2, you can spring into possibilities with springtime’s finest Disney Character topiaries, Outdoor Kitchens, lively entertainment and more at the EPCOT® International Flower & Garden Festival.

Cool Kid Summer at Walt Disney World is about to get even cooler! In honor of the 30th anniversary of Disney’s Blizzard Beach Water Park, we’d like to seas the day and announce that Blizzard Beach will also be open for guests this summer in addition to Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon Water Park. From May 21 through September 7, Walt Disney World guests can enjoy the tropical shipwreck oasis of Typhoon Lagoon and the frosty fun of Blizzard Beach water park.

More of a good thing is always a great thing. And more Disney magic just might be the best thing of all. That’s exactly what you get at a Disney After Hours event. You get three hours––after hours–– Disney’s Hollywood Studios®, Magic Kingdom® Park and EPCOT® on select nights.

Find a sweet spot under the stars to watch Disney Starlight: Dream the Night Away—a shimmering processional inspired by the classic Main Street Electrical Parade. It’s a star-kissed constellation of Disney dreams, brought to life by the magic of the Blue Fairy. Disney Starlight: Dream the Night Away is scheduled to debut in summer 2025.

Disney Springs is the place where you come to indulge in all things your heart desires. Where fashion-forward finds fit like a dream. Where delectable dining delights your taste buds. Where entertainment is an enchanting escape. Come experience a wonderland and find happily whatever you’re after.

Entertainment offerings are subject to change without notice. Admission to Walt Disney World Resort Theme Parks and select special events require a separately priced ticket valid only during specific event dates and hours. Inclement weather conditions may also affect outdoor entertainment.

Disneyland Reopening Marks California’s COVID-19 Turnaround

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Disneyland swung open its gates to cheering visitors donning sequined Minnie Mouse ears and snapping selfies Friday, marking a dramatic turnaround in a state so overwhelmed with coronavirus cases just four months ago that patients were being treated in outdoor tents.

California’s world-famous theme park, which reopened after an unprecedented 13-month closure, is admitting only state residents and operating under a limited capacity for now.

Once inside, guests decked in Disney gear waved excitedly at employees tidying up the park’s hallmark Main Street, which was lined with hand sanitizing stations and signs reminding people to wear face coverings.
After spending the year mostly teaching her third-grade class from a tent in her backyard, Libby Birmingham was thrilled to be there. The 38-year-old, who attended the park regularly before the pandemic
with an annual pass, took the day off work to make the trip down from Pasadena with friends.

“Disneyland is like my happiest place, to be totally honest,” she said. “It’s one of those places that I can always enjoy, and it lets me be the kid — not always be in charge of the kids.”

The reopening highlights a big shift for the nation’s most populous state from just months ago when COVID-19 cases were surging, hospitals were running out of ICU beds, and hundreds of people died from the virus each day.

Now, California boasts the country’s lowest rate of confirmed coronavirus infections and more than half of the population eligible for vaccination has received at least one dose. Children have been returning to in-person classes, shops and restaurants are expanding business, and Gov. Gavin Newsom set June 15 as a target date to further reopen the economy, albeit with some health-related restrictions.

“It has such a symbolic nature to really quantifying that we’re finally rolling out of COVID,” said Caroline Beteta, president and CEO of state tourism promoter Visit California.

Theme parks were among the last California businesses allowed to reopen, in contrast to states with fewer restrictions such as Florida, where Disney World’s Magic Kingdom resort has been up and running, though at lower-than-usual capacity, since July. Another major U.S. amusement park, Ohio’s Cedar Point, opened last summer and will do so again for the upcoming season — only this time, it won’t require masks on rides.

At Disneyland, visitors must wear masks and can remove them to eat only in designated areas. Hugs and handshakes with characters are off limits, and parades and fireworks shows have been shelved to limit crowding.

On Friday, an updated Snow White ride drew throngs of visitors who were methodically spaced out in a winding outdoor line to prevent congestion indoors. Other areas of the park had fewer people. In a section devoted to Star Wars, there was ample space for children to run freely, and visitors waved from a distance to Rey, who flashed a smile and waved from a platform overlooking the park.

Outside a popular boat ride, Allison Sanger and her 4-year-old daughter, Emily, stopped by a cordoned-off patio to chat with a parasol-twirling Mary Poppins and Bert. The 28-year-old said she was glad her daughter could get close enough to see the characters and snap photos even with the new rules.

“We honestly have so many memories here,” she said. “We missed our memories and our magic.”

There was even a marriage proposal.

Zach Bolger, 35, said he met his girlfriend, Mackenzie Brown, 26, some three years ago at Disneyland trading collectible pins. The couple returned to the park Friday, and Bolger pulled out a ring box near Snow White’s wishing well. Brown cried tears of joy.

While California continues to “strongly discourage” anyone from visiting the state as tourists, the travel industry is banking on pent-up demand from its own nearly 40 million residents for a comeback. An advertising campaign encourages Californians to travel within the state, mirroring a pitch made after 9/11.

In a state with so many people shut in for so long, even in-state tourism could be a huge boost. Disney’s California parks have long had a loyal local fan base while its Florida locations rely more heavily on international tourists, said Carissa Baker, assistant professor of theme park and attraction management at University of Central Florida’s Rosen College of Hospitality Management.

Disneyland is a major economic engine in California, drawing nearly 19 million in attendance the year before the coronavirus struck, according to the Themed Entertainment Association. It and other such attractions were shuttered in March 2020 as Newsom imposed the nation’s first statewide shutdown order.

For now, the park and neighboring Disney California Adventure are restricted to operating at 25% capacity under state health rules. Disney is only taking reservations from state residents, though California also allows fully vaccinated out-of-state visitors to attend theme parks.

The reopening was also welcomed by park employees eager to get back to work and owners of hotels and shops in the surrounding city of Anaheim. The city’s convention center saw more than 300 cancellations since the pandemic and so far has rebooked a quarter of them, said Jay Burress, president of Visit Anaheim.

At an early morning flag ceremony, Disney chief executive Bob Chapek thanked the park’s employees, many who greeted each other with fist-bumps and bright-eyes, though their smiles were concealed by constellation face masks. He asked them to “bring the magic back” for visitors who were kept away during the 412-day closure.

“We’re not just another theme park,” Chapek said. “We’re something special, and we’re something special because of all of you, because you bring magic to the world.”

Shanghai Disneyland Reopens With Anti-Virus Controls

SHANGHAI (AP) — Visitors in face masks streamed into Shanghai Disneyland as the theme park reopened Monday in a high-profile step toward reviving tourism that was shut down by the coronavirus pandemic.

The House of Mouse’s experience in Shanghai, the first of its parks to reopen, foreshadows hurdles global entertainment industries might face. Disney is limiting visitor numbers, requiring masks and checking for the virus’s telltale fever.

China, where the pandemic began in December, was the first country to reopen factories and other businesses after declaring the disease under control in March even as infections rise and controls are tightened in some other countries.

“We hope that today’s reopening serves as a beacon of light across the globe, providing hope and inspiration to everyone,” the president of Shanghai Disney Resort, Joe Schott, told reporters.

Tourism has been hit especially hard by controls imposed worldwide that shut down airline and cruise ship travel, theme parks and cinemas. Disney blamed a 91% plunge in its latest quarter profit on $1.4 billion in virus-related costs.

Shanghai Disneyland and Disney’s park in Hong Kong closed on Jan. 25 as China isolated cities with 60 million people to try to contain the outbreak. Tokyo Disneyland closed the following month and parks in the United States and Europe in March.

Disney is opening Shanghai cautiously as it evaluates reopening other parks around the world. Parks are a crucial revenue driver for Disney. Parks, experiences and product division accounts for around 30% to 35% of total revenue.

What the company learns in Shanghai could become a guide, executives said in a conference call to discuss earnings last week.

Typical capacity in the Shanghai park is 80,000 visitors a day, but the government has cut that to about 30%, or 24,000 a day, said CEO Bob Chapek.

“We’re going to actually open up far below that just to have our training wheels on with our new procedures and processes to make sure we don’t have any lines backing up, either as guests enter into the park or as they wade through the park,” Chapek said. “So we’re going to approach that very, very slowly, but after a few weeks we’ll actually be up to what the government’s guideline is.”

Disney hasn’t said when their four theme parks and nearly two dozen resorts at Disney World will reopen. However, next week it will begin to allow some third-party shops and restaurants in Disney Worlds entertainment district, Disney Springs, to reopen. Workers and guests will be required to wear face masks. Per state rules, indoor capacity will be limited to 25% and dining tables outside must be more than six feet apart.

In China, the government allowed shops and offices to reopen but is keeping cinemas, bars, karaoke parlors and other businesses closed.

Authorities are trying to revive China’s tourism market by offering free admission to scenic spots and discount vouchers to consumers. But there is no indication when travel curbs that have cut off the flow of free-spending Chinese tourists to Thailand and other neighboring Asian countries might be lifted.

China’s own industry might benefit while those travel curbs limit Chinese tourists to spending in their own country, Taohai Lin of Fitch Solutions said in an email. However, Lin said their spending power could be hurt if weakness in global demand for Chinese exports leads to job losses.

Disney guests, some wearing Mickey Mouse ears, and children in Little Mermaid, Mulan, Minnie Mouse and Snow White costumes were checked Monday for fever at the park gate and then walked down nearly empty lanes as employees waved to them. The company’s signature tune, “When You Wish Upon a Star,” played over loudspeakers.

“It really felt like a princess’s homecoming, especially when the staff lined up after the ticket check and said, ‘Welcome home!’,” said visitor Dilys Ding of Shanghai.

“It feels like so many fewer people than normal. You don’t need to line up,” said Ding, 26. “You can play all the entertainment items at least once. That’s very good.”

Decals on sidewalks and at lines for attractions show visitors where to stand to leave space between themselves. The company said rides will be limited to one group of visitors per car to keep strangers apart.

“We don’t want people too close — front, back or side,” said Andrew Bolstein, the park’s senior vice president for operations.

The company said its plans were based on the experience of Disneytown, an adjacent shopping and entertainment facility that reopened earlier in the 1,000-acre (400-hectare) Shanghai Disney Resort.

Advance reservations are required and visitors are assigned times to enter. The company said earlier guest numbers will be limited to one-third of the usual daily level of 80,000 at the start and will gradually increase.

“Excited about the opening of the gate!” people in the first group of guests shouted as they entered the park at 9:30 a.m.

Shanghai Disneyland, which opened in 2016, is a joint venture between Walt Disney Co. and a company owned by the Shanghai city government.

Disney has a 43% stake in the Shanghai Disney Resort, which includes the theme park, two hotels and Disneytown. The resort said earlier it attracted about 12 million guests last year and a total of 66 million since it opened.

Disney, headquartered in Burbank, California, said some outlets in Disney Springs, a shopping, dining and entertainment complex attached to the Disney World theme park in Florida, will reopen this month. The company has yet to to set a date for reopening Disney World or its other parks worldwide.

Visitors to Shanghai Disney are required to show government-issued identification and use a smartphone app issued by the Shanghai city government that tracks their health and contacts with anyone who might have been exposed to he virus.

That allows the company to “understand and regulate the flow of traffic,” said Bolstein.

Activities including children’s play areas and indoor theater shows are closed in line with government restrictions, Bolstein said.

“We hope to bring them back some time soon,” he said.

By SAM McNEIL

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AP researcher Si Chen, AP Business Writer Mae Anderson in New York and Michael Schneider in Orlando, Florida, contributed to this report.

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Walt Disney Co.: https://thewaltdisneycompany.com/

Disneyland Resort Celebrates The Holidays With New Fun And Entertainment

Festival of Holidays invites guests to enjoy heartwarming festivities from many cultures with music, dance, food and more

It’s the season for celebrations as Holidays at the Disneyland Resort launches November 10, inviting family and friends to make magical memories together.

This year, guests will have even more to celebrate as they discover the new Festival of Holidays, with music, dance, food and heartwarming holiday festivities inspired by cultural traditions from around the world.

Also new for the season is the holiday-themed “World of Color—Season of Light,” a nighttime water spectacular that will inspire guests with cherished holiday music and treasured Disney animation. This fourth all-new production of “World of Color” creates a sparkling winter fantasy with magical storytelling, brilliant lights, lasers and high-definition projectors, along with fountains that shoot as high as 200 feet to create the giant screens of water.  Princess Elena of Avalor also makes her debut at the Disneyland Resort during Festival of Holidays, performing in a colorful cavalcade.

Holidays at the Disneyland Resort is a time many guests celebrate as an annual tradition, visiting the parks for Disney-themed treats, snowfall on Main Street U.S.A., the glistening décor and holiday entertainment. This year, guests will find Santa Claus in a fun, new location at Disney California Adventure Park, at Redwood Creek Challenge Trail, and guests at Disneyland Park will enjoy the one-of-a-kind transformations that create “it’s a small world” Holiday, Jingle Cruise and Haunted Mansion Holiday. Now celebrating its 20th holiday season, “it’s a small world” Holiday has added some “Hidden 20s” for guests to discover on their voyage.

At Disney California Adventure Park

• The new Festival of Holidays celebrates holiday festivities of diverse cultures with music, dance and craft-making, plus food at the Festive Foods Marketplace. The daily lineup of entertainment includes nearly 50 performances of nine unique shows, with special Disney characters, street parties, cavalcades, musical ensembles and dance performances. The celebrations include Diwali, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Christmas/Navidad and Three Kings Day. Guests can look for performances of traditional Indian dance that builds to a Bollywood party, a Klezmer band with a new global sound, the Mariachi Divas and an a cappella vocal group that puts an R&B spin on holiday songs.

• Princess Elena, the first Disney Princess inspired by diverse Latin American cultures, will make her Disneyland Resort debut as part of the Festival of Holidays. She will perform a song in “Princess Elena’s Musical Grand Arrival,” and she will appear at a character greeting location. Guests will recognize this brave and adventurous teenager from the Disney Channel series “Elena of Avalor.”

• The popular Disney ¡Viva Navidad! also returns as part of the fun at Festival of Holidays, with a wonderful finale to celebrate Three Kings Day (Dia de los Reyes). The special festivities for Three Kings Day will run Jan. 5-8, 2017, including music and storytelling in Paradise Garden. Treats for this holiday will include traditional Rosca de Reyes bread.

• “World of Color – Season of Light” brings the warmth and heartfelt spirit of the holidays to this stunning, nighttime water spectacular, with its 1,200 powerful fountains shooting water as high as 200 feet to help tell the story. The show’s musical soundtrack features some well-known musical artists performing popular holiday tunes, including “Let it Snow” by Dean Martin and “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” by Michael Buble and Idina Menzel. With classic holiday music, humor and memorable moments from Disney animated films, this becomes an ideal way for guests to conclude their holiday visit.

• Jolly old St. Nick arrives at Redwood Creek Challenge Trail for Santa’s Holiday Visit. His joyful elves have transformed the trail into a magical playground of holiday fun and games, including opportunities for guests to join the ranks of Santa’s elves.

• The residents of Cars Land decorate for the holidays, beginning with a whimsical “snowcar” that greets guests on the road to Radiator Springs. Each address along Route 66–from Flo’s V-8 Café to Luigi’s Casa della Tires–features holiday décor that reflects the personality of the “Cars” character who lives there.

• “a bug’s land” transforms for the holidays, too, as Flik and his bug friends deck their land with oversized lights and ornaments.

• A dazzling, 50-foot Christmas tree adorns Carthay Circle, drawing guests into the holiday magic along Buena Vista Street. The tree and surrounding buildings, inspired by Los Angeles as it appeared when Walt Disney arrived in the 1920s, create scenes of another era with vintage-style décor.

At Disneyland Park

• Disney characters celebrate the season in “A Christmas Fantasy” parade, a daily procession with floats, music, marching “tin soldiers” and holiday cheer. Santa, who makes a jolly appearance in the parade, also will be found welcoming guests at his special location in Critter Country while he visits Disneyland.

• The classic Sleeping Beauty’s Winter Castle brightens the park nightly with magical snowfall moments along Main Street, U.S.A., concluding with “Believe … in Holiday Magic” fireworks and its stirring snowfall finale.

• Twinkling lights, festive holiday garland and nearly 1,800 ornaments decorate the soaring Christmas tree in Town Square, Main Street, U.S.A., an ideal place for guests to begin their holiday traditions. The Christmas tree becomes an enchanting place for guests to take their holiday photos, up close or with all 60 feet of the shimmering tree.

• On Friday, Nov. 18, guests and cast members in Disneyland will celebrate the birthday of Mickey Mouse, applauding him as he appears in a special birthday cavalcade preceding “A Christmas Fantasy” parade.

• Disneyland guests definitely will want to experience the popular seasonal transformations of these park attractions:

o “it’s a small world” becomes “it’s a small world” Holiday for the 20th time, celebrating children around the world and the distinctive holiday traditions of their nations. (The Holiday theme debuted in 1997.)

o Haunted Mansion becomes Haunted Mansion Holiday, with Jack Skellington and his friends from Tim Burton’s “The Nightmare Before Christmas” causing a collision between Christmas and Halloween.

o Jungle Cruise is transformed into Jingle Cruise, as the jungle skippers gather jettisoned holiday gifts and decorations to brighten the rugged landscapes surrounding their riverboats.

The Downtown Disney shopping, dining and entertainment district and the Hotels of the Disneyland Resort join in the holiday festivities with twinkling lights and ornaments, holiday displays, special entertainment and holiday dining with themed menus. One highlight is the gingerbread house in the lobby of Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa. Designed to resemble the exterior of the hotel itself, the gingerbread house stands 7 feet six inches tall and 12 feet wide. Holiday snacks, cider and hot chocolate are sold from a window in the gingerbread house.

Haunted Mansion Holiday inspired by “Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas.”

Everything You Need To Know About Traveling To Shanghai Disneyland

Qilai Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images

It turns out all the hype that's surrounded Shanghai Disneyland since it broke ground five years ago was well-founded: the park is gorgeous and packed with exclusive attractions, like a pirate-themed "land" called treasure cove and Little Mermaid-themed pools. It's all more than enough to convince even casual Disney fans to hop on a 13-hour flight. 

But before you pack your bag or planning your meet-and-greets, read on what you need to know before heading to Shanghai's new Disney park:

Before you leave:

First things first: obtain a visa.

If you’re an American citizen, you’ll need a recent passport as well as a Chinese Visa, which costs around $140. It is recommended to apply for your Visa about a month before you leave, but Chinese consulates are not available in every city, so it’s best to get everything prepared well in advance of submission.

Preload your phone with necessary apps and prepare for limited communication.

Websites like Twitter, Facebook, and Google, as well as Gmail, are blocked within mainland China. You can bypass the firewall, but it requires setting up a VPN for both your phone and requisite websites, which is cumbersome but inexpensive. Ordering a Chinese SIM card in advance for your phone (if your device meets the requirements) is helpful, as is obtaining a mobile WiFi device if it does not. You can also handle this at the airport, but it may be more costly and time-consuming. Sign yourself and family members at home up on WeChat in advance, too, which offers free multimedia messaging while abroad.

Pack absolutely everything you may need.

The resort is located in an industrial area, and medicine, amenities, and other must-haves will not be readily available. There are a few makeup and beauty stores in Disneytown, but no drugstores, so make sure all your necessities are in your suitcase.

If you have dietary restrictions or picky eaters, bring breakfast snacks.

Disney is always incredibly accommodating for any kind of food allergy or restriction, but only a small fraction of the food at Shanghai Disneyland is Western. There are familiar foods for lunch and dinner, sure, but breakfast can prove to be the most challenging for anyone on a specified diet. Pack small snacks and granola bars to have on hand, especially if you have little ones who won’t take kindly to the food, and keep a stash back at the room for late-night eats once the hotel cafes close.

Stay On-Property

If you’re visiting Shanghai Disneyland for more than one day, which you should, stay on-property. The cost for Toy Story Hotel and Shanghai Disneyland Hotel are much less thanstateside hotels, but both are remarkably nice.

Bookend Your Trip

If you want to experience the rest of Shanghai as well, make sure Shanghai Disneyland is a bookend of your trip and not in the middle. The airport is much closer to Disneyland than it is to the heart of the city, making it convenient for arriving or departing flights.

Once you arrive:

If you’re heading to Disneyland straight from the airport, have the address of your resort, in Mandarin, printed out on paper.

Because the park is so new, taxi drivers may not know exactly where it is by name. Be sure to have local currency for the fare, and, upon landing, tuck the kept half of the immigration form you receive on the plane into your passport holder—and don’t lose it! You’ll need it when you come back through prior to boarding your return flight.

When visiting the parks, keep an ID on you at all times.

Shanghai Disneyland tickets are non-transferrable, and though it’s in the fine print, proof of identity may be required for entry.

If you’re making a day trip from Shanghai, take a train instead of a taxi.

It is a lengthy journey most cabs will not want to or know how to make. Disneyland is far from Shanghai’s city center—over an hour by train, with a short walk to the gate—but convenient, as “Disney Resort” is the final stop on Line 11. Try to avoid rush hour, which can be quite hectic, and download the Explore Shanghai Metro app in advance, which offers easy directions in English throughout the system.

Leave enough time to get home from the parks.

Be sure to stay informed about evening train schedules, and if you're staying off-property, buy a round-trip ticket from the get-go. Ticket sales stop at a certain time, for which there is even an overhead announcement reminding guests to do just this.

Jet-lagged? Coffee is easy to find, if you know where to look.

Unlike stateside parks, there’s no proper Starbucks inside the gates, but there is a massive one hiding to the side of World of Disney within Disneytown. (If you’re approaching from the Steamboat Mickey fountain, as most do, keep walking with the store on your right.) The hotels makes a mean cappuccino as well; you can find your caffeine fix at Toy Story Hotel’s Sunnyside Market or Ballet Café within Shanghai Disneyland Hotel.

Shop at every single store you find.

Different items are carried at each hotel, in Disneytown and within the parks, and you’ll want to spot them all. Be sure to visit Lotso Shop for Buzz Lightyear bobbleheads, Tinker Bell Gifts for princess-themed jewelry, Trend-D for feminine Disney-themed purses and Whistle Stop Shop for monogrammed ears.

You’ll want to spend at least one afternoon—or meal—within Disneytown.

The dining options available are vast, and all are incredibly high-quality, providing some of the best food throughout Shanghai Disneyland property. There are the regular shopping and photo ops—Lego’s first Asia boutique is here, naturally—and even an all-Mandarin production of The Lion King, which is beautiful, despite being lost in translation.

But there’s a whole section of Disneytown that’s very easy to miss.

It’s called Lakeshore, and it’s separate from the main strip next to park gates, hanging out over Wishing Star Park’s massive body of water. It contains The BOATHOUSE, one of Florida’s new signature restaurant, as well as a few shoe stores, toy shops and a Korean beauty outpost.

Be more patient than usual.  

Even though it’s Disney, and experiences at other foreign parks may be different, don’t expect all of Shanghai Disneyland Resort to be English-friendly, as on average, only one of every three staff members speak the language. Buses on-property can be a bit tricky to navigate, so make sure you’re in the right line, in the right place, whenever you’re unsure.

Upon your departure:

Leave yourself plenty of time to get to the airport.

The language barrier at the Pudong Airport can be immense, and some flights booked through partner airlines will not allow guests to fully check-in online, so plan to leave about four hours before your international flight. Double check your terminal before you depart the hotel, and check in advance about taxis, which may not be as readily available as they are in the city center.

Flying elsewhere within China before you go home?

Be prepared to wait. It’s common knowledge that flights within the country frequently run behind schedule.

Be aware of China Eastern Airline’s idiosyncrasies.

It’s the most popular airline within China, but can provide for a much different experience than American companies. Phones cannot be used in airplane mode at all throughout the duration of the flight, as is the case with portable batteries, and requested seats through their stateside partner, Delta, were not honored upon check-in. Despite already having been through security, my flight also required all water bottles to be emptied out prior to boarding. There were multiple meals offered, and the in-flight entertainment provided plenty of English language selections, but the differences are noteworthy for American travelers.

by Carlye Wisel, www.travelandleasure.com

Disney Parks Adopt Seasonal Pricing On 1-Day Ticket

by Thomas Smith, Disney Parks

As regular readers know, it’s an exciting time to visit Disney Parks as new fan favorites come to life at Disneyland Resort and Walt Disney World Resort.

New Star Wars experiences have already opened at both Disneyland Resort and Walt Disney World Resort. And, this year, several new experiences are expected to open on both coasts, such as the new Soarin’ Around the World at Disney California Adventure park and Epcot, a “Frozen”-inspired musical at Disney California Adventure park, new nighttime experiences at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, the Frozen Ever After attraction at Epcot and a new stage show at Magic Kingdom Park.

As you may have read in the news, the demand for Disney Parks continues to grow, particularly during peak periods. At the same time, we have an unwavering commitment to exceeding the expectations of all our guests. That is why we continue to expand our parks with new attractions like those noted above, as well as entire new themed lands based on AVATAR, Star Wars and “Toy Story.”

It is also why we continue to look for ways to help spread out visitation. So, beginning tomorrow, we are shifting to seasonal pricing for 1-Day tickets. It’s an approach that you are probably familiar with from many other areas, including sports, entertainment and travel.

How does it work? Each month is divided into value, regular and peak days with an 8-11 month calendar available for viewing online. Here’s an example, if guests plan their visit for September, they’ll have a variety of options, including many days in the value period, which will give them the opportunity to pay less for a 1-Day ticket. If they plan to visit during a peak period, like the winter holidays, they will pay more. Purchasing a 1-Day ticket in a non-peak period, or choosing multi-day tickets and annual passes, will provide additional flexibility and value.

Seasonal pricing for a 1-Day ticket and price increases for multi-day tickets go into effect at Disney Parks on Sunday, Feb. 28. You can check out our Disneyland Resort and Walt Disney World Resortpages for more details.

This Exclusive Club At Disneyland Costs $25,000 To Join

© DISNEYLAND / Alamy Stock Photo

Club 33 caters to VIP members with luxe digs and indulgent menus.

Down a quiet street in the New Orleans Square section of Disneyland, far from the mouse-riddled streets of Downtown Disney, sits a secret clubhouse. This is no offshoot of the famed Mickey Mouse Club, though, nor is it a place to spot princesses eating breakfast. Instead, it’s an ultra-exclusive restaurant and bar for the Disneyland elite, possible investors, visiting dignitaries, and, of course, celebrities.

Club 33 is a meeting place for the rumored 500 members willing to pony up $25,000 for membership fees, plus $12,000 a year in dues for the privilege of eating and drinking in the shadow of Sleeping Beauty‘s Castle.

The speakeasy is not a new addition to the park. In fact, it was developed by Walt Disney himself and decorated with antiques and a French elevator chosen by Disney and his wife. Disney envisioned Club 33 as a place for VIPs to meet and greet far from the maddening crowds of Main Street U.S.A. The club officially opened in 1967, five months after Disney’s death, and has been hosting the Disneyland one percent ever since. While Disneyland has some big changes planned for the years to come, it’s unlikely that Club 33 is going anywhere. The concept has even spread from California to Japan, with a sister location in Tokyo Disneyland.

Tim Rue

According to fan site Disney Dose, which managed to score an invitation, Club 33 is lavishly decorated, filled with lush furniture, chandeliers, stained glass, and dark wood. There’s also a harpsichord that’s been played by both Paul McCartney and Elton John, according to the website Vine Pair. There’s a courtyard called the Court of Angels, an extensive wine cellar, a jazz club lounge featuring a hand-carved wood bar, and a main dining room serving a French Nouveau menu that includes items like sassafras-dusted duck breast, butter poached lobster, and flaming vanilla crème brulee (at least at the time that Disney Dosewent for a visit). While the prix-fixe meal costs $100 per person, unlimited dessert is reportedly included, proving that the restaurant could be the happiest place inside the Happiest Place on Earth.

Because this is a Disney property, there are nods to the Magic Kingdom throughout, including a talking vulture perched on a grandfather clock in the reception area, original Disney artist drawings, and fanciful fairytale-filled artwork.

Unfortunately, most people will never be able to see the inside of the club. The membership is limited—rumored to have a waiting list with more than 800 names. While in past years, members had passes to share with friends, in 2015, Disneyland changed the Club 33 policylast year, and now only the member and a spouse or domestic partner can access the club benefits. Luckily, it’s possible to take a tour on YouTube and through fan photos.

Source: www.travelandleasure.com

Travelore News: Dates Announced For 2016 Epcot International Food & Wine Festival, September 14th Through November 14th

Contributed by Victoria Lim, Managing Editor, Walt Disney World 

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My taste buds are already doing a happy dance: the 21st Epcot International Food & Wine Festival kicks off September 14 and runs through November 14 this fall. That means almost two additional weeks – from 53 days to 62 – of deliciousness, foodie fun, culinary events, celebrity chefs, seminars, music concerts and more.

Keep reading the Disney Parks Blog for more details – we look forward to sharing what we’ll be serving up in 2016 soon.

Disney & Pixar Short Film Festival’ Debuts At Epcot

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 by Jennifer Fickley-Baker, Editorial Content Manager

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We recently shared plans for a new “Disney & Pixar Short Film Festival” experience to open in Future World at Epcot, and we’re happy to announce that this new offering will officially open its doors today.

This new experience will feature a look into the visionary minds behind some of the world’s most iconic animated films today. Once inside the theater, guests can put on their 3D glasses and enter the imaginative worlds of three animated shorts – “Get A Horse,” “For The Birds” and “La Luna” – which will burst to life on the big screen (and in the theater) like never before.

“Get a Horse” stars Mickey Mouse and features Walt Disney himself as the voice of the iconic character. This black-and-white, hand-drawn short follows Mickey, his favorite gal pal Minnie Mouse and their friends Horace Horsecollar and Clarabelle Cow as they delight in a musical wagon ride — until Peg-Leg Pete shows up and tries to run them off the road.

“For The Birds” opens to show one by one, a flock of small birds perch on a telephone wire. Sitting close together has problems enough, and then along comes a large dopey bird that tries to join them. The birds of a feather can’t help but make fun of him—and their clique mentality proves embarrassing in the end.

And lastly, “La Luna” is the timeless fable of a young boy coming of age in the most peculiar circumstances. Tonight is the very first time his Papa and Grandpa are taking him to work. In an old wooden boat they row far out to sea, and with no land in sight, they stop and wait. A big surprise awaits the little boy as he discovers his family’s most unusual line of work. Should he follow the example of his Papa or his Grandpa? Will he be able to find his own way amidst their conflicting opinions and timeworn traditions?

13 Walt Disney World Secrets You’ve Never, Ever Heard Before

Whether you’re a Disney World die-hard or new to how it all works, you probably know the basics: there are a system of tunnels underneath the Magic Kingdom called Utilidors, plenty of hidden Mickeys throughout the property, and the windows lining Main Street are insider dedications to those whom made Walt Disney World possible.

As interesting as those are, there are plenty more mysteries, tricks, and no-way-that’s-true! tidbits lurking in the shadows of the four parks that comprise Walt Disney World. From little-known facts about your favorite rides to construction secrets, and more, here is a bit of insider knowledge straight from house of mouse:

1. Have you heard the one about Magic Kingdom piping in the scent of freshly baked cookies onto Main Street? It’s true—the system still exists in the utilidors to prove it. The park did away with the practice, deeming the odor too artificial, but one thing is still piped in over at Disney’s Hollywood Studios: the screams for The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. Riders are screaming like crazy throughout drop sequence, but what you hear from the ground is primarily pre-recorded. Listen closely enough and you’ll notice how identical each run sounds.

2. Tinker Bell flying over the Magic Kingdom is one of the most iconic parts of the Wishes Nighttime Spectacular, but it doesn’t happen with magic alone. Tink is given a hefty push from the window of Cinderella’s Castle, but if she’s not shoved hard enough, she won’t have enough momentum and will need to hand-over-hand her way towards the end. Cast members who audition for this part are said to need major upper body strength—turns out, they really do have to fly!

3. The most harrowing part of putting on EPCOT’s nightly show, IllumiNATIONS: Reflections of Earth, is actually getting the globe to the center of the World Showcase Lagoon. When it’s transported from backstage through the canal, there are only six inches on each side for the LED-covered orb to pass through—which explains the dark scratch lines on the walls!

4. Even with its replica Liberty Bell and Liberty Tree, Magic Kingdom’s Liberty Square is much more authentic than you may have realized. Because there were no modernized bathrooms in the colonial days, it’s said that there technically aren’t any within this land either. Been to the ones in Liberty Tree Tavern or Columbia Harbor House? Well, those are so far back in the restaurant that they’re technically in other lands, keeping it truly authentic to the time period.

5. Be Our Guest is Walt Disney World’s toughest restaurant reservation, but if you’re lucky enough to end up inside, don’t miss the artwork throughout the ballroom. The snow outside the ornate windows was created from original movie animation cells, and the lifelike cherubs lining the ceiling mural bear the faces of children of the Imagineers working on the project—as well as the Imagineers’ baby faces themselves!

6. Magic Kingdom’s Main Street is lined with our nation’s flags—only they’re not technically American. Because regulations require traditional flags be raised, lowered, and flown at half-mast, each is missing a star or a stripe In order to be left up permanently. They serve double duty, too, as the flagpoles are actually lightning rods in disguise protecting guests below from inclement weather.

7. Supposedly, the Imagineers working on The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror liked to play pranks on each other, many of which involved a certain jar of pickled sausages. They hid and surprised one another with the jar, until an Imagineer mistakenly left it behind one night, which just so happened to be when every prop was being glued down. The jar still sits behind the photo pickup area today as an insider nod to Disney’s geniuses having fun while on the job.

8. The Jungle Cruise is one of WDW’s most iconic rides, so it’s fitting that it would quietly feature a handful of props recycled from across the property. The spiders inside the temple are leftovers from Haunted Mansion and the monkeys foraging for gold are actually repurposed from Living With The Land at EPCOT. Trader Sam sports a bit of Disneyana as well, as his striped loincloth is an homage to the original fabric lining the top of Jungle Cruise boats. The most surprising duplication, though, is the face of the explorer on the bottom of the totem pole. On this ride, he’s being poked in the rear by a rhino horn, but the same character can be seen in The Haunted Mansion’s graveyard scene, complete with shaking knees and a pouty old pup nearby.

9. The turbulent prehistoric thriller Dinosaur! at Disney’s Animal Kingdom and Indiana Jones Adventure at Disneyland aren’t just similar—they feature the same ride track. And, if you think Animal Kingdom’s turbulent trip backwards through time is scary now, just know that Dinosaur in its original form, Countdown to Extinction, was so terrifying that its original soundtrack, motion and interaction had to be toned down.

10. Disney pays incredible attention to detail, right down to the sidewalk you step on. On Main Street, the differing colors help to subconsciously guide guests and keep them from tripping at night and at Liberty Square, well, the brown wavy path down the center of the road is said to represent how colonial-era residents would dispose of their waste back in the day. (Kind of ruins the craving for fried fish, doesn’t it?)

11. Though the true reason varies between Disney experts, the current monorail stop at EPCOT is not originally where it was intended to be. Sinkholes made building so challenging that the monorail had to be rerouted, which is why it now travels completely around EPCOT before stopping. Some say there were actually supposed to be two monorail stops—one at Future World and one at World Showcase, so they could function as separate parks—so we may have Floridian swampland to thank for saving us the cost of a second ticket.

12. You can buy nearly anything you can think of with Mickey Mouse on it, but there’s one thing you can’t get—the color of his shorts. The exact hue of the famed character’s bottoms is proprietary and will never be shared publicly!

13. The exotic species on Animal Kingdom’s Kilimanjaro Safari are treated exceptionally well, but naturalists do use exercise and feeding to their advantage. Staff shoot raisins out of cannons to get the gorillas to move out and about by the safari vehicles and put elephants to work for honey, their treat of choice, by smearing it on their roof so they need to use their trunks to earn it. If you see the lions out on your next trip, know that there is behind-the-scenes magic happening for that one, too—the top rock is actually air conditioned to entice them to spend time there!

by Carlye Wisel , www.travelandleasure.com