runDisney has announced the addition of a 10K and a new two-race challenge to the lineup for the 2014 Disney Princess Half Marathon Weekend at the Walt Disney World® Resort.

Taking place Feb. 20-23, 2014, the Disney Princess Half Marathon Weekend consists of several other events including a health and fitness expo, kids races, and a family fun run 5K. The Princess 10K will take place on Saturday and gives more advanced runners an opportunity to run through Walt Disney World® Resort theme parks. Those runners looking for a bigger challenge can sign up for the 10K on Saturday and the Half Marathon on Sunday and earn the inaugural Disney Glass Slipper Challenge Medal for their 19.3 miles in total in addition to the medals for each individual race. For those taking part in both the 2014 Tinker Bell Half Marathon at the Disneyland® Resort and the Princess Half Marathon, they will receive a special runDisney Coast-to-Coast Race Challenge Medal (featuring Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse with a pink overlay).

Registration for the 2014 Princess Half Marathon opens June 11. Contact your Magic Maker® today for more details!

“May the Fourth Be With You” as Disney Parks celebrates this fan-proclaimed day! As part of “Limited Time Magic,” this Star Wars™ Day celebration joins the list of upcoming events along with a special Monstrous 24-hour All-Nighter.

Walt Disney World® Resort

• May the Fourth Be With You – Star Wars™ Day – On May 4, 2013, Disney’s Hollywood Studios® will be celebrating Star Wars™ Day with special “Limited Time Magic” events! For one day only, enjoy special Star Wars™ entertainment, characters, commemorative merchandise, a Star Wars™ dance party, and special Star Wars™ fireworks show to end the night. With surprise appearances on Star Tours® ‐ The Adventures Continue Attraction by Star Wars™ characters to special editions of Jedi Training Academy where parents join their kids, this day is sure to be out of this galaxy! Valid theme park admission is required.
• Spring Trolley Show on Main Street, U.S.A.® – Spring is in the air and the citizens of Main Street, U.S.A.® inside Magic Kingdom® Park can’t contain their excitement! Join them daily through May 12, 2013 as they celebrate with a Spring Trolley Show. Their performance of a few new songs will be as bright as their colorful pastel outfits and the horse-drawn trolley they arrived on! Please refer to your Times Guide for show information. Valid theme park admission is required.
• Monstrous Summer All-Nighter – On May 24, 2013, kick off Summer at Magic Kingdom® Park with a 24-hour monstrous celebration! Valid theme park admission required. Click here for more details

Disneyland® Resort

• May the Fourth Be With You – On May 4, 2013, you can purchase special edition Star Wars™ themed pins and tees from Disney Pin Traders in Downtown Disney® or Little Green Men Store Command in Disneyland® Park.
• Monstrous Summer All-Nighter – There’s no better place to kick off Summer than at Disneyland® Park or Disney California Adventure® Park! Enjoy 24-hours of this monstrous celebration! Valid theme park admission required. Click here for more details
  

And the Year of the Ear continues with the introduction of new Fashionista Hats (available at Emporium at Magic Kingdom® Park, Main Street Mad Hatter at Disneyland® Park, or World of Disney® Stores in Downtown Disney®) or Mechanical Kingdom Vinylmation (available at D Street in Downtown Disney®) while supplies last!

Keep checking back as Off to Neverland Travel® will continue to bring you details on future ”Limited Time Magic” events as they become available!

All events and characters are subject to change. Theme park admission may be required for some events.

This morning, Disney Cruise Line® announced some great enhancements coming to the Disney Magic®. After completing a dry dock Sep. 7-Oct. 10, 2013, the Disney Magic® will relaunch with exciting reimagined areas and new spaces!

Here is a brief summary of what’s to come:

New Splashes on the Upper Decks:

• AquaDunk – a new thrill slide with a near-vertical launch
• AquaLab – new interactive water playground and pool
• Nephews’ Splash Zone – new water play area for infants and toddlers

Areas designed with Kids and Teens in mind:

• Disney’s Oceaneer Club – a completely reimagined Youth Activity center for ages 3 to 12 with 4 themed areas:
  • Marvel’s Avengers Academy – the first time Marvel Super Heros have appeared on Disney Cruise Line®
  • Andy’s Room
  • Pixie Hollow
  • Mickey Mouse Club
• Disney’s Oceaneer Lab – will be rethemed as well
• It’s a Small World Nursery – devoted to young sailors ages 3 months to 3 years, it will replace Flounder’s Reef on Deck 5.
• Chill Spa – a new experience for teens (ages 13-17) located inside Senses Spa & Salon (formerly Vista Spa & Salon)

And We Can’t Forget About The Adults:

• After Hours – will be the newly rethemed nighttime entertainment district replacing Beat Street. It will consist of three rethemed areas:
  • Fathoms – a new nightclub replacing Rockin’ Bar D
  • Keys – a piano lounge replacing Sessions
  • O’Gills – an Irish pub and sports bar replacing Diversions
• Senses Spa & Salon will replace the exisitng Vista Spa & Salon on Deck 9
• Palo – the popular adult-only specialty restaurant will receive a makeover to their dining room

Disney Family Dining:

• Carioca’s – a new themed restaurant replacing Parrot Cay
• Animator’s Palate – will add the popular “Animation Magic” show from the Disney Fantasy® along with a new “Drawn to Magic” show.
• Cabanas – will replace Topsider Buffet

But Wait, There’s More:

• Atrium Lobby – will be redesigned
• D Lounge – will replace the existing Studio Sea family lounge
• Guest Staterooms and suites will be redesigned

As you can see, there are a lot of changes coming for the Disney Magic®. Be sure to check back later as we bring you more details and photos! But in the meantime, enjoy this video overview of the upcoming changes:

Imagineers at the Walt Disney World® Resort have released a video giving us a sneak peek inside two upcoming New Fantasyland™ Attractions – Princess Fairytale Hall and The Seven Dwarfs Mine Train.

Set to open later this year, Princess Fairytale Hall will be an all new location for you to meet Disney Princesses. Opening in 2014, The Seven Dwarfs Mine Train will be an innovative family coaster themed off of Walt Disney’s first full length feature production.

To celebrate the June 21st release of the Disney-Pixar’s Monsters University, the Walt Disney World® Resort has announced several “Monstrous” enhancements to existing attractions and entertainment.

In Magic Kingdom® Park, Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor® attraction in Tomorrowland® will honor their alma mater with a refresh of new jokes and comedy bits! And over by the Studio Backlot Tour at Disney’s Hollywood Studios®, Mike Wazowski and Sulley will continue to meet guests and give them “V-Eye-P treatment,” but now inside the MU Student Union.

Lastly, keep an “eye” out for Monorail Teal circling the Seven Seas Lagoon. The “Monsterail” has received an overlay featuring the cast from Monsters University!

To start planning your “Monstrous” summer vacation, contact our Magic Makers® today!

It is undeniably great to be a kid at any Disney Destination! But aboard Disney Cruise Line®, kids can let their imaginations set sail! Each Disney Cruise Line® ship features nearly an entire deck customized just for them!

Disney Cruise Line® has the most extensive youth activity areas at sea supervised by specially trained counselors. And with the longest operating hours in the cruise industry, the FUN doesn’t have to stop! But don’t take our word for it – watch this short video and see what past Disney Cruise Line® guests have to say about the youth activity areas!

There you have it – for kids, “it’s all about fun!” When will you experience “The Disney Difference?” Explore the current promotions and then contact your Magic Maker® today to start planning your Disney Cruise Line® vacation!

Happy Earth Day!

Like the other Disney Destinations mentioned earlier this week in our Earth Week articles, the Walt Disney World® Resort in Florida also upholds a commitment to minimizing the impact their daily operation has on the environment.

• Since 2006, the Walt Disney World® Resort has reduced their energy consumption by almost eight percent – enough to power 7,600 homes for a year
• From golf carts to Monorail trains, more than 1,500 alternatively fueled vehicles are used across resort property – reducing fuel consumption by about 33% per vehicle
• With some help from dedicated Cast Members and guests, more than 105,000 tons of waste was diverted from landfills in 2011 – enough to fill Spaceship Earth at Epcot® more than eight times

When Imagineers were designing the newly opened Disney’s Art of Animation Resort, Walt’s legacy of protecting the environment was kept in mind.

• Use of energy-saving LED lighting has been integrated throughout the resort
• The resort’s food court, Landscape of Flavors, is the first Value Resort to utilize reusable plates and silverware
• Recycling bins have been placed conveniently throughout public areas and in each of the resort’s guest rooms

But it doesn’t stop there. The Walt Disney World® Resort works to preserve and protect wildlife locally in Florida and around the world! Disney’s Animal Kingdom® Theme Park (which is celebrating it’s 15th Anniversary today) works with the Association of Zoos and Aquariums to breed and manage groups of critical species. The park has successfully bred many endangered animals over the years including black rhinos, African elephants, and rare birds. In the past couple months alone, Disney’s Animal Kingdom® Theme Park has welcomed the birth of a Saddle-Billed stork and a White-Cheeked Gibbon.

The Walt Disney Company has taken the initiative to encourage environmentally responsible behavior from its Cast Members, business partners, and guests. Helping to protect our Earth is something we must all focus on every day of the year! If everyone would commit to even making one small change, it could make a WORLD of difference! What is your commitment?

In celebration of Earth Week, today we turn our attention to the recycling efforts at the Disneyland® Resort in Anaheim, CA. Being an environmental steward is a daily focus for Cast Members at the resort. Over half of the overall waste collected throughout the property is diverted through recycling and repurposing!

Here is a look at some other recycling fun facts for the Disneyland® Resort:

• Plastic merchandise bags and paper napkins used at the Disneyland® Resort are made from 100% recycled content
• Each year, the Disneyland® Resort recycles:
  • enough aluminum to make a soda can 1,000 times taller than the Matterhorn
  • enough paper to make a trail from Disneyland® Resort to the Walt Disney World® Resort and back twice
  • more glass than the weight of eight steam trains
• Money raised from the collection of cans and bottles in backstage areas by Cast Members is donated to various nonprofit organizations. One recipient is Canine Companions for Independence, who has placed more than 35 assistance dogs with people with disabilities thanks to these donations.
• The Custodial Cast Members collect more than a dozen types of materials for recycling – totaling about 22 tons of material each day
• More than 650 themed recycling containers are available throughout property inviting guests to do their part to save the environment
• More than 600,000 plastic cards (hotel keys, gift cards, park tickets) are collected for recycling per year
• Disneyland® Resort is proud to partner with Clean the World and donate more than 1,000 pounds of partially used soaps and shampoos to be sanitized and recycled into hygiene products for people around the world. Click here for more details on Clean the World

On Monday April 22, 2013, a special celebration will take place at Disney’s Animal Kingdom® Theme Park. Not only is it Earth Day, but it also marks the park’s 15th anniversary! To celebrate this special “Earth Day Birthday,” a special Party for the Planet has been planned.

Details for Monday’s party include:

• Turnstiles will open at 8:30a for a special 15th anniversary ceremony in front of the Tree of Life®. On your way into the park, remember to pick up a commemorative guide map and keepsake postcard/party guide
• While supplies last, guests donating to the Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund (DWCF) inside Disney’s Animal Kingdom® Theme Park will receive a commemorative 15th anniversary button
• Educational activities throughout the park including identifying animals by tracks, how to choose green products in your everyday life, and discover fun ways for families to spend time in nature
• Special merchandise and specialty snacks will be available for purchase

Additional Earth Day events will take place over at The Seas with Nemo & Friends® in Epcot®, in Downtown Disney®, and at select Resort hotels. Valid theme park admission required for events inside the Disney’s Animal Kingdom® Theme Park and Epcot®.