Disney News

by Magic Maker® Courtney Harris

For my family, our vacation can’t officially begin until we have had a character breakfast with Pooh, Tigger, Piglet, and Eeyore at The Crystal Palace Restaurant in Magic Kingdom® Park.  In fact, we love character meals so much that we try to plan one for each day of our trip. This saves us so much time that we would normally use standing in line in the parks to meet the characters and get autographs. We can then use that saved time to squeeze in even more rides!

Character meals are so convenient because the characters actually come to your table while you are enjoying your meal. Once they are at your table, they will sign autograph books and pose for pictures with your family. The interaction is amazing!  It isn’t rushed and the characters are even sensitive to your child’s comfort level with them.  Some of my favorite vacation memories are of my children interacting with the characters at these meals. One night at dinner, my husband was up getting his plate from the buffet, and Tigger came and sat down in his seat next to my three year old son.  He stayed there for probably five minutes or more just playing and goofing off with my son. The smile on his face was priceless! He still talks about it to this day.

Many of the character meals are buffets, where you have lots of different items to sample and enjoy at your own pace.  Others are served family-style, where the server actually brings platters of food to you at your table, and you don’t have to do a thing!  Several of the restaurants even take your family’s photo before the meal, and then bring the photos around for you to preview and purchase while you are dining. Also, if you are a vegetarian or have dietary concerns, just tell your server and they will be sure to work with the chef to make those accommodations for you.

If you have a Magic Your Way® Package Plus Dining, all character meals, with the exclusion of Cinderella’s Royal Table, are only one table service credit.  Even if you are not on a dining plan, it is still worth every penny to be able to meet all of your favorite characters in an air-conditioned building while you eat, instead of standing in long lines out in the hot Florida sun. So whether it’s Pooh and Friends you’re looking for, or Jake from The Neverland Pirates, they can most likely be found at one of the numerous character meal experiences throughout the Walt Disney World® Resort! Just check with your Magic Maker® to find out which characters are featured at each location.

Character meals can be booked 180 days out and do tend to fill up quickly due to popularity, so be sure to ask your Magic Maker® for help in planning all of your dining reservations as soon as you book your trip!

Since 2006, The Walt Disney Company has focused on improving and inspiring healthy eating with children. With their unique storytelling and beloved characters, they are the first major media company to make healthier lifestyles for families more appealing and more fun. While the larger portion of the emphasis has been place on their television/radio stations and their licensed food products, attention has also been given to the dining options at the Theme Parks as well.

The initiative, called Disney Magic of Healthy Living, brought a selection of new well-balanced kids’ meals to its Parks and Resorts. These meals automatically include nutritious sides and beverages such as carrots and low-fat milk unless a parent decides to opt out.

Disney Parks and Resorts proudly reported that of the more than 12 million kids’ meals served last year in the U.S., parents stuck with the healthier options 6 out of 10 times!  The next steps will further reduce sodium in kids’ meals and introduce new well-balanced kids’ breakfast meals.

Disney will soon introduced the “Mickey Check” tool, an icon meant to call out nutritious food and menu items. By the end of 2012 the “Mickey Check” will appear on menus and select products at Disney’s Parks and Resorts.

“We’re proud of the impact we’ve had over the last six years,” said Robert A. Iger, Chairman and CEO, The Walt Disney Company.  “We’ve taken steps across our company to support better choices for families, and now we’re taking the next important step forward by setting new food advertising standards for kids.  The emotional connection kids have to our characters and stories gives us a unique opportunity to continue to inspire and encourage them to lead healthier lives.”

Parents will soon notice a change in some on-air programming as well. All food and beverage products advertised, sponsored, or promoted on Disney Channel, Disney XD, Disney Junior, Radio Disney, and Disney-owned online destinations oriented to families with younger children will be required by 2015 to meet Disney’s nutrition guidelines. These nutrition guidelines are aligned with federal standards to promote fruit and vegetable consumption and call for limiting calories and reducing saturated fat, sodium, and sugar.

What is your child’s favorite healthy snack or side to get at the parks?

Kids of all ages enjoy taking flight on the Dumbo the Flying Elephant® Attraction when they visit the Magic Kingdom® Park. But soon, the wait before boarding the attraction will be the “star of the show!”

As part of the New Fantasyland® Area expansion, the attraction will gain a second ride carousel and a new interactive queue which will be inside the big top tent in Storybook Circus. This queue is an innovative area created by Walt Disney Imagineering and will redefine how guests see “wait times.”

Guests wishing to ride the Dumbo the Flying Elephant® Attraction will receive a “circus ticket” (similar to pagers used at many restaurants). The “circus ticket” will hold their place in line and notify them when it’s their turn to take flight on the airborne pachyderms. While waiting, guests can take center stage by enjoying several play experiences all centered around the circus theme.

The new “queue-less queue” inside the big top tent is scheduled to open to guests in July. A similar system was tested back in 2009 at the Rock ‘n Roller Coaster® Starring Aerosmith at Disney’s Hollywood Studios™

Over the past several days, we have shared some amazing photos of the Walt Disney World® Resort’s newest Value Resort, Disney’s Art of Animation Resort. Not only is the resort full of “character,” but it provides another option for families needing to accommodate more than 4 people.

If you haven’t had a chance to check out our photo tours, here are the links:

• The total property size of Disney’s Art of Animation Resort is 87 acres
• Bringing a car? There resort has over 2,300 parking spaces!
• Once fully open, Disney’s Art of Animation Resort will create 750 hotel jobs
• The Big Blue Pool has 310,000 gallons of water and is the largest pool on Walt Disney World® Resort property, excluding the water parks
• If you combined all three of the swimming pools at Disney’s Art of Animation Resort, you could park 125 cars inside the pools
• The flooring in Landscape of Flavors food court is made from all recyclable materials. Also eco-friendly, guests will dine with real silverware on melamine, reusable dishware instead of paper and plastic
• As a first at a value resort, guests can enjoy the convenience of a self-service business center inside Animation Hall
• Its 27 acres of landscaping and irrigation is the equivalent of twenty football fields
• The 227,000 lineal feet of carpet used at the resort could stretch from downtown Orlando to Kennedy Space Center
• Everyone has heard of a “yellow brick road,” but what about this: Over 529,000 square feet of ceramic tiles were used in the resort – enough to cover a standard two-lane road four miles long
• If you stacked up all the doors at the resort, they would be as tall as the Empire State Building
• Disney’s Art of Animation Resort definitely has a true splash of color. Crews used 23,000 gallons of paint, which is enough to fill a typical backyard swimming pool