Disney News

No New Year’s parties planned this year?  You might consider celebrating at the Disneyland® Resort on New Year’s Eve. This year, there will be special entertainment added to the traditional holiday fireworks in Disneyland® park and the spectacular new “World of Color” show in Disney California Adventure® park.

In Disneyland® park, hours are extended to 2 a.m., and stages will be set up around the park for countdown festivities. DJs will encourage guests to dance into the new year at Sleeping Beauty Castle and “it’s small world” Promenade while live bands will liven up Tomorrowland Terrace, Carnation Plaza Gardens and New Orleans Square, which will also be the site of three performances of “Fantasmic!” at 9 and 10:15 p.m. and immediately following the midnight “Fantasy in the Sky” New Year’s fireworks show.

At Disney California Adventure®, where park hours are extended to 1 a.m., there will be special entertainment along the Paradise Pier boardwalk and a “fountains and fireworks” countdown to midnight in Paradise Park, immediately followed by the first “World of Color” show of 2011. (Earlier New Year’s Eve performances of “World of Color” will take place at 8 and 9:15 p.m.) In Hollywood Pictures Backlot, revelers on the grid in “ElecTRONica”will heat up throughout the night and into the new year.

Beginning at 6 p.m. New Year’s Eve, party hats and noisemakers will be available while supplies last in both Disneyland® park, at the Festival Arena near Big Thunder Ranch, and Disney California Adventure® park, in Condor Flats near the vintage airplane just west of the entrance to Soarin’ Over California.

The Downtown Disney® District and the Disneyland® Resort hotels will join in the merriment with twinkling lights and ornaments, special entertainment and holiday dining.

This offer is no longer available.  Please click here for current Disney Cruise Line® offers.

Disney Cruise Line® wants to say “thank you” for your support during this exciting time as they welcome the new Disney Dream™ ship to the fleet.

Offer Details:

• $200* onboard credit for new bookings on 3-night Bahamian cruises departing Feb. 3 or Feb. 10, 2011, and 4-night Bahamian cruises departing Jan. 30 or Feb. 6, 2011, on the new Disney Dream.

Booking and Travel Window:

• Booking Window: Dec. 21, 2010 – Feb. 9, 2011
• Travel Window:
  • 3-night cruise departing Feb. 3 or Feb. 10, 2011
  • 4-night cruise departing Jan. 30 or Feb. 6, 2011

Additional Details:

• Applies to new bookings only
• Must be booked through Off to Neverland Travel®

*One shipboard credit per stateroom. Other offers, discounts or onboard credits do not apply. Shipboard credit is non-refundable and non-transferable. Changes to the vacation date or category may result in a loss of any offer. Offer is subject to availability. Talk to your Magic Maker® for details and applicable terms and conditions.

The Walt Disney World® Resort is beautifully decorated during the holidays, but some favorite sights during the holiday season are the amazing edible holiday displays that truly look like something out of a fairy tale.  From the life-sized gingerbread houses, chocolate carrousel horses, to candy villages, they are truly a delight for all of your senses.

The lobby of Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa is where you can find the resort’s 16-foot-tall gingerbread house. This Victorian-style structure takes 400 hours to bake, and lists 1,050 pounds of honey and 600 pounds of powdered sugar among its ingredients. The house, which is topped off with Santas, poinsettias and powdered-sugar snow, also has a chimney that periodically puffs with the scent of cinnamon.  Don’t forget to head to the back to pick up some samples.  Among the items for sale are gingerbread houses, gingerbread shingles slathered in chocolate, solid milk chocolate boxes, gingerbread cookies, and more!

At Disney’s Beach Club Resort, a gingerbread carousel serves as the platform for horses made of chocolate and fondant, each beautifully decorated with candy and icing. The carousel also has 11 hidden Mickeys incorporated into its design.

Disney’s Contemporary Resort’s Grand Concourse (fourth floor) is where you can spot a 17-foot-tall gingerbread Christmas tree decorated with chocolate ornaments and candy canes. The tree’s playful design was inspired by the work of Disney Legend Mary Blair, whose artistic style can be seen on the adjacent Grand Canyon Concourse mural.

The lobby of Disney’s Boardwalk Inn showcases a gazebo made of gingerbread and chocolate — and one Donald Duck in quite a predicament!

A couple of the pavilions in the World Showcase of Epcot® have delicious displays.  The Italy Pavilion has its own intricate gingerbread display.  Though it is smaller than the others, its attention to detail is just as grand.  Santa’s Bake Shop at Liberty Inn at the American Adventure pavilion is another life-sized gingerbread house made entirely of gingerbread, cookies, and icing. Stop by to purchase drinks and goodies here, too!

Start planning your vacation to the Walt Disney World® Resort for the holidays now!  Contact your Magic Maker® for more information or click here to request a quote.

Beginning on the Dec. 16, 2010, sailing of the Disney Wonder® and the Dec. 28, 2010, sailing of the Disney Magic®, families will have a great new way to stay in touch with one another. Portable Wave Phones will enable Guests to contact members of their party while onboard the ship or ashore at Disney’s Castaway Cay.

All staterooms will now offer two portable Wave Phones for complimentary use during the length of the cruise. Four phones are provided in the Royal Suite and 2-Bedroom Suite categories. Guests can rent an additional phone from Guest Services for $3.50 per day.

The Wave Phones replace the paging system previously used by Youth Activities. Parents with children participating in activities are now never more than a text message or phone call away.

All Guests are encouraged to utilize the Wave Phones for staying connected with their party while on the ship or at Disney’s Castaway Cay. However, Guests can opt out of using these phones and have the Wave Phone service disconnected in their staterooms.

If phones are lost, damaged or not returned to the stateroom prior to debarkation a $250 charge per phone will be applied to the Guest’s stateroom account. This charge will be mentioned on the payment authorization form that Guests complete during the check-in process.

New dining, shopping and entertainment experiences are in the works for the Downtown Disney® area for a vibrant waterfront district called “Hyperion Wharf.”  The new district will replace the current Pleasure Island Area.

The district will come to life with a nostalgic yet modern take on an early 20th century port city and amusement pier. By day, stylish boutiques and innovative restaurants will draw you in and by night, thousands of lights will transform the area into an electric wonderland.

Taking its name from Hyperion, the Greek god of light, as well as the street on which Walt Disney built his first major animation studio, the wharf district will also feature a relaxing lakeside park and enhanced pedestrian walkways. And its diverse eateries will expand dining availability at the Downtown Disney® area by more than 25 percent.

Along with the new wharf district, other projects are underway at Downtown Disney, including:

• An extensive renovation of Lego Imagination Center, which will increase its overall footprint by nearly 3,500 square-feet and add new Lego exterior models featuring scenes from classic Disney movies.
• Enhancements at AMC Theatres that will take the movie-going experience at Downtown Disney to the next level with new digital technology, a Concession Stand of the Future and Florida’s first Fork & Screen Theater;
• Numerous new or renovated retail shops and merchandise vignettes, as well as additional atmosphere entertainment, throughout Downtown Disney.

Construction on the district begins immediately and it’s scheduled to be completed in 2013.