I am just back home from a weekend celebrating a very special milestone - the 50th Anniversary of Walt Disney World Resort! The World's Most Magical Celebration kicked off with
a NEW Nighttime Spectacular at Magic Kingdom
a NEW Nighttime Spectacular at Epcot theme parks
NEW Beacons of Light at every park
NEW food and drink offerings
NEW merchandise to celebrate
NEW family attraction, Remy's Ratatouille Adventure now open at Epcot
In anticipation of all of those exciting events, I truly thought the whole weekend would be spent waiting in lines and dealing with huge crowds. After all, this date has been circled on Disney fans' calendars for YEARS. Well, I am happy to say, the weekend was NOTHING like I thought it would be.
First of all, our resort hotel room at Disney's Yacht Club Resort was ready EARLY - by the time we got off our plane at Noon! That never happens!! We got to the resort, unpacked and were off to Hollywood Studios in short order.
Then, in Hollywood Studios, the magic continued! We placed a mobile order for lunch at my personal favorite, Docking Bay 7 in Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge. Delicious, as always. We got a green milk at the Milk Stand and enjoyed super short wait times at Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway, and at Star Tours and did some shopping. Then we headed over to Epcot for International Food & Wine Festival.
At Epcot, we rode Test Track (designing your car is BACK) and walked right onto Soarin'. We enjoyed some bites at the Festival Booths, checked out the new Creation Shop (very nice and open feeling) and had a pastry at Les Halles in France. Then we staked out a spot to watch the new nighttime spectacular, Harmonious.
Harmonious has been in the works for years as a replacement for the long-running show, IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth. It utilizes projections on water and on screens, plus pyrotechnics and the torches around the lagoon. Overall, we enjoyed the show, especially how they included singing in the languages of the countries represented in World Showcase. New lighting packages on the pavilions added to the atmosphere and the Beacon of Light, Spaceship Earth, looks amazing and is well worth seeing. Photos do not do it justice! Though we loved IllumiNations, we did enjoy Harmonious and I recommend making plans to stay and watch it on your next visit.
Next, it was October 1, 2021 - the 50th Anniversary of Walt Disney World and we headed to Magic Kingdom! We expected the park to be packed and Main Street USA was quite busy. With shoppers! The lines for 50th merchandise were super long. People were also queued up for commemorative popcorn buckets (yes - popcorn buckets?!?). We decided to go ride the People Mover and the line was pretty short. We also rode Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (it was a walk-on) and Haunted Mansion.
The mood of the park was festive and excited. There were Disney executives all over the park and Good Morning America was filming near the Hub. I met the President of Walt Disney World, Jeff Vahle and listened to the original piano player outside Casey's Corner, who was fantastic, the classic hot dog stand at the corner of Main Street USA.
We had made a lunch reservation at Crystal Palace, and were happy to have a planned meal with a place to sit, cool down and enjoy. I ordered one of the new Ear-idescent Sip-abration lemonades with a strawberry flavored Mickey-shaped bomb. It was yummy but very sweet. The buffet at Crystal Palace featured some of Walt Disney's favorite foods, like fried chicken and Waldorf Salad. The buffet was quite good and I enjoyed my lunch.
To continue soaking up the atmosphere of the park on this special day, I focused on seeing the new Cavalcades, and enjoying the beauty of this magical park. We also hunted around for some of the Fab 50 Character Collection golden statues. I need to keep looking at all the parks so I can find all of them!
The heat got to me and I knew I wanted to see the new nighttime spectacular, Disney Enchantment, so I took an afternoon break at my resort. A nap and a dip in the pool helped a lot. We had a walk up dinner at Ale & Compass at Disney's Yacht Club Resort and then headed back to Magic Kingdom.
My friends had saved a spot to watch the show near the flagpole. The crowds were intense! We took turns shopping, getting a snack and just hung out until the show at 9:00. I loved seeing Cinderella Castle lit up as a Beacon of Magic! And, the new show was spectacular! I enjoyed the projections and the fireworks lighting up the night sky.
Pro Tip: If you want to guarantee that you get the best view, I highly recommend booking one of the dessert party packages.
What a day! We had an incredible time at Magic Kingdom and made wonderful memories that day. We even managed to purchase some 50th merchandise. That day was hard to top, of course. But, we got a good night's sleep and set an alarm for 6:30am because Epcot was on the agenda for the next day.
We tried our best but did not meet with success getting the 7:00am Boarding Group for Remy's Ratatouille Adventure. So, we decided to head to Disney Springs before going to Epcot.
After a little shopping, we dropped off our purchases at Yacht Club and got to Epcot just around lunchtime. We grabbed some sushi and shaved ice in Japan at the Kakigori stand, found a table and waited for the 1:00 Boarding Group window to open. We made some new friends there in the shady garden and YAY!! We got a Boarding Group. That settled, we had some more snacks and then it was hot. Once again, we took an afternoon resort break (I love being able to walk to Yacht Club for a quick swim/nap time) and planned to be back for dinnertime.
Our dinner at La Hacienda de San Angel was scheduled for 5:00pm. We got there a little early and were seated. Margaritas and dinner hit the spot and then we wandered a bit before our ride on Remy's Ratatouille Adventure. What an amazing addition to Epcot! Another classic Disney attraction that's fun for the whole family! (See my previous post about my Passholder preview of the attraction).
Next, we went back to Hollywood Studios for NO WAIT TIMES! We rode Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway again, and then Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run before meeting up with friends back at Yacht Club for a nightcap.
On our final morning, we visited Animal Kingdom. We packed up our luggage as we had an afternoon flight back home. As Disney Resort guests, we had a 30 minute early park opening. Again, crowds were so light and we rode Kilimanjaro Safari and Expedition Everest before watching Festival of the Lion King. Then we got lunch at Satu'li Canteen (love mobile order on the app!). And, it was time to head to the airport.
All in all, a fantastic weekend! I am so happy that we went and got to experience the magic of this celebration. The festivities last for the next 18 months and I highly recommend planning your visit so you can experience it yourself!
Mary Graham is a Travel Advisor
and has been planning magical vacations for clients for over five years. She takes the stress and hassle out of planning and doesn't charge any fees for vacation package clients.
Theme park vacations. All inclusive resort vacations. European destinations. Ocean Cruises and River Cruises.
Contact her by email: mary@tripsbymary.com or
call 919-817-4081.
Visit her website: www.tripsbymary.com.
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