A Fire at Magic Kingdom, New Rides Added to Genie+ for Limited Time, and MORE Disney News from the Week!

Hello, AllEars Readers!

Things were a little busy at Magic Kingdom this week!

Although we thought this week might end up being a quiet one, we still ended up with quite a bit of news coming out of Disney! So let’s get to the biggest stories that you might have missed.

Fire at Magic Kingdom

On Tuesday night, Cinderella’s Royal Table at Magic Kingdom was evacuated, and emergency vehicles were dispatched after a fire was reported to Reedy Creek Fire Department. Fire trucks drove down Main Street, U.S.A. as both fire and rescue vehicles stopped in front of the castle. AllEars reader @ptolley shared a photo from Magic Kingdom, straight from Main Street, U.S.A.

?Emergency Vehicles have been deployed to Magic Kingdom for reported fire

Photo Credit to: @ptolley__ pic.twitter.com/BLsS4x8MuT

— AllEars.Net (@AllEarsNet) December 15, 2021

Fortunately, no one was hurt. The Orlando Sentinel reported that when the call came in, it was reported as “an electrical fire on a junction box outside the castle.” Once they arrived, though, a firework appeared to have caught a tree on fire, but the true cause is still pending investigation.

Here’s What Happened in Magic Kingdom During the Reported Fire

Limited Time Changes For Disney World Guests

Guests visiting Disney World from December 19th, 2021, through January 3rd, 2022 are going to need to know about some changes coming to the parks for that limited time. First, four of the Individual Attraction Selection rides on Disney Genie are going to be available with Genie+. So for this limited time, guests can book Lightning Lane access for the following rides through Genie+, rather than through the pay-per-ride Individual Attraction Selection:

Space Mountain (in the Magic Kingdom)
Frozen Ever After (in EPCOT)
Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway (in Disney’s Hollywood Studios)
Expedition Everest (in Disney’s Animal Kingdom)

Likewise, guests visiting during that time and staying at Disney World resorts will get more time for Early Entry access to the parks. Instead of being able to visit the parks 30 minutes earlier than non-resort guests, resort guests will get to visit the parks 60 minutes — a whole hour — ahead of the park’s official opening time.

BREAKING: Disney World EXTENDS Length of Early Theme Park Entry for a Limited Time

EPCOT Flower and Garden Festival

Disney World has announced the official dates for the 2022 EPCOT Flower and Garden Festival. The festival will take place from March 2nd to July 4th and will feature 18 outdoor kitchens plus a few other locations serving special dishes featuring fresh fruit and vegetables. All the topiaries will return, plus a new one — a 50th Anniversary-themed birthday cake topiary with Goofy!

The Garden Rocks Concert Series will also be returning this year after a two-year hiatus.

Everything Confirmed for the 2022 EPCOT International Flower & Garden Festival

Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind Begins Testing

One of the most highly-anticipated rides at Disney World is Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind and the ride has officially started ride testing! Walt Disney World President Jeff Vahle got to take a test ride, and had three words to say about it: “It is awesome.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Jeff Vahle (@jeffvahle)

The ride officially opens in summer 2022, with final touches being added in the upcoming months leading up to that.

Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind Has Begun Ride Testing

Disneyland Offering “Recovery” To Select Guests Who Used Genie+

The launch of Genie+ at Disneyland on December 8th didn’t go quite as smoothly as the launch at DIsney World. The service was down from 10AM until about 4PM on its launch date and Disney’s DAS (Disability Access Service) was down for most of the day. Disneyland guests who purchased Genie+ or Individual Attraction Selections on that date will soon be getting a message from Disney about “recovery.”

However, Disney Genie is now fully operational at Disneyland.

Select Disneyland Guests Who Used Genie+ Will Be Provided ‘Recovery’

Disneyland’s it’s a small world Holiday Finally Debuts

Although Disneyland has been enjoying holiday festivities for a little while now, it’s a small world with its holiday overlay has not been available due to flooding. However, the attraction is now running — in full holiday mode — as of December 6th.

According to Jason Tomlin, manager of Ride Control Engineering at Disneyland, the maintenance room under the ride’s loading station was flooded when the ride was refilled with water. This resulted in the electrical equipment there being under water. Disney engineers worked around the clock to pump the water out, dry out the room, replace equipment, and get everything back in working order. The holiday overlay will be running through January 9th, 2022.

VIDEO: it’s a small world Holiday Debuts After Month-Long Delay

Those are the biggest Disney news stories of the week, but stay tuned because we’ll keep covering all the big — and small — Disney news as it comes in.