January 2016 Bits and Bites

Feature Article

This article appeared in the December 29, 2015 Issue #849 of ALL EARS® (ISSN: 1533-0753)

Editor's Note: This story/information was accurate when it was published. Please be sure to confirm all current rates, information and other details before planning your trip.

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clock STEP BACK IN TIME
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… will return in 2016!

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tricircle HIDDEN MICKEYS ALERT
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Steve Barrett, author of the Hidden Mickeys books and webmaster of HiddenMickeyGuy.com, highlights a few Hidden Mickeys from Disneyland, California. Stroll through Walt’s original park and marvel at the Disney detail.

1. Disneyland, Mickey’s Toontown. Face the Fireworks Factory and find a small, pink firework cone poking out from the right wall. It's one of the lower fireworks on the roof, and it has a small, blue classic Mickey painted halfway up its cone. (Thanks to Sherrie Cotton.)

Hidden Mickey

2. Disneyland, Frontierland, Rancho del Zocalo Restaurante. Halfway up a wooden support post near the corner of a wall behind a condiment and napkin cart, you can spot a classic Mickey depression in the wood. You’ll see it best by looking back in from the exit with the gate on the restaurant’s right side (as you approach the restaurant from the main Frontierland walkway). (Thanks to Rosemary and Neil.)

Hidden Mickey

3. Disneyland, Disney's Paradise Pier Hotel. A large painting of a stylized Paradise Pier hangs on a wall facing the main entrance. In the painting’s upper right, a black classic Mickey tilted to the right hides inside a red cart on a Ferris wheel. (It might be Mickey himself!) (Thanks to Sam Vanderspek.)

Hidden Mickey

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You can find a selection of past Hidden Mickey Alerts HERE.

And check out our latest Searching Disney with Steve blog: Hidden Mickeys at the Polynesian Village Resort and the Magic Kingdom.

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reminder MONTHLY REMIND-EARS
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Epcot

Holidays Around the World in World Showcase:

Storytellers in the pavilions around World Showcase talk about the holiday or related customs in each country. For the 2015 holiday season, new live musical performances by the five-member a cappella group, American Music Machine are being added. With unique vocal arrangements by Tim Davis ("Glee"), American Music Machine will be rocking around the Fountain Stage, performing both modern and nostalgic holiday hits, including "White Christmas," "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" and "All I Want for Christmas is You." The Canadian Holiday Voyageurs explore the musical holiday traditions from across the Great White North in the Canada Pavilion. In Mexico, "Feliz Navidad" features colorful dancers and mariachis, who celebrate the holiday customs of Mexico in an interactive, musical performance, and the China Pavilion bursts to life with the vibrant Chinese Lion Dance, bringing good fortune and happiness to all in honor of major holidays such as the Lunar New Year and Lantern Festival.

The Candlelight Processional: The celebrity narrators for December dates are (entertainment and times subject to change):

  • 12/29 – 12/30: Amy Grant

Each evening there are three shows — at 5, 6:45 and 8:15 p.m. — which last about 40 minutes.

Magic Kingdom

Although the last Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party has ended, guests in the Magic Kingdom still can seesome of the holiday entertainment presented at those hard-ticketed events as part of the regular admission. Holiday Wishes: Celebrate the Season fireworks will have its last showing December 29. Mickey's Once Upon a Christmastime Parade will be presented twice each day on Dec. 29, 20, 31.

Disney's Hollywood Studios

The Holiday Warehouse Comedy Show is available through January 3, 2016.

JANUARY EVENTS

Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend – January 6-10, 2016. The Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend presented by Cigna® brings a range of events and races, each pacing through an assortment of exciting locations—including all four theme parks. There's a Family Fun Run 5K on Thursday, January 7, followed by a 10K on January 8, a Half Marathon on January 9 and the full marathon on January 10. For more details on the weekend, visit the runDisney site.

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Check our Events page for a full schedule of upcoming events.

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REHABS AND CLOSINGS

Disney's Animal Kingdom

Kali River Rapids in Asia will be closed for refurbishment January 4 through February 11, 2016.

Maharajah Jungle Trek in Asia will be closed for refurbishment January 4 – 21, 2016.

Flights of Wonder in Asia will be closed for refurbishment January 25 – March 17, 2016.

Disney's Hollywood Studios

Toy Story Midway Mania – More midway track is being added; work is expected to be completed in 2016. The ride remains open during the construction.

Pizza Planet – Closed January 11 until late 2016.

Epcot

Innoventions in Future World West is closed except for the Visa Character Photo Location.

Soarin' will be closing January 4, 2016 and reopen in the summer, Another theater is being added, as well as new screens and a projection system bringing a visually enhanced experience.

The Maelstrom attraction and Spirit of Norway movie have closed to make way for "Frozen Ever After," based on the animated film, "Frozen." The new attraction will take guests to the film's land of Arendelle and is expected to open in early 2016. The Norway pavilion will also again host a royal greeting location where the characters Anna and Elsa can meet guests.

Magic Kingdom

Splash Mountain in Frontierland will be closed for refurbishment January 10 – 14.
Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin also in Tomorrowland will be closed for refurbishment January 18 through February 11, 2016.
Liberty Square Riverboat will be closed for refurbishment January 18 – 22.
Magic Carpets of Aladdin closed for refurbishment January 25 – February 3..

Art of Animation Schoolyard Sprayground closed January 3 – March 11, 2016

All Star Sports Surfboard Bay Pool closed January 25 – 28, 2016.

Beach Club Villas undergoing a soft goods rehab January 22 – August 17, 2016

Disney Beach and Yacht Club Stormalong Bay Slide closed January 11-15, 2016.

Blizzard Beach Water Park closed for its annual refurbishment October 25, 2015. It will remain closed until January 2, 2016.

BoardWalk

BoardWalk Villas rooms are currently undergoing renovations.

BoardWalk Inn is also undergoing exterior repairs and painting now through May 5, 2016.

Caribbean Beach Resort

— Jamaica Pool – closed January 6-8, 2016
Martinique Pool – closed January 11-13, 2016
— Fuentes del Morro Pool – closed January 13-16, 2016
— Trinidad North Pool – closed January 27-29, 2016

Grand Floridian Resort and Spa Courtyard Pool closed January 16-19, 2016.

Old Key West Sancastle Pool closed January 4-6, 2016.

Polynesian Resort

Polynesian East Pool is closed for enhancement through early 2016. Expect noise and construction; some pathways may be blocked.

Port Orleans Ol' Man Island Pool closed January 11 -Feb 29, 2016.

Saratoga Springs Grandstand Pool closed January 20-22, 2016.

The Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin is currently undergoing the largest renovation in its 25-year history. The Swan rooms have been completed; the first phase of the Dolphin Hotel room renovations have just begun, with the entire room project currently scheduled to be completed by the end of 2017.

Wilderness Lodge and Villas at Wilderness Lodge

General resort refurbishments and construction work in multiple areas will continue until 2017. Some pathways and the nature trail will be unavailable at certain times.

Hidden Springs leisure pool, resort beach, playground and recreation fire pit are unavailable.

Cub's Den Children Activity Center closed January 3 – 2017..

Disney Springs

Roadwork on Buena Vista Drive – Through March 2016. Due to heavy roadwork, expect delays on Buena Vista Drive. It is recommended that guests use complimentary Walt Disney World Resort transportation from Parks and Resorts to Disney Springs and plan to arrive early for reserved dining and entertainment experiences.

Parking Lots – Entrance 2 – Lots A-G – closed through August 2016, in preparation for the construction of Town Center and the East Garage.

Read HERE for more on Disney Springs.

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A complete list of known rehabs can be found HERE.

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fireworks MAGICAL MOMENTS
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As a year-end treat to mark the end of the holiday season, we thought we'd share a larger-than-usual helping of those wonderful, heart-warming Magical Moments brought to us by the amazing Disney cast members!

Ben Eige: We were at Walt Disney World this November for a trip with our family of five. After the trip had been scheduled and put on the books we found out my wife is pregnant with our fourth child (7 years after our last one!). Of course we went ahead with the trip but it changed things a bit for my wife. The day we visited Animal Kingdom my wife stayed back at POR for some extra rest while I took our 2 boys and 1 girl to the park. My wife took the bus to Animal Kingdom and was hoping to meet us for the 11 a.m. Festival of the Lion King Show. Around 10:30 the kids and I headed to the show to check out the standby line and it was growing quickly. I asked the cast member there (Melinda) if it would be possible for us to get in line and save a seat for my wife who was on the bus, but would be cutting it close to making it into the park and to the 11am show. She said, very nicely, we wouldn't be able to save a seat. She thought for a moment, and asked if we would be OK coming back for the noon show. I said "sure" and she asked my name and got on the phone. A minute later she said to come to the exit at 11:45 a.m. and give them my name and we'd have seats for the show. We met up with my wife and came back at 11:45. At the exit, near the Fastpass line is something like a host stand, I went up to the cast member there and gave them my name. She turned to another cast member and told him to seat us in the reserved seats, the seats ended up being the front row of the Giraffe Section! We walked in before anyone else and were seated. It was awesome! Melinda even popped her head in to the theater to make sure we had our seats. We felt pretty special, our daughter was picked to give the giraffe sounds at the beginning of the show, the monkeys ate "bugs" off of our boys' heads and a few times my wife and I were pulling our feet back so the stilt walkers didn't have an accident. It was a really great experience at an already fun show, and I'm so thankful for Melinda throwing some pixie dust our way.

Gail: I recently spent a week visiting my daughter who lives in Kissimmee. Late on our Magic Kingdom day, we stopped for a pretzel at a stand near Fantasyland. Although we asked and only paid for one, the cast member gave us two with suggestion that we "pay it forward." It was almost closing time and I know he would have had to throw it away but it was very nice of him anyway. The next day, we ate at Pecos Bill's. I ordered a child's quesadilla and it came with an orange juice. I didn't want the juice but also didn't want to waste it. There was a family with four kids sitting at the next table and, after assuring them I was not a weirdo (!), offered them the unopened juice. One of the little girls' faces lit up. Her mother said "she loves orange juice! Can I pay you for it?" I told her about the pretzel and asked her to also "pay it forward." A few minutes later the little girl approached me with one of her Disney pins. "Since you won't take any money, I want to give you one of my pins. Thank you for the juice." Needless to say that pin will never get traded!

Lisa Black: I have had many trips to Walt Disney World since it opened and all are quite special. Our last trip in April of this year was one of the best. My Magical Moment occurred when I was getting my second ice cream cone of the day. I told the young man at the counter that I was getting ice cream twice in one day because I was at Disney and I could. He said and I'm giving it to you because I can. I told him that he was wonderful and he said, "No, you're wonderful!" It was another great week at Disney!

Lee: My husband and I have been Disney Vacation Club owners for 10 years. We were very excited to share our place with our friends this January. We made the reservations, got the magic bands and reserved the Magical Express. We kept telling them they were in for a great time, but nothing could compare to our arrival. When the bus pulled up to the Kidani Village, the hostess met us and knew our names. She introduced herself and walked us to check-in, where our room was ready, even though it was early! It made my friends gasp in awe and was a magical beginning to a wonderful vacation. (I wish I remembered her name, to single her out!)

Barb McIntyre: My husband and I just returned from WDW celebrating our 40th anniversary. We proudly wore our Anniversary buttons with the #40 on them. One night after a fireworks show we were waiting in line for the bus. I rent a scooter and normally wait in the handicap section, but after fireworks and parades, handicaps wait in line along with everyone else. As we moved closer, one of the transportation cast caught my eye and pointed to my button. He gave me the thumbs up. One of the buses was having difficulties and there were 7-8 lines of people waiting, plus the full bus. Then another bus pulled up. That cast member motioned to me to come to the rope and he lifted it so my husband and I could go underneath. He'd done the same for a woman in a wheelchair and her party. Then we were loaded onto this empty bus. We thought more people would be taken on, but they weren't. The driver said he was privileged that night to drive special princesses to their resort. When we got to our resort, he came back and again, said how honored he was to drive two very special princesses to their resort. He helped the wheelchair lady off first. Then he came back to me and got down on one knee and repeated what he said. I was thoroughly embarrassed by now. I told him he was spreading the Disney magic and thanked him. I'm not sure about the other lady, but I'm sure our special treatment was because of our anniversary buttons.

Teresa Anderson: I don't know if this counts as a 'magical moment,' but it was memorable. We were making our way through the dark, somewhat scary queue of the Indiana Jones attraction at Disneyland when we encountered a cast member, tooting somewhat aimlessly on a harmonica. Strange enough in and of itself, but then my husband whips out his tiny "Little Lady" harmonica (that he never goes anywhere without, sometimes to our embarrassment) and starts jamming with him. Probably the first time this had ever happened to the cast member!

Terri: My family recently took a trip to Disney. We were celebrating my daughter and son-in-law's "family-moon" with their two oldest boys, ages 12 and 9 (the baby stayed home with his other Grandma). My son and daughter-in-law were also celebrating their second wedding anniversary. While I am a long time Disney fan and visitor, this was our first trip with the MagicBands. I decided to give my 'big kids' an adult day, so the grandsons and I headed to Epcot for the day. Since I prefer to enjoy my vacations without a lot of planning, I had no FastPass+ reservations loaded to our bands. We got in the line for Spaceship Earth. The standby line was only 30 minutes, but the boys were asking about Fast Passes. As I explained to them that Grandma hadn't loaded any because of the new system, a young cast member heard our conversation and joined us. She explained that we could still get some Fast Passes and told us where we could load those on our bands. But first, she motioned us to follow her. She proceeded to tell us that the boys were her VIP guests of the day and lead us to a door the said Cast Members Only. We got to go to the front of the line! The boys were ecstatic! This is the first time I have experienced this much Magic but boy did we enjoy it! And the boys talked about it all week! Thanks to cast member Melissa from New York, for making my grandsons VIPs for a day.

Diann: My husband and I were celebrating our 50th Anniversary and didn't want to miss Star Wars weekend. We invited our 29-year-old granddaughter to join us and booked a room at Boardwalk. We checked in really early so we could be at Hollywood Studios when they opened. We asked for anniversary buttons and enjoyed every cast member as well as lots of guest telling us "Happy Anniversary" all day. Well, the big surprise came when we returned late back to the room. We found a plate of chocolate covered strawberries, a solid white chocolate Mickey Mouse, an anniversary card and a note telling us to call in-room dining for a surprise. A cold bottle of champagne was delivered in a few minutes. What a magical night!

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We just bet you have a story to tell about an unforgettable moment during your Disney vacation! Please send your favorite memory for inclusion in a future AllEars® to: [email protected] Thank you all for sharing!

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Editor's Note: This story/information was accurate when it was published. Please be sure to confirm all current rates, information and other details before planning your trip.