37. Rediscovering the Magic: Exploring the Exciting Changes at Walt Disney World in 2024

Hello, my friends, and welcome to another episode of let me adjust my ears. We are on episode 37, and we are already well into well, not well into, but halfway through January. Can you believe we're in 2024? And so today, we are going to rediscover the magic. We're gonna explore all the exciting changes that are happening at Walt Disney World and a few in Universal too in this coming year. So join me. We're gonna embark together on this magical journey, the return of park hopping, the beloved dining plan, and we are gonna bid farewell to park reservations. So get ready to discover all of the enchantment of a pre COVID Disney experience, I think, as close as it could be, and we are ready to dive right in. So I just said no park reservations are needed.

Let me amend to that statement somewhat. No park reservations are needed for date based tickets. So for my clients, that means you don't have to worry about park reservations and what park you're going to go to on what day because you have a hotel and ticket package. So that means that those tickets which are only good for, say, a week and you're going to the parks for 4 days. We do not need to decide which park you're gonna go to and what order and make those advanced park reservations. Now for my friends who are listening who, like me, are annual pass holders, do not despair. Disney is returning with our good to go dates, meaning we don't need reservations on certain dates, but we still do need to let Disney know we're coming by virtue or by way of a park reservation. However, park hopping is back.

Yay. No more do you need to book a VIP tour so you can park hop before 2 PM, and you can park hop if you have a park hopper ticket. You could go for breakfast, the Magic Kingdom, and Cinderella's Castle. And as Soon as you're done with that, you can pop over to Disney's Hollywood Studios to ride rise of the resistance, and you've gotten 2 very high bucket list Disney items checked off, and it's not even noon yet. And that is because we have the return of park hopping. Now mind you, I should say that all of this is happening on January 9th. This episode is going to be airing on January 11th, so it's already started. Yay.

It just started. We'll let you know how it's going in a future episode. This also means with the no park reservations for date based tickets and the park hopping being back that there are some changes to Genie plus and Lightning Lane reservations. Of course, there are because Disney wouldn't be Disney if it didn't change Genie plus and lightning lane entrances at least every 3 months, every quarter. So for now, this means that you can book a Genie Plus or a Lightning Lane for a park that you are not necessarily going to be at in the morning. So you can book for later in the day at different parks. This also works for the virtual queue. Because you don't have to have a park reservation, You can pick whether you want to book Guardians of the Galaxy's virtual queue or Tron virtual queue.

You can only book 1 virtual 2 at a time, and that's at 7 AM Eastern Standard Time. And we did a whole Genie plus virtual queue strategy session on Genie 101. So if you're very confused about the language that I'm talking about, Please go back and listen to that episode and check that out. And then this will make a lot more sense what I'm talking about in terms of your ability to make selections sessions based on your ability to park hop. Okay. And I did say the dining plan is back. So the dining plan this go round has 2 different options. It's the quick service dining plan, and then we have the standard dining plan.

So let's take a look at the quick service dining plan. It has 2 quick service meals. So that's an entree or a combo meal at lunch and dinner with a beverage. You get 1 snack per day, 1 nonalcoholic drink and 1 resort refillable mug per person per package. So, basically, that gives you either a breakfast and a lunch or a lunch and a dinner or breakfast and dinner quick service type meals that you would get at either a resort or at a park. They all have quick service meals. You get to choose 1 beverage with that, and guests 21 or older can make that 1 beverage a single serving of a mixed cocktail beer or wine where it's offered. You could then get 1 snack.

So let's say you decide to do quick service at your resort hotel for breakfast, and then you're just gonna snack, grab some popcorn or a Mickey pretzel or the egg rolls. Those are snacks. My friend Erin Erdos does a Great worksheet on 10 Disney snacks that eat like a meal, and I will put those up in the Making Memories Insiders Facebook group so you can take a look at those. And then everybody gets a mug, which for me is like joy because that means I can drink as much Diet Coke, Sprite, 7 Up mixed with juice as much as I want. So I love that refillable mug, and it's good at any resort. Okay. Now if you are like me and you prefer standard dining as in sit down meals during your stay, Then this other option, yes, it is more bougie. It is more expensive.

I am more extra AF. This would be the meal plan for me. And with it, you get 1 table service entree and a dessert for lunch or dinner, or you get a full buffet, or you get the full buffet for lunch or dinner. I'm thinking of Boma's, Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge. Like, that buffet would be your standard dining table service meal credit. Then you get 1 quick service meal. So I'm in the parks, and then I want two, have a Ronto wrap. There's my quick service meal, and then I still do get 1 snack or 1 nonalcoholic drink and my resort mug.

So then I'm gonna go watch the new show over at Epcot, then maybe that's where I'm gonna grab my popcorn or my snack to watch during the show. Now it used to be that you could trade 2 snack credits for a quick service meal. That is not the case anymore. But the reason that this works so well for my family is because I don't necessarily eat breakfast. I just want coffee. And what these credits are, they all go into this huge bank account for everyone. So it's like you're banking all your meals and you're paying for them in advance. And then let's say I don't really eat breakfast, but I want a full table service meal later on in the day or I want an extra snack later in the day, but my child wants the full breakfast at the quick service.

So it's all coming from a bank, and so it's all pooled credit. So it's not like only Michele can use her snack. No. My daughter can use my snack. I can use one of her quick service meals. It's all like that together. So my family and I certainly have figured out the hacks to use enough of the dining credits that we can go to some very nice sit down meals and know that we have prepaid them. And, yes, I am one of those people who looks at the menu and says, I want the most expensive item.

Hopefully, that's what I feel like eating because I want to get the most bang for my buck out of that dining plan. Now, again, it just started back 2 days ago, so we definitely have to wait and see and report back on how it's going. And one thing that I should say is that now that we own some Vacation Club that isn't Disney. It's less that I stay on-site, so I don't have really the opportunity to use the dining plan as I used to, but I have a quick weekend that I will plan to stay on-site in the not too distant future. Well, I should say probably the later half of the year, actually, but I will definitely be trying the Disney Dining Plan again. And if it's something that you're interested in, please, please, please take a look at that Making Memories Insider Facebook group where Erin snacks that eat like a meal is posted. And, also, just contact me. I've got some great hacks for that dining plan.

I like it a lot, and I'm sure most of you have probably heard the story because I have told it on this podcast before about how I worked at Disney at the front desk when the dining plan first started. And just like runDisney, I was quite skeptical that the dining plan was going to be successful because I figured if Disney was launching it, It had to be not good for the consumer and really, really good for Disney's bottom line. Seems I may have been right about that because they took it away at the first opportunity they foot, which was COVID, and they are just now bringing it back. So it's been gone for 4 years. So what I will say about that is that As a consumer, I loved, loved, loved it even though as a Disney cast member, I was suspect of it. So my suspicions may have been, but I still love it as a consumer. I just love knowing that it's prepaid, it's done, and I'm gonna get to eat some really great meals while I'm there. Be sure and hit me up at Michele one l visits with any questions you have about the dining plan or about any of those new changes that I rattled quickly through.

Again, I know I've mentioned many of them before, so I didn't wanna spend an inordinate amount of time on that. So I have also mentioned that the festival of the arts at Epcot, Epcot's International Festival of the Arts, does start on January 12th. It will run through February 19th, which seems like a shorter run to me. That must mean flower and garden starts, like, on February 22nd. Actually, that's not true. Festival of the arts ends just before the princess weekend, and flower and garden begins just after the princess weekend. So for princess half marathon, there are no festivals at Epcot, but more than likely, we're gonna see the chalk art coming down and the topiaries going up. But there won't be outdoor kitchens, which, hello, festivals.

That's what we're in it for, the outdoor kitchens. Right? I did mention that there are Disney concert series. So, again, these are included with your Epcot ticket during the International Festival of the Arts. Actual Broadway stars come and give concerts singing Disney classics and wonderful Broadway tunes right outside of the American adventure. It's a lot of fun, and there's lots of different stars. And we will continue to put that link of what stars will be singing during your trip in the show notes, and, of course, you can always ask me. I would love to tell you more about that Disney concert series. I love it.

And you all also know that I'm such a big fan of the festival scavenger hunts. And for the festival, the arts, it is Figment's brush with the masters, and it is all in world showcase this year. It says that on the website s that it is in world showcase. So as you're doing your shopping of all the original art around world showcase and you're tasting staying with your food, the outdoor food kitchens, which for Festival of the Arts are called food studios. Then I Highly, highly encourage you to get that. It's still less than $10, that map into figments brush with the masters. And then, of course, You get to keep the map. You get to keep the stickers that you have had hours of fun for less than $10, and then you pick out whatever the prize is that they're giving away.

So my trip for International Festival of the Arts is January 22nd. So you can from that date forward, you can be sure and check out my Instagram stories where I will show me doing Figment's brush with the masters. I love it. It's so much fun. I'm not as good at doing them solo as I am with friends, so we'll see how good that I do in that January trip because I am gonna be flying so low. I won a scholarship to attend Podfest, so I'm super excited. So that's really the purpose of my trip in January is to attend Podfest and learn a lot about how I can grow this podcast, so I can maintain a community connection with all of you who are listening and help other people find this podcast. And While I'm there, I will also take in the International Festival of the Arts as well as the new nighttime entertainment at Scott, and I haven't seen happily ever after since it returned either.

So those are my 3 priorities for my January trip. Now, of course, I did mention that no trip to an EPCOT Festival is quite the same without those food studios and the, sweet strolls. During food and wine, it's a cheese stroll, but how you can get that bonus cookie. So Really quickly, I'm gonna go through some of these entrees and desserts that are gonna be available. There are 16 Food Studios, and they all also have a ton of both alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages, and so I'm skipping those. I'm really just telling you the stuff that I like. So at the artist's table, they have a hummingbird cake. You've never tried hummingbird cake, you can also get it at ArtStoritz Homecoming, and it is phenomenal.

I love it. There is a beef wellington at the craftsman courtyard. And also there, they have a cold fashioned coffee cocktail. So for those coffee lovers and you. That's the craftsman courtyard. Cuisine Classique has an opera cake. Also at. The Adecco delights.

This is all desserts and espresso martini, Neapolitan beer flight, three, daughters brewing strawberry blonde nitro, which I've had before, and it's really good. And they have a wonderful walk of colorful cuisine items. So that's, again, where you get a stamp in your festival passport. And when you get at least 6 or 7 stamps, then you can turn it in for an additional item. So that is at Deco Delights. It's the orange mousse with lemon cake and raspberry meringues. So that's what you would buy to get a stamp to then show your passport for a, quote, unquote, free item. And don't forget, you don't have to collect all those stamps in the same day.

You can come back with your same festival passport. And if you're with your family, let everyone use the same passport for their stamps because I promise if you're gonna try and eat all 6 of these items in one day to get your 1 free one. You're not gonna have room to eat your 1 free one. Okay. So now there's the deconstructed dish, which has my favorite thing, which is the deconstructed BLT. I seem to get that every year. It never disappoints. But they do also have deconstructed apple pie a la mode.

I'm seeing that in honor of mister Michele visits Mickey because he loves his apple pie. Now over by the El Artista which I'm sure I said wrong, but that's called The Hungry Artist. It's got some carne asada there and some Mexican craft beer, so you can guess where that will be near. Figment has an inspiration station at the Odyssey for food and wine. This is where the Muppets were located, and it was one of my favorite booths with the Muppets. So I'm assuming it will also be good because they have Figma Premium Popcorn Bucket with Rainbow Popcorn. So, you know, who's not gonna want that? They will also have the wonderful walk of colorful cuisine item, which here is a sugar cookie with a blueberry filling, and they have fruit pizza. So the watermelon with the berries and the berry balsamic, which Erin and I actually tried that last year, and it was very good.

Now over at Japan, they've got the sushi doughnuts, which in the past, it was like candied sushi. But this time, it is a doughnut shaped, but the sushi does include salmon, tuna, shrimp, cucumber, and sesame seed. So if you are like me and you are allergic to shellfish, Stay away from that one. Another wonderful walk of colorful cuisine item is over in gourmet landscapes, and that's blood orange braised beef tartare with mustard vinaigrette, pickled clamshell mushrooms, and golden beets. I guarantee you, I will not be trying that. However, I also have a wild mushroom risotto with aged Parmesan truffle shavings and a Zinfandel reduction, and I dare say that That is going to be on my to do list. Then we get to the countries. So France has an outdoor food studio.

So does Italy and China. And then there is one called the pastoral palate. So this is not a specific country where there will be braised beef short rib and a black forest cake. Pop Eats, which if you know your Warhol, you can envision this. It's tomato soup with grilled cheese and an almond frangipaline cake, which is a wonderful walk of colorful cuisine item. Then we get to Morocco and the Tianjin Cafe. There is something new, the vivant and vivido, which is gonna have a breakfast empanada and a coconut and passion fruit smoothie and then breakfast coffee. So I think we're looking at that one to be item, but then at lunch, they are gonna also have a chorizo and potato empanada.

So lots of southwestern, second, South American cuisine going on here, including an Encanto themed food studio. I know I went through all of that really, really quickly, and, hopefully, Erin and I will do another deep dive on our favorite festival things just like we did after food and wine. She got there first, and so then she came on the pod and talked all about it. And I'm not sure which of us is gonna get there 1st. So, hopefully, we can do a debrief together because we're both like that when it comes to food. Now, opening in 2024. And I have seen timelines as early as this summer, but I Can't believe that it would be before the final quarter of 2024. It's Tianu's Bayou Adventure, and we are all excited.

That is gonna be where Splash Mountain used to be. It's gonna have some new characters. It is themed to after the story of Princess and the frog ends. So Tiana's got her restaurant, which there will be a quick service restaurant. We are told that will be Tiana's restaurant. And then you can see parts of this attraction that have already been loaded and up, pieces of it. If you are in the Magic Kingdom now, you can see that. One of the reasons I bring this up is, again, I mentioned earlier a few minutes ago in the about virtual cues.

So for after hours events, which are also coming back to 3 different parks in 2024, for after hours events at the Magic Kingdom. You don't have to use a virtual queue for Tron. It's a standby queue only. And, typically, there has been 1 virtual queue at a park at a time. So the assumption is that once Tionu's Bayou adventure begins. That will go on a virtual queue, and Tron will therefore go off of a virtual queue. Also, at guardians of the galaxy at Epcot, that ride is now I can't even believe I'm saying it. That ride is 2 years old now.

So it could come off a virtual queue just like Rise of the Resistance did, but it's still the hottest commodity there. So I don't know if I Expect that to happen as soon as I expect Tron to come off the virtual queue. I did mention that after hours events are returning. So in January, You can purchase a ticket for either the Magic Kingdom or Hollywood Studios, and you can play for an additional 3 hours at night at those parks. It's a special ticket, but the crowds are so much less. It's always actually kind of a I don't wanna say a bargain, but it's a lot of fun if you have it in your budget and your time to be able to just get through the attractions when nobody else is there as well as play in the parks at night. Epcot will also be having after hours events starting in February. So you can look for that in February.

Now here's one that may affect some of you who are heading there right now. Some of my clients are who are looking to go before the summer, and that is that the rock and roller coaster over at Disney's Hollywood Studios is closed until sometime this summer. We have not been given an actual date on that. My friend who you heard on the podcast as I replayed his episode, Richard from the theme park insider. He did a whole article on how we can expect to see the return of rock and roller coaster. I think he and I are both in agreement that it's time to the Aerosmith and bring on a different band. He voted for the electric mayhem and the Muppets, which I think is a fine idea, but I really wanna see the fake boy band from the movie red. That's where I'm going with my theming of rock and roller coaster.

Do you have a guess or do you have something that you would wanna see? Please, please, please Put it in that Facebook insider group, making memories insiders because I really wanna know what band you want the rock and roller coaster to be rethemed to. Now because I cannot leave out Universal Studios, And I know I'm making this podcast just a little bit longer than it should, but I have to tell you, I had the best time at Universal Studios Hollywood. Was there for a day right at the end of last year. The weather was gorgeous. I got to go on it. I did it. I got to see Mario Brothers, Luigi, and Princess Peach, and the ride is freaking phenomenal. Yes.

I did wait an hour in line. Yes, I did. I was with my husband and there was no express pass and there was no VIP tour. It was me in the line. And they said the line was gonna be 2 full hours or an hour and a half, and it was right at 45 minutes to an hour. It wasn't as as bad as we thought. The queue is actually really, really well done. I took a ton of pictures that I can post over in my stories on Instagram, But it was super fun, and I cannot wait for universal epic adventure now because that land was just fabulous.

I didn't get to ride pets off leash, which was sad because when we got there, everybody heads right for Mario Brothers. And so there was only, like, a 10 or 15 minute wait, and we should've just done it. But there were so many other attractions that were wide open that we just We didn't go hit it. We hit other things instead. And then by the afternoon, when it was time to go ride it, it was on a virtual queue. So the thing is I'd never got an alert that the ride was going on a virtual queue. I just went into the app to try and find out what the wait time was, and that's how I found out it was on a virtual queue. So we learned something important about the universal app, which is Make sure you have your notifications turned on.

I always do that for Disney, just road of habit they're on. But Anytime I download a new app, I usually turn them off, and I should have just left them on for that. But, definitely, Universal Studios Hollywood was a fun way to spend a day. You could probably actually spend 2 full days there because their actual Hollywood studios. Backlot tour is an hour, and who knows? You can actually see them filming something. We didn't get to do any of the Grinchmas or thing 1 thing to who's Christmas Whoville, but it was really cutely decorated. So if a trip to Orlando is a little bit more farfetched for you. The pricing is better at Universal Studios Hollywood.

It's more of a one day drop in kind of park. That might be something that you wanna take a look at going to the West Coast instead of the East Coast. So back to the East so. Again, I don't wanna leave out Universal Studios because I am having a love affair with them. The Mardi Gras dates or February 3rd to April 7th. And like the International Festival of the Arts over at Epcot, they also have live concerts. They have special Mardi Gras foods, and they have a special parade every day where you actually can be chosen to throw beads and be on one of the crew parades. So very exciting with the universal Mardi Gras dates, February 3rd to April 7th.

Hopefully, when, we're there for the February 22nd trip for Princess Half Marathon weekend, maybe I can Scoot over to Universal Studios Orlando. I forget. Nikki's gonna shout out at me because We learned it when we were there for training. Hold on. Let me channel Nikki. Universal Resorts and Experiences. Yes. Hopefully, I'll get to head over there in February for that.

Wow. I feel like I just talked a ton at you. Well, thank you so much for joining me again. And until then, I will see you real soon.