Tagged: walt-disney-world

Walt Disney World's First 50 Years—Through the Lens of Orlando's Newspaper

Nowadays, Florida's Walt Disney World—the most popular theme park destination on the planet—cultivates its global image through heavyweight marketing, synergistic sister brands, and a…

Walt Disney World’s 50th Birthday Is an Anticlimax—So When Should You Go?

In 2021, Walt Disney World in Florida turns a half-century old. On October 1, 1971, Walt Disney's brother and business partner, Roy, dedicated the East Coast version of California's…

Disney Officially Kills FastPass, Will Charge Extra to Use the New "Lightning Lane"

FastPass is dead. Long live FastPass! For a generation, Disney's iconic FastPass was a famous signifier of the company's premium product and its generosity with its customers. For no…

The Prices for Disney's New Star Wars Hotel Are Out of This World

Disney’s groundbreaking Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser hotel sounds like the coolest idea in hotels since pillows. Starting next spring, the new luxury hotel, which was recently…

As Disney World Strips Away Its Perks, What Will Replacing Them Cost You?

This week, it was confirmed that Disney Parks will receive a $580 million tax break from the state of Florida to relocate about 2,000 key workers from Southern California, where the…

Going to Disney Is Different Now. Someone Should Warn You About These 10 Things

The return of travel brings the return of reassuring old habits. Just as some people feel incomplete until they can root for their favorite baseball team in person again at their local…

Disney World Guts Guest Benefits at Its Hotels: Why Would You Stay Now?

From a value standpoint, it's already a highly debatable decision to stay within the borders of Walt Disney World at a Disney-owned hotel. Those properties easily cost at least twice…

Make the Great Treats from Disney's U.S. Parks: Cookbook Excerpt!

Dole Whip at Magic Kingdom, Mickey Pretzels at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Frozen Lemonade at Disney’s Animal Kingdom—Disney has so much to offer, and one of its best attractions is…

Disney Will Never Be the Same: A Litany of Layoff Devastation

This week, there was an employment cataclysm at Walt Disney World and Disneyland. In one day, the company axed nearly every worker with a speaking role in its U.S. parks. As part of…

The Disney Monorail: The Amazing True Story of the "Highway in the Sky"

Walt Disney is renowned as a cartoonist, filmmaker, showman, and entertainment icon. But he was also a farsighted futurist, a transportation buff with practical roots in the past—and a…

Buyer Beware: Theme Parks Are Cutting Experiences but Not Prices

Despite headlines declaring that major theme parks have "reopened," that doesn't mean everything inside them has. We get it—some people would rather eat glass slippers than step foot…

Coronavirus Brings Touchless Security Screening, But Watch for Privacy Worries

Covid-19 has devastated the travel industry, but in some ways, the virus has also forced the vacation business to adapt and upgrade in interesting ways. We've celebrated some of the…

The First Disney Park to Reopen Returns May 11 with Special Rules

One of the first Disney theme parks to close, Shanghai Disneyland, ceased operations in January. It is now scheduled to reopen on May 11, and its operational changes will inform how…

How the Major Theme Parks Might Reopen

On Monday, the respected site Theme Park Insider published a story that reportedly came from an inside tip. The site claims that Walt Disney World in Orlando is considering reopening…

Ride Disney Attractions Without Leaving Home With These POV Videos

Theme parks around the world are locked tight. (Sorry—the moose out front should have told you.) But you can still feel like you got past the gates thanks to YouTube, that shallow…

12 Ways to Find Discounts for Disney

Updated August 26, 2019Disney parks don't grant many discounts. They don't need to—they're packed year-round. There aren't even reduced prices for senior citizens, and children are…

Why Universal Orlando's Just-Announced Theme Park Is a Game Changer

It's official. Universal Orlando is building a third Florida theme park.Universal's Epic Universe, officially confirmed Thursday morning, is being built on 750 acres about four miles…

12 Theme Park Tips That Will Literally Save Your Life (Not Literally)

Working at a major theme park for years, you learn a few things. Like, if you happen to stumble upon an animal trainer with a chimpanzee, the chimp will consider you an attacker and…

Travels with Walt: Go Where Disney Went

From his earliest years, Walt Disney aimed to expand his boundaries: physical, creative, and intellectual. Throughout his life, he was a frequent and enthusiastic tourist, visiting…

What Will Be New at America's Theme Parks This Year?

Amusement park season is around the bend—and that bend could be a loop-de-loop of a high tech ride. For our weekly Frommer's Travel Show on WABC Radio, Jason Cochran and I interviewed…

Disney World Now Charges for Parking at Hotels, Decreasing Their Value

Update: Disney Parks finally rescinded fees for self-parking at Walt Disney World resorts in January 2023. Click here to read about that.It used to be one of the great courtesies of…

It's Here: Donald Trump Robot Unveiled at Disney's Hall of Presidents

About six months behind its usual post-election refurbishment schedule, Walt Disney World has unveiled its Audio-Animatronic version of the current president of the United States,…

Great Wolf's Huge New Indoor Water Park Opens Near Disneyland in California

If you haven't heard of Great Wolf Lodge, there may be two reasons for that. One is you don't have kids under 12. The other is that one hasn't opened within driving distance from your…

By Converting the Norway Pavilion to a 'Frozen' Attraction, Epcot's World's Fair Concept Dies

On his deathbed, Walt Disney had a dream for his ultimate legacy. He wanted to create a living community in Central Florida where companies could use residents to try out new…

How Much Does an Orlando Vacation Cost? A New Tool Does the Math

One of the most common questions for me as the author of Frommer's Orlando is, "How much does a vacation there cost?"Well, a new online tool helps you figure out how much…