24 Hour Disney Day

What Would You Do with 24 Hours in the Magic Kingdom?

25 May 2015 by Suzannah Otis Leave a Comment

In the past, I’ve attended the first three 24-hour days at the Magic Kingdom and they were always fun, and crazy, and by the end, I was delirious. This time around, I couldn’t make it, so friend and blogger Kira from Second Blog to the Right jumped in and covered the Coolest Summer Ever festivities:

How do you know summer has arrived?!?!

By the #CoolestSummer Ever kickoff party at the Magic Kingdom!

Oh and did I mention, the party lasted for 24 hours?!?!?!?!

The Magic Kingdom was open from 6 am to 6 am with lots of festivities for all.

Everyone’s favorite snowman, Olaf, hosted the party and he brought his friends, Anna, Elsa, & Kristoff along as well.

In year’s past, I have only done the nighttime happenings, so this year I got to experience the morning.

The highlight of my morning was meeting Snapchatters, @shonduras & @emgarber. They took over the @waltdisneyworld Snapchat account for the whole weekend. If you followed along, you got to see all the fun they had. They are some of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet; so go give them a follow on Snapchat or Instagram!

I also got to experience a rarity in the Magic Kingdom thanks to being in the park prior to sunrise, the flag raising ceremony! I absolutely adore the tradition of the flag retreat at the Magic Kingdom and try to catch it whenever I can, but the flag raising happens at sunrise, which is usually before the park opens.

Some highlights of the 24 hour bash:

#INCREDIBLESSuperDanceParty at Rockettower Plaza Stage in Tomorrowland.
Disney Channel and Disney XD stars appear as honorary Grand Marshals at the 3 p.m. “Festival of Fantasy” parade.
Main Street Electrical Parade featuring a Frozen Fantasy pre-parade celebration.
Previews of upcoming Disney Channel films and music videos, plus a DJ spinning tunes as Disney Channel hosted the new “Club Chill” party zone in
Tomorrowland with some of guests’ favorite Disney Channel and Disney XD stars.
“Frozen” movie screening at Rockettower Plaza Stage in Tomorrowland.
Specialty cupcakes and other food items

Even if you missed the kickoff party, you still have plenty of time to experience #CoolestSummer Ever at Walt Disney World Resort.

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Thanks, Kira! What would you do with 24 Hours at Magic Kingdom? (I know for me it involved a LOT of Peoplemover rides!) It’s always fun to experience some views you don’t normally get to see in the parks, like sunrises over Cinderella Castle and many other unique photo ops!

Rock Your Disney Side Heroes and Villains 24 Hour Party Details

16 May 2014 by Suzannah Otis 2 Comments

For the third year in a row, Disney Parks in the US are doing a 24-hour Disney day. Starting with Leap Day back in 2012, we all enjoyed “One More Disney Day” followed in 2013 by the Monstrous Summer Memorial Day 24 Hour Party. This year, we will all Rock Your Disney Side with the Heroes and Villains 24 Hour Party. Guests are encouraged to dress up as their favorite Disney hero or villain and enjoy 24 continuous hours in Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom or the Disneyland Resort parks. The party will feature lots of Hero and Villain photo ops, entertainment and specialty food items as the parks stay open from 6am May 23 – 6am May24. Here’s a rundown of what to see, where to eat and what to do at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom:

Let’s start with the food! There are quite a few must-try options available only for the event, hopefully there are no cupcake overdoses! (All food photos ©Disney)

Rock Your Disney Side Cupcake – at the Main Street Confectionery, Big Top Souvenirs, or Prairie Outpost & Supply
Maleficent Cupcake, Frozen-themed Cupcake, & Olaf Carrot Cupcake – at the Main Street Bakery

Princess-themed Cupcakes – will be found at Gaston’s Tavern
Poisoned Apple Waffle Sundae – Sleepy Hollow

Poisoned Apple Shortcake Sundae – Storybook Treats

Olaf Sipper Cup with Specialty Beverage – found at Friar’s Nook and The Lunching Pad
Heroes and Villains-themed Cotton Candy – various locations at Outdoor Food carts

Mickey’s Kitchen Sink Sundae – at Plaza Ice Cream Parlor (but I believe this is available normally now)

If 6am is too early to Rock Your Sweet Tooth, many dining locations will be offering a breakfast option on the morning of the 23rd or 24th depending on location. One of my favorite moments of last year’s event was having beignets at 5am in front of Cinderella Castle. Hoping for something to top that this year! For organization purposes, I put together a handy dandy table of what’s available:

Location Name:	Friday 5/23	Saturday 5/24	Hot Breakfast Served:
Main Street Bakery	yes	yes	breakfast sandwiches
Plaza Ice Cream Parlor	no	yes
Casey’s Corner	yes	yes	breakfast sandwich
Auntie Gravity’s	yes	no
The Lunching Pad	yes	yes	breakfast hot dog
Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe	no	yes	breakfast sandwich
Cheshire Cafe	yes	no
Storybook Treats	no	yes
Friar’s Nook	no	yes
Pinocchio Village Haus	no	yes	breakfast flatbread pizza
Gaston’s Tavern	yes	yes
Liberty Square Market	yes	no
Sleepy Hollow	yes	yes	breakfast waffle sandwich
Columbia Harbor House	yes	yes	French toast sticks & bacon
Westward Ho	yes	yes
Pecos Bill’s	no	yes	breakfast sandwich
Sunshine Tree Terrace	yes	no
Aloha Isle	no	yes

As more information becomes available on other dining locations or times, I’ll of course update this post.

Entertainment options will offer a little something for everyone to enjoy:

Special Character Greetings will take place both Friday and Saturday – Disney heroes and villains will be making appearances around the park, check the Times Guide for more information.
Special Photo Opportunities both Friday and Saturday will be held at the Rose Garden and Rocket Tower Plaza.
Disney’s Up All Night Dance Party and Frontierland Dance Party will rock the night away starting at 2am and ending at 5:15am in Frontierland and 5:45am by Cinderella Castle.
Incredibles Super Movie Night will take place after the #IncrediblesSuperDanceParty! and show a screening of The Incredibles from 11pm – 5am.
It’s Good to Be Bad Villainous Celebration is a special night time parade with Disney villains taking place before the Main Street Electrical Parade at 10:45pm on Friday and 12:45am Saturday, along the usual parade route.
Kiss Goodnight – to culminate the 24 hour party, this farewell will happen at 5:50am Saturday morning at the Town Square Train Station.

Merchandise – in addition to all the food items above, a special Rock Your Disney Heroes and Villains Glow in the Dark T-Shirt and other Rock Your Disney Side items will be available at the Emporium.

Transportation to the parks from Disney resorts will begin 45 minutes prior to park opening and the monorail will end operations between the TTC and Epcot at 11pm.

Will you be rocking your Disney Side for 24 full hours? I know many think we must be crazy to stay in a park for that long, but the reason I love it is because it is the perfect way to experience the park as I want to; enjoying the scenery, landscaping and gardens, the quiet little nooks where you can just people watch and relax. I’d be happy not going on a single attraction, although I must admit, riding the Peoplemover in the wee hours of the morning is a must do. Hopefully we can get some rides in on the new Seven Dwarfs Mine Train too if there are soft openings happening. The fact that Starbucks is there now is perfect too. If you do go, take some time to enjoy the aspects of the park that you would never normally see – sunrise over the Castle is a must. What are you most looking forward to experiencing? Let me know in the comments below!

Central Florida Theme Park News – March 3, 2014

3 February 2014 by Suzannah Otis Leave a Comment

I decided I’d try something new here in addition to opinion and review posts: a news update with all of the things that have happened in the past week or so, to have everything all in one place. So if you missed anything in Central Florida & Theme Park and Resort News, here you go!

Disney Parks let us in on a well-kept secret – that there will be another Disney 24 hour day in both the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World and Disneyland, on May 23 from 6am – May 24 at 6am. They also want you to come dressed up as your favorite character as they celebrate Heroes and Villains and hope guests will “Rock their Disney Side.” And, they are also giving away a coast-to-coast trip to the 24 Hour Day:

To enter, just tweet how you plan to “Rock” your Disney Side all season long, tagged with #DisneySideSweepsEntry. If you win, get ready to enjoy a coast-to-coast, 7-day/6-night Disney Parks vacation for 4—with back-to-back stays at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida followed by the Disneyland Resort in California, where you can enjoy the Rock Your Disney Side: 24-Hours event… live and in person! You can find out more, plus the official rules at DisneyParks.com.

140 character hashtag — 140 Character Hashtag – Make sure you look for Mike Wazowski, blocked again! Photo ©Disney

In a galaxy far far away, we got some Star Wars Weekends news:

In order to convince more guests to join the Rebellion, a 5th weekend is now being added to Star WarsWeekends 2014. The new event dates are every Friday, Saturday and Sunday from May 16-June 15, 2014. The theme for this year’s event is, appropriately, “Join the Rebellion.” Official Star Wars Weekends dates are as follows:

Weekend I: May 16 – 18, 2014
Weekend II: May 23 – 25, 2014
Weekend III: May 30 – June 1, 2014
Weekend IV: June 6 – 8, 2014
Weekend V: June 13 – 15, 2014

There will also now be a nightly fireworks display rather than the Hyperspace Hoopla. More info on Star Wars Weekends here.

An all-new runDisney event, the Avengers Half Marathon was announced for Disneyland, November 14-16, 2014. Registration will begin at noon on March 25, so suit up!

Major changes were announced for the Magic Kingdom’s hub at Walt Disney World. While I was initially very worried about how this would look (and I’m still not really happy about the former Swan Boat landing looking inaccessible now?) it does look as though this new plan will fit into the existing layout and offer benefits as well. According to the Disney Parks Blog:

We’re adding several new elements to the area, including sculpted gardens, additional pathways, expanded restaurant seating and even a special viewing area for fireworks and other performances.

Here’s a flyover video of the changes to come:

…Busch Gardens Tampa Bay was excited to announce the Official Opening Date for Falcon’s Fury: May 1, 2014. Not sure what Falcon’s Fury will look like? Here’s a sneak peek:

GULP. In other Busch Gardens news – Guests can take advantage of an unprecedented offer and receive an Adventure Island Fun Card FREE with the purchase of a Busch Gardens Tampa Fun Card. This new, limited-time offer let’s guests enjoy unlimited thrills at Busch Gardens and the water-soaked fun of Adventure Island for $92 for adults and $87 for children (ages 3-9) with no blackout dates.

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SeaWorld is offering Residents within a 50-mile radius of Discovery Cove a chance to win a lawn makeover from the Discovery Cove landscape team. Qualifying residents can enter through the Discovery Cove Facebook page by submitting a photo of their front lawn and a short description sharing why they should win the lawn makeover.

The contest runs in three phases and you can find out more at the Discover Cove Facebook link above.

Ihu's Breakaway Falls Dropping May 9 at Aquatica Orlando

In other SeaWorld news: their Ihu’s Breakaway Falls – the tallest, steepest and only multi-drop tower slide of its kind in the southern United States – opens at Aquatica, SeaWorld’s Waterpark May 9.

At nearly 80 feet tall, Ihu’s Breakaway Falls is where thrill seekers face their fears and each other. After stepping into one of three clear “breakaway boxes,” they’ll watch each other fall one-by-one as the floor underneath them disappears. They’ll never know who’s going to breakaway first – and the anticipation of who drops next is part of the wild ride!

Fun Facts:

At nearly 80 feet tall, Ihu’s Breakaway Falls has the tallest and steepest 360-degree spirals in the southern United States.

Those who dare to brave Ihu’s Breakaway Falls will experience an almost vertical drop for nearly 40 feet, the steepest in the southern United States.

Ihu’s Breakaway Falls is the longest water thrill slide of its kind featuring three “breakaway boxes” and four completely different slide paths. Once the floor disappears, riders will drop 20-24 feet per second.

Both SeaWorld and Busch Gardens are now offering a special $50 Weekday Ticket, on sale for only 50 days, good for a single weekday admission to either park, now through May 5, 2014, including spring break.

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Finally, in local resort news, the Hyatt Grand Cypress wants you to party like it’s 1984 with this special offer:

30th Anniversary Celebration Offer

Now through Dec. 21, 2014 (reservations are subject to availability and must be made in advance) Rate & Offer: $198.40 per night, plus $30 food and beverage credit

Special offer code: RTRO

Note: The food and beverage credit is for use during your to stay to enjoy the resort’s award-winning restaurants including Cascade American Bistro, Hemingway’s, or the On the Rocks pool bar.

I recently got a chance to stay at the Hyatt Grand Cypress and was really impressed with how much their was to do and how lovely the accommodations were. I’ll have a full write-up soon!

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That’s it for the past week – stories to watch for this week are: the premier of the new Festival of Fantasy Parade, which we’ll be covering on March 9th when it travels down the parade route at the Magic Kingdom for the first time. Some Legoland Florida news that fans of the old Cypress Gardens park will enjoy. And of course, more news, photos and food reviews as the 21st Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival officially opens on March 5! Thanks for reading and for your support of Zannaland.com