Disney World News: Character Keys, No MVP Parade, Restaurant Refurb
It’s time for another Walt Disney World news and rumor round-up! We have a range of stories including more park hours for February to April 2021, colorful character Key to the World cards, downfall of Ample Hills, Liberty Belle’s voyage back to Magic Kingdom, and more.
Per tradition, we’ll start with the least interesting update: new and extended park hours. All four theme parks, Disney Springs, and Blizzard Beach have had hours for another week added to the DisneyWorld.com park hours calendar. Previously, hours were posted through April 17, and now extend to April 24, 2021. Hours are the same for all dates:
- Magic Kingdom: 9 am to 6 pm
- EPCOT: 11 am to 7 pm
- Hollywood Studios: 10 am to 7 pm
- Animal Kingdom: 9 am to 5 pm
- Blizzard Beach: 11 am to 6 pm
- Disney Springs: 10 am to 10 pm (11 pm on weekends)
As usual, Park Hopping times for those and all dates are 2 pm until park close, which is quite the range given that Animal Kingdom closes at 5 pm and EPCOT closes at 11 pm on some dates. The more interesting change this week is the park hours extensions, which impact mid and late February 2021…
Once again, the most notable extensions are for the week of Lunar New Year, Valentine’s Day, Presidents’ Day, and Mardi Gras. Hours for some of these dates had already been extended once or twice, but even more hours have been added. We now have 10 pm Magic Kingdom and 11 pm EPCOT closures. That might seem like good news, but we view it as another red flag.
We’ve been sounding the alarm about that week for a while on our 2021 Walt Disney World Crowd Calendars, pointing to it as (by far) the busiest week in the first quarter of the year. We’ve further indicated it could end up being one of the busiest weeks of the year at Walt Disney World. Mardi Gras, in particular, is a huge wildcard since the cancellation of those events could drive more visitors to Florida. If you have flexibility in travel dates, we’d highly recommend avoiding that week.
Many of you have commented in past posts or on social media that you hope we’re wrong about that week being busy. We do too–and another cold front plus rain in the forecast could help–but you definitely shouldn’t bank on that. If you’re visiting during that stretch, we’d highly recommend arriving to each park 45 minutes before rope drop, doing a table service lunch or taking a midday break, and staying or returning for the end of night. Additionally, we just updated all of our 2021 Walt Disney World 1-Day Itineraries.
The fact that Walt Disney World has now extended hours to this degree lends credence to our predictions. The difference between us and Disney is that there’s nothing for the company itself to reverse engineer–they have access to hotel occupancy, ticket sales, and Park Pass reservation numbers. Walt Disney World doesn’t extend park hours as some “random act of magic;” this is because internal forecasts are calling for that week to be busy.
Walt Disney World has announced that Magic Kingdom won’t host the annual Super Bowl parade down Main Street U.S.A. this year. However, Disney will continue its time-honored tradition of featuring the Super Bowl MVP in the iconic “I’m Going to Disney World!” commercial on Sunday night.
This year’s commercial will be the latest installment in a long-running Super Bowl tradition created by Disney in 1987 when New York Giants quarterback Phil Simms first appeared in the commercial following his Super Bowl victory. Since then, the commercial has featured some of the biggest names in Super Bowl history.
Disney revealed this news on the Parks Blog, and further indicated that the company hopes to be able to bring back other Super Bowl traditions next year, including letting football and Disney fans see and cheer on their favorite player in the park.
It should come as no surprise that Walt Disney World won’t host the normal parade. We attended last year (see above) and called it “one of my 5 worst ideas of the year.” I said then that I won’t do it again until the Detroit Lions win the Super Bowl in 2085 and I have a hover-board to get above the crowds. (I’m feeling a bit optimistic after the Stafford trade; thinking those draft picks will help get the Lions to the big game a little earlier–maybe 2077.)
Over at the United Kingdom pavilion in EPCOT’s World Showcase, Rose & Crown Dining Room will close for refurbishment beginning February 15, 2021 and continuing through “early spring” per the restaurant’s page on DisneyWorld.com. (This year, spring runs March 20 to June 20, so maybe April?)
It’s interesting that the restaurant would close on President’s Day (and wouldn’t have instead been closed for the last month and a half of off-season), but perhaps there’s a good justification for that. During the refurbishment, the Rose & Crown Pub and Yorkshire County Fish Shop will be open and serving a selection of British cuisine and beverages.
Bouncing from World Showcase to Crescent Lake, we have a story that’s not really news, but is nevertheless really fascinating. In the comments to our recent EPCOT Update, reader Chris A. shared a link to “The Shocking Meltdown of Ample Hills – Brooklyn’s Hottest Ice Cream Company.”
In addition to explaining the company’s downfall (and beginnings of its hopeful rebirth), this documents the genesis of its relationship with Disney, starting with an ice cream order from CEO Bob Iger. While I feel sorry for the couple who lost control over their creation, their hubris in the second-to-last paragraph does suggest a lack of self-awareness and introspection.
In some fun news, Disney Parks Blog shared photos and behind the scenes info about the Liberty Belle’s dry docking behind Magic Kingdom during the underwater track replacement in Rivers of America the last several months. This included the above video documenting the Liberty Belle’s return to the park and another time lapse preparing the Rivers of America.
Teams worked together overnight this week to sail the Liberty Belle through Bay Lake and Seven Seas Lagoon, around Disney’s Contemporary Resort, and crossing in front of Magic Kingdom for her return. Cast Members then towed the Liberty Belle by hand through a narrow water channel before underwater divers reconnected her to the newly refurbished track and brought her home. As noted in our updated 2021 Walt Disney World Refurbishment & Closure Calendar, both the Liberty Square Riverboat and Tom Sawyer Island at Magic Kingdom reopened yesterday, ahead of schedule.
Finally, Walt Disney World has debuted new Key to the World room keys featuring character art of Minnie & Mickey Mouse, Daisy & Donald Duck, Pluto, and Goofy. The colorful designs feature the same art style as Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway, which is itself drawn from the new Mickey Mouse cartoons.
As you might recall, Walt Disney World resort hotel guests are no longer receiving free MagicBands pre-arrival or upon check-in, but can still order the MagicBand upgrades before their trip at a discount.
Alternatively, guests can visit their hotel front desk to request a Key to the World card for resort hotel room entry, park admission, and charging privileges to the hotel room with a valid credit card. This is how things worked prior to the debut of MagicBands several years ago.
Neither MagicBands nor Key to the World cards are required for visiting Walt Disney World. Guests can receive standard ticket media and use the My Disney Experience app for unlocking their hotel room door. For those who already have MagicBands, you can still use ones from past visits.
Personally, I hope these colorful character Key to the World cards end up being similar to the roll-out of the new character buses at Walt Disney World a few years ago. Those started out with the Sensational Six designs, and then expanded to a range of other art, including Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge and even Figment. We now have fun driving around property and spotting “rare” designs.
As collectors of Disney ephemera, we’d love to see more of this. We save every monorail pass and room key from Tokyo Disney Resort, where multiple designs are released for every seasonal event and celebration. It’s fun and is a nice touch. Obviously, room keys alone won’t get people to book hotel stays–that’s a massive stretch and would be one expensive collection.
However, all of the “little things” are something fans enjoy and value, and their cumulative impact cannot be overstated. This is something Walt Disney World seems to have forgotten in the last few years, instead chipping away at all of these little things. It would be great to see things start trending in the other direction, with a lot more additions like this. We aren’t holding our breath, but we’ll nevertheless applaud this as a small but positive step.
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
YOUR THOUGHTS
What do you think of this Walt Disney World news? Thoughts on what another extension to park hours means for that multi-holiday long weekend/week? Excited for the new colorful character Key to the World cards? Still disappointed by the downfall of Ample Hills, or optimistic it’ll return to Walt Disney World someday? Do you agree or disagree with our assessments? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
No character Keys to the Kingdom cards at Pop Century this week. Only the plain blue cards. 🙁
Yes I am a Detroiter living in Orlando now, and it would seem the Lions have an opportunity with this trade to do something special…Oh wait we are talking about the Lions. Since I work in the Themed Entertainment Industry, and spend quite a bit of time in LA…until 2020, I will likewise be cheering for Stafford/Rams…GO BLUE!
Hey Tom! As an FYI, I was in MK on Friday, Feb 5 and the Liberty Belle and access to Tom Sawyer Island were both open and transporting guests! Just thought you’d like to know that it opened even earlier than the change to the refurbishment calendar suggested 🙂 Thanks for your amazing blog and wonderful research… particularly with regards to Disney treats!!
Just wanted to let you know how much I LOVE your blog!! I have been to WDW over 30 times and to WDL once but I love your valuable information. We will be heading there this month–actually we had booked for the week of 2/15 but after reading all your advice, we move the dates. I told my daughter the other day that I would trade lives with you as I would LOVE to go to Disney as much as you guys do. So jealous!!! Thanks again for all you do to keep us in the loop!!
Hi Tom,
I think the new keys are a giant step backwards for Disney. After pushing the magic band so hard over the years, and now they are cutting out their own accomplishments and going back to the card. Why isn’t there a hole in the card so that I can put it on a chain and avoid losing it? I think it’s crude of Disney to charge for the magic band, though that’s not near as bad as getting rid of the DME. I wish they would charge for the DME too instead of getting rid of it. Imagine Disney getting rid of the magic band completely and we just go back to the card days. Or imagine in the future, opting out of mousekeeping becomes the standard, and if you want your room cleaned, you have to pay extra.
We’ll see. If people continue to go to Disney World like they don’t care, then Disney will continue to cut out every little benefit and charge for every imaginable thing to raise their profit margin to a whole new level. I am waiting for Disney to announce that they are getting rid of all internal transportation, including the Skyliner and the Monorail. Imagine the money they’d save.
I bet they will have a hole punch at the check in desk if you ask. I’ve seen other people ask for a hole to be punched in their cards in the past.
Whatever happened to ‘under promise and over deliver’ to make customers and clients keep coming back? Practically every corporation I have dealt with from communications, entertainment, software, technology providers have in fact done the opposite – promise you the moon only to come up short time and time again. Disney seems to be following this model while Universal, by what I read here, seems to be following a much different path. As far as the much loved Magic Bands Disney is simply cutting costs and finding another income stream. Whey should they furnish the MB when now everyone has the Magic Phone?
I just read the Ample Hills article. Wow. We stayed at Boardwalk a couple of weeks ago, and I got sad every time we passed the shuttered shop. Trying to grow too fast seems to be the downfall of many businesses; of course, here it was even more than that leading to the bankruptcy. People who have a great talent in making something others want don’t necessarily have great business sense as well. What a shame.
Thank you for another great update. I am pretty sure you are on point with anticipated crowd levels for Mardi Gras. We live New Orleans and know many people traveling to Disney World for Mardi Gras break.
Thanks for sharing the Ample Hills article. That was a very interesting read.
We have park reservations for Feb 18-19 but are looking to reschedule due to anticipated crowds. Any recommendation between the two weeks after (Feb 25-26 and Mar 4-5)?
On a visit many years ago, pre cell phones with cameras, I watched guests purchasing hot dogs to feed an alligator in Rivers of America. It was quite content scarfing them down and putting on a “show”. I’m willing to bet the alligator would have been relocated if it occured today. Back then when I mentioned it to a cast member it was met with a very ho-hum response. Pretty cool to see though.
I am happy with the return of the Liberty Belle. It was a shame on my Fall 2020 trip that classic relaxing attractions like Liberty Belle, WDW Railroad, and Peoplemover were all out of commission.
I am also collector of Disney ephemera. Although I like MMRR, I am not crazy about the new animation style so I am not in a rush to collect those new key cards. I hope they come out with Orange Bird, Country Bears, Mr Toad, Figment, or Tiki Bird key cards
I like the look of the new Key to the World multi purpose cards. I’m surprised Disney didn’t punch holes in the top of them so they could also be used as luggage tags.
I still love magic bands. I can do everything I want/need with both hands free. Except raise the gate without getting out of my car.
Actually the only loser in that Rams – Lions trade was Goff who now has to live in Detroit.
3 to 6 inches of snow coming tomorrow. Eat your heart out Blizzard Beach.
How do you interpret the extended hours for the rest of February (ex. 2/6-2/13 and 2/20-2/27)? Although the increase is not as substantial during those weeks, do you think it’s an indication of higher crowds?
Ample Hills. Sigh. Just throwin it out there that if you’re aching for Ample Hills, their cookbook is LEGIT. We’ve done most of the book since the pandemic started and it’s been a constant ray of light for us.
Thanks for the recommendation!
Just out of curiosity, how many of the recipes can be made in the microwave? That’s where my cooking skills excel.
Hi Tom,
Cooking is not hard, though some might make you think it is. Don’t let yourself be restricted to the microwave, you can do it. My 15 year old son is already a decent cook: he can fry steaks, make bread from scratch, cook lasagna, plus a bunch of other stuff.
Dude, I CANNOT believe the rams gave up that many draft picks to pick up Stafford. The Lions absolutely fleeced them on that trade. I was kind of hoping that my Colts might grab Stafford, but I’m super glad that they wouldn’t throw away that many draft picks for a re-tread at quarterback.
It’s truly the rare trade where the Lions are the ones to come out ahead. My guess is that they’re still playing the long game on disappointing fans, and plan on using those draft picks for a kicker and Ryan Leaf’s son.
Joking aside, I hope Stafford is what puts the Rams over the top. I’ll be cheering for him/them next season.
I would be oh-so-happy if, as part of the Rose & Crown renovation, they moved the UK Beer Cart to one of the side locations. Don’t misunderstand me….I love the UK Beer Cart! They serve a terrific hard pear cider! No, my complaint is just the location as it means the hordes of drinkers just stand around blocking the entire walkway. It’s trouble enough for walkers to get through and darn near impossible if you have a wheelchair or stroller in the group! I truly wish Disney paid more attention to these simple little things (and yes, it is simple enough…the cart is free-standing, after all!)
Totally agree, although I’d imagine Disney likes it in a high-visibility, high-traffic spot.
I wonder if the underwater divers encountered any alligators while completing their task of putting the Liberty Belle back on track.
As for the buses, I loved seeing the Cinderella and her castle at AK last week.
Gators don’t like that much noise and commotion underwater. I scuba dive in some of our rivers (fossil hunting) and the gators in the area always bail out once we start banging into rocks and fallen trees while underwater. If you dive in places where people feed the gators, all bets are off as far as them avoiding noise and divers…
Great update again! We’ll finally be there in three weeks, however the many favorite restaurants we like to visit are either closed or take out only. The joy of doing what you and Sarah do but as frequent visitors, is our get-a-way from work and Winter weather. We are really looking forward to the trip.
Thanks for linking to that Ample Hills story- that’s quite the read!
I interviewed the founders Brian and Jackie over the summer about the company’s rise and fall too. We chatted about Imagineering’s role in the Boardwalk location, some of the initial planning for the Disney Springs store (now cancelled), and their relationship with Iger. It’s a good listen for Disney fans: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/quarantine-creatives-with-heath-racela/id1512683338?i=1000489935778
Thanks for sharing; we’ll have to give it a listen!