Disney World News: Star Wars Spike, Skyliner Work, Show Returning
It’s time for another Walt Disney World news roundup. Although it’s the winter off-season at Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom, there are a variety of stories of immediate impact, as well as changes on the horizon for Summer 2021.
Let’s start with what’s undoubtedly the least interesting story: new and extended park hours. All four theme parks, Disney Springs, and Blizzard Beach have seen updates on the DisneyWorld.com park hours calendar. Previously, hours were posted through April 3, and now extend to April 10, 2021. Added 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)
Park Hopping times for those dates have also been added to the calendar. At this point, the start time for changing parks is still 2 pm across the board; as Walt Disney World previously indicated, that could move earlier as demand and attendance dictate…
Additionally, park hours have been extended for the second week of February 2021 at all four parks. The latest round of expanded hours begin on February 7, 2021. The longer hours extend through February 13, 2021, with that Friday and Saturday seeing Animal Kingdom opening at 8 am and Magic Kingdom closing at 10 pm–the longest hours of the year thus far. That makes complete sense, as it’s the holiday weekend that kicks off Lunar New Year, Valentine’s Day, Presidents’ Day, and Mardi Gras.
As we’ve stressed repeatedly, that holiday weekend and the week that follows are the only “red flag” on our 2021 Walt Disney World Crowd Calendars in the next few months. It could end up being one of the busiest weeks of the year at Walt Disney World. Seriously—if you have flexibility in travel dates, we’d recommend avoiding that week at all costs. Mardi Gras, in particular, is a huge wildcard since the cancellation of those events could drive more visitors to Florida.
Next, some good news from Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Prior to the closure of Walt Disney World, we were doing weekly updates on the status of the virtual queue and boarding pass system for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, and debating the extent to which it was working (or wasn’t working).
Since reopening, our ride reports for the flagship attraction in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge have become much more sporadic. Initially, that was because attendance was low and it wasn’t much of an issue for those who followed our advice and arrived early. However, that ceased to be the case months ago, and we’ve still only done fewer updates. Part of that is due to the improvements.
At the start of the holiday season, two big changes were made to Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance at Walt Disney World. In our view, the 7 am virtual queue release was a significant improvement over the old system that allows for greater flexibility and a more relaxed start to the day at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
Same goes for the added barriers that effectively doubled hourly ride capacity, albeit with the downside of partially obscuring views. Neither improvement solved all of the ride’s woes–to the contrary, demand far exceeded capacity and boarding passes were still gone within seconds. Some good news on that front…
The latest improvement started about a month after the prior two, shortly after Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance had its worst day ever on the attraction’s one-year anniversary. The attraction is now processing more boarding groups per day on average, hitting 161 many days. (See above, via Thrill-Data.com.)
We’ve now observed this trend long enough that we’re satisfied it’s an actual reliability upgrade and not a prolonged streak of good luck. It’s unclear as to the nature of the fix, but we’ve noticed that Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance is typically breaking down less often, resulting in far fewer hour-plus closures. That is having a significant positive impact.
Moreover, the past rule of thumb was that Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance processes around 10 boarding groups per hour (see our Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance ‘How to Ride’ FAQ). In the last month, it’s been more like 15 boarding groups per hour. Obviously, that’s a big spike that allows many more guests to ride per day.
Nevertheless, the Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance virtual queue has continued to fill up in seconds at 7 am throughout the holidays and January 2021. This is a result of both sky-high demand for Walt Disney World’s hottest new attraction, and allocation between the two boarding pass drops.
To the latter point, in the last week, we’ve observed the 1 pm boarding pass distribution staying open for much longer than a few seconds. In fact, on some weekdays, it hasn’t filled up in minutes or (in some rare cases) a full hour or more. That’s huge, and means it’s no longer a quasi-lottery for the second distribution.
Our approach–and advice–for the last two months has been to try for the 7 am drop, and if failing at that, change Disney Park Pass reservations to EPCOT. This approach is probably contributing to lower demand for the second boarding pass distribution, as is the plummeting post-holiday attendance. (Crowds are so low that Cast Members have been unblocked from Disney’s Hollywood Studios on select winter weekdays for the first time in over a year!)
We are in the process of revisiting our Disney’s Hollywood Studios strategy as that’s not the best advice–at least right now during the off-season at Walt Disney World. Expect something next week as we test a couple of different approaches.
In relatively minor routine maintenance news, the Disney Skyliner gondola will be unavailable on January 24, 2021 between Caribbean Beach Resort and Pop Century/Art of Animation Resorts. Bus transportation to EPCOT and Disney’s Hollywood Studios will be available as an alternative from the latter two resorts.
Other routes along the Disney Skyliner gondolas will all be operational–meaning the Disney’s Hollywood Studios to Caribbean Beach Resort and Disney’s Riviera Resort to EPCOT routes remain open. Aside from the unfortunate incident early on (and some post-reopening unreliability in July and August), it’s been relatively smooth sailing for the Skyliner.
The Skyliner has quickly become our favorite form of transportation at Walt Disney World (other than our feet) and is far and away the most efficient. Here’s hoping the other routes also receive whatever preventive maintenance might be needed in the coming months.
Continuing along, Walt Disney World has announced the return of another stage show in Summer 2021. Harambe Theatre at Animal Kingdom will host the return of the fan-favorite troupe of musical storytellers, along with Simba and his friends, in a celebration of the Festival of the Lion King.
When it returns, Festival of the Lion King will be presented in a modified format to “be mindful of the current environment.” There will be adjustments to the show on stage and backstage, including updates to choreography to allow for appropriate physical distancing. Walt Disney World will also adjust how the audience is seated, in line with other theater-based experiences at Walt Disney World.
Not to knock good news and an undeniable step in the right direction…but my first reaction to the announcement is that Summer 2021 is still a long time away, and this is only one show. To be fair, plenty more could be announced in the coming months, but it feels like a prolonged timeline for starting to bring back entertainment.
Perhaps it’s an early indicator that Walt Disney World is writing off Easter and Spring Break, not expecting much travel between now and Memorial Day, at the earliest. (We don’t want to read too much into this, but it’s certainly not a good sign for anyone hoping for a Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure opening date in the near future.)
On the plus side, if we were to prioritize the return of shows in parks other than Disney’s Hollywood Studios by need, Festival of the Lion King would be #1. It will greatly assist in extending the amount of time guests spend on average in Animal Kingdom, and helps round out the current attraction lineup in that park.
Still, it feels like a small step, especially after Walt Disney World brought back the Frozen Sing-Along last October. If an indoor stage show involving singing can return, there is absolutely no reason that the outdoor stage shows cannot return. We’ve given Walt Disney World a lot of credit for their health safety protocol, but some of it is just theater (not in the same sense as these shows) or cost-cutting at this point.
From an objective perspective, Walt Disney World brought back the highest-risk show first. By that standard, literally every other show is fine–especially the outdoor ones, but even other indoor ones. Bringing back Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular, Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage, or even Fantasmic would make more sense, but those are all presumably more expensive.
A bit of an aside, but as our collective knowledge has evolved about the nature of transmission via aerosols, it has been really disappointing that Walt Disney World has said nothing at all about ventilation or air filtration. Instead, Disney has gone on a plexiglass installation spree. Of course, the difference is that plexiglass is not an abstract concept–it’s visible, so it offers the illusion of safety even if basically useless.
We’ll conclude with something fun and optimistic. In the Disney Parks Blog announcement of the Muppet Show coming to Disney+, there was a passing note that “the Muppets have been a part of Walt Disney Imagineering for the last couple of years.” The post also mentioned that Walt Disney Imagineering is responsible for the “Muppets Now” streaming series and viral social media videos.
While there had been past rumblings of the Muppets having a champion within Imagineering, this was news to me. I am totally on board with it, too. First, Imagineering is a good fit for its marriage of creative and technical expertise. Second, there have only been a handful of things in recent years that have nailed the humor and essence of the Muppets, the main one being the Liberty Square “Great Moments” show. Everything else, even the underrated ABC mockumentary parody (that finally hit its stride right before cancellation), has missed the mark. Finally, Imagineering being the guardians of the Muppets makes them more likely to appear in Walt Disney World and the other parks. I’m not suggesting we’ll see anything on that front in the immediate future, but it certainly bodes well down the road.
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YOUR THOUGHTS
Thoughts on longer hours for the holiday stretch in February? Happy to see improvements to the reliability and efficiency of Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance? Think this trend will continue? Excited for Festival of the Lion King’s return, or were you hoping for it–and more–to be back sooner? What about Imagineering managing the Muppets? Agree or disagree with our commentary? Other thoughts on any of this? 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!
My friend and I were there this past week and I was hoping to show her Pandora with all of its wonderful night time lights and she didnt get to. I was disappointed. Why do they need to close so early? Not to mention we didnt get to do everything. We did plan out the most important things first. The Dinosaur ride broke down and we didnt get to finish that, and it was broke down for the rest of the day sadly. I’d rather them start later and close later if it gives people to see the Pandora at night. Thanks!
I’m going to DW the last week of February and I’m assuming Animal Kingdom will close at 5 on the days I’m there. I really want my family to see Pandora at night (I’ve been there at night and it’s amazing!)- is there any way to do this? Maybe hop in line for flight of passage right at 5 and hope it’s a longer line so we can walk out in the dark? Any advice would be appreciated!
Give Hall of Presidents the Muppets overlay. Or maybe just dial it back to focus on the founding fathers. The current approach just pisses off the 50% of the crowd that supports whichever political party is currently out of power. No one can be civil about politics and that’s never going to change. If we’re honest, it’s just going to get worse. Hall of Presidents needs a major rethink.
No muppets in HOp. Don’t go with any IP. And I do like the muppets. Just simply stop the current president from speaking and be done with it as Tom and others have suggested. Attractions should not be changed due to a loud minority. Should be get rid of the toy guns on Tom Sawyer island too? Of course not. People should be less sensitive and enjoy nostalgia as well as the newer attractions.
Hi Tom, great article as always. You mention the sky liner is pretty reliable these days. Do you (or anyone else!) have any idea how bad lines are at the end of the night on NYE? I know this past NYE doesn’t help, but we’re thinking of staying at Pop this coming NYE and it’s one of the few bonuses for staying on-site if it makes getting back to our resort less crazy after fireworks:). A few years ago we took the bus and it was a nightmare!! We stayed in Epcot until 1am but the bus line was still insane!
I was excited when Muppets returned to Liberty Square in December. Also, I am happy Disney is adding the Muppet Show to Disney Plus. I loved watching the reruns as a kid on Nickelodeon in 1990s. I also love the Muppets 3D, Great Moments in History, Muppet Family Christmas, Muppet Christmas Carol and most of the Muppet movies created when Jim Henson was alive.
Thanks for the aside about aerosol and ventilation, as I too wish Disney would address it. As of right now I don’t really plan to go back until I’m vaccinated. We went in November and I felt comfortable, but the addition of the plexiglass actually makes me less likely to go now… as I feel at least for my personal comfort level they aren’t addressing the issues that are most important to me. Again just my personal preference but I’m glad to see someone else mention it.
We’ve visited many times since August (locals, here) , including on-site stay first week of Dec, but have only twice gone inside anything for more than 5 minutes (MMRR) for this very reason. Plexiglass hasn’t bothered us, in fact, we thought it may have been useful. We are going to double up on masks when we return in about two weeks. I (73) am scheduled for #2 Moderna on Feb 3, but it looks less and less like that’s going to be possible. In our rural area south of Orlando, the health dept did not make appts for our 2nd shot–just said call a week before. I enjoy the Orlando area visits, especially as I live in a town where mask wearing is not encouraged, and many still think it’s a joke. In WDW area, as well as where my son lives in south Orlando, as well as most large shopping establishments around downtown Orlando, I’ve seen masks being worn (mostly, correctly) by 98%-100% of those I’ve encountered. Seeing masks does help my personal comfort level, but the lack of properly filtered ventilation systems is a major concern. You’ll be happy you’ve waiting until you feel comfortable—and, many more experiences will become available as you wait.
In reference to the shows returning, back in November I visited and was talking with an Uber driver who also worked backstage at the parks. He said that the reason the shows were not running had to do with the amount of space backstage. It’s an issue of safety for the Cast Members. As Frozen Sing Along has a small cast, and a lot of backstage room, it was able to reopen safely.
I’ve heard that, but it strikes me more as an excuse than a reason.
Walt Disney World has repurposed and reworked so many things since reopening for health safety protocol; the same could be done backstage (and has elsewhere). IMO, it’s no coincidence that the first show to return is also among the cheapest to operate.
It’s been confirmed, the Brightline High speed train station is going to open one year after the Orlando station opens. Fall 2023
One of the pleasant surprises of going to WDW over the holidays was seeing the Muppets performing holiday schtick in Liberty Square.
For Paul, but anyone else with insight: Our “Christmas” visit was early Dec. We tried to grab a view of the show (did see Sam and Fozzie checking out the area from their windows but no show). Is there a schedule of any sort for this? We’re heading back in 2 weeks.
Rhea98 – I use http://www.wdwent.com for my source on things like show times and character appearances. (Though it is fairly depressing right now with the list of “temporarily unavaialble”)
Like you, I see the announcement about “Festival of the Lion King” to be more glass half empty.
Entertainment returning is a good thing. But to wait till summer… to get “modified” entertainment..
That suggests a very very slow return to normal. With summer still being heavily “social distanced.” It makes it less likely that we will see return of fast passes, fireworks, etc, any time soon.
I’m still hopeful that fireworks return by summer. But this announcement makes it less likely, not more likely.
“I’m still hopeful that fireworks return by summer. But this announcement makes it less likely, not more likely.”
Agreed.
In my view, fireworks or Fantasmic could return literally whenever. I suspect Disney would cite crowding or congestion as the purported reason not to bring them back, but those things exist already. It’s more likely about cost and ROI. (Personally, I’d take outdoor crowds over indoor dining.)
Harmonious May launch sooner rather than later. Room for social distancing in Epcot.
And in terms of ROI… restaurants and shops around the World Showcase really need that nighttime entertainment.
*spoiler alert*. We were fortunate to have gotten boarding passes for RoTR twice in our visit 2 weeks ago- both at 7 and 1- and notices that during our first “ride” , Kylo Ren did not appear walking towards us in the last segment- but the second time around, he was there- we didn’t realize we’d missed it the first time- but wondered if that was something done to I create efficiency or lease down time? Certainly didn’t lessen our experience the first time- but just observed!!
The only show component that impacts efficiency negatively is the (trying to avoid spoilers here) “flight” you take after the briefing room.
There are a lot of other effects that don’t work from time to time–one even has a B-mode–but that do not impact hourly throughput.
Hi Tom
I love the first pic in this blog. While your intent was to show the muppets (btw I also Love) it also shows a very nicely painted Backflow Preventer. My company tests these devices. In your original pic do you have more of the Backflow in the pic? I would love a copy of you do. It’s not often you see them painted so pretty. Actually I think Disney is the only place I have see that. – thank again!
Love that they are bringing shows back! We are going in March, and staying at Contemporary(DVC members), any advice for best ways to get to each park? We hate the buses. We will have a car, so that’s an option…
Walk to MK. You can drive to Epcot, AK and DHS is you like. But we’ve taking the buses three trips since Oct so far and they worked out great.
Tom and Sarah,
I am looking forward to you updated strategy for StarWars. Finally coming down in March if covid allows and looking forward to some nicer weather than in WI. This might be the trip to do the HS rope drop!
Leave the president’s alone. Let’s try to keep some history in our lives and in Disney.
I completely agree about the lack of addressing ventilation, etc. with what’s been known about aerosol transmission for at least 5 months now. Hopefully now that science should become more front and center in all of this and not politicized, we might finally see some major updates to the CDC recommendations/guidelines for businesses, etc. Perhaps then Disney (and others) will start to take the precautions that can actually make a difference, and maybe we’ll also finally see a more significant increase in outdoor dining as well.
I’ve also thought the Frozen Sing Along being open was rather shocking and the thought of going to that is terrifying.
My cynical guess is that it’s all a calculation by Disney that’s based upon perception rather than reality. Disney realizes that people are concerned with “feeling safe” and not actually being safe. That’s why you see hand sanitizer stations everywhere and lots of guests using them, but minimal outdoor dining options and few guests using the ones that are available.
“Science become more front and center”
Kind of like a 100 day mask mandate even though cloth and surgical mask have virtually no scientific evidence to support slowing the transmission of COVID or other air borne ilnesses. Like Tom said alot of this is theater to make people “feel” safe.
I like the HOP just as it is. I’m old and I remember when the President was respected no matter who he was (and I was not a fan of some of them). The room is full of historical items that belonged to the various Presidents and deserves a little decorum. It’s a nice place to wind down a bit and just listen. If you don’t like, don’t spend time there. The Muppets don’t belong there. They can stay in DHS.
I’d rather go see the Muppets at both places. I won’t go see the HOP. They can move that to the United States pavilion at Epcot. It’d be a more fitting place
Best idea yet for HOP from Peg P – move it to American pavilion at Epcot. HOP is a serious and unique history lesson that does not really fit in at MK surrounded by fantasy. I know of no other history exhibit here or in DC that so succinctly expresses the continuum of American ideals embodied by our chosen leaders. For me and hopefully for my children and grandchildren the lesson is more important than whoever currently resides in the White House and whether I like or dislike that person.
Papa L: Then you would have to remove the American Experience show which is just as touching, Liberty Square is a very appropriate place for the Hall of Presidents. Nothing wrong with two patriotic shows in two different parks. The replica of the Liberty Bell is there. Liberty Tree Tavern. Liberty Tree.
I’d be all up for Hall of Presidebts to become Hall of Muppets. My Mom loves HOP so I go with her to be nice. But everyone loves Muppets and they are not polarizing.
I would love a Muppet President show as well. HOP is divisive and we don’t need divisive entertainment and I don’t want the real world to be too much in my face at Disney.
“…Festival of the Lion King would be #1. It will greatly assist in extending the amount of time guests spend on average in Animal Kingdom, and helps round out the current attraction lineup in that park.” It’s also the best stage show, by far, in WDW in my opinion! I’m glad it’s coming back.
Also good news on the RotR reliability fornt.
All my kids love Hall of Presidents. Never seen it as polarizing, each President gives a patriotic uplifting message. So if its polarizing those came in already thinking that way. Want my kids to learn there are different ways to approach things, we don’t all need to think just alike.