Every week is a busy week when it comes to Disney news. To help you keep up with all of the updates coming out of Walt Disney World and other Disney resorts, here’s WDWNT’s weekly recap of the Disney news from October 21-27!

Walt Disney World

• Segments for the festive Disney Parks Holiday televised specials will be filmed at Walt Disney World from November 7-10
• Dates and event details have been announced for the 2020 Disney Vacation Club Moonlight Magic events at Walt Disney World
• A stuck gondola at an ADA platform on the resort line resulted in more Disney Skyliner downtime this weekend
• The McDonald’s location near to Disney’s All-Star Resorts will be closing for refurbishment on October 30
• A playful new Toy Story character bus wrap has debuted going to infinity and beyond around Walt Disney World
• The era of “free unlimited swapping” at FuelRod kiosks across Walt Disney World will be ending next week, with a $3 swapping fee to come into effect from November 1

Magic Kingdom

• Check out this week’s photo report for Magic Kingdom, featuring Tomorrowland updates, long food lines, and more!
• We’ve been monitoring construction and refurbishments across the Magic Kingdom this week, looking at the new park arrival experience, the planter which has been erected for the new Liberty Square Market seating area, track supports for the outdoor section of the TRON Lightcycle Run coaster, and how new silver pipe accents have been added and the space murals have been boarded up in Mickey’s Star Traders
• The Tomorrowland Speedway driver’s licence PhotPass booths have returned

Epcot

• Check out this week’s photo report for Epcot, featuring a rainy day wander, new merchandise and more!
• We noticed new directional signage has been installed onto the Future World construction walls
• We’ve been closely following the construction at Epcot, and this week we took a look at the almost fully demolished Fountain of Nations, and the construction walls and rolling hedge barriers which have gone up near the Imagination pavilion
• “Mariachi Cobre Presents… The Story of Coco” will be returning to the Mexico pavilion for the Dia de Los Muertos celebrations
• The new park arrival experience, including security screening area and tram loop drop-off zone has opened at Epcot
• We reviewed the new pumpkin spice caramel cupcake and boozy caramel flight from Karamell-Kuche

Hollywood Studios

• Check out this week’s photo report for Hollywood Studios, featuring Skyliner issues, Christmas decor (already?!) and more!
• After last week’s controversy, the Star Wars-themed names have returned to the Docking Bay 7 Food & Cargo menus in Galaxy’s Edge

Animal Kingdom

• Check out this week’s photo report for Animal Kingdom, including Club 33 construction updates, Kevin and more!
• The Circle of Flavors: Harambe at Night dining experience will be returning to Animal Kingdom this December, and reservations are now open
• We reviewed the ferociously bad breakfast menu at Kusafiri Coffee Shop and Bakery
• Take a look at the construction progress on the Animal Kingdom Club 33 location, where construction walls are up and the exterior painting has begun
• A new “Pin Thursday” weekly pin trading event will be coming soon to Animal Kingdom

Disney Springs

• Check out this week’s photo report for Disney Springs, featuring retro Christmas decor, new apparel, preparations for this year’s Tree Trail, and more!
• We reviewed the interesting new “Flavors of South Florida” boba-topped avocado Key Lime mousse from Amorette’s Patisserie
• The D-Tech on Demand kiosks have now become “MaDe”, with new personalization stations now debuting at the Marketplace Co-Op
• Spooky new Halloween food offerings will be available at Food Truck Park this Hallo-week. We reviewed the new chicken adobo nachos with zesty pumpkin cheese, limited-time pumpkin mac ‘n’ cheese with cranberry gummy worms, and the limited-time Halloween cookie dough waffle taco

Walt Disney World Resort Hotels

The Cove Hotel

• The parking lot for The Cove Hotel is almost complete

Pop Century Resort

• Work is being carried out to expand the resort airline check-in area at Pop Century

Riviera Resort

• We spotted new marquee signs have appeared at the entrance to the Riviera

Disneyland Resort

• The FuelRod kiosks around the Disneyland Resort will start charging a $3 swapping fee starting November 1

Disneyland Park

• Sleeping Beauty Castle has received a gorgeous dusting of snow-topped turrets ahead of the holiday season
• The Matterhorn Bobsleds will be closed for a short refurbishment until November

Disney California Adventure

• The conductor Mickey Mouse ornament has returned to his rightful place atop the Silly Symphony Swings attraction

Tokyo Disney Resort

• The adorable pastel decor and merchandise items have been revealed for the Duffy’s Heartwarming Days event coming to DisneySea, now featuring CookieAnn
• Dining and show reservations are now available to book in English on the Tokyo Disney Resort website

New Merchandise

• So much holiday merchandise has arrived across the parks this week! In Walt Disney World, we found a sleigh load of new Christmas shirts and sweaters, new scented Mickey gingerbread and peppermint candy pillows, these new candy cane and ugly sweater spirit jerseys, and snowman themed merchandise, festive “Holiday 2019” pins, candy cane and gingerbread cookie coin purses, cozy new flannel holiday Minnie Mouse ears, sequin “Candy Cane Cutie” Minnie ears, new gingerbread cookie Mickey and Minnie ears, colorful new Disney, Marvel and Star Wars-themed Christmas sweaters, new Mickey Santa and Disney Holiday snacks backpacks by Loungefly, a collection of vintage Christmas housewares, snuggly Mickey and Minnie ear holiday snack onesies, a Christmas train and countdown calendar, and new “Deck the Halls” and retro “Holiday Cheer” decor collections. In Disneyland, we spotted new holiday spirit jerseys, Christmas Crocs and toy trains, as well as these new holiday park icon Starbucks ceramic tumblers. Finally, the exclusive limited edition pins have been revealed for Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party 2019!

• ‘Olu the Sea Turtle, Duffy’s friend from Aulani, has swam into shopDisney with this new collection of ‘Olu merchandise
• Mickey and Minnie’s Toontown houses have been immortalized in these adorable new reversible ornaments from Disneyland
• Sweet new attraction spinning pens are now available in the parks, featuring Buzz Lightyear, Dumbo and it’s a small world designs
• In MagicBand news, check out this new open edition Grumpy MagicBand, this new open edition The Three Caballeros MagicBand, this all-white limited release park icons MagicBand, this limited edition Disney Vacation Club Member MagicBand, and this new open edition The Incredibles Edna Mode and Jack-Jack MagicBand
• It looks like Mickey and Minnie have been having lots of fun playing dress-up this week, from all the new plushes we’ve been spotting! Check out this Munchen Mickey Mouse plush from the Epcot Germany pavilion, and these Queen Minnie and Beefeater Mickey plushes from the UK pavilion

• A new collection of Pixar movie-inspired Alex and Ani bangles have arrived in the parks, along with these new vintage Mickey and Minnie Mouse Alex and Ani bracelets
• Colorful new Starbucks park icon ceramic tumbler mugs are now available in the Disneyland Resort
• In purse news, Loungefly have released these “incredible” new Edna Mode and The Incredibles logo backpacks and this new Dapper Mickey and Minnie floral collection by Dooney & Bourke is now available on shopDisney
• The popular VHS tape notebooks sold in the parks have received a new design, now featuring throwback vinyl covers
• A stunning new Walt Disney & Mickey Mouse “Partners Statue” Magic Kingdom Otterbox phone case has been released
• New D-0 Droid plushes and sippers have rolled into Disneyland this week
• A new collection of Frozen 2 Funko Pop! vinyls have sent frozen flurries through the Magic Kingdom
• Over in Tokyo Disney Resort, a special collection of Star Tours merchandise will be landing on December 2
• These adorable, Polly Pocket-esque, new Disney Princess storybook playsets have arrived at the Magic Kingdom
• Check out the November pin releases for Walt Disney World and Disneyland, including the first-ever commemorative Christmas parade pin and more!
• A welcoming new Walt Disney quote keyring holder has arrived into the parks
• New clothing items celebrating park history has hit the shelves this week! These  20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and Skyway sweaters have arrived at Walt Disney World, throwing back to those classic attractions, there’s a new collection of “Most Magical Place on Earth” apparel featuring Mickey and Minnie, new retro-inspired Walt Disney World Mickey sweatshirts, and a colorful line of retro Walt Disney World apparel

Entertainment & Media

• If you consider yourself a wealth of Disney knowledge, you may want to check out this open casting call for a Disneyphile family to appear on an upcoming Disney+ quiz show
• You have to watch the final trailer for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, which was released this week, along with new posters and the announcement that tickets are now on sale. Not only that, but it has been confirmed that Star Tours attractions in Disneyland, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Disneyland Paris and Tokyo Disney Resort will all be receiving a scene from The Rise of Skywalker on December 20
• Check out our latest Marvel News Mash-Up, featuring news on Fantastic Four, Scorsese, Infinity Saga and more
• We learned that the upcoming Disney+ streaming service may not work on Chromebooks and some Android devices due to access control technologies, while Verizon announced that they would be offering one free year of the Disney+ service to its wireless and home internet customers
• A set of action-packed new character posters for Frozen 2 was released this week
• Bob Iger has publicly defended the Marvel films after Martin Scorsese made disparaging comments a few weeks ago
• Disney are developing Hocus Pocus 2 for Disney+, with Jen D’Angelo on board to write the script
• Disney’s Aladdin and The Lion King 16-bit games for Super Nintendo will be re-released in limited edition clamshell cartridge boxes later this year
• A puppet-based talk show series produced by The Jim Henson Company will be coming to Disney+, titled “Earth to Ned”
• It was announced that Hallie Todd, Robert Carradine and Jake Thomas will all be reprising their roles in the Lizzie McGuire reboot for Disney+

Other Disney News

• We were horrified to hear that a child was reportedly attacked by an anteater during an offshore excursion with Disney Cruise Line
• Equally as horrifying was the news that a Disney manager has been arrested on suspicion of possessing child pornography
• Read this week’s editorial from WDWNT, discussing the long-lasting legacy of The Adventurers Club
• A new update on the “Disney Look” appearance standards guidelines at parks and resorts now allows cast members to wear necklaces and have longer beards
• Disney have sold 26 acres of land next to Disney’s Vero Beach Resort
• A former Walt Disney World cast member is facing several charges for burglary, grand theft and dealing in stolen property, as authorities release images of stolen costumes and props from The Haunted Mansion
• It has been announced that a guest with measles visited Disneyland earlier in the month, and health officials have spoken up about the risk of contracting the highly-contagious disease
• We learned that Disney Vacation Club are planning on raising prices on thirteen of its sold-out properties

That’s all of the Disney news for this past week! Make sure you check back at the end of each week for our weekly recaps!

Madeleine