Good morning from the Magic Kingdom! On a drizzly December morning, we stopped by to check out what was new throughout the park.
Overnight rains with a passing cold front made for a windy and dreary morning. But nothing can dampen the Christmas spirit in the parks!
Over at Newsstand, we noticed some new 2020 merchandise.
These 2020 koozies are available for $14.99.
They go well with some of the other koozie offerings we have seen popping up all over the parks.
This hoodie for kids is adorable and features Pluto on the back.
Inside the hood, we can see a cute pattern with various park icons and characters. These are currently retailing for $39.99 and, thanks to the cooler weather, seemed to be quite popular.
Over at the Emporium, an old friend seems to have returned. We spotted these Stitch slap bracelet MagicBands back on the shelf. As we noted last month, Disney pulled these from stores due to technical issues.
Over at Big Top Souvenirs, cast members and ropes kept guests away from the building after this week’s fire.
Planters were placed at the front and rear entrances of the store.
The Character meet and greet areas inside Pete’s Silly Sideshow were also closed and roped off.
A few characters, like Pluto, Goofy, and Donald, were seen greeting guests at various locations outside.
Daisy and Minnie Mouse were located underneath the cover by the Fastpass+ kiosks. Cast members told us there’s no set timetable for reopening Big Top Souvenirs or Pete’s Silly Sideshow.
Despite the constant rain, Casey Jr. and the Storybook Circus animals sprayed water like it was summer.
Wait times for Splash Mountain were understandably short. Why go and get wet when you can just stand outside?
The Seven Dwarfs Mine Train was closed for a period this morning due to technical difficulties.
Surprisingly, the Magic Kingdom castle crane is back. We aren’t sure what of reason for its reappearance, as it is clearly too early for them to begin taking down holiday decorations.
From the front of the castle, we could see the crane in place over by Sir Mickey’s.
The Sword in the Stone stood proud this morning, despite the falling raindrops.
Even Peter Pan needed an umbrella for work today.
At least $100,000 worth of bananas was spotted in Liberty Square.
The Mandalorian has landed at Magic Kingdom.
This Mandalorian hoodie was spotted at Tomorrowland Light & Power Co. It currently retails for $64.99.
Have we ever told you the story about the cone who rode the PeopleMover?
Work on removing the old Tomorrowland theming accents seems to have stalled recently.
Not much has changed behind the screens on these support beams.
This section of walkway outside Space Mountain is walled off and covered in tarps. New concrete work, perhaps?
Work on TRON Lightcycle Power Run continues to progress.
More concrete has been poured for the launch section of the ride.
We also spotted the new support beams for the encasement that will cover the outside section of the ride.
From Storybook Circus, workers could be seen on forklifts attending to framing for the show building.
I hope they put rain tires on at Tomorrowland Speedway…
Over at Tomorrowland Terrace, a large section of the walkway is blocked thanks to this large wooden box frame. No word on what this will be or when it will be removed.
Cosmic Ray Starlight Cafe’s sure would look nice with color besides plain white.
As we left Magic Kingdom, the Express Monorail line was down due to technical difficulties. The entrance was roped off, and all guests were instructed to use the resort monorail line, instead.
That does it for our visit to Magic Kingdom today. We are going to make like turkeys and fly out of here. Stay tuned to WDWNT for the latest parks news!
I once bought 4 pieces of fruit at Disney and almost had a heart attack when I saw the bill.
I wonder if years ago, most work was done at nighttime? On most photo’s nowadays the parks looks like a constuction zone. Why not not finish 1 or 2 jobs before starting a new one?
I believe that’s how it used to be. But it can be dangerous for them to work at night with low lighting, so maybe it’s better this way.
Seems like there’s a lot of ride shutdowns. There was at least one a day when we visited MK and EPCOT in November.
I was there last weekend (12/7) and was pleased to see the back of the castle for once NOT obscured by a ugly crane… so I am doubly disappointed to see it’s back already.