Hello from a chilly and quiet day here at Walt Disney World! We started our day at EPCOT to check in on all the construction progress there, and then headed to Disney’s Hollywood Studios to check out what might be new there. We found lots of things to show you, so let’s get started!

We checked in on the progress at the France Pavilion expansion first thing in the morning, and found that while the planters were still in place and the expansion was still closed to guests, a lot of work was being done to finish things up. These planters, which were empty yesterday, were filled with these lovely flowers overnight.

Nearby the fountain was off in the France Pavilion, though it is unclear why.

In the Innoventions East building, what appears to be drywall was being added to the framing for MouseGear that was recently installed.

Work was being done on the new La Gelateria booth when we went by the Italy Pavilion today. The building was built off site and delivered in segments.

After over a week of no activity, two workers were seen on the roof of the Play! Pavilion today.

We checked in on the Gran Fiesta Tour today and found that Donald was still missing. We hope to find him returned to his rightful spot soon!

Though a couple of days behind the arrival of the actual festival, Festival of the Arts banners have arrived in the model railroad village in the Germany Pavilion.

We noticed that the Tomato Soup at the POP Eats festival food booth was being served in regular paper cups today and not the souvenir “cans” as it was on the opening day of the festival. We hope the “cans” will return soon!

While we didn’t find Donald at Gran Fiesta, we did find him in the Italy Pavilion this morning filming a promotional piece. He was dressed as if he’d just come from Topolino’s Terrace, the character dining experience at Disney’s Riviera Resort.

We saw a diver in the ray tank in the Turtle Talk With Crush room today. She was taking underwater pictures of the rays while in the tank.

We found some fun new merchandise today, including two new additions to the Disney Dogs and Cats merchandise line. These ID card holders are a fun way to show off your favorite type of pet. For more pictures and information, check out our article here.

Next, we found several new open edition pin sets. Each of these sets were found at Mouse Gear and retail for $15.99.

We also found this Limited Edition pin featuring Minnie Mouse for the 2021 edition of “Rock The Dots” at Pin Traders for $19.99. It’s unclear if more merchandise will be released this year like in previous ones.

Lastly, we found this new Pandora Jewelry set celebrating the 70th Anniversary of “Cinderella”.

We found Elsa out greeting guests in the familiar spot in the Norway Pavilion today, as we saw Anna out yesterday. Even socially distanced, a meet a greet with Elsa is a lovely time!

We finished up at EPCOT and made our way to Disney’s Hollywood Studios next to check out all the new things there.

When we arrived, we noticed that the Christmas decorations had been removed. We saw the same thing at the Magic Kingdom yesterday, although decorations remain up at EPCOT.

We’re happy to see the park back to normal, but we will miss “Santa Gertie”. We still love plain Gertie though!

We were surprised to see another thing missing from the park today—the Indiana Jones Truck. The truck had been under the canopy here as part of a merchandise display for the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular, but with the show temporarily unavailable, and the merchandise stand closed indefinitely, the truck has been removed.

Stopping into the shops, we found a new “special savings” sign. With the holidays over, the “Mickey snowflake” sale is over, and has now been replaced with this “gold shopping bag” sale. The sales themselves remain the same.

While shopping, we found a new line of acid-washed loungewear available featuring the Walt Disney World logo. Our favorite piece was this long sleeve shirt with the logo spiraled on the back, as if Walt Disney World was being flushed down the toilet by bad management.

We were excited to find the newest Dooney & Bourke collection for Valentine’s Day available in the park today, having just come out on shopDisney. Three pieces were available in this print, so you can have a full matching set if you wish.

We found a coordinating Valentine’s Day keychain featuring Mickey and Minnie at 5&10 for $9.99 if you need a charm for your new handbag.

We also found an addition to the parks themed kitchen accessories with this Haunted Mansion tea towel. The front features the iconic phrase “Room For One More” and the back features the Haunted Mansion logo. We found this piece at the 5&10 for $19.99.

Lastly, we found two new additions to the Walt Disney World branded Corkcicle line, this time in black. Both styles are represented, the tumbler and the water bottle. The tumbler retails for $34.99 and the water bottle retails for $39.99, and both are available at the 5&10.

We had a great day at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and took a moment on the way out to admire the lights of Hollywood Boulevard. We hope you enjoyed coming along with us today. Have a magical day!

Noelle Burk