Disney News, Discussion & an Element of Fun - 2024 Edition

[Smugpugmug]

Is it out yet?

Yes but it's exclusive to Disneyland. I saw on Instagram people were saying it's already sold out but cannot confirm if that's true.

 

[mickey916]

Baby Corra has joined the herd at Kilamanjaro Safari

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Now I'm regretting changing my upcoming Animal Kingdom day to a Magic Kingdom day...

 

[LSUmiss]

Do they still have park to park busses?

 

[mickey916]

Do they still have park to park busses?

Yes. I heard they came back with park hopping restrictions lifted.

 

[clarker99]

Do they still have park to park busses?

Yes

 

[wabbott]

https://wdwnt.com/2024/02/toy-story-topiaries-2024-flower-garden-festival/

PHOTOS: ‘Toy Story’ Topiaries Installed and More Updates for 2024 EPCOT International Flower & Garden Festival​

Toni Ferrigno
February 15, 2024

Updates are happening quickly as we approach the opening day of the 2024 EPCOT International Flower & Garden Festival on February 28. We spotted several freshly installed topiaries and other adjustments on a recent trip to the park.

​

 

[Ismo]

When do we think the Flower & Garden menus will come out?

 

[Geomom]

When do we think the Flower & Garden menus will come out?

I'm thinking 2/20 (at the earliest) since the arts festival ends 2/19.

 

[Karin1984]

More idiots in Disneyland Paris.
Someone released a smoke bomb (do you say it like this in English?)
The smoke was pink, so it did fit with the castle, but still... Idiots!

According to an eyewitness the people have been arrested.

 

[wabbott]

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/202...dom-baby-elephant-corra-public-debut-savanna/

Disney: Baby elephant Corra makes Animal Kingdom debut
By Dewayne Bevil | dbevil@orlandosentinel.com | Orlando Sentinel
PUBLISHED: February 15, 2024 at 12:42 p.m. | UPDATED: February 15, 2024 at 5:27 p.m.

Corra, a 2-month-old African elephant, skipped onto the savanna for the first time at Disney’s Animal Kingdom theme park on Thursday morning.

Within that first hour, she scampered alongside mom Nadirah, explored a log and interacted with her aunts and grandmother. She played with her food, a stack of hay freshly fluffed by Walt Disney World cast members.

And she mostly ignored the tourists rolling by as part of the park’s Kilimanjaro Safaris attraction, even after one cried out, “It’s a baby!”

Corra is a big baby, weighing in at 312 pounds, an increase from her 200 pounds when she was born at Animal Kingdom in December.

“She is very much a little kid,” said Dr. Scott Terrell, director of animal and science operations.

“They’re always a little clumsy with their trunk, and she tripped over her trunk, and she stumbled in,” he said. “She loves to climb on things. … She loves to play with bubbles. The team will give her a bubble bath, and she loves to blow bubbles. She loves to play in the water. She loves to annoy her big sister, Stella.

“So her personality is absolutely incredible. And I think she knows she’s the center of attention,” Terrell said.

Early Thursday, Corra was surrounded by family, including her aunts, her grandmother and her mom, who was born at Animal Kingdom in 2005. For the first time, the park has three generations of African elephants living there.


And Corra could be the beginning of a baby elephant boomlet: Disney officials are expecting two more births in 2025.
“Elephants in the wild are a matriarchal society. Multi-generations of elephants live together in the wild, and we’re trying to re-create that wild environment, that natural environment, and with Corra’s birth, we have now created this multigenerational herd of elephants that very much mimics that wild ability for the animals to thrive,” Terrell said.
After several minutes of adjusting to her new environment, grandmother Donna rushed onto the scene.

“Just like any of our grandmothers would want to be part of this first day of kindergarten,” Terrell said. “I think that’s what we saw … that family of grandmother, mother, baby, aunts, sisters, all react to a really momentous day for one of their family members.”

The addition of Corra has enhanced the family life of the herd, Elizabeth Warncke, animal care manager, said.
“It’s definitely brought them closer together. You can see that the younger ones are a little bit more mature when they’re around Corra,” she said. “They understand that you know, this is a calf. We have to protect her. So it’s been very interesting to watch.”

Mac, Corra’s father, also lives at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, but he was absent from the family setting Thursday. That’s like it would be in the wild, officials said.

“The bulls don’t really have a whole lot of interest in calves. They like the older girls,” Warncke said. “A calf might as well just be invisible to him. He doesn’t have any interest.”

Corra was years in the making, even before Nadirah’s 22-month pregnancy, which spanned two Florida summers. After determining that she was physically mature enough to be a mom, Disney took baby steps when introducing her to Mac. The process was done in conjunction with the Association of Zoos and Aquariums and scientific data.

“We were looking at her reproductive hormone levels from the day that she conceived all the way to the day that she gave birth after a 639-day gestation,” said Sam Shablin, an animal endocrinologist at Disney World. “Before that, we actually had been monitoring elephant Nadirah’s hormone levels for many years.”

Corra is several years away from potential motherhood. For now, she’s getting the hang of the savanna and how to be an elephant.

“Right now, a lot of it is mimicking behavior, and that’s how they learn,” Warncke said. “You saw her out in the yard kind of munching on the browse pieces. She’s not actually ingesting it, but she sees her mom do it, so she wants to chew it, too.”

Leaf-eating herbivores like elephants consume fresh leaves, twigs and branches of specific trees and shrubs, which are called browse pieces.

Email me at dbevil@orlandosentinel.com. Threads account: @dbevil. X account: @themeparks. Subscribe to the Theme Park Rangers newsletter at orlandosentinel.com/newsletters.

 

[mickey916]

Passholder Park Reservations Sold Out for Today
Walt Disney World Annual Passholders are currently unable to make any new Disney Park Pass theme park reservations after all four theme parks sold out (as of publish time around 8:40am). This marks a recent trend of Disney seemingly picking and choosing capacity limitations and guest mix on rather random dates. There are no other sold-out dates, or even a single sold-out theme park for Annual Passholders through February 2025, according to the Disney World website.

It’s not even like the theme parks are sold out or hitting capacity limitations. Single-day tickets are currently available for all four Walt Disney World theme parks for today. Instead, Disney is just limiting how many Annual Passholders it wants in the parks today…or at least to start the day.
There is a high likelihood that Park Pass reservations will be made available at select theme parks later this morning, and the 2pm rule still applies to Annual Passholders with zero restrictions today.
The arbitrary restrictions are frustrating and compounded by the fact that a lot of Disney messaging to end 2023 was about how you’ll be able to be more spontaneous in 2024. Disney announced “Good-to-Go” dates that have largely been pointless, and hinted at Genie+ changes that have yet to materialize.

 

[mickey916]

Construction Underway to Address Tripping Hazard in World Celebration
While visiting EPCOT recently, we noticed that construction work was underway in the new World Celebration Gardens, likely to address a possible tripping hazard in the garden closest to Connections Cafe.

In the older photo below, you can see how Disney built up the faux dirt around the base of the lighting fixture. Disney has used a similar technique for curbing, but this raised pavement in the middle of a walkway proved to be difficult to navigate for some guests – either on foot or by ECV/wheelchair.


While visiting EPCOT recently, we noticed that all of the light fixtures had construction boxes around them, presumably after the raised theming elements at the base of the lights had been leveled.

 

[mickey916]

New Heart of Te Fit Magic Shot Available
A new Magic Shot is available in Epcot! Guests can now find themselves posing with the Heart of Te Fiti. How far will you go for this Magic Shot?



Guests will find this particular photo op in the Journey of Water Inspired by Moana attraction. Disney PhotoPass photographers will be standing by near Te Fiti.

The Heart of Te Fiti is magically added to the photos by Disney Cast Members. Guests appear to be holding the Heart of Te Fiti and it is glowing!

 

[jpeterson]

Passholder Park Reservations Sold Out for Today
Walt Disney World Annual Passholders are currently unable to make any new Disney Park Pass theme park reservations after all four theme parks sold out (as of publish time around 8:40am). This marks a recent trend of Disney seemingly picking and choosing capacity limitations and guest mix on rather random dates. There are no other sold-out dates, or even a single sold-out theme park for Annual Passholders through February 2025, according to the Disney World website.

It’s not even like the theme parks are sold out or hitting capacity limitations. Single-day tickets are currently available for all four Walt Disney World theme parks for today. Instead, Disney is just limiting how many Annual Passholders it wants in the parks today…or at least to start the day.
There is a high likelihood that Park Pass reservations will be made available at select theme parks later this morning, and the 2pm rule still applies to Annual Passholders with zero restrictions today.
The arbitrary restrictions are frustrating and compounded by the fact that a lot of Disney messaging to end 2023 was about how you’ll be able to be more spontaneous in 2024. Disney announced “Good-to-Go” dates that have largely been pointless, and hinted at Genie+ changes that have yet to materialize.

These restrictions really need to go away. It takes a lot of the value out of the annual pass (which I'm sure is the point)

 

[mickey916]

Flamingos Have Returned to Animal Kingdom
The flamingo area of Animal Kingdom is open again!

This pathway was shut down recently as the area was worked on. The flamingos were moved backstage during this time.

Flamingos Relocated in Disney’s Animal Kingdom
But, now they’re back in their usual spot!

This is on Discovery Island near the Tree of Life.

The walls around the area blocking the path off are gone so you can look at the flamingos as long as you would like!

 

[mickey916]

These restrictions really need to go away. It takes a lot of the value out of the annual pass (which I'm sure is the point)

I received an annual passholder survey last week and there were quite a few questions about park pass reservations (there was actually a spot where that was listed as a "benefit"...lol). I made it pretty clear that park pass reservations are a big factor to consider when renewing (but maybe that's what they want is fewer people to renew).

 

[Pens Fan]

I received an annual passholder survey last week and there were quite a few questions about park pass reservations (there was actually a spot where that was listed as a "benefit"...lol). I made it pretty clear that park pass reservations are a big factor to consider when renewing (but maybe that's what they want is fewer people to renew).

I received an AP survey as well a few weeks ago. There were questions about the perceived value of an AP, why you purchased an AP and whether or not AP's felt valued by Disney. Thankfully it wasn't just multiple choice, but gave opportunities to expand on your answers. I made if very clear that the continued park pass requirement for AP's wasn't understood or appreciated.

 

[princesscinderella]

More idiots in Disneyland Paris.
Someone released a smoke bomb (do you say it like this in English?)
The smoke was pink, so it did fit with the castle, but still... Idiots!

According to an eyewitness the people have been arrested.

It looks like those stupid gender reveal smoke bombs people use. They must not have the security checks in place there like we do in the States.

 

[princesscinderella]

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/202...dom-baby-elephant-corra-public-debut-savanna/

Disney: Baby elephant Corra makes Animal Kingdom debut
By Dewayne Bevil | dbevil@orlandosentinel.com | Orlando Sentinel
PUBLISHED: February 15, 2024 at 12:42 p.m. | UPDATED: February 15, 2024 at 5:27 p.m.

Corra, a 2-month-old African elephant, skipped onto the savanna for the first time at Disney’s Animal Kingdom theme park on Thursday morning.

Within that first hour, she scampered alongside mom Nadirah, explored a log and interacted with her aunts and grandmother. She played with her food, a stack of hay freshly fluffed by Walt Disney World cast members.

And she mostly ignored the tourists rolling by as part of the park’s Kilimanjaro Safaris attraction, even after one cried out, “It’s a baby!”

Corra is a big baby, weighing in at 312 pounds, an increase from her 200 pounds when she was born at Animal Kingdom in December.

“She is very much a little kid,” said Dr. Scott Terrell, director of animal and science operations.

“They’re always a little clumsy with their trunk, and she tripped over her trunk, and she stumbled in,” he said. “She loves to climb on things. … She loves to play with bubbles. The team will give her a bubble bath, and she loves to blow bubbles. She loves to play in the water. She loves to annoy her big sister, Stella.

“So her personality is absolutely incredible. And I think she knows she’s the center of attention,” Terrell said.

Early Thursday, Corra was surrounded by family, including her aunts, her grandmother and her mom, who was born at Animal Kingdom in 2005. For the first time, the park has three generations of African elephants living there.
View attachment 834406

And Corra could be the beginning of a baby elephant boomlet: Disney officials are expecting two more births in 2025.
“Elephants in the wild are a matriarchal society. Multi-generations of elephants live together in the wild, and we’re trying to re-create that wild environment, that natural environment, and with Corra’s birth, we have now created this multigenerational herd of elephants that very much mimics that wild ability for the animals to thrive,” Terrell said.
After several minutes of adjusting to her new environment, grandmother Donna rushed onto the scene.

“Just like any of our grandmothers would want to be part of this first day of kindergarten,” Terrell said. “I think that’s what we saw … that family of grandmother, mother, baby, aunts, sisters, all react to a really momentous day for one of their family members.”

The addition of Corra has enhanced the family life of the herd, Elizabeth Warncke, animal care manager, said.
“It’s definitely brought them closer together. You can see that the younger ones are a little bit more mature when they’re around Corra,” she said. “They understand that you know, this is a calf. We have to protect her. So it’s been very interesting to watch.”

Mac, Corra’s father, also lives at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, but he was absent from the family setting Thursday. That’s like it would be in the wild, officials said.

“The bulls don’t really have a whole lot of interest in calves. They like the older girls,” Warncke said. “A calf might as well just be invisible to him. He doesn’t have any interest.”

Corra was years in the making, even before Nadirah’s 22-month pregnancy, which spanned two Florida summers. After determining that she was physically mature enough to be a mom, Disney took baby steps when introducing her to Mac. The process was done in conjunction with the Association of Zoos and Aquariums and scientific data.

“We were looking at her reproductive hormone levels from the day that she conceived all the way to the day that she gave birth after a 639-day gestation,” said Sam Shablin, an animal endocrinologist at Disney World. “Before that, we actually had been monitoring elephant Nadirah’s hormone levels for many years.”

Corra is several years away from potential motherhood. For now, she’s getting the hang of the savanna and how to be an elephant.

“Right now, a lot of it is mimicking behavior, and that’s how they learn,” Warncke said. “You saw her out in the yard kind of munching on the browse pieces. She’s not actually ingesting it, but she sees her mom do it, so she wants to chew it, too.”

Leaf-eating herbivores like elephants consume fresh leaves, twigs and branches of specific trees and shrubs, which are called browse pieces.

Email me at dbevil@orlandosentinel.com. Threads account: @dbevil. X account: @themeparks. Subscribe to the Theme Park Rangers newsletter at orlandosentinel.com/newsletters.

She is so cute!! I booked the elephant tour at AK for the end of March, hope we can a closer look at her.

 

[wabbott]

She is so cute!! I booked the elephant tour at AK for the end of March, hope we can a closer look at her.

Even though there were pics of Cora posted yesterday, I thought the newspaper write up deserved some attention.