Walt Disney World Resort Update for January 10, 2025

Like most of the rest of the Continental U.S.A., Central Florida is experiencing cold winter temperatures. Following last summer’s excessive heat, “Florida Cold” is sort of welcome among locals, but folks visiting Walt Disney World Resort from other regions expecting at least 70º or more will have to wait until probably later this month, as the 10 day forecast at publication has no forecast even reaching 70º and some overnight lows in the upper 30s. The current forecast does not include a hard freeze, but it is not out of the realm of the possible and, indeed, even with official temperatures above 32º, you still need to be on the lookout for isolated spots where frost or ice may form on the ground–especially if you are participating in the runDisney Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend which is now underway.

Also for water park fans, remember that cold weather will close the water park. The seasonally open water park right now is Disney’s Blizzard Beach, and notwithstanding its frigid theme, it closes for cold weather events too.

Disney Vacation Club Moonlight Magic Events: 2025 Registration Details

The biggest news item we have this week is aimed at Disney Vacation Club members and those that like to join them for DVC Moonlight Magic nights. For quite a few months already, we have known the slate of Walt Disney World 2025 events at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, EPCOT, Disney’s Animal Kingdom, and Typhoon Lagoon, (plus Disney California Adventure out on the West Coast) but not the registration dates.

DVC has finally announced the registration schedule, and it has broken the events down into three “Seasons” for purposes of registration:

Winter Season Events

• Disney’s Hollywood Studios: 1/26/25
• Disney California Adventure: 2/3/25
• Disney’s Animal Kingdom: 2/12/25

Early Registration: January 15, 2025 • General Registration: January 17, 2025

Spring Season Events

• EPCOT: 4/30/25
• Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon Water Park: 5/20/25 and 6/9/25

Early Registration: February 27, 2025 • General Registration: March 6, 2025

Summer Season Events

• EPCOT: 7/17/25
• Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon Water Park: 8/11/25
• Disney’s Hollywood Studios: 9/1/25

Early Registration: May 15, 2025 • General Registration: May 22, 2025

As in the past, registration for these events is complimentary for eligible members, where “eligible” generally only includes members who have purchased their membership points from Disney, and their guests. For Early Registration, an eligible member also must have a Disney Resort reservation at a DVC property (which, for Florida events also includes Disney’s Vero Beach Resort) or any of the other Disney owned/operated hotels, with the party size on the resort registration finalized a few specified days before the Early Registration window opens. Full details and reservation requirements are on this page of DVC’s website, and that is the page where the RSVP link appears on registration dates.

It looks like DVC may have finally fixed a past problem with the registration process:

To enter the virtual waiting room, an eligible Member number must be entered. This process secures your Membership a random place in line. Do not refresh the page as access is limited.

In the past, folks trying to register were not required to enter a Member number until they reached the registration form itself which meant that the virtual queue for the registration form could be filled with lots of folks that were not eligible to register for the events and it allowed eligible members to open multiple windows to attempt to register. Hopefully, the new virtual queue will verify the eligibility of a Member number and only allow it to enter the virtual queue once per registration period. We shall see…

Once successfully registered for an event, the DVC member designated as attending in the registration form is the one that must be present at check-in to check-in the entire party, and that member must have their digital member identification (preferably loaded in their device’s digital wallet) and photo I.D. The entire party must check in together, and early entry to the park before the event’s designated “mix-in” time requires a separate park admission (and park reservation for applicable ticket and pass-types).

EPCOT International Festival of the Arts: Returns January 17-February 24, 2025

We are just a week away from the 2025 edition of the EPCOT International Festival of the Arts which runs January 17-February 24, 2025. As noted a few weeks ago, this Festival will show off EPCOT’s next use of CommuniCore Hall as a Festival Center when the space hosts “Once Upon A Stage: 30 Years of Disney on Broadway.” Disney Parks Blog says guests will, “experience the magic of Broadway both on and off the stage in this walkthrough exhibit celebrating three decades of Disney on Broadway.” The concept art shows costumes and props on display from Disney on Broadway stage musicals, and Disney Parks Blog says that guests will “then venture behind-the-scenes to see how the classic animated films “The Lion King” and “Aladdin” were reimagined for the Broadway stage.”

During the Festival, the food counter in CommuniCore Plaza will be the “Opening Bites Food Studio,” with a menu that Disney describes as, “paying homage to the foods and drinks immortalized onstage.” The Disney Parks Blog Festival of the Arts Foodie Guide has been published containing all the menus for this year’s Food Studios.

There will be another Figment-themed popcorn bucket available over at Odyssey during the Festival, while supplies last. Interestingly, Disney has not explicitly said that the buckets need to be purchased via mobile order as they had since the legendary six-hour queue formed for the first one a few years ago. Our astute readers know the they should be on the lookout for a mobile order requirement should Disney impose it again, but they should also be prepared for queues. The scarcity problem caused by the post-pandemic supply chain problems that faced that first Figment bucket, though, should not reoccur, but you never know.

In the Passholder Buzz section of the My Disney Experience app, Disney has teased that a new Annual Passholder magnet will soon be available. It seems to have a theme that ties to Tiana’s Bayou Adventure based on the clues provided so far, and complimentary magnet distributions are often done during EPCOT festivals. It could mean that a Tiana’s themed magnet will be distributed during the Festival at EPCOT, or maybe not. So, having said that, if you are a Passholder that wants to get the latest magnet, you will need to keep an eye out for the specific details of where the distribution will take place (and, of course, remember, that the complex park reservation rules remain in place for 2025: reservations required for all parks prior to 2 p.m. daily and Magic Kingdom on Saturday and Sunday, but park hopping all day subject to capacity after admission to one park). The Passholder teases usually only take a few days to be fully played out, so maybe we will have more details before the Festival starts…

This & That & Reminders…

…It’s time for the runDisney 2025 Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend. Watch out for road closures and such, and, to the runners, be ready to deal with colder-than-usual Florida temperatures. runDisney has also announced its full slate of races for the 2025-26 season here.

Ramen Rumble is presented in partnership with event founders, Sue and Jason Chin of Good Salt Restaurant Group, and a portion of the proceeds will be donated to Give Kids the World. Tickets are now on sale, starting at $95++ for general admission, with VIP Booths starting at $650++.  Two seatings at 5:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. are available. Tickets can be purchased on Tock.

…REMINDER. Disney D23 announced the 2025 return of Destination 23 to Walt Disney World Resort. Billed as “the biggest Disney fan event of 2025,” Destination D23: A Journey Around the Worlds of Disney will be August 29-31, 2025. This edition will be held at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort, and D23 says the event has more than doubled in size. A block of rooms is available for reservation at: https://www.mydisneygroup.com/destd25/. D23 Gold Membership seems to be required for ticket purchases, though the on-sale date and information has not yet been published. Gold Membership tiers are in effect in 2025, and effect existing Gold Members upon their renewals. Read more about all that, on this page of D23.com.

Resort Reservations, Ticket Advice & Special Offers

Note: MousePlanet does not edit past Updates to reflect price increases; for up-to-date prices, check the most recent Walt Disney World Resort Update.

…REMINDER: From January 2 to February 10, 2025, you can get a free dining plan with the purchase of a non-discounted 3-night, 3-day (at minimum) Walt Disney Travel Company package that includes a room at a select Disney Resort hotel and a park ticket with a Park Hopper option. The offer is available for most arrivals starting May 27 through June 26, and July 7 through August 6, 2025. Visit DisneyWorld.com/dineoffer on January 2, 2025, for more details

More special offers are available on this page of DisneyWorld.com. Packages now posted provide for various discounts for stays through June 30, 2025, and Military Discounts are now posted for the whole year.

A general Florida resident theme park ticket offer is available on this page of DisneyWorld.com which starts at $119 plus tax for a one day ticket and can be as low as $72/day plus tax for a four day ticket (before the various add-ons). As a date-based ticket, the first date of use has to be selected when purchased and users of a Florida resident ticket will be required to provide proof of residency either at the time of purchase or at a park ticket window prior to first use. As of January, if you are looking for a start date that gets as low as that advertised $72/day plus tax, advance the calendar all the way out to August.

The Florida Resident Discover Disney Ticket is now also available on this page of DisneyWorld.com. The Discover Disney Ticket is a special 4-Day Ticket for $240 plus tax ($60/day plus tax) valid for use from January 13 to May 23, 2025, with an advance park reservation. A 3-Day version is also available for $225 plus tax. Reservations are limited and subject to availability of reservations allocated to this ticket as determined by Disney, and park capacity. These tickets can be used on consecutive or nonconsecutive days, and Park Hopper and water park options may be purchased for additional benefits. Usual residency proof required too.

And, if you are looking to sail aboard Disney Cruise Line in 2025, our Adrienne Vincent-Phoneix spotted an offer: for a limited time only, kids sail 50% off on select Disney Wish, Disney Dream and Disney Wonder sailings, through February 16, 2025 for active Disney+ subscribers. The offer applies only to 3rd and 4th guests under 18 of Disney+ subscribers with two full-fare guests in the same stateroom on select cruises sailing 1/3/25–6/13/25. Be sure to log in to your MyDisney account using the email associated with your Disney+ subscription. More details are available on the “perks” page of the Disney+ website here.