DLW 160: Former Cast Member Stephanie

This week, dining reservations are open at Carthay Circle, some new treats for this holidays, expanded Downtown Disney hours, Salt and Straw has some new flavors, more bad news for cast members and Disney Parks, we talk to former cast member Stephanie, and more!

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News:

Carthay Circle is now available for dining reservations! Guests who would like to reserve a time to dine at the restaurant on Buena Vista Street can head into the Disneyland app and schedule a time to dine. There is still the option to walk up and be seated, but Disneyland highly recommends a reservation. Reservations are open as far out as the parks calendar, but have been very popular. Also note, if you have a dining reservation, you can enter Buena Vista Street up to one hour before your reservation, with your entire party present. – https://www.disneyfoodblog.com/2020/11/25/disneyland-announces-carthay-lounge-dining-reservations-experiences-technical-difficulties/ and https://disneyland.disney.go.com/dining/disney-california-adventure/carthay-circle-lounge

For guests that are lucky enough to get into Buena Vista Street, there are some new holiday treats over at Trolley Treats. A new vanilla cupcake with blue icing, white pearls, and Mickey ears is available, along with a chocolate cupcake with green icing in the shape of a Christmas tree. The cupcakes are $5.99 each. – https://www.disneyfoodblog.com/2020/11/25/review-does-this-cupcake-at-disney-california-adventure-impress-chocolate-lovers/

Hours at Downtown Disney are being expanded for the Holiday season. Downtown Disney was opening at 10am, but that is being pushed back to 9am. The shopping and dining district will be open from 9am to 9pm until January 2nd, with the exception of Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve when it will close at 8pm. Christmas Day will have a delayed opening of 10am. – https://www.disneyfoodblog.com/2020/11/29/update-downtown-disney-extends-hours-into-the-new-year-at-disneyland-resort/

Once again Salt and Straw in Downtown Disney have whipped up another fun flavor for guests. Among the options are Dwanta’s Teremana Spiked Eggnog, Cocoa and Peppermint Patties, Gingerbread Cookie Dough, Almond Brittle with Salted Ganache, and more! The new flavors will be available through the holiday season. – https://www.disneyfoodblog.com/2020/11/27/spiked-eggnog-ice-cream-check-out-the-2020-holiday-salt-straw-ice-cream-flavors-in-downtown-disney/

With holiday shopping in full swing, shopDisney has started offering same day shipping on select items through Instacart. The downside of this is that in-store pricing and sale prices don’t apply to items ordered this way. – https://dlnewstoday.com/2020/11/shopdisney-now-offering-same-day-delivery-on-select-disney-store-items-via-instacart/

Disney has issued refund checks for the full amount of the Premiere Annual Passes this week. The premiere annual pass is the pass that includes access to all the US Disney theme parks on both coasts. The refund checks are for the full amount and not just for one coast or the other. No word on if this was a requested refund, or something automated. – https://dlnewstoday.com/2020/11/disney-now-sending-full-refund-checks-to-premier-annual-passholders-due-to-extended-disneyland-resort-closure/

LA County, which is adjacent to Orange County where Disneyland is located, has entered a second “safer at home” order through December 20th. This doesn’t mean anything directly for the resort, but guests living in the county are being advised to stay home as much as possible. – https://www.micechat.com/276470-disneyland-update-its-a-small-holiday-after-all/

With the continued closures, Disney’s theme parks division was forced to lay off another 4,000 cast members, bringing the total to 32,000. In addition to theses cast members, another 37,000 are on furlough as of October 3rd. Before the pandemic, Disneyland employed 32,000 cast members, and Walt Disney World employed 77,000. – https://t.co/eVIKkZIINM

Not only has Disneyland been effected by the increase in cases around the world, but two other Disney parks around the world are closing down again. Disneyland Paris, which was planning on opening for the holiday season will be closed until February 12th per government rules, along with Hong Kong Disneyland, which was just reopened for the second time for the 15th anniversary, also mandated by the government there. No reopening date has been set for Hong Kong. – https://www.micechat.com/276470-disneyland-update-its-a-small-holiday-after-all/

To end the news on a bit of a highlight, Disney has updated the opening credits for Black Panther this week in celebration of what would have been Chadwick Boseman’s 44th birthday. The new credits feature clips of Boseman in the movies, as well as on set. We will have the link in the show notes to the new credits that were shared by Marvel Studios on Instagram. – https://www.micechat.com/276470-disneyland-update-its-a-small-holiday-after-all/

Discussion Topic:

Stephanie Fox – Former Fantasyland Cast Member