TouringPlans Travel Beat 11-24-2024

At Travel Beat we have all the “other” news from the last week or so—the stuff that wasn’t big enough to stop the presses for. What did the newsroom bring us this week? Bullets are just ahead if you’re in a hurry, and more details follow below. Don’t forget to check out the Headline News Recap, in case there was something you missed!

• Oga’s Cantina Gets a Menu Update
• New Details for Magic Kingdom DVC Lounge
• Follow Bakso the Tiger on YouTube
• Disney Receives Three 2025 Thea Awards
• Soarin’ Final Scene Updated to Show World Celebration Gardens
• Four for Two Ticket Special at Universal Orlando
• Headline News Recap

Can you guess which story inspired this week’s cover image? Leave your guesses in the comments!

Oga’s Cantina Gets a Menu Update

The menu at Oga’s Cantina saw a few additions this week; some drinks and – perhaps more exciting! – some more food. Joining the Happabore Sampler and the Batuu Bits in the solid comestible lineup are

• Umbaran Cheese Roll: Spice-dusted pretzel bun stuffed with herbed cheese and a dipping sauce
• Thruster Roasted Bantha Flatbread: Naan flatbread topped with spiced chorizo beef and a four-cheese blend

On the beverage side, guests can now enjoy:

• Nysillin and Bubbles with Brub Berry Essence: Empress 1908 Gin, St-Germain Elderflower Liqueur, and blueberry-lime juice topped with tonic water and garnished with an edible hibiscus flower
• Bloody Rancor with Candied Meat: Tito’s Handmade Vodka, Ancho Reyes Chile Liqueur, and house-made bloody mary mix garnished with a spicy candied rancor bacon
• ‍The Sylop: Del Maguey Vida Mezcal, grapefruit juice, lime juice, agave, and jalapeño with a chili-lime-seasoned rim
• Corellian Spike Cold Brew: Maker’s Mark Kentucky Straight Bourbon, Joffrey’s Coffee Cold Brew, vanilla, brown sugar syrup, and orange bitters topped with purple vanilla-ube foam

New Details for Magic Kingdom DVC Lounge

If you’re a Disney Vacation Club Member, you probably got an email this week with some details about the upcoming Member Lounge in the Magic Kingdom. The new lounge will be called McKim’s Mile House – A Member Lounge, and is expected to open by Summer of 2025. Since the lounge is taking over the space vacated by the Frontierland Shootin’ Gallery, it should come as no surprise that it will be located in Frontierland.

Follow Bakso the Tiger on YouTube

If you are a regular reader, you may remember that about a month ago Disney announced the birth of Bakso the Tiger at Animal Kingdom. Bakso is about two months old now, and Disney has begun posting weekly clips of Bakso on YouTube. Look at those huge paws! Isn’t he the cutest?

You can find the whole series with this link, and each of the first two videos is about an hour long. We were at Animal Kingdom the other day and asked when we’d see Bakso on the Pangani Forest Trail; we were told he won’t be out for viewing until sometime in the new year.

Disney Receives Three 2025 Thea Awards

After reading that headline, you might be asking: “What’s a THEA Award?” Well, every industry has its professional organizations; in the theme park world that’s the Themed Entertainment Association (TEA). The Thea Awards are the TEA’s version of Oscars.

Both Fantasy Springs at Tokyo DisneySea and the new Zootopia land at Shanghai Disneyland have earned the Thea Award for Outstanding Achievement – Theme Park Land. Disney touts that this is the first time Imagineering has received two awards for this category in a single year, but I gotta be honest, my first thought was that this might be like when I tell my daughter that she’s my favorite daughter. (I have only one.)

The BD-X droids that we saw in Galaxy’s Edge earlier this year netted the third Thea, this time for Outstanding Achievement – Technical Innovation.

Soarin’ Final Scene Updated to Show World Celebration Gardens

I was in the parks this week with my family, and at the end of our trip around the world on Soarin’, we noticed that the final scene had been updated to show World Celebration Gardens. Blog Mickey reports that the new scene debuted this week, and the Eiffel Tower scene also received some small updates to make it less bendy.

What clued us in? Well, the EPCOT logo seen from the air is pretty, and pretty obvious. Unfortunately those lighting effects aren’t working right now, but we’re hoping that its inclusion in the final scene means that Disney is working on a plan to get this addressed.

Four for Two Ticket Special at Universal Orlando

Get two days free with the purchase of a two-day ticket at Universal Orlando Resort. Choose either a one-park per day or park-to-park ticket for this offer, and Volcano Bay can be added to the Park-to-Park option. The price is determined by the date of your first visit; tickets are valid for any 4 calendar days in a 7-consecutive calendar day period.

These tickets are on sale for start dates now through April 24, 2025 (final day of use April 30, 2025), with the exception of start dates between December 22 and December 31, 2024.

Headline News Recap

It’s not quite Festival of the Holidays yet (but soon!), and next on the roster is Festival of the Arts. Disney released concert and dining package details for this Festival that begins mid-January of 2025. 2025 Festival of the Arts Disney on Broadway Concerts and Dining Packages

If you’ve got a Thanksgiving visit coming up, you’ll want to know that Disney has expanded access to the new Lightning Lane Premier Pass beyond guests of Deluxe and Deluxe Villa hotels. Disney Parks Rolling Out All-Access Lightning Lane Premier Pass – Updated!

Last but not least, more follow-on news from D23 announcements, this time for Hollywood Studios. Monsters Door Coaster Sends Muppets to Rock ‘n Roller Coaster.

That’s it for this week’s Travel Beat. What news are you most excited about? Let us know in the comments!