TouringPlans Travel Beat 3-2-2025

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!

• Universal Orlando Now Offers Updated Harry Potter Interactive Wands
• RunDisney Announces 2026 Marathon Weekend Theme
• It’s Butterbeer Season
• Blizzard Beach Turns 30
• Raglan Road to Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day
• Headline News Recap

Universal Orlando Now Offers Updated Harry Potter Interactive Wands

Beginning this week, Universal Orlando is now selling a second generation of their interactive Harry Potter wands. There are four new wand designs which all allow guests to experience illumination and haptic feedback vibrations customized to specific spells. The wand interact with specific locations in the Universal parks and each wand includes a map that notes these locations and how to link your wand to the Universal Play system. Accio wands!

Blizzard Beach Turns 30

Walt Disney World’s Blizzard Beach water park turns 30 this year. Beginning on April 1, 2025, and throughout the month of April, you’ll find a DJ spinning party tunes near the Polar Pub. Also look for character greetings with Mickey and Minnie decked out in their winter attire, plus snowman bowling and character-themed tubes for floating down Cross Country Creek. Special food and beverage items will also be offered.

Blizzard Beach will close for refurbishment on April 30. The Typhoon Lagoon water park will open on May 1.

It’s Butterbeer Season

March 1 to May 31, 2025 is Butterbeer Season at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Orlando. As part of the festivities, Universal will offer two new themed dessert items: the Butterbeer cream puff and the Butterbeer Candy Bar. These join the usual offerings of Butterbeer ice cream, fudge, at potted cream. There also new merchandise associated with the event.

RunDisney Announces 2026 Marathon Weekend Theme

RunDisney has announced their theme for the 2026 Marathon Weekend races: What’s Your Story? Each race will be themed to a different storybook genre and feature a different Disney character. The 5K race will be sci-fi themed, with a Pluto mascot. (Sci-fi and Pluto, get it?) The 10K is mystery themed, featuring Chip & Dale. The Half Marathon will be romance themed, helmed by lovebirds Donald & Daisy Duck. And the Full Marathon will be fantasy/adventure themed, featuring Mickey & Minnie.

Registration for the races begins on March 4, 2025 for Club runDisney Gold and Platinum members. General registration begins on March 11, 2025. Races will be run on January 7-12, 2026.

Raglan Road is Hosting a St. Patrick’s Day Celebration

From March 14-17, Raglan Road at Disney Springs will be hosting a St. Patrick’s Day Festival with special Irish musical performances throughout the day. Reservations are recommended. For the complete schedule, see the Raglan Road website.

Headline News Recap

Now that Disney World has dropped the virtual queue for Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, your trip planning strategy may be a little different. Check out our new Magic Kingdom Touring Plan that incorporated the Tiana’s standby line.

On a related note, getting to the parks early may be even more important now. Here are some tips on how to get to rope drop in the most efficient way.

Menus for the 2025 EPCOT Flower & Garden Festival have been released. There are two new booths this year: Beach Grub and Yacht Grub. We’ll be there to taste test their offerings.

Disneyland now allows guests to reserve the Lightning Lane Premier Pass seven days in advance instead of the previous two days in advance. The booking window at Disneyland now matches that a Walt Disney World.