TouringPlans Travel Beat 4-6-2025
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!
- All Disneyland Magic Keys Sold Out For the Moment
- Universal Sends a Portal on a Preview Tour
- DiveQuest is Returning to EPCOT on May 1
- New Discounts Available for Aulani in Fall 2025
- Lululemon, Nectar Life, and More Coming to Downtown Disney District
- Stern Art for Disney Adventure Released
- Disneyland Announces “Key to Disneyland” Interactive Game
- Universal’s Epic Universe Begins Media Previews
- Headline News Recap
Can you guess which story inspired this week’s cover image? Leave your guesses in the comments!
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All Disneyland Magic Keys Sold Out For the Moment
Various tiers of Magic Key passes (Disneyland’s Annual Pass) have been selling out over the last month since all four were made available on March 5, 2025. This week, Disneyland updated the Magic Key page to indicate that all four tiers are only available for renewal. There’s no word on when they’ll go on sale again, but we’ll have it here on the blog as headline news when it’s announced.
Universal Sends a Portal on a Preview Tour
If you’ve been to CityWalk recently, you can’t miss the huge digital billboard with advertisements for Epic Universe. If you haven’t, Universal would like to make sure you know that they have a new theme park opening on May 22, 2025. They’re launching a “National Epic Universal Portal Tour” with stops in Atlanta, New York City, Philadelphia, and Chicago to bring the preview experience to you.
The centerpiece of the tour is a 30-foot-tall replica of the Chronos Portal, the icon of Epic Universe. The concept art above shows “swirly woo” through the portal, but you may imagine that as guests approach, it will cycle through preview images of all five of Epic Universe’s lands. You can also take a selfie with the portal, and at night, Universal is promising “an awe-inspiring, spectacular night show with dynamic lighting and all-encompassing music.” Perhaps the biggest draw: the chance to enter a sweepstakes and win a trip to Universal Orlando Resort. The tour schedule is as follows, with hours from 10 am to 8 pm daily:
- April 11-13: Atlanta, Georgia (Pemberton Place, adjacent to World of Coca-Cola)
- April 23-26: New York, New York (Rockefeller Center)
- May 16-18: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (The Rocky Steps)
- June 13-18: Chicago, Illinois (Pioneer Court)
DiveQuest is Returning to EPCOT on May 1
EPCOT’s premier (and only) scuba-diving tour went on hiatus last October as the Seas tank said goodbye to its dolphins and prepared for some infrastructure work. Good news: it’s back! The DiveQuest tour, where you can swim in the main tank of the Seas Pavilion, will be offered again beginning on May 1, 2025; you can book available spots now. See Disney World’s DiveQuest page to book a spot or learn more about what you need to participate in this unique offering.
New Discounts Available for Aulani in Fall 2025
Disney’s Aulani Resort in Hawaii has released its latest round of special offers, covering August 10 to October 19, 2025. Offers are available for the general public, Disney® Visa® Cardmembers, and the military. The big picture below, and see Aulani’s offer page for more details.
- General public: Late Summer Offer: Save Up to 25% on Select Stays of 5 Nights or Longer – and Up to 20% on 4-Night Stays
- Disney® Visa® Cardmembers: Save Up to 35% on Ocean View or Partial Ocean View Rooms for Stays of 5 or More Nights
- Eligible Members of the US Military: Save Up to 30% on Select Stays of 2 Nights or Longer in Late Summer
Lululemon, Nectar Life, and More Coming to Downtown Disney District
This week’s update on Disneyland’s Downtown Disney District included three new shops, and artwork for a couple of previously announced restaurant projects. A brand-new lululemon will have a spot in an area of the former ESPN Zone building, offering their well-known line of athletic wear and other accessories.
Nectar Life offers beauty essentials and bakery-inspired bath treats, with all items handmade from vegan and all-natural ingredients. They’ll have a pop-up opening in the spring before their permanent location near Avengers Reserve is finished. And, the Downtown Disney location will be Nectar Life’s first with a customization bar where visitors can blend their own products.
Bopo Go! brings beverages, light bites, imported snacks, and signature bubble tea from Eric Wang and Philip Wang, owners of the Southern California Bopomofo Café chain. Bopo Go! will feature the same high-quality, authentic boba/bubble tea with real fruits, vegetables, lactose-free milk, oat milk, cane or brown sugar, and no artificial ingredients, in a setting built on the same concept as convenience stores in Asia.
Arthur & Sons Steak and Bourbon and Pearl’s Roadside BBQ were previously announced Downtown Disney dining concepts, and this week’s updates brought artist concept images for the interiors. Both projects are headed by Michelin-starred Chef Joe Isidori for the space formerly occupied by Tortilla Joe’s. They’ll open at an unspecified date in the future.
Stern Art for Disney Adventure Released
In case you forgot, Disney Cruise Line has not one, but two new cruise ships launching later this year. The Destiny will be coming in November and covering “traditional” routes for DCL, but the Adventure is coming in December and will be based in Singapore. This week: a look at the artwork on the Adventure’s stern, which features Mickey and Minnie putting the finishing touches on the ship’s name.
Disneyland Announces “Key to Disneyland” Interactive Game
A new “Key to Disneyland” interactive game will be available beginning May 16, 2025. Guests can use their keys to “help to unlock the festivities for the Disneyland Resort 70th Celebration.” How it works:
- Buy the key
- Look for the 70th Anniversary lock station in each land in Disneyland Park
- Insert the key and turn to unlock special effects on your key
- When you’ve used your key to unlock all 9 lands, head for the Finale lock station for even more unlockable surprises, including one of 9 commemorative trading pins.
Our take: Disneyland hasn’t released the price of the key yet, so we’re withholding judgment. After all, $10 scavenger hunt maps for EPCOT Festivals are a fun tradition, especially since you’re paying for the prize and can collect it if you finish the hunt or not. But given that a MagicBand+ at Disneyland doesn’t even do as much it will on a cruise (where it unlocks your door and you can charge things with it), this feels like a missed opportunity. We know that Disney always wants to sell more stuff, but they could have implemented this as a MagicBand+ interactive game and let the pins be a “free” memento of the 70th Celebration.
Universal’s Epic Universe Begins Media Previews
May 22 is getting closer every week! (Yes, we realize that is a tautology.) Epic Universe has already been holding previews for Team Members and their families. No pictures and video were allowed in those previews, but this weekend is the “unofficial” media preview, where invitees are allowed to take some pictures. It’s unofficial because it’s not the big press event that will happen shortly before opening, and media guests aren’t guaranteed that everything will be up and running. We didn’t get an invite, but it’s hard not to feel the excitement in the windup to opening day. If you’re excited too, take a look around on social media because there should be plenty from this weekend.
Headline News Recap
Last we Disney World released a raft of discounts and announcements about limited time offerings coming for its “Cool Kid Summer”. This week, it was Disneyland’s turn to talk about its new-for-summer entertainment lineup. New Summer Fun at Disneyland for 2025
Our long national nightmare is over! For the first time since before the pandemic, Both Disney Water Parks Will Be Open in Summer 2025
More pre-pandemic offerings are coming back! Well, kinda. It’s not Resort Airline Check-in, because you’ll need to handle the check-in yourself online. But you can once again say “See ya real soon” to your bags before you head to the airport, and collect them at your home airport’s baggage carousel. A Popular Luggage Service is Returning to Disney World
Disneyland has added to its roster of 70th Anniversary dining offerings, with announcements about two new dessert parties for events in Disney California Adventure park. Booking begins April 10 for both, and we updated our post. New Dining Experiences for Disneyland’s 70th Anniversary – UPDATED
That’s it for this week’s Travel Beat. What news are you most excited about? Let us know in the comments!
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