TouringPlans Travel Beat 2-16-2025

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!

• Disney Worried About Pricing Out Their U.S. Parks Market
• Epic Universe Menus Released
• Minnie Flies to the Rescue on Destiny’s Bow
• New Manatees Out on Show at EPCOT’s Seas Pavilion
• New Details for Flower & Garden Festival
• Disney is Sued Over DAS Changes
• Menu Details for Disneyland’s Food & Wine Festival
• MCO Makes the Top 10 for Airport Dining
• Surprise Villains Appearance at Hollywood Studios
• Royal Caribbean Adds California Sailings in 2026
• Headline News Recap

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

Disney Worried About Pricing Out Their U.S. Parks Market

The Wall Street Journal released an article this week: “Even Disney Is Worried About the High Cost of a Disney Vacation“. It focused on internal concerns about whether Disney is reaching – or has surpassed – the limits of what its target markets can afford. The article is paywalled, but our own Len Testa contributed a good bit of the cost analysis; you can read his research here on the blog. How Much Disney Can America’s Middle Class Afford in 2025? By the way, Disney’s response? A post the next day highlighting all the offers currently available at Disney World and Disneyland … which of course, are in place because bookings are soft. Weak sauce, Disney, weak sauce.

Epic Universe Menus Released

Epic Universe gets closer and closer every day. Menus are out for some of the new park’s highly anticipated eateries. Look for a complete rundown from Joe on Tuesday, but in the meantime please enjoy this picture of the Blood Orange Chicken Sandwich that will be coming to Das Stakehouse.

Minnie Flies to the Rescue on Destiny’s Bow

With the Treasure entering operation in December of last year, ship-watch eyes are now turning to the next Disney Cruise Line ship on the way. The final keel blocks of the Destiny were laid last month, completing the exterior structure. That paves the way for activities like painting, and Disney released a picture of the Destiny’s bow, where hero Minnie in her cape flies to save the day. There’s still quite a bit of work ahead before the Destiny makes her inaugural voyage around Thanksgiving of 2025, and I’m sure Disney will keep us updated.

New Manatees Out on Show at EPCOT’s Seas Pavilion

The Seas Pavilion at EPCOT is hosting a couple of new guests. The manatees Cider and Mino went out on show this week, and our parks team dropped by to grab some pictures for you. If you’re in the parks and want to see them yourself, make sure to check The Seas operating hours; outside of peak weeks it has been closing at 7 pm.

New Details for Flower & Garden Festival

It’s less than a month to EPCOT’s Flower & Garden Festival, which begins on March 5. No menus yet (that’s what we all want to see, right?), but Disney published a few notes on things to look for at this year’s Festival.

The nautically-themed Playalong Bay Play Garden will take the space between Imagination pavilion and the entrance to the World Showcase. On either side, look for two new Outdoor Kitchens: Yacht Grub and Beach Grub. (Editors note: can’t wait for the Animal Kingdom Lodge and Polynesian to host booths at Food & Wine.)

More kitchen news: Farmer’s Feast and Florida Fresh will be moving over to CommuniCore Hall. They’ll flank a new gallery that highlights Disneey’s Horticulture team and all the work that it does to create the gardens, topiaries, and everything else for the Festival.

Speaking of those gardens and topiaries, look for an all-new garden themed around the emotions from Inside Out 2. And this year’s new main entrance topiary will feature Maui, Moana, Heihei, and Pua!

Disney is Sued Over DAS Changes

If you’ve been following along for a while, you may remember that Disney made changes to its Disability Access Service (DAS) almost a year ago. At the same time, other accessibility programs were put in place or adjusted to accommodate guests who had formerly used DAS. A class action suit filed in California on Monday alleges that Disney is unfairly discriminating against guests with physical disabilities in the DAS approval process, and therefore failing to provide appropriate accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Our take: there is no needle so fine as to perfectly thread a dividing line between those who would most benefit from DAS and those who “don’t really need it”. No approval system is perfect. However, a previous overhaul of Disney’s accessibility accommodations, which saw the inception of DAS, was the subject of legal challenges as well. In one of those suits, Disney’s industrial engineering team showed that in April 2013 a little over 3% of guests were issued a GAC pass, but guests using GAC access were consuming

• 11% of the ride capacity of Space Mountain
• 13% of the ride capacity of Splash Mountain
• 30% of the ride capacity of Toy Story Mania

That imbalance was the basis of a ruling that, among other findings, “even if the requested modification were necessary and reasonable” Disney was not required to provide it under the ADA because “it would fundamentally alter Disney’s services to its other visitors, e.g., by increasing wait times for most other guests without DAS, which in turn would dramatically reduce guest satisfaction levels”.

Based on our in-park experience, we would be shocked if Disney doesn’t have similar results to present about the effects of pre-overhaul DAS on the average guest experience.  Given that, it’s likely the outcome of this case will be similar.

Menu Details for Disneyland’s Food & Wine Festival

Beginning on February 28, the Disney California Food & Wine Festival blows into town, bringing tasting kiosks throughout the park, as well as limited-time menu entries at eateries throughout DCA, the Downtown Disney District, and the Pixar Place Hotel. The Festival also features a few bookable experiences:

• The Cocktails at Sonoma Terrace series of beer, cider, and wine tastings
• Carthay Circle Receptions with special tastings and pairings
• Walk on the Silverado Trail at the Grand Californian specialty wine and cuisine pairings
• Dinner and Scotch Event at the Grand Californian with tray-passed hors d’oeuvres, live music, and exceptional scotches paired with an intimate, four-course dinner experience.

There may be walk-up availability, but you can reserve in advance for a guaranteed spot.

Those sampling from the food booths may want to pick up a Sip & Savor Pass; it’s a fixed price for either 8 or 4 entitlements that can be redeemed for select Festival dishes. What price? Well, we don’t know that yet; at this writing the link in Disney’s announcement still points to the Lunar New Year version that’s $48 for 6 entitlements, with a discount for Magic Key holders. Since Lunar New Year ends today (February 16), we expect the prices for Food & Wine will be available tomorrow. For more details on the menus and Festival, which runs through April 21, 2025, check out Disney’s article.

MCO Makes the Top 10 for Airport Dining

A recent study reported in TimeOut ranked dining options at U.S. airports, looking to see who was tops. The study used Google Maps and airport websites to rank locations based on criteria such as the number of food establishments per million passengers, unique food brands, average ratings, and price points. Travelers to Disney and Universal Orlando can rejoice! Although Orlando International is notably weak when it comes to check-in and wait times at TSA checkpoints, it came out third on the airport dining list. Who took home the number one spot? Well, that would be Las Vegas. And Disneyland visitors, we’re sorry, but LAX did not make the list.

Surprise Villains Appearance at Hollywood Studios

Visitors to Hollywood Studios were in for a surprise treat on Thursday. On the day before Valentine’s Day, it was Villaintine’s Day at the park. Villains staged a series of Meet & Greets in the park in celebration of the upcoming Villains show scheduled to open this summer.

Royal Caribbean Adds California Sailings in 2026

Royal Caribbean released new itineraries this week, and West Coast RCL fans will be happy to see an increase in sailings to West Coast ports. Serenade of the Seas will have a summer season in Alaska before heading to a brand new port for Royal Caribbean: San Diego. She’ll head out on 3-, 4-, and 7-night Mexican Riviera cruises from October 2026 to April 2027.

Just up the coast, four Royal Caribbean ships will sail from Los Angeles in fall 2026 to early 2027. Ovation of the Seas will run 3-, 4-, and 7- night options, with shorter cruises visiting Catalina and Ensenada while longer sailings overnight in Cabo San Lucas. Quantum of the Seas will run similar routes, with mostly the shorter 3- and 4-night voyages and only a few longer sailings. Navigator of the Seas will head to Cabo, Mazatlan, and Puerto Vallarta on 7-night trips. And finally, Voyager of the Seas will offer a wide variety of 6 to 8-night itineraries to the Mexican Riviera.

Headline News Recap

We have some exciting site news this week! First, we’re talking about what we’ve been doing lately: New Touring Plan Improvements and Features in 2025. And then, it’s time to let you know that we recently dropped a big update to our Lines App for UOR. Introducing Lines 2.0 for Universal Orlando!

A couple of big news items from the West Coast this week. Season of the Force starts in early March, and details are flowing. New Disneyland Star Wars Projection Show & More Announced for Season of the Force

A bit later, in July, it will be the 70th Anniversary of Disneyland’s opening. The official Anniversrary celebration starts in May, but there are a couple of things debuting to mark the official date. Disneyland’s Main Street U.S.A. Debuts New Experiences in July 2025

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