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October 1, 2021, marked the 50th Anniversary of the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida. As part of the 50th Anniversary celebration, Disney has added lots of fun new things throughout Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Animal Kingdom, and Hollywood Studios. This means that now more than ever, you are going to want to visit Disney World. So you might want to check out these Disney World ticket coupons. Or find out how you can stay at deluxe hotels for much cheaper rates.
Because we definitely think you are going to want to visit Disney World right now. To further emphasize our point, we made this video of the top ten best new things at Disney World that debuted for the 50th Anniversary.
We’ll tell you more about them here.
10. Disney World 50th Anniversary Merchandise
If you are like me, you love buying Disney World merchandise. So I am sure you will be thrilled to know Disney has all-new merchandise available at the parks themed to its 50th Anniversary! It really is special and something you are going to want to buy.
9. New Anniversary-Themed Food
Do you ever feel like Disney has the same food throughout all of their parks? Well, that’s not the case now, since there is new, anniversary-specific food throughout Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom, and Epcot. They are also available throughout the Disney hotels, too. We talk about all of the new snacks you can eat here.
8. New Gold Statue Decorations
One reason I love the Flower & Garden Festival at Epcot in the spring is because of the topiaries that are decorated like characters. I love seeing character decorations throughout the parks.
So that is why I am excited by their new gold statue decorations. Throughout the parks, you can see some of your favorite Disney characters displayed in these gold statues. For example, you can see Simba & Timon from The Lion King in Animal Kingdom. You can see Coco & Dante from Coco in Epcot (fittingly, near Mexico). Epcot also has Figment, Rocket from Guardians of the Galaxy, and Olaf from Frozen. You can see characters like Goofy, Pluto, Donald Duck, and Daisy Duck in Magic Kingdom. And so on.
7. New Character Cavalcade at Magic Kingdom
Have you seen one of the character cavalcades at Disney World? They are essentially smaller versions of parades. You see just a few characters and a float. The exciting thing about it is that it happens periodically throughout the day rather than just one time during the day. And they have a new character cavalcade just in time for the 50th Anniversary!
6. New KiteTails Show at Animal Kingdom
Disney KiteTails is a brand new show at Animal Kingdom added just in time for the Disney World 50th Anniversary! You can see it in the same place where River of Lights used to be. It features, as the name implies, kites. My favorite kites are the ones with Disney characters, like the ones of King Louie from The Jungle Book and Flounder from The Little Mermaid. There is also some jet skiing action which was my favorite part.
5. New Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure Ride at Epcot
There are a lot of things you want to do when you hit the theme parks at the Walt Disney World Resort. But top on most people’s is the rides, right?
Well, if you were hoping that Disney World was adding a new ride for the 50th Anniversary, then don’t worry. They did! There is a new ride at the France Pavilion of the World Showcase at the Epcot theme park. It is themed to the hit Pixar movie Ratatouille. You can see it here:
And we give a full review of Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure Ride here.
4. New La Creperie de Paris Restaurant at Epcot
Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure Ride isn’t the only new thing at the France Pavilion at Epcot. They also have a brand new restaurant!
La Creperie de Paris Restaurant offers both quick-service and a sit-down dining experience. It serves food inspired by the Brittany region of France. For a full review of the restaurant, click here.
3. New Space 220 Restaurant
La Creperie de Paris is not the only new restaurant to come to Epcot. A new restaurant has also come to Future World. And that restaurant is Space 220! It is a really neat dining experience where you feel like you’ve gone up into space. You can get a feel of the atmosphere of the restaurant from our video here:
And you can read our full review of my family’s experience there here.
2. New Harmonious Fireworks Show at Epcot
Epcot has a brand new fireworks show that debuted on October 1st, the 50th Anniversary of Disney World! My family was there that day to watch it, and we loved it! It has a wonderful blend of projections and fireworks. And I love the inclusion of all the great music from popular Disney movies like Beauty and the Beast, Mulan, Coco, Brave, and The Princess and the Frog. They all make so much sense given some of the different pavilions in the World Showcase: France, China, Mexico, the United Kingdom, and America.
We actually got to watch it with amazing views from the Rose and Crown Dining Room at the UK Pavilion. We booked a Fireworks Dining Package. To read a review of our experience, click here.
1. New Enchanted Fireworks Show at Magic Kingdom
Epcot isn’t the only Disney park getting a new nighttime spectacle. Magic Kingdom also debuted a new fireworks show on October 1st, too! It’s called Enchantment, and it’s wonderful! It is similar to the last fireworks show, Happily Ever After. You still get to watch Tinker Bell fly. You see great fireworks. They play great Disney music. They still have projections on Cinderella’s Castle, but this time the projections even extend to Main Street USA! So this is definitely something you’ll want to check out if you visit Disney World.