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Florida residents have one more reason to not only play, but stay, at Walt Disney World Resort this fall: Savings up to 35 percent on stays at select hotels. Florida residents can now reserve discount overnight accommodations at select resorts for stays most nights starting on September 27. That’s just in time for the 18th Annual Epcot International Food & Wine Festival presented by Chase and Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party held in Magic Kingdom theme park. And because you can book for stays up until December 24, Florida residents will also enjoy extra savings for holiday events including Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party at Magic Kingdom, Candlelight Processional at Epcot and The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Some block-out dates and other restrictions apply. For complete details, guests can visit https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/special-offers/florida-resident-fall-room/.

Fantastic flavors from some of Downtown Disney’s signature restaurants will take center stage this fall and feature some of the restaurants’ most popular dishes during “Downtown Disney Foodtopia,” Oct. 1-Oct. 31. Seven restaurants are rolling out three-course dinners for $30, with a $60 option at Fulton’s Crab House (tax and gratuity extra). The seven restaurants include Bongo’s Cuban Café, House of Blues, Paradiso 37, Planet Hollywood, Portobello, Splitsville Luxury Lanes and Wolfgang Puck Café. Each of the flavorful menu options include three full courses and a non-alcoholic beverage. For instance, at Wolfgang Puck Café, guests can start with garlic and white bean hummus, a Caesar salad or butternut squash soup. Entrees include pesto chicken, crispy pork loin or spaghetti Bolognese. Desserts are key lime pie, carrot cake or a brownie sundae. Paradiso 37 is offering blackened mahi sliders, a hearty beef burrito or chicken enchiladas paired with a starter and dessert, ...

Celebrate Pirate's Week at the Magic Kingdom with Limited Time Magic from September 23 to September 29, 2013. Guests can expect a special pirate pre-parade for the afternoon parade, appearances by Pirate Goofy and Jake with The Rusty Cutlass pirate band. There will also be all-new pirate makeovers at the Pirates League.  Here are the full details: Ahoy! Make way to Magic Kingdom park for a full week of Limited Time Magic inspired by "Talk Like a Pirate Day." Be ye regaled in Adventureland by The Rusty Cutlass pirate band as Pirate Goofy and Jake from Jake and the Never Land Pirates make appearances. Then, dig up a great treasure when a special pirate pre-show leads the "Celebrate a Dream Come True" parade. Sign up for The Pirates League early and ye may even be invited by Pirate Masters to join the rousing processional on a march down Main Street, U.S.A., alongside 19 other lucky recruits and popular Disney pirates! Plus, there are all-new pirate ...

Copyright 2013 Walt Disney Company The fantasy world of Disney royalty becomes reality in the all-new Princess Fairytale Hall, where Magic Kingdom guests get to live out their dream of meeting a real Disney princess. Now open to guests Sept. 18, the enchanting new home to Cinderella, Rapunzel and the princesses who visit them is fit for royalty with lush purple and gold trimmings, stone walls and ornate chandeliers. Past the intricate tiara that graces the attraction’s entryway, guests will feel the anticipation of being in the presence of Disney nobility and becoming immersed in their world. With its brightly colored tournament tent facade, Princess Fairytale Hall is located in the Castle Courtyard in the center of Fantasyland and is the latest opening in New Fantasyland, a multiyear project that more than doubles the size of Fantasyland and continues the largest expansion in Magic Kingdom history. As loyal subjects to the princesses, guests can choose between t...

Since 1996, the Disney Sports Spirit Award has been presented annually to college football’s most inspirational student-athlete, team or figure. The award will be presented for the 18th consecutive year Thursday, Dec. 12 during the ESPN live telecast of The Home Depot College Football Awards at Walt Disney World Resort in suburban Orlando, Fla. While it is impossible to recognize all of the uplifting stories in collegiate athletics today, Disney Sports created the Disney Sports Spirit Award with the hopes of honoring college football’s most inspirational student-athlete, team or figure who has overcome extraordinary physical or emotional hardships or other challenges, while exhibiting a selfless nature and good sportsmanship. Last year, Nate Boyer became the 17th recipient of the award. Boyer, University of Texas long snapper, was honored after earning a Bronze Star for his service with the U.S. Army Special Forces Unit and providing assistance to autistic children and Dar...

Copyright 2013 Walt Disney Company The fantasy world of Disney royalty becomes reality in the all-new Princess Fairytale Hall, where Magic Kingdom guests get to live out their dream of meeting a real Disney princess. Opening to guests Sept. 18, the enchanting new home to Cinderella, Rapunzel and the princesses who visit them is fit for royalty with lush purple and gold trimmings, stone walls and ornate chandeliers. Past the intricate tiara that graces the attraction’s entryway, guests will feel the anticipation of being in the presence of Disney nobility and becoming immersed in their world. With its brightly colored tournament tent facade, Princess Fairytale Hall is located in the Castle Courtyard in the center of Fantasyland and is the latest opening in New Fantasyland, a multiyear project that more than doubles the size of Fantasyland and continues the largest expansion in Magic Kingdom history. As loyal subjects to the princesses, guests can choose between two queues...

La Nouba™ by Cirque du Soleil® wll be dark from Sunday, September 15 through Monday, September 23, 2013. The next scheduled performances are Tuesday, September 24, 2013.

More cool news from the Disney Parks Blog: The festive Halloween season has returned to Disney Parks. A few weeks ago, I shared a look at some new and returning Halloween merchandise. Since that article was published, a few additional items have arrived in locations. One item that caught my eye was a new sound activated, light-up shirt I found at the World of Disney in Downtown Disney Marketplace. The pumpkin graphic was from the Halloween style guide, which is a catalog of images that developers and artists can use on merchandise or packaging. The coolest part about this pumpkin graphic is the fact that it reacts to sound. I spoke with softlines developer John Smith about this unique shirt. “This new Halloween pumpkin is the first in our new light-up shirt designs,” explained John. “As a softlines developer, I like experimenting with new applications or designs for our shirts. We’ve been working on incorporating this technology for a while now. Halloween felt like the rig...

Copyright 2013 Walt Disney Company The much anticipated Unleash the Villains! is taking place this Friday the 13th at Disney's Hollywood Studios as part of Limited Time Magic.  This schedule of events will help you plan your villainous evening: Park Hours : 9am to 1am Villainy in the Sky Fireworks : 11pm Meet the Villains meet and greet around Echo Lake : 8:30pm to 10:30pm and 11:30pm to 12:30am Dance Party at the Sorcerers Hat : 8pm to 1am Fantasmic! : 8:30pm and 10pm Merchandise : Limited Edition Villains t-shirts at Villains in Vogue on Sunset Blvd Attraction Closures : Due to the fireworks fallout area, The Great Movie Ride, The Legend of Captain Jack Sparrow, Toy Story Mania and One Man's Dream will all be closed from 9:30pm to 11:30pm. To celebrate the momentous evening, notorious Disney villains like Maleficent, Captain Hook and Hades will host a wicked dance party, plus much more spooky fun. The hub of the villains’ festivities will be staged “d...

Copyright 2013 Walt Disney World Resort With sweeping views of Walt Disney World Resort from the 15th floor of Disney’s Contemporary Resort, California Grill opens its doors on September 9 following a major makeover that redefines Disney’s culinary scene. The spacious dining room is transformed with a modern style that captures the spirit of California throughout the design scheme. Cuisine, too, has been reimagined with seasonal ingredients and a lighter touch, such as baked local prawns with charred lemon and wild Columbia River salmon with Zellwood sweet corn pudding. And the sushi bar expands with a multi-course omakase menu featuring pristine seafood. “Food and beverage offerings at Walt Disney Parks & Resorts have evolved considerably over the years and play an integral role in the memories guests make with us,” says Maribeth Bisienere, vice president of Food & Beverage and Merchandise for Walt Disney Parks & Resorts. “More than ever we are applyin...

Copyright Walt Disney Company Halloween’s happiest haunts will reappear for 23 “spook-tacular” nights of Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party at Magic Kingdom. From Sept. 10 through Nov. 1, the after-hours special ticket event will immerse guests in the Halloween spirit. The bewitching “Happy HalloWishes” fireworks spectacular will illuminate the sky in bursts of orange and green fireworks.  In “Mickey’s Boo-to-You Halloween Parade” the Headless Horseman parades a gang of ghostly characters down Main Street, U.S.A. for a haunted, but happy, Halloween season. New features this year include the debut of Jack Skellington and Sally (from Tim Burton’s “The Nightmare Before Christmas”), along with “Monsters, Inc.” scarers Mike and Sulley hosting their own Monstrous Scream-O-Ween Ball. The night of ever so slightly frightful fun begins at 7 p.m. and runs until midnight, with guests encouraged to don their favorite Halloween costumes and partake in trick-or-treating aro...

Guests of the Walt Disney World Resort will light the night thanks to new Glow with the Show Ear hats that will magically change colors in sync with fireworks, shows and each other at Magic Kingdom and Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Fun interactive versions of the famous Mickey Ear hats will debut on Oct. 15 during the 15th anniversary of Fantasmic!, the nighttime spectacular at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. These magical Ear hats glow in myriad colors, commanded with the latest technology to complement the imagery and beat of the fireworks and spectaculars. When not activated by these experiences, more surprises are in store for participants as the magical ears glow with other ears and settings around the Vacation Kingdom. “Technology allows the Ear hats to dance and play along with each musical and illuminated sequence.  They truly bring the show’s environment out of the lagoon and the sky, and into the audience in an amazing and dazzling new way, making our guests tr...

Copyright 2013 run Disney In the land of sequels, the Disneyland Half Marathon crowned Jimmy Grabow as its champion for the second straight year on Sunday, September 1, 2013. Grabow, from the aptly named town of Runner Springs, Calif., crossed the finish line in 1:07:41, slightly off his record-setting pace of 1:05:29 in 2012. Ricardo Ramirez finished second with a time of 1:14:30.  The female champion, Stephanie Dinius captured the women’s title with a time of 1:15:47. Last year’s female champion, Cindy Lynch, finished as runner-up with a time of 1:25:29.  The half marathon field of 17,500 registered runners passed through Disneyland, Disney California Adventure, Angel Stadium and the streets of Anaheim. Along the route, runners were greeted by cheering fans, Disney characters, music and live entertainment.  Celebrities Alison Sweeney (“The Biggest Loser”), Sean Astin (The Goonies, Rudy, Lord of the Rings), Joey Fatone (*NSYNC) and Ali Vincent (“Live Big...