Author: waltdisneynews

The 2025 MICHELIN Guide is out, and two Walt Disney World restaurants have made the list – both returning from the 2024 guide. Both restaurants earned a single MICHELIN Star, making them two of just 31 restaurants in the entire state of Florida that earned at least one star, and two of seven restaurants in Orlando to earn the coveted title. Here’s a rundown. Walt Disney World MICHELIN Star Restaurants First on the list is four-time MICHELIN Star restaurant, Capa. Capa is located at the top of the Four Seasons Orlando, offering a reprieve from the hustle and bustle of Walt Disney World, while still keeping Cinderella Castle on the horizon. Capa has earned a single MICHELIN Star, and here’s the description from the MICHELIN Guide. Calling Capa a steakhouse is like saying flamenco is just a dance. This stunning spot, reigning from the 17th floor of the Four Seasons Orlando, is big on drama — and that’s before the unrivaled views of the nightly Disney World fireworks show. From the subtle design nods to the menu, the Spanish influence is clear. Expect a distinctive experience defined by a hickory-grill that smokes and chars steaks and lamb sourced from Kansas City to New Zealand to Japan. One particular standout is the Iberico pluma served with an almond romesco. Tapas range from familiar (pan con tomate) to creative (octopus with pimenton black pepper glaze). For dessert, consider going classic with a spot-on dulce de leche lava cake paired

A newly filed permit from Walt Disney World suggests that the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad refurbishment has been extended. The new permit, filed yesterday, has an expiration date of April 15, 2026. This is more than a month later in the year than the furthest expiration date that we’ve seen while tracking permits. Here’s the latest. Big Thunder Refurbishment Permit Stretches Into April 2026 Previously, we tracked a January 2025 permit that listed an expiration date of March 13, 2026. While expiration dates on permits don’t always align with reopening dates for attractions and experiences, they do give us insight into how long the work could take. The January 2025 permit listed Coastal Steel has the contractor, and “general construction” as the scope of the work. This new permit lists a different contractor. Taking a look at the most recent permit, we see that DPR Construction is the listed contractor, and the scope of the work is “general construction”. It’s not uncommon to find a useless description with these types of permits given the leeway that Disney has been given over the years. What is more interesting is the expiration date of April 15, 2026. What stands out to us about the expiration date is that it was manually entered. All permits have a standard 1-year expiration date, which means that this permit would’ve expired on April 17, 2026 anyway. The fact that an expiration date was manually entered seems to mean that the expiration date

Guests attending the Annual Passholder preview of Universal Epic Universe should be aware that Universal Orlando Resort has adjusted the Virtual Line drop times for the highly-anticipated Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry attraction. Signage throughout the park has removed specific mention of drop times, causing some confusion and misinformation among guests. Some guests think that means that Virtual Line times will drop at random throughout the day. That’s not the case. Here’s what we know. Harry Potter ‘Battle at the Ministry’ Virtual Line Drop Times According to the official Universal Orlando Resort app, return times for the Battle at the Ministry Virtual Line will occur at set times. Today, those set times are 11am, 3pm, and 6pm. Note that those times are subject to change throughout the preview period, and guests are encouraged to check the Universal Orlando Resort app on the day of their visit. Here’s a look at a screenshot of the official Universal Orlando Resort app, with clear information about the Virtual Line drop times for the Battle at the Ministry attraction. Note that a traditional standby queue is not available while Virtual Line is in place.Virtual Line is free and required at this time. Universal could open up the traditional standby queue at any point, but with ride reliability a serious concern for the attraction, we anticipate that Virtual Line will be used for some time to come, both during the remainder of the previews, and

Universal Orlando Resort has hit a new milestone today with the start of guest previews at the brand new Epic Universe theme park. Yesterday marked the end of Team Member previews following nearly two months of Team Member previews. So far, Universal has hosted limited Team Member previews, widespread Team Member previews, and Team Member family previews. Today, the park is turned over to the public with the start of guest previews. Here’s the latest! New Milestone: Guest Previews Begin at Universal Epic Universe Currently, Annual Passholders and Universal Orlando Resort guests are able to preview the all-new Epic Universe theme park. Guests wishing to attend previews are required to pay to enter, and prices are anywhere from $123 to $144+ during this preview period. Currently, the Annual Passholder preview period is set to conclude on May 8th, but rumors are already swirling that the preview period will be extended, possibly until as late as May 19th. From there, the park would be prepared for the grand opening celebration in the days leading up to the public grand opening on May 22nd. Hiccup’s Wing Gliders roller coaster in the ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ land For our comprehensive review of Universal Epic Universe, check out our article below! Universal Epic Universe Review: A Spectacular Achievement with Room For ImprovementUniversal Orlando Resort is getting ready to open its newest theme park, and we have a look around with our Universal Epic Universe review!blogmickey.com