The newly re-imagineered Disney Magic was schedule to set sail out of Miami on October 20, 2013 after a lengthy dry dock in Spain followed by a transatlantic cruise. The “inaugural” cruise has been cancelled, do to the fact that Disney was not able to finish all of the work in time. At this point, only this first cruise has been cancelled, all other cruises are still scheduled to sail.

Disney Cruise Line has been sending out the following email to Disney Cruise guests and travel agents.

We appreciate you selecting a Disney Cruise Line vacation for your clients and have important information to share about their sailing.

As you may know, the Disney Magic has just undergone the most significant transformation in the history of Disney Cruise Line. Unfortunately, during the course of dry dock renovations and the Trans-Atlantic crossing, we encountered challenging weather conditions that made the necessary work impossible to complete in time for the first cruise. As a result, we’ve made the difficult decision to cancel the October 20, 2013, 5-night sailing from Miami, Florida.

We are truly sorry for disappointing your clients and their traveling party with this news. Therefore, in addition to a full refund of their voyage fare, your clients will also receive a complimentary sailing up to 5-nights in length on the Disney Magic when sailing from Miami or Port Canaveral, Florida, before May 16, 2014. This complimentary sailing is subject to availability, offered in the same category stateroom with the same party mix originally booked aboard the Disney Magic and is non-transferable. Guests who are unable to take advantage of this complimentary cruise offer are invited to sail at a 35% future cruise discount on any Caribbean or Bahamian sailing of up to 7-nights in length, taken by October 31, 2015, excluding holiday and select peak sail dates.

Guests on this sailing with independent flight arrangements are welcome to submit any flight change fees via e-mail to DCL.Guest.Communications@disneycruise.com for consideration. 

If you happen to be booked on this cruise, please contact your travel agent or Disney Cruise line ASAP.

Several weeks ago, Adventures by Disney, the upscale Disney tour division, announced a new destination for 2014, Norway! The new Adventures by Disney® Norway itinerary allows you to experience all the beauty and majesty of this scenic country as they discover storybook villages and spectacular landscapes.

You will explore stunning waterfalls, gleaming glaciers and embark on an aquatic odyssey down the fjords. You will learn the country’s cultural heritage from local storytellers, fisherman and farmers along the way. And, they’ll stroll the streets of Bergen, the real-life inspiration for the storybook village in the soon-to-be released Walt Disney Pictures animated film, Frozen. Adventures by Disney announced a similar new Adventure to Scotland to coincide with the opening of Pixar’s Brave in 2012. That Adventure was sold out almost immediately, and still remains very popular.

Trip Highlights

• Discover Bergen - Begin your adventure with a visit to this storybook village which served as the inspiration for Arendelle, the kingdom and home to Anna and her sister Elsa.
• Fjord Safari - Embark on an aquatic odyssey—via RIB boat—into the nooks and crannies of the fjord. Along the way, discover pristine villages where you’ll experience Norwegian culture and enjoy the tales of local storytellers.
• Historic Stave Churches - Get a close-up look at these wooden masterpieces that remain an important part of Norway’s heritage as well as serving as the inspiration for much of the film’s architecture.
• Rainbow Trout Fishing - Spend some relaxing time on Lake Loen either fishing for rainbow trout or rowing across the calm waters for a morning amongst some of the most gorgeous panoramas in the world.
• Norwegian Folk Dancing - Take part in the rich history of one of the region’s most beloved past times—folk dancing—during a fun-filled farewell dinner in Oslo.

The Norway Adventure will be 7 nights/8 days, and will start and end in Bergen and end in Oslo. Currently, these are the 2014 scheduled dates:

As part of the upcoming expansion to Disney’s Animal Kingdom theme park, Walt Disney World has decided to address one of the major flaws with the Animal themed theme park, nigh time hours. Currently, Animal Kingdom closes early most nights of the year, as early as 5 or 6 PM during winter hours once it starts to get dark. Even during the busy Summer  season, the park is always the first to close each day. With the coming addition of the Avatar themed land, which will rely on glowing plants and darkness to give it the Avatar feel, Disney realized they will need to start keeping the park open later at night, even though many of the animal based attractions that are the majority of the park’s “rides”, really don’t work well in the dark.

Several new nigh time only events and attractions will be added to the park in the coming years:

• On Discover River, there will be a nigh time show featuring live music, floating lanterns, water screens, and swirling animal images, only viewable along the banks of Discover River. Think a smaller but extended version of World of Color from Disney California Adventure, animal themed.
• A night time overlay of Discover Island, complete with live performers, as seen in the concept image above.
• A night time version of Kilimanjaro Safaris. While no details have been given about the changes to this ride, we fully expect Disney to take advantage of the years of experience they have had at Animal Kingdom Lodge night time tours using night vision goggles.

With the extended hours at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, some of the rides and attractions will not be available once dark, but expect a few other changes along the way to some of the rides to make them more night time friendly.

The Disney Cruise Line has launched a special on-board only smart phone app for the Disney Fantasy cruise ship. If you travel on the Fantasy in October, you should soon be getting an email notifying you about the app, and where to download it.

To use Disney Fantasy Navigator, download the app, and once on board, connect to the ship’s WiFi network—complimentary to app users only—and enjoy your cruise in an exciting new way.

With the official cruise app Disney Fantasy Navigator, you’ll know everything that’s happening on the ship across your entire cruise. Explore the Disney Fantasy from bow to stern. Learn about the ports you’ll be visiting and check the weather for the day. With Disney Fantasy Navigator you can carry the entire cruise schedule with you and never miss a thing.

Disney Fantasy Navigator is only the first leg of our journey with the new Disney Cruise Line on board app. Soon the app will be available for Disney Dream, Disney Magic and Disney Wonder and we will be adding new features along the way.

PREPARE FOR YOUR CRUISE DAY

• Know what’s happening every day, from shows to shopping
• Review your ports of call and at-sea days
• Get daily special spa and shopping offers and never miss a deal

GET THE INFO YOU NEED TO HELP YOU PLAN

• View all on board activities across your entire voyage
• Know what’s happening next and where to go
• Read details about activities you’re interested in
• Find Disney Characters on board
• Save favorite activities in one convenient list

NAVIGATE THE SHIP

• Explore your ship deck by deck, from bow to stern
• Find locations of the activities you want to do

The Disney Fantasy Navigator app is available to download now – iPhone and Android