Walt Disney World Resort

Even more magic is in store for Walt Disney World Resort guests in 2013. From the excitement of New Fantasyland to new tres francais additions to Epcot dining, from being grandly pampered at a new Grand Floridian spa to weekly guest surprises only Disney can do – all this and more welcomes guests in 2013.

New Year’s Eve is one of the biggest fireworks evenings of the year at Walt Disney World Resort, a place where fireworks are both spectacular and an every-night occurrence. Fireworks and nighttime shows will light up the skies and create a mood of celebration at the parks on Dec. 31, 2012, while revelry of other sorts takes place elsewhere throughout the Vacation Kingdom.

The popular Star Wars Weekends event is returning once again to Walt Disney World. The Force takes over Disney Hollywood Studios every Friday, Saturday and Sunday from May 17 – June 9, 2013.

Although not much information has been released as yet, Disney has confirmed that James Arnold Taylor and Ashley Eckstein are returning as celebrity hosts for the annual special event.

Governor Rick Scott and Enterprise Florida presented Walt Disney Parks and Resorts with an award recognizing the company as one of the state’s top job producers. Today there are more than 66,000 Cast Members in Central Florida. Earlier this month, New Fantasyland officially opened at Magic Kingdom Park. Once complete in 2014, that project alone will create 1,500 jobs.

Last week, Mickey Mouse and Walt Disney World VoluntEARS spread some holiday cheer as they delivered nearly 35,000 toys donated by Cast Members and Disney for the annual U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots program.

Disney has supported the annual toy drive for more than 60 years, dating back to when Walt Disney himself helped design the original Toys for Tots logo that is still used today.

A new video released by Disney showcases some newsies behind the scenes footage with Newsies’ Corey Cott (Jack Kelly), Ryan Steele (Specs) and Jess LeProtto (Buttons) as they travel from their homebase at the Nederlander Theatre in New York, NY, to Magic Kingdom Park at Walt Disney World Resort to prepare for the taping of the Disney Parks Christmas Day Parade.

the “Newsies” cast learned an adapted routine to the show’s signature song, “Carrying the Banner,” which they performed on Main Street, U.S.A., inside the park. The video offers a sneak peek at the clip that will play in this year's Disney Parks Christmas Day Parade on December 25th on ABC.

The 15th Annual Don Quijote Awards Gala, hosted by Walt Disney World at Epcot World Showplace Pavilion, welcomed more than 1,000 guests as the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Metro Orlando and the Hispanic Business Initiative Fund of Florida (HBIF) honored individuals who demonstrate extraordinary abilities