Whew! The first month of 2022 FLEW by, didn’t it?

There was a LOT of news in January — from MAJOR Guardians of the Galaxy ride updates to a ton of new information about Disney World’s Star Wars Hotel. But, there was some stuff we downright were NOT expecting. So, let’s take a look at the three most UNEXPECTED things that happened in Disney World in January!

1. CROWDS.

Historically, mid to late January is one of the slowest times of the whole year in Disney World. Even last year, the parks felt notably empty around this time. That has NOT been the case this month though. We seriously were not expecting the CROWDS!

This January we have seen SIGNIFICANT crowds in all four theme parks on weekdays without holidays. That is not typical this time of year so it’s been pretty surprising!

We’re not sure what has drawn more crowds in January of 2022. It could have to do with folks who haven’t traveled due to the global health crisis but it’s not super clear. We’ll be keeping an eye out to see if the crowds lighten up so keep an eye on DFB.

Want to see more of the SURPRISING crowds? Click here!

2. Figment Popcorn Bucket Chaos

The Figment Popcorn Bucket was released as an offering at the EPCOT International Festival of the Arts and we knew it would be popular, but OMG was it a hot ticket item.

The day one wait for the Figment Bucket was estimated at 6.5 HOURS. This continued in the following days until the purple dragon SOLD OUT. And the Figment-craze wasn’t just lining in the park either.

Some took to reselling the bucket online for HIGH prices and he even inspired a “bad artwork sketch” auction with proceeds going to charity and an EPIC cake creation. Look, we love Figment too, but we’re not sure we expected THIS level of devotion to the little dragon.

Want to see more of the Figment Popcorn Bucket? Click here!

3. Entertainment Updates

And we thought unexpected news was done for the month…but in the last week of the month, we got a TON of entertainment news! If you’re a parade and characters fan, you’re going to want to make sure you didn’t miss this happy surprise!

First of all, there’s NEW entertainment coming with the Disney Adventure Friends Cavalcade in Magic Kingdom with almost 30 (!!!) characters! Expect to see familiar faces on February 11th like Nick and Judy from Zootopia, Baloo and King Louie from The Jungle Book, José Carioca and Panchito from The Three Caballeros, Miguel from Coco, and MORE!

AND, on top of that, the Festival of Fantasy parade will be returning to Magic Kingdom on March 9th and the newly-enhanced Mickey’s Magical Friendship Faire show will debut at Cinderella Castle on February 25th!

To see more about the new cavalcade, click here!

Honorable Mention: Muppets Spaceship Earth!

Aaaaaand we couldn’t help but mention a very sweet surprise that came as a part of the EPCOT Festival of the Arts. We were delighted to see that Spaceship Earth got an update to its nighttime lighting for the festival and even MORE surprised to find out who inspired it.

THE MUPPETS. Yes, The Muppets have taken over Spaceship Earth for this festival and it is a DELIGHT.

Click here to see more of this transformation!

And those are the things that surprised us MOST in Disney World in January! As always, make sure you’re keeping an eye on DFB so that you don’t miss out on any unexpected updates!

Want to see more January news? Click here!

Headed to Disney World soon? Tell us in the comments!