Change is coming to Walt Disney World!
Last Saturday, Walt Disney World fans got a slew of announcements at Destination D23 about the future of the parks. The news was greeted with excitement by theme park fans, and we were no different. Of course, some of the announcements resonated more than others with us. Some of the news got us really excited. Some were met with shrugs in the Buster and the Banshee household.
In this article we share our feelings about the different news items. We categorized them into four categories:
- Meh
- Mildly Interested
- Somewhat Excited
- Very Excited
Read on for our ratings!
Meh
Journey of Water Opening Date
Disney announced that the upcoming Journey of Water walk through experience at Epcot is officially opening to the general public on October 16th. While I am definitely interested in this attraction – it looks like a beautiful addition to the park – this news really isn’t that shocking. Journey of Water already was going through cast member previews, which is the first step in opening it up to the general public. Therefore, its opening was imminent. Getting an official date really didn’t move the needle for me.
Hatbox Ghost Debut Date
The Hatbox Ghost is a storied character in the Haunted Mansion universe. This animatronic character was part of the original Haunted Mansion at Disneyland. The effect of watching the characters head disappear from his head and reappear in a hat box is quite cool. Unfortunately, this character never made its way to the Walt Disney World edition of the ride, but that is about to change. We now know he is coming in November.
Unfortunately like Journey of Water, this really isn’t news. The introduction of the Hatbox Ghost was announced earlier in the year, so the only new information was a date. And it’s not even a date…. it’s a month!
What makes this even more meh is that everyone anticipated it coming when the recent Haunted Mansion opened, or at least in August in time for the start of Halloween season at Magic Kingdom. Disney completely missed the boat by not synchronizing his appearance with one of these events.
A New Country Bear Jamboree Show
Disney announced that the classic Country Bear Jamboree show at Magic Kingdom is being updated in 2024. The announcement states that they will be reimagining classic Disney songs in a country music style.
I get that this show has a lot of fans. Its blend of animatronic animals and catchy tunes makes it a Disney classic. However, it has honestly never been my favorite. I prefer the Tiki Room when it comes to the “animatronic animal singing” genre. And, while I appreciate the fact that they are trying to update and modernize the show, even the new description doesn’t really do it for me. I’m sure it will continue to be beloved by fans, but this attraction just doesn’t do it for me.
Asha Meet and Greet Coming to Epcot
I have no clue who Asha was. It turns out that she is the main character of the upcoming Disney movie, Wish. It’s hard for me to get excited about a character I have never heard of from a movie I have never heard of. Enough said!
Mildly Interested
Figment Meet and Great Coming to Epcot
This is another one that had been previously announced, but now we are getting an exact date: September 10th (which happened to be the next day after the announcement).
I am mildly interested in this, as Figment has grown in popularity despite the fact that he appears in only one, less-than-popular ride. He has no movie, TV show, or major franchise tie-in. Yet people can’t seem to get enough of him! There definitely is enough pent up demand for more Figment, so adding a meet and greet feels like it could be a trial balloon for even more Figment somewhere down the road. For that reason, I elevated this into the “mildly interested” category.
Debut of World Celebration at Epcot
Disney announced that the World Celebration section of Epcot finally will be opening in December 2023. This is another one that is in the “previously announced” category. However, I must admit that I had to use google to remind myself what this is exactly. I knew that it was a re-imagining of the front-central area of Epcot (where the fountain used to be), but otherwise my memory was fuzzy. It turns out that World Celebration includes the previously opened Creations Shop, the previously opened Connections Cafe, the existing Spaceship Earth and Imagination Pavilions, and a new area called Dreamer’s Point. The latter will include a statue honoring the “original dreamer”, Walt Disney.
Anyway, I assume that, in practice, this means that the construction walls in Epcot are finally coming down, which is a great news in and of itself, which is why I am mildly interested in this news. I considered putting this in the “somewhat excited” category, but it is hard to justify that for the removal of walls and a new statue.
New Nighttime Show Debuts at Epcot
Previously, Disney had announced that they were replacing Harmonious with something new at Epcot later this year. However, Disney dropped two new bits of knowledge on us. First, we now know that the name of the new show will be called “Luminous, the Symphony of Us”. I love the name. It is a mashup of the names of previous shows “Illuminations” (which I think was the best Disney nighttime show of all time) and “Harmonius”. Cool nods to the past.
Second, we also learned that the new show will debut December 5th!
There weren’t many more details, other than that it will include fireworks, lasers, fountains, lighting effects, and music. However, that isn’t much of a reveal given that this is standard for any Epcot show. Given how little additional detail that we got, I kept this in the mildly interested category. Perhaps once we learn more, I’ll get even more excited.
A New Ahsoka Scene in Star Tours
Anytime Star Wars introduces a major extension to the franchise, Star Tours at Hollywood Studios gets an update to include ships and locations from the newly debuted media. Given the emerging popularity of the Disney+ show Ahsoka (and it is quite good, I must admit), it is no surprise that it will be featured in a Star Tours update.
These updates are usually limited to some space battle scene, so while it is cool to get new content added to this ride, it isn’t something that I can get overly excited about. We’ve seen similar additions before, so I pretty much know what to expect.
Somewhat Excited
Zootopia Replacing It’s Tough to be a Bug
It’s Tough to be a Bug is one of those attractions that we rarely experience. Located in the Tree of Life theater at Animal Kingdom, it has many flaws. First, the attraction itself is based upon a movie, A Bug’s Life, which came out in 1998. I imagine at this point that nobody under the age of 30 remembers it. Second, it features bugs. While the message of the show is cool – bugs are an important part of our ecosystem – there are elements which are downright scary to younger audience members, as well as older guests who just don’t like bugs. All this conspires to make this ride one of the least popular at Animal Kingdom.
On the one hand, this will be something new and not just a re-skin. I love new things! On the other hand, Zootopia isn’t a favorite of mine. “Somewhat excited” seems like a fair ranking.
Soarin’ Over California Returns for a Limited Time
Soarin’ is one of our family’s favorite rides. You really feel like you are on location, hang gliding over some of the wonders of the world! I am super excited to hear that they are giving guests the opportunity to experience the original California version for a limited time. Variety is the spice of life! In fact, I would love it if they kept both persons permanently, given guests the option to experience one or the other. Both versions are exceptional.
The only reason why I was only somewhat excited is that I don’t think it will be there by the time we visit again!
Disney Teases an Expansion Beyond Frontierland
This announcement was exciting, but vague. Basically, Disney announced that they were planning a big expansion of Magic Kingdom beyond the area behind Big Thunder Mountain. They said that this would be the biggest expansion of the park, adding rides, dining, shows, and more. While they said the scale would be comparable to Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge and Pandora, no specific IP was mentioned.
I am excited to see that Disney is planning to further expand the parks. However, it’s hard to get very excited about something with so few details.
Test Track to Get an Update
This was another vague announcement. Disney said that they were working with Chevrolet (the ride sponsor) to re-imagine the ride. Interestingly, they said that they were planning to take inspiration from the old World of Motion ride, whatever that means.
While change is good, again it is hard to get very excited when so few details were provided.
Very Excited
Pirate Themed Lounge Coming to Magic Kingdom
Lounges seem to be super popular at Walt Disney World. Trader Sam’s, Nomad Lounge, La Cava de Tequila, Baseline Tap House. It was only a matter of time before the lounge experience came to Magic Kingdom.
Tying it into Pirates of the Caribbean is really smart. Honestly, I can’t think of a better theme for a lounge. There is so much fertile ground to harvest for ideas, that it would be hard to screw this up. Also, given that it is in the Magic Kingdom, you know that they will make it kid friendly as well, which is another reason why Pirates is the perfect theme.
Yes, there aren’t a lot of details yet, so you might think I am a hypocrite for saying that I am “very excited”. However, the concept itself is so perfect that I can’t help myself!
Tropical Americas Replacing Dinoland at Animal Kingdom
This was the announcement I was most excited about. In a previous post, I had suggested that they replace Dinoland with an Australia themed land. This would be consistent with the other “continent-based” lands of Africa and Asia. While Disney didn’t go with Australia specifically, they did go for a regionally-themed land. While “Tropical Americas” isn’t technically a continent, it follows the spirit of the idea.
They also announced that this new land would contain an Encanto attraction (which makes sense given that it takes place in Colombia) and an Indiana Jones attraction (which also makes sense since the opening scene of the original movie is in South America). I like how the land isn’t straight IP based, like the Zootopia idea that had been floated previously. The land is still based around a biome, with IP from that region incorporated organically, similar to what they have done elsewhere at Animal Kingdom. I am super excited to see how this turns out!
That wraps up our coverage of the Walt Disney announcements at D23. Feel free to leave a comment and tell us which announcements you are excited about. Do you agree with our ranking? Or is there something else that thrills you? Let us know!
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