The Disney Parks Blog exploded this morning with news about what’s coming this summer to Disney World. There is so much information that it seemed appropriate for a very special EMERGENCY EDITION of the Rope Drop [dot] Net News Nuggets!
First, we learned that near the end of May (i.e., Memorial Day Weekend), we’ll be getting:
- New Nighttime Entertainment at the Animal Kingdom. – As expected, Rivers of Light is not ready yet, but Disney is going to be showing a temporary Jungle Book show as a place holder. There was a preview of this entertainment last night, so you can see The DIS’ Tree of Light nighttime projection and Rivers of Light preview videos, or Inside the Magic’s Rivers of Light preview video, if you’re interested. Personally, I’m most excited for Kilimanjaro Safari’s “After Dark”, and WDW Magic, and Inside the Magic already have preview videos up.
- Tiffins – Grr. I was hoping this one open 1 weekend in advance so I could go. Maybe they’ll be doing a “soft open” that week.
- Finding Dory Characters at Turtle Talk with Crush – I’m once again surprised at how quickly Disney was able to integrate new characters into the park. This is even before the movie comes out.
- A third track on Toy Story Midway Mania – I know this doesn’t sound exciting, but adding 50% more capacity to one of the most popular attractions at a theme park that needs attractions for people to ride on during construction is important.
A couple weeks later, in June, we’ll be getting:
- Frozen Ever After – Say what you want about Frozen, but this is going to draw people to Epcot in a way that hasn’t happened for months (years?).
- Mickey’s Royal Friendship Faire. – The previous Magic Kingdom stage show had been around for so long that I can’t even really remember watching it. I’m interested to see what they do with this one.
- Soarin’ Around the World – Speaking of things to draw people to Epcot. Going into The Land pavilion the past few months has been eerie. I’m looking forward to Soarin’ re-opening, and I have high hopes that the new video is going to be great.
Disney also announced that new princess Elena of Avalor will debut at the Magic Kingdom in August and posted another rundown of the new Disney Springs elements opening this summer.
Lastly, Disney shared some more details about the upcoming Toy Story Land at The Studios. Personally, I’m less concerned with the attractions coming to this land, and more interested into how intricate the theming is. I really hope I feel like I have been “shrunk[en] to the size of a toy” while I’m there."
Disney also released some concept video of the Slinky Dog Dash coaster, and that seems like an excellent way to end this post:
