Bitesize Orlando November 2024 – Issue 41

Welcome to Bitesize Orlando November 2024. As we race to the end of another year Disney and Universal keep teasing us with what we can look forward to in the near future. Speaking of the near future, it’s been a busy month here behind the scenes so let’s catch you up quick on all the updates before we head into the news for this month.

Last month I told you that I was making a start on the crowd calendars for 2025. That went better than planned and every park now has crowd calendars and notable dates up for the next 13 months until the end of 2025. Head over to my Orlando Theme Parks Crowd Calendars page to view all the crowd calendars broken down park by park. As always, you can download a 12-month overview of each park from the top of each of the pages to help with your 2025 Orlando holiday planning.

A quick reminder to anyone visiting Magic Kingdom at the end of January, Magic Kingdom will be closing at 16:30 on January 30th. This is likely so that Disney can hold its annual Cast Service celebration for cast members who have reached certain milestones in their careers within Disney. EPCOT and Hollywood Studios will be remain open until 9 pm while Animal Kingdom will close at 6 pm on that day.

If you are in Disney World for the new year, Disney has announced a pricey new dining experience to help you ring in the new year and alleviate your bank balance of a lot of hard-earned cash.

“Tiana’s New Year’s Adventure,” will include character interactions, fine dining with a New Orleans inspired buffet, and live musing in the California Grill restaurant in Magic Kingdom which last year hosted “Alice’s Whimsical World of Wonderland.”

For the princely sum of $799 per person you will also get a view of the New Year fireworks bursting over Cinderella Castle. No, I am not missing a ‘.’ in there. This dining experience costs a dollar shy of $800 per person but that $799 does include tips and taxes. How charitable of Disney!

Obviously, with this event celebrating the new year, places are minimal and the event will run on December 31st from 19:30 until 00:30 with check-in from 7pm.

Events such as this are so niche I won’t post up the menu but if you are interested in ringing in the New Year in a special Disney way and have that much cash burning a hole in your pockets you can only book your place by calling the Disney World WDW DINE phone line on 001 407 824-2013.

Disney has released a new image of the incoming Pirates Of The Caribbean Lounge coming to Magic Kingdom in 2025.

The new image also could hint at a design change in the intervening weeks since the project was announced. The original image showed rows of tables in front of the bar area but the new image released earlier this moth focuses on the seating area but now shows rounded individual tables.

The Disney Parks blog describes the new lounge as a place where  “…bandits and buccaneers-to-be from every corner of the seven seas are welcome to join together and raise a toast to the pirate life!”

Disney has announced another slew of hotel refurbishments taking place from early next year. Already announced is the Stormalong Bay pool area in Disney’s Yacht And Beach Club will be closed for the first 4 months of next year. Stormalong Bay is the most popular pool area in Disney World so many people have either opted to move resorts or delay their stay to fit around the refurbishment. To add to woes for visitors to this resort they are also modernising some rooms between January and May which could make refurbishments pretty hard to avoid.

Disney’s Port Orleans Freanch Quarter Resort are in the final stages of refurbishing rooms throughout the resort. Thie is due to be completed in the Spring. Meanwhile the neighbouring Riverside Resort will be refurbishing guest rooms in the Magnolia Bend area from April 2025 until January 2026.

The Contemporary Resort’s Bay Cove pool will also be closed from January through May. This is in addition to the Bay Lake Tower which started a phased modernisation of rooms in September that will last all the way through to next September. Wilderness Lodge will be upgrading Copper Creek villas and cabins from mid-May through to mid-September.

Lastly, Disney’s Pop Century Resort will also be undergoing a room refresh from late March 2025 all the way through until mid-February 2026. This is despite having some of the newest rooms in Disney World’s hotel portfolio.

So what can you expect during this mass refurbishment programme and how is it going to affect your plans? Disney tries to minimise disruption wherever it can so it tries to localise what’s happening by taking a whole building out of the inventory for a set period but this isn’t always the case (Bay Lake Tower, for example, will still be open while refurbishments are ongoing).

In the resort, you may notice some construction noise during daylight hours, typically from 8 am until 5 pm and some areas may be off limits while work is carried out. When booking you may notice a lack of availability for popular dates, especially at peak times such as cheerleading competitions during the first 4 months of the year. This may also affect the prices you have to pay to stay.

At the recent D23 Brasil Convention Disney execs shared the first footage of Imagineers testing the concept of what the new Cars off road attraction experience could look like. Obviously the footage is very early, they are using it as a proof of concept almost but it does show that Imagineers are looking at making the new Cars attraction that will be opening in Magic Kingdom the first use of trackless technology in an off-road experience. It takes existing trackless technology like that seen in Rise Of The Resistance and Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure to completely new immersive heights. Have a look at the tweet below courtesy of Laughing Place who was at the convention.

Footage of a text experience for one of the new Cars experiences coming to Magic Kingdom #D23Brasil pic.twitter.com/Z7Zo0Gb8Pi

— LaughingPlace.com (@laughing_place) November 9, 2024

Disney Parks Chairman Josh D’Amaro also used the D23 Brazil convention to reveal the back story and confirm 13 villains of the soon-to-break-ground villains land at Magic Kingdom (thanks to a slide shown at the convention).

According to him a spell has been cast that summons villians to this new land and the heroes “don’t come save the day. There may not be a happily ever after!” He didn’t elaborate on the who or why of the spell so there’s plenty of scope for more details to emerge in the future.

The villains shown as part of the presentation were:

• Jafar
• Queen Of Hearts
• Lady Tremaine
• Evil Queen
• Captain Hook
• Maleficent
• Gaston
• Hades
• Ursula
• Mother Gothel
• Chernabog
• Yzma
• Cruella

Lightning Lane Premier Pass is Disney’s newest, and most expensive line-skipping service. With Lightning Lane Premier Pass Disney aims to address all the complaints directed at Lightning Lane Single and Multiple Passes, namely having to be on your phones all day in the parks to snag the next available slots and popular attractions running out of reservation slots sometimes frustratingly early in the day.

With Premier Pass there is no reservation window to worry about. You are guaranteed to get one go on each attraction in a park on a given day. Just turn up, scan in and enjoy the attraction. But this ultimate convenience comes at a cost.

Perhaps testing the waters originally, Disney only allowed guests of Deluxe level resorts to book Lightning Lane Premier Passes. Since it was introduced last month the service has only sold out a couple of times. Now with a baseline, and continuing to keep Premier Pass inventory very limited, Disney feels confident enough to roll out the service to all on-site hotel guests and a few select upscale partner hotels.

As a reminder, you may book the service up to 7 days in advance of your check-in date and it can only be done within the My Disney Experience app. Premier Pass is only valid in one park per day (no park hopping). The revised price bandings for each park are below.

• Disney’s Animal Kingdom: $119-$199 plus tax  
• EPCOT: $149-$249 plus tax 
• Disney’s Hollywood Studios: $249-$349 plus tax 
• Magic Kingdom: $329-$449 plus tax

Disney has shared that Destination D23, the popular fan convention for all things Disney will take place at the Coronado Springs Resort between August 29th and 31st. Typically a quiet period, if you plan on visiting Disney World during the convention you should expect that the whole of Disney World will be busier than usual due to the extra influx of visitors at the convention.

As we close out the month Disney dropped not 1 but 2 bombshells to keep us on our toes. The first was the confirmed location of the new Monsters Land coming to Hollywood Studios (more on that below). The other, completely out-of-the-blue announcement is that Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster will be closing permanently in 2025 to be reimagined with a Muppets twist.

This news as a whole isn’t that surprising given the fact that Aerosmith have stopped touring and the attraction has been around a good long while plus Aerosmith’s popularity is not the same as it was when the attraction originally opened in 1999. A duplicate attraction in Disney Studios Disney Adventure Park in Paris closed in 2019 to become Avengers Flight Assemble in 2022 as part of the new Marvel expansion in that park.

What’s most surprising is the announcement drop given that Disney have previously denied they were working on a Muppets retheme on RnRC on multiple occasions in the not too distant past. The attraction has only just reopened from a 7-month refurbishment so we knew it wasn’t going to be closed permanently anytime soon given the money that Disney has thrown at it to extend its operational cycle.

It’s now clear that the re-imagining of the attraction has possibly been worked into previous down cycles so once the Aerosmith version closes for good we could see a quick turn around seeing as the nuts, bolts (and rails) won’t be changing. A lot of the work has likely already been undertaken behind the scenes for a new pre-show and new musical numbers (no doubt with a Muppets twist) to accompany the cars on their way around the track.

One thing Hollywood Studios is in dire need of is capacity. Disney would be wise, and are probably waiting for the new Villains and Little Mermaid shows to open to soak up some of that capacity before closing Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster for its makeover. We could be looking at a summer or autumn 2025 closure timeframe but nothing is confirmed as yet.

In a sad bit of news, Disney has confirmed our worst fears about the location of the new Monsters Inc expansion in Hollywood Studios. Muppets Courtyard will be closing permanently in 2025 to make way for the new Monsters Inc area and marquee suspended roller coaster.

MuppetVision 3D was the last project that Jim Henson personally worked on before his untimely death so it’s a very special attraction for many people. Disney has confirmed that they are looking at ways of preserving the digitised film of the attraction that has been playing in the theatre for over the last decade so people can enjoy it in other ways when the show closes for good in a few months.

In recently shared concept artwork for the new Monsters Inc. area, we can make out the former show building for Muppet*Vision 3D in the foreground. The area will be opened up and expanded into what is now a backstage area, service road and cast member parking for the new suspended roller coaster.

Opposite the theatre, Mama Melrose’s Ristorante Italiano will become Harryhausen’s, a restaurant from the original Monsters Inc. movie.

Muppet*Vision 3D will be replaced by a reimagined theatre and brand new Monsters Inc-themed show to accompany the much-hyped suspended roller coaster based on the doors chase sequence from the 2001 movie. Zooming in on the theatre in the image above we can make out the new name will be the Monstro Theatre. In front of the theatre, the Muppets fountain will be turned into a sculpture of Mike Wazowski.

I can see a business sense for where Disney has chosen to place Monsters Inc. There is plenty of land available behind Animation Courtyard that has been screaming out for some reimagining for well over a decade and this did appear to be the original location but it was switched sometime before the announcement. My guess is time and cost of demolishing then rebuilding the Animation Courtyard area would require far more investment than repurposing Grand Avenue/Muppets Courtyard and building in a little-used backstage area. As a bonus, the Muppet*Vision 3D theatre can be easily and cheaply (relatively speaking) repurposed to fit in with a Monsters Inc theme. Time is clearly a factor for this expansion seeing as Hollywood Studios is already challenged with the capacity of its current attraction roster.

I do worry that bookending the back of the park with three hugely popular areas; Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge sandwiched between Toy Story Land and now a new Monsters Inc. area could lead to guest flow issues with 3 of the most popular e-ticket attractions in all of Disney World set in some of the most immersive lands ever developed by Disney in such proximity.

Jim Henson’s final project was Muppet*Vision 3D, now regarded as a true theme park classic. Innovation was always Jim Henson’s north star, and his trailblazing career led him to a unique challenge: a truly immersive Muppet experience where audiences are part of the happy chaos of the iconic Muppet Show. Originally debuting in 1991, Muppet*Vision 3D combined 3D technology with real-world practical effects, alongside animatronic and live Muppet characters. The result was a one-of-a-kind Jim Henson experience, and an unforgettable capstone to Jim’s magnificent career. As we learn of the show’s upcoming closure in its current form at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, we look forward to Muppet*Vision 3D’s next act.

The Jim Henson Company on news of Muppet*Vision 3D’s impending closure

Leaving Animation Courtyard alone for yet another project also throws up the question of what is Disney cooking up for this underutilised area desperately in need of some Disney love? There is a massive amount of land available to Imagineers to develop, especially if they lose the offices and associated multi-story car park which sit behind the former Animation Studios building. That’s a question for another D23 announcement!

Way back before COVID closed the world for pretty much a year, Disney announced a new hotel on the shore of Bay Lake. Reflections was to be inspired by nature. The project was quietly she=lved when COVID hit and all spending was halted.

There hasn’t been any news on what was going to happen to the land that was formerly home to Disney World’s first water park, River Country, until now.

Disney is once again moving ahead with building a nature-inspired Disney Vacation Club property, this time called Lakeshore Lodge and it is expected to open in 2027.

Disney Lakeshore Lodge will be “inspired by the majesty of nature and its enduring influence on Disney artists.” Sounds an awful lot like the original Reflections pitch with a new name. Beyond the name reveal, Disney is staying tight-lipped on other details and haven’t even released any new concept artwork of the new DVC resort that is (once again) under construction.

Universal has lifted the actual curtain briefly enough to show us some incredible photos of the queue area for the new Harry Potter attraction opening in Epic Universe in May 2025.

Harry Potter and the Battle At The Ministry will be one of the standout attractions in Epic Universe. The ride itself is set in the Wizarding Paris area of the park but the story takes us back to the Ministry in London to witness the trial of Delores Umbridge.

The queue serves as our doorway from Paris into the secretive Ministry Of Magic using the Metro-Floo network, a magical mode of transport inspired by the Floo network in the films.

Inside Delores Umbridge’s office, we find her former house-elf, Higgeldy, frantically cleaning out the office ahead of the trial.

Keep a look out in the queue for all manner of tiny details from the last edition of the Daily Prophet to flocks of interdepartmental memos. Who knows you might even spot some of your favourite character’s belongings.

Universal is still keeping details of the ride a secret but we do know that we will board an omnidirectional lift, 14 people at a time that travels further into the Ministry. Decorated with vibrant red and gold accents, these lifts are unlike any ride vehicle ever created and will propel guests up, down, forward, backward, sideways and more throughout the Ministry – just like guests have seen in the films.

Once inside guests will find themselves in a thrilling chase to catch Umbridge as she bids to escape her trial. The Death Eaters return for a daring scene along with rampaging creatures. The attraction will take us through more famous scenes from the movie including the cavernous Magical Library filled with centuries of Ministry archives and magical documents. Magical creatures have escaped in the The Department Of Magical Creatures and we discover them running amuck. The Time Room is filled with a variety of Time-Turners and all sorts of magical time pieces.

Harry Potter And The Battle At The Ministry is shaping up to be one of the most impressive attractions throughout the Wizarding World and these shots prove no expense has been spared to bring this attraction to life.

Although not officialy an announcement about Epic Universe, Nintendo has released a promotion video on Youtube promoting the new Donkey Kong Country expansion in the Universal Studios Japan theme park. This land and the new one in Epic Universe share a lot of similarities, although not exactly the same layout.

The film is in Japanese but with English subtitles in parts. If you want a peek at what we can expect from Donkey Kong Country when it opens with Epic Universe on May 22nd take a tour around the Japanese version with Shigeru Miyamoto, the famed creator of Mario and a host of other well known characters including Pikmin, Zelda and Starfox as well as Donkey Kong himself.

In its most recent earnings call, United Parks & Resorts CEO, Mark Swanson hinted that Seaworld is actively looking at weatherproofing their flagship Seaworld Park in Orlando.

Due to the combined impact of several hurricanes and storms this summer, Seaworld had to report below-par attendance in the most recent quarter. The latest, and most devastating storm to hit Florida, Hurricane Milton will affect the next quarter earnings call.

Swanson noted that Seaworld is looking to do more to weather-proof their parks in the event of wet weather which happens a lot more than you may realise in Florida.

This year Seaworld announced they are working on a new Flying Theatre attraction for the Wild Arctic section which opens in Spring next year. Judging from this announcement we should expect some smaller-scale investment in indoor attractions over the next few years as Seaworld aims to appeal to a broader audience after several years of heavy investment to bolster their roller coaster estate (which has worked wonders for their bottom line).

This is a savvy move by Mark Swanson. Seaworld needs a broader appeal for families beyond Sesame Street Land. As good as their other exhibits and attractions are beyond their roller coaster lineup, the appeal for families is limited on the attraction front.

He also reiterated Seaworld’s desire to capitalise on the opportunities with the land they already own alluding to their desire to build an onsite hotel. No further information was announced beyond the filings earlier this year for 2 new hotels on the outskirts of Seaworld’s property.

Thats it for this month’s catchup. I hope you all have the most fantastic Christmas and I will be back on New Year’s Eve for your last Orlando fix of the year.

Merry Christmas!