While the focus currently is firmly on the Hollywood Studios expansion with Star Wars Land and Toy Story Land now both going vertical, Disney has already announced a slew of investment in its theme parks beyond the 2019 opening of Star Wars.
Image C Disney
The most exciting rumour concerns the Magic Kingdom which will finally get getting a new E-Ticket Tron based attraction. The most popular ride in Shanghai Disneyland is getting a clone in Orlando on a vacant plot of land next to Space Mountain in the Tomorrowland section of the park.
Since Shanghai Disneyland opened Tron Lightcycle Power Run, the roller coaster has been the runaway hit and fans have been begging Disney to bring it stateside. Slated for a 2021 opening, Disney World guests will finally be able to get launched on their light cycles. 2021 hasn’t been pulled out of thin air either; it will coincide with Disney World’s 50th anniversary.
The new attraction will be placed behind Space Mountain outside the berm than circles the park. Tomorrowland speedway may receive a new layout to accommodate access. Image ©Disney
Main Street USA is also in for a facelift and small expansion when Disney drops in a Broadway style theatre in what is currently an unused backstage area between Main Street and Tomorrowland. It will be styled on the Willis Wood Theatre, a 1920 theatre in Kansas City where Walt Disney moved to after Marceline. This is a very interesting development for Magic Kingdom which has the lions share of attractions in Disney World but very few theatres compared to the other parks. An opening date hasn’t been announced as yet for the theatre.
The new theatre will likely house longer forms of productions than are currently held in the Disney parks in Orlando. Image ©Disney
The beleaguered Hollywood Studios looses yet another iconic attraction at a time when it is hard enough convincing people to visit this shell of a park. August 13th is the last operating day of the last opening day attraction at the park. The Great Movie Ride is closing for good to make way for an entirely new journey starring Mickey and Minnie. While you can’t escape Mickey anywhere on Disney he has been suspiciously absent on most rides. This is the first attraction in the world to ever be based around him.
Image ©Disney
Titled Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway, it will be based on the short stories that air on Disney Channel. The press release states, ” On Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway, you’ll step through the movie screen and join Mickey and his friends like never before. The attraction will put you inside the wacky and unpredictable world of a Mickey Mouse Cartoon Short where you’re the star and anything can happen. This zany out-of-control adventure features surprising twists and turns, dazzling visual effects and mind-boggling transformations that happen before your very eyes.” It certainly sounds exciting, and this being Disney, I’m sure we are in for a treat with what they have got planned.
Disney Imagineer Kevin Rafferty went on to say, “(we) are inventing new technologies that turn the flat world of a colourful cartoon short into a “dimensional display of amazingness. This is one of the boldest…most impossible things I’ve ever worked on in almost 40 years of being an Imagineer. And you know what? That’s what I love about it. Well, that, and Mickey,” Kevin said. “This is not going to be a small attraction, it’s going to be game-changing.” Bold words indeed. Many believed the Great Movie Ride’s days were numbered but the announcement still came as a shock. Especially when mass closings at the parks have left it bereft of things to do. Mickey And Minnie’s Runaway Railway, on paper at least, sounds like a fitting evolution of the Great Movie Ride. If anyone is going to pull off something this bold it is going to be Disney.
EPCOT appears to be getting the most attention between now and the 50th anniversary, and it’s not before time! The last opening day attraction at EPCOT, Ellen’s Energy Adventure, is set to close August 13th, the same day as the Great Movie Ride. Ellen will make way for a surprise announcement in the form of The Guardians Of The Galaxy. The exact nature of the ride is still a secret but Disney have said it will repurpose the existing building. Persistent rumours claim it will be a roller coaster style ride. From the outside the Universe Of Energy building looks small, but inside once gutted it is a surprisingly large and cavernous space lending itself well to this sort of ride.
Concept art of how the entrance plaza of Ellen’s Energy Adventure will be transformed. Image ©Disney
Fans of Tower Of Terror at neighbouring Hollywood Studios can breath once more with this announcement because Guardians has repurposed the California version of Tower Of Terror and fans of TOT were worried the original (and still the best and most unique version of it) would succumb to a quick overlay which now looks unlikely.
The France pavilion will also be receiving some love and a popular Pixar character. A clone of a Disneyland Paris favourite, the Ratatouile dark ride is finally making it across the Atlantic. The ride is tried and tested already so hopefully things should progress quickly once construction begins.
The somewhat controversial opening of Frozen Ever After in Norway has given the park enough of a visitor surge that Disney clearly feels confident injecting EPCOT with character related properties and is clearly stealing away from the technology and cultural experiences of the past.
Concept art for the new Ratatouille Dark ride currently being constructed behind the France pavilion in EPCOT. Image © Disney Parks
While these announcements are exciting and very welcome as well as lots of mini upgrades happening (such as a new Circle Vision show for China), Disney still hasn’t tackled the two white elephants in the park. Both of the former Imaginations Pavilions are still standing and very obviously empty.
Only time will tell if the current additions will have the longevity of previous favourites like ‘Universe In Motion’ and ‘Horizons’.
