As you may know, Disney World has been one of Florida’s most popular theme parks for decades. It’s also popular around the globe in places like Paris and Shanghai, all of these movies became a universal favorite thanks to the founders, Walt Disney and Roy O. Disney. They eventually came up with the idea to make a theme park for all of these cartoon characters. With that, featuring many attractions for families around the globe to enjoy, Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, and Epcot. Disney also has two waterparks, Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard beach, along with a signature shopping and dining area, Disney Springs. Each of these parks have their own unique themes and characters from each of their movies they have filmed over the years, as early as 1937 when Disney had released its first movie, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. People around the world have come to visit these parks and experience the magic at Disney and develop memories. Even to this day, some of Disney’s oldest attractions are still enjoyed by fans everywhere, and it never gets old. But when new things are produced, sometimes it’s out with the old and in with the new.
Typically, when Disney had produced more movies, they were set to add attractions for these popular characters. Such as the Muppets Disney princesses, heroes, villains, animatronics and more. But as the time goes more advanced technology gets played into these productions, and things are modernized according to the times and trends. This year, Disney has introduced us to many new possibilities for areas of improvement and excitement. In the Disney D23 event that took place in Anaheim, California, through August 9th-11th. At this event, the chairman of Disney Experiences, Josh D’Amaro, announced some new things that would be coming to the parks and exciting things to look up too in the upcoming months. “We will completely, around the world, bring new stories to life in innovative ways for our fans”, D’Amaro explained. As far as the Disney parks are concerned, one of Animal Kingdom’s fan favorite areas, Dinoland, is under construction for demolition.
Yes, we will be losing dino land to be replaced by a new themed area. Dinoland opened in Disney around 1998, making it one of Disney’s oldest attractions. Featuring rides, Tricera Tops, which opened in 2001 along with Chester and Hester’s Dinosaur Treasures, and Fossil Fun games which opened the following year. These three rides, permanently closed on January 12 for scheduled demolition. Though half of the park is closed, it hasn’t closed completely. The places that are currently open until further notice are DINOSAUR, The Boneyard, Restaurantosaurus, and Dino-bite snacks. As mentioned previously in the article, new attractions are going to hit the parks, and Dinolands replacement is the new Tropical Americas! This newcoming area of the park consists of two new themes, Encanto and Indiana Jones! The park is set to look like a village square surrounded by a rainforest-like environment. This place is called Pueblo Esperanza, which means “Village of Hope”. This area is aiming towards a more diverse, popping of color theme geared toward Latin-American storytelling. The vision is to construct an Encanto ride inside the wonders of the Casita with the madrigal Family, along with Coco and the land of the dead. A large Fountian to be placed as a meeting area just like the movie, along with a maya temple. There will also be quick restaurants. This area will also feature an Indiana Jones ride, which would be taking over the ride DINASOUAR. This place is estimated to open in 2027.
Animal Kingdom isn’t the only park that will be affected, Disney will be featuring a new villains land in Magic Kingdom. Gratefully, nothing will be demolished to make space for this area. Villans land, along with a new cars area, will be in construction in the open space behind Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. But, with this new area being added to Frontier Land, some things are going to have to go to place new attractions. Tom sawyer island is going to be replaced by a cars ride, there isn’t any information for this ride, but the idea is to target a younger audience. There will also be another cars attraction, which will be taking over Rivers of America. This ride is informed to be a race through a mountain-rocky terrain, with waterfalls and obstacles. In Villans land, there will be characters inside the magic as some you may know, such as, Maleficent, Queen of hearts, Hades, etc. Dangerously delicious cafes and shops will be available like the Underworld Inferno Grill or the Poisoned apple cafe. Stuff like potion jars and Evil Queen’s recipe cards are some of the few villainously goods you will find here. And that’s not the only place you’ll see your favorite antagonists! Over in Hollywood studios, Unfairly Ever After, A Villans show will be hitting the stage in 2025. Though Unfortunately, we are losing Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy for this new show. It’s been open ever since 2019, and fans have been enjoying the racing dream, but it got shut down for good on October 7th of last year. But not to fret, new things are coming to Hollywood Studios. Expect to see new magic and adventure unfold in summer of 2025!
Over in Hollywood Studios, we will be introduced with a new avenue full of monsters and magic doors, Monsters Inc. This new area is to reimagine a real-life experience with these monsters, as D’amaro said, “Monsters remains are one of the most beloved stories that Pixar has ever told. Our fans absolutely love it, and we knew we had an opportunity to bring to life this franchise, in a way that it’s never been brought to life before and extend the story from the screen into real life”. The environment consists of a town/city-like theme with monsters walking around along with the humans. One of the rides featured here would be a flying door coaster, one just like in the movie. And in the courtyard, a statue of Mike Wazowski will be built. But one of Disney’s oldest attractions, Muppet 3D Vision, which opened when the park opened, the Grand Avenue will be demolished and replaced by Monsters Inc. land. But the Muppets won’t be gone forever, as their gig is going to collide with Aerosmith! The date for closure is June 7th, and Mama Melrose’s Ristorante Italiano will be closing May 10th. Monsters Inc. will be expected to arrive 2027.
So, stay tuned for more information for these parks and new experiences coming here to Disney in Orlando!
