October 14th was a BIG news day for Disney World!
There are some times when Disney lets news about their theme parks trickle out slowly, with small morsels of news about a project or rumor being related over time. Yesterday was… not one of those days. Instead, the company dropped SEVERAL major Walt Disney World announcements all at once! In case you didn’t catch it all, let’s recap.
Jingle All the Way
The popular Jingle Cruise — a popular overlay of the World Famous Jungle Cruise attraction — is officially returning to the Magic Kingdom on November 2nd for the 2024 Holiday season.
We can’t wait to hear the holiday puns the Skippers have for us!
Dinoland’s Last Roar
Back at D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event in August, Disney confirmed what had long been speculated: DinoLand, U.S.A. at Animal Kingdom would be closing to make way for the new Tropical Americas expansion area coming to the park.
At the time of the announcement, Disney said that construction would begin within months. Well, now we know when DinoLand will begin going extinct. On October 14th, it was announced that TriceraTop Spin, Fossil Fun Games, and Chester & Hester’s Dinosaur Treasures will all close permanently on January 13th, 2025. As of now, no closing date is set for DINOSAUR, The Boneyard, Restaurantosaurus, Dino-Bite Snacks, or Trilo-Bites, indicating that the land will likely be closed in phases.
Big Thunder is Going Down
Disney also confirmed on the 14th that one of Disney World’s most popular and busiest rides, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, would be closing for refurbishment on January 6th, 2025, and be out of commission for pretty much an entire year. According to Disney, “The attraction will reopen with a little bit of new magic in 2026.”
It’s unclear at this time if Big Thunder’s closure is linked to the construction of the new Cars-themed area of Frontierland, which will see the permanent closure of the Rivers of America and Tom Sawyer Island.
Little Mermaid Delayed
As if all that wasn’t enough, it was also confirmed that a new show scheduled to open at Hollywood Studios later this year was being pushed back. The original ‘Voyage of the Little Mermaid’ never reopened following the pandemic, and earlier in 2024, Disney announced it was being replaced by a new show, ‘The Little Mermaid: A Musical Adventure,’ which will be a “fully reimagined retelling of the animated film.”
Just like Voyage of the Little Mermaid, it will include a mix of live actors and puppets in some scenes. The show will include several favorite songs, including “Part of Your World,” “Poor Unfortunate Souls,” and “Kiss the Girl.” The show was originally scheduled to open in the fall of 2024 before being pushed back to 2025.
Disney dropped a TON of news yesterday relating to overlays, constructions, and refurbishments, though some of it left us with more questions than answers. Stay tuned to AllEars for further updates.
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Which of these pieces of Disney News did you find most interesting? Let us know in the comments below.
“Loved” Dinoland is being replaced! We rode the rides once and that was enough. Never went back to the Land if we could help it. Seems Disney felt the same!
Why is the Little Mermaid attraction being updated? It needs to be removed to make way for Monsters, Inc.