By Dopey Diva
My family and I were at Disney World in January of this year and then my husband and I and my youngest son were lucky to get to go back for a few days in July, and I have to say there are quite a few new rides/ attractions that were not open just a few months ago. First let’s start with the Magic Kingdom. If you don’t know by now there is a new stage show… Mickey’s Royal Friendship Faire… and it is amazing! This new show features all new characters and costumes and is absolutely wonderful! If it had not been so hot that day, I would have stayed to watch it twice. Even my 6-year-old son, who never really enjoyed the old stage show, was completely enthralled with the new one. Also, Anna and Elsa have left Princess Fairytale Hall and moved to Norway in Epcot.
Epcot has several new attractions/ rides since I was there in January. Soarin’ over California is now Soarin’ Around the World and it is just as good if not better than the old one. Not only are there upgraded screens, new projection systems, and new scents but they have also added a third theater. This allows the lines to move much faster and the wait times are not nearly as long as they used to be. In fact we were able to ride the new Soarin’ Around the World twice in one day with the longest wait time being 20 minutes!
We had reserved our Fastpass from Tier 1 for the other new ride: Frozen Ever After. This is the ride that replaced Maelstrom in Epcot’s Norway pavilion. Not only is there a new ride, but Anna and Elsa now have a meet and greet in their very own Royal Sommerhus located near the new Frozen Ever After ride. Although there are no Fastpasses for this meet and greet, their line moves much quicker than it did at Princess Fairytale Hall in the Magic Kingdom. We are able to meet them with only a 20 minute wait time.
Another new meet and greet at Epcot is with Joy and Sadness from Inside Out. They are located in the building across from Character Spot with Mickey and Friends. Their wait tends to vary during the day. We stopped by once and the line was really long, but we came back a couple of hours later and the wait time was much shorter.
Hollywood Studios newest addition is the 3rd track added onto Toy Story Mania and this is something I wish they had done a LONG time ago. This definitely has lowered the wait time for this ride. So much in fact, that we rode it once with a Fastpass and a second time later in the day, with a minimal wait compared to what it used to be. We were fortunate enough to ride on the new track one of these times, and what I really like about the new area is you don’t have to go up and down stairs to get on the ride, it’s just a small ramp. The new area is decorated just like Andy’s room and looks amazing. I also liked the new cars because they seem to ride smoother than the other ones and the gun was easier to shoot with as well.
There are some new character meet and greets and changes to other characters and their locations. Sorcerer Mickey and Minnie have been moved, Minnie has a beautiful new outfit and background, and Olaf has been added to the park as well.
And finally Animal Kingdom. While they continue to work on the new Avatar Land, they have added (at least through the summer) night-time park hours featuring a Jungle Book show and also a light show on the Tree of Life. You can even take a night-time safari ride on the Kilaminjaro Safari. Unfortunately it stormed the night we were there, so we were not able to check out any of these great new night-time events in the Animal Kingdom. You can, however, read Undercover Diva’s review of it all here.
Disney World is constantly changing and you never know what may close or what new and exciting attractions may show up in the future. I was happy to enjoy some of these wonderful new attractions and look forward to many more in the upcoming next months and years. Like Walt said “Keep Moving Forward”.
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