Welcome to the August installment of Rumor Round Up. You can read July’s edition here. There are some new and juicy rumors floating around the Disney universe so let’s get to it!
Disclaimer that none of the things mentioned in this article are official and may not ever happen.
Magic Kingdom
If you remember in the July edition I discussed the possibility of the Muppets coming to Liberty Square. Well, Disney confirmed this addition and they will start delighting guests in October 2016!
Disney announced that the Main Street Electrical Parade will be ending its long run at the Magic Kingdom October 9th, 2016. With that there are no immediate plans for a nighttime parade at the Magic Kingdom. I have heard several rumors with what could be done. It’s possible that Paint the Night comes to Walt Disney World in early 2017 or Walt Disney World gets a new nighttime parade that wouldn’t come around until late 2017. The third and worst option for fans would be no nighttime parade at all. We will have to wait and see what Disney does with this one.
One other big rumor to drop for the Magic Kingdom is a Stitch’s Great Escape replacement. Get ready for Wreck it Ralph to make his way to Tomorrowland in the near future. Rumors suggest that within the next year or so Stitch would close to make way for a new simulator style attraction. This attraction redo wouldn’t take long and would open sometime in 2018 if all goes well.
Epcot
Also in the July edition, Epcot has some major rumors regarding possible changes to Future World. Those rumors still exist and are still very strong possibilities to actually happen. I am going to summarize the rumors below.
- Guardians of the Galaxy will make its way into the Universe of Energy Pavilion. The pavilion would be be gutted on the inside for the new ride.
- The Leave A Legacy stones will be moved to a new location
- The Wonders of Life pavilion is slated for a possible Guardians of the Galaxy phase 2 attraction
- Innoventions would get a lot of work with new things to do
It was confirmed that Sum of All Thrills and Stormstruck will close in September. It seems Epcot plans might be finally moving forward once that happens.
Disney’s Hollywood Studios
Hollywood Studios is where the major work is currently happening. Lights, Motors, Action is almost completely gone and land is cleared for Toy Story Land construction to begin. Right now Toy Story is rumored for a 2018 opening and Star Wars Land is rumored for a late 2019 opening. Streets of America is also almost completely gone.
PizzeRizzo was confirmed for Muppets Courtyard and will open later this year.
However, the latest and biggest rumor to just drop is that The Great Movie Ride will close in 2017 to make way for a brand new attraction. The rumors say the facade of the Chinese Theater will stay but the inside of the building will be completely gutted. The theme of this ride is going to be none other than the big cheese Mickey Mouse! This new “E” ticket attraction will be trackless and is said to open in 2019. We can expect screens and animatronics to be throughout this new attraction.
Animal Kingdom
Rivers of Light is said to open before the end of the year with most rumors pointing to September. I have heard many issues they had with the show have been resolved for now. You can expect that Disney won’t announce an opening date until they are absolutely sure. It was also announced that Jungle Book: Alive with Magic will officially end September 5th, 2016, though it might not be until October or November until we see Rivers of Light officially open.
Disneyland
Disneyland has a lot of closings currently going on. Disney did announce that the Rivers of America and the Disneyland Railroad would open back up in summer 2017. That is also when Fantasmic upgrades should debut. Disney also just announced that Disneyland Forever, Paint the Night, and World of Color Celebrate would end September 5th. With that Paint the Night will become a seasonal parade throughout the end of the year. Disneyland Forever and World of Color Celebrate are gone for good.
Speaking of fireworks at Disneyland, a new rumor says that come 2017 both Disneyland Paris’ Walt Disney Studios park and Disneyland Park will be getting an all new Star Wars fireworks show. This show will be similar to Hollywood Studios Star Wars Galactic Spectacular.
Also something to note, Bob Chapek, head of Disney Parks and Resorts, recently got a big time budget approved for major Disneyland work. This would lead me to believe the Fantasyland expansion rumors are going to happen as well as the Marvel Land in California Adventure.
That is it for this installment of Disney Rumor Round Up!