Looking Ahead to 2014 – Disney Parks

Part 3 of our “Looking Ahead to 2014” series focuses on the Disney Parks around the World.

Walt Disney World Resort

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2014 will welcome the opening of the long-awaited Seven Dwarfs Mine Train in Magic Kingdom’s New Fantasyland area. Originally announced in 2011, the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train will be the final piece of the New Fantasyland expansion, which also includes Under The Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid, Be Our Guest Restaurant, Princess Fairytale Hall meet and greet, and the new Storybook Circus area.  Riders will be taken through a diamond mine on this indoor-outdoor roller coaster. The ride is designed to be less of a “thrill ride” and more of a family-oriented attraction, and will feature a new ride system that simulates swaying and tipping, just like riding in a mine cart. It is scheduled to open Spring/Summer 2014.

The Magic Kingdom will also have a new daytime parade; Disney Festival of Fantasy, scheduled to begin in Spring 2014. According to Screamscape, the parade will showcase “all-new colorful fancy floats, characters and an original soundtrack featuring beloved songs from your favorite Disney films mixed with a new parade theme song.”

Over at Epcot, a new restaurant in World Showcase’s Morocco Pavilion, Spice Road Table, is scheduled to open at the end of this year. And while there are no major attraction plans for 2014 at Epcot, there are talks of a new attraction for 2015, and rumors for a new Soarin’ ride film in 2016.

Disney’s Animal Kingdom is opening a new theater for their Festival of the Lion King show. Camp Minnie Mickey will close in 2014, as construction on the area themed to James Cameron’s Avatar (tentative opening 2017) begins.

Nothing major is planned for Disney’s Hollywood Studios in 2014, but the rumor mill has several “blue sky” projects that could come to the former Disney-MGM Studios in the near future, including a Star Wars land, Monster’s Inc.’s “Monstropolis,” as well as an east coast version of Disney’s California Adventure’s “Cars Land”

2014 will also be the year of the MagicBand at Walt Disney World. The MagicBand technology has been rolling out resort-wide throughout the latter half of 2013, and is expected to be fully integrated sometime in 2014.

Disneyland Resort

In February 2014, Disneyland will reopen Big Thunder Mountain Railroad after a lengthy 13 month rehab. The “new” BTMRR will feature new tracks and new trains, and the mountain landscape will be refreshed. Disneyland’s exclusive Club 33 will be going “under the knife” as well, and when it opens, will feature a new lobby, jazz club, and expanded kitchen (Screamscape)

Much like Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Disney’s California Adventure has no major attraction plans for 2014. The rumors for DCA include a Monster’s Inc. “Door Coaster” in a building originally tabbed for Who Wants to be a Millionaire: Play It, and the “Soarin’ Over The Horizon” ride film for 2016.

It is worth noting in this article from MiceChat that due to MyMagic+ issues, several projects at both Walt Disney World Resort and Disneyland Resort have been put on hold.

Disneyland Paris Resort

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Across the pond at Europe’s only Disney property, Disney Studios Paris is opening a dark ride themed to the Disney-Pixar film Ratatouille. Ratatouille: L’Aventure Totalement Toquée de Rémi (Rough English: Ratatouille, Remy’s Totally Zany Adventures) will “shrink” riders down to the size of a rat, as they travel through over-sized scenery in a busy Parisian Kitchen.

At Disneyland Paris, the park’s iconic Indiana Jones Temple of Peril roller coaster will go down for a 5-month rehab as the ride’s “stone temple” (actually fabricated foam and concrete sculpted to look like stone) will be demolished and rebuild using actual stone. More information can be found at this post from Disney and More.

Hong Kong Disneyland

No new attractions are coming soon to Hong Kong Disneyland. Celebrating it’s 10th anniversary in 2015, Hong Kong Disneyland does receive the designation of having the first Marvel Character-centric experience to a Disney Park, with the addition of Iron Man Experience in 2016. The ride will use a similar ride technology to Star Tours at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Disneyland.

Tokyo Disney Resort

Tokyo Disneyland will introduce Once Upon A Time, a projection mapping show on the park’s Cinderella Castle.  Premiering on May 29th, 2014, this 15-minute castle projection show will feature scenes from the films “Beauty and the Beast,” “Cinderella,” and “Alice in Wonderland.” Tokyo Disneyland’s Jungle Cruise will also have a lengthy refurbishment, starting in early 2014. According to the Disney Parks Blog, “In the next version, the Jungle Cruise skipper will have a startling encounter with an animal spirit guardian in the ruins of a lost jungle temple. It will also feature a new soundtrack and special effects – and for the first time at any Jungle Cruise attraction – a permanent after-dark “night-cruise” version that will offer guests a unique take on the jungle adventure.”

Tokyo DisneySea is not introducing anything new for 2014. The park’s Mermaid Lagoon theater will close in 2014 in preparations for a new musical show, based on “The Little Mermaid,” which opens in 2015.

Shanghai Disneyland

Shanghai Disneyland is still under construction, with the first “vertical construction” taking place on October 17, 2013.

 

 

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