This is it, folks! December 31st is right around the corner, and it’s almost time to ring in the new year and look forward to all the fun 2025 will bring us – something that Walt Disney World has locked and loaded! With so much having been announced at D23 earlier this year – projects spanning multiple continents across several years – it can be a little dizzying to wrap your head around what exactly we should expect to see in the near future.
Thankfully, Disney has laid it all out for us this December, so we can all head into the new year fully prepared for all the incredible new things to come.
While we all wait for the new Villains land to open in the Magic Kingdom, all of those dastardly ne’er-do-wells are already making themselves at home at Walt Disney World, starting with Disney Villains: Unfairly Ever After, which will debut at Disney’s Hollywood Studios this upcoming summer season! This new show will feature classic Disney villains like Cruella de Vil, Captain Hook, and Malificent as they take center stage in a live show full of the wit, humor, and the oh-so-famous Villain charm that makes them the characters we love to hate!
This show was announced via Disney’s social media in an instagram post, [here], hosted by the Magic Mirror, bemoaning the fact that he has to put up with these people – which, really, we can all agree that this guy gets paid enough, right?
If Villains aren’t your style this summer, though, head to the ocean blue for The Little Mermaid – A Musical Adventure, also debuting this summer at Disney’s Hollywood Studios! This brand-new twist on an old classic is sure to be a spectacle under the sea, with all-new sets, stunning visuals, and a vibrant and talented cast of puppets and live performers alike.
Sing along to some of Disney’s most classic sons with this new show, with live renditions of songs like Under the Sea and Part of Your World, as well as two new songs exclusive to this show, plus plenty of references to the classic animation style that made the original 1989 The Little Mermaid such a visual treat!
After the glitz and glamor of Hollywood Studios, you might find yourself in need of a nice place to wind down. After you catch the two new shows at Hollywood Studios, head over to EPCOT and check out the new Spaceship Earth Lounge, which will be opening in late spring.
This new lounge, designed to pay homage to one of the most moving EPCOT icons, aims to celebrate the icon’s illustrious history while also exploring its future, by intertwining the story of Spaceship Earth and the overall concept behind EPCOT – the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow, for those not in the know, with its message of human ingenuity, technological achievement, and global cooperation.
Between the incredible view of the park’s World Celebration Gardens, the best seats in the house for the park’s nightly fireworks display, and the new cuisine developed by Disney’s most talented chefs to help tie the experience together into a luxurious lounge that maintains all the international flavors of EPCOT while offering something new and exciting, this lounge will be an experience worthy of EPCOT’s beloved geodesic dome.
But the Spaceship Earth Lounge isn’t the only new offering at EPCOT! A long-time fan favorite, Test Track has seen several renovations and new themes since its opening in 1999. It’s original sponsor, General Motors, has returned for Test Track 3.0, and plans to make its return in late summer of 2025. Featuring an all-new story line that Walt Disney Imagineers have worked closely with GM to produce, this timeless ride will be given a new look and revitalized into something truly special.
But guests don’t have to fly along the test track at 60 mph to find a good time at Walt Disney World! It’s just a hop, skip, and a jump over to the Magic Kingdom, where guests will be able to take part in Disney Starlight: Dream the Night Away, an all night fantasy nighttime parade featuring nostalgic Disney storytelling with the classic Disney innovation that makes the parks so captivating! This new nighttime show aims to continue the legacy of dazzling nighttime entertainment, which sparked inspiration and awe into so many hearts with experiences like the Main Street Electrical Parade, which started in 1972 and could be viewed on-and-off through six runs over the last fifty years, with its last run closing in 2022.
With so many hearts and souls touched by the Main Street Electrical Parade, Disney Starlight has some big shoes to fill, but promises to be a worthy successor to the parade that ignited so many dreams since its inception in 1972.
Featuring classic Walt Disney Animation films like Peter Pan, Encanto, Frozen, and Moana – among many, many more! – there’s no doubt that this dazzling parade will shine with a brilliance all its own!
And while you’re visiting the Magic Kingdom, be sure to stop by the new Pirates of the Caribbean-inspired Tavern, opening in Adventureland in late 2025. With a swashbuckling atmosphere and plenty of new themed foods and beverages to try, this is the perfect place to put your pirateering to the test as you explore the mysteries and myths of a port-of-call that’s seen its fair share of pirate voyages! So hoist the colors, and set sail towards Adventureland for an all-ages experience that’s sure to have you singing yo-ho-ho from starboard to stern!
And while all of these new offerings are sure to be slam-dunks across all of the Walt DIsney World properties, it’s also time to say goodbye to some classics. The sad truth is that sometimes, our favorites can’t come with us into the future – and when we must keep moving forward, we have to make peace with losing some of our fondest memories and trusting that the Disney Imagineers will do right by their memories with the new attractions that have come to take their place.
It’s Tough to Be a Bug – featuring the bugs of A Bug’s Life – was announced to be closing to make way for a new Zootopia attraction being hosted within Animal Kingdom’s iconic Tree of Life Theater. While no official closing date for It’s Tough to Be a Bug has been announced, we do know that Zootopia: Better Zoogether will be arriving to the Tree of Life Theater in winter of 2025, meaning Flik and friends will only be the tree’s current residents for a little bit longer.
But with the colors and spirit and sounds of Zootopia, there’s no doubt that this new show is going to be just as beloved and just as spectacular as Flik and friends; a successor expected to be more than a worthy replacement for It’s Tough to Be a Bug, Zootopia: Better Zoogether promises to be a roaring time!
The Tree of Life isn’t the only part of the Animal Kingdom seeing a major closure. Dinoland USA will also be closing, permanently, to make way for the Tropical Americas land, featuring both Indiana Jones and Encanto, which was announced earlier this year at D23.
And while I’m sure that Dr. Grant Seeker and all of the other time-traveling professionals as the Dino Institute will find their place in history, the addition of the Tropical Americas as the new land joining the existing Asian and African lands is a highly welcomed and sorely needed inclusion to the Animal Kingdom.
So while you’re visiting the new exciting shows and experiences that Disney will be debuting in 2025, be sure to stop by the Animal Kingdom and experience this incredible dark ride one more time! Now that the Tropical Americas land has been announced, fans of the classic DINOSAUR attraction really are facing the countdown to extinction!
Phew! What a list! There really is so much happening at Walt Disney World in 2025, and only more to come as we enter a new era of Disney Parks that was laid out for us at this year’s D23! The future has never been brighter, and with so many incredible changes taking place at Walt Disney World and Disney Parks and Resorts worldwide, there’s never been a better time to discover Disney!
It’s gonna be a really, really cool 2025.
