Walt Disney World Update: Florida Showdown, DAK’s 25th, and Construction Updates!

A lot has been happening at Walt Disney World over the past few weeks, from the celebration of Animal Kingdom’s 25th anniversary to the announcement of some changes at Fort Wilderness Resort and an epic battle between Disney and the state of Florida. With so much to cover, let’s just jump right in…

Do The Math: 50s replaced with 100s 

Following the conclusion of Walt Disney World’s 50th anniversary celebration earlier this month, the 100 Years of Wonder celebration celebrating The Walt Disney Company’s 100th birthday is coming into full swing at WDW. Statues depicting a platinum 100 can be spotted around the parks, like in front of the train station in Magic Kingdom and near the Orange parking garage entrance at Disney Springs. 

New details have also begun to emerge about the celebration, including a sneak peak at the Disney100 Spectacle of Light show for Spaceship Earth, which seems to be an homage to the entirety of The Walt Disney Company. 

Disney has also confirmed that details about the platinum 100 Years of Wonder Mickey and Minnie meet and greet at EPCOT will be coming “soon.” They announced that the Cinderella popcorn bucket with her looking out of a platinum coach that has been on sale at Disneyland will begin being sold at WDW as well.  

Tiana’s Bayou Adventure New Details 

There are some new details about the attraction replacing Splash Mountain at both Walt Disney World and Disneyland, Tiana’s Bayou Adventure. Although the backstory had been previously released a few months ago, just recently we learned an exciting detail: that Mama Odie will play an important role in the attraction. Even more, she’ll be the catalyst for the adventure that we’ll all get to go on! The ride will reportedly take place during Mardi Gras, at a celebration hosted by Princess Tiana and Prince Naveen, all caused by our most exciting Bayou Fairy Godmother, Mama Odie. 

Mama Odie will be helped by her “seeing eye snake,” Juju, and will be voiced in the ride by her original voice actor, Jenifer Lewis. She’ll be joined by Bruno Campos (Prince Naveen), Michael Leon Wooley (Louis), and Anika Noni Rose (Princess Tiana), who have already been confirmed to be voicing their characters in the attraction. 

Disney also shared that the art of their attraction is being inspired by New Orleans artist Sharika Mahdi. Her work includes flowing lines and a bright color palette, all of which will reportedly be seen throughout Tiana’s Bayou Adventure. 

🐸 Tiana’s Bayou Adventure NOW OPEN at Disneyland – Guide & Tips 👑

World Showcase Lagoon is Returning to Normal 

As we previously reported, Harmonious has officially retired as a nighttime show at EPCOT. It has currently been replaced with the EPCOT Forever lagoon show and will ultimately be replaced with a new show for the 100th anniversary. Thankfully, this new show will not be using any of the structures that were, in our opinion, the worst part of Harmonious. Construction has been ongoing in removing what we called the “tacos” and “Stargate,” with the “Stargate” having been completely removed. Currently, only a few “tacos” and a couple of the pyro launchers remain, much to our relief. 

We’ve got to say, coming upon the World Showcase Lagoon and not having a giant metal circle in our line of sight has greatly improved our EPCOT experience, even without a new lagoon nighttime spectacular for us to enjoy. 

Returning Experiences to Hollywood Studios 

Exciting news for Pixar fans. The Edna Mode Experience is returning to Pixar Place at Disney’s Hollywood Studios! Closed since the parks’ shutdown in 2020, the Edna Mode Experience is finally returning, making a dead area of the park come back to life. The experience is set to return May 14th, as part of Disney’s “reimagined Pixar Place.” While details of what this will entail haven’t been completely released, Disney has mentioned that guests will be able to encounter Mr. and Mrs. Incredible, Frozone, and Sulley in the area as well. 

We’re excited to finally see something come to life back there, as that section of the park has been too quiet for years.

Fantasmic! will also be down for maintenance May 1st and 2nd. It’s worth noting that this maintenance was scheduled well before the unfortunate incident at Disneyland’s Fantasmic! that occurred earlier this week.  

Animal Kingdom’s 25th Anniversary 

Earth Day (that is, April 22nd), saw us celebrating the 25th anniversary of Disney’s Animal Kingdom. The celebration was a sweet one, with commemorative paper maps being distributed, along with some celebration-specific merchandise and food options. Additionally, Disney had a beautiful sign commemorating the anniversary.   

Guests could also purchase a Pumbaa popcorn bucket, which was just the cutest!

Disney also added a 25th anniversary-specific pressed penny to the machines. 

Also, as part of the Disney 100 Years of Wonder celebration, guests could meet Moana at Animal Kingdom. Definitely a nice addition to the park in our opinion! 

And what celebration would be complete without a special cupcake?! 

New DVC Construction Announced 

Disney recently announced a change to the Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground. This change would see the replacement of the resort’s cabins with new, DVC-minded ones. 350 new cabins will be built to replace the existing ones at the resort, and they will utilize the preexisting footprints of the current cabins to help reduce the environmental impact of their construction. The cabins will also utilize new, more energy-efficient features.

Reportedly, the cabins won’t have any specific theme. Rather, they will be themed after the resort’s unique culture and heritage. The cabins will sleep up to six adults and have a bedroom, bathroom, living room, full kitchen, and private patio. Certain cabins will also be dog-friendly.  

And while these are going to be first and foremost DVC cabins, like all DVC resorts, they will be able to be booked by non-DVC members whenever available. These cabins are expected to open in 2024 and will be WDW’s 17th DVC property. 

These cabins are just a part of the proposed improvements to Fort Wilderness. WDW has also previously announced plans for a new pool, expanded dining experiences at Trail’s End and Crockett’s Tavern, and enhancements to the walking trails around the resort. 

More details about these changes and the new cabins will be released at a later date. 

Seasonal Offerings at Chicken Guy! 

Good news for all those Guy Fieri fans out there: Chicken Guy!, Fieri’s quick service restaurant at Disney Springs, is offering a seasonal sweet drink just in time for the warm months, the Huckleberry Shake. This shake is made with hand-spun vanilla soft serve and a mixed berry puree, and is topped with fresh whipped cream and a Cinnamon Toast Crumble. 

That sounds absolutely delicious to us, and we can’t wait to get our hands on one! The shake is available at any Chicken Guy! nationwide, but we just happen to know about one right down the street. 

The ongoing saga of Disney vs. the State of Florida

On Wednesday, a new chapter started in the continuing feud between The Walt Disney Company and the State of Florida, specifically, the office of Governor Ron DeSantis. 

As we have covered previously, DeSantis and his legislature voted to remove Walt Disney World’s protected status last year in retaliation for The Walt Disney Company speaking out against the state’s “Parental Rights in Education Act,” more colloquially known as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill. However, Disney didn’t take the dissolution of the Reedy Creek Improvement District sitting down, and, right before DeSantis’ appointed board were going to take over the newly named Central Florida Tourism Oversight District, the Reedy Creek Improvement District voted to strip them of any significant power and give it to The Walt Disney Company. 

As expected, this move from the Reedy Creek Improvement District didn’t sit well with the new Central Florida Tourism Oversight District’s board members, who vowed to fight against the actions of the previous board members in court. And on Wednesday, the board voted to invalidate the actions of the previous Reedy Creek Improvement District board members, thus stating the agreements that ceded all power to The Walt Disney Company were invalid. Their arguments? That Disney had not provided proper advanced notice of the vote that would strip them of their power. Disney maintains that they did everything publicly and within the law.  

However, it seems Disney was prepared for the board to take this action. As soon as the board voted, Disney filed a 77-page lawsuit in federal court, naming DeSantis, the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District board, and the acting secretary of the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, Meredith Ivey, in an attempt to file an injunction against the board’s actions. Among other things, the lawsuit charges them with violations of the contracts clause, the takings clause, due process, and its First Amendment right to protected speech. A part of the lawsuit reads, “This government action was patently retaliatory, patently anti-business, and patently unconstitutional,” and is asking the federal judge to declare the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District’s board’s actions to be “unlawful and unenforceable.” 

In essence, Disney is stating that the board’s actions, and DeSantis’ actions, are in direct response to the company’s opinions, something which should be protected under the First Amendment. The lawsuit claims that DeSantis and the board are using their power as members of the government to punish a business, which is, blatantly, unconstitutional. Disney also sees themselves as a champion for others, as they wrote in the lawsuit, “Disney also knows that it is fortunate to have the resources to take a stand against the State’s retaliation — a stand smaller businesses and individuals might not be able to take when the State comes after them for expressing their own views. In America, the government cannot punish you for speaking your mind.” 

Bob Iger seemed to have acknowledged this plan to sue DeSantis when he spoke to shareholders earlier this month. He mentioned “the company has a right to freedom of speech just like individuals do” and that “the governor got very angry about the position that Disney took, and it seems like he’s decided to retaliate against us … to punish a company for its exercise of a constitutional right.” 

This lawsuit isn’t just affecting The Walt Disney Company, either. At the same board meeting where they voted to invalidate the former Reedy Creek Improvement District board’s actions, the Central Florida Tourism Oversight board answered questions from concerned citizens of Celebration. In response to a question about increased taxes, Martin Garcia, the board’s chairman, confirmed that they will be raising taxes within their jurisdiction to help pay for this legal battle. 

Here’s hoping this will resolve itself sooner rather than later, for all involved. 

Let’s Hear From You

Which of these developments are you most looking forward to seeing? What are your thoughts about the Disney-DeSantis showdown?  Let us know!