Welcome to 2023! It’s a big year for Disney, as the company will be celebrating its 100th anniversary. And of course plenty of fun theme park stuff happening as well, with Splash Mountain closing, Tron opening sometime soon, and some great stuff in Disneyland as well!
Disney news
- TRON: Lightcycle Run will finally be opening in Magic Kingdom on April 4th, 2023!
- A new nighttime spectacular will make its way to Disneyland in honor of the 100th anniversary called “Wondrous Journeys.” This will debut on January 27th.
- At California Adventure their nighttime spectacular, World of Color, will be debuting a new version called “World of Color – ONE” on the same day.
- Over at Disney World’s Magic Kingdom, the princesses will finally be back for character dining at CInderella’s Royal Table! They officially return starting February 28th.
- Visiting Epcot in the next few weeks? Be sure to check out all of the great food and drink items which will be available for Epcot’s Festival of the Arts!
- After a very long hiatus, the Disney World Railroad is finally back up and running in Magic Kingdom.
- Dates for the RunDisney 2023-2024 race schedule have been announced… including the return of the Disneyland Half Marathon weekend January 11-14, 2024!
- Disney World recently released some discounts for the summer season. Reservations in mid June through mid September may be eligible for a discount or a dining gift card promo offer.
- “Avatar: the Way of Water” has been dominating the box office for the last month. It’s current sales have it placed as the 7th biggest movie in box office history globally.
- Rock n Roller Coaster at Hollywood Studios will be going a lengthy refurbishment, closing temporarily February 20th and reopening sometime in “summer 2023.”
- If you’re into Disney merch, you might want to check out the last of the Disney World 50th merch coming out or the new 100th anniversary merch (me, I’m a fan of the latter!).
- In what I personally think is awful news, EPCOT Forever (a poorly received nighttime spectacular) is temporarily returning to Epcot and replacing Harmonious (my personal favorite). This will start on April 3rd.
- Happily Ever After also returns on Magic Kingdom on April 3rd.
Disney Rumors
Hollywood Studios // With the announcement of Rock n Roller Coaster doing down for refurb, the favorite rumors of a re-themeing are surfacing (including a new band to replace Aerosmith, a Marvel themed coaster, or the old favorite of a Monsters Inc. roller coaster). However, Disney has stated that “there will be no changes to the Guest experience as a result of this routine refurbishment.”
Magic Kingdom // Now that TRON has an opening date, there is some speculation about when the cast member, DVC, and annual passholder previews might begin. Some people are guessing that cast members may even start previews sometime in February, with the other groups following in March.
Other Disney blogs
Jenmarie at Anakin and his Angel takes a look at some of the new food and drink items available at Docking Bay 7 in Disneyland. The pasta looks great, but that cream cheese drink is one I will avoid!
Doing a RunDisney event sometime soon? Jenn from Fairest Run of All shares her tips for getting the best race photos!
Curious what it’s like to be on the Galactic Starcruiser? Allison at Jones Family Travel has information, including video on board the Galactic Starcruiser!
Staying club level at Coronado Springs can be a really nice option, and Melanie at Polka Dots and Pixie Dust has the details.
I’m so bummed to miss seeing Harmonious one more time! At least we saw it twice in November. This replacement better be good. >D