The month of May feels a little bit like the quiet before the storm. With Galaxy’s Edge set to open in California on May 31st, this month has a lot of anticipation building! It’s also the 30th anniversary of Hollywood Studios over in Florida, so we’re getting a few news items there as well. Flower and Garden Festival is going strong in Epcot. It’s so beautiful and one of my favorite times of the year to visit!
Disney News
- Disney JUST announced that a sit-down, table service restaurant will be coming to Toy Story Land in Hollywood Studios. No word yet on an opening date.
- A new private dining event will be offered at Animal Kingdom called Circle of Flavors: Harambe Nights for a limited time.
- New details have been released about this year’s Food and Wine Festival and the Festival of the Holidays.
- An awesome after hours event featuring the Disney villains will be happening this summer in Magic Kingdom!
- Newly added: you now get an on-ride photo aboard the Haunted Mansion!
- Bo Peep from Toy Story will now be doing meet and greets during the summer at both Disney World and Disneyland.
- Maxpass in Disneyland is now also available for entertainment offerings World of Color and Fantasmic.
- An ending date for Illuminations has been announced – the last show will be on September 30th. The Epcot Forever show will debut on October 1st.
- Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway will also be coming to Disneyland… but the opening of it in Disney World has been delayed until spring 2020.
- Reservations to visit Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge is will be available for booking on May 2 (or if you have a reservation at a Disneyland resort, you should have already received a reservation time).
- A new version of Rivers of Light will debut at Animal Kingdom this summer.
- A new fireworks show will make it’s debut at Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party – instead of Hallowishes, the new show “will take guests along on a trick-or-treating adventure, where four friends – Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Goofy – find themselves drawn into a mysterious haunted house.”
Disney Rumors
Epcot // Phineas & Ferb: Agent P’s World Showcase Adventure at Epcot is going to be replaced with an interactive game featuring characters from the DuckTales reboot on Disney XD
Magic Kingdom // Rumor has it that Magic Kingdom will be eliminating evening extra magic hours, instead only offering EMH in the mornings.
TV // The new Disney+ streaming service is rumored to exclude Song of the South from the titles available and eliminate the crow scene from Dumbo.
Hollywood Studios // Word has it that Disney’s contract with Aerosmith for Rock n’ Roller Coaster is set to expire soon, and Disney is considering other themeing options for this attraction once that happens.
Other Disney Blogs
Mindy over at This Fairy Tale Life shares a couple of new experiences at Disneyland – including the Princess Breakfast at Napa Rose and Pop-Up Disney.
Josh reviews the newest restaurant at Disney Springs, Jaleo, on EasyWDW.
On The Disney Tourist Blog, Tom Bricker has some interesting thoughts on “Is Disney World’s on-site advantage disappearing?” I thought this was a great read.
The Disney Food Blog reviews Black Tap Craft Burgers and Crazyshakes in Downtown Disney in California, and I feel like I need to eat there next month.
What Disney news are you most excited about this month?
Re: the on-site hotel blog:
“With almost every recent room refurbishment, the sense of theme inside Walt Disney World’s hotel rooms has been diminished.” <-- I have been noticing this more and more. I stayed at the Beach Club Villas last month and the most "beachy" thing about the room is that it was decorated in shades of blue. It felt like a generic hotel room, albeit a nice one.
I’m excited about the new Toy Story restaurant, but feel like it’s a missed opportunity for character dining.
Some fun things coming, it sounds like. I’d be interested to try the Toy Story restaurant. Sad if MK is eliminating evening EMH. I have lots of good memories from shutting that park down at 3am!