10 Important Disney Announcements You MISSED

WOW! What a morning! Disney decided to announce a LOT of new things for Disney World today.

We’ve covered EVERYTHING announced by Disney today, but in case you missed anything, we’re breaking down ALL those announcements for you so you can get all caught up.

Magic Kingdom

A new character meet and greet is coming to Magic Kingdom, and this is one that Encanto fans will be excited about. Mirabel will begin greeting guests in Magic Kingdom sometime this fall. She’ll be taking over where Merida currently does her meet and greet in Fairytale Gardens. That area will be redesigned to look like Casa Madrigal.

©Mirabel

We previously saw a water tower as part of the design for Tiana’s Bayou Adventure at last year’s D23 Expo, and Disney recently shared that the water tower will be going up FOR REAL in Magic Kingdom later this summer.

We also got a price for an interactive TRON Lightcycle / Run experience that lets you build your own TRON “program” action figure. The new experience is called the TRON Identity Program and will be located inside the Tomorrowland Launch Depot. There, you can create a customized “Program” action figure and identity chip that can be used to “re-program” other TRON merchandise, like the interactive Identity Discs and Remote Control Lightcycles.

You can customize the action figures to look and sound like you as well as have other customizable features. The full experience will cost $89.99 per figure, plus tax.

EPCOT

As we mentioned, EPCOT is in the middle of a massive transformation. We’ve been following the construction progress of the Journey of Water — Inspired by Moana attraction. Well, we now have an opening timeline for that attraction: Fall of 2023.

Another part of that transformation is the construction of CommuniCore Hall, the first structure in EPCOT that is being built just for festivals. The space will be home to galleries, a demonstration kitchen, a mixology bar, AND a Mickey and Minnie meet-and-greet in their 100th anniversary platinum outfits. Here’s what the exterior will look like:

Here’s a peek INSIDE the building:

EPCOT will also be getting in on the Walt Disney Company’s 100th anniversary. In addition to the Mickey and Minnie meet-and-greet, Figment will be meeting guests in EPCOT this summer!

Figment will soon be meeting guests in EPCOT!

Mickey will also be getting a Platinum statue in the park, while guests will also be able to watch “Spaceship Earth illuminate the evenings with a special lighting design.”

EPCOT is also getting a new fireworks show celebrating the 100th anniversary.

Disney announced that this new show “will unite us through commonalities of the heart in a dazzling display of fireworks, lasers, music, and light.” The show will have an original soundtrack with “select songs from the Disney songbook.”

Disney’s Animal Kingdom

Moana is coming to Animal Kingdom! Disney said, “We’re going to be presenting Moana along our Discovery River.” It’s not clear if this will be on one of the flotillas or as a meet-and-greet, though. Moana will arrive on April 22nd, 2023.

Disney’s Animal Kingdom will be celebrating its 25th anniversary soon (starting on April 22nd), so there will be some special offerings throughout the park. First, new merchandise will be arriving.

Special snacks, including cupcakes, will be added to menus at Animal Kingdom restaurants, including this one that looks like the Tree of Life.

Animal Kingdom’s 25th anniversary is officially on April 22nd, so we’ll probably be seeing the new merchandise and snacks very soon.

Disney Springs

A new shop is coming to Disney Springs. A Corkcicle Kiosk will be opening in Disney Springs later this spring. This will be the first retail location for the company.

We also got a HUGE update on an upcoming Disney Springs restaurant Summer House at the Lake. We got a sneak peek at some of the California-inspired food the restaurant will be offering, including Shaved Brussels Salad, the Wilshire Blvd Cobb Salad, and the Costa Mesa Salad. Small bites like the Ahi Tuna Tostadas will also be offered. Plus there’s a GIGANTIC Sea Salt Chocolate Chip Cookie.

We also know the opening timeline for the new restaurant: late 2023. However, a Summer House location is already open at the Orlando International Airport if you want to try it out before then.

We know that’s a LOT of news to take in, but we’ll keep covering ALL the Disney news that comes in, so be sure to check back with AllEars often!