2025 is shaping up to be a year of construction and refurbishment at Disney World.
There’s the Beyond Big Thunder expansion that’s getting underway in Magic Kingdom, a massive retheme of DinoLand, U.S.A. into Pueblo Esperanza, a Tropical Americas-themed land in Animal Kingdom, and the transformation of Muppets Courtyard into a new Monsters, Inc. Land. Plus, Disney has just announced a NEW ride closure that could affect your 2025 vacation.
The Astro Orbiter aerial carousel ride in Tomorrowland will close for refurbishment beginning January 13th, 2025.
As you can see from the announcement of Disney World’s website. There is no official reopening date, but the company says the closure will last until summer 2025. We’re not sure if this is just a lengthy routine update that needs to be done in order to keep the ride working in tip-top shape, or if we’ll see any significant changes to the ride.
To us, that sounds like a significant refurbishment. We wonder what changes are in store for the Astro Orbiter!
As far as the rest of Magic Kingdom is concerned, we could start to see construction walls and areas blocked off here pretty soon as Disney prepares to make way for the new Cars area on its way.
The Rivers of America will no longer exist in Frontierland, which means that Tom Sawyer Island will be going away as well as the beloved Riverboat. In its place, an entirely new land will be built that’s themed around the Pixar franchise Cars. As of now, Disney hasn’t shared much about the plans for this area yet, but we do know it’ll have two attractions.
One will be a “thrilling rally race through the mountains. Take on wild terrain as you race across the landscape, climbing mountain trails, dodging geysers, and — Mater’s favorite — splashing through mudholes.” The other will be a family attraction so that smaller racers can also enjoy it.
And, we know that work has already started on Villains Land, and we’ve seen large curtains around Big Thunder Mountain Railroad to keep people from seeing the construction. Big Thunder Mountain is also closing on January 6th, 2025 for over a YEAR to undergo refurbishment.
It sounds like your 2025 visit to Magic Kingdom could look wildly different than your last one — but we’ll be sure to keep you updated on everything ou need to know! Keep following AllEars for the latest Disney World news.
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I’m pretty well done with Disney World at this point.
The Rivers of America project is reportedly having issues with the state so hopefully it will be pulled. WDW has oodles of land on which they can build out, maybe do that instead.