This week has been huge for Walt Disney World news, with both the 7DMT dedication ceremony and the summer press event occurring on May 2.
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train Dedication and Open Date
First, the 7DMT dedication ceremony. The event itself was a brief, generic oration for which Snow White and all of her Seven Dwarfs were on hand. The noteworthy piece of news shared immediately after this event was the official opening date for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train: May 28, 2014. A “soft open”, or early unofficial opening, may occur at any time between now and that time, but no reports of this have been heard thus far.
FastPasses are available on Disney’s site now for dates from May 28 forward.
Animal Kingdom Night-time Hard Ticket Event, Harambe Nights
A night-time hard-ticket event at Disney’s Animal Kingdom has been announced. Entitled Harambe Nights, the event will occur most Saturday evenings throughout the summer and will be hosted by a celebrity narrator. The show begins at 7:30pm. The first night, June 7, has already sold out.
| Harambe Nights Ticket Prices | |
|---|---|
| Standard Seating | Premium Seating |
|
|
After the show concludes, Harambe Nights Street Party will begin, featuring a free buffet, character greets, exclusive merchandise, and a “special finale”.
Free Dining Dates for Disney Visa
Let’s take a breather here with some tamer news from earlier in the week. Disney announced free dining dates for Disney Visa cardholders. Dates for The Rest of Ustm will be announced soon and will probably overlap significantly with these dates. Reservations for free dining for Disney Visa cardholders began being accepted on May 2.
- August 31 – October 3
- October 26 – November 1
- November 9 – November 20
- December 12 – December 23
This discount is not available for rooms booked at Port Orleans Riverside, Port Orleans French Quarter, All-Star Movies, Fort Wilderness Campsites, Art of Animation Little Mermaid Rooms, Grand Floridian Villas, or any 3-bedroom villa.
Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort
We’ve discussed elsewhere on this blog the extensive renovations ongoing at Disney’s Polynesian Resort, and now more detail has been revealed about what we can expect when refurbishment completes in 2015.
As rumored, Disney will change the Polynesian’s formal name to Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort, reverting to the name used when the resort originally opened in 1971.
Rumors that the much-adored lobby would be converted to a more open environment have also been validated, with the release of this rendering:
The massive water feature that currently occupies the lobby and stretches into the second story of the Great Ceremonial House will be removed entirely and replaced with a modest circular fountain. Bagged bulbs and orbs will now hang from the ceiling, filling the gap left in the second floor by the water feature’s removal. This is one of the most controversial revisions in a long while. It also looks like the wooden floors will be replaced with marble and the seating areas completely retooled.
The Poly will also receive a new lounge, Trader Sam’s Grog Grotto, inspired by Trader Sam of the Jungle Cruise and the canonical Trader Sam’s Enchanted Tiki Bar at Disneyland Hotel.
“Rivers of Light” Night-time Spectacular at Disney’s Animal Kingdom
Although light on details, a new night-time show, Rivers of Light, was announced for Disney’s Animal Kingdom, utilizing water screens and lasers similar to those seen in Fantasmic! to project colorful images of animals into the corridor between Discovery Island and Expedition Everest. Between this and Harambe Nights, Disney is working to turn Animal Kingdom into an attractive all-day experience apart from and ahead of The World of Pandora (colloquially known as “Avatarland”). At present, the park almost always closes around sunset and has a reputation as a “half-day park”.
 Festival of The Lion King reopening in June
Festival of the Lion King, a stage show production at Animal Kingdom and one of the park’s main headliners, will reopen in June at a new theater in the Africa section of the park. The show’s previous theater was located in Camp Minnie-Mickey, which was closed to be remade into The World of Pandora.
Disney Springs
Downtown Disney is undergoing renovation now to become Disney Springs by 2016. The entire area is being completely rethemed into its polar opposite, abandoning the urban theme of a vibrant downtown in favor of a sleepy, cozy feel that “draws inspiration from Florida’s waterfront towns and natural beauty” and splits the area into four distinct “neighborhoods”. Although much of the Disney Springs concept was revealed in March 2013, several new renders of Disney Springs were released this week.
The images clearly communicate the overgrown feel that Disney is pursuing. One could not ask for a more stark transformation.
That’s a wrap
That about covers the major new developments from this busy week. Keep checking in for more news roundups and construction updates as things develop around Walt Disney World.