While much noise has been made about Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge – the Star Wars-themed area opening at Walt Disney World Resort next year – there are some exciting things planned for 2018 too. From Florida to Shanghai, we reveal the top Disney attractions opening around the world over the next 12 months.
The much-anticipated Toy Story Land will open at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Florida, in summer 2018. Visitors can hang out with their favourite characters from the family classic, including toy-cowboy Woody, spaceman Buzz Lightyear, and Andy, the child whose toys have a life all of their own. The fourth installment of the Toy Story film series is pegged for 2019.
Toy Story Land’s 11-acre site is a colourful reimagining of Andy’s backyard – and in true Disney style, it’s set to be larger than life. The huge rides and attractions, including towering figures of Woody and the gang at the entryway, are designed to make guests feel the size of toys themselves. Details are still emerging, but confirmed are a couple of themed roller coasters and a giant snack shack.
A favourite attraction in the new Toy Story Land will no doubt be Slinky Dog Dash: a family-friendly rollercoaster inspired by faithful dachshund Slinky, who makes an appearance in all three films. Riders will be sent spinning and spiralling in a course modelled on Slinky Dog’s coiled body.
Another major stop-off will be Alien Swirling Saucers. Guests will enter a spaceship-like structure, seating themselves in toy vehicles, while three-eyed, lime-skinned aliens – who also make regular appearances through the franchise – bob overhead. The aim for visitors is to dodge the alien invaders who try to “catch” guests with a giant claw. Bold and brash, and oh so Disney.
An extra track for the already popular Toy Story Mania is also touted for 2018. The immersive attraction involves shootouts with 3D projections in a kind of live video game. It’s already a favourite with big and little kids alike and the extra course is sure to lengthen queues even more.
Hungry Disney fans will soon be able to fuel up at the eagerly-awaited Edison at Disney Springs. This Gothic-style restaurant, bar and entertainment venue was originally due to begin serving in October 2017 and then in November 2017 and so on. Now it’s stamped with a January 2018 open date. Modelled on The Edison in Los Angeles, it’s imposing and industrial in design and will be the place to go for stylish cocktails and hearty American dishes to the tune of a cabaret show.
Minnie Vans (inspired, of course, by Minnie Mouse) are cutesy, polka-dotted cars with Disney characters at the wheel, ready to zip guests between attractions at the touch of a button. And they’re currently at testing phase in select resorts across the park (Disney’s Board Walk Resort; Disney’s Yacht and Beach Club Resorts). Once they’ve been put through their paces, the vans are sure to be ubiquitous across Disney parks in 2018, so keep your eyes peeled.
2018 will mark the Animal Kingdom’s 20th anniversary and the park will be celebrating in suitable Disney style. A new show featuring Russell, the plucky Junior Explorer kid from Disney hit Up, and his dog Dug, will come to the Kingdom in spring 2018. The show will be focused on discovering bird species from around the world and will replace current offering “Flights of Wonder”.
The biggest opening for Disneyland Resort California is set to be the new Pixar Pier, promised for April 2018. It will be set in Disney California Adventure, one of the two parks here (the second is Disneyland Park). The pier will comprise four themed areas dedicated to some of Pixar’s best-loved movies and will replace Paradise Pier, which opened back in 2007.
Set by the waterside, the whole Pier will still be dominated by Mickey’s Fun Wheel, which is getting a facelift. Each of the ride’s 24 gondolas will now bear a Pixar character, with Mickey’s beaming face still proud at the centre. It completes the Pier’s first “neighbourhood”, which is a tribute to Pixar’s most popular characters. The famous ride will be closed at the start of 2018, though, as work continues.
Mickey’s not the only one getting an update. Paradise Bay’s California Screamin’ ride will be transformed into The Incredicoaster. Inspired by 2004 Pixar flick The Incredibles, it will take centre stage in Pixar Pier’s “Incredibles neighbourhood”. The Incredibles stars a family of superheroes forced to live under the cover of average suburban life. On this new ride, thrillseekers will zip along the tracks with favourites from the film in tow, including Mrs Incredible and baby Jack-Jack. The opening will be in time for the summer cinema release of The Incredibles 2.
Another entire neighbourhood at Pixar Pier will be dedicated to 2015 animation Inside Out. The film, which was a hit with critics, takes place within a young girl’s (Riley’s) psyche. It stars personified emotions such as Joy, Sadness and Fear, who battle to keep Riley happy as she experiences the inevitable pitfalls of growing up. Details about the area are still still under wraps, but it’s sure to be as colourful and imaginative as the picture itself.
Following in Florida’s footsteps, California will also pay extra tribute to Toy Story in 2018. A dedicated Toy Story neighbourhood, complete with all the usual trappings (life-size characters and colourful themed attractions), will complete Pixar Pier. It will be built up around the resort’s existing Toy Story Mania game. Details continue to emerge.
The opening of Pixar Pier will coincide with California’s first ever Pixar Fest. It’s set to be an explosive jamboree, across both the resort’s parks, complete with fireworks, character meet and greets and parades (including Pixar Play Parade, new for spring 2018, and the returning Paint the Night Parade). The climax will be Together Forever – A Pixar Nighttime Spectacular, an extravagant firework display chronicling Pixar tales through the decades.
From autumn next year, Disneyland Paris will busy working on Disney’s Hotel New York – The Art of Marvel: a huge, superhero-themed hotel, currently with a 2020 opening date. But in the meantime, Marvel’s best-loved superheroes will be making their debut at the Parisian park in celebration. Iron Man, Thor, Captain America and Spider-Man will all be descending on Disneyland Paris for meet and greets and shows, before work on the hotel begins in October 2018.
The first characters will arrive on 10 June, ready for Marvel: Super Heroes United, a high-action show bursting with all manner of stunts and special effects. Another fun addition will be a Guardians of the Galaxy Dance Off, where fans of the film can test their moves against their favourite fictional superheroes.
Set in Ancient Polynesia, 2016 animation Moana tells the story of a village chief’s spirited young daughter, who is forced into an unlikely adventure. When a curse, cast by a blighted demi-god, strikes Moana’s island, she answers a call (from the ocean, no less) to save her homeland. In 2018, Hong Kong Disneyland Resort is opening an attraction dedicated to the film’s gutsy protagonist.
May 2018 will see the launch of Moana: A Homecoming Celebration, a colourful, interactive show starring the Disney heroine. The performance is set in a dedicated new area at Adventureland with a Polynesian Island theme, so you can feel suitably immersed. It’s the first new attraction in a huge expansion plan that will see oodles of new rides and amusements at the Hong Kong park.
Hong Kong’s Disneyland Resort will be a flurry of activity in 2018. A dedicated Marvel area is planned in the current Tomorrowland site, and a Frozen-themed quarter is mapped out too. A total transformation of the huge storybook castle at the centre of the park is also on the cards. Though the Moana attraction is currently the only one with a firm 2018 open date, updates are continually released, so watch this space.
Disney’s Cruise Liners won’t be outdone, either – and they’re making sure it’s not all about the kids. Launching in March 2018, Cove Café defines itself as an “adult-exclusive retreat”. Think craft cocktails, beer and wine tastings, and an adult-only pool, all with a tropical theme.
Rapunzel’s Royal Table, an interactive restaurant based on the 2010 animation Tangled, will also launch in March 2018. In the film, princess Rapunzel is confined to a tower, trapped by witch Mother Gothel, who uses Rapunzel’s long hair for the magical properties it harnesses. Themed menus and live entertainment characterise the venue, which is modelled on the lavish Kingdom of Corona, Rapunzel’s true home in the film.
It’s a big year for Tokyo Disney Resort as the park celebrates its 35th birthday and gets stuck into major expansion plans. A Beauty and the Beast-themed area is pipped for 2020, along with a Big Hero 6 attraction – and construction will be in full swing through 2018. But, until then, all eyes will be on the Tokyo park’s Happiest Celebration.
The Happiest Celebration, a festival of parades and special events will begin on 28 April 2018 and run right through to 2019. The most exciting will be a new daytime parade – the first new parade here in five years. Whimsical floats will trail through the park carrying Mickey Mouse and a whole host of other well-known characters.
After extensive renovations, Tokyo’s It’s a Small World will reopen for 2018. The attraction, which has versions at various other Disney parks, is a tribute to the world’s cultures: visitors take to indoor waterways which weave through rows of tiny model children, all in traditional dress, as the classic Disney song echoes around the cavern. It’s altogether a bizarre but rather touching experience. The 2018 update will include an addition of some 40 more figures.
Shanghai Disneyland, which opened just a couple of years back in 2016, is embracing the Toy Story theme too. Pegged to open in April 2018, Shanghai’s shiny new Toy Story Land will be the park’s seventh themed area. And, following in Florida’s footsteps, it will be modelled on Andy’s backyard and include some major new rides and attractions.
As in Florida, Slinky Dog will make a starring appearance at the Shanghai park. Slinky Dog Spin will be a major roller coaster in the new Toy Story area. In this imagining, the dachshund will chase his own tail round and round, as dizzied riders sit within his spiralling body.
Joining Slinky Dog is Rex, Andy’s large but timid T-Rex toy. The tallest of the new rides here, Rex’s Racer boasts a large U-shaped track. Seated in RC (Andy’s remote control car), with the green dinosaur at the wheel, riders zoom forwards and backwards, ascending a little further each time.
Completing the Toy Story Land picture is Woody’s Round-Up, an amusing attraction that involves guests hauling themselves into makeshift carts pulled by a herd of dancing ponies. Once riders are aboard, the horses swing and sidestep to hippity-hoppity music, all within a ranch-style setting inspired by the character of cowboy Woody. Perhaps one best left to the kids.
In 2019, all eyes will be on Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge – a mammoth area arriving at Walt Disney World Florida and Disneyland Resort California, themed around the sci-fi franchise. Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway, a ride-through attraction dedicated to the beloved duo will also pop up at Walt Disney World in 2019. In 2020, Disneyland Paris will have some time in the limelight as it unveils its much-anticipated Marvel hotel. Loved this? Follow us on Facebook, Instagram & Twitter for more travel inspiration.