A revamping of Magic Kingdom’s Country Bear Jamboree and the replacement of DinoLand USA at Animal Kingdom were among the Walt Disney World announcements Saturday morning.
In a Destination D23 session led by Disney Parks, Experiences and Products Chairman Josh D’Amaro, multiple worldwide projects were updated including character encounters, rides, shows, restaurants and much-anticipated opening dates.
At Magic Kingdom, Country Bear Jamboree, which opened with the park in 1971, will receive an update next year using Disney songs performed in different styles of country music. D23 attendees saw a video clip of a recording session for “Bare Necessities,” a famed song from “The Jungle Book.”
“We’re envisioning this new take on the classic jamboree as a homage to the classic musical reviews of Nashville,” Imagineer Chris Beatty said.
Other Magic Kingdom news included the addition of a “tavern” as part of the Pirates of the Caribbean area and a “late November” debut of the Hatbox Ghost figure at Haunted Mansion, which was announced at a previous D23 event. A video showed work on animatronic figures set for Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, set to open in late 2024 in Frontierland.
D’Amaro and Bruce Vaughn, chief creative officer of Walt Disney Imagineering, also talked about blue-sky projects for Magic Kingdom, which a year ago had been publicly speculated about at D23 as “beyond Big Thunder.”
“This is similar in scale to things like Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge or Pandora, the World of Avatar,” Vaughn said Saturday. “I actually think this could be the biggest thing we’ve done in the Magic Kingdom, probably even bigger than new Fantasyland.”
He said new attractions, restaurants and shows were all on the table.
“There’s still a long way to go. But I just want all of our fans to know that we are about to go into overdrive at the Magic Kingdom,” D’Amaro said.
Officials announced that the Animal Kingdom’s DinoLand USA area will be reimagined to be themed to “the tropical Americas,” a region defined as from the equator in South America north into Central America.
“These are the most biodiverse areas on the planet, places people travel for adventure, exploration, discovery. It’s a great fit,” Vaughn said. “We’re imagining a land filled with authentic experiences from this part of the world with all of the placemaking and storytelling you would expect.”
Although details were sparse, various winks to Indiana Jones and “Encanto” were made. The house band broke into “We Don’t Talk About Bruno.” Vaughn made a whip quip.
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Elsewhere at Animal Kingdom, a new Tree of Life show featuring characters from “Zootopia” is in the works,
At Epcot, opening dates were given for Journey of Water, Inspired by Moana (Oct. 16) and the next nighttime spectacular (Dec. 5). The show’s name — “Luminous: The Symphony of Us” — was shared for the first time. At the end of the session, D’Amaro said that the previously announced Figment meet-and-greet area will open at Imagination Pavilion on Sunday. The walk-around Figment character — taller than D’Amaro — made an on-stage appearance as part of the session’s finale.
A Moana meet and greet will also be part of the Journey of Water when it opens. Asha, a character from the upcoming “Wish” movie, will appear at Epcot, as well.
In addition, the Test Track attraction will be “reimagined,” although neither details nor timeframe were shared.
“We’re reaching back into the history of the pavilion, taking inspiration from the original World of Motion and bringing that spirit of optimism to this next iteration of Test Track,” Imagineer Scott Mallwitz said.
The 70-minute session was peppered with highlights from Disney parks in Europe and Asia plus on-stage appearances by various Muppets, including Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Gonzo, Sam Eagle and Bunson Honeydew.
“Over the course of this big next decade, we’re going to deliver so many great new experiences across all of our destinations around the world,” D’Amaro said. “I’m telling you this, and I’m guaranteeing this: More attractions.
“We’re gonna give you more shows. You got a lot more characters coming. We’ve got more lands coming, and more things that you all can’t even imagine are possible.”
Email me at dbevil@orlandosentinel.com. My Threads account is @dbevil. You can subscribe to the Theme Park Rangers newsletter at orlandosentinel.com/newsletters.
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Email me at dbevil@orlandosentinel.com. My Threads account is @dbevil. You can subscribe to the Theme Park Rangers newsletter at orlandosentinel.com/newsletters.
