If you haven’t visited Walt Disney World in the last few years due to the CO-VID pandemic or the concerns about the Disney-Florida woke clash, there have been a number of major completions of rides and attractions.  Did they live up to all the 50^th anniversary promotion? Are they worth the additional cost as added ticket prices?

Here is our evaluation:

MAGIC KINGDOM: The big story is Tron has arrived and most of the character meetings so crucial to small children are back.

 TRON LIGHTCYCLE/ RUN    Rating 93%

TRON is faster than you imagine just by watching the cycles fly past.

After many delays to complete other projects Tron, the rocket-moving motorcycle that debuted in 2016 at Shanghai Disney, opened in 2023 with good reviews.  The ride may look fast but tame when seen by bystanders, but the scarier sections are inside the dark area with its computer connection.  There is a 48” height minimum and despite a more traditional seated car at the back of each train, this is NOT a ride for people with health issues. The theme of the ride is a race between the Blue Team and the Tred Team and this adds to the excitement even if you have little control in the race.

CONS: The ride is just under two minutes long and despite relatively fast loading and a maximum of seven trains, each with seven rows of two cycles each, the lines are long. It is an extra-pay Lightning ride. The ride is not comfortable if you are overweight.

MICKEY’S PHILHARMAGIC    Rating: 88%

In case you haven’t visited the 3-D 12-minute film since 2021, the show was closed in October of 2021 for refurbishment and the addition of a singing of Un Poco Loco from the film Coco. The 2002 picture was getting a little “dullish”, but the latest edition has the feel of a new presentation: brighter colors, sharp images, and great soundtrack. And on hot Florida days, it is a cool theater.

TIANA’S BAYOU ADVENTURE    Not Open – Later in 2024

This ride is being built within the structure of Splash Mountain and much like how Frozen was created out of the Norway ride, we firmly believe people will sense the same river movements and the same drop at the end of the ride.  It may seem weird that a movie about life in 1927 is part of Frontierland which ended by 1900, but Disney correctly assumes that the ride will be about the music, the atmosphere, and on hot Florida days, the cooling water.

COUNTRY BEAR JAMBOREE   Not Open – Bears Learning New Music

The classic animated bears will open late in 2024 with a more diverse music program, although Disney is using the same building.  The Grand Old Opry may be removed for a more modern atmosphere.

DISNEY FESTIVAL of FANTASY PARADE    Rating: 90%

One thing Disney fans missed besides the contact character meetings during the pandemic years was the full-scale Disney parades.  If you haven’t been to WDW for a while, you will realize how improved technology and animation have made the floats bigger and better.  This parade leaves out few popular Disney characters.  The few I didn’t recognize were from the Disney Channel kid shows.

EPCOT:  No park underwent as many changes as Epcot with the total redesign and reconstruction of the middle area of what was World Showcase with a new Epcot Store, restaurant, café, and even the old Coca-Cola Club Cool, which I could never resist.  Also in its place are some extensive gardens and more places for people to sit down (GADS!).  This is also the area of Disney’s most expensive ride.

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY: COSMIC REWIND  Rating: 96% but

The largest dark ride in the history of Disney takes people to the planet Xander where your tour is suddenly interrupted as a weird; giant force” is trying to steal the crucial power supply. All visitors must be quickly evacuated to Earth. What do the wonderful Guardians of the Galaxy have to do with this? They are going to get the power thing back.  This is one of those rides where you are spread out into various rooms to help the continuous loading process and to relate the story. You must be 42” tall and definitely think people with health reasons should avoid Xander. These fantastic cars almost seem to defy gravity on some turns.

CONS: After watching three years of detailed videos of the construction and promotion of this ride, I was very disappointed, not in the ride, but the ride presentation. I expected to see maybe an animated raccoon with a weapon or a piece of wood that can say only a few words. The stars of the Guardian movies appear with short lines on large screens (like they can be replaced with stars from another hit sci-fi in the future).  Much like the Dinosaur ride where you are helping capture a dinosaur in the past and in the end are congratulated for participating in something you never saw happen, you feel like a distant bystander.  Human interaction is not very big on Xander. It is a Lightning Lane must.

JOURNEY OF WATER, INSPIRED BY MOANA    Rating 90%

Unlike Guardians, this walk through the park is totally interactive with exhibits allowing even small children to get sprays of water to jump up and even from bush to bush. Whether people read all the educational messages of not, the self-tour is refreshingly nice.  Yes, the water that jumped around at the Imagination exhibit has moved to this presentation.

CONS: When the pathways get crowded with people the interactivity of Moana’s world loses much of its magic.

Speaking of Imagination, an exhibit that has seriously declined since Kodak, its original sponsor, collapsed, I am happy to say that fans of Figment the tiny dragon can meet and greet a larger version of Figment.

REMY’S RATATOUILLE ADVENTURE     Rating: 90%

The star of Disney Land Paris (2014) opened at Epcot in 2021, this ride is a four-minute thrill ride that reduces you to mouse-size so you can join Remy in a wild race across the kitchen of a famous Paris restaurant.  This is a delightful family ride was the first all-new ride at Epcot since 1988 because Frozen used the Norway ride waters.

In the new Epcot Gardens Walt Looks Out on the Lake and its Lands.

LUMINOUS THE SYMPHONY OF US    Rating: 85%

The new night-time fireworks, music, and laser light show is a big improvement over the confusing 50^th anniversary show, Disney Harmonious.  And a notch above the substitute Epcot Forever fireworks.  If you have seen Epcot shows for years (like me), I am not thrilled.  Disney is the biggest user of fireworks in the world.

DISNEY HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS: The opening of Star Wars and Toy Story drastically changed the operation of visitors at Hollywood Studios in the late 1990s.  Since then, the changes have been mainly cosmetic. 

ROCK N ROLLER COASTER is closed for a major refurbishment.

VOYAGE OF THE LITTLE MERMAID is closed, but I heard that it will be refreshed with more animation and songs.  Not sure there will be a live singing Arial, the first one won Miss America.  So, Ariel is the ONLY Disney Princess to become a real Queen.

There is finally a sit-down table restaurant in Toy Story, an absolute must when Florida is hot of filled with thunderstorms.

ANIMAL KINGDOM:  The park seems neglected, but Disney concentrated on the bigger tourist volume parks.   The big news is that slowly the DINOLAND area will be changed into a “Tropical World” – I expect it will be heavy on South American animals and foliage, both of which are easy to produce in Florida.  Dino Diner and some other Dinoland places are already gone.