Major changes coming to Walt Disney World in 2024

Walt Disney World has dropped SO MANY UPDATES this week! And we aren’t only talking about ride updates, they’ve changed their advanced reservation system, ride closures, new ride openings, and changes to food service offerings. Sometimes Disney World will make updates that make sense and the construction project walls go up to hide a new offering. Other times, they take away fan favorites that leave us scratching our heads on their decision making. Either way, it generates a ton of publicity for the parks themselves and keeps Walt Disney World as a top of mind topic of conversation. Great PR move by the Disney team - they know how to keep the buzz alive for their parks and events! So, what is changing this summer and beyond?

Ride Changes: Peter Pan’s Flight Closure

Disney World officials applied for permits earlier this year to make updates to Peter Pan’s Flight in Magic Kingdom. While we still do not know details of the exact “set updates” that are being made, we have a feeling it will have something to do with the historical Native American scene based on comments and feedback over the past few years. They published the actual closure dates on June 27th and visitors may expect the ride to be offline beginning early July all the way through late August. At least Magic Kingdom is keeping Peter Pan’s Flight for now, unlike in Disneyland where it was announced previously that this attraction would be completely removed in favor of an “Up” themed dark ride.

Ride Openings: Tiana’s Bayou Adventure

Tiana’s Bayou Adventure will feature a Virtual Queue until Disney World updates the advanced ride entry system from Genie+ to Lightning Lane

Splash Mountain caused a big, well, splash when Disney announced this staple attraction would be completely overhauled in Magic Kingdom. In fact, we had friends of ours send us a video of their 5 year old son in tears over the fact that his beloved Splash Mountain would be no more.

It has been revamped with an updated water attraction that picks up following the final scenes of Princess and the Frog as we journey with Tiana through the Bayou. This is the first step in expanded park theming that will focus on Tiana as the main character. After months, and months, of construction walls surrounding the iconic ride in Magic Kingdom, the attraction opened for a media preview earlier in June to less than spectacular results. The ride faced a multitude of technical issues. Fortunately, all seem to have been remedied in very short order and as of today, June 28th, Tiana’s Bayou Adventure is finally open to all park goers!

Tiana’s Bayou Adventure in Magic Kingdom’s Frontier Land officially opens to guests on June 28th

Ride Changes: Test Track Closure

Test Track presented by Chevrolet in Disney World’s EPCOT closed earlier in June for a complete re-theming. While the attraction will remain sponsored by Chevrolet, we expect to see an entirely different ride once this reopens. It is going to take on a futuristic theme with a look at vehicles manufactured for future generations. Given that this is an entire retheming of the ride, guests may expect to see the walls of progress standing in EPCOT for a considerable amount of time.

Test Track in Walt Disney World’s EPCOT is undergoing a major retheming project in 2024

Ride Updates: Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith

It seems we finally have a reopening date set for Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith in Disney World’s Hollywood Studios! This ride, one of the few actual thrill-seeking attractions in all of Disney World, has been offline since early 2024. Many rumors began to swirl that the coaster featuring a lightning fast takeoff was going to be completely rethemed. It makes sense considering Aerosmith is supposedly on their fourth or fifth final farewell tour, and many of today’s park goers are not as familiar with the legendary rock band. Rumors, though, proved to be just that and the ride is not receiving a complete retheme. We are unsure of exactly what has been updated, but rest assured that we will still climb into the speeding vehicle and navigate downtown L.A. to make it to the next performance.

Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster starring Aerosmith in Walt Disney World’s Hollywood Studios is scheduled to reopen in the summer of 2024

Attraction Updates: Country Bear Jamboree & Shooting Galley

Frontier Land in Magic Kingdom has been the focus of quite a few changes lately. Mainly with the complete retheming of Splash Mountain into Tiana’s Bayou Adventure. We are also seeing the retheming of a long running attraction. Country Bear Jamboree will be closed, beginning this June, for an extended period of time as the characters, songs, and choreography all receive an overhaul. We have been told by Disney that the updates will not remove the country-music genre from the show, but that it will update it to fit within the genre of today. While I don’t expect Morgan Wallen to lay down a track for Liver Lips, although wouldn’t that be the mashup collaboration of the year, I do think we will see more influence of the rock-country into the performances. A planned reopening date is still out in the future and we firmly trust that the reimagined attraction will immediately regain its popularity with Jamboree enthusiasts of all ages.

Disney World Food News: We say goodbye to our beloved Sleepy Hollow Waffle Sandwich

The beloved Sleepy Hollow fruit waffle

Yes, Magic Kingdom’s quick service food stop Sleepy Hollow has removed our favorite menu item - the fruit waffle sandwich. This was a delicious breakfast item that featured a generous serving of fresh fruit highlighted by a Nutella drizzle, all contained within an oversized waffle for your dining delight. And now, it is no more. Let me tell you how much we loved this menu item. We planned our park mornings in Magic Kingdom to allow sufficient time to not only order, but also slowly enjoy this meal before rushing off to attractions and rides. Our podcast has countless minutes of us discussing this singular menu item and detailing every ounce of its goodness. Disney World has updated the menu at Sleepy Hollow to include other fruit-based + waffle combinations in an attempt to persuade us diehards that all will be ok. And yes, this not the end of the world when it comes to Disney World changes. It is, however, one of those that makes you scratch your head and wonder what they were thinking.

Magic Kingdom’s quick service food stop Sleepy Hollow

There you have it - the big changes coming this summer to Walt Disney World’s parks. We know that things are always fluid, and Disney likes to announce changes out of the blue. We’ll keep an “ear” out to make sure you’re fully updated as things change! As always, give us a follow on Instagram, @wayfaringwillards, to keep up with our travels. Get your free travel quote if you’re ready to start planning that next magical family vacation!