Disney has announced new lands, attractions, and entertainment headed to the theme parks, new ships coming to the Disney Cruise Line, and so much more. But, what about those projects that Disney hasn’t exactly announced yet?
Magic Kingdom
Keeping up with the latest construction permits Disney World files can be a great way to find out just what is going on around the parks and hotels, and we recently spotted some you might want to know about!
We’re always on the hunt for the latest construction permits filed by Disney to get an idea of what sort of changes might be coming to the parks, and here’s what we found this time around!
Magic Kingdom
Welcome, foolish mortals, to the Haunted Mansion at Magic Kingdom! According to a recently filed permit, this ride could be in for some TLC soon. Or, who knows, maybe we’ll get an updated Bride scene at Disney World like the one that recently debuted at Disneyland! The contractor on this permit is Buena Vista Construction Company, which is owned by Disney, but we don’t know much else at the moment from this permit!
Haunted Mansion
We recently reported that Tiana’s Bayou Adventure was potentially being worked on soon, as the ride keeps malfunctioning and will be closing early for several days coming up soon. Well, it looks like the problem may be worse than we thought because we spotted a new permit to “Provide labor, material, and/or electrical for construction.” Buena Vista Construction Company is also the contractor listed on this permit, which expires on January 27th, 2026.
Tiana’s Bayou Adventure
Hollywood Studios
Over at Hollywood Studios, a permit has been filed at the former Cars Meet-and-Greet location near where Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy used to be. This permit is to “Provide labor, material, and/or electrical for construction” as well, and we anticipate the entire area will be transformed soon for the new Villains show that will take the place of Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy.
Meet and Greet
Speaking of new shows at Hollywood Studios, we also found a new permit for the Voyage of the Little Mermaid theater in Animation Courtyard! This theater sat vacant for years, but this summer, a new show themed after The Little Mermaid will debut. “The Little Mermaid — A Musical Adventure” is a reimagining of the previous show, bringing a live-action re-telling — in a new way — back to Hollywood Studios. The show was originally supposed to debut in the fall of 2024, but Disney pushed its opening back to the summer of 2025.
Voyage of the Little Mermaid
A new permit was recently filed by Disney for work at this theater, and we can’t wait for the show to debut! We don’t have an opening date just yet, but we’ll let you know if that changes.
EPCOT
Spaceship Earth will soon be home to a new lounge at EPCOT! The lounge is going to be located in the structure at the exit of the Spaceship Earth attraction, which sits behind the iconic sphere and is set to open this spring. We’ve already spotted construction walls up, and a new permit has been filed for more work in this area. Unfortunately, the permit doesn’t tell us exactly what it’s for, so we’ll just have to wait and see.
Spaceship Earth construction
Oh, Test Track, how we miss you. The ride closed on June 17th, 2024, and will reopen with a whole new vibe! Disney has shared that the new version of Test Track will take inspiration from the old ride, World of Motion, that was originally there when the park opened in 1982. A new permit was recently filed by Disney and Buena Vista Construction Company, so it sounds like things are moving right along! The ride is set to reopen late this summer, but we’ll let you know when Disney announces an official reopening date.
Test Track construction
In the meantime, we’ll be on the hunt for new updates from Disney World and more — so stay tuned to the Disney Food Blog for the latest news!
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