As we close the book on 2018, we figured we’d look ahead to 2019. There’s a lot to look forward to at Disney World in 2019, so we wanted to share some of our thoughts on it. While some of these may be obvious no-brainers, some may not be.
Here’s what we’re looking forward to!
9. Character Changes
This year, Disney will change some of the character meet and greets around. Each of these announced changes will make for a better experience, in our opinion.
Disney will start by bringing back a meet and greet with Sully and Mike Wazowski from Monsters, Inc. They’ll be meeting in the Walt Disney Presents building at Hollywood Studios. This happens in just a couple of weeks, on January 19th. This meet and greet replaces the old Star Lord and Groot one, which always felt a little out of place to us.
On the same day, Disney will debut an Incredibles themed area in Pixar Place. There will be a dance party and Edna Mode’s Super-Suit Gallery (with no capes, we assume), among other things. You’ll get to meet some of the Incredibles as part of this too, which is a big win for fans of the characters. Right now, the Incredibles meet and greet is only scheduled through September 30th.
We hope Disney will build on this and will continue to add more Pixar related attractions, characters and entertainment.
In addition, they are going to change the meet and greet for Magician Mickey at Magic Kingdom, as part of a new celebration of Mickey and Minnie. They will meet together again in Town Square Theater in new party inspired outfits. We enjoyed this meet and greet when it used to be the two of them and felt it lost a little something when Minnie moved back into Storybook Circus. We are excited for this change to the Magic Kingdom character lineup, even if the costumes look a little ridiculous in our opinion.
8. Trying Different Disney World Resorts
We’re still on a mission to work our way around the various Disney World resorts. Since we started the blog, we’ve now stayed at six different resorts. Six? Don’t see six blog posts you ask? We know, we’re working on it! Joys of juggling a full-time job, kids and life as you all know. This doesn’t count the resorts we’ve stayed at before starting the blog. We’ll circle back to them soon enough.
Here are some of the resorts we are really interested in staying at this year: Caribbean Beach, Animal Kingdom Lodge, Pop Century, Art of Animation and All-Star Music.
What resorts are you looking forward to staying at this year?
7. Hollywood Studios’ 30th Anniversary
This year, Hollywood Studios is celebrating its 30th anniversary and man are they doing it in style. To us though, this isn’t just about an anniversary. Rather, it’s the culmination of a decade long transformation of this park.
With the old production studios gone and many rides closed, the park has slowly been evolving into a real dedicated theme park. While the transformation started long ago, it really picked up steam this year with the opening of Toy Story Land and will conclude with the opening of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.
In addition to new attractions and entire lands, the park is receiving an updated bus terminal setup and the new Disney Skyliner. That’s a big improvement to the park, even if the new bus stops are a long way from the front gate.
As part of Hollywood Studio’s 30th anniversary, Disney will be showcasing a new nighttime cinematic experience. The “Wonderful World of Animation” is supposed to take guests on a journey through 90 years of Disney animation. It will be a projection show that takes place on and around the Chinese Theater in Hollywood Studios.
Seeing the progression of animation over the years will be fascinating to us. We think Anna and Elsa will enjoy seeing this too. Hopefully it will be a fun new nighttime show that breaks up some of the Star Wars shows.
Hollywood Studios has evolved and changed drastically from when it opened up on May 1, 1989. The opening of all these new attractions in 2019 will mark the conclusion of a large investment in the park. We can’t wait to see it all unfold this year.
7. Doing More Backstage Tours
As we continue to go deeper in experiencing Disney World, we know that Backstage Tours are a great way to enhance the Disney experience. This past year, we took our first one with the Wild Africa Trek. The Trek was amazing and has wet our appetite for more tours.
On our list for this year are: Behind the Seeds, Disney’s Family Magic Tour, and Caring for Giants.
Are there Backstage Tours you’ve done that are worthy of consideration?
6. Trying Different Disney World Resorts
We’re still on a mission to work our way around the various Disney World resorts. Since we started the blog, we’ve now stayed at six different resorts. Six? Don’t see six blog posts you ask? We know, we’re working on it! Joys of juggling a full-time job, kids and life as you all know. This doesn’t count the resorts we’ve stayed at before starting the blog. We’ll circle back to them soon enough.
Here are some of the resorts we are really interested in staying at this year: Caribbean Beach, Animal Kingdom Lodge, Pop Century, Art of Animation and All-Star Music.
What resorts are you looking forward to staying at this year?
5. New Dining Experiences
Well, maybe new to us. Although Disney does have a slate of new restaurants opening in the coming year, we’re more focused on the existing places we have yet to dine at. But I’m sure we’ll get to the new places as they open.
As we continue to eat our way around Disney World, we are looking forward to trying some new foods. Yes, I’m sure we’ll stop at some old Disney favorites, but we’ll also hit up a few new places. Disney Springs is relatively unexplored by us on the food front, so we’ll be popping in there.
On our list of places to try this year are Jaleo, Restaurant Marrakesh, Jock Lindsey’s Hangar Bar and maybe Nine Dragons. Oh, and while we have eaten here a few times, it’s been a while so we’d like to get back to ‘Ohana.
Where are you looking forward to eating at this year? Drop down in the comments section below and let us know!
4. Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway
A new ride coming to Disney’s Hollywood Studios, but only at the number 4 position? Well, let’s say we think this ride will be entertaining, but not necessarily groundbreaking. Although we are excited that Disney World is finally getting a trackless ride like the international Disney parks have. We think finally having a ride based upon Mickey and friends will be fun for all ages. It will also help round out Hollywood Studios into a more complete park. If it doesn’t, that’s okay because something else will. It’s number one on our list, so just sit tight.
3. Riding on the Disney Skyliner Gondola System
I know, it’s a glorified bus in the sky, but we’re really excited about this. A new and novel way to get around a few resorts and two parks while getting a different view of Disney World. Yes, sign us up please!
Now, there are those pesky rumors about how hot it might be without air conditioning, but Disney isn’t oblivious to this fact. My guess is the heat will be dealt with in some way. Disney won’t let the gondolas turn into giant ovens.
2. Seeing IllumiNations as Many Times as Possible
Notice, we didn’t phrase it as saying goodbye to IllumiNations or welcoming in a new fireworks show at Epcot. That’s because we LOVE IllumiNations and don’t want to see it go. In that regard, we may be like the Disney fans who were very upset when Wishes was replaced by Happily Ever After.
Now, we won’t say we are devastated by this change, but we aren’t looking forward to it either. So, we’ll try to catch IllumiNations as many times as we can before the new show starts near the end of summer.
The new show around World Showcase Lagoon better be awesome. Disney did an outstanding job with Happily Ever After. They need to bring their A game again for Epcot.
1. Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge
Need we say more?! The opening of Galaxy’s Edge will make the opening of Pandora look like child’s play. And those multi-hour wait times for Flight of Passage? Galaxy’s Edge will no doubt say, “Hold my beer!”
We plan on being there at Christmas and fighting our way through the crowds and we’ll probably enjoy every minute of it (well maybe the first hour or two of the wait!). Being there and seeing more of the construction progress continues to make us more and more eager for it.
If you missed Disney’s most recent preview, we’ve embedded it here in the blog so you can watch over and over again. Or is that just us?
Wrapping Up
And that’s our list of nine things for 2019 that we’re looking forward to. Are there other shows, attractions, food or anything else that you’re looking forward to? If so, drop down in the comments section below and let us know. We always love to hear what everyone else is up to at Disney World!