Walt Disney World has a proud tradition of being one of the most popular vacation destinations on the planet.  They also have a tradition of overused corporate synergy and bad names.  That tradition is less proud.  Keeping up with tradition, Disney World announced a “new” slate of summer offerings coming to the parks.  They also decided to call this group of offerings ‘Incredible Summer’ because the Pixar film, Incredibles 2, is coming out this summer.  For as much as I love The Incredibles and Disney Parks, I am fairly cynical about this name.  But, should I be?

The only way for a blogger to decide if their feelings are justified is to make up a set of arbitrary ratings and see if they can bend the information to fit their opinion.  That’s exactly what I’m going to do.  For those that want to skip the annoying, but hopefully humorous ratings there is some actual information in this post.  I’ll say what is coming to each park and give a brief explanation of each.  Just scroll down until you see bold writing.

If you are in this for a little more fun, then I’m going to rate these announcements based on this criteria:

• Is this addition a good idea?  10 points.
• Does the addition match the name of ‘Incredible Summer’ either practically or figuratively.  10 points.
• Is this addition actually new or is this just a retread.  5 points.
• Does this have anything to do with The Incredibles franchise? 5 points.
• Potential for these additions to make yours, or any visitors, summer actually incredible.  10 points.

These categories are all based on the amount of points next to them, the higher the points the better.  If an addition maxes out on points then it would get a perfect 40.  None of this is serious but I will try to add some meaningful commentary into the good idea section.  On to the announcements in order of the actual Disney news release.

The Incredibles Take Over Tomorrowland at Magic Kingdom Park 

• What is this?  It seems like this is just a dance party with The Incredibles characters.  Mr. Incredible, Elastigirl, Frozone, and Edna Mode will all be putting on their dancing shoes at Rocket Tower Stage.  This takes place every night in Tomorrowland.
• Good idea?  As much fun as I love the thought of getting boogie with Frozone and Edna, I can’t say that dance parties are a good idea.  They aren’t terrible and a decent way to get candid character shots but I will never be very excited about dance parties unless they include the Country Bears.  4 out of 10 points.
• Name match? Yes, this is an Incredibles dance party.  Good job.  10 out of 10 points.
• Is this actually new? I feel like I’m taking crazy pills! This is definitely not new and has been happening for quite a few years. 0 out of 5 points.
• Incredibles Franchise tie-in? Absolutely. 5 out of 5 points.
• Incredible potential? On our honeymoon, Melissa and I happened upon this dance party and took part for about a song.  It was a nice impromptu moment.  Was it incredible?  No but it was nice enough for me not to give this 0 points.  2 out of 10 points.
• Actual Incredible Summer Rating – 21 out of 40 points

The Guardians of the Galaxy Take the Stage at Epcot

• What is this?  Honestly, I’m not sure.  I’ve read the release several times.  It seems like people dressing up as characters from Guardians of the Galaxy and then playing music.  I thought that I had seen this will take place at the stage near the American Adventure.  This isn’t on the Disney site though so I can’t confirm.  They’ll be playing songs from the Guardians of the Galaxy films.
• Is this a good idea?  Still confused about what’s happening but I’ll break this into parts… Are these good songs?  Yes.  Do I want to watch a band of aliens playing?  Yeah, I guess I do.  Does this match Epcot?  Not at all.  Do I think that I’d actually take part in this if I was there?  I really doubt it.  50%! 5 out of 10 points.
• Name Match?  Practically speaking, there isn’t much correlation.  Watching a band of aliens play music is incredible but I really doubt these will be actual aliens.  Call me a skeptic.  You might have an incredible time but that’s what the potential category is for.  3 out of 10 points just in case the aliens are real.
• Is this actually new?  This particular act is 100% new.  Having a band play music in Epcot is not new at all.  I’ll give this most of the points. 4 out of 5 points.
• Incredibles Franchise tie-in?  No.  They are both superheroes though so I won’t rule out a crossover of some sort.  1 out of 5 points.
• Incredible Potential?  Music can do amazing things to people but watching a cover band play some good songs isn’t usually an incredible experience.  Again, this hinges on the band actually being aliens.  Would Disney be as eager to hire species from another planet as they are to shoehorn the Guardians into Epcot?  I’m guessing no. 2 out of 10 points.
• Actual Incredible Summer Rating – 15 out of 40 points.

“Explorers Meet UP! A Great Bird Adventure” debuts at Animal Kingdom.

• What is this?  Replacing the old bird show at Animal Kingdom (Flights of Wonder), this is the new  bird show at Animal Kingdom.  Apparently, this will feature a couple of new birds and a new story, I would guess.
• Is this a good idea?  Sure.  I think switching out shows before they grow stale is a good idea.  As much as I would rather have an original show without a Disney tie-in, the Up tie-in works fairly well.  The park has a program called Wilderness Explorers for kids and this might be a good way to get more people to see the show.  My hope is that the story and show aren’t dumbed-down and it doesn’t overuse the Up references.  Of all the listings so far, this is the one I’m looking forward to most.  While I’ll miss Flights of Wonder it wasn’t irreplaceable to me.  9 out of 10 points.
• Name Match?  Not really.  Some birds are fairly incredible.  I was going to give this 2 points but I’m docking it because the shows title is 7 words.  That’s too long.  Why is Disney making all of these titles so long!  1 out of 10 points.
• Is this actually new?  A new story about birds but it’s still a bird show.  3 out of 5 points.
• Incredibles Franchise tie-in?  No, they’re just Pixar cousins.  1 out of 5 points.
• Incredible Potential?  Birds themselves are incredible especially the crazy looking ones.  Some Disney stage shows are incredible.  I like the potential here.  8 out of 10 points.
• Actual Incredible Summer Rating – 22 out of 40 points

A “Dino-Tastic” Celebration for Donald Duck Will Debut At Disney’s Animal Kingdom

• What is this?  I’m completely dumbfounded to the point where I’m just going to copy and paste what Disney says this is: “The park will also launch a “dino-tastic” celebration, in which Donald Duck takes over Dinoland, U.S.A., in a new character celebration.”
• Is this a good idea?  I can’t imagine that it is.  What is a character celebration?  Do they realize that a duck isn’t a dinosaur?  What is actually going to be happening?  Is Donald just going to be hanging out?  Will Donald be dressed up in a dino costume?  Unless the answer is yes to the last question then this is a terrible idea. 1 out of 10 points.
• Name Match?  No match that I can find.  0 out of 10 points.
• Is this actually new?  I still have no idea what this is, but I think it’s new.  Then again, Donald Duck meet & greets aren’t new and they happen at Animal Kingdom.  3 out of 5 points.
• Incredibles Franchise tie-in?  Not at all.  0 out of 5 points.
• Incredible Potential?  It would be incredible if a duck “took over” a land occupied by dinosaurs.  But, these are dead dinos so it’s nothing impressive.  0 out of 10 points.
• Actual Incredible Summer Rating – 4 out of 40 points.

See “The Incredibles 2” at AMC Disney Springs

• What is this? Go ahead and just read the name, I bet you can figure it out.
• Is this a good idea? It’s a good idea to release movies.  It’s a terrible idea to include this as something that is happening at your parks this summer.  2 out of 10 points because I’m excited for the actual movie.
• Name Match?  Yeah, nailed it.  10 out of 10 points.
• Is this actually new?  The movie is new but the theater isn’t new and is also just a movie theater.  1 out of 5 points.
• Incredible Franchise Tie-In?  Yep. 5 out of 5 points.
• Incredible Potential?  Yes, the movie has potential to be incredible.  But going to a movie while at Walt Disney World is one of the least incredible things you could do.  Really I’m just mad that this is part of the initial article.  -4 out of 10 points.
• Actual Incredible Summer Rating – 14 out of 10 points.

Toy Story Land Opens at Disney’s Hollywood Studios

• What is this?  Disney’s newest land will open this summer, shrinking guests to the size of toys (not literally) and sending them through Andy’s backyard.  This new land in Hollywood Studios will feature a kid-friendly coaster, a spinning ride and a counter-service restaurant.
• Is this a good idea?  It’s a much bigger idea than the rest of these additions in this post.  This is definitely the most exciting part of the summer offerings at the U.S. Disney Parks.  But I would temper expectations as I don’t think this land is actually a great idea.  I have a hard time seeing this being a beautiful place to explore and the rides don’t sound all that exciting.  With that said, I’m glad Hollywood Studios is adding capacity and the land may surprise.  This gets bonus points for being big.  9 out of 10 points.
• Name Match?  There is something fairly incredible about experiencing something that just opened, especially a theme park land.  Also pretty incredible to be shrunk to the size of a toy!  Still, not great.  5 out of 10 points.
• Is this actually new?  Yes, brand spankin’ new!  5 out of 5 points.
• Incredible Franchise tie-in? No, but a Pixar cousin.  1 out of 5 points.
• Incredible Potential?  I think every land has the potential to be great if executed properly.  Knowing some of the details, I would, again, temper expectations.  This definitely has more potential than most of what we’ve talked about here though.  8 out of 10 points.
• Actual Incredible Summer Rating – 28 out of 40 points.

As you can see, I have my doubts about these “Incredible Summer” events being actually incredible.  Toy Story Land and the bird show will both definitely be worth seeing though.

What new offerings at Disney World this summer are you most excited for?  Let us know in the comments!  Thank you for reading Wandering in Disney.  If you like what you’re reading then please follow us on social media and subscribe to the blog.  You can do both of those things on the right side of this page.  Have a great day!

– Andrew