It’s January 17th so it’s about that time of year when we all drop those silly resolutions we made 2 weeks ago and stagger on with life. Okay, I hope that hasn’t happened to you. Keep going on those goals, you can do it! Alright, as you probably know, this isn’t a self-help blog. This is just a miserable opening paragraph trying to tie in New Year’s Resolutions to Disney Parks. If for some reason you’re still reading this then I’m going to write a resolution for each Disney Park this year.

We’ve done this before on the blog and I’ll follow that same format. I’m going to come up with a change for each U.S. Disney Park, either an addition or subtraction, for the new year. Most of these resolutions will be rather small while others will be big. I’ll try to be somewhat realistic on the topics but honestly don’t expect much to change in 2021. Maybe all of the resolutions should simply be “Get open and stay open.” At this point, I think most of us would take that. But that wouldn’t make for a very interesting post.

Depending on how fast the resorts open and run at full capacity, I think this year could see a slew of announcements. Many of those announcements could come in the way of updates on projects that were announced a few years ago. 2020 obviously wreaked havoc on everything, including future projects. Finding out if those projects are still on or not will be an interesting subject to follow throughout the year. All this to say, that while I’m hoping for some interesting additions, I think these will be more of interesting talking points or things we could see in the future rather than predictions for what will actually happen this year. Let’s get to it!

Magic Kingdom – Make the 50th Anniversary Special!

Before a pandemic completely changed the world, Magic Kingdom and Disney World as a whole were set for a huge 50th Anniversary celebration. Now many of those additions and projects have fallen off the table and will no be open by October 1st. It’s a shame really. Sadly, I don’t see many big additions coming for Magic Kingdom by that time but that doesn’t mean the actual anniversary has to be a downer. I’m sure that Disney will celebrate in some way, my guess would be some new entertainment at the park. On top of that, I hope the park adds small additions to celebrate the 1971 opening.

I’d like to see a gallery somewhere on Main Street of photos and relics from the opening. Having a number of characters out for the anniversary would add to an already energetic atmosphere. Even something as simple as making sure all of the existing attractions are up and running for the anniversary would go a long way to making the day and month special. Now that many big additions are off the table for the 50th, I hope Magic Kingdom is full of little details to make the anniversary special. I’m optimistic on this one.

EPCOT – Get Rid of Beauty and the Beast Sing-Along

Unlike Magic Kingdom, EPCOT should have a new attraction opening before the anniversary – Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure. Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind also has a chance of opening by then. With that in mind, I went small here. There are a number of changes that have come to the France Pavilion this year, some of them should be welcome additions. One unfortunately sticks out like a sore thumb – Beauty and the Beast Sing-Along. Yes, maybe I’m bitter because it cut my beloved Impressions de France to part time. But really, this movie is not good. We deserve better than this and that beautiful theater needs better to. Please scrap that movie and bring Impressions de France back to full time!

Disney’s Hollywood Studios – Add Some New Live Entertainment

I’ve been on this soapbox for quite a while but Hollywood Studios would really benefit by adding some new entertainment. With a broadening and decent attraction lineup, the next step for DHS is to replace the shows that have been there for a decade plus. Beauty and the Beast – Live on Stage and Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular have both had their time in the sun and now are in need of replacement. Both theaters are so large that they could house something new and innovative to really grab people’s attention. Using the Fantasmic! theater during the day is another option. All of these will help reinvigorate the park and spread people around. There’s no shortage of source material to draw from, it’s time to at least change one of these old shows out!

Disney’s Animal Kingdom – Figure Out DinoLand

If you listened to our DinoLand Podcast then you probably know that we aren’t huge fans of Animal Kingdom’s most divisive land. Relative to the rest of the park, DinoLand is ugly and sticks out like a sore thumb. The backstory is somewhat interesting and there are some salvageable parts to it though. Worse than that though, Disney doesn’t seem to know what to do with the land. Primeval Whirl is sitting in the land without ride vehicles and won’t be reopening. No matter the status of a land, having a huge piece of metal just sitting there isn’t a recipe for success. If DinoLand is going to continue existing, move in something here that fits in. If not, then scrap the whole land and start working on something different. I’d obviously prefer the latter but having a resolution one way or the other will improve Animal Kingdom.

Disneyland – A New Fireworks Show

This one is simple. Before closing, Disneyland’s fireworks show was Mickey’s Mix Magic. That show is not very good. It’s time to move on. The resort hasn’t had a great fireworks show in quite a few years and I’m hoping that a new one is on the way. If not, then the resort has plenty of previous options to pull from including a personal favorite Remember… Dreams Come True. No I’m not even sure that fireworks will be back in Disneyland by next year, but if they are then the resort takes a big step over what was recently offered.

Disney California Adventure – Soarin’ Over California Becomes Permanent

There were a number of options to put here. With Avenger’s Campus most likely opening before the end of the year, I chose to keep this one simple and easy. California Adventure should scrap Soarin’ Over the World for good and move back to the original Soarin’ Over California. Not only does the original fit the park better, it’s a better film overall. In the meantime, Soarin’ Around the World can continue existing in EPCOT and in other parks around the world. Make Soarin’ Over California unique to California Adventure. I don’t see a downside to this one!

What New Year’s Resolutions would you like to see from the Disney Parks? Let us know in the comments! Planning a trip to a Disney Park? Check out all of our Planning Guides to help you along the way. If you enjoy what you are reading here on Wandering in Disney please share this post with your friends, as well as like our social media pages. You can also subscribe to the blog via WordPress or email. All of those links are on the right side of this page. Thank you for reading, we really appreciate it!