This week has been filled with some minor Disney Parks news so what better time to do a roundup of all the events! We’ll cover both Disneyland Resort and Walt Disney World, talking about two rides on the west coast and two restaurants on the east.

Hyperspace Mountain Returns

We’ll start over on the west coast as a ride layover of a fan favorite returns. On April 29th, Hyperspace Mountain will take over the hallowed Space Mountain grounds transforming the famed ride into a quasi-Star Wars attraction. Guests board the ride vehicle and then zip through the depths of space while fighting in an epic battle. If we’re being honest, it’s basically Space Mountain with some added props, lighting and an entirely different soundtrack.

That’s not to undersell it though, the overlay is a good amount of fun and a little something extra to draw in locals or Star Wars fans. While it’s not on par with the incredible Haunted Mansion or it’s a small world holiday layovers, I’d put it just below that tier. Space Mountain on its own is great and I’m not sure that the layover is any better (some would definitely argue that it’s worse) but it’s something different for a while and that’s appreciated.

This overlay will debut just a week after the nighttime spectaculars come back to Disney Resort and a week before Star Wars day on May 4th. There’s also Star Wars Nites, a separate ticket event, coming to Disneyland Resort on May 3rd, 4th and 27th. All of this to say that shooting down some TIE Fighters while flying through space makes sense. There’s currently no end date announced for Hyperspace Mountain.

All of these events coming back right before May have me curious about what crowds will be like. Disneyland Resort has seen a predictable uptick in attendance over the spring break period. May is generally a quieter time around the park and I’m guessing that all of these promotions have them looking for a boost in attendance. No matter if that happens or not, it’s nice to see the resort continue to offer special items just for the heck of it!

Web Slingers: A Spider-Man Adventure Adds Single Rider Queue

Space Mountain has seen it’s single rider queue shut down since Genie+ has come to the parks but other single rider queues have popped up! The latest has been a single rider queue at Web Slingers, California Adventure’s most recent attraction. This isn’t extremely notable outside of changing the touring plan at the park.

We are big proponents of single rider lines, especially if you’re traveling without kids. It’s especially enjoyable for those that need that 3-5 minute break from their families so they ride an attraction with strangers instead! Kidding. It’s a great way to skip what otherwise would be a much longer line and can make your touring plan far more efficient. This is especially the case now at California Adventure as two of the most popular attractions in the park, Web Singers and Radiator Springs Racers, use a single rider queue. Instead of waiting in an hour+ line for each of them, guests should be able to make it through each of them in an hour total.

The one downside of doing Web Slingers via the single rider line is that the attraction is more enjoyable with a group of friends. The attraction counts up your score and competing against your friends or family is probably more fun than with those you don’t know. Although if you want to prove that you are the best Spider-Man around to some strangers and then berate them about how they couldn’t hit the broad side of barn while slinging webs, here’s your chance! Please don’t do that.

Web Slingers adding a single rider queue is a nice boost to DCA’s touring strategy. Now, please bring it back to Space Mountain!

Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue Returns!

Moving to Walt Disney World, one of the resort’s oldest traditions is returning in the form of Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue. This dinner show has taken place at Fort Wilderness Campground since 1974, charming the audience with musical performances and wild hijinks. Hoop-Dee-Doo has been closed since 2020 and will be reopening on June 23rd, with dining reservations opening on May 26th.

Upon reopening, the show will be altered slightly from what it was prior to closing but I doubt it will be very noticeable or anything to fret over. This is great news and is one of those old Walt Disney World shows that harken back to a different time, like Country Bear Jamboree or the Tiki Room. It’s good old fashioned fun with decent food. The buckets of friend chicken and strawberry shortcake are wonderful. Check out our review here and we recommend going to the show when it does reopen!

Connections Café and Eatery Menu Revealed

Finally, a new counter-service restaurant in Epcot is nearing an opening date. Connections Café and Eatery will be one of the first projects completed in Epcot’s central spine makeover and will be in nearly the same location as Electric Umbrella. A Starbucks will also be in this building.

The concept art of the restaurant looks bright and modern, which has its pros and cons. The pros are already kind of stated, there looks to be a good amount of natural light and the architecture is easy on the eyes. There will also be a somewhat open kitchen to watch the chefs, which I’m always a fan of. On the other hand, it doesn’t seem as if there will be a discernible theme and the concept art looks cafeteria-ish. We aren’t fans of the cafeteria style restaurants in theme parks, although most seem to have at least one. Maybe the restaurant will surprise us, as it’s hard to base much off of a piece of concept art!

What we do know about it is the restaurant’s menu. The Disney Parks Blog says the menu is inspired from tastes around the world in hopes of showing us how food can bring us together. That seems like a little much, as World Showcase is mere steps away and the menu is mostly burgers, salads and pizza. There are some unique ingredients on them though!

The French Bistro, Bahn Mi and Mediterranean Burger all look interesting at the very least. I was also intrigued by the Curry Spiced Pizza as Disney continues to bolster their plant based menus. The Liege Waffle and different milkshakes also caught my eye because I’m a human. There’s nothing priced over $13 on the menu (outside of alcoholic beverages) and that’s a welcome surprise. Overall, I can’t say I’m extremely excited about the restaurant but there are some intriguing options to try.

What do you think of all of this news? Let us know in the comments below! Planning a trip to the Disney Parks? Check out our Planning Guides to help you get there! 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!