Why Should We Go To Walt Disney World This Summer?

May 3, 2017

There are many changes coming to Walt Disney World This Summer

We weren’t planning a vacation to Disney this summer; but with all the new updates coming to the parks, I didn’t want to miss out.  At Animal Kingdom the land, Pandora the World of Avatar is opening on May 27th.  Recently, the Rivers of Light show also opened to the public, so now Animal Kingdom offers lots of new things to do at night.  At Hollywood Studios, BB-8 is greeting guests at the Star Wars Launch Bay.  Typhoon Lagoon has a new family raft ride, Miss Adventure Falls.  Plus, the Magic Kingdom Wishes fireworks show is ending on May 11.  A new show, “Happily Ever After” Nighttime Spectacular is making its debut on May 12 .

I am attending the BlogHer conference at the end of June, so I couldn’t go to Orlando and not turn it into a family trip!  But of course, like always, it has to be a surprise!  So if you are a reader of my blog and know my children, DO NOT say anything about this to them!

Animal Kingdom

Pandora- The World of Avatar

To prepare for this new world, we watched Avatar with the kids recently.  My husband and I have never seen the movie so it was great to see it for the first time together.  I have heard that it isn’t necessary to watch the show prior to going to the new Pandora the World of Avatar; but I wanted to really understand the story behind the world to gain a better appreciation for it.  I also wanted the kids to have that insight.

Rivers of Light

We were hoping that last Spring when we had our family vacation that we would have the chance to see the Rivers of Light show on its opening day on Earth Day. The show didn’t open until February of this year so we will also be sure to make this a must-do on our list.

I have been avoiding any social media related to these changes because I want to get the first hand experience of seeing it all myself.  But I think any preview videos and live broadcasts won’t do it justice.  These new immersive experiences in Animal Kingdom are things that have to be seen in person.

Magic Kingdom

Fireworks

The Wishes Nighttime Spectacular is being replaced with a new fireworks and pyrotechnics show on May 12.  Happily Ever After Nighttime Spectacular includes an original music score and it will include more recent Disney movie moments projecting onto the castle.

Beauty and The Beast

With the new release of Beauty and the Beast I heard that the Beast in Magic Kingdom has taken on the appearance of the Beast in the live action movie.  Since we never went to the Enchanted Tales of Belle interactive story telling show, it is now a must do on our list of things to see!

Hollywood Studios

Star Wars

We love Star Wars and now BB-8 is at the Star Wars Launch Pad.  When we were in Disney for the Walt Disney World Marathon in January we got family photos with my parents, my husband and the kids with Chewbacca and Kylo Ren.  Well now I need to add to our collection with BB-8!  We also didn’t get a close view of the “Star Wars: A Galactic Spectacular” fireworks and projection show, so I’d like to stay closer to the Chinese theater to see the entire show.

Typhoon Lagoon

Miss Adventure Falls

The kids love going to the water park.  We have only been to Blizzard Beach and last year we tried Aquatica at Sea World.  But that didn’t hold a candle up to the fun you can have at a Disney water park.  So this time I’d like to try Typhoon Lagoon.  Especially since the Miss Adventure Falls family raft ride includes a ride up the conveyor belt to the top of the slide!  That is a win-win in my book!  Less stairs to climb!

The Wedding Pavilion

Our 15th Wedding Anniversary

My husband and I are celebrating our 15th wedding anniversary on May 16th so I didn’t want to miss out on a trip to our place of marriage on this special anniversary year.  The Disney’s Wedding Pavilion was recently refurbished so I want to get over to our wedding location to take some photos.  I’d secretly love to hire a photographer to do some family pictures there.  Something to consider for a special gift to my husband!

So as you can see we have a lot to do!  I hope we can fit it all in with this one trip.  Otherwise, some of it will have to wait until our next one.  And by the looks of it, we are going to need a vacation from our vacation!