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there are many things that are coming hopefully by the 50th celebration. from new rides, improvements, refurbs, shows and more. What are you most excited about.
for me it is Tron first then the new harmonious show at epcot!

How bout you

This is a great topic, and I have many thoughts on this lol

I am most excited for what they plan on doing at MK. I have my expectations that TRON won't be ready for Oct 1st, 2021, but should be ready by spring 2022. I've said in another thread that my thoughts on how long Disney plans to do this celebration will be a bit longer than usual - specifically around 2 full years starting Oct 1st this year and going through October 2023. That way, they can continue to market the 50th celebrations with all the festivities that they plan on doing DURING the same time of them opening up all these new attractions and shows at MK and Epcot.

In terms of a specific thing I'm most excited for ... it's hard to pick between whatever nighttime Castle show they decide to run vs Harmonious. I think with what we all know about Harmonious, it's fair to say the expectations are quite high. I know a lot of Epcot purist don't like to see more IP being brought into the park, but let's give Disney a shot and see what they come up with. What they did with Happily Ever After at MK was an absolute master piece IMO and that of course is 95% filled with Disney IP.

For the MK Castle show, I hope they do something, but I also (perhaps selfishly) hope they don't fully remove Happily Ever After entirely. I wonder if they do bring a new Castle show, if it'll run every night during the celebration (excluding any holiday specific show i.e. the Halloween and Christmas party shows) ... or if it'll run every other night or every other second night and then in between they run the typical HEA show. That IMO would be the best case because it'll give guests 2 great shows to plan on seeing during their stay.

It'll be awesome if they decide to run a night time parade as well. This would be good to save on costs if they run this only on the nights they run the 50th nighttime show i.e. only 3 or 4 times a week rather than every night.

For other stuff I'm looking forward too - it's definitely minor compared to the park updates, but I can't wait to see the new Polynesian entrance they are building now. The concept looks incredible compared to what the entrance looked like before (I did love the little pond area with the great shrubbery near the actual front sliding doors - I do hope they do something like that again).

I'll finish my obscurely long response by saying I think we as Disney super fans / hoppers need to be sure our expectations are set correctly - or best we can. Obviously the pandemic has had a horrible affect on the Parks division in the company as a whole. This certainly put a halt on a lot of stuff they had planned for the 50th. I still think whatever they do end up doing will be great, but I think we're better off not expecting EVERYTHING - at least not all at once right away. Once early 2022 comes around when theoretically most of the country should be vaccinated and covid should really be under control, the restrictions and guidelines they have in place now will be heavily lifted or completely gone. There will also be a HUGE demand for people around the world to want to travel again. I think the timing of this will be great for Disney to take advantage of and that does happen, they will be more apt to continue adding celebration shows, activities, etc because the demand continues to increase. It'll be extremely interesting to watch it all play out! I know for my wife and I (and our baby boy coming in June this year) plan to make a visit sometime next year to take it all in!

Wonderful posts...

I'm looking forward to all the new things...but having just returned from a visit in January...I'm going to 'wish' for something...well...someone else.

My hope is for many of the cast members, show people, the college program 'kids', and at the top of my list those international ambassadors from all the countries in the World Showcase, to come back. I hope they come back, not just to work, but so we can welcome them home, and to share in the magic of each others' company of a world that has emerged more appreciative of the most amazing attraction of all...other people.

That's it...

i've always been a Tron fan, since the original movie and from riding thru the Tron tunnel a few billion times on the Peoplemover at Disneyland as an AP in the 1980s (lol), so I gotta go with the new Tron ride

randyf79 wrote: ↑Wed Feb 17, 2021 3:58 pm Wonderful posts...

I'm looking forward to all the new things...but having just returned from a visit in January...I'm going to 'wish' for something...well...someone else.

My hope is for many of the cast members, show people, the college program 'kids', and at the top of my list those international ambassadors from all the countries in the World Showcase, to come back. I hope they come back, not just to work, but so we can welcome them home, and to share in the magic of each others' company of a world that has emerged more appreciative of the most amazing attraction of all...other people.

That's it...

Can't agree more with this post. We ALL know Cast Members are what drive so much LOVE for visiting these parks and resorts. The role of Cast Members at Disney parks and resorts oddly reminds me of the Lil Dicky song "Dave and Ally's Song". In the video there is a moment where Ally is doing a speech for a wedding toast and she says this quote about "magic":

"The magic behind... magic, uh, isn't the illusion. It's that someone cared enough to create the illusion for you. The real magic is all of the work that goes into making somebody believe that magic is real."

I think that hits the nail on the head for what Cast Members do and their role. And it all started from Walt himself in truly believing in this world where anyone, no matter what age or where you came from can come to these parks and once again be transformed into a magical experience like you were a kid again.

I really do hope that come later this year and into 2022, ALL the Cast Members can come back and like you said, we can all welcome them back home too!

I can’t wait until Disney announces when Port Orleans Riverside will reopen! I also can’t wait until Guardians of the Galaxy and Tron!

McKennaW wrote: ↑Wed Feb 17, 2021 6:06 pm I can’t wait until Disney announces when Port Orleans Riverside will reopen! I also can’t wait until Guardians of the Galaxy and Tron!

yep yep and yep

jbletheby wrote: ↑Wed Feb 17, 2021 2:37 pm there are many things that are coming hopefully by the 50th celebration. from new rides, improvements, refurbs, shows and more. What are you most excited about.
for me it is Tron first then the new harmonious show at epcot!

How bout you

Definitely Tron, followed by the changes at Epcot

When I was a kid in the 70s, I watched The Wonderful World of Disney every Sunday. My parents took me and my brother to MK in the mid-70s. I’m excited about the new stuff that’s being built for the 50th, but if I’m able to make it for the 50th, I’m going to be thinking about my first visit and what it was like back then and how it has changed.

I would like to see some serious homage to WDW as it was in 1971. Cast members should wear an updated version of what they wore on opening day. For the Disney character costumes that have evolved since 1971, they could bring back the older costumes.

I think they should make a documentary about the planning and opening of WDW and show it on one of their resort channels. They should somehow indicate which restaurants, rides and attractions in MK are original, even if modified, for people that don’t know the history. They should have photos throughout MK of what those parts of the park looked like on opening day. For opening day rides that are gone, they should have some information and photos right where the ride was.

They could make some souvenirs that were available on opening day. If they have parades, they should limit them to Main Street because it could be very crowded. Finally, they should make the ticket prices the same as on opening day...just joking!

I'm looking forward to everything but, especially Tron.

Tron and Harmonious for me, but I'm excited to see what other things they will announce as we approach October 1st, 2021!

I really miss IllumiNations, but I am so excited for Harmonious. It looks like it will be a spectacular show with a ton of great Disney music. I'm hoping to be able to be at the first showing of Harmonious!

Kim*theParkWorld wrote: ↑Sun Feb 21, 2021 4:47 pm I really miss IllumiNations, but I am so excited for Harmonious. It looks like it will be a spectacular show with a ton of great Disney music. I'm hoping to be able to be at the first showing of Harmonious!

see and ill say something a bit unpopular. illuminations wasnt my thing. which is why i am doubly excited about harmonious

i can’t wait for for all that they announce for the 50th, i hope this includes ride refurbs (like adding disney characters to iasw, etc.) and hopefully the return of a night time parade (i wish msep ). also can’t wait for harmonious

nittanylions wrote: ↑Sat Feb 20, 2021 10:54 am When I was a kid in the 70s, I watched The Wonderful World of Disney every Sunday. My parents took me and my brother to MK in the mid-70s. I’m excited about the new stuff that’s being built for the 50th, but if I’m able to make it for the 50th, I’m going to be thinking about my first visit and what it was like back then and how it has changed.

I would like to see some serious homage to WDW as it was in 1971. Cast members should wear an updated version of what they wore on opening day. For the Disney character costumes that have evolved since 1971, they could bring back the older costumes.

I think they should make a documentary about the planning and opening of WDW and show it on one of their resort channels. They should somehow indicate which restaurants, rides and attractions in MK are original, even if modified, for people that don’t know the history. They should have photos throughout MK of what those parts of the park looked like on opening day. For opening day rides that are gone, they should have some information and photos right where the ride was.

They could make some souvenirs that were available on opening day. If they have parades, they should limit them to Main Street because it could be very crowded. Finally, they should make the ticket prices the same as on opening day...just joking!

Some great ideas!

Certainly a lot going on -along with all the new attractions, I think I'm most excited to see what the updated version of Future World will be ...even though it's probably pushed out even further.