It was the busiest week in recent memory for Disney news. Here's a roundup of this week's biggest stories.
Pandora - The World of Avatar Will Open May 27
Memorial day weekend just got a lot busier, as Disney announced the Pandora expansion to Disney's Animal Kingdom will open on May 27. We offered some quick tips for planning your stop at Disney World this summer if you're planning to see Pandora.
The Disneyland and Hollywood Studios Star Wars Expansion Will Open in 2019
Disney announced that its Star Wars expansions will open in 2019. Curiously missing from this announcement was any mention of Toy Story land. The most optimistic minds are hoping for a 2018 open for that land, noting that construction seems to be progressing more rapidly on Toy Story than on Star Wars.
Rivers of Light Debuts!
It seems like it's been decades in the making, but Rivers of Light, the much-anticipated Animal Kingdom night show is finally having a soft open tonight, with a full debut coming next week.
Wishes Ending May 11
In other evening performance news, Magic Kingdom's "Wishes" fireworks show will have its last performance on May 11. It will be replaced by "Happily Ever After" on May 12.
Attendance and Occupancy Down, by Revenue Rises
It's hard to look at the financial situation of the parks and not think they are primed for some great years ahead. Hollywood Studios is as bad as it will ever be, nothing much is going on at Magic Kingdom, Epcot is…still Epcot…and Animal Kingdom is yet to open its new land, and revenue STILL went up. The next few years, which will likely see major upgrades to all the parks except Magic Kingdom, should be quite impressive.