CEO Bob Iger confirmed that almost all investments planned for Disney Parks will be based on existing intellectual property, a UPS shipping station opened at Disney Springs, and we shared on-ride videos of some of the new attractions at Tokyo DisneySea— all this and more in today’s daily recap for Thursday, May 16, 2024.

Walt Disney World

Magic Kingdom

• With just a couple of weeks to go until Memorial Day, patriotic bunting has been put up around the train station and Main Street, U.S.A. at Magic Kingdom.
• Tickets for the D23 Gold Members Tiana’s Bayou Adventure preview event are sold out.
• A dancing firefly lighting effect was spotted outside of Tiana’s Bayou Adventure in Magic Kingdom.

EPCOT

• An interactive water feature in the ocean section of Journey of Water Inspired by “Moana” at EPCOT is currently closed and blocked off.

Disney Springs

• A new UPS “Guest Shipping Station” has opened at Disney Springs so guests can mail their Walt Disney World merchandise home.
• Disney has added more lights and speakers along the Disney Springs lake ahead of the premiere of “Disney Dreams That Soar.”

New Merchandise

• Droid Depot in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disney’s Hollywood Studios has a new R-Series droid drum accessory set.

Disneyland Resort

• Guests can now book Fantasmic! Dining Packages for River Belle Terrace and Rancho del Zocalo Restaurante at Disneyland Park.
• Ahead of July 4th, Disneyland Resort has a new red, white, and blue Americana mouse ear headband and matching tee.

Tokyo Disney Resort

• We took a trip to Never Land on Peter Pan’s Never Land Adventure in Tokyo DisneySea.
• We took a ride on the first-ever “Tangled”-themed ride — Rapunzel’s Lantern Festival — on May 16, the first day of soft-opening for Fantasy Springs at Tokyo DisneySea.
• We got a chance to ride Anna and Elsa’s Frozen Journey on its first day of soft-opening at Tokyo DisneySea.

Entertainment and Media

• The name of the upcoming joint sports streaming service from Disney, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery now has a name.

The Walt Disney Company

• During a question-and-answer session at the MoffettNathanson Media and Communications Summit on Wednesday, May 15, Disney CEO Bob Iger stated that nearly all future investments into the Disney Parks will be IP-based.

That’s it for today; we hope you enjoyed this Daily Recap. Thanks for stopping by, and we’ll see you tomorrow!

Katie Francis