Nine Reasons to Be Excited about Disney in 2024
We’re far enough into January that you probably aren’t still saying 2023 when you mean 2024.
Still, the year has barely started, and we know that your favorite theme park company has plenty in store this year.
Here are nine reasons to be excited about Disney in 2024!
Disney Channel Nites
Disneyland fans love their parties, and that’s why we get so many of them these days.
During 2024 alone, Disneyland will host Sweethearts’ Nite, Star Wars Nite, Pride Nite, and, for the first time ever, Disney Channel Nite.
That’s a grand total of 20 different after-hours events at the park from January 23rd through June 20th.
You’ll love attending any of them, but the novelty of Disney Channel Nite elevates it.
Disney will combine multiple generations of Disney Channel storytelling into a single event.
Whether you love High School Musical, Lizzie McGuire, Teen Beach Movie, The Descendants, The Cheetah Girls, or Camp Rock, you’ll find something to love here.
Disney Treasure
Disney doesn’t open luxury cruise ships often. It’s a big deal whenever one sets sail on its maiden voyage.
In 2023, the Disney Wish redefined what cruise fans believed possible for the Disney Cruise Line experience.
Later this year, (recent) history will repeat itself when the Disney Treasure embarks on its maiden voyage.
Theming will elevate this particular cruise, as Disney has included tributes to 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Jungle Cruise, and Haunted Mansion.
This cruise ship looks like Disney’s finest to date. At a minimum, it’ll be the state-of-the-art cruise experience for the entire industry.
Fantasy Springs
Okay, most of you won’t visit Tokyo Disney Resort this year, which is a bit sad for all of us to admit.
Many theme park critics consider Tokyo DisneySea THE finest theme park on the planet.
Now, Disney will enhance that park with a modern tribute to the concept of Fantasyland.
This themed area will offer attractions and experiences with connections to Frozen, Peter Pan, and Tangled.
More importantly, since Disney loves to split its research and development costs, it’ll hint at the future of the American parks.
Several of the Fantasy Springs additions will gradually make their way to Disneyland Resort and Walt Disney World over the next decade.
So, you should pay close attention to Fantasy Springs when it opens in June!
The Frontierland Announcement
The Disney Parks Blog just recently confirmed the closing date for the original version of Country Bear Jamboree.
Lame bear puns notwithstanding, this post grabbed my attention for secondary reasons.
As I’ve previously discussed in Disney Rumors, Frontierland is currently…lacking in attractions.
Yes, that statement will change when Tiana’s Bayou Adventure opens, but it’s still one of the worst themed lands for entertainment.
Well, that same post offers some hope, as it concludes with:
“We have a lot of growth and investment planned for our theme parks in the coming years and look forward to sharing more announcements about Frontierland … so y’all come back now, ya hear?”
That sure sounds like attraction announcements for Frontierland happening soon. Stay tuned!
Lookout Cay
Circling back to Disney Cruise Line, the company will add a second island retreat to the existing and wildly popular Castaway Cay.
Lookout Cay will open later this year and provide cruise guests with a new exotic escape, a place to luxuriate while on vacation.
Disney has constructed Lighthouse Point as the kind of island fantasy people have when they’re dreaming of an escape from the drudgery of daily living.
This place looks decadent and is reason enough to book a Disney cruise during the second half of the year!
New DVC Member Lounge
I’m a Disney Vacation Club member, and one of my favorite things about the program is the DVC Lounge.
Whenever I’m visiting EPCOT, I know that I can enter the Imagination! Pavilion and escape to the second floor.
DVC members enjoy a private oasis here, one that serves free snacks and access to a glorious Freestyle Coke machine I adore.
I can sit in the comfy chairs here and lounge around, surfing the internet until I’m ready to return to the parks. It’s paradise.
Now, Disney has confirmed that it will open a second DVC Lounge at Walt Disney World.
Park officials haven’t said where it will go yet, but I don’t even care. As long as it’s at one of the other three parks, I’m thrilled.
runDisney at Disneyland
You may not have realized it due to everything that has happened at Disneyland since 2019, but the park hasn’t held a runDisney event in years.
That has already changed in 2024 as runDisney recently ended a seven-year absence of half-marathons at The Happiest Place on Earth.
In September, we’ll get a second one, which is just incredible.
After several years without a runDisney event, we’ll have two in roughly eight months!
Somehow, the second one sounds even better than the first.
The 2024 Disneyland Halloween Half Marathon Weekend will occur from September 5th through the 8th.
Obviously, these races will have strong Halloween ties.
Since Haunted Mansion Holiday’s 2024 iteration will have opened a few days before this event, it’s an ideal time to visit Disneyland!
Storylook Living by Disney Opens First Cotino Houses
I’m slotting this one in the “I’ll believe it when I see it” category, but Disney suggests that the first Cotino residents will move in this year.
As a reminder, Disney has just started an ambitious real estate project wherein it extends the Disney Bubble to your town.
Okay, that’s probably an exaggeration, but Disney intends to follow the Margaritaville business model.
Parrotheads are happily paying $500,000 or more to own houses in neighborhoods with other like-minded Jimmy Buffett fans.
This real estate business is thriving, and Disney wants a taste. It announced two projects, Cotino in California, and a North Carolina community.
I’ve got questions about the 2024 timeline, but I’m excited to see what a Disney neighborhood looks like in the real world.
And D23 2024…
I’m Charlie Brown with the football. It doesn’t matter to me how many times Lucy pulls the football away, I’ll still try to kick it.
Along those lines, even though the recent D23 park panels have been lacking in shocking announcements, I’ll get my hopes up for the 2024 event.
Disney has filed the paperwork to perform $60 billion in park expansions over the next decade.
At some point, they must announce something, and that Frontierland quote listed above hints that it’ll involve Magic Kingdom.
Hey, remember when Josh D’Amaro speculated about what lies beyond Big Thunder Mountain? It’s time to answer that question!
I think we might during D23 2024.
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Feature Photo: Disney