MickeyBlog News for February 3rd, 2025
Disney just confirmed the schedule for the Garden Rocks concert series and the next phase of the Star Wars Hotel.
Spoiler: You’re not gonna like it. We’ll discuss these stories and several others in MickeyBlog News.
Garden Rocks 2025


Beauty and the Beast Topiary – EPCOT
The EPCOT International Flower & Garden Festival is right around the corner, with opening day on March 7th.
While you still have another three weeks to enjoy the EPCOT International Festival of the Arts, it’s still time to think ahead.


Flower and Garden Festival – Spring
As you know, one of the highlights of the Flower & Garden Festival is the Garden Rocks concert series.
In recent years, the event has grown more popular than ever, leading to long lines outside America Gardens Theatre.



Photo: Disney
You’ll sometimes notice lines stretched to other pavilions. There is a way to avoid this aggravation, though.
I mean, you don’t want to spend your Disney vacation standing in line for a concert, right? You could do that at home.
That’s why Disney offers dining packages for its various festival concerts.
These packages went on sale for the Garden Rocks concerts on January 29th.


Photo: Disney
Since Disney knows that fans want to know specifics about the shows, it went ahead and confirmed the concert lineup.
The 2025 Garden Rocks Schedule


Photo: Disney
Here’s the list of performers for the 2025 Garden Rocks series:
- March 7-8: Tommy DeCarlo, former lead singer of Boston
- March 9-10: Air Supply – 50th Anniversary Celebration
- March 14-15: Blue October
- March 16-17: Rick Springfield
- March 21-22: Herman’s Hermits starring Peter Noone
- March 23-24: 38 Special
- March 28-29: Jason Scheff, longtime singer of Chicago
- March 30-31: TBD
- April 4-5: THE ORCHESTRA Starring ELO and ELO Part II Former Members
- April 6-7: Sugar Ray
- April 11-12: Simple Plan
- April 13-14: Jo Dee Messina
- April 18-19: Mike DelGuidice
- April 20-21: A Flock of Seagulls
- April 25-26: Taylor Dayne
- April 27-28: 98 Degrees
- May 2-5: Plain White T’s
- May 9-10: Jon Secada
- May 11-12: Maverick City Music (NEW)
- May 16-17: The Spinners
- May 18-19: The Pointer Sisters
- May 23-24: The Outlaws (NEW)
- May 25-26: Don Felder, formerly of the Eagles
- May 30-31: The Cat Empire (NEW)
- June 1-2: We The Kingdom (NEW)


Photo: Disney
You just know we’re going to see video of A Flock of Seagulls riding Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind while “I Ran” plays.
Also, as a word of warning, these shows sometimes experience cancellations. It’s rare, but it does happen.


Photo: Disney
A recent example was the Bacon Brothers, who chose not to do the show after Hollywood actors went on strike.
One of the Bacon Brothers is Kevin, the Footloose guy, and he had to cancel the show to honor strike guidelines.


Photo: Disney
So, please read MickeyBlog to stay alert in the event of cancellations.
If you have any questions, my best advice is always to speak with the agents at MickeyTravels.



Photo: Disney
They know a lot more about this stuff than I do, and they’ll help you with all your Disney vacation planning free of charge!
Office Space?!


Galactic Starcruiser
I’ve written about this subject in an article you’ll see later, but let’s quickly cut the chase.
The dream of the Star Wars Hotel is officially dead. While Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser closed in 2023, the dream remained.


Photo: Disney
Fans hoped that Disney would relaunch the Star Wars experience in a slightly modified form.
While the price of Galactic Starcruiser ruled it out for many guests, the sweeping majority of those who went treasured it.


Photo: Disney
They’d closely followed every rumor about the return of the Star Wars Hotel or possibly a themed restaurant.
Alas, neither of those things will be happening. The same reporter who gave hope that they might dashed it this week with a reveal.


Credit: Kent Phillips, photographer/Disney
Disney has made plans for the building once occupied by Galactic Starcruiser, and it’s not great…well, not great for you.
For Disney, the plan makes perfect sense as Disney’s Hollywood Studios prepares for construction at Muppets Courtyard.


(David Roark, photographer)
Disney is converting that building into office space for Imagineers.
This new facility serves as home base while the Imagineers construct Monstropolis and other parts of the upcoming Disney World expansion.


(Matt Stroshane, photographer)
The article noted the impracticality of Disney repurposing the space into a restaurant.
Galactic Starcruiser required transportation from Disney’s Hollywood Studios to maintain the illusion for guests.


Photo: Disney
The hotel is in an area that’s behind the scenes and thereby off-limits to guests.
So, Disney must shuttle dozens of guests per hour to the restaurant to make the idea work, which doesn’t make sense.


Photo:(Matt Stroshane, photographer)
There’s no way to turn a profit with that sort of overhead. Sadly, office space makes perfect sense, though.
Since the building is off-limits to guests, it’s ideal for Imagineers to use.
The whole thing feels like a trivia question in future years. What was that building before the Imagineers got there?
Disney Miscellany


Disneyland Park
Disneyland Resort will get a bit better next month. Currently, the Disney Monorail and Disneyland Railroad are closed.
I’m happy to report that they’ll reopen on March 7th! And that’s not the only change happening at The Happiest Place on Earth.


Credit: Disney
Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa will undergo a renovation of literally every room at the hotel!
Similarly, Storytellers Café is getting a renewal as well. Don’t forget that we said the same thing about Napa Rose last week.


Image Credit: Disney
We suspect something is going on with Guardians of the Galaxy — Mission: BREAKOUT!, but Disney hasn’t said what yet.
At Walt Disney World, plenty of changes are underway. We haven’t heard specifics on all of it yet, but it’s very exciting!
On the bright side, Disney provided a Muppet*Vision 3D update that made us more hopeful.
Magic Kingdom has added a second performance of the Festival of Fantasy Parade, too.
Oh, and in some of the greatest news ever, baby Bakso is now visible at Disney’s Animal Kingdom!
Speaking of that park, the final remnants of KiteTails have vanished. It’s like the ill-fated show never happened!
Elsewhere, Sebastian’s Bistro will undergo renovations soon. So, it’ll be offline for a while.
Also, Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure has had a rough week.
Then, we have the long-rumored closure of Jellyrolls at Disney’s BoardWalk Resort.
According to their Instagram post, the dueling piano bar will close there and potentially move somewhere else in Orlando.


DCL
Still, this is shaping up to be a spectacular year at Walt Disney World. We just published a bunch of reasons why.
Finally, Disney has brought back the Dine & Play option at Disney Cruise Line. Parents, your prayers have been answered!
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Feature Photo: Disney