Last week's shock announcement of Disney Abu Dhabi is just the start to a month of big news for theme park fans. Here is what is next for theme park debuts and returns in the month of May.
We start where it all began at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, Calif. The Disneyland Resort 70th Celebration starts its year-long-plus run on May 16. The anniversary celebration will bring the return of the Paint the Night parade and Wondrous Journeys nighttime spectacular to Disneyland, along with the return of the Better Together: A Pixar Pals Celebration parade and the premiere of World of Color Happiness at Disney California Adventure.
Also at DCA this week, the Disney Jr. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Live! will open on May 16.
But perhaps the biggest debut of the month - if not the year - happens May 22 in Orlando. That's the official opening of Universal Epic Universe. Universal Orlando's fourth gate opens its new south campus, near the Orange County Convention Center. The new park offers four single-IP lands - Super Nintendo World, the Universal Monsters-themed Dark Universe, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter - Ministry of Magic, and How to Train Your Dragon - Isle of Berk - surrounding a central hub area called Celestial Park.
The next day brings at least a couple more debuts. At the Legoland Florida Resort in Winter Haven, the new SeaLife Florida will open on May 23. The first aquatic animals have started moving into their new aquarium home this week, for the second SeaLife attraction in Central Florida.
May 23 also will bring the grand opening of The Big Bad Wolf: The Wolf's Revenge at Busch Gardens Williamsburg in Virginia. This Bolliger & Mabillard suspended family coaster is the sibling of Phoenix Rising, which opened last July at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay. But the Virginia coaster is the spiritual successor to The Big Bad Wolf, Williamsburg's old Arrow suspended coaster that closed in 2009.
Not every coaster that closes is gone for good, however. The next day, on May 24, Steel Curtain returns at Kennywood, just outside Pittsburgh. Themed to the city's NFL team's legendary defense, Steel Curtain closed in July 2023 and has had new foundation work.
Also this month, we expect the opening of Wrath of Rakshasa at Six Flags Great America outside Chicago. This Bolliger & Mabillard dive coaster will set record for that model with a 96-degree drop and five inversions on the 3,239-foot track. Six Flags has set a media preview date for the coaster, so if any Theme Park Insider readers who have written or commented for the site before are interested in covering that for us, email me ASAP. (I have a conflict with the date that Six Flags has set for the preview, so I can't cover myself.)
Finally, we have two new shows debuting at the Walt Disney Resort this month. Disney Villains: Unfairly Ever After and The Little Mermaid - A Musical Adventure open in Disney's Hollywood Studios on May 27.
Which of these new attractions are you most excited to see for the first time this month? Okay, who are we kidding? What, other than Epic Universe, are you most excited to experience?
To keep up to date with more travel and theme park news, please sign up for Theme Park Insider's weekly newsletter.
And to help support Theme Park Insider while saving money, please shop our international and U.S. attraction ticket partners. Or contact our travel agent for a free, no-obligation vacation quote.
Remember that whenever you buy tickets or book vacations through our partners, a small portion of that goes to support Theme Park Insider. So you can support independent news while getting a great deal at the same time.
Two weeks... less than two weeks...
Obviously the biggest debut this month will be Epic, but it doesn't look to be in the cards for me to experience the new park this summer. As far as the other debuts planned for May, I'll be covering the upcoming Media Day for BBW at BGW, so while I'm excited about it, I need to remain unbiased to provide the best coverage for TPI readers.
While I probably won't have a chance to ride it anytime soon, I am very intrigued by Wrath of Rakshasa, because it has some of the best dive machine elements I've experienced on other similar coasters. It just bothers me that Six Flags couldn't figure out how to integrate some tunnels, trenches or other near miss elements into this layout or come up with a better name.
The Disney show debuts this month have little interest to me. I did really enjoy the old Little Mermaid show, but mostly because of the efficiency of the production with just one on-stage performer, so if Disney is just doing a refresh/upgrade of the original concept, it will be fine. However, if they do a major overhaul of the show that turns it into your run-of-the-mill big-cast performance, I'll be disappointed. The Villains show has ZERO appeal to me, and I feel that the little time used to revamp the old Cars stage and develop this production indicate to me that this is just filler programming. Maybe they'll be a few cool moments or effects, but to me this is just a way to pacify fans until MK actually opens Villains Land. My expectations for this show are about as low as they can go, so perhaps guests who go in with that approach, this might not actually be that bad. Personally, I feel like the old Shrek 4D pre-show would probably be more entertaining than this.
Tell me about it. Near-miss elements and scenery effect the on and off-ride experience of a new roller coaster or area. You'd be surprised what a rock or two does to any ride.
This article has been archived and is no longer accepting comments.
My sister bugged that last Tuesday in Disneyland, they told us Small World would reopen on Friday to make reservations on Magic Kingdom only for Disney to push it back a few days.