Your Spring Guide to (Almost) Everything Disney
UPDATED: Events for May have been updated.
Flowers and Fantasy are Disney’s major themes this spring.
Here’s a quick look at what you can find at Disneyland and Disney World, as well as other major events from Disney, from March through May. This list will be continually updated as new dates and announcements are made, so keep checking back. Take a look at what’s happening this summer.
March: The first phase of the New Fantasyland is scheduled to open with The Great Goofini and Dumbo the Flying Elephant rides.
March 2-4 and March 9-11: The “New Orleans Bayou Bash!” continues on weekends at New Orleans Square at Disneyland park with the sights and sounds of a New Orleans-style celebration. Jazz musicians perform throughout New Orleans Square, and Princess Tiana and her friends from “The Princess and the Frog” will lead guests in hand-clapping, dancing-in-the-streets fun.
March 3-April 2: Atlanta Braves Spring Training returns to Walt Disney World for the 15th consecutive year, with an 18-game home schedule.
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| Photo from 2011 Flower & Garden Show |
March 7: Disney World is expected to start enforcing the hour window given for the Fastpass return times.
March 13: The annual meeting of the shareholders of The Walt Disney Company, including remarks by management regarding the company, will be available live via audio webcast at www.disney.com/investors beginning at 8 a.m. PDT / 11:00 a.m. EDT. A replay will be provided through March 28, 2012 at 4:00 p.m. PDT.
March 15-17: Authentic Irish food, music and dance performances set the scene for a three-day St. Patrick’s Day celebration in and around the Raglan Road Irish Pub & Restaurant at Downtown Disney Pleasure Island. The weekend of festivities spans Pleasure Island with live stage performances by The Wyndbreakers — Florida’s own “neo-traditional, pub-rockin’, guitar pickin’ Celtic” musicians; Celtic Wave, with its own traditional Irish flair; and Celtic Nova, putting its own twist on popular lrish tunes. Family activities will include face painting and stilt walkers.
March 23: Disney plans to launch Disney Junior, a cable channel aimed for kids 2 to 7 years of age.
March 29: Disney’s new musical Newsies officially opens on Broadway at the Nederlander Theatre in New York City. The limited Broadway engagement is now until Aug. 19.
March 31: The Disney Fantasy, the 4,000-passenger ship just christened by Mariah Carey, sets sail with The Muppets leading tests in an interactive adventure.
April: Vision House opens at Epcot. The purpose of the Vision House “is to engender sustainable thinking,” Green Builder Media CEO Sara Gutterman said in a news release. “We anticipate that each visitor leaves the exhibit with specific ideas that can help them make their homes and lives more resource efficient and environmentally responsible.”
April 15: The Test Track closes for refurbishment. Under a new long-term commitment from GM, the Test Track in Epcot at Walt Disney World will be highlighting Chevrolet cars. The Test Track should re-open by the fall of 2012.
April 1-9: The Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa at Walt Disney World is celebrating Easter with an Easter Eggstravaganza. There are numerous chocolate eggs in there resort lobby. Each egg is 9 to 12 pounds and completely edible, according to the Disney Parks Blog.
April 15: Rapunzel will will be moving from Fairytale Garden in the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World to a new spot at the outskirts of Adventureland.
April 15: ElecTRONica at Disney’s California Adventure closes.
April 16 – Fall: Test Track closes for refurbishment.
April 16 – May 26: Liberty Square Riverboat in Magic Kingdom closed for refurbishment.
April 28: The highly anticipated Marvel’s Avengers movie will close the Tribeca Film Festival in New York.
April 29- May 2: Lights! Motors! Action! Extreme Stunt Show closed for refurbishment.
April 30- May 25: The Frontierland Shooting Exposition in Disneyland is closed for routine maintenance.
April 30: Carnation Plaza Gardens in Disneyland Park will closes to transform to Fantasy Faire.
May 1: Tutto Gusto, a new wine bar adjacent to Tutto Italia Ristorante in the Italy Pavilion at Epcot, opens.
May 2: The Candy Palace and Gibson Girl Ice Cream Parlor at Disneyland park opens on Main Street, U.S.A.
May 1-May2: Indiana Jones Adventure in Disneyland closes for routine maintenance.
May 3: The Big Thunder Ranch in Disneyland will start its Big Thunder Ranch Jamboree every Friday, Saturday and Sunday with an old fashioned Hoedown.
Mid-May: Merida from the new Disney-Pixar film “Brave” will be greet people at the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World in the Fairytale Garden. The setting will be inspired by her Scottish Highlands home, “where young guests will be invited to engage in archery lessons and other activities until it’s their turn to meet her. Joining Merida will be the three bear cubs from the film, who will no doubt be up to plenty of mischief,” according to the Disney Parks Blog.
May 4: Marvel’s “The Avengers” movie opens nationwide.
May 18-June 10: Star Wars weekends return to Disney World. For the first weekend, May 18-20, the celebrities showing up include: Ray Park – (Darth Maul – Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace);
Jerome Blake (Rune Haako/Mas Amedda – Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace) and Dee Bradley Baker (voice of Clone Captain Rex and Clone Commander Cody – Star Wars: The Clone Wars).
May 21: The Liberty Square Riverboat is expected to reopen after refurbishment.
May 25: The summer version of “The Magic, The Memories, and You!” nighttime show at Magic Kingdom in Walt DIsney World.
May 25-27: Star Wars weekends continue with the following stars showing up: Andy Secombe (Watto – Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace); Ray Park (Darth Maul – Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace) and Tom Kane (voice of Yoda – Star Wars: The Clone Wars).
May 28: Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is scheduled to reopen from refurbishment.
May 31: Snow White’s Scary Adventures, one of the original rides from Walt Disney World’s opening in 1971, will close for good.
May 31: Disney’s Art of Animation Resort opens in Disney World with the first of the four wings opening. The first wing will be the Finding Nemo wing.
May 31-June 3: The ESPNHS Girls Showcase, a weekend sports festival event formerly known as the ESPN RISE Girls Showcase, takes place at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Disney World. The showcase features the best female athletic talent in basketball, softball, martial arts, gymnastics and volleyball. Designed to provide the female athlete with training to help improve her game and mentoring that inspires her, this four-day event will feature select high school athletes on the national and international levels.
