Rumors, get yer red hot rumors here...

[Travisma 1,317]

The rumor mill is just bursting at the seams this week.  Some seem to be rehashes of previous ones, so maybe they hold a smidgen of truth to them?

 

Disney's next big idea for Epcot might be a Mary Poppins carnival ride

https://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2018/09/24/disneys-next-big-idea-for-epcot-might-be-a-mary-poppins-carnival-ride

Over in the United Kingdom pavilion a Mary Poppins ride of some type has been rumored since early last year, when Disney began getting positive feedback about their upcoming sequel to the fifty-four-year-old film. 

Since last year, there has been some internal push and pull about whether the money for this project, estimated to be around $75 million, should instead go to a Coco overlay of the boat ride in the Mexico pavilion. 
Now it looks like Disney might be moving forward with both. Though still far from confirmed, the Coco overlay looks like it might be happening but with a smaller budget than before, with the few million cut from Coco’s budget paying for a family-friendly spinner ride in the United Kingdom pavilion.

 

 

The latest rumor says Epcot is about to add the 'bear necessities'

https://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2018/09/25/the-latest-hot-rumor-says-epcot-is-about-to-add-the-bear-necessities

Instead, Disney now looks to be moving forward with an entirely new country to replace Spain with the plans for the Brazil pavilion remaining mostly untouched. 

Rumor and news site WDW News Today began reporting last week that Disney is looking at possibly adding India to the World Showcase. Much like Spain, India has been rumored for Epcot since the 1980s, though unlike Spain, it has never been officially announced for the park. 

The signature feature of the new pavilion would be an indoor trackless boat ride, similar to the award-winning Pirates of the Caribbean attraction found in Shanghai Disneyland, themed to the live-action Jungle Book films. 

The Shanghai Pirates ride is unique with its next generation boats that move forward, backward, and stop automatically at various scenes where screens are fused seamlessly with real life sets creating hyperreal visuals. The Jungle Book ride would be a mix of screens and real-life sets, similar to Animal Kingdom’s Na'vi River Journey, though much more technologically advanced than that attraction. 

Over in the Animal Kingdom, other plans are in the works for major new additions in the coming years, though like the new World Showcase pavilions, none of those plans have yet to be announced. 

 

And as written in the other posts, it looks like Rafiki is a goner...

 

Despite record attendance, Animal Kingdom will soon see an entire land shut down with nothing confirmed to replace it

https://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2018/09/25/despite-record-attendance-animal-kingdom-will-soon-see-an-entire-land-shut-down-with-nothing-confirmed-to-be-replacing-it

Last year, as Hill began pushing the Zootopia rumor even harder than before, many fans wrote it off as wishful thinking. At the time, the hope was Pandora and other additions to the park would be enough to make the park a “full day” theme park experience, but that hasn’t proven to be the case. 

The nighttime fountain show is widely viewed as a flop and other additions, like the new Up!-themed bird show, seem not to be doing as well as Disney was likely hoping for. This has caused the idea of a major new addition to the park isn’t as easily dismissed. 

Recent land clearing around the Rafiki’s Planet Watch train station points to something happening to the area, but it is unclear if this is for guests or Animal Kingdom’s backstage operations. 

Animal Kingdom will also see updates to the Rivers of Light nighttime show, and other entertainment around the park in the coming months. Most of those details have yet to be publicly shared by those involved.