Walt Disney International has launched first glance pictures & video providing a pre-opening preview of “The Little Mermaid – A Musical Journey,” a newly-reimagined level display debuting at Hollywood Studios in lower than per week! This stocks the preview pictures & pictures, providing a glimpse of what you’ll be expecting from one in all WDW’s primary “Cool Child Summer season” choices.
As a reminder, “The Little Mermaid – A Musical Journey” is a reimagined theatrical manufacturing set to interchange Voyage of the Little Mermaid. The latter was once a casualty of the COVID closure, and over 5 years later, goes to get replaced via this reimagined manufacturing. It’s identical in spirit and substance, with variations in taste and a few songs.
The Little Mermaid – A Musical Journey is encouraged via the Walt Disney Animation Studios vintage film, and can debut within the newly-refreshed theater in Animation Courtyard. The display was once at the start slated to debut final fall, however will now open at the identical date as Villains Unfairly Ever After in Summer season 2025, as oblique capability replacements for MuppetVision 3-D. (That’s proper–it takes TWO level presentations to fill the comically-large sneakers of the Muppets!)
When the brand new Little Mermaid Musical Journey opens, the level display will characteristic surprising new set items, state of the art results, and a daring new design that captures Ariel’s creativeness and feelings via her distinctive view of the arena round her. Watch as Ariel follows her desires to be a part of the human international. This little mermaid’s journey is brimming with acquainted moments—like encounters with King Triton and Ursula—and stirring scenes.
Unsurprisingly, it’s additionally brimming with song–therefore the title. All through Ariel’s adventure, get swept away via transferring musical numbers like “A part of Your International,” “Below the Sea,” “Deficient Unlucky Souls,” “Kiss the Woman” and extra!
The Little Mermaid – A Musical Journey is now in Solid Member previews, and can formally open on Might 27, 2025. Whilst a comfortable opening over the weekend continues to be imaginable, we’re no longer anticipating another previews past the ones for Solid Participants. In spite of everything, those first few showings have yielded first glance pictures & video of the brand new manufacturing at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Right here’s a glance:
The video pictures of The Little Mermaid – A Musical Journey presentations the quite a lot of performers and pupeteers showing on level, in addition to the multi-media that dietary supplements the level display. Right here’s a primary glance:
Walt Disney International shared a preview of The Little Mermaid – A Musical Journey at Disney’s Hollywood Studios! The display will come with new puppets, props, surroundings, results, songs, and extra. %.twitter.com/gMoz4NkOQD
— Drew Smith (@DrewDisneyDude) Might 23, 2025
As discussed in our Footage & Video First Glance of Villains Unfairly Ever After, I in most cases make some degree of warding off spoilers sooner than experiencing theme park choices in consumer and due to this fact possibly am no longer the most productive pass judgement on of ways video appears. It’s incessantly no longer a correct mirrored image of the in-person enjoy, which might be why I used to be underwhelmed via that level display.
Or possibly no longer, as a result of I watched this pictures of The Little Mermaid – A Musical Journey and got here away feeling beautiful sure. The newly-reimagined display appears improbable. I don’t need to get forward of myself and pass judgement on the completed product in keeping with a video, however it sounds as if to be a pleasant glow-up, with the level display getting a big modernization and improve. Kudos to the Disney Are living Leisure ingenious group on what appears to be a task smartly achieved. The Little Mermaid – A Musical Journey will have to be an enormous asset to the DHS enchantment lineup!
I will not wait to enjoy this and, extra importantly, take Megatron to peer it. (I will be able to already inform she’ll love this, while the Villains display may not be age-appropriate simply but.) A part of my pleasure for that is clearly parental bias. There’s additionally the truth that we’ve observed Voyage of the Little Mermaid many, again and again over the previous couple of a long time, so I’ve form of already observed this (or a model of it) in consumer and will fill within the gaps in my thoughts. However that’s no longer it all.
Looking at the movies of The Little Mermaid – A Musical Journey and Villains Unfairly Ever After back-to-back simply underscores how a lot more whole of a manufacturing the previous is, with better selection within the presentation and only a higher power. It’s relatively simple that the Little Mermaid display advantages from extra performers and puppeteers, and simply being a meatier manufacturing.
Previous to this, Walt Disney International shared a couple of different updates on The Little Mermaid – A Musical Journey within the final two weeks. For an excellent meatier first have a look at the display and its advent, see the above 10-minute lengthy ‘Making of’ video from the respectable Disney Parks YouTube channel.
In that, Disney Are living Leisure pulled again the curtain at the units and gizmos aplenty in retailer for visitors in The Little Mermaid – A Musical Journey. It additionally presentations Ariel herself, Jodi Benson, unexpected Solid Participants and bringing audience alongside on this unique behind-the-scenes video.
Walt Disney International additionally up to date the respectable enchantment web page, revealing that the showtimes for The Little Mermaid – A Musical Journey will likely be steady from 9:15 AM to 7:15 PM. That is not like Villains Unfairly Ever After, which were given particular occasions regardless of being a shorter display.
The Little Mermaid – A Musical Journey has additionally been added to the Lightning Lane roster. We’ve up to date our Information to Lightning Lanes at Walt Disney International for 2025 accordingly, however the one factor you in reality want to know is this received’t be a just right use of your line-skipping allocations (until you’re visiting within the first week or in order that it’s open).
In the long run, we’re shopping ahead to the Little Mermaid – A Musical Journey much more so after this sneak peek. We beloved the outdated Voyage of the Little Mermaid display, viewing it as quintessential Nineteen Nineties Walt Disney International, and a display that also held up regardless of a little bit of datedness. The reimagining will have to deal with that final phase on the very least, whilst giving the enchantment a brand new hire on lifestyles. Neatly, a minimum of till the present ‘hire’ on Animation Courtyard expires and a blockbuster new land announcement is made on the 2028 D23 Expo.
I’m additionally nonetheless a little bit sour that it’s taken over 5 years to get a reimagined alternative for Voyage of the Little Mermaid on this house, which is over two years longer than all different venues. Truthfully, this doesn’t in reality affect us all that a lot individually. We’d’ve watched VotLM possibly as soon as in line with yr right through that point (in all probability extra if there was once an ‘break out the hurricane’ situation). And our daughter is simply in the end beginning to age into this sort of display.
Then again, I acknowledge that we aren’t the one folks with young children who talk over with Walt Disney International…and the clock has been ticking for lots of of them over the past ~5 years. Walt Disney International’s lackadaisical manner over the past a number of years has been irritating for those households who handiest have goodbye sooner than their children develop up and age out of the ‘candy spot’ when stuff like that is really natural magic.
It’s nerve-racking that the one issues achieved with a way of urgency are upcharges, cutbacks, and Disney Holiday Membership development. For the whole lot else, there’s the implicit expectation that we, as enthusiasts, will have to merely be appreciative about no matter Walt Disney International “offers” us. It’s simple to peer why such a lot of Walt Disney International enthusiasts have advanced a way of schadenfreude, and are actively rooting for Epic Universe to offer a significant problem to Walt Disney International (gentle understatement), despite the fact that they’ve by no means visited Common Orlando.
It’s no secret to any individual in WDW control that wait occasions are prime at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. That individuals go away the park early many days because of a way of defeat, no longer crowning glory. That extra stability is wanted within the enchantment and leisure lineup. But regardless of all of that, Walt Disney International selected to allocate sources to growing level presentations for Jollywood Nights (amongst different issues) versus expediting The Little Mermaid – A Musical Journey. And I say this as anyone who in reality loved Jollywood Nights final yr and am excited to do it once more!
A few years from now, we’ll have forgotten all about how lengthy it took to convey again a Little Mermaid manufacturing as we experience it for the two-dozenth time with our daughter. And in equity, none of that is the fault of the Disney Are living Leisure group or the passionate creatives that poured their hearts into this lovely-looking replace. If the preview pictures & video are any indication, they did a perfect process with The Little Mermaid – A Musical Journey. We can’t wait to peer it!
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Your Ideas
What do you bring to mind The Little Mermaid – A Musical Journey? Excited to have a brand new level display, or sour that this house has been darkish for over 5 years? Excited to enjoy this right through your summer-time go back and forth to Walt Disney International? Do you compromise or disagree with our evaluate? Any questions we will be able to allow you to resolution? Listening to your comments–even while you disagree with us–is each attention-grabbing to us and useful to different readers, so please percentage your ideas beneath within the feedback!
