Walt Disney World has launched first look photographs & video providing a pre-opening preview of “The Little Mermaid – A Musical Journey,” a newly-reimagined stage present debuting at Hollywood Studios in lower than per week! This shares the preview photographs & footage, providing a glimpse of what you may count on from certainly one of WDW’s major “Cool Child Summer time” choices.
As a reminder, “The Little Mermaid – A Musical Journey” is a reimagined theatrical manufacturing set to exchange Voyage of the Little Mermaid. The latter was a casualty of the COVID closure, and over 5 years later, goes to get replaced by this reimagined manufacturing. It’s comparable in spirit and substance, with variations in fashion and a few songs.
The Little Mermaid – A Musical Journey is impressed by the Walt Disney Animation Studios traditional film, and can debut within the newly-refreshed theater in Animation Courtyard. The present was initially slated to debut final fall, however will now open on the identical date as Villains Unfairly Ever After in Summer time 2025, as oblique capability replacements for MuppetVision 3D. (That’s proper–it takes TWO stage reveals to fill the comically-large sneakers of the Muppets!)
When the brand new Little Mermaid Musical Journey opens, the stage present will function beautiful new set items, cutting-edge results, and a daring new design that captures Ariel’s creativeness and feelings by her distinctive view of the world round her. Watch as Ariel follows her goals to be a part of the human world. 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 music–therefore the title. All through Ariel’s journey, get swept away by shifting musical numbers like “A part of Your World,” “Underneath the Sea,” “Poor 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. Whereas a comfortable opening over the weekend continues to be doable, we’re not anticipating every other previews past these for Solid Members. In any case, these first few showings have yielded first look photographs & video of the brand new manufacturing at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Right here’s a glance:
The video footage of The Little Mermaid – A Musical Journey reveals the assorted performers and pupeteers showing on stage, in addition to the multi-media that dietary supplements the stage present. Right here’s a primary look:
Walt Disney World shared a preview of The Little Mermaid – A Musical Journey at Disney’s Hollywood Studios! The present will embody new puppets, props, surroundings, results, songs, and extra. pic.twitter.com/gMoz4NkOQD
— Drew Smith (@DrewDisneyDude) Might 23, 2025
As talked about in our Photographs & Video First Look of Villains Unfairly Ever After, I often make a degree of avoiding spoilers earlier than experiencing theme park choices in particular person and due to this fact possibly am not the perfect choose of how video seems. It’s usually not an correct reflection of the in-person expertise, which could possibly be why I used to be underwhelmed by that stage present.
Or possibly not, as a result of I watched this footage of The Little Mermaid – A Musical Journey and got here away feeling fairly constructive. The newly-reimagined present seems unbelievable. I don’t need to get forward of myself and choose the completed product primarily based on a video, however it seems to be a pleasant glow-up, with the stage present getting a serious modernization and improve. Kudos to the Disney Stay Leisure inventive crew on what appears to be a job properly achieved. The Little Mermaid – A Musical Journey needs to be an enormous asset to the DHS attraction lineup!
I can’t wait to expertise this and, extra importantly, take Megatron to see it. (I can already inform she’ll love this, whereas the Villains present might be not age-appropriate simply but.) A part of my pleasure for that is clearly parental bias. There’s additionally the truth that we’ve seen Voyage of the Little Mermaid many, many instances over the previous few a long time, so I’ve type of already seen this (or a model of it) in particular person and may fill within the gaps in my thoughts. However that’s not all of it.
Watching the movies of The Little Mermaid – A Musical Journey and Villains Unfairly Ever After back-to-back simply underscores how far more full of a manufacturing the previous is, with larger selection within the presentation and only a higher vitality. It’s pretty simple that the Little Mermaid present advantages from extra performers and puppeteers, and simply being a meatier manufacturing.
Previous to this, Walt Disney World shared just a few different updates on The Little Mermaid – A Musical Journey within the final two weeks. For an excellent meatier first take a look at the present and its creation, see the above 10-minute lengthy ‘Making of’ video from the official Disney Parks YouTube channel.
In that, Disney Stay Leisure pulled again the curtain on the devices and gizmos aplenty in retailer for friends in The Little Mermaid – A Musical Journey. It additionally reveals Ariel herself, Jodi Benson, stunning Solid Members and bringing viewers alongside on this unique behind-the-scenes video.
Walt Disney World additionally up to date the official attraction 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 obtained particular instances regardless of being a shorter present.
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 World for 2025 accordingly, however the one factor you really want to know is that this received’t be a superb use of your line-skipping allocations (except you’re visiting within the first week or in order that it’s open).
In the end, we’re trying ahead to the Little Mermaid – A Musical Journey much more so after this sneak peek. We cherished the previous Voyage of the Little Mermaid present, viewing it as quintessential Nineteen Nineties Walt Disney World, and a present that also held up regardless of a little bit of datedness. The reimagining ought to handle that final half on the very least, whereas giving the attraction a brand new lease on life. Effectively, no less than till the present ‘lease’ on Animation Courtyard expires and a blockbuster new land announcement is made on the 2028 D23 Expo.
I’m additionally nonetheless a bit bitter 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 actually impression us all that a lot personally. We’d’ve watched VotLM possibly as soon as per 12 months throughout that point (maybe extra if there was an ‘escape the storm’ state of affairs). And our daughter is simply lastly beginning to age into such a present.
Nevertheless, I acknowledge that we’re not the one mother and father with young children who go to Walt Disney World…and the clock has been ticking for a lot of of them during the last ~5 years. Walt Disney World’s lackadaisical strategy during the last a number of years has been irritating for these households who solely have so lengthy earlier than their children develop up and age out of the ‘candy spot’ when stuff like that is actually pure magic.
It’s annoying that the one issues achieved with a way of urgency are upcharges, cutbacks, and Disney Trip Membership building. For every part else, there’s the implicit expectation that we, as followers, ought to merely be appreciative about no matter Walt Disney World “offers” us. It’s simple to see why so many Walt Disney World followers have developed a way of schadenfreude, and are actively rooting for Epic Universe to current a significant problem to Walt Disney World (gentle understatement), even when they’ve by no means visited Common Orlando.
It’s no secret to anybody in WDW administration that wait instances are excessive at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. That folks depart the park early many days because of a way of defeat, not completion. That extra stability is required within the attraction and leisure lineup. But regardless of all of that, Walt Disney World selected to allocate sources to growing stage reveals for Jollywood Nights (amongst different issues) versus expediting The Little Mermaid – A Musical Journey. And I say this as somebody who actually loved Jollywood Nights final 12 months 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 take pleasure in it for the two-dozenth time with our daughter. And in equity, none of that is the fault of the Disney Stay Leisure crew or the passionate creatives that poured their hearts into this lovely-looking replace. If the preview photographs & video are any indication, they did an incredible job with The Little Mermaid – A Musical Journey. We can’t wait to see it!
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Your Ideas
What do you consider The Little Mermaid – A Musical Journey? Excited to have a brand new stage present, or bitter that this house has been darkish for over 5 years? Excited to expertise this throughout your summer-time journey to Walt Disney World? Do you agree or disagree with our evaluation? Any questions we might help you reply? Listening to your suggestions–even whenever you disagree with us–is each attention-grabbing to us and useful to different readers, so please share your ideas under within the feedback!
