Changes Coming to Frontierland in Disney World This Month

 by Beth Keating

News

DisneyBizJournal.com

June 18, 2024

 

There will be a few changes coming to Frontierland at the Magic Kingdom in Disney World in the next month or so, and that doesn’t even include whatever will be announced for the “Beyond Thunder Mountain” project.

On June 28, Tiana’s Bayou Adventure will officially open to park guests, though there has already been some activity at the old salt mine with cast member, annual passholder, DVC and media previews. Kiddos must be 40 inches tall to ride the former Splash Mountain/rethemed attraction. While Tiana and her critter band will be bringing the crowds back to that corner of the Magic Kingdom, Big Thunder Mountain is expected to close shortly for its own refurb, based on recent construction permits that have been filed, so crowd levels will surely ebb and flow in that quadrant of the park.

On July 17, 2024, the Country Bears will be back in their all new “Country Bear Musical Jamboree.” The music will be updated in a more modern “Nashville style,” and the songs will include popular Disney tunes in a “countrified” format. The audio-animatronic bears will be sporting fresh new costumes as well.  The Country Bear Jamboree was an opening day attraction at Disney World, swinging open the doors of Grizzly Hall on October 1, 1971.  It was one of the last attractions that Walt Disney personally helped develop, and was originally set to debut at a never-built Disney ski resort, but moved to Florida instead.

 
And lastly, another opening day attraction, the Frontierland Shootin’ Arcade, will see its final day of operation on June 23.  It is being replaced by a Disney Vacation Club lounge.  The Arcade, located next to the Country Bear Jamboree, is an Old West-style shooting gallery, using infrared rifles to take on a hundred different targets.  The shooting gallery is themed to Boot Hill in the frontier town of Tombstone, Arizona, and is currently free to participate.

The new DVC Lounge is the first in the Magic Kingdom, and will have décor “inspired by the bygone era of exploration and adventure.” The Grand Opening date for the lounge has not been set as of yet. The DVC lounge in EPCOT at the Imagination Pavilion is currently undergoing renovations and has set up a temporary home in the Odyssey Pavilion, and there is also a DVC lounge at Bay Lake Tower at the Contemporary Resort.

And if you are scoping out the changes in Frontierland, don’t forget to mosey up to the counter at the Golden Oak Outpost, where you can grab an order of the new “Tiana’s Famous Beignets,” which will be available from June 28 through September 6.

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Beth Keating is a theme parks, restaurant and entertainment reporter for DisneyBizJournal.

 

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