Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular Returns!
Walt Disney World has announced that Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular and other entertainment will return to Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom in the coming weeks and months. In this post, we’ll cover the details and what else you might expect from live entertainment for the rest of this year and in 2022.
Disney’s announcement begins by recapping the atmospheric entertainment that resumed on October 1 with the start of the Walt Disney World 50th Anniversary Celebration. Early birds at Magic Kingdom are now starting their day with “Let the Magic Begin” on the Cinderella Castle Forecourt Stage, and the park has welcomed back the ragtime piano player at Casey’s Corner on Main Street.
Over at Epcot, World Showcase travelers are dancing to the Canadian rhythms of Alberta Bound, laughing at the antics of Sergio in Italy, and experiencing the majestic percussion of the Taiko drummers of Matsuriza in Japan. We saw all three over the weekend–including Matsuriza multiple times–and they brought back a fantastic energy to World Showcase…
Next week at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, guests visiting Asia can once again enjoy the music of Chakranadi. Along with them, Kora Tinga Tinga returns to the streets of Harambe in Africa. Animal Kingdom’s Tam Tam Drummers will come back to Africa in early November 2021.
At the resorts, performers will also soon be captivating guests strolling along the waterfront at Disney’s BoardWalk Inn (date TBD). And as previously reported, Yeeha Bob will perform his wacky piano antics starting October 14 in the River Roost Lounge at Disney’s Port Orleans Resort — Riverside on the date that hotel reopens.
At Disney’s Hollywood Studios, two big ‘spectaculars’ are poised to return this Christmas season. “Disney Movie Magic,” the cinematic nighttime spectacular celebrating Disney’s live-action film legacy will return to Grauman’s Chinese Theater on November 7, 2021.
When this projection show resumes, it will feature a new sequence from Disney’s epic adventure, Mulan. Presumably, this addition has been in the works for a while–and probably would’ve debuted at the end of last March had…well, ya know…not happened.
No word yet on whether this will replace or supplement the “Wonderful World of Animation.” As you might recall, these were two of three very similar nighttime projection shows that played at DHS pre-closure, with the main one being Star Wars: A Galactic Spectacular.
No word yet on that, and also no word on “Jingle Bell, Jingle BAM!,” the centerpiece Christmas-time nighttime spectacular at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. We haven’t heard anything one way or the other, but it wouldn’t surprise us in the least if “Jingle Bell, Jingle BAM!” does return–from what we understand, Walt Disney World is still trying to make a holiday push.
Speaking of which, mark your calendars for December 19, 2021. That’s the date when the cast and crew of “Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular” will bring back all the comedy and thrills of that action-packed show.
Walt Disney World ends the announcement with this: “We are incredibly grateful to our cast and guests for the patience you’ve demonstrated as we presented modified forms of some entertainment while continuing to work through the details required to resume others.”
While no details are provided, it’s our incredibly strong suspicion that Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular will be among the modified productions. Now, before you go grousing about budget cuts or cost-savings, it’s our understanding that this actually is about a mix of health safety–and Disney’s hands being tied.
Back when we posted What’s Returning & Not Yet Back at Walt Disney World in 2021-2022, one topic discussed was entertainment timelines. There, we mentioned that one big obstacle for some shows is the Actors’ Equity Association, the union that represents performers at Walt Disney World–and far beyond.
The Actors’ Equity Association (AEA) has created onerous standards for the resumption of many productions all around the country. The “standoff” between Disney and that union has been an ongoing and contentious issue throughout reopening, with posts last fall (here and here) discussing what was happening at the time.
We further elaborated on all of this in commentary to the recent announcement that a “Reimagined” Finding Nemo Musical is Coming to Animal Kingdom. Nothing has changed since then. We do not fault Walt Disney World for modifying these productions–it’s not about saving money. What we do fault the company for is not doing it sooner, bringing back entertainment Cast Members faster and giving guests more to do at DHS.
Suffice to say, the union’s requirements are why some shows that have returned are being presented in modified form—sometimes with fairly awkward changes and physical distancing that doesn’t really suit the stage shows. (Beauty and the Beast — Live on Stage is a good example.)
The same will likely be true of Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular. I’m not privy to any insider information here, but I’d anticipate some of the closer-contact scenes to be cut from the show, as well as all audience participation. It’s not that it costs less money to not bring guests on stage, or for performers to do solo acts than hand-to-hand combat…it’s about appeasing the AEA.
Interestingly, there were rumors shortly before Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge opened that Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular would receive new and replaced scenes, plus the removal of its “working studio” premise that no longer makes sense in the current incarnation of the park.
At the time, the plan was for Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular to go dark for a lengthy period of time last year and this year, with the reimagined show debuting just in time for Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary celebration. Well, the “going dark” part of that plan did come to fruition, albeit not as intended…let’s see if the rest happens. (I doubt it.)
Ultimately, it’s great to hear that Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular is returning, and this calendar year (barely, but it counts). As we indicated a few weeks ago, our expectation is that any entertainment that isn’t back by October 1 probably won’t return until 2022, if ever. Based on this announcement and rumors we’re hearing about other atmospheric acts for the holiday season, we were (thankfully) wrong about that.
To reiterate, our expectation is that Festival of Fantasy Parade will be the next big thing to return in early 2022. That’s not a “rumor,” but rather, something we’re surmising from the fact that Magic Kingdom will have parade performers from Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmastime Parade, and it’ll probably make sense to move them to Festival of Fantasy after that ends. Having even more ready in time for spring break 2022 is also logical. Again, zero inside information here–just going with what seems plausible in light of what has and has not happened to date.
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YOUR THOUGHTS
What do you think about Walt Disney World’s announcement of Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular returning to Disney’s Hollywood Studios? Disappointed that more entertainment hasn’t returned already despite the crowds and prices? Hopeful that Walt Disney World still has some “surprises” up its sleeve and more is back by Christmas 2021, or do you agree that 2022 is more likely? Will you be attempting to visit Walt Disney World this year, or are you waiting until more is normal? Do you agree or disagree with our predictions? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
@Toto This is definitely an AEA thing, but I see how confusing it looks from the outside. The difference is in the type of contracts the two shows fall under. You can have productions where all performers are union members, only some performers are union members, or none of the performers are in the union. The last scenario doesn’t apply here so we’ll leave it out.
Wicked is an all union production, and the contract they are under stipulates that all performers *must* be vaccinated AND that there is regular testing to catch breakthrough infections. Because these 2 conditions are met, AEA allows the performers to be in closer contact, which is why the staging of Wicked looks the same as it did pre-pandemic.
Beauty and the Beast Live uses both union and non-union performers and is under a different set of rules. The general rule of thumb is that anyone with a speaking role in any WDW show is under a union contract; those who don’t speak (dancers, fur characters, etc.) are non-union. My memory of Beauty and Beast Live is a bit fuzzy, but I believe only Belle and Gaston speak live and everyone else is miming to prerecorded lines, meaning the Beast, Cogsworth, Lumiere, etc. are most likely non-union performers. When that show was brought back Disney was not requiring all its employees be vaccinated, so I’m guessing the no touching was instituted as a protection for the union performers (Belle and Gaston) to create an environment where AEA deemed it safe enough for them to work.
Does the discrepancy make complete sense? Up for debate, which there is plenty of within the union. But that’s where they are at the moment. Things could be totally different for Indy now that Disney is requiring all of their employees to be vaccinated, or there may be some similarly glaring modifications made to the show. (I am almost certain the whole audience volunteer premise will get cut.) Only time will tell.
I really like this show and am delighted it is coming back.
Tom, I just want to say I love reading your blogs and I appreciate your humor and writing style and general approach to analyzing “tricky” or controversial topics. With that preface, I notice you use the phrase “suffice to say” A LOT in your blogs. What is the subject of this phrase? I have always heard it expressed as “suffice it to say” which is an inverted colloquial version of “it suffices to say.” But alas, perhaps I am alone in saying it strikes my eyes/ears as odd? I’m just saying. But suffice (it) to say, I’m a big fan. Keep up the good work!
I recently saw a touring company of Wicked in Dallas and there were none of the restrictions talked about here. Elphaba and Fiyero were full-on touching and kissing so I’m wondering if this is really an AEA thing. Needless to say, the absolute “no touching” in Beauty and the Beast when we were there in September was absolutely excruciating. Beast is stabbed and bleeding and Belle can’t touch him…? He’s in pretty much a fully enclosed costume!!! Wear a mask under the costume…that’s fine, but come on!!!! This is beyond silly.
We were disappointed when we saw Lion King this month. Removing the tumble monkeys and the acrobatic girl flying around was a big let down. Do you think these will return?
When will the street performers return to Hollywood Studios??
Any news on the Polynesian Luau and the hoop de du??
Mary Poppins?
Tom,
Any guess on when/if Spirit of Aloha will return?
Love the show still – but they should mix it up with new sceens to play into the movie coming out in 2022. There still a new movie coming – right?
Wonderful news that Disney is bringing back an iconic attraction… Hope I can return to see it.
Thanks
Thanks for all the information and commentary. It’s so helpful! Any thoughts on Jedi Training making a return at Hollywood Studios? I’m visiting in April 2022 and that would be a trip highlight for my 4 year old. I’m crossing my fingers and holding my breath!
My reaction to bringing back Indiana Jones is the same as the 50th. birthday celebration: ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!
Happy to see stuff return. And while I’m a fan of Indiana Jones… I’m also old. It really is starting to feel dated. Hard to imagine many big Indy fans under 40 years of age.
I really suspected they would take advantage of this extended closure to replace Indy. Guess I was wrong.
Well that doesn’t help me for November.
Unpopular Disney opinion but… I was hoping they’d keep it shuttered and replace it with different Indy content. I loved it the first time I saw it, don’t get me wrong, but I’d love to see an e-ticket attraction instead.
Hahah of course it premiers December 19th! I leave on December 18th. Well, I finally broke down this last time I was in Florida and got an annual pass…though that was more to book a Galactic Starcruiser voyage in March. If they don’t do a soft opening before the 19th, then I’ll just see it when I come down then. I’ve not experienced the parks with actual atmospheric entertainment since 2011! This will be fun…
Given the (completely understandable) strict restrictions Equity’s put on actor/audience interactions (ie, there aren’t really any interactions permitted now) for Broadway, touring and regional productions, I would be SHOCKED if the audience volunteer stuff is still in when Indy reopens. Which is a shame for those of us that really like those bits but I don’t see how they could survive when AEA isn’t allowing interaction even for vaccine-mandated audiences.
Love the Indiana Jones show but I believe Dec 19 is start of some AP blackout dates
But then again I’m guessing it will still be around in January and beyond
Thanks Tom, I keep checking your blog to see your interpretation of the news today!
Please keep your ear to the ground and keep us posted if Jingle Bam or the Merry menagerie will be returning! Also anxious to hear if the Tree Stroll has any chance of going up before Nov 12 over at Disney Springs. Thanks!