Dining down in New Orleans: In a tasty bit of full-circle news, the recently closed French Market Restaurant in New Orleans Square at Disneyland Park, the exterior of which Walt Disney Animation Studios artists studied as they designed Tiana’s dream restaurant in The Princess and the Frog, is scheduled to become Tiana’s Palace later this year. Serving up authentic New Orleans flavors inspired by Tiana’s friends and adventures, the re-imagined restaurant follows the recent opening of the nearby Eudora’s Chic Boutique Featuring Tiana’s Gourmet Secrets (a retail shop opened by Tiana and her mother, Eudora) and precedes the 2024 opening of the highly anticipated attraction Tiana’s Bayou Adventure.
Enjoy the (Star) View: Disney Vacation Club Star View Station – a Member Lounge is scheduled to have opened at Disneyland Park by the time this magazine mails. Located in the heart of Tomorrowland (inside the iconic, cylindrical building that’s housed everything from Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress and “America Sings” to Innoventions and the Star Wars Launch Bay), the sleek, space station-inspired gathering place reflects mid-century-modern design styles that embrace the optimism of space travel and draw artistic influence from the art styles of Disney visionaries. The Disney Files staff will share a photographic tour in an upcoming edition and will reveal their five favorite details in an upcoming episode of the award-winning Disney Files On Demand YouTube series “Details We Dig” (available when you search “Disney Vacation Club Disney Files On Demand” on YouTube).
Spectacular nights: Both the fan-favorite “Happily Ever After” and the hit “EPCOT Forever” are once again lighting up Walt Disney World nights. The former recently returned to Magic Kingdom Park with new projections extending down Main Street, U.S.A. “EPCOT Forever,” meanwhile, returned to World Showcase Lagoon with its stirring renditions of beloved EPCOT music, sparking fond memories of the park’s storied history in celebration of its milestone 40th anniversary. “EPCOT Forever” will run as an interim show for a limited time before an all-new spectacular debuts later this year. A phased removal of the lagoon’s “Harmonious” barges began on April 2.