Walt Disney World Awaken Summer — An Update on What’s Debuted
As we quickly approach the middle of summer (July 17 has always been that point for me for some reason), it is always good to take a look at everything new that has opened at the Parks of Walt Disney World.
Epcot seems to have gotten the lion's share of love this summer.
The biggest expansion took place in Norway Pavilion including a new meet and greet area for Princess Anna and Queen Elsa in the Royal Sommerhus and the opening of the amazing Frozen Ever After attraction.
The Royal Sommerhus is a brand new area based off of an actually Detli House of the Trondlag Folk Museum in Trondheim Norway and is designed to feel like the "summer cottage " for the sisters. The queue winds through the house to give you a look at the true beauty and detail of the building before getting that rare chance to spend a few moments with Anna and Elsa. 
Of course, as with any good Disney attraction, when you exit you have a stop in the Wanding Reindeer shop to make sure you don't miss a chance to pick up any gifts for those Frozen lovers in your life.
Frozen Ever After may be a redressing of a previous attraction, but you would be hard pressed to find anyone who has waited in the up to five-hour lines that would think of it as just Maelstrom redone.
The queue takes place in the courtyard of Arendelle along with a visit to Oaken's Tokens and Sauna. As you get close to the load platform, you see the Royal Proclamation that today is the Offical Summer Snow Day with tours departing now to give guests a chance to visit Queen Elsa's Ice Palace.
The attraction itself takes you on a tour of your favorite characters, locations, and songs from not only Frozen but also the short Frozen Fever (who could forget the Snowgies?) I'm a firm believer in not spoiling an attraction and seeing it in person for the first time, but, if you don't have plans to make it out to Epcot anytime soon, take a look at our video shot on opening day of the ride:
Now besides a brand new attraction based off of one of the biggest animated feature film ever, Soarin' — probably the most popular attraction in all of Epcot — also got a major upgrade in the form of Soarin' Around the World.
We had the unique chance to talk with Walt Disney Imagineer Jason Grands about the changes to this iconic attraction.
Jason shared with us how the attraction was created using the highest resolution camera that was designed just for this attraction by WDI and also pointed out to keep your nose open for the new smells added to the attraction.
One of the other new additions to Epcot comes in the form of a little blue fish getting more of a starting role next to a 150-year-old turtle. Turtle Talk with Crush at The Seas With Nemo and Friends had a major update to include more of the new cast of characters as seen in the new Disney-Pixar's Finding Dory:
To see how Disney's Hollywood Studios and Magic Kingdom have joined in the Awakening of Summer, head to the next page.
The Magic Kingdom's Castle Stage has been home to many iconic shows for the past (almost) 45 years and now is home to Mickey's Royal Friendship Faire. This show follows the recent trend of Disney Park shows of not so much a conflict/resolution storyline but a celebration of Disney characters and each having a special moment. We were lucky enough to capture the first-day performance but, as always, if you are planning on visiting the park soon, it is always best to see for yourself:
Of course, the theme of this summer is Awaken Summer which ties into Star Wars The Force Awakens. And with that comes the biggest nighttime spectacular to any of the Walt Disney Parks: Star Wars: A Galactic Spectacular.
The new nightly
From the creative mind of J. Michael Roddy, an uber self-professed Star Wars geek and show director for creative entertainment for Walt Disney Parks and Resorts. Roddy shared with us that the show will always be in the enhancement stage with new technology and, with more Star Wars on the way, this show will be continually evolving.
The show itself is a Star Wars fanboy dream. From iconic sights and sounds to creating a lightsaber duel above the Great Movie Ride, this show will make everyone who experiences it remember what it was like to sit in the theater and see Star Wars (whether it be from 1977 or 2015) including all of the emotions.
While this is all part of the Awaken Summer promotion, none of these new experiences are going anywhere anytime soon, so hurry and book your trip to Walt Disney World.