Update On Rumors Of ‘Wreck-It Ralph’ Attraction Replacing Stitch’s Great Escape In Magic Kingdom
There were a lot of rumors regarding the Disney Parks leading up to the D23 Expo, and some of them were actually confirmed and others came out of nowhere, but some weren’t addressed at all. The reason some of them weren’t talked about is that rumors are actually nothing unless they become a reality, and such is the current case with Stitch’s Great Escape at Magic Kingdom. Some are wondering what’s happening to the Walt Disney World attraction, and here is the latest update.
In September of last year, Disney made it known that Stitch’s Great Escape was moving to seasonal operation at Magic Kingdom. When an attraction is made “seasonal,” that is usually the death knell which means it is on its way to soon close for good and being replaced with something else.
That is when rumors started up that a virtual reality Wreck-It Ralph attraction would end up being built in the Tomorrowland location. The Unofficial Guide’s Disney Dish podcast, by way of SlashFilm, spoke of a rumor that a virtual reality of “Sugar Rush” would be coming to where Stitch’s Great Escape currently stands.
The attraction would journey with Wreck-It Ralph and Vanellope through a race against others, and it sounded great. Well, here it is almost a year later, and is that rumor even still relevant at all?
Well, the D23 Expo took place a couple of weeks ago, and there was absolutely no word of a Wreck-It Ralph attraction. There was no mention of anything going on with Stitch’s Great Escape, but there was a lot of information given forth about the Skyliner, Epcot, and a brand new attraction coming to Magic Kingdom, but it has nothing to do with “Sugar Rush.”
As reported by the Disney Parks Blog, a new Tron attraction, which is similar to the Lightcycle Power Run in Shanghai Disneyland, will be coming to Magic Kingdom. It will even be built in Tomorrowland, but it’s going in a brand new area next to Space Mountain.
That still leaves many to wonder what is happening with Stitch’s Great Escape since it is indeed a seasonal attraction.
Well, it reopened for two weeks at the end of last year for the busy Christmas holidays. Earlier this year, it opened for a while during Spring Break. Currently, it started having daily operation again on May 27 and is going to run through Aug. 19, but after that, it has no more hours scheduled as shown on the official website of the Walt Disney World website.
Theme Park Tourist reported back in March that Stitch’s Great Escape was going to close for good soon since it went to seasonal operation. Not all attractions that go seasonal end up closing forever and the Carousel of Progress is living proof of that, but still, what is going to happen to Experiment 626?
Supposedly, the Wreck-It Ralph attraction rumors have fallen by the wayside due to numerous other Disney projects and the logistics of the Stitch building not working with the VR race ride. For now, it is dead in the water and nothing more than a rumor that needs to be taken with a huge grain of salt.
For now, Stitch’s Great Escape is safe in Tomorrowland at Magic Kingdom even though it is just open seasonally. If nothing happens to it in the next couple of months, guests will likely see it open again for possibly Thanksgiving and at Christmas, but that remains to be seen. A Wreck-It Ralph attraction may come to Walt Disney World one day, but that announcement may have to wait to be made until the next D23 Expo in 2019.
[Featured Image by Walt Disney Pictures]
