NEW Permits Filed for Country Bear Jamboree and New Little Mermaid Show in Disney World

Planning a visit to Disney World soon? There are LOTS of changes happening that might surprise you.

Magic Kingdom

Disney just rolled out a ton of park updates, there’s lots of construction happening at the hotels including Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort and Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, and Splash Mountain is being transformed into Tiana’s Bayou Adventure! It’s a lot to keep up with and Disney isn’t stopping anytime soon!

We’re taking another look at recently filed permits for Disney World to get an idea of what sort of work may be going on around the property — here’s what we found this time around.

Magic Kingdom

Good news, friends! We’ve got some movement on the Country Bear Jamboree retheme. The show will close on January 27th, 2024, for refurbishment, and it’ll reopen with the updated show this summer. And, we spotted a new permit for these changes!

Country Bear Jamboree

Disney Imagineering filed a Notice of Commencement with the description to “Install A/V equipment” at the attraction. While it doesn’t get any more specific than that, we do know the retheme will include new Disney songs along with some reinterpreted ones. Either way, we’ll be keeping an eye out for updates!

REMINDER: A Classic Disney World Attraction Is CLOSING in ONE WEEK!

Another Magic Kingdom permit was filed recently — but this one is for changes to the First Aid station!

Magic Kingdom First Aid Center

The work appears to be to “Provide labor, material, and/or electrical for construction.” We haven’t seen any changes over here just yet but we’ll update you if that changes!

Animal Kingdom

Over in Animal Kingdom, we spotted a new permit for the Harambe Theater, where the “Festival of the Lion King” is performed.

Festival of the Lion King

From what we can tell, this may be the beginning of an even bigger project based on the description of the permit. It was filed to provide labor, material, and/or electrical for construction — but we haven’t seen any of that hit the parks yet.

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Hollywood Studios

Another Disney World theater is getting an update, but this time over in Hollywood Studios! At the end of 2024, we learned that “Voyage of the Little Mermaid” would be replaced with a NEW show — “The Little Mermaid — A Musical Adventure”. It looks like Disney is preparing to get started with these changes as two new permits have been filed for this theater.

Voyage of the Little Mermaid

The first is to “Provide labor, material, and/or electrical for construction,” while the second permit is for “General construction.” Unfortunately, that’s about as specific as these permits get and we’ll most likely just have to wait until we start seeing signs of changes!

Learn More About the NEW Little Mermaid Show Here

The Indiana Jones Theater could also soon see some construction according to a new permit that was filed. The description is to “Provide labor, material, and/or electrical for construction,” though we haven’t noticed any work being done in the parks just yet.

Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular

And finally, Mama Melrose’s Ristorante Italiano might be getting a refresh! A general construction permit has been filed for this Italian eatery. Disney hasn’t made any sort of announcements about potential closures, but we’ll keep an eye out for updates.

See Our Latest Review of Mama Melrose’s Here

Stay tuned to DFB for the latest looks at changes coming to Disney World and more!

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