Disney announced this week that the Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser hotel that opened just over a year ago at Disney’s Hollywood Studios theme park in Florida will be closing in September.

SEE ALSO: Everything you need to know about Disney World’s Star Wars hotel

“Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser is one of our most creative projects ever and has been praised by our guests and recognized for setting a new bar for innovation and immersive entertainment,” according to a statement released by Disney. “This premium experience gave us the opportunity to try new things on a smaller scale of 100 rooms and we will take what we’ve learned to create future experiences that can reach more of our guests and fans.”

The “galactic cruise” invites costumed passengers to hatch plots against the First Order, fall in with a band of underworld smugglers and sip space cocktails for as long as they can suspend disbelief and buy into the interstellar cosplay theater of what’s been billed as the “most immersive Star Wars experience ever created.”

What went wrong? And what can Disney learn from this epic failure? Let’s take a closer look at seven reasons why Disney’s Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser hotel failed.

1) A revolutionary idea ahead of its time

The Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser was a really big and innovative idea — at least as it was envisioned in the 1.0 version of the concept. Probably too big. And certainly way ahead of its time.

The Galactic Starcruiser combined two familiar ideas — each with a novel twist.

The first idea was the notion of a three-day cruise ship voyage. The twist? Your cruise ship was a Star Wars spaceship. Disney went to great lengths to get guests to buy into the storytelling concept that this otherwise ordinary 100-room Florida hotel was actually a cruise ship traveling through space.

The second idea was an immersive theater experience where the audience was part of the show and played a role in how the story unfolded. The twist? The show played out continuously during your 3-day, 2-night hotel stay.

Either one of those big ideas would have been daunting to introduce to a mass audience of theme park tourists. Combining the two together was more than most people could fathom — especially while they were supposed to be on vacation.

2) All inclusive vs. a la carte

The big problem with the cruise-ship-anchored-in-port concept is that you force hotel guests to pay up front for an all-inclusive experience. Everything is included in your stay — room, dinner, drinks, attractions, shows, atmospheric entertainment and theme park excursions.

Even though all the headlines said Disney’s Star Wars hotel is “closing” that’s not really the case. Disney will reimagine the hotel and come up with a simpler concept that will likely maintain a Star Wars theme.

Step one will almost certainly be to unbundle the all-inclusive cruise-like experiences and let hotel guests pick and choose from an a la carte menu of exclusive offerings. You don’t need lightsaber training but really want to see the dinner show? No problem.

Eventually, Disney may even offer a 3-day, 2-night cruise experience again — just not every day of the year.

3) One size fits all is not for everybody

An immersive theater experience can be a lot to handle — particularly if you’re new to the idea. It can be especially exhausting if the experience lasts throughout your entire hotel stay.

If you’ve ever been to a Renaissance Fair or Colonial Williamsburg, then you get the general idea of immersive theater. The show unfolds all around you all the time. That might be OK for some people in small doses. But the Galactic Starcruiser experience lasts for 45 hours.

The challenge for Walt Disney Imagineering with the 2.0 version of the Star Wars hotel will be balancing show times with down times. And figuring out where and when the shows will happen — and how to let hotel guests know when the shows begin and give them the option to opt out if that’s what they prefer.

4) An escape room with no escape

The idea of the Galactic Starcruiser experience was that you checked in for your voyage at Disney World and were whisked away to outer space for your Star Wars adventure — and you didn’t return until it was time to depart the spaceship and return to Disney World.

In between, you were mostly confined to the Galactic Starcruiser. Put another way, you never left the hotel — except for a brief excursion to Batuu, the intergalactic setting for the Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge themed land at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

You could certainly leave the hotel. It wasn’t a prison. But why would you ever leave after paying for the full experience?

On a cruise ship, you’d never jump overboard in between ports — even if you were bored out of your mind. But the Galactic Starcruiser experience really wasn’t set up for you to come and go as you please — even if it turns out you’re really not that into Star Wars after all and just want to get out of the hotel for a few hours.

Getting rid of the cruise ship concept will allow future Star Wars hotel guests the freedom to return to Earth whenever they want.

5) Two niche groups with little overlap

Disney was appealing to two distinct groups that don’t necessarily overlap much on your classic Venn diagram.

The first group is the Disney World one-percenters who have money to burn and price is no object. The second group is the Star Wars one-percenters who think a 45-hour immersive experience in a galaxy far, far away sounds like a dream vacation.

Lowering the bar for entry on both fronts will open up Star Wars hotel 2.0 to a broader audience who may not be as financially well-heeled or deeply invested in the epic storytelling.

6) High costs and high prices

No conversation about the Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser would be complete without discussing the out-of-this-world price tag.

The 3-day, 2-night experience costs anywhere from $5,000 to $20,000.

Disney positioned the hotel as a premium experience — but some of the costs were related to the sheer amount of labor involved in pulling off the audacious concept. There were actors, entertainers and characters around every corner and everywhere you looked. And not just for a 30-minute show, but throughout the entire 3-day, 2-night experience.

Trimming back the amount of entertainment and frequency should allow Disney to lower the price and allow more people to step inside the Star Wars hotel and experience the intergalactic adventure. A watered-down version of the Galactic Starcruiser will still be wildly appealing to the legions of Star Wars fans.

7) A failure narrative set in

The biggest problem for Disney after the initial buzz for the Galactic Starcruiser waned was that the vultures began circling waiting for the inevitable death of the grand experiment.

It is a uniquely American tradition to build things up beyond expectations and then tear them down at the first whiff of failure.

Disney had to know things were going south quickly. You don’t close a hotel after little more than a year unless you can see the writing on the wall.

The swift closure also allows returning Disney CEO Bob Iger to hang the Star Wars hotel failure like an albatross around the neck of fired Disney CEO Bob Chapek. During his short tenure, Chapek continually played the villain and likely will never get credit for the eventual innovations that come from the Galactic Starcruiser experiment.

Years and decades from now, Imagineering will talk about the lessons learned and ideas incorporated in future hotels, attractions, shows and experiences that had their origins in the Galactic Starcruiser. But it’s too soon for that right now.

There are two things Disney looks at above all else when it comes to any experience — whether it’s a hotel, theme park or cruise ship. The first is intent to return. Would you do it again? The second is word of mouth. Would you tell a friend?

Those two trend lines had to be going in the wrong direction for Disney to pull the plug so quickly on the Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser. The knock on the experience was it was deluxe but not luxe — it wasn’t luxurious enough to justify the sky high price tag. And the buzz that first greeted the innovative hotel concept had turned to a death watch as occupancy levels steadily decreased and Disney started discounting.

What’s next for Disney’s Star Wars hotel? Walt Disney Imagineering will develop a new concept that is a little more inclusive and bit less exclusive — turning what was envisioned as a Club 33-like VIP experience for the elite and rich into a five-star Star Wars hotel geared toward hardcore fans who can’t get enough of the epic space opera.

Disneyland resort president Ken Potrock shared his “surprise” at Iger’s unexpected announcement during the OC Forum event held on Wednesday, May 18 at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel.

“And lastly, a project that was announced by Bob Iger,” Potrock told the OC Forum audience. “By the way, a surprise to me. Not kidding. It’s great when you hear from your boss what you’re doing.”

Potrock’s comments on the upcoming Avatar experience came at the end of a rundown of $2 billion in projects currently underway across the Disneyland resort.

SEE ALSO: 11 places Disneyland could build an Avatar experience — See the list

Iger’s seemingly off-the-cuff announcement in February set off a firestorm of speculation by Mouse Watchers all wondering the same thing: Where is this new “experience” going to be built at the Anaheim theme park resort?

Three months later, Disneyland planners are still waiting to find out “what the heck we’re going to do” and how the Avatar experience will fit into the 500-acre theme park resort.

“Our Imagineers are working with Jim Cameron and his team,” Potrock said. “We’re going to share lots more details as they become available. By the way, as I become aware of what the heck we’re going to do. But stay tuned, it’s going to be really exciting. We’re thinking bold.”

Potrock’s joking and jesting comments drew laughter from the hundreds of business and city leaders in the audience at the OC Forum.

SEE ALSO: Disneyland lays out theme park expansion plans for next 30 years

Iger mentioned the Disneyland Avatar experience as an aside during a quarterly earnings call just as the 2022 “Avatar: The Way of Water” became the fourth highest-grossing film of all time with $2.2 billion at the global box office.

“We’re going to bring a version of Avatar to Disneyland,” Iger said on the call in February.

“Avatar: The Way of Water” has since moved into the third spot on the list of all-time top grossing movies — inching ahead of Cameron’s “Titanic.” The original 2009 “Avatar” remains atop the all-time box office list with a $2.9 billion lifetime gross, according to Box Office Mojo.

The Pandora: The World of Avatar themed land increased capacity at Disney’s Animal Kingdom and helped grow Disney’s theme park business, Iger said on the call.

“In fact, if you look at the results when we put Pandora into Animal Kingdom from year to year they were stunning in terms of how many more people visited Animal Kingdom,” Iger said on the call.

The 12-acre Avatar themed land at Disney’s Animal Kingdom features Pandora’s floating mountains, bioluminescent plants and two major attractions – the Avatar Flight of Passage 3D flight simulator and the Na’vi River Journey water ride. The land also includes the Satu’li Canteen quick service restaurant and Windtraders gift shop.

Disney theme park chief Josh D’Amaro announced in an email to employees that “leadership changes” and “changing business conditions” prompted Disney to scrap a plan to build a nearly $1 billion campus in Lake Nona about 20 miles from Walt Disney World.

“Given the considerable changes that have occurred since the announcement of this project, including new leadership and changing business conditions, we have decided not to move forward with construction of the campus,” D’Amaro wrote. “This was not an easy decision to make, but I believe it is the right one.”

Under former CEO Bob Chapek, Disney announced an unpopular plan in 2021 to relocate 2,000 employees to the Lake Nona campus, including most of Glendale-based Walt Disney Imagineering that designs theme park attractions.

Hundreds of Imagineers have already relocated to Florida and will be given the option to return to Southern California, according to the Wall Street Journal.

“For those who have already moved, we will talk to you individually about your situation, including the possibility of moving you back,” D’Amaro wrote.

The battle between Disney and DeSantis began in March 2022 when Chapek criticized Florida legislation that would prohibit primary school classroom discussion about sexual orientation and gender identity.

DeSantis retaliated against “Woke Disney” by stripping the company of self-governing power over Disney World. The continuing back-and-forth has resulted in dueling legal challenges.

Disney CEO Bob Iger, who replaced the fired Chapek, pointed out in a quarterly earnings call a week ago that Disney employs 75,000 people in Florida, attracts millions of tourists annually to the state and has plans to invest $17 billion in Disney World over the next decade.

“Does the state want us to invest more, employ more people and pay more taxes, or not?” Iger asked on the call.

The nearly $1 billion Lake Nona office complex scheduled for construction would have brought more than 2,000 jobs to the region with an average salary of $120,000, according to the New York Times.

“I remain optimistic about the direction of our Walt Disney World business,” D’Amaro wrote. “We have plans to invest $17 billion and create 13,000 jobs over the next ten years. I hope we’re able to do so.”

Disney stood to receive $580 million in tax credits over the next two decades by relocating employees from Southern California to Florida, according to the New York Times.

The cancellation of the Lake Nona project comes amid Disney’s plans to slash 7,000 jobs and cut costs by $5.5 billion.

For related news, see: Disney scraps $1 billion plan to relocate Imagineering from California to Florida

Disneyland resort President Ken Potrock spoke before the OC Forum at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel about the DisneylandForward proposal that envisions extensive theme park, retail and parking expansion within the resort district boundaries.

“To put it simply, DisneylandForward sets the stage for significant and multi-decade investment in the future. This is the next generation of the Disneyland resort,” Potrock told the attendees. “When Disney invests, all boats rise and everyone benefits.”

Disneyland first unveiled the DisneylandForward expansion plan in September 2021, a few months after reopening Disney’s Anaheim theme parks following a yearlong pandemic closure.

The OC Forum presentation served as a town hall of sorts where Disneyland put forward its case to Orange County business and civic leaders detailing the tourism, tax revenue and employment benefits of the DisneylandForward proposal.

“The economic engine that is the Disneyland resort will be turning 68 years young in July, yet we believe it has more potential than ever,” Potrock said. “When we work together the possibilities are endless and that is exactly what we are trying to do.”

SEE ALSO: Disneyland closing 3 classic Fantasyland rides this summer

Since 2021, Disneyland has been working closely with the city of Anaheim to extensively update the planning approval process governing the resort district. A draft environmental impact study is expected to be completed by the summer with the DisneylandForward proposal going before the Anaheim Planning Commission before the end of the year and the City Council in early 2024.

An economic study presented by Cal State Fullerton’s Anil Puri toward the end of the OC Forum spelled out the economic impact of every billion dollars invested by Disneyland. During an average four-year construction period, Disneyland would generate 4,500 jobs, $11 million in tax revenue and $1.1 billion in economic output in Anaheim for every billion dollars spent, according to Puri’s study.

The DisneylandForward presentation included concept art from Disney theme park projects around the globe offering “possibilities” of what future expansion could look like at the Disneyland resort. The projects presented included the Tangled, Frozen and Peter Pan themed lands coming to Tokyo Disneyland in Japan and the Zootopia themed land planned for Shanghai Disneyland in China.

“What we would love is for those future innovations to have a spot here in Anaheim,” Disney’s Global Development vice president Rachel Alde said during a panel discussion.

SEE ALSO: Get ready for the Grad Nite invasion of Disneyland

DisneylandForward is Disney’s effort to work with the city to grow the Disneyland resort, update the blueprint for the theme park district and propel Anaheim’s economic rebound following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Disney is asking the city for more flexibility in land use plans approved in the 1990s in order to be able to add a mix of theme park, hotel, retail, dining and entertainment on the eastern and western edges of the Disneyland resort.

“Back in the early ’90s, Disney and the city of Anaheim worked collaboratively on their vision for the next three-plus decades,” Potrock said. “Together, we built this unique tourism engine and the vision we had for the continued growth of this community is quite honestly a marvel. This is a very unique, special and advantageous benefit to the city of Anaheim, Orange County and in fact, the entire state. We are incredibly excited about the opportunity to do it again as we look to the next 10, 20 and even 30 years ahead.”

The Immersive Theme Park westside expansion in the DisneylandForward proposal envisions theme park attractions on the Downtown Disney and Lilo and Stitch parking lots woven amid the Disneyland Hotel and Paradise Pier Hotel.

The proposed Disney Entertainment Destination eastside expansion would bring together theme park experiences, hotels, retail, dining and entertainment on the Toy Story parking lot next to the Anaheim Convention Center.

The DisneylandForward plan also includes possible new parking along Disney Way.

Disneyland has used less than half of the millions of square feet of theme park and hotel space that has already been approved for the resort district. The DisneylandForward conceptual development plan stays within Disney’s existing 500-acre property in Anaheim with no physical expansion or additional acreage.

“Due to construction delays, Montezooma: The Forbidden Fortress will not open with Fiesta Village this summer,” according to a statement from Knott’s officials. “An opening date has not been scheduled at this time.”

Fiesta Village reopens May 26 at the Buena Park theme park with refreshed theming, rides, food and entertainment.

The reimagined Montezooma’s Revenge was initially planned to debut alongside the refreshed Fiesta Village and remodeled Knott’s Berry Farm Hotel.

Plans call for the historic 1978 flywheel-launch roller coaster to be reimagined as Montezooma: The Forbidden Fortress with a randomized launch sequence and an immersive storyline in an expanded queue.

SEE ALSO: Knott’s Berry Farm brings back chaperone policy amid increasing unruly behavior

The first flywheel-launched roller coaster in the world and the oldest shuttle loop roller coaster still in its original location will offer riders a new twist as Montezooma: The Forbidden Fortress. The randomized launch sequence will make it impossible for riders to know if the trains will be launching forward or backward.

Netherlands-based ride renovator Kumbak is working on the Montezooma renovation, according to Knott’s officials. Kumbak has previously teamed with European theme parks Efteling, Walibi and Bakken.

A new station and queue experience will take riders through Montezuma’s hidden Aztec fortress filled with boobytraps and the remains of treasure hunters.

Visitors to the newly transformed land will walk down El Camino Real as they enter the reimagined Fiesta Village inspired by Los Angeles’ Olvera Street with a redesigned marketplace and an updated stage area.

Fiesta Village’s seven rides will get a refresh as part of the makeover of the land. The generically named Merry-Go-Round and Wave Swinger rides will be rechristened Carrusel de California and Los Voladores, respectively. Los Voladores translates to The Flyers and makes reference to Danza de los Voladores, the ancient Mexican pole climbing ritual.

New entertainment in Fiesta Village will include Mariachi music, Alebrijes storytellers, Folklorico dancers, puppet shows and a Calle Celebracion nighttime street party.

SEE ALSO: Here’s how Knott’s and Six Flags and SeaWorld can compete with Disney and Universal

Visitors can snap photos with brightly colored magical mythical spirit animals in the Alebrije Gardens in Fiesta Village.

New Fiesta Village food options will include Casa California (burritos, quesadillas and tamales), Baja Taqueria (fish tacos), Papas Mexicanas (carne asada french fries) and Cantina Del Sur (drinks).

More than a dozen stand-up roller coasters once ran at theme parks across the United States. But no parks have installed a new model since Six Flags Over Georgia’s Georgia Scorcher in 1999. Six Flags Magic Mountain continues to run its Riddler’s Revenge, but California’s Great America converted its Vortex from stand-up trains to sit-down floorless ones in 2017, renaming the coaster Patriot.

That was just one of several examples of parks abandoning stand-up train designs over the years. Why? Ultimately it’s just easier — and more comfortable — to accommodate roller coaster riders of varying heights and builds in some form of a seated position. When guests no longer want to ride something, parks are going to follow the market and make changes.

SeaWorld and coaster manufacturer Bolliger & Mabillard are trying to bring back the stand-up, starting in Orlando. Pipeline: The Surf Coaster is a next-generation stand-up coaster, with a unique bouncing seat design intended to address the discomfort that many, most often male, riders felt on the old stand-ups. Can Pipeline create a new wave of popularity for this once common roller coaster design?

I got to ride Pipeline during its media preview last week. If anything, the new restraint design was less comfortable for me than the one on Riddler’s Revenge, as Pipeline’s vest restraint pinched my shoulders. But the springing seats helped turn what would have been pops of airtime into literal jumps. Pipeline’s specs won’t overwhelm anyone — 110 feet tall with a top speed of 60 mph — but the novelty of its airtime experience should put this on many coaster fans’ to-do lists.

SeaWorld is promoting Pipeline as the world’s first surf coaster. I am not your surfing columnist, but I know that most surfers don’t hang ten facing forward on a longboard these days. Yet that’s the form that Pipeline’s face-forward, stand-up positioning evokes.

Granted, my best attempt at a surfing position has been face down in the water, arms flailing, as I try to climb back up on the board. But I would love to ride a version of Pipeline where riders stood in a more common surfing position — maybe regular on the right side of the train and goofy on the left, so that they rode back to back with the restraints ran down the middle of the “board,” giving everyone a clearer view of the “waves,” i.e. the track, ahead.

With its unique airtime, Pipeline not only rewards its riders but also should reward SeaWorld and Bolliger & Mabillard for revisiting the stand-up design. That it inspired me to imagine new rider configurations is not a knock on Pipeline’s design, but a testament to how one step of innovation in this business ought to lead toward even more.

As fans come back to parks across the country, the industry will need new and innovative attractions to win and keep their business. I hope that Pipeline inspires more parks not just to gives stand-ups another try, but to be open to new takes on other attraction concepts as well.

Disneyland will temporarily close Peter Pan’s Flight, Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride and Alice in Wonderland on June 5 for standard refurbishments, according to Disneyland officials.

Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride and Alice in Wonderland will reopen about two weeks later on June 16. A reopening date has not yet been set for Peter Pan’s Flight, but the popular Fantasyland dark ride aboard an enchanted pirate ship soaring over London will be closed at least through June 21, according to the Disneyland website.

SEE ALSO: Get ready for the Grad Nite invasion of Disneyland

The refurbishments of the three Fantasyland rides that share a common building next to Sleeping Beauty Castle are part of Disneyland’s standard operations for general maintenance and upkeep. Walt Disney Imagineering is not expected to make any notable show changes to the attractions.

Disneyland typically conducts seasonal refurbishments during the off-season between New Year’s Day and Spring Break. Weekslong refurbishments are less common between Memorial Day and Labor Day — the traditional summer vacation season.

Understanding the Disneyland calendar has become more complicated in recent years — with the off-season continually shrinking and slower periods shifting to unconventional times of year. The yearlong pandemic closure of the parks also disrupted maintenance and refurbishment schedules.

The Fantasyland ride closures starting on June 5 coincide with a string of days when Disneyland tickets will be at their lowest price of $104 — suggesting crowds will be light at that time.

SEE ALSO: Disneyland feral cat beloved by annual passholders dies after years of mouse hunting

Regardless of crowds or seasons, Peter Pan’s Flight remains one of the most popular rides in the park with fans streaming to the Disneyland opening day attraction each morning at rope drop to be among the first in line.

Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride is another of Disneyland’s 1955 opening day attractions concentrated in Fantasyland — the heart of the park. The Alice in Wonderland attraction opened in 1958 and is among the classic Fantasyland dark rides beloved by Disneylanders.

Another popular Disney dark ride is briefly closing on June 5 across the esplanade. Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Undersea Adventure will be down for three days at Disney California Adventure, according to the Disneyland website.

Disneyland’s Matterhorn Bobsleds is scheduled to return on June 2 after a six-week refurbishment.

Splash Mountain will close on May 31 for an extensive conversion into Tiana’s Bayou Adventure based on the 2009 animated film “The Princess and the Frog.”

Grad Nite 2023 celebrations will be held on 15 dates in May and June at Disney California Adventure.

SEE ALSO: Disneyland raises prices up to 22% for Grad Nite 2023

Grad Nite 2023 will take place on May 12, 14, 17, 19, 21, 24, 25, 30 and 31 and June 2, 4, 7, 9, 14 and 16. The dates fall on select weekdays (Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays) and weekends (Fridays and Saturdays).

Grad Nite celebrations will run from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. at DCA with dance parties, themed food and drinks and meet-and-greet photo ops with Disney characters dressed in graduation gear.

High school seniors had three Grad Nite ticket options to choose from:

• The Grad Nite private party experience with access to DCA starting at 9 p.m.
• All-day DCA admission that includes the Grad Nite party
• A parkhopper option with admission to both parks and the after-hours party

SEE ALSO: Disneyland to run Incredicoaster during ‘World of Color’

DCA will close to day visitors by 9 p.m. on Grad Nites.

Visitors planning trips to the parks in May and June should keep in mind Disneyland and DCA will grow increasingly crowded as high school seniors arrive throughout the day on Grad Nite event dates, according to MousePlanet.

“Schools that booked packages with theme park admission can choose to arrive whenever they wish during their Grad Nite event. Some arrive right at park opening to maximize their time, while others arrive later due to travel time or other activities,” according to MousePlanet. “Expect heavier arrival traffic in the Toy Story parking lot, which is where school buses now park. You should also expect to see the parks grow increasingly crowded as the day goes on as more students arrive.”

SEE ALSO: Disneyland feral cat beloved by annual passholders dies after years of mouse hunting

MousePlanet warns that the formal Grad Nites are not the only times Disneyland and DCA are crowded with student groups during the end of the school year.

“The last weeks of school are popular times for class trips, something that Disney actively encourages through special pricing and activities for school groups,” according to MousePlanet. “Those visits won’t appear on any calendar, but are a fact of Disney life during this season.”

Grad Nite returned in 2022 after the events were canceled in 2020 and 2021 while Disneyland and Disney California Adventure were closed or under capacity restrictions due to state-mandated COVID-19 restrictions.

This year’s Grad Nite events will be bracketed by the last of the Star Wars Nite after-hour parties (May 11) and the start of first-ever Disneyland After Dark: Pride Nite events (June 13 and 15).

Nutmeg the feral cat who patrolled Disney California Adventure for rodents and visited die-hard Disneylanders at the Magic Key Terrace has passed away, according to WDW News Today.

“Nutmeg was one of Disneyland Resort’s feral cats, tasked with keeping the rat population down around the parks and ensuring the only rodents guests see are Mickey and Minnie Mouse,” according to WDW News Today. “Nutmeg roamed the park quite often, but had an affinity for the Magic Key Terrace lounge at Disney California Adventure.”

Nutmeg the Magic Key Terrace Cat Passes Away at Disney California Adventurehttps://t.co/whWGQ9PVXR

— Disneyland News Today (@dlnt) May 7, 2023

The legend of Nutmeg grew as Magic Key Terrace drink masters named a secret menu cocktail in the cat’s honor and Walt Disney Imagineering drew design inspiration from Nutmeg and other feral cats for the annual passholder hideaway.

The Magic Key Terrace secret menu drink was made for the passholder “in crowd” that knows and loves Nutmeg, according to Disney California Adventure culinary director Jeremiah Balogh.

“We have lots of friends that like to visit us and some of them are four-legged friends,” Balogh told Southern California News Group in 2021. “We have a resident cat that will come and visit guests and cast members whenever he or she feels lonely.”

The Nutmeg cocktail is made with Myers dark rum, Bailey’s Irish Cream, Frangelico hazelnut liqueur and apricot liqueur.

“This is definitely a dessert drink,” according to the Disney Food Blog. “If you’re a rum fan, a sucker for dessert cocktails or a secret menu hunter, it may be worth a try. Especially if you love Disneyland cats.”

Imagineering had custom Mexican tile made with cat designs that line the columns of the terrace interspersed with other accent tiles for a 2022 makeover of the Magic Key Terrace.

SEE ALSO: Inside Disneyland’s mouse kingdom is a hidden world of cats

Nutmeg was a friendly cat who often wandered down from Grizzly Peak to interact with diners and drinkers at the outdoor patio bar.

Nutmeg belonged to a mostly hidden colony of feral cats that hunt rats at the Anaheim theme parks. The well-fed cats make rare daytime appearances in the parks, but are out in force during the overnight graveyard shift.

Disneyland provides feeding stations, neutering and medical care for the feral felines that provide an invaluable service — even if their mere presence might make Mickey and Minnie a little nervous.

The Cats of Disneyland have legions of fans with 112,000 followers on Instagram and 17,000 more on Twitter.

In the coming weeks, Incredicoaster, Inside Out Emotional Whirlwind and Jumpin’ Jellyfish may run later than usual in the evening during “World of Color – One” performances as Disney California Adventure conducts operational tests on select attractions, according to Disneyland officials.

SEE ALSO: Disney’s new ‘World of Color — One’ is unexpected and different — and that’s the goal

Disneyland die-hards who want to watch the water show from a new and unique perspective will need to time their rides on the three attractions to coincide with the nightly performances.

DCA typically closes Incredicoaster, Inside Out Emotional Whirlwind and Jumpin’ Jellyfish during the water show that plays out on Paradise Bay with the roller coaster’s support structure serving as a massive backdrop for the nighttime spectacular.

Operating the steel roller coaster, spinning balloon ride and parachute jump attraction during “World of Color” will add a layer of kinetic energy to the water show that employs video projections, mist screens, water cannons and other special effects.

Disneyland temporarily suspended fire effects in “World of Color — One” out of an abundance of caution following the “Fantasmic” prop fire in April.

SEE ALSO: Disneyland pitches theme park expansion plans to neighbors

The backstory for “World of Color — One” celebrates the journey of a single drop of water that creates a ripple and eventually grows into a wave of change. The water show features moments from “Moana,” “Coco,” “Mulan,” “Soul,” “Lion King” and Pixar, Star Wars and Marvel films projected on water screens in DCA’s Paradise Bay.

Jessie’s Critter Carousel and Pixar-Pal-A-Round will continue to remain closed during “World of Color — One” performances while Disney California Adventure conducts the operational tests, according to Disneyland officials. Toy Story Midway Mania will continue to operate during “World of Color” shows.

SEE ALSO: What to expect when Avengers musical opens at Disneyland resort

“World of Color — One” is typically presented at 9 p.m. most evenings with a second show at 10:15 p.m. on busier nights. The show times can change when DCA closes early for special ticketed events.