Walt Disney World announced that the new "Prince Caspian" version of the Journey Into Narnia attraction will generally be open to the public after a ceremony Thursday morning, and be officially open Friday at Disney's Hollywood Studios.
The attraction was closed last fall so that Disney could update it to reflect Walt Disney Picture's second Chronicles of Narnia movie, Prince Caspian, which is currently in worldwide theatrical release. The theme park show first opened in 2005, originally based on Disney's first Chronicles of Narnia movie, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
The attraction is located between the Walt Disney: One Man's Dream exhibit and the new Toy Story Midway Mania ride. Theme park admission is required.
The new Prince Caspian version is structured similarly to the original attraction, featuring a message from movie director Andrew Adamson, a set built to look like a movie scene (within the stone temple around the stone table), a brief live performance involving an actor re-creating a few lines from the movie, and a few props and costumes from the movie.
Most people familiar with the old show are hopeful that Disney improved it as well as updated it. Reports have suggested for months that Walt Disney Imagineering would employ some state-of-the-art visual effects. But there's been no official word on that.
There also will be meet-and-greet opportunities with the costumed character of Prince Caspian (shown above in a George Skeen/Orlando Sentinel photo) outside the attraction.
The movie, Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian is the second by Walt Disney Pictures and Walden Media Films based on the series of books by C.S. Lewis. The movie was released May 16.
