Top Disney Moments of 2018

Don’t you just love those end-of-the-year reflection lists? You know the ones that let you relive the best moments of the closing year while building excitement for the new year that is to come? Great! Me too! Today’s post takes a look back at the top Disney moments of 2018.

Just to be clear, I’m using the term “moments” a little loosely, because it sounds better to me than accomplishments, achievements or slam-dunks. Well, that last one is pretty appealing, but basketball references may be confusing in the peak of bowl season.

Let’s get on with the moments.

Disney Buys 20th Century Fox

Disney corporate announced plans to purchase 20th Century Fox back in December of 2017. Roughly one year and $71.4 Billion later, the mega entertainment deal is almost complete. The 2018 journey pitted Disney against frequent rival Comcast, which is an interesting side story worthy of its own post. When the deal officially closes, Disney will gain ownership of 20th Century Fox Television and Film, international networks like Star India and a majority stake in the streaming service Hulu, among other media treasures.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this deal for Disney fans involves the thousands of movie and television titles that will transfer to the Disney archive when the deal is complete. This new content includes the balance of the Marvel franchise, for example, as well as full rights to Avatar, the basis for the recently opened (and totally awesome!) Pandora: The World of Avatar at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Of course these are only two examples in a long list of popular titles included in the deal. Once this new content transfers to Disney, the company will be even better equipped to source and launch its all new streaming service (currently dubbed Disney Play) in 2019.

Disney Tops the Box Office

Not that Disney really needs a whole lot of help with film content at the moment. The company pretty much crushed the competition at the box office in 2018. Three of the top four movies of the year (Avengers: Infinity War, Black Panther and Incredibles 2) all belong to Disney and accounted for $4.6 Billion in worldwide ticket sales through the end of last week. Additional titles like Antman & the Wasp, Solo and Ralph Breaks the Internet (still in theaters) added another $1.4 Billion. Overall, Disney accounted for 26.3% of ALL movie ticket sales in the United States in 2018!

Quite a “moment” don’t you think? Perhaps I should have used “slam-dunk” after all?

Whatever you want to call it, Disney is well positioned to continue (surpass?!) the incredible box office success of 2018 into the new year. Disney’s impressive 2019 line-up includes Captain Marvel, Avengers: Endgame, Toy Story 4, Frozen 2, Star Wars IX and three live-action remakes (Aladdin, Lion King and Dumbo).

Wowsa.

You may want to stock up on some of those movie theater gift card deals while you still can.

Toy Story Land Opens at Disney World

While we wait for the final chapter of Toy Story to arrive in theaters in 2019, we can enjoy the all new Toy Story Land that opened in Disney’s Hollywood Studios this year. This cheerful play space features two new rides, a new quick service restaurant and an all new queue for the existing and very popular, Toy Story Midway Mania attraction.

The opening of Toy Story Land earns a spot on my list of top Disney moments for 2018 because it’s a milestone for Disney’s Hollywood Studios and perhaps Disney World overall. Although it may not be quite as exciting as last year’s World of Avatar, it’s the first significant addition to Disney’s Hollywood Studios after several years of subtractions.

It’s also a welcome sign of things to come for Disney World’s least visited theme park. In 2019, Disney will add a new Mickey Mouse-themed attraction (Mickey’s Runaway Railway) and the highly anticipated Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge to Hollywood Studio’s line-up. The park will also benefit from a new gondola transportation service called Disney Skyliner that will connect the theme park to nearby Disney resorts.

Overall, the opening of Toy Story Land is the first of many, many new additions coming to Disney World in the next few years. Most are planned to be complete by 2021 in time to celebrate Disney World’s 50th Birthday.

Animal Kingdom Turns 20

Speaking of birthdays, another smaller but notable moment of 2018 was celebrating Animal Kingdom’s 20th on Earth Day this year. Disney World’s youngest (and largest!) has changed over the years, but the general message of exploration and conservation remains the same. Its theming is unique, yet relevant, and continues to grow more appealing by the year.

Animal Kingdom surpassed Epcot and Hollywood Studios last year to become the second most frequently visited theme park at Disney World (and the 6th most popular in the world!) Park attendance increased 15% from 2016 to 2017 reaching 12.5 Million. I suspect the 2018 attendance numbers will be even higher, since Pandora was only open for half of 2017, but we won’t know the official numbers until May.

Mickey Turns 90!

My last top Disney moment of 2018 is in honor of the mouse that started it all. Mickey celebrated a whopping 90 years this year. Ninety! Think of all the things that have happened in the world since he debuted in Steamboat Willie in 1928. 

Mickey burst into the limelight because he starred in the first animated film that included sound.  Today we watch movies on a screen we can carry in our pocket while listening to them with wireless earbuds. I’m oversimplifying things of course, but without Mickey, none of the other “moments” on this list would even be possible.

I wrote a post about my Mickey’s big day last month, so I won’t repeat too much of it here. In short, it’s incredible to me (and millions of others!) that a character quickly developed out of necessity by Walt Disney 90 years ago is still delighting, inspiring and encouraging people to smile around the world in 2018.

Who knew an animated mouse could bring so much joy for so long?

Thanks for joining me on this quick look at the top Disney moments of 2018. I hope this review added a little joy or at least fun to your day. Hopefully you found something to get excited about for 2019 too.

Thanks also for so many of you that have supported my smittenwithmickey adventures over the past two years. If no one has reminded you how awesome you are this week, consider this your official notice. I’m truly grateful for you and hope your 2019 is overflowing with some major countdown-worthy “moments” of your own.

Add a little magic to your world.