Opening Date Announced for The Little Mermaid - A Musical Adventure and Disney Villains: Unfairly Ever After at Hollywood Studios

24 days ago in "Disney Villains Unfairly Ever After"

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Villains Show concept art

Posted: Wednesday March 26, 2025 8:05am ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

Disney has officially announced that two new live entertainment productions—The Little Mermaid – A Musical Adventure and Disney Villains: Unfairly Ever After—will both debut at Disney’s Hollywood Studios on May 27, 2025.

Villains Show concept art

The long-awaited opening date marks the first time both shows will be performed for guests, bringing major new additions to the park’s entertainment lineup just in time for the summer season.

The Little Mermaid – A Musical Adventure

Performed in the newly refreshed theater in Animation Courtyard, The Little Mermaid – A Musical Adventure is a fully reimagined stage production inspired by the 1989 animated classic. The show will feature bold new set pieces, updated effects, and familiar musical numbers including Part of Your World, Poor Unfortunate Souls, and Kiss the Girl. The production replaces Voyage of the Little Mermaid, which closed in 2020 and did not return after the pandemic shutdown.

The Little Mermaid - A Musical Adventure concept art

Disney Villains: Unfairly Ever After

Taking over the Sunset Showcase Theater, Disney Villains: Unfairly Ever After is a brand-new musical stage show starring Hades as he assembles a lineup of iconic Disney villains to rewrite their endings. The show was originally announced as part of Disney’s summer 2025 entertainment lineup and will be a permanent offering, not tied to seasonal events. The production replaces Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy, which permanently closed earlier this year.

Villains Show concept art

Both shows represent a major boost in live entertainment at Walt Disney World and will debut just days before the start of summer break for many U.S. schools, likely making them a central draw for visitors heading into the busy season.

More details on showtimes, virtual queue availability (if any), and potential previews are expected to be announced in the coming weeks.

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Agent H3 hours ago

And that’s amazing as a lilo and stitch fan but the poster in question was talking about villains post 2009 and dr. Hämsterviel was introduced in the 2006 film stitch! The movie. Again I will note most of the villains post 2009 are in the additional mirrors around the room which helps dispel the claim that they’re not in it because “we haven’t had any decent Disney villains since dr. Faciler”

Comped4 hours ago

They have the bloody hamster from Lilo & Stitch in it!

Agent H7 hours ago

Thanks for reminding me. I will edit my post to include him.

James Alucobond8 hours ago

Magnifico technically works, but … Wish.

Agent H8 hours ago

No. Because most of the villains they’ve created since then haven’t been associated with dark magic or In don’t fit the vibe of the show. Besides aren’t a good amount of those villains in the mirrors all over the room in the concept art ?

WondersOfLife8 hours ago

My favorite thing about modern day Disney is trying to capitalize on the popularity of the obviously huge market for villains and "dark Disney" IPs and they're still having to revert back to basically as latest as the 90s and earliest as the 60s for most of that content... ....Because we haven't had any decent Disney villains since Dr. Facilier. lol

IMDREW10 hours ago

I dont think the misunderstood angle theyre taking with this show is why we like the villains so much. Im afraid that if thats the angle theyre taking for the land as well they just dont seem to get it. Why cant villains be evil for the sake of evil anymore nowadays?

Jedi1412 hours ago

I think it’s more that we know what to expect with Little Mermaid, it’s the show that was there, but plussed up. It’s also an established IP at the parks being at two of the four parks. Villains has there land coming and they probably need to “sell” people on Villains stuff that isn’t just for Halloween.

Marc Davis Fan12 hours ago

It’s interesting that they seem to be hyping this more than The Little Mermaid show. I can’t tell if it’s because they expect this concept to be the bigger draw (seems like it would be) or because they expect it to actually be the better show. I also wonder how the shows will differ in terms of “production value” / sets / effects. The promotion for The Little Mermaid seems to emphasize those features more, while the promotion for this one emphasizes the premise/story (with the exception of talking/showing a bit about the mirrors around the stage). Production value / sets / effects are often pretty central to the success of theme park shows, so I imagine they may have something up their sleeve for this one…

Agent H16 hours ago

I think it sounds fun. It’s not broadway show quality but it sounds fun enough.

eddie10416 hours ago

This shows interests me and I’m curious to see how it turns out. I like that the Villains are being presented in a different light.

Ghost9317 hours ago

Well, I think the whole premise of the show is kinda silly. Captain Hook CLEARLY had it the worse of the three main villains being featured. Peter Pan cut off his hand! And in the Disney version of Peter Pan, the "heroes" aren't much better than the villains. Peter is a jerk throughout and never learns any lessons and Tinker Bell tries to get Wendy killed multiple times. Cruella — if we are going by the animated version and not the Emma Stone version — is pretty unsympathetic, stealing and trying to skin puppies for a fur coat. I don't think a jury would be swayed by any testimony she could give.

Cmdr_Crimson22 hours ago

Or something from a cruise ship show...Still just sayin it has that vibe to me..

Comped1 day ago

Whoever wrote that seriously needs to reconsider being a songwriter. It's just not Disney quality writing in all honesty. Hell it's not even Broadway quality in large part. Except maybe Redwood. Or Floyd Collins...