Disney-MGM Studios in Orlando will open a new attraction in December called Journey Into Narnia: Creating The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.
The walk-through attraction will offer visitors a peek at the props and some of the story line from the Walt Disney Pictures and Walden Media’s film The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
The movie, based on the C.S. Lewis book, premieres nationwide in theaters on Dec. 9 and the attraction will open the same day, Disney spokesman Charles Stovall said.
Paul Martin, 24, who runs [NarniaFans.com] from his home in Grand Rapids, Mich., said he’s going to see the attraction as well as the movie, and will gladly make a special trip.
“It sounds really cool,” said Martin, a lifelong fan of the Chronicles of Narnia.
Journey Into Narnia is the first new attraction at Disney-MGM Studios since the Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show debuted in May as part of the Happiest Celebration on Earth marketing campaign at Disney parks worldwide.
In the new attraction, which will take 10 to 15 minutes to walk through, guests will enter the frozen world of Narnia, Stovall said, and see behind-the-scenes moviemaking magic in the epic film.
Visitors will enter through a giant wardrobe, just as the children do in the movie version of Lewis’ classic, and will exit through a gallery of elaborate creatures, costumes and props from the movie.
The attraction is going into the former Haunted Mansion movie set on Soundstage 4 on Mickey Avenue. That attraction, based on the 2003 Eddie Murphy movie, closed in 2004 and was recently used for special events, including the Happiest Celebration media gathering this year.
Florida Education Commissioner John Winn is scheduled to be at Disney-MGM Studios today, along with four young actors from the film and a group of elementary school students, to help announce plans for the attraction and to promote a statewide children’s literacy program.