ORLANDO, Fla. — Disney World is bringing back more live entertainment that has been missing from its parks. 

What You Need To Know

  •  More live entertainment returning to Disney World

  •  Fantasmic returns to Disney's Hollywood Studios in 2022; Festival of Fantasy parade returning to Magic Kingdom

  • Other shows returning include Mickey's Friendship Faire but with a new name

​"Fantasmic!" and the "Festival of Fantasy" parade will return to Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Magic Kingdom, respectively, Disney Parks chairman Josh D’Amaro announced Saturday during the company's Destination D23 fan event at Disney World. 

Both "Fantasmic" and the "Festival of Fantasy" parade have been on hiatus since the Disney World parks closed March 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the parks reopened July 2020, Disney World has brought back live shows, fireworks and other entertainment in phases.

For Fantasmic, set to return in 2022, Disney will "replace a whole segment" of the show, Disney Live creative director Tom Vazzana said during a presentation later in the day. 

"In this segment, will be characters that have never been in the show before," Vazzana said. "Really excited about this because it's surprising. It's delightful."

Other additions to the show include stunt performers, new animation, and water effects. 

At Magic Kingdom, in addition to the return of the "Festival of Fantasy" parade, the park's castle stage show "Mickey's Friendship Faire" is coming back with updates. The show will get a new name, "Mickey's Magical Friendship Faire." And while it will still feature scenes from the previous show, it will also include a new opening and finale with Mickey Mouse.

Cavalcades, which were introduced when Disney World reopened its parks in July 2020, will be sticking around. Magic Kingdom will get a new one called "Disney Adventure Friends" in early 2022. It will feature the most characters of any Disney World cavalcade, including The Incredibles, Baloo and King Louie from "The Jungle Book," Nick and Judy from "Zootopia," Moana and Merida. 

Disney also shared more updates about the reimagined "Finding Nemo" show coming to Disney's Animal Kingdom. The new show will be called "Finding Nemo: The Big Blue...and Beyond." The story will take place in timeline of fim "Finding Dory." 

The news comes as Disney World celebrates its 50th anniversary celebration, which kicked off Oct. 1. 

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