5. Expedition: Everest arrives

It’s difficult to imagine Disney’s Animal Kingdom without Expedition: Everest—the mountain has become an icon of the park a recognizable as the Tree of Life. However, many don’t realize the attraction didn’t exist until 2006.

Disney’s Animal Kingdom has had to fight some serious uphill battles since its opening. Even once the park got past initial controversy questioning how Disney was caring for its animals, its own success ended up shooting Disney in the foot financially. Guests weren’t staying at Walt Disney World an extra day to see it—they were skipping the other parks, hurting Disney’s bottom line. On top of this, the unfortunate shelving of the Beastly Kingdom themed land (woefully replaced by Dinoland U.S.A. and Camp Minnie-Mickey) meant the park needed a winning thrill attraction—a truly iconic ride that would draw guests for years to come.

After years of anticipation, Expedition: Everest exceeded everyone’s expectations.

Expedition: Everest certainly faced some problems. The ride’s eerie fog effects had to be shut down after causing rusting, and to this day, Eddie the Disco Yeti is stuck in B-Mode because the animatronic’s weight supposedly started tearing the mountain apart. It didn’t matter. The ride remains one of Disney’s best coasters by far, and easily falls within the top ten favorite attractions for countless visitors… and 2000’s kids got to enjoy it first!

6. A million celebrations

Remember how we mentioned the 2000’s were a groundbreaking time for bold ideas at Walt Disney World? Two of these came in the form of Disney taking the concept of “Pixie Dust” to unprecedented levels.

For those unfamiliar, Pixie Dust is a term Disney regulars use to describe Disney magic brought about by cast members—everything from surprise upgrades to getting chosen to participate in shows. In 2006, Disney launched “The Year of a Million Dreams”, a year-long campaign where random guests were chosen by cast members to receive unprecedented extra magic. Some of these Dream Giveaways were basic things like free Fastpasses, buttons, or special character greets, but other prizes included spots in daily parades, Disney Vacation Club memberships, VIP tours, after-hours admissions, shopping sprees, and even one night stays in the Cinderella Castle suite! Adorable 2000’s kids had a better-than-average shot at getting to participate in many of these Disney magic moments.

Disney brought back some of the ideas from the Year of a Million dreams in 2009 with their “What Will You Celebrate” campaign, which encouraged guests to celebrate special occasions at Walt Disney World. A whole catalog of celebration upgrades like in-room surprising and special meals were made available for guests to add to their vacation (we actually did one of these the following year at The Flying Fish for our anniversary). The best part? It was one of the only years Disney gave people free admission to any Disney park on their birthday!

7. Push the Talking Trash Can

Video: YouTube, User: Astrosms

Okay, this one is slightly reaching, but we simply can’t do a series on things that Disney kids loved without mentioning Push The Talking Trash Can…

Push the Talking Trash Can actually came about in the 90’s as a surprisingly charming addition to Tomorrowland (he later gained a cousin named “Pipa the Talking Recycling Bin” at Disney’s Animal Kingdom— I so want to insert a “ReCyclops” reference here). He was literally a normal Tomorrowland trash can (complete with opening doors and a trash bag) that happened to move around and speak. If you got to meet this cheeky little weirdo, you were the luckiest kid in Walt Disney World.

Push was positively hysterical, particularly since he could interact with guests in real time. The secret behind his powers were cast members wandering nearby in plain clothes who subtly controlled the robot and provided his voice and allowing him to pester guests with curious questions. You could even feed him trash! He and Forky would’ve gotten along great.

Push remained a wandering character in Tomorrowland until 2014, but we still hold out home he’ll make a comeback soon!

8. Disney-MGM becomes Disney Hollywood… and puts the magic in your hands

The 2000’s paved the way for the Walt Disney World we know today, particularly marked by explosive growth from 2010 to 2019. Towards the end of the decade, Disney’s Hollywood Studios took several important steps forward.

First off, Disney’s long and troubled contract with MGM Studios ran out. The park’s original purpose as a working studio was basically dead by this point, so Disney released the name and redubbed the park as Disney’s Hollywood Studios. The park had improved over the course of the 90’s but still hadn’t found its feet fully.

One important change for DHS came in a re-emphasis on interactive attractions that put guests in the center of the magic. This wasn’t just about immersive rides—the park already had those. Rather, Disney chose to pull from some of the park’s original arsenal of tricks to find ways to put guests center-stage in the sort of surprising experiences fans loved in the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular, Monster Sound Show, and Superstar Television.

The first of these came in 2007 with the arrival of Jedi Training: Trials of the Temple. The Star Wars prequels concluded in 2005, and the Clone Wars TV series was just about to kick off. Adults may have been reeling from Star Wars frustrations, but a new generation of little Jedi were all about that galaxy far, far away. Every kid wanted to be picked to be a Jedi-in-training, to fight Darth Vader (or join him in some hilarious cases), and to learn the ways of the Force. In many ways, the attraction would act as a forerunner for Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge a decade later.

A year later, Toy Story Mania arrived, bringing Pixar to Disney’s Hollywood Studios with a fan favorite attraction. Yet again, interactivity proved a winner with guests who more and more wanted their actions to have tangible effects on rides.

Finally, Disney’s connection with ABC gave birth to one of its most clever show ideas yet in 2009—The American Idol Experience. We’ve written extensively about why this attraction was so groundbreaking, but it all has to do with stakes. Guests had the opportunity to play one of two roles on an idealized version of American Idol. On one hand, guests with singing talent could audition to become participants the in the day’s shows. Those who were chosen received VIP treatment with hair and make-up, photoshoots, and vocal coaching. Casual guests acted as the show’s audience and could vote in real time for winners of each showing. At the end of the day, those winners competed for a chance to receive a real American Idol Golden Ticket (a front of line pass for a show audition).

I cannot emphasize enough how incredible the American Idol Experience was. I participated on the singing end as a two-time finalist and had some of my favorite memories at Walt Disney World there. I also worked on the real American Idol as a crew member several times, and Disney’s version was nicer in almost every way, giving guests a hands-on, real-stakes experience that would give memories for a lifetime. That’s the sort of tone that was set at the end of the 2000’s that made way for the Walt Disney World of today.

What were your favorite memories of Walt Disney World in the 2000’s? If you enjoyed this article, be sure and read about what 80’s Kids Loved at Walt Disney World and 90’s Kids too!