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Dec. 27 (UPI) -- After delays from renovations, natural disasters and general construction, there are a number of big name travel destinations set to open in 2024. From the Grand Egyptian Museum in Cairo to the highly anticipated Tiana's Bayou Adventure in Disney, here are five travel spots to visit in the new year.
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Cairo's Grand Egyptian Museum
Chronic delays have foiled the billion-dollar state-of-the-art Grand Egyptian Museum, better known as the GEM, much to the chagrin of travelers since 2019. According to their website, the GEM is now scheduled to open by early 2024. In November, CNN reported that the museum, strategically set between Cairo and the Great Pyramid of Giza, the GEM was close to opening. The GEM is set to house 100,000 artifacts, 20% of which will be on public display for the first time, over 12 exhibition halls that take up 484,000 square feet of floor space.
Tiana's Bayou Adventure in Disney World, Disneyland
This year, Disneyland's Splash Mountain officially closed after more than 33 years at the California resort. The move came after a petition to change the beloved water ride's theme went viral in 2020. Scheduled to open in its place in 2024, Tiana's Bayou Adventure, based on the 2009 Disney animated film The Princess and the Frog, will replace Splash Mountain at both Disneyland in California and at Disney World's Magic Kingdom in Florida. According to a Disney Parks release, the ride will pick up where the film left off, as guests will "join Princess Tiana, Naveen and jazz-loving alligator Louis on an adventure through the bayou as they prepare to host a one-of-a-kind Mardi Gras celebration where everyone is welcome."
Underground at Adventureland in Des Moines, Iowa
Opened in 1974 in a small former airport in Des Moines, Iowa, Adventureland became a family vacation staple for travelers of the Midwest throughout the 1970s and 80s. Just a few years after its opening, a wooden roller coaster called Tornado, named after the tornado that delayed the park's grand opening, was added. To mark the 50th anniversary of the park's opening, a new feature called the Underground is set to open in 2024. In a statement, Adventureland described the Underground as "a mix of a wooden roller coaster with a darkride," adding it's currently going through "undergoing a refurbishment project" that includes "work to the coaster's track and train."
Kobe Port Tower in Kobe, Japan
When the Kobe Port Tower closed in 2021 due to COVID-19 restrictions, property managers started work on renovations they hoped to complete by 2023. As of now, the city's biggest tourist attraction is set to reopen in the Spring of 2024. That shouldn't stop people from visiting the area sooner. Most well known for their style of beef, this cultural seaport in Japan is so much more. About a 45-minute train ride from central Osaka, Kobe has a population of 1.5 million, with most people living in the urban center set between the Rokkō Mountains and the Seto Inland Sea. In 1995, Kobe was hit by the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, which has led to the area being completely rebuilt.
Notre Dame Cathedral in France
Notre Dame is slated for a December 2024 reopening, which means people have already started booking tickets. According to Friends of Notre Dame, the "safety phase" to secure the cathedral was completed in 2021 after a fire destroyed its roof and spire in April 2019.
