I feel like I have a lot coming at you today! “Destination D23,” an event held in Orlando, had a number of fun Disney announcements. Many of these are updates on some of the bigger projects announced at last year’s D23 event in Anaheim. On a personal note, I am finishing up a trip to Aulani, Disney’s Hawaii resort. I can’t wait to share some of the details of that with you – including a character breakfast, cultural and artistic details around the resort, attending their authentic Luau, and more!
Disney news
- The Beak and Barrel, a Pirates of the Caribbean themed lounge in Magic Kingdom, officially opened on August 29th.
- Minnie Vans will once again resume airport service – to start with, this will only be offered for guests staying at Disney deluxe resorts.
- Starting on September 11th, “The Little Mermaid – A Musical Adventure” will be added to the options for Lightning Lane MultiPass (as a tier 2 attraction).
- We have an opening date for the new Zootopia show in Animal Kingdom! Zootopia: Better Zoogether will officially open on November 7th.
- Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde will also be doing meet and greets in Animal Kingdom starting around the same time.
- Dinosaur and Restaurantosaurus will officially close on Feburary 2, 2026 (meaning February 1 is the last day to experience it).
- The characters currently doing meet and greets in Dinoland USA will be relocated to other areas of Animal Kingdom.
- We got some new details about the Muppets rethemeing of Rock n Roller Coaster – Electric Mayhem will be doing covers of rock favorites, there will be some animatronics in the pre-show, and the scenery will feature a “Muppets twist.”
- A few new details about the updates to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad were also released.
- TRON in Magic Kingdom will recieve a new Ares overlay.
- A new scene will be coming to the Carousel of Progress in Magic Kingdom featuring a Walt Disney animatronic.
- Cinderella’s Castle in Magic Kingdom will be getting some new colors – a change back to the more classic gray and blues.
- Over in Disneyland, early entry is ending entirely as of January 5th, 2026. Guests staying at Disneyland hotels will receive one complimentary anytime access entry for a Lightning Lane Multi-Pass attraction of their choice. This is one per guest per stay (not per day).
- Also in California, Oga’s Cantina in Galaxy’s Edge will no longer take reservations and be walk-up only (this is not the case for Hollywood Studios in Florida).
- Disney Cruise Line has announced some new itineraries from Texas and California coming in 2026 and 2027.
- Pixar’s Elio is now available for viewing on Disney+, and will come to blu-ray/DVD on September 9th.
- After D23 On the Road’s very successful interactive screening of A Goofy Movie, they will be doing the same thing with the film Home Alone – traveling throughout the country starting on November 1st.
- Toy Story will be re-released to theaters this fall for a short period of time.
- Toy Story 5 will be premiering on June 19, 2026. A new character named Smarty Pants will be voiced by Conan O’Brien.
- A new Pixar film will be coming in November 2026, titled Hexed.
- Zootopia 2 comes out this fall, and we learned that Patrick Warburton will be voicing the character Mayor Winddancer.
- D23: The Ultimate Fan Event (previously the D23 Expo) will be held on August 14-16, 2026.
Disney rumors
Animal Kingdom // Now that we have an official closing date for Dinosaur, we are able to make some guesses about when Tropical Americas will actually open. It seems Dinosaur is closing a bit later than most people anticipated – so it’s hard to imagine that the new area would open in early 2027. We’re most likely looking at the second half of 2027.
Disney World // According to some surveys that guests have gotten, it seems that Disney is considering making some changes to the dining plans. Some of the questions people were asked about introduced a third dining plan, and also renamed the dining plans (on-the-go, essentials, and ultimate). These might be possible changes Disney is considering for 2027.
Epcot // We know that over in Disneyland Paris, the Ratatouille ride is getting some updates – including removing the 3D glasses. Does that mean we might see the same changes coming to the attraction in Epcot soon?
Other Disney blogs
Visiting Disney World for Halloween ths year? Rochelle at Polka Dots and Pixie Dust has a complete guide!
Tom at Disney Tourist Blog shares his picks for the best dishes and desserts at this year’s Epcot Food and Wine Festival.
Over at Magical Guides, Joshua shares the best Disney nightlife options if you’re an adult looking for something fun to do in the evenings.
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