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Westward Ho Is Gone: Magic Kingdom Tore Down the Frontierland Snack Stand, Opening a Clear View Toward Big Thunder Disney World

Westward Ho Is Gone: Magic Kingdom Tore Down the Frontierland Snack Stand, Opening a Clear View Toward Big Thunder

WDW News Today reports that the Westward Ho refreshment stand is now gone from Frontierland at Magic Kingdom, torn down roof, serving windows and all. Only the big tree beside it is left, and the open ground gives guests a clear line of sight over the construction walls to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Big Al's is expected to follow as Piston Peak National Park takes over the old Rivers of America area.

August 10, 2026 News
Space Mountain Closed Nearly All Day at Magic Kingdom on the First Not-So-Scary Party Night, One Day After a 175 Minute Wait Disney World

Space Mountain Closed Nearly All Day at Magic Kingdom on the First Not-So-Scary Party Night, One Day After a 175 Minute Wait

Magic Kingdom's Space Mountain was closed all day on Friday, August 7, and did not reopen until around 6pm, just in time for the opening night of Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party. The day before, the coaster had been running on one side of its dual track and its standby wait climbed to 175 minutes. Disney posted an in-app apology signed by the park's vice president.

August 9, 2026 News
Universal Reveals the Revenge of the Mummy Passholder Magnet, and the Only Way to Get One Is the Fully Booked Passholder Nights Universal Orlando

Universal Reveals the Revenge of the Mummy Passholder Magnet, and the Only Way to Get One Is the Fully Booked Passholder Nights

The teaser card is gone. Universal has shown the free annual passholder magnet for Passholder Nights: a brown hieroglyph slab with a gold UOAP logo and a metallic blue scarab where the O belongs. The catch is the same as it was in late July. The only place to get one is the August 15 and 16 after-hours events, and reservations are already full.

August 9, 2026 News
Disney's Interactive Ewok Debuts at Disneyland August 13, and the Full Batuu Adventure Buddies Collection Is Coming to Hollywood Studios Disney World

Disney's Interactive Ewok Debuts at Disneyland August 13, and the Full Batuu Adventure Buddies Collection Is Coming to Hollywood Studios

Droid Depot is getting a companion that is not a droid. Disney has announced Batuu Adventure Buddies, starting with an interactive Ewok with LCD eyes, motorized expressions, and optional gear packs whose tools and food attach to its left hand. It goes on sale at Disneyland on August 13, and Disney says the full three-toy collection will debut at Disney's Hollywood Studios later, with no date and no prices announced yet.

August 9, 2026 News
Magic Kingdom Closes to Regular Guests at 6pm on Halloween Party Nights, and the 8am Opening Is Confirmed Only Through August 21 Disney World

Magic Kingdom Closes to Regular Guests at 6pm on Halloween Party Nights, and the 8am Opening Is Confirmed Only Through August 21

Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party opened August 7, and Magic Kingdom's daily hours changed with it. On party dates through August 21 the park opens at 8am instead of 9am, with resort early entry at 7:30am, and on Halloween party dates it closes to regular admission at 6pm so the party can begin at 7pm. Happily Ever After and the Disney Starlight parade do not run on party nights, and some Extended Evening Hours have moved to Disney's Hollywood Studios or Disney's Animal Kingdom.

August 9, 2026 News
Max's Powerline Dance Party No Longer Opens the Boo-To-You Parade, and Now Runs as Five Stage Shows Around Magic Kingdom Disney World

Max's Powerline Dance Party No Longer Opens the Boo-To-You Parade, and Now Runs as Five Stage Shows Around Magic Kingdom

Max Goof's Powerline-inspired dance party has been a roaming Main Street, U.S.A. pre-parade in past seasons, dating back to 2022. On opening night of Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party 2026, it did not run there ahead of the parade at all. It now runs as a stage show with five set showtimes a night, at locations including the Adventureland stage and Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe.

August 8, 2026 News
Florida's Disney Oversight District Is Offering Employees Park Passes Again, Nearly Three Years After Its Own Report Called the Perk Akin to Bribes Disney World

Florida's Disney Oversight District Is Offering Employees Park Passes Again, Nearly Three Years After Its Own Report Called the Perk Akin to Bribes

The Central Florida Tourism Oversight District has reinstated theme park passes for its employees. In 2023 the same District called the pass program a "scheme to funnel millions of taxpayer dollars to Disney." A District spokesperson says the new pass fixes what Reedy Creek got wrong, including employees paying taxes on it.

August 7, 2026 News
SeaWorld Orlando Has a New President, and for the First Time Since 2023 One Person Runs All Three Orlando Parks SeaWorld Orlando

SeaWorld Orlando Has a New President, and for the First Time Since 2023 One Person Runs All Three Orlando Parks

United Parks & Resorts named Brad Gilmour president of SeaWorld Orlando on Thursday, effective immediately, and in doing so quietly undid an org chart it drew up in January 2023. Gilmour has run Aquatica and Discovery Cove since that split; he now adds SeaWorld Orlando, reuniting all three Orlando parks under one president. He succeeds Jon "JP" Peterson, whose departure the company did not explain, and he inherits a soft second quarter and an unresolved union fight.

August 7, 2026 News
Universal Put Halloween Horror Nights 35 Merchandise on Shelves Three Weeks Before the Event, and the House Shirt Is $35 Universal Orlando

Universal Put Halloween Horror Nights 35 Merchandise on Shelves Three Weeks Before the Event, and the House Shirt Is $35

Halloween Horror Nights 35 does not open until August 28, and the Tribute Store does not open until August 26, but Universal has already started selling event merchandise at Islands of Adventure and on Shop Universal. UOFan shopped the early drop and photographed the price tags, which gives us an early public price list for the season: the annual house lineup shirt is $35, the matching hoodie is $65, and the refillable Coca-Cola Freestyle tumbler is $28.99.

August 7, 2026 News
Disney Names Its New Adventureland Pirate Offering Captain Jack's Buccaneer Bash, and It Debuts Tonight at Not-So-Scary Disney World

Disney Names Its New Adventureland Pirate Offering Captain Jack's Buccaneer Bash, and It Debuts Tonight at Not-So-Scary

Disney teased a nameless Captain Jack Sparrow offering for Adventureland back in June and left every practical question open. Nearly six weeks later the answers landed: it is called Captain Jack's Buccaneer Bash, it takes over the Adventureland stage across from Pirates of the Caribbean, and it runs as a rolling 7 p.m. to midnight window instead of scheduled showtimes. Disney promises a salty pirate band, jugglers and sailor superstitions. It debuts tonight, Friday August 7, on the opening night of Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party 2026.

August 7, 2026 News
Disney+ Has Ordered a Spaceship Earth Pilot, a Teen Time Travel Story Inspired by the EPCOT Ride, With Loki's Michael Waldron Producing Disney World

Disney+ Has Ordered a Spaceship Earth Pilot, a Teen Time Travel Story Inspired by the EPCOT Ride, With Loki's Michael Waldron Producing

Jason Fuchs is writing and showrunning a Spaceship Earth pilot for Disney+, inspired by the EPCOT ride, with Michael Waldron executive producing and Lee Toland Krieger directing. The official logline sends teenagers from Earth's past and future after a threat as vast as time itself. Casting is underway, and there is no series order yet.

August 6, 2026 News
EPCOT Food & Wine Merchandise Includes a Churro That Turns Into a Tote Bag, and Both Scavenger Hunts Return at $11.99 Disney World

EPCOT Food & Wine Merchandise Includes a Churro That Turns Into a Tote Bag, and Both Scavenger Hunts Return at $11.99

Disney's August 5 details drop for the 2026 EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival revealed the merchandise line, a brand new Waiter Mickey PhotoPass Magic Shot across five World Showcase pavilions, and firm dates and pricing for both scavenger hunts. Remy's Ratatouille Hide & Squeak runs all 87 days of the festival. Pluto's Pumpkin Pursuit covers only 39 of them.

August 6, 2026 News
HamiKuma Gets His First Orlando Meet and Greet at Halloween Horror Nights 35, One Year After His Florida Debut Fell Through Universal Orlando

HamiKuma Gets His First Orlando Meet and Greet at Halloween Horror Nights 35, One Year After His Florida Debut Fell Through

The half bear, half zombie mascot that Universal Studios Japan created for Halloween Horror Nights in 2021 will finally greet Orlando guests, inside the Five & Dime store at Universal Studios Florida during HHN 35 event hours. He was slated to appear in Orlando and Hollywood last year but ended up meeting guests at Hollywood, while Orlando got just the merchandise. Universal has not announced appearance times yet, and an expanded HamiKuma collection arrives August 24.

August 6, 2026 News
Universal Named Two Scenes Inside the H.R. Bloodengutz House at Halloween Horror Nights 35, and the Original Queue Video Actor Is Back Universal Orlando

Universal Named Two Scenes Inside the H.R. Bloodengutz House at Halloween Horror Nights 35, and the Original Queue Video Actor Is Back

Universal put the show director and scenic designer for H.R. Bloodengutz Presents: A Halloween Fright-Tacular! on the record, and two of the house's scenes now have names: The Grayscale Graveyard, a fully black and white zombie set piece, and Monster's Night Out, a tiki bar. The actor who originated the character in 2011 has recorded a brand new queue video, and the house is staged inside a WKNB studio that has sat boarded up as a crime scene for 15 years. Halloween Horror Nights 35 runs select nights from August 28 through November 1, 2026 at Universal Studios Florida.

August 6, 2026 News
Universal's Halloween Horror Nights 35 Tribute Store is called Sideshow Obscura, and it opens August 26 back beside Revenge of the Mummy Universal Orlando

Universal's Halloween Horror Nights 35 Tribute Store is called Sideshow Obscura, and it opens August 26 back beside Revenge of the Mummy

Inside Universal published a first look at this year's Halloween Horror Nights merchandise on Wednesday, and near the end of it are the Tribute Store details. The store is themed to a traveling sideshow, it opens August 26, and it moves back to its original spot next to Revenge of the Mummy. Annual Passholders get in a day early.

August 5, 2026 News
Disney Swapped Out the Haunted Mansion's Stretching Room Ceiling After a Dirty Scrim Made the Hanging Corpse Disappear Disney World

Disney Swapped Out the Haunted Mansion's Stretching Room Ceiling After a Dirty Scrim Made the Hanging Corpse Disappear

Cleaning it was not enough. Twelve days after guests looked up in Magic Kingdom's left Stretching Room and could not find the hanging corpse, Disney has replaced the scrim ceiling outright. The new one has shading around the triangle and octagon designs, and the figure is clearly visible again. The right room's scrim, where the corpse stayed visible, has not been replaced.

August 5, 2026 News
The Diamond Horseshoe Returns This Fall as a Limited Time Small Plates and Cocktail Pop-Up, and Disney Is Pointing Family Style Diners Next Door Disney World

The Diamond Horseshoe Returns This Fall as a Limited Time Small Plates and Cocktail Pop-Up, and Disney Is Pointing Family Style Diners Next Door

Disney says a limited time food and drink pop-up will take over The Diamond Horseshoe at Magic Kingdom this fall, previewing a charcuterie board, a prickly pear margarita made with LALO Blanco Tequila, and a hot honey lemonade with a chili-lime rim. The family style holiday dinner the Liberty Square music hall was known for stays next door at Liberty Tree Tavern. Disney has not given an opening date, prices, or a name for the pop-up.

August 5, 2026 News
Disney Says Walt Disney World Had a Stand-Out Quarter, and Its CFO Told CNBC the Numbers Beat the Competition and Orlando Airport Traffic Disney World

Disney Says Walt Disney World Had a Stand-Out Quarter, and Its CFO Told CNBC the Numbers Beat the Competition and Orlando Airport Traffic

Disney's fiscal third quarter report Wednesday morning singled out Walt Disney World by name, calling it a stand-out quarter, and CFO Hugh Johnston went on CNBC to say the resort's attendance looked better than the competition's and better than Orlando airport traffic. The Experiences segment posted $9.97 billion in revenue, up 10 percent, and $3.02 billion in operating income, up 20 percent, though a roughly $100 million tariff refund accounted for about four of those points. Posted wait time data from June and July tells a more complicated story.

August 5, 2026 News
Universal Just Patented a Water Ride Boat That Steers Itself, and Three Claims Would Hand the Controls to the Rider Universal Orlando

Universal Just Patented a Water Ride Boat That Steers Itself, and Three Claims Would Hand the Controls to the Rider

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office granted Universal City Studios a patent Tuesday for a water ride vehicle that carries its own propulsion, using two independently adjustable surfaces dipped into a moving channel of water to accelerate, slow down and steer. Three separate claims cover handing that control to the passenger. The patent names no ride, no park and no character, so the Creature from the Black Lagoon chatter is exactly that.

August 5, 2026 News