News

The Magic of Disney Animation Is Officially Open, and Disney Marked It With a 60-Character Photo Including Oswald, Bolt and Merlin Disney World

The Magic of Disney Animation Is Officially Open, and Disney Marked It With a 60-Character Photo Including Oswald, Bolt and Merlin

The Magic of Disney Animation is officially open at Hollywood Studios, and Disney marked it with a photo of 60 Disney Animation characters gathered for what it called a rare picture day. WDW News Today counts Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, Bernard and Miss Bianca, Bolt and Merlin among the rare characters in the lineup. The park's new guide map also debuted, with Future Home of Monstropolis printed over the old Muppets Courtyard.

September 17, 2026 News
Universal Says the King Kong Animatronic Was Damaged During Routine Maintenance, and That Is Why Reign of Kong Is Closed Universal Orlando

Universal Says the King Kong Animatronic Was Damaged During Routine Maintenance, and That Is Why Reign of Kong Is Closed

Skull Island: Reign of Kong at Universal Islands of Adventure has been closed for the last few weeks, and until now Universal had not said why. Universal has now told Attractions Magazine the King Kong animatronic sustained damage during routine maintenance and is being repaired. There is still no reopening date, and Universal has not said how the damage happened or how serious it is.

September 17, 2026 News
Olivia's Cafe Took Every Member Photo Off Its Walls, and the Pictures Now Live in 16 Albums at Old Key West's Community Hall Disney World

Olivia's Cafe Took Every Member Photo Off Its Walls, and the Pictures Now Live in 16 Albums at Old Key West's Community Hall

The Disney Vacation Club member vacation photos that lined the walls of Olivia's Cafe are all gone, replaced by a ship's wheel, anchors and wooden fish. The pictures were not thrown out: they now sit in 16 Family Album: Meet Our Members! photo albums on a bookshelf in Conch Flats Community Hall at Disney's Old Key West Resort, and a framed flyer invites members to submit more.

September 14, 2026 News
A 20-Year-Old Who Had Just Begun the Disney College Program Was Killed by Lightning in Celebration Disney World

A 20-Year-Old Who Had Just Begun the Disney College Program Was Killed by Lightning in Celebration

Matthew Eric Jenkins, 20, of Shelby Township, Michigan, died on the evening of Tuesday, September 8 after being struck by lightning on a walking path in Celebration, the Osceola County community near Walt Disney World. Deputies responded at about 6:25 p.m. Bystanders performed CPR. The medical examiner has since ruled his death an accident, with the cause electrocution by a lightning strike. Disney says he had just begun his College Program.

September 14, 2026 News
SeaWorld's Pass Member Picnic Is Eight Days Out, and the Pass Member Ticket Is the One Still Marked Available Soon SeaWorld Orlando

SeaWorld's Pass Member Picnic Is Eight Days Out, and the Pass Member Ticket Is the One Still Marked Available Soon

SeaWorld Orlando's picnic at Ports of Call is on Sunday, September 20. Its event page lists two tickets side by side: the Service Member and Veteran ticket carries no availability caveat, while the Pass Member ticket sits under the label Available soon. The same page names the salad three times and calls it two different things, and the event goes by four different names across five SeaWorld surfaces.

September 14, 2026 News
The Magic of Disney Animation Soft Opened Three Days Early, and Disney's Own Website Still Says It Opens September 14 Disney World

The Magic of Disney Animation Soft Opened Three Days Early, and Disney's Own Website Still Says It Opens September 14

Disney's Hollywood Studios let guests walk into its new animation complex on Friday morning, three days before the September 14 date Disney had been advertising. Everything inside was open: Olaf Draws!, the Off the Page! character meets, Drawn to Wonderland, the Once Upon a Studio Theater and the art gallery. The in person waitlist for Olaf Draws! was not switched on, and as of Saturday afternoon the official attraction page still reads Opening September 14! with no showtimes listed.

September 14, 2026 News
Legoland Says the Department of Monster Vehicles Is Not Just Driving School With Decorations, and Riders Hit Glowing Ectoplasm Spots Legoland Florida

Legoland Says the Department of Monster Vehicles Is Not Just Driving School With Decorations, and Riders Hit Glowing Ectoplasm Spots

A Legoland Florida blog published Saturday morning finally says how the Brick or Treat ride overlays work. The Department of Monster Vehicles is in LEGO City and adds glowing ectoplasm spots riders can hit, triggered fog and lighting, radio commentary from HEX-M and monster themed vehicle decals. The park's own event page has listed it for more than three weeks and still does not name the ride or the land.

September 14, 2026 News
SeaWorld Orlando Added Waterfront Water Works to Its Rides Page, and Left an Internal Note Sitting in the Guest Copy SeaWorld Orlando

SeaWorld Orlando Added Waterfront Water Works to Its Rides Page, and Left an Internal Note Sitting in the Guest Copy

A splash pad called Waterfront Water Works is now the last entry on SeaWorld Orlando's rides page, and it was not there in July. The attraction page carries its description followed by an unedited instruction: "On the SeaWorld Orlando Ride page can we also update the copy to the one mentioned and also add the tag Kid Friendly". One half of that request, the tag, is in place.

September 14, 2026 News
Swan and Dolphin's $275 Million Expansion Is Open, and Three Official Sources Give Three Different Answers for Its Pre-Function Space Disney World

Swan and Dolphin's $275 Million Expansion Is Open, and Three Official Sources Give Three Different Answers for Its Pre-Function Space

Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin cut the ribbon on a $275 million expansion, and now calls itself "the largest convention hotel on the US Eastern Seaboard." The new ballroom and multi-function space measure up almost exactly. The pre-function space does not: the resort's own capacity chart totals 27,456 square feet against the 38,000 its marketing claims, and its two marketing pages disagree about which floor has more.

September 14, 2026 News
Skull Island: Reign of Kong Is in Its 17th Day of Closure, and themeparks.wiki Froze Its Record the Same Second as Jurassic Park River Adventure Universal Orlando

Skull Island: Reign of Kong Is in Its 17th Day of Closure, and themeparks.wiki Froze Its Record the Same Second as Jurassic Park River Adventure

Skull Island: Reign of Kong last posted a full day of wait times on Wednesday, August 26. It has been closed ever since, apart from a single 5 minute wait posted on the evening of August 31, and there is no announced reopening date. In the themeparks.wiki live feed the ride's record is frozen at 00:55:51 UTC on September 10, eight milliseconds from Jurassic Park River Adventure, which is in an announced refurbishment and is due back on November 20.

September 14, 2026 News
Legoland's New Christmas Bricktacular Guide Names One Offer, a Halloween Deal That Stops Covering Stays 20 Days Before the Event Opens Legoland Florida

Legoland's New Christmas Bricktacular Guide Names One Offer, a Halloween Deal That Stops Covering Stays 20 Days Before the Event Opens

Legoland Florida published a Christmas Bricktacular planning guide this morning. It says the event runs November 21 through January 3, four separate times. Then its one piece of booking advice points at offers for a holiday trip through October 31, which is the Brick or Treat Getaway, a Halloween deal whose booking window closes September 28. The guide also never mentions the LEGO carrots, the Festival of Flurries or any of the event's characters apart from LEGO Santa.

September 11, 2026 News
The Traitors: New Blood Takes Over the Bars at Universal's Great Movie Escape Saturday, With 10 Named Drinks and Two Alan Cumming Costumes Universal Orlando

The Traitors: New Blood Takes Over the Bars at Universal's Great Movie Escape Saturday, With 10 Named Drinks and Two Alan Cumming Costumes

Universal announced it on its own blog on Wednesday, and Attractions Magazine got inside on Friday afternoon with the first two prices. From September 12, the bar areas inside Universal's Great Movie Escape at CityWalk get a The Traitors: New Blood overlay with Scottish Highland decor, two separate beverage menus totaling 10 drinks, and two authentic costumes worn by host Alan Cumming as a photo op. CityWalk's Rising Star follows on September 21 with a The Voice takeover and two more cocktails.

September 11, 2026 News
SeaWorld Is Giving the First 1,000 Kids a Free Trick-or-Treat Bag Saturday and Sunday, and Its Own Page Names Two Pickup Spots SeaWorld Orlando

SeaWorld Is Giving the First 1,000 Kids a Free Trick-or-Treat Bag Saturday and Sunday, and Its Own Page Names Two Pickup Spots

SeaWorld Orlando's September pass member page was updated at 10:45 this morning with an offer tagged "ADDED!" The first 1,000 kids aged 12 and under with an active Annual Pass or Preschool Card get a free trick-or-treat bag on each of September 12 and 13. The body copy says collect it at Under the Sun Shoppes at Waterfront. The fine print on the same page says redeem it at the park entrance. Trick-or-treating at Spooktacular normally requires buying a bag.

September 11, 2026 News
Disney's New Grand Floridian Entrance Sends Arriving Guests Down a Road Signed Service & Authorized Vehicles Only Disney World

Disney's New Grand Floridian Entrance Sends Arriving Guests Down a Road Signed Service & Authorized Vehicles Only

The new roadway entrance opened Thursday, and the turn drivers are now supposed to take is still marked Service & Authorized Vehicles Only. The gate itself has not moved. Getting to it now means the northern roundabout, a pass by the Cast Member parking lot, a right at the signal, and one open lane of the old Floridian Way. The old exit is sealed with concrete barriers, and getting out of the overflow dining lot is close to a full loop.

September 11, 2026 News
SeaWorld Posted the Howl-O-Scream Map a Day Before Opening Night, and It Gives The Rewind the Location Its Food Page Left Blank SeaWorld Orlando

SeaWorld Posted the Howl-O-Scream Map a Day Before Opening Night, and It Gives The Rewind the Location Its Food Page Left Blank

The 2026 event map went up on SeaWorld Orlando's Howl-O-Scream page on Thursday afternoon, less than 30 hours before the first night. On Tuesday the park's food page finally gave four of the five new bars a venue and left The Rewind with none. The map puts it on the ground, just inside the event entrance, and it backs up the venue list for the other four. It also shows something the text pages never said: most of the bars have been placed next to the house or scare zone they share a theme with.

September 11, 2026 News