Parks Magic Parks Magic: Orlando Theme Park News & Guides

News

The Shire Was Just Filed as a Theme Park Trademark for the Third Time Since 2015, and the First Two Attempts Both Died Universal Orlando

The Shire Was Just Filed as a Theme Park Trademark for the Third Time Since 2015, and the First Two Attempts Both Died

Two applications landed at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on August 31: THE SHIRE and its Spanish counterpart LA COMARCA, each covering exactly one service, providing theme park services. The 2015 and 2019 THE SHIRE applications both cleared examination and were then abandoned without a park. Neither new filing names Universal, Orlando or Florida.

September 8, 2026 News
Two Dancers Are Missing From it's a small world at Magic Kingdom, and the Facade Is Peeling Where It Meets the Water Disney World

Two Dancers Are Missing From it's a small world at Magic Kingdom, and the Facade Is Peeling Where It Meets the Water

WDW News Today says the Irish dancer and flamenco dancer dolls have been missing for an extended period. On a visit reported Saturday, September 5, its team also found the white facade peeling away at the waterline, burnt out bulbs on an arch, and a wrinkled scrim still attached in the queue. It is the outlet's second condition report on the ride in under a month.

September 8, 2026 News
A Rolling Trash Can Named Pinley Turned Up Carrying Roughly 100 Trading Pins on Discovery Island at Disney's Animal Kingdom Disney World

A Rolling Trash Can Named Pinley Turned Up Carrying Roughly 100 Trading Pins on Discovery Island at Disney's Animal Kingdom

Walt Disney World has fitted a mobile trash can with a cork pin board and given it its own oversized Cast Member nametag reading Pinley. WDW News Today met it on Discovery Island at Disney's Animal Kingdom, and because it rolls, it can turn up at various spots in the parks. One catch for anyone hoping for a reunion with Push: Pinley does not talk.

September 7, 2026 News
Universal Has a New Demolition Permit for Islands of Adventure, Processed September 4, and the Square Footage Field Reads 18,000 Universal Orlando

Universal Has a New Demolition Permit for Islands of Adventure, Processed September 4, and the Square Footage Field Reads 18,000

Permit DEM2026-10185 was processed by the City of Orlando on the same Friday that construction walls were reported to have reached the already closed Treasures of Poseidon gift shop. It is the first new demolition permit at Islands of Adventure in almost a year, it names no building, and it lists PCL, the same contractor as the still open 2025 Lost Continent permit.

September 7, 2026 News
Both Sunshine Churros Kiosks at Disney Springs Serve Their Last Today, and Disney's New Churro Lineup Skips Disney Springs Entirely Disney World

Both Sunshine Churros Kiosks at Disney Springs Serve Their Last Today, and Disney's New Churro Lineup Skips Disney Springs Entirely

The West Side and Marketplace churro stands stop serving at the end of the night on Saturday, September 5. Disney has not announced the closure or said what replaces them. Two days earlier it published ten new churro items for the fall, spread across all four theme parks and both water parks but not one at Disney Springs, though the Typhoon Lagoon listing is not until 2027.

September 7, 2026 News
The First Painted Maya Temple Sections Are Up on the Indiana Jones Ride Building at Animal Kingdom, and the Middle Is Still Bare Steel Disney World

The First Painted Maya Temple Sections Are Up on the Indiana Jones Ride Building at Animal Kingdom, and the Middle Is Still Bare Steel

Aerial photos published Friday show two finished sections of the Maya pyramid facade craned onto the Indiana Jones and the Myth of the Jade Serpent building at Disney's Animal Kingdom. The top and bottom thirds are carved and painted in red and turquoise. The middle is still open steel, and WDW News Today reports the back of the facade is crumbling rock.

September 7, 2026 News
Legoland Says Scarecrow's Barn Is Designed With a Street Actor Working Beside the Animated Crow Legoland Florida

Legoland Says Scarecrow's Barn Is Designed With a Street Actor Working Beside the Animated Crow

Legoland Florida has given Scarecrow's Barn a post of its own, the second Brick or Treat Street house to get one. One line in it has not appeared on any earlier Legoland page: the experience is designed with a street actor helping run the interaction while the crow supplies the audio. The rest, including the Mischief Town mural build, mostly restates the park's August 28 overview of the street.

September 7, 2026 News
Journey to Atlantis Is Now the Only Ride on SeaWorld Orlando's Rides Page With Posted Hours, and They End Before the Park Does SeaWorld Orlando

Journey to Atlantis Is Now the Only Ride on SeaWorld Orlando's Rides Page With Posted Hours, and They End Before the Park Does

Two lines have been added to the Journey to Atlantis card on SeaWorld Orlando's rides page: weekdays 11am to 4pm, weekends 11am to 5pm. None of the twenty other listings on that page carries an hours note, the ride's own page does not carry the hours at all, and the three Quick Queue products that include Journey to Atlantis list it without mentioning the shorter window.

September 7, 2026 News
A New Universal Patent Filing Describes a Creature Drone That Flaps Faster as It Speeds Up and Can Carry a Fire Effect Universal Orlando

A New Universal Patent Filing Describes a Creature Drone That Flaps Faster as It Speeds Up and Can Carry a Fire Effect

A Universal City Studios patent application published on Thursday describes a drone built to look and move like a flying creature: wings that beat faster as it accelerates, a head that turns into a turn, a tail, and optional hardware including a speaker and a fire shooting pyrotechnic. The filing never says dragon. Theme Park Insider connects it to the flying dragons promised over Isle of Berk, which WDW News Today reported in April 2026 had been seen above the land only once.

September 7, 2026 News
Remy's Ratatouille Adventure Just Got Its First Camouflage Props, More Than Ten Months After Disney Promised Them Disney World

Remy's Ratatouille Adventure Just Got Its First Camouflage Props, More Than Ten Months After Disney Promised Them

Disney said in October 2025 that new props and lighting would follow the 3D to 2D conversion at Remy's Ratatouille Adventure. Blog Mickey found the first two on Friday morning: a spilled box of dry pasta in the kitchen scene, and a cutting board holding cheese and a wine cork in the rooftop finale. Both sit where the built set used to hand off to a bare screen edge.

September 7, 2026 News
Legoland Florida Replaced Its Flat 20% AAA Hotel Discount This Morning With Up to 25% on Weekdays Only, and Three Brick or Treat Nights Qualify Legoland Florida

Legoland Florida Replaced Its Flat 20% AAA Hotel Discount This Morning With Up to 25% on Weekdays Only, and Three Brick or Treat Nights Qualify

The old AAA deal was a flat 20% off any LEGO themed room and it expired yesterday. The replacement Legoland posted this morning is up to 25% off, but only on Sunday through Thursday stays. Brick or Treat runs 18 nights and 13 of them are Fridays or Saturdays. Once the September 7 start date and the October 11 blackout are applied, just three event nights qualify.

September 7, 2026 News
Disney Vacation Club Added a Rule That Would End Reservation Walking, and the Booking System Has Not Caught Up Yet Disney World

Disney Vacation Club Added a Rule That Would End Reservation Walking, and the Booking System Has Not Caught Up Yet

A new row in Disney Vacation Club's modification guidelines says travel dates and room types can only change once the original check-out date is within 11 months of the request. Keying the rule to check-out instead of check-in removes the several day head start that made walking a reservation work. Disney says the booking system updates are still coming.

September 7, 2026 News