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A Manatee Found Swimming on Her Side in January Went Back Into Crystal River Last Week, and It Was Not Her First Rescue SeaWorld Orlando

A Manatee Found Swimming on Her Side in January Went Back Into Crystal River Last Week, and It Was Not Her First Rescue

Citron was pulled from Kings Bay in January with air trapped in her chest cavity from a damaged lung, a condition that can interfere with a manatee's buoyancy and keep her from staying submerged. After months of care at SeaWorld Orlando she was released on August 27 at The Port Hotel and Marina in Crystal River. Laughing Place cites a SeaWorld animal care specialist saying this was not her first rescue, and reports an earlier rescue in 2025.

September 1, 2026 News
Universal Has Wanted a Flowering Demogorgon Since Its First Stranger Things House, and Halloween Horror Nights 35 Finally Has the Animatronics for It Universal Orlando

Universal Has Wanted a Flowering Demogorgon Since Its First Stranger Things House, and Halloween Horror Nights 35 Finally Has the Animatronics for It

Universal creatives broke down the Stranger Things 5 house at a media preview panel, and the reveal was technical. The team wanted a fully flowering Demogorgon from the very first Stranger Things house and only now had the animatronics to build it. Universal says the MAC-Z showdown room is the largest set piece anywhere at Halloween Horror Nights 35.

September 1, 2026 News
Legoland Florida and Peppa Pig Take Turns Closing This Fall: Peppa Closes 12 Tuesdays, Legoland the 12 Wednesdays Right After, Starting September 1 Legoland Florida

Legoland Florida and Peppa Pig Take Turns Closing This Fall: Peppa Closes 12 Tuesdays, Legoland the 12 Wednesdays Right After, Starting September 1

Legoland Florida's calendar now runs through December 31, and it shows 24 closed park days between September 1 and December 16, arranged in back to back pairs. Peppa Pig Theme Park closes 12 Tuesdays. Legoland Theme Park and SEA LIFE Florida close the 12 Wednesdays immediately after. The two gates never close on the same day, and the first pair lands September 1 and 2.

September 1, 2026 News
Universal Has Already Pulled the Display Cars From the Fast & Furious: Supercharged Queue, and Halloween Horror Nights Guests Walk Past the Gaps Universal Orlando

Universal Has Already Pulled the Display Cars From the Fast & Furious: Supercharged Queue, and Halloween Horror Nights Guests Walk Past the Gaps

Fast & Furious: Supercharged closed for good on August 17. On August 28, WDW News Today reported that the display cars were already gone from its queue, leaving empty floor space and, in one spot, marks on the floor where a car sat. The queue is not sitting idle either: on Halloween Horror Nights 35 event nights it is serving as the line for the Cybergoria haunted house.

September 1, 2026 News
SeaWorld Cut Its One Park Howl-O-Scream Pass to $99.99, Reversing an Odd Inversion, and a $42.99 Night on a Page the Event Page Never Links To SeaWorld Orlando

SeaWorld Cut Its One Park Howl-O-Scream Pass to $99.99, Reversing an Odd Inversion, and a $42.99 Night on a Page the Event Page Never Links To

A week ago the SeaWorld only unlimited pass cost $10 more than the pass that also covers Busch Gardens Tampa Bay. On SeaWorld's ticket page today the one park product is $99.99 and the two park pass is $104.99, so the inversion has reversed. Separately, a partner page that the event page never links to sells a single night ticket for $42.99, but not on the event's opening weekend.

September 1, 2026 News
The Diamond Horseshoe Pop-Up Opens October 4, and Its Full Menu Has Six Small Plates and No Entrees Disney World

The Diamond Horseshoe Pop-Up Opens October 4, and Its Full Menu Has Six Small Plates and No Entrees

Disney published the full menu for The Diamond Horseshoe pop-up at Magic Kingdom and set the opening for Sunday, October 4, with reservations from September 29. The menu runs six small plates, four non alcoholic drinks, six cocktails, three wines and three draft beers, with no entrees, no desserts and no prices. Disney also said the pop-up will not be available during Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party, and October 4 is one of 14 party nights in its first 28 days.

August 31, 2026 News
Legoland Florida Swapped Its Four Annual Passes for Three Today, and the Cheapest New One Leaves Out the Water Park Legoland Florida

Legoland Florida Swapped Its Four Annual Passes for Three Today, and the Cheapest New One Leaves Out the Water Park

Legoland Florida replaced Bronze, Silver, Gold and Elite with Standard, Preferred and Premium on Monday. The new entry pass is $179, against the $199 the legacy pay in full lineup started at, and it does not include the Water Park, though the legacy Silver pass still does. Water Park access in the new lineup starts at the $249 Preferred tier. Bring a Friend tickets are Premium only within that new lineup, and the launch promo runs through September 30.

August 31, 2026 News
Blood Noir Opened at Halloween Horror Nights 35 With a Sword Swallower Who Swallows Vampire Hunters' Weapons, Scored to Lady Gaga and Queen Universal Orlando

Blood Noir Opened at Halloween Horror Nights 35 With a Sword Swallower Who Swallows Vampire Hunters' Weapons, Scored to Lady Gaga and Queen

Universal announced Nightmare Fuel: Blood Noir in July and described it in a single sentence. Now that the show has opened at Halloween Horror Nights 35, WDW News Today has published a scene by scene account of what is actually in it. Sword swallower Auzzy Blood plays a chained vampire who frees himself and swallows the hunters' weapons, in a show set to Lady Gaga, Queen, Nirvana and Billy Idol.

August 31, 2026 News
Peppa Pig Theme Park Florida Has Just Three Days Left Before September 26 With Both Its Coaster and Its High Striker Open Legoland Florida

Peppa Pig Theme Park Florida Has Just Three Days Left Before September 26 With Both Its Coaster and Its High Striker Open

Daddy Pig's Roller Coaster, the park's only coaster, is listed closed through September 4. Mr. Bull's High Striker is listed closed September 8 through September 25. The two windows leave Labor Day weekend, September 5 to 7, as the only remaining stretch with both rides running before September 26. Neither closure was separately announced.

August 29, 2026 News
Disney Vacation Club Members Can Stay at Lakeshore Lodge Four Days Before It Opens, and the Cheapest Room on the Chart Is 184 Points Disney World

Disney Vacation Club Members Can Stay at Lakeshore Lodge Four Days Before It Opens, and the Cheapest Room on the Chart Is 184 Points

The Member "First Wave" Experience puts DVC members inside Disney's Lakeshore Lodge from June 24 through June 27, 2027, three nights that end four days before the resort opens to everyone else on July 1. Booking starts November 7 at 10 a.m. ET, and the points chart runs from 184 for a Duo Studio to 532 for a 3 Bedroom Grand Villa.

August 29, 2026 News
Universal Says the Ozzy Osbourne House Has an Acid Rain Effect Guests Will Actually Feel Universal Orlando

Universal Says the Ozzy Osbourne House Has an Acid Rain Effect Guests Will Actually Feel

Universal published a behind the scenes look at Ozzy Osbourne: Prince of Darkness about 90 minutes before Halloween Horror Nights 35 opened, and it describes a Black Rain scene where acid rain falls and guests will, in Universal's words, actually feel it. The house was one of two listed as delayed at Thursday's $415 Premium Scream Night preview, and Universal has not said why.

August 29, 2026 News
Disney Named Monstropolis' Main Street Dark Avenue, and Imagineers Say Piston Peak Buildings Were Shortened After a Balloon Test Came Back Too High Disney World

Disney Named Monstropolis' Main Street Dark Avenue, and Imagineers Say Piston Peak Buildings Were Shortened After a Balloon Test Came Back Too High

Walt Disney Imagineering put out a new We Call It Imagineering episode on Friday, a 24-minute architecture tour that stops in on four Walt Disney World projects. The headline is a name nobody had heard before: Dark Avenue, the main street running through Monstropolis to the Monsters, Inc. factory that will house the suspended door coaster. The same episode explains what balloons like the one we wrote about on August 12 are for. Imagineers say the first Piston Peak sightline test showed some elevations were a little too high, and structures were shortened before a second test came back right on the money.

August 28, 2026 News
SeaWorld's Howl-O-Scream Menu Has a Cricket Tres Leches and a Card That Spells It Pizza Roles, While Its Own Food Page Says Coming Soon SeaWorld Orlando

SeaWorld's Howl-O-Scream Menu Has a Cricket Tres Leches and a Card That Spells It Pizza Roles, While Its Own Food Page Says Coming Soon

SeaWorld named the Howl-O-Scream 2026 food and drink lineup on August 26, including a Tripleta Sandwich, the Eggo Massacre, a Highway Havoc Bacon Mac and Cheese Dog, beef birria ramen and seven specialty cocktails. Tasting cards photographed at the August 20 media preview name six more dishes no outlet has named in prose, among them a Cricket Tres Leches, an Intestine Cinnamon Roll, and a card SeaWorld printed as Pizza Roles. Meanwhile the park's own Taste the Terror page still reads Information Coming Soon, and its menu page is still serving 2024.

August 28, 2026 News
Rain Kept Jack and Dr. Oddfellow Off the Street for Most of Universal's $415 Premium Scream Night, and Two Houses Were Listed as Delayed Universal Orlando

Rain Kept Jack and Dr. Oddfellow Off the Street for Most of Universal's $415 Premium Scream Night, and Two Houses Were Listed as Delayed

Halloween Horror Nights 35 met its first paying guests on Thursday at Premium Scream Night, the preview that starts at $415 a head. Rain arrived around 6:45 p.m., ponchos went out, and the two icons fronting the whole event were not reported in the entrance scare zone until 10:55 p.m. By 11:10 p.m. the open houses were down to five minute waits, but MADLANDS: Caged Cannibals and Ozzy Osbourne: Prince of Darkness were listed as delayed. The first public night is tonight.

August 28, 2026 News
Vekoma Says It Installed Big Thunder Mountain Railroad's New Track and Trains, and Ties the Work to the Lowered 38 Inch Height Requirement Disney World

Vekoma Says It Installed Big Thunder Mountain Railroad's New Track and Trains, and Ties the Work to the Lowered 38 Inch Height Requirement

Dutch coaster manufacturer Vekoma went public on Thursday with its role in Big Thunder Mountain Railroad's 16 month refurbishment, saying it installed a new track and passenger trains at Magic Kingdom. Disney described the same work in May without naming a manufacturer. Vekoma ties the lowered 38 inch height requirement to the new hardware plus a comprehensive safety review, and closes with an argument for revitalizing old rides instead of replacing them.

August 28, 2026 News
Universal Designed the HHN 35 Sinners House Around One Scene First, and Its Show Director Says That Is Not Always How Houses Get Built Universal Orlando

Universal Designed the HHN 35 Sinners House Around One Scene First, and Its Show Director Says That Is Not Always How Houses Get Built

Universal published a room by room walkthrough of the Sinners haunted house one day before Halloween Horror Nights 35 opens. Show director Ramon Paradoa says the team locked the surreal montage set first and designed the scenes before and after it around that, which he says is not always how Universal builds a house. The Sinners house was not on the paid lights on tour that matched three other HHN 35 houses to their codenames last week.

August 27, 2026 News
Disney's Lakeshore Lodge Opens July 1, 2027, and the First Look Inside Includes an Encanto Duo Studio and a Fantasia Grand Villa for 12 Disney World

Disney's Lakeshore Lodge Opens July 1, 2027, and the First Look Inside Includes an Encanto Duo Studio and a Fantasia Grand Villa for 12

Disney has finally put a day on the calendar for Lakeshore Lodge. The Bay Lake resort opens July 1, 2027, and Disney marked the news with the first renderings of the guest rooms: duo studios inspired by Encanto, deluxe studios and villas drawn from Bambi, three-bedroom grand villas built around Fantasia, and resort studios rooted in Pocahontas. Booking opens in three waves, starting October 6 for Disney Vacation Club members.

August 27, 2026 News
Universal Published the HHN 35 Ingredient Lists a Day Before Opening Night, and the Pleasure & Pain Brain Is a Custard Dessert Universal Orlando

Universal Published the HHN 35 Ingredient Lists a Day Before Opening Night, and the Pleasure & Pain Brain Is a Custard Dessert

Universal Orlando finally said what is in the Halloween Horror Nights 35 menu, one day before the event opens. The Pleasure & Pain Brain is a custard dessert, the Ozzy Osbourne cake is carrot, and the Rigatoni Ritual Pie is at Louie's Italian Restaurant. Passholders get Cannoli Chips at Guido's Gelato and an Alien! Drink at the Dead Coconut Club. Still no prices anywhere.

August 27, 2026 News
Legoland Florida Is Selling $40 VIP Seats for Its Monster Skytacular Drone Show, and the Ticket Does Not Include Park Admission Legoland Florida

Legoland Florida Is Selling $40 VIP Seats for Its Monster Skytacular Drone Show, and the Ticket Does Not Include Park Admission

The VIP Monster Skytacular Seating Package is live on Legoland Florida's own store at $40 per person, $42.80 with tax, for the five October Saturdays Legoland lists for the show. It buys a reserved seat in Pirate Cove Stadium, a lanyard, a Pop Badge and a bottle of water, but not a way into the park. Check in starts at 7:15 p.m. for an 8 p.m. show, and passholders get a discount Legoland is not publishing.

August 27, 2026 News
Disney Set the Booking Dates for Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party Dining, and Four Magic Kingdom Restaurants Are Taking Party Night Reservations Disney World

Disney Set the Booking Dates for Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party Dining, and Four Magic Kingdom Restaurants Are Taking Party Night Reservations

Disney Resort hotel guests can book Very Merry party dining from September 3, up to 60 days ahead of arrival and covering stays of up to 10 nights. Everyone else waits until September 9. Four Magic Kingdom restaurants are taking party night reservations, including the Adventureland tavern that opened in 2025, and Minnie's Wonderful Christmastime Fireworks Dessert Party returns in two tiers that differ on price and on where you actually watch the show.

August 27, 2026 News
Dark Universe's Unannounced Third Ride Just Went From Permits to Dirt at Epic Universe, and the Berm Along Kirkman Road Is Coming Down Universal Orlando

Dark Universe's Unannounced Third Ride Just Went From Permits to Dirt at Epic Universe, and the Berm Along Kirkman Road Is Coming Down

New Bioreconstruct aerials published by Orlando ParkStop show the expansion plot behind Monsters Unchained being dug out and flattened, with trailers, containers and a water truck arriving in roughly the past two weeks. The berm that screened the land from Kirkman Road is being removed, and workers photographed on the ground appear to wear the logo of Whiting-Turner, the general contractor named on the permits. Universal still has not announced what is going there.

August 27, 2026 News