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SeaWorld Will Hand Pass Members a Free Howl-O-Scream Quick Queue for Visiting in August, but Not for the I Know What You Did Last Summer House SeaWorld Orlando

SeaWorld Will Hand Pass Members a Free Howl-O-Scream Quick Queue for Visiting in August, but Not for the I Know What You Did Last Summer House

Passport to Screams turns August pass member visits into Howl-O-Scream rewards: a free snack in week one, ten dollars in Howl-O-Scream Bucks in week two, and a one time Quick Queue in week three. The asterisk hanging off that third reward is the interesting part, because the event's licensed house, I Know What You Did Last Summer: The Final Catch, is carved out of it.

August 12, 2026 News
A Red Balloon Was Floating Over Magic Kingdom's Piston Peak Site, and It Turned Up in the Background of an Official Disney Photo Disney World

A Red Balloon Was Floating Over Magic Kingdom's Piston Peak Site, and It Turned Up in the Background of an Official Disney Photo

Disney has not said how tall the Piston Peak mountains will be, and how much of them will loom over the rest of Magic Kingdom is the sightline question Imagineering publicly addressed back in 2025. A staff photo published on the Disney Parks Blog, shot on location with an Imagineer in a construction vest, may have answered it by accident. In the frame, a small red balloon hangs in the sky behind the walls, floating well above Cinderella Castle's tallest spire from the camera's angle.

August 12, 2026 News
Some Disney Springs Stores No Longer Take Disney Gift Cards, Including Zara and Vera Bradley, and Neither Report Includes a Full List Disney World

Some Disney Springs Stores No Longer Take Disney Gift Cards, Including Zara and Vera Bradley, and Neither Report Includes a Full List

A popular Walt Disney World money-saving move is to buy Disney Gift Cards at a discount and spend them on property like cash. At Disney Springs, that just stopped working at some stores. Guest Relations told WDW News Today that third-party contracts have changed, Zara and Vera Bradley are out, Sephora is still in, and neither report includes a full list.

August 12, 2026 News
Universal Finally Named Its Passholder Nights Dishes, and Both Are Locked Behind a Two Night Event That Filled Up in July Universal Orlando

Universal Finally Named Its Passholder Nights Dishes, and Both Are Locked Behind a Two Night Event That Filled Up in July

Universal's blog named the two Passholder Nights exclusives its own website had listed only as coming soon: an Apple Pie Crepe at Central Park Crepes and Pizza Fries at DreamWorks Imagination Cafe. Both are available only on August 15 and 16, at a free after hours party whose reservations filled back in July. The other ten Passholder Appreciation Days items have been public since July 28, and not one of them is at Epic Universe.

August 10, 2026 News
Universal Revealed Another Free Passholder Item, a Blue UOAP Wristlet Keychain, and This One Does Not Need a Fully Booked Event Universal Orlando

Universal Revealed Another Free Passholder Item, a Blue UOAP Wristlet Keychain, and This One Does Not Need a Fully Booked Event

When Universal laid out Passholder Appreciation Days in late July, one perk was left blank: a complimentary specialty item, to be announced soon. It has now been shown, and it is a bright blue fabric wristlet keychain printed with the UOAP logo. Pickup starts August 15 at two in-park shops, while supplies last, and it is not tied to the fully booked Passholder Nights.

August 10, 2026 News
Pain and Panic Vanished From the Boo-To-You Parade This Year, and Cinderella's Stepsisters Are Dancing in Their Place Disney World

Pain and Panic Vanished From the Boo-To-You Parade This Year, and Cinderella's Stepsisters Are Dancing in Their Place

Hades' henchmen used to dance at the rear of the Skeleton Band float, at first inside dark metal cages with glowsticks, and in later years with just the glowsticks. For the 2026 run of Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party, Anastasia and Drizella have the spot instead, with no cages and no glowsticks. WDW News Today argues the swap may quietly retire the last of the parade's grown-up streak.

August 10, 2026 News
Boulder Ridge Villas at Wilderness Lodge Lost Water Pressure Saturday, and Disney Is Moving Some Guests to Old Key West and Saratoga Springs Disney World

Boulder Ridge Villas at Wilderness Lodge Lost Water Pressure Saturday, and Disney Is Moving Some Guests to Old Key West and Saratoga Springs

A water outage that guests say began around 3 p.m. Saturday has left Boulder Ridge, one of the Disney Vacation Club villa buildings at Disney's Wilderness Lodge, with barely any water pressure and toilets that will not flush. Disney is moving some guests to Disney's Old Key West Resort and to Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa, and offering refunds and bill adjustments to affected guests whether they move or stay. It is the second infrastructure failure at the resort in under two months, and this one hit the villa building that June's air conditioning outage appeared to spare.

August 10, 2026 News
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