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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
SeaWorld's Parent Company Drew 179,000 Fewer Guest Visits Last Quarter, and Its Halloween Bet Is a Slasher Movie Haunted House SeaWorld Orlando

SeaWorld's Parent Company Drew 179,000 Fewer Guest Visits Last Quarter, and Its Halloween Bet Is a Slasher Movie Haunted House

United Parks & Resorts reported second quarter attendance of 6.1 million on Tuesday, down 2.9 percent, with revenue off 1.4 percent to $483.3 million and net income down 21 percent. CEO Marc Swanson pointed to two bright spots: Discovery Cove advance booking revenue up double digits, and early Howl-O-Scream ticket sales pacing ahead of last year, with a new Sony Pictures horror deal joining the event this fall.

August 4, 2026 News
A Crane Was Still Lifting a Beam Into the Tropical Americas Entrance Arch on Monday Morning, and New Steel Went Up at the Encanto Casita Site Disney World

A Crane Was Still Lifting a Beam Into the Tropical Americas Entrance Arch on Monday Morning, and New Steel Went Up at the Encanto Casita Site

Blog Mickey caught the Pueblo Esperanza entrance frame mid-build at Disney's Animal Kingdom on Monday, with one steel beam still suspended from the crane hook as crews maneuvered it into place. Elsewhere on the site, fresh steel columns now stand on a poured concrete wall near the green Encanto show building, and Blog Mickey believes they are the start of Casa Madrigal itself. Tropical Americas is still slated for 2027.

August 3, 2026 News
Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift's Final Track Sections Went In Before Sunrise, Completing the Coaster's Full Layout Universal Orlando

Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift's Final Track Sections Went In Before Sunrise, Completing the Coaster's Full Layout

Aerial photographer bioreconstruct reported the last pieces going in before sunrise Monday morning at Universal Studios Florida. The tall inversion that was still missing its highest segments on Sunday is now closed up, which means every section of Hollywood Drift track is in place. The coaster is due to open in 2027, and the park's other Fast & Furious ride, Supercharged, runs its final day on August 16.

August 3, 2026 News
Two Groups Argued the Whole 80 Minute Wait for Avatar Flight of Passage Before the Fight Started, and a Second Video Surfaced Overnight Disney World

Two Groups Argued the Whole 80 Minute Wait for Avatar Flight of Passage Before the Fight Started, and a Second Video Surfaced Overnight

A Reddit user posted video of a Sunday morning brawl in the Avatar Flight of Passage queue at Disney's Animal Kingdom and said the two groups had been arguing for the entirety of the 80 minute wait. A second angle went up on TikTok overnight, and a public Orange County Sheriff's Office entry logs an 11:21 a.m. battery call on a road that Inside the Magic says matches the approximate address for the attraction.

August 3, 2026 News
Legoland Florida Quietly Launched Three Prepaid Dining Tiers Months After Dropping Its Old Meal Deal, and Brickolini's Joined on August 1 Legoland Florida

Legoland Florida Quietly Launched Three Prepaid Dining Tiers Months After Dropping Its Old Meal Deal, and Brickolini's Joined on August 1

No press release and no trade coverage, just a new block on the park dining page, a nav link, a help center article and a quiet guide post. Legoland Florida is now selling Standard, Deluxe and Ultimate Dining Packages from $44 plus tax for adults, and the Ultimate tier moves dinner to the pirate-themed Shipwreck Restaurant inside Pirate Island Hotel.

August 1, 2026 News