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A Giant Wood-Look Otter Is Now Lying Across the Splash Pad at Disney's Lakeshore Lodge, and the Lazy River Loop Is Visible From the Air Disney World

A Giant Wood-Look Otter Is Now Lying Across the Splash Pad at Disney's Lakeshore Lodge, and the Lazy River Loop Is Visible From the Air

New aerials of Disney's Lakeshore Lodge show themed hardware now standing at Otter Springs, the splash area inside The Wetlands. Several large wood-style animal figures now sit on the concrete pad, with a stylized otter lying across the center right, turquoise slides and crawl-through tubes staged around it, and dozens of pipes waiting on spray effects. The Daydream River loop now reads clearly from the air, palms are planted on its islands, and the Perspective Pond shell is poured on the Bay Lake side.

August 19, 2026 News
EPCOT's 2026 Food & Wine Menus Are Out, and Four Global Marketplaces Do Not Open Until October 2 Disney World

EPCOT's 2026 Food & Wine Menus Are Out, and Four Global Marketplaces Do Not Open Until October 2

Disney published the 2026 EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival Foodie Guide on August 19, eight days before opening, with 221 items across 43 menus and not one price. Disney's own booth listings show India, The Alps, Coastal Eats and Earth Eats do not serve until October 2, and Festival Favorites, the booth holding most of the 30th anniversary throwbacks, waits until September 9.

August 19, 2026 News
SeaWorld Just Rewrote Its Howl-O-Sprint 5K Page: The Post-Race Party Is Gone, and Spectators Now Need a $39.95 Ticket SeaWorld Orlando

SeaWorld Just Rewrote Its Howl-O-Sprint 5K Page: The Post-Race Party Is Gone, and Spectators Now Need a $39.95 Ticket

SeaWorld Orlando has rebuilt the Howl-O-Sprint 5K page since early July, and its own sitemap dates the latest edit to August 18. The finish-line party with its own bar and live entertainment has been deleted, the race now starts an hour earlier at 7pm, the podium prizes swapped gift cards for a VIP tour and haunt upgrade passes, and the spectator ticket went from an optional $25 to a required $39.95.

August 18, 2026 News
Disney Is Shutting Down the Play Disney Parks App on September 16, and the Star Wars: Datapad Goes With It Disney World

Disney Is Shutting Down the Play Disney Parks App on September 16, and the Star Wars: Datapad Goes With It

The app that turned queue time into game time goes dark on September 16, taking the Star Wars: Datapad, every in-queue game and eight years of digital achievements with it. Disney has not given a reason and has not named a replacement. Disney says Batuu Bounty Hunters survives on a MagicBand+, and DuckTales World Showcase Adventure is left an open question.

August 17, 2026 News
Disney Named Both Piston Peak Rides at Magic Kingdom: Cars Ridge Run Rally and Miss Fritter's Daredevil Spin-Along Disney World

Disney Named Both Piston Peak Rides at Magic Kingdom: Cars Ridge Run Rally and Miss Fritter's Daredevil Spin-Along

At its D23 parks showcase Disney gave official names to both Cars attractions coming to Piston Peak National Park at Magic Kingdom: Cars Ridge Run Rally and Miss Fritter's Daredevil Spin-Along. Imagineering said the rally ride's vehicle is built not to simulate an off-road car but to be one, with tires and suspension that react to the terrain. Neither ride has an opening date.

August 17, 2026 News
Disney Named the Encanto Ride Antonio's Fiesta de Encanto, and Said It Will Have No Height Requirement Disney World

Disney Named the Encanto Ride Antonio's Fiesta de Encanto, and Said It Will Have No Height Requirement

Disney confirmed the official name of the Encanto attraction at Animal Kingdom during its D23 parks showcase: Antonio's Fiesta de Encanto. Imagineering also said the ride will carry guests through Casita on vehicles built from the house's own furniture, will feature more than 50 animals, and will have no height requirement. Disney still has not given the ride an opening date.

August 17, 2026 News
Disney Announced a Spaceship Earth Reimagining at D23 and Did Not Give a Closing Date, Six Years After Shelving the Last One Disney World

Disney Announced a Spaceship Earth Reimagining at D23 and Did Not Give a Closing Date, Six Years After Shelving the Last One

Disney said at its D23 parks showcase that Spaceship Earth will be reimagined around human connection rather than human communication, its first update since February 2008. It did not announce a closing date, a reopening window or any concept art. Disney also announced a Spaceship Earth overhaul in 2019, with a May 2020 closing date, then shelved it.

August 17, 2026 News
Disney Named the Animal Kingdom Indiana Jones Ride Myth of the Jade Serpent, and Harrison Ford Is the Face Model for Its Animatronic Disney World

Disney Named the Animal Kingdom Indiana Jones Ride Myth of the Jade Serpent, and Harrison Ford Is the Face Model for Its Animatronic

Disney used its D23 parks showcase to give the Animal Kingdom Indiana Jones attraction a name, Indiana Jones and the Myth of the Jade Serpent, and to confirm that Harrison Ford is the model for its Audio-Animatronics figure. Disney says it is the first time Ford's face will appear on the character at any of its parks. The ride opens in Tropical Americas in 2027, on the site of DINOSAUR.

August 17, 2026 News
Dreamfinder is returning to EPCOT with Figment, nearly 28 years after his last ride through Journey Into Imagination Disney World

Dreamfinder is returning to EPCOT with Figment, nearly 28 years after his last ride through Journey Into Imagination

Disney closed its D23 showcase with a reveal it had never teased: Dreamfinder is coming back to EPCOT alongside Figment, in a new version of Journey Into Imagination. Neil Patrick Harris walked out in full Dreamfinder costume, and Disney Experiences Chairman Thomas Mazloum made the announcement. There is no attraction name, no concept art and no timeline yet.

August 16, 2026 News
Legoland Florida's Galacticoaster Is Getting 356 Halloween LEGO Elements, Including a Jack-O-Lantern Hood Ornament Legoland Florida

Legoland Florida's Galacticoaster Is Getting 356 Halloween LEGO Elements, Including a Jack-O-Lantern Hood Ornament

Legoland is adding a Halloween overlay to Galacticoaster, the indoor space coaster that opened in February, letting riders bolt spiderwebs, bones and a Jack-O-Lantern onto the spacecraft they design before boarding. Attractions Magazine confirmed with Legoland Florida that the overlay is coming to Winter Haven too. The dates in circulation are Legoland California's, and Florida has not published its own.

August 16, 2026 News
Disney Names It Villains Land and Details Both Magic Kingdom Rides: A Maleficent Dragon Coaster and a Magic Mirror Boat Ride Disney World

Disney Names It Villains Land and Details Both Magic Kingdom Rides: A Maleficent Dragon Coaster and a Magic Mirror Boat Ride

Walt Disney Imagineering used the D23 Disney Experiences showcase to confirm the name Villains Land, tell the story of a cursed Wishing Well that poisoned the forest, and describe both headline attractions in real detail. The coaster trains look like black dragons. The dark ride is an ornate boat into the Magic Mirror's realm. Disney compared the land's size to Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge.

August 16, 2026 News
Four Tom Sawyer Island Tributes Are Hidden in the Piston Peak Model, and Imagineering Wants to Rebuild the Barrel Bridge From Pieces of the Original Disney World

Four Tom Sawyer Island Tributes Are Hidden in the Piston Peak Model, and Imagineering Wants to Rebuild the Barrel Bridge From Pieces of the Original

Walt Disney Imagineering put its 19-by-19-foot Piston Peak National Park model on the D23 show floor, and WDW News Today found four tributes to Tom Sawyer Island and the Rivers of America built into it: Fort Langhorn, the Mike Fink Keel Boat dock, Harper's Mill with a giant tire for a water wheel, and the barrel bridge. Imagineers say they intend to reuse parts of the real bridge, if the law allows it.

August 16, 2026 News
Sharks Underwater Grill is doing a $60 three-course Magical Dining menu, and SeaWorld is waiving park admission and parking to get you there SeaWorld Orlando

Sharks Underwater Grill is doing a $60 three-course Magical Dining menu, and SeaWorld is waiving park admission and parking to get you there

SeaWorld Orlando's shark-tank restaurant is running Visit Orlando's Magical Dining from August 14 through September 30. Three courses for $60, $2 of every meal goes to local nonprofits, and no park ticket or parking fee required. One asterisk is worth reading before you book a dinner on a Howl-O-Scream night in September.

August 16, 2026 News
Hotel Transylvania Is Joining SeaWorld Orlando's Halloween Spooktacular, and Breakfast With Drac and Mavis Is $35.99 for Adults SeaWorld Orlando

Hotel Transylvania Is Joining SeaWorld Orlando's Halloween Spooktacular, and Breakfast With Drac and Mavis Is $35.99 for Adults

SeaWorld Orlando is putting Sony Pictures Animation's Hotel Transylvania into its daytime Halloween event for the first time. Drac and Mavis have taken over SeaFire Inn as the Monster Dread & Breakfast, a separately ticketed buffet seating at 9 a.m. on event days, and for a limited time every child reservation comes with a souvenir cup.

August 16, 2026 News