Disney World Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress has been closed since July 5, and until this weekend the reimagining had been shown mainly in concept art. At D23 this weekend Imagineering has the physical pieces on display: two costumes, two maquettes, Rover the family dog, and a new Tomorrowland poster.
SeaWorld Orlando 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.
Universal Orlando Matt Selman said at D23 that work is about to start on bringing Treehouse of Horror to Universal, likely food first and an experience later. He also said he could not announce it, Universal has announced nothing, and nobody on stage said which resort.
Disney World Walt Disney Imagineering gave D23 the first full-scale look at Magic Kingdom's Cars land ride vehicle: a foam model of the off-road rally race vehicle, with published dimensions and a note that this is the last step before production. Imagineering's D23 presentation also revealed the Goat-Carts, Ranger J. Autobahn Woodlore, and an overhead look at the layout for Miss Fritter's attraction.
Disney World The steakhouse and Italian restaurant at Four Seasons Resort Orlando, plus the Goofy character breakfast at Ravello, are bookable in Disney's own reservation system as of Thursday. WDWMagic reports that until now you could only book them through Four Seasons or OpenTable. The dining plans still do not apply, and you are still arranging your own ride.
SeaWorld Orlando The Dark Net turned up on SeaWorld Orlando's Howl-O-Scream page with no separate announcement or coverage anywhere else we can find, completing the four all-new houses the park's event page promised. The neon Byte Bar arrived the same way, staffed by cyborg vampires. The returning fifth house is still unnamed.
Universal Orlando Universal Nights went on sale Thursday for two October Saturdays, with three hours of park time after close, starting at $179.99 plus tax. The event page fills in what July's announcement left blank: berry-flavored Celestial Popcorn, crispy Kimchi Bao and refills from any Coca-Cola Freestyle location, plus a passholder discount that stops at six tickets per pass.
Disney World Walt Disney Imagineering is bringing the Society of Explorers and Adventurers to D23 on Friday, along with a crate Disney says has stayed shut for at least a hundred years. Disney published the group's global headquarters map at the same time, and the Florida pin is marked with an airship dock, a nautilus dock, a rocket launch bay and a time train station.
Universal Orlando Universal told passholders on Instagram that UOAPs get priority seating at Epic Universe's dragon show throughout Passholder Appreciation Days, which run August 15 to September 30. Show up 15 minutes early, bring separate Epic Universe admission, and know that the show goes down for refurbishment for six days in September.
Disney World A Walt Disney Imagineering patent application published Thursday describes making guests feel a ride vehicle rise or fall while the track stays perfectly level. The whole trick is set design: scenery built on a slant so it aims at a second, false vanishing point. Blog Mickey thinks it could fit the Encanto attraction under construction at Disney's Animal Kingdom, though it calls that link speculative.
SeaWorld Orlando The Ultimate Challenge runs Sunday, August 16 for National Roller Coaster Day. Ride all eight coasters, collect a punch for each, and a poster and lanyard go to the first 1,000 participants. A 2026 shirt goes on sale that day while supplies last, and the pass member Mako lanyard is a separate item entirely.
Universal Orlando Universal detailed its Halloween Horror Nights 35 hotel takeovers Wednesday. Frankenstein and the Invisible Man turn up in the decor of a mid century modern tiki hideaway at Royal Pacific, Stella Nova and Terra Luna join the lineup as new, and The Keyholder Bar opens to the left of the Music Plaza Stage inside Universal Studios Florida.
Disney World Behind the Castle Walls: My Thirty Years at the Happiest Place on Earth runs 272 pages from Gallery Books, co-written with Don Yaeger. Cinderella Castle is on the jacket, and the publisher's description promises the pandemic shutdown, the shifting political landscape and his ousting.
Universal Orlando A patent granted Tuesday to Universal City Studios describes a seat pan holding fluid that changes thickness under an electric or magnetic field. It goes soft to mold around each rider at load, then firms up to hold that shape when the forces come.
Disney World A service mark application filed Tuesday uses a possessive version of the Bay Lake resort's name, and every mention in the body copy on the Disney Parks Blog had already been changed to match before it was filed. The old name is still sitting in the page's own meta description and in the filenames of Disney's concept art.
SeaWorld Orlando The new card covers unlimited visits through December 31, 2027, and it undercuts last year's version by four dollars. SeaWorld says it pays for itself in two visits, which is true against the full gate price and not against the discount the park is running today.
Disney World Two Walt Disney World Resort job listings place a Disney Character Warehouse at Tampa Premium Outlets. WDWMagic reports it would be the third location, with the other two both operating in Orlando. Disney has not announced an opening date or where inside the mall the store will go.
Universal Orlando Universal's blog published a behind the scenes walkthrough of one of its Halloween Horror Nights 35 houses on Wednesday, with a senior show director and a scenic designer on the record, interior photos, and a pro tip that the Tilted Hallway area has a second, steadier route.
Universal Orlando A Behind-the-Screams post from Universal walks through Jack & Oddfellow: Chaos & Control and ends with a pro tip: the final room has two hallways, and the left one is a steadier, more accessible route with the same scareactors. Universal also described the house narration, a popcorn scent effect and heavy use of video.
Universal Orlando Fast & Furious: Supercharged closes for good on Monday, August 17, which makes Sunday, August 16 the final day to ride it. Inside Universal reports Universal has confirmed the attraction will be open during Passholder Nights on August 15 and 16, so the very last riders are lined up to be annual passholders at a free, reservation only party that is already at capacity.
Disney World Blog Mickey published photos of curved steel ribs inside the Monstropolis show building on Tuesday, with multiple pairs of them appearing to be installed, forming the M shaped load and unload station for the Door Vault coaster. The silhouette matches the concept model Imagineering showed at D23 in 2024, and those arches exist to carry what Disney says will be the first vertical lift system at a Disney park.
Legoland Florida The 2026 calendar for Holidays at LEGOLAND is now posted on the official site, and it runs 26 select dates from November 21 all the way to January 3. Last season the same event ran 11 dates, every one of them in December, and the two seasons before that opened the day after Thanksgiving. We can find no press release about any of it.
SeaWorld Orlando 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.
Disney World 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.
Disney World Disney Springs turned on its fall and Halloween season on August 11 and runs it through November 9, a 91 day window that is nine days longer than 2025. The lineup adds a roller skating act called the Harvest Skaters, and Disney has not published a single performance time or location.
Disney World 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.
Disney World Horizons: A Carousel of Progress is the main parks event of D23 weekend, and in 2024 D23 pointed the public to just a segment of it, inside Fortnite. Disney will now stream it live on Disney+ at 7 p.m. PT on Saturday, August 15, with nine Imagineers on stage and four of them carrying Walt Disney World in their titles.
Universal Orlando 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.
Universal Orlando 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.
Disney World 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.
