Soarin' Across America
Start Date
May 26, 2026 (est.)
End Date
December 31, 2026 (est.)
Day by day
The festival runs every day for 220 days. Highlighted dates are festival days.
Start Date
May 26, 2026 (est.)
End Date
December 31, 2026 (est.)
The festival runs every day for 220 days. Highlighted dates are festival days.
The Aerosmith-to-Muppets retheme officially opens to the public today, Tuesday May 26, 2026, and the opening-day demand was exactly as ridiculous as Disney probably hoped: posted standby hit 110 minutes before 8:30 a.m., the queue spilled out behind the Disney Villains: Unfairly Ever After construction gate next to Tower of Terror, Lightning Lane sold out, and the Electric Mayhem opened the morning with a courtyard concert featuring John Stamos on bongos. Three other major attractions also opened today (Soarin' Across America, Bluey's Wild World, FØØD by Swedish Chef), but the Muppets coaster is the story.
Disney Experiences chairman Thomas Mazloum named Joe Schott as the next President of Walt Disney World Resort this morning, with Natacha Rafalski moving to lead Disney Signature Experiences and Christophe Murphy taking over Disneyland Paris. Schott, a 40-plus-year Disney veteran who started as a Magic Kingdom Jungle Cruise skipper, returns to Florida after presidencies at Shanghai Disney Resort and Disney Signature Experiences. He succeeds Jeff Vahle by the end of July.
Soarin' Around the World takes its final flight at EPCOT tonight, closing after today's 9 p.m. operating hours. The ride goes dark May 14-25 for the changeover to Soarin' Across America, the bi-coastal United States 250th-anniversary version of the attraction. Annual Passholder previews land Tuesday May 19 and Wednesday May 20 via standby queue only. Public opens Tuesday, May 26.
Magic Kingdom's "Let the Magic Begin" Cinderella Castle Forecourt show appears to be permanently retired. The webpage and showtimes have been quietly removed from disneyworld.disney.go.com, the audio-only fanfare that started as a January 28 castle-repaint workaround is staying, and Mickey's Magical Friendship Faire returns to its full morning lineup Sunday May 10. The 2017-vintage stage show with Mickey and friends on the Castle Forecourt Stage was the park's opening ritual for nine years.
Disney reported Q2 FY26 earnings this morning, the first as CEO for Josh D'Amaro. The Experiences segment (parks and cruises) posted a fiscal Q2 record at $9.49 billion in revenue and $2.62 billion in operating income, total revenue hit $25.17 billion (up 7 percent), and Disney shares jumped on the report. Per TheWrap, 2026 capital expenditure is concentrated on the new cruise ship plus expansions at Walt Disney World, Disneyland, and Shanghai Disney Resort.
Disney drops a brand-new Mandalorian & Grogu mission for Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run on May 22, Fantasmic! shifts its standard showtime to 9:00 PM starting April 24, the Mickey & Minnie short Vacation Fun closes for a multi-month refurbishment, Soarin' Across America locks in a May 26 debut, and Bluey's Wild World is on the Animal Kingdom calendar for late May.