Disney put out a bunch of announcements today, mostly as a road map to what’s coming in 2026. Pretty much everything here was previously announced, but this helps break down when things should be happening, as dates or at least timeframes were firmed up. We’ll go down the list and talk about most of these and see what else we can glean from this snapshot of 2026.
In “early 2026”, Disney officially confirmed the dates for
the International Festival of the Arts at Epcot. Probably Disney’s least known and appreciate
festival runs from January 16 through February 23. It’s no surprise that this Festival is
returning, and the timeframe is pretty much exactly the same as it was in 2025
(which ran 1/17-2/24). This covers the
post-holiday period and runs just past Presidents Week.
Also in early 2026, the updated Animatronics in Frozen Ever
After at Epcot will also debut. We talked about this earlier, but the changeover shouldn’t take very long and can probably be
worked on behind the scenes before having to go live. There is no word on how long Frozen will have
to close, but it can’t be very long; this announcement comes in December and
the new Animatronics are to debut in February.
I would expect a slight closure to get everything ready but nothing to
really be concerned about. Edit: Disney updated their website to confirm that Frozen will close on January 26. That puts the closure at somewhere between a couple of weeks and a month. I would be on the earlier side.
Next up are the announcements for spring 2026. As with most Disney seasons, spring is sort
of a moving target here. Epcot’s
International Flower and Garden Festival will return from March 4 through June
1. That should give you an idea of what
Disney considers “spring” (which doesn’t necessarily follow the lunar
calendar). Again, this follows the exact
pattern from 2025, where the festival ran from 3/5-6/2.
There is now a more narrow timeframe for the return of Big
Thunder Mountain Railroad, which has been down since January 6, 2025. It is now slated to return in spring, but no
further dates were revealed. We’ve talked
about this project before and this update doesn’t provide any new details on what EXACTLY will be
different about this ride all these months later. My guess would be before spring break really
kicks into gear in Florida, so mid-March at the latest.
Similarly, Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin at Magic
Kingdom will reopen in the spring. This
has been down since August 2025. New handheld blasters are among the biggest changes here, which should make the ride
more sleek and modern. I expect this to
open around the same time as Big Thunder; once again, Disney will want as many
things as possible open by spring break and this seems to fit the bill.
Next come the “summer” announcements, starting with the
debut of Soarin’ Across America. As I noted in that original post, I expected
Soarin’ to debut around Memorial Day to fit the idea of Disney summer and
that’s exactly what today’s announcement states. Hey, even a blind squirrel finds a nut every
once in a while! This is particularly
interesting, because just yesterday Disneyland announced that their new version
of Soarin’ will debut on July 2, meaning Florida gets this new version a month
plus ahead of California. As I also said
in that post, there should be little to no downtime for Soarin’, as it should
be a simple matter of changing out the film; all of the framework will remain
the same.
I’m not sure if it was specifically noted before, but
Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run will debut a “new mission” with the
Mandalorian and Grogu. This will debut
on May 22, 2026, which (not so) coincidentally is the same date as the new
movie, The Mandalorian and Grogu, hits theaters. Symmetry!
I’m still not sure how much downtime, if any, Millennium Falcon will
need. The film should be able to be changed out easily, but I don’t know if
they’re changing anything in the queue or preshow. Will we still be trying to retrieve coaxium
for Hondo Ohnaka, just with Din Djarin and Grogu along for the ride?? Unclear.
Disney also reiterated that Rock N Roller Coaster Starring
the Muppets will debut in summer 2026.
This timeframe was already noted and no additional dates were specified.
But the queue for the current version of the ride is already undergoing
changes, as the pre-show recently closed, and that’s where the majority of the
work will be done. No word on when the
ride itself will close for this new update.
Probably the biggest “new” news update today concerns the
reimagining of Animation Courtyard at Hollywood Studios into the Walt Disney
Studios Lot. This was previously
announced, but there are a lot of concrete notes about what is changing, including
six character meet and greets and a large Sorcerer Mickey hat to adorn the Roy
E. Disney Animation Building. Later in
the summer, Disney Jr. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Live debuts. This is a show that
already exists in California and as should be apparent from the name, will
cater to a younger demographic. Either
way, it’s nice to see this formerly “dead” area of Hollywood Studios actually
become useful again.
This list goes on to include fall and winter but there’s
really nothing new under the sun here – Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party
and Epcot’s Food and Wine Festival will return in the fall, though these are no
brainers and no dates have been announced yet.
Similarly, Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, Jollywood Nights and
Festival of the Holidays all return in the winter.
Obviously this list is not comprehensive, as Disney will
surely announce some more things as the year goes on. But this gives us a
pretty good idea of what they have planned in the near future, which is always
helpful to trip planning. Hopefully we
get some more concrete dates on some of these things soon but no closure
appears to be major, and the biggest one (Big Thunder) is nearly complete now.
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