The landscape of Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom changed forever one year ago. In the summer of 2025, Disney operations made the historic and highly controversial decision to permanently drain the Rivers of America and shutter Tom Sawyer Island. The move sent shockwaves through the theme park traditionalist community, signaling the end of a sprawling, peaceful 1971 oasis to clear ...

A Disney cruise is a specific kind of vacation that does not appeal to everyone but deeply appeals to the people it appeals to. The ships are floating theme parks with character dining, Broadway-caliber stage shows, pools with waterslides, and a level of immersive storytelling that Disney does not phone in anywhere it puts its name. The Disney Wonder in ...

The Fourth of July at Walt Disney World has always carried a particular weight that other holidays do not quite match. The parks lean into it fully. Main Street, U.S.A. gets draped in red, white, and blue. The Dapper Dans add patriotic numbers to their rotation. The Electrical Water Pageant drifts across the Seven Seas Lagoon as dusk falls, and ...

For thousands of families packed into Walt Disney World Resort, a typical afternoon quickly turned into an operational standstill. A severe summer thunderstorm system swept through Central Florida, slamming the property with torrential downpours, high winds, and a relentless barrage of cloud-to-ground lightning. Credit: Disney Tips The tempest forced the simultaneous closure of dozens of attractions across the property, turning ...

When a highly anticipated, multi-million-dollar animatronic breaks down during a peak holiday weekend at Disneyland, it usually spells disaster for park operations. But inside New Orleans Square, a sudden technical failure has done the unthinkable: it made the fans ecstatic. Credit: Disney On Saturday, July 4, 2026—just eight days after its highly publicized global premiere—the groundbreaking new transforming pirate animatronic ...

Today, Sunday, July 5, 2026, marks a deeply emotional milestone for Disney traditionalists. Tonight, the heavy theater doors of Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress will lock for the final time in its current format. Starting tomorrow, July 6, the legendary rotating theater in Tomorrowland will become a major construction zone, undergoing a complete creative and structural overhaul that will keep ...

There is a specific type of vacation disappointment that often goes unnoticed, one that transcends the typical issues of ride closures or unexpected rainy days. Imagine this scenario: you’ve eagerly anticipated your stay at a Disney World resort for months, your excitement building as you prepare for a magical getaway. However, upon checking into your hotel, you awaken to the ...

Character dining at Walt Disney World has always been built on a straightforward yet valuable exchange: families pay a premium price, which often exceeds that of a standard table-service meal, and in return, they receive the delightful experience of having beloved Disney characters come to them. This arrangement eliminates the need for families to stand in long lines, navigate crowded ...

Celebrating the Fourth of July holiday weekend at the original Disneyland Resort is an annual tradition for thousands of families. However, guests hoping to execute a classic, comfortable viewing hack for this year’s patriotic nighttime spectacular are finding themselves completely boxed out by a new physical barrier. Credit: Disney On the afternoon of Friday, July 3, 2026, Disneyland park operations ...

A bittersweet and technically turbulent countdown is officially wrapping up inside Tomorrowland at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom. The final operational hours of the current iteration of Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress are ticking away. On Monday, July 6, 2026, the legendary rotating theater will close its doors for a massive, ground-up structural and creative reimagining, keeping the venue dark ...