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Parks Magic: Orlando Theme Park News & Guides

Breaking news, reviews, and insider guides for Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando, SeaWorld Orlando, and Legoland Florida.

News

Walt Disney World Weekly News: Mando Joins Smugglers Run, Fantasmic Moves to 9 PM, and Vacation Fun Goes Down (Week of April 20, 2026) Disney World

Walt Disney World Weekly News: Mando Joins Smugglers Run, Fantasmic Moves to 9 PM, and Vacation Fun Goes Down (Week of April 20, 2026)

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.

April 24, 2026 News
Disney Drops Real Specs on Lakeshore Lodge's Bay Lake Rebirth Disney World

Disney Drops Real Specs on Lakeshore Lodge's Bay Lake Rebirth

The project formerly known as Reflections, buried by the pandemic in 2020, quietly resurrected as Lakeshore Lodge in late 2024, just got its first real specs. Disney Vacation Club now has it at 967 rooms, summer 2027, with waterfront Lake Houses, a Bambi-to-Brother-Bear theming pitch, and a front-row seat to Magic Kingdom's fireworks.

April 21, 2026 News
Both of Hollywood Studios' Central Energy Plants Are Being Rebuilt at Once, And That's Almost Never a Coincidence Disney World

Both of Hollywood Studios' Central Energy Plants Are Being Rebuilt at Once, And That's Almost Never a Coincidence

A quiet CFTOD board vote on February 27 approved a $6.57M contract to replace the electrical guts of the Studios North Central Energy Plant at Disney's Hollywood Studios. Paired with the already-reported Studios South expansion, that's both of the park's central plants getting rebuilt simultaneously — a backstage tell that almost always precedes something big.

April 20, 2026 News
Cast Members Are Already Riding: Big Thunder Mountain Railroad Returns May 3 With Rainbow Caverns, a Lower Height Bar, and a Fresh Coat of Thunder Disney World

Cast Members Are Already Riding: Big Thunder Mountain Railroad Returns May 3 With Rainbow Caverns, a Lower Height Bar, and a Fresh Coat of Thunder

The "Wildest Ride in the Wilderness" gallops back to Magic Kingdom on May 3 after a 16-month overhaul — new track, refreshed trains, a brand-new Rainbow Caverns scene, and a 38-inch height requirement that opens the coaster to a whole new crop of little buckaroos. And as of yesterday, cast members are already climbing aboard.

April 17, 2026 News