Disney World Walt Disney World is 55 years old today. President Joe Schott marked it with a message in the Disney World app and brief remarks on the Cinderella Castle stage with Mickey and friends, while Magic Kingdom cast members hand out five free anniversary stickers. Here is what Disney has done for the milestone so far.
SeaWorld Orlando United Parks & Resorts has asked a court to halt the plan to turn the Sea Harbor Office Center, the glass office tower across from SeaWorld Orlando, into apartments, the Orlando Business Journal reports. The company alleges the project would affect operations, traffic and security at its Orlando properties. The project has been dubbed SeaWorld Vacation Village, but SeaWorld is not the developer.
Disney World Walt Disney World is mailing a new special edition Mickey Mouse magnet to Annual Passholders who renew, starting with September 2026 pass anniversaries. Mickey wears turn-of-the-century Main Street, U.S.A. attire, the magnet should arrive within six weeks of your anniversary date, and households are limited to two magnets for passes that share an anniversary date.
SeaWorld Orlando Miracles, the nighttime holiday orca show longtime SeaWorld fans remember, is coming back for Christmas Celebration 2026. SeaWorld Orlando announced it with its 2027 annual pass and promises Pass Members an exclusive presentation time. Dates and showtimes are not out yet.
Disney World Reservations for The Diamond Horseshoe pop-up at Magic Kingdom opened at 8 p.m. on September 29 behind a virtual queue, and opening day on October 4 was gone the same night. Disney has now priced the whole menu, with six small plates from $12 to $22 and cocktails from $17 to $19, and added a non-alcoholic beer.
Disney World Walt Disney World is reshaping Disney Dreamers Academy as it nears 20 years. A Boys & Girls Clubs pilot for 200 middle schoolers from Orlando, Miami, Atlanta and Houston replaces the national class of 100 high schoolers, with the first class to be announced in October and programming starting in January 2027.
Legoland Florida The LEGOLAND Florida hotel package with kids tickets from $39 a day was set to stop selling on September 28 and could not cover a single night of Christmas Bricktacular. It has been rebuilt as a two-season offer: book by November 1, 2026, stay through January 9, 2027, from $162 per person per night, with a Florida and Georgia resident version from $152.
Universal Orlando Universal Orlando is releasing one limited-release Halloween Horror Nights 35 magnet a week at $14 each. Five are out, Hellraiser arrives Wednesday, September 30, and Ozzy Osbourne, Art the Clown and Sinners follow in October. Collecting all nine costs $126 before tax, and you don't need an HHN ticket to buy them, just Universal Studios Florida admission.
Disney World Tuesday, November 24 is the first Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party night of 2026 to sell out, at $204 per ticket. Opening night on November 8 still has tickets, a break from 2024 and 2025, and this year's first sellout came weeks later than either of those seasons.
SeaWorld Orlando SeaWorld Orlando's October Pass Member perks include a free Dolphin Encounter for the earliest Pass Members to register at Dolphin Cove each Monday to Thursday, a free Quick Queue for October 1 to 5, and a second shot at the $39.99 Howl-O-Scream Any Night Ticket through October 4.
Disney World Guests posing at the Haunted Mansion fence came away as carved stone busts in front of a blue-lit Mansion. Disney has not said how the images are made, and fans are split between asking how to get one and seeing it as another step toward AI in the parks.
Disney World A guest says cast members cleared the Magic Kingdom coaster's queue Sunday afternoon, and another says a cast member called it a fire. Disney has not confirmed it. On Monday Big Thunder went down again, a few hours after Tiana's Bayou Adventure closed and had most of its water drained.
Disney World A Disney patent application published September 24 describes microphones in fur-covered wind filters aimed at ride parts like track switches, one AI model that strips out guest voices (screams included) and a second that flags equipment sounding off its normal pattern, so maintenance crews can get an alert.
Legoland Florida LEGOLAND Florida's free-admission offer for U.S. military, veterans, law enforcement, EMS, EMTs and firefighters is back for visits October 1 through November 30, 2026, with up to six friends or family saving 50% and a separate weekday hotel discount for military members on stays through December 24.
SeaWorld Orlando The Signature Dolphin Swim Package now starts at $180, down from $198.80 when the discount was 30%. The crossed-out price it is measured against rose from $284 to $300, so a bigger percentage bought a smaller drop than the jump from 30% to 40% suggests.
Disney World Every night of last year's Festival of the Holidays ran to 9:30pm. This year EPCOT's calendar shows a 9pm close, Luminous: The Symphony of Us moves to 9:15pm, and for most guests the last ride or shop stop has to happen before the fireworks.
Disney World Disney says Bakso, the Sumatran tiger born at Animal Kingdom in September 2024, will move to another accredited zoo later this fall on a Species Survival Plan recommendation. Disney has not named the zoo or a last day, so fans who want to see him should go soon.
Disney World Bakari, the 400-pound silverback who arrived this summer to lead Animal Kingdom's gorilla troop, has spent weeks separated from three females by nothing more than a mesh barrier. Disney says the final barrier comes down in a matter of weeks, and he has already passed one last checkup under anesthesia.
Disney World Disney's Animal Kingdom has changed its rope drop again, WDW News Today reported on Sunday, September 27. Guests are no longer held on Discovery Island and can walk into most lands before opening, but only Early Entry resort guests can get into attraction lines, and Pandora is off limits to everyone else until the park officially opens.
Legoland Florida Luggage storage company Stasher put Legoland Florida at No. 7 in its top 10 of America's most overrated attractions. The catch: its 3.9 out of 5 Tripadvisor rating is the highest of all ten, and its popularity measure counts hashtags and Wikipedia views, not attendance or regret.
Disney World Alien Swirling Saucers: Lilypad's Jams debuted at Disney's Hollywood Studios on Friday, September 25, and the full 10-song setlist includes an instrumental version of Taylor Swift's "I Knew It, I Knew You," which Disney's announcement never mentioned. Only two songs from the old soundtrack made the cut.
SeaWorld Orlando SeaWorld Orlando is taking bookings for Dinner with Santa at Christmas Celebration. The adult price matches last December's $44 regular price, while the child price is up $5.99, about 43 percent. The menu has been reworked too, with pineapple-glazed ham and a Gruyere potato dish, and a milk and cookie station in place of last year's gingerbread cookies and pumpkin loaf.
Disney World Disney World Annual Passholders trying to book a park for Saturday, September 26 found three of the four parks full by late morning. Only Animal Kingdom still had passholder reservations for most pass types. It happened in a month when Disney made 11 days reservation-free for passholders, and every one of them falls on a weekday. No Saturday has been one all year.
Universal Orlando The Universal Orlando store in Terminal B at Orlando International Airport is temporarily closed for renovation, and the construction wall put up there shows shirts with warped faces, plush, and a hoodie with lettering nobody can read. WDW News Today calls the images AI-generated. We have not seen a comment from Universal, and WDWNT says two other Universal airport stores are open.
SeaWorld Orlando The character breakfast with Drac and Mavis launched at $35.99 for adults. SeaWorld Orlando's booking page now lists $39.99, with the child price unchanged at $20.99 and the free souvenir cup for kids still included. That adds $8 to a breakfast for two adults and two kids, before tax and gratuity.
Disney World Disney refreshed its preview center inside Walt Disney Presents at Hollywood Studios with never-before-seen concept art of the Glob Theater lobby, new maquettes of three "monsterfied" critters for Monstropolis, and the reimagined Carousel of Progress costumes and dioramas in the spot where the Piston Peak display used to be.
Universal Orlando The gift shop that outlived Poseidon's Fury is gone too. Treasures of Poseidon, which sat at the attraction's exit, has been torn down in The Lost Continent at Universal Islands of Adventure, within three weeks of construction walls going up around it. Universal still has not said what replaces the land.
Disney World Disney posted the first interior photos of Hurly-Burly on Friday: a proscenium stage with red curtains, a starry ceiling and powder blue tub chairs. It opens Thursday, October 1, from 4pm to 1am daily, with cocktails from $17 to $21. Disney Files is also teasing a new quick-service spot for the BoardWalk.
Universal Orlando Attractions Magazine reports the new CityWalk Five Guys is taking online orders, and the price list is out: $11.39 for a hamburger, $13.99 for a bacon cheeseburger, $7.29 for regular fries and $7.99 for a milkshake. Its own location page lists 7:30 a.m. to 1 a.m. and breakfast service.
Disney World The Walt Disney World script goes on the rear bumper of every UCF helmet for the 2026 season. It debuts Saturday, September 26, in the Knights' Big 12 opener against TCU at Acrisure Bounce House, and the release photos show the helmets in front of Cinderella Castle.
