Michael Travels is a seasoned Orlando theme parks expert with over three decades of hands-on experience exploring, photographing, and analyzing Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando, SeaWorld, and the surrounding attractions. Through his concise, entertaining updates and bite-sized news posts, he keeps busy park enthusiasts informed on the latest developments, openings, closures, rumors, and hidden gems, delivering the essential info without the time commitment of long-form articles.
Legoland Florida LEGOLAND Florida Resort's closures page lists Kid Power Towers down September 8 through October 4, which knocks it out of five Brick or Treat nights if the second date is the last closed day. The Great LEGO Race, down 9/8 to 10/2, misses three.
SeaWorld Orlando SeaWorld's Howl-O-Scream attractions page now lists a fourth live show, Dead Air, an undead 90s boy band at the Nautilus Theater. No press release announced it, and the outlets tracking the event still have not listed it. SeaWorld's July framework promised two live shows.
Universal Orlando The San Francisco Candy Factory has become the Carey Candy Company for Halloween Horror Nights 35, trading its Jaws decorations for props referencing more than a dozen past houses, scare zones and characters, plus a $25 set of Icons chocolate bars and a Stranger Things pie.
Disney World D23 has announced a ticketed October 4 panel at Disney's Contemporary Resort where Walt Disney Archives staff and the Imagineers working on Carousel of Progress will share a bit of what is coming to the attraction. Tickets are $59 and $159 and go on sale Friday, August 28 at 10 a.m. Pacific.
Universal Orlando Universal published a room by room walkthrough of the Sinners haunted house one day before Halloween Horror Nights 35 opens. Show director Ramon Paradoa says the team locked the surreal montage set first and designed the scenes before and after it around that, which he says is not always how Universal builds a house. The Sinners house was not on the paid lights on tour that matched three other HHN 35 houses to their codenames last week.
Disney World Disney has finally put a day on the calendar for Lakeshore Lodge. The Bay Lake resort opens July 1, 2027, and Disney marked the news with the first renderings of the guest rooms: duo studios inspired by Encanto, deluxe studios and villas drawn from Bambi, three-bedroom grand villas built around Fantasia, and resort studios rooted in Pocahontas. Booking opens in three waves, starting October 6 for Disney Vacation Club members.
Universal Orlando Universal Orlando finally said what is in the Halloween Horror Nights 35 menu, one day before the event opens. The Pleasure & Pain Brain is a custard dessert, the Ozzy Osbourne cake is carrot, and the Rigatoni Ritual Pie is at Louie's Italian Restaurant. Passholders get Cannoli Chips at Guido's Gelato and an Alien! Drink at the Dead Coconut Club. Still no prices anywhere.
Legoland Florida The VIP Monster Skytacular Seating Package is live on Legoland Florida's own store at $40 per person, $42.80 with tax, for the five October Saturdays Legoland lists for the show. It buys a reserved seat in Pirate Cove Stadium, a lanyard, a Pop Badge and a bottle of water, but not a way into the park. Check in starts at 7:15 p.m. for an 8 p.m. show, and passholders get a discount Legoland is not publishing.
Disney World Disney Resort hotel guests can book Very Merry party dining from September 3, up to 60 days ahead of arrival and covering stays of up to 10 nights. Everyone else waits until September 9. Four Magic Kingdom restaurants are taking party night reservations, including the Adventureland tavern that opened in 2025, and Minnie's Wonderful Christmastime Fireworks Dessert Party returns in two tiers that differ on price and on where you actually watch the show.
Universal Orlando New Bioreconstruct aerials published by Orlando ParkStop show the expansion plot behind Monsters Unchained being dug out and flattened, with trailers, containers and a water truck arriving in roughly the past two weeks. The berm that screened the land from Kirkman Road is being removed, and workers photographed on the ground appear to wear the logo of Whiting-Turner, the general contractor named on the permits. Universal still has not announced what is going there.
SeaWorld Orlando Two hours of slide time after the park closes, guest tickets at $25, buy one get one meals and drinks, and a collectible dolphin pin. Aquatica has scheduled its Annual Pass Member Friends and Family Night for the same night Howl-O-Scream opens at SeaWorld Orlando, just across International Drive.
Legoland Florida The park's Brick or Treat schedule page was updated Wednesday with show names, locations and times. Three of the five shows carry the same location line, Inside IZone, and the park has listed the Imagination Zone as closed from August 17 through September 4. Brick or Treat starts September 5. Hotel guests also get the new street to themselves for an hour on opening day.
Disney World Fans spent months wondering whether the small structure beside the Haunted Mansion was a bar or lounge. The Piston Peak National Park model at D23 Expo 2026 settles it, and it kills the theory that Villains Land would link straight into the mansion.
SeaWorld Orlando The old Shark Swim page now redirects to Shark Snorkel, and Discovery Cove stamped the change on Tuesday. The shark programs are sold in two tiers, a snorkel from $79 capped at 24 spots a day and a feeding and training session from $169 capped at 16. The retired name is still sitting in the fine print on both pages.
Universal Orlando The 2026 Deathly Afraid necklace is on shelves at Universal Studios Florida two days before Halloween Horror Nights 35 opens. It glows red as a signal that you would rather not be scared out in the open, in scare zones and other common areas. It does not guarantee a scare free night, and it is not to be switched on inside a haunted house.
Disney World The Express monorail is playing an updated onboard track, and the courtesy announcement now asks guests not to vape. Tom Kane had voiced the monorail since April 2012, and he died in May. It is not clear how the new recording was made.
Legoland Florida Sunday August 30 is the last day the Legoland Florida Water Park operates daily this year. From Monday it drops to weekends plus two holiday long weekends, 10 days in September and 11 in October, then one last day on November 1 before it closes for the season. Its own landing page still says it is open daily for the summer.
SeaWorld Orlando SeaWorld Orlando swapped in a new Halloween Spooktacular park map on Monday morning. Its legend has seven items, and two of those names, Peek-a-Boo! Maze and Monster Movez, do not appear on any SeaWorld page or in the August 14 event announcement. Spooktacular opens Saturday.
Universal Orlando The Halloween Horror Nights 35 Tribute Store is open, and among the props on its shelves is a handwritten card reading Skulls excavated from former Atlantian exhibit. Universal finished flattening Poseidon's Fury earlier this month. A banner inside pictures the Enchanted Oak Tavern, gone since 2008.
Disney World Walt Disney Imagineering revealed the entrance to The Magic of Disney Animation on Tuesday, and the character leaning over the top of the banner is the Lost Boy Robin Williams played in 1989. Imagineering calls him the character who adds the magic to the space. The attraction opens September 14.
