Piston Peak Gets Real, Ratatouille Gets Fixed, Percy Gets Darker

The Parks

Start with the trash cans, because somehow that’s the story now. What began in June as a quiet rollout of solar-powered bins has turned into a full-blown Imagineering campaign to theme every receptacle in Walt Disney World to its surroundings. Neon green in World Nature. Orange and gray in Pandora. Starfish logos in The Seas. The project has now reached Mission: SPACE, which means even the garbage at Epcot is getting a continuity pass. Call it obsessive. Call it exactly the kind of detail that separates Disney from a regional amusement park.

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Meanwhile Frontierland’s future got a lot more tangible. At D23 Expo, Walt Disney Imagineering unveiled the full model for Piston Peak National Park, the Cars-themed land headed for Magic Kingdom in the coming years. This project spent months absorbing online skepticism, but the physical model appears to have flipped sentiment. Seeing Piston Peak rendered in miniature, rather than described in a press release, tends to do that.

Over at Epcot, Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure has picked up new set dressing in two show scenes, specifically to hide screen seams that had been bugging attentive riders since the attraction opened. It’s a small fix, but small fixes are how Disney quietly answers years of guest complaints without ever admitting there was a problem. Less quiet is the closure of Coral Reef Restaurant in The Seas Pavilion, now shut for refurbishment. Love it or hate it, and plenty of guests do both, the aquarium-adjacent dining room is off the table for now.

Hollywood Studios continues rolling out The Magic of Disney Animation inside the new Walt Disney Studios Lot, the land that replaced Animation Courtyard. The land itself has landed well with guests. The flagship attraction is still the thing everyone’s actually waiting on.

The Shows

Percy Jackson and the Olympians is heading somewhere heavier. Season 3, based on The Titan’s Curse, premieres November 20 on Disney+, and the cast is billing it as bigger, darker, and more epic than what came before. For a Children & Family Emmy-winning series built on middle-grade mythology, “darker” is a real swing. Walker Scobell and Leah Sava Jeffries return, and Rick Riordan’s source material has always had teeth underneath the demigod comedy. Season 3 sounds ready to show them.

On the legacy side, The Muppet Show’s return has paid off in hardware. Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzie, Gonzo, and the rest brought home four Emmy Awards, proof that felt and vaudeville timing still beat most of what streaming tries to manufacture from scratch.

Outside the Disney machine but worth watching: a Jurassic Park sequel is reportedly in development from the creator of Hellraiser, signaling a franchise willing to lean into the brutality Michael Crichton’s original novel never softened. Spielberg’s film pulled punches the books didn’t. This next chapter apparently won’t.

The Business

Disney Cruise Line just opened booking for fall 2027 through spring 2028 sailings, and the headline is the Disney Wish returning to New York City departures starting September 2027. New York has always been a secondary embarkation port for DCL, more curiosity than staple. Putting the Wish there signals Disney thinks that’s changing. If you’ve been waiting for a shot at these itineraries, the booking window just opened, and staterooms on new routes don’t sit unclaimed for long.

Disney Cruise Line has eliminated more than 99% of guest-facing, non-essential single-use plastics across its ships and Bahamian island destinations as of the end of fiscal 2025. This is a specific operational commitment across every galley, stateroom, and island stop in the fleet.

The Details

Tokyo Disney Resort has confirmed its 2026 Christmas celebration, arriving with new entertainment, seasonal treats, and holiday decor. It joins a wave of holiday announcements landing almost daily right now, including Disneyland Paris confirming World of Frozen will celebrate Christmas for the first time this year. Expect Nordic decorations, a new musical celebration at the heart of Disney Adventure World, and a fresh Minnie Mouse and Mrs. Claus moment in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle. Santa Claus also gets a new home inside Disney Clothiers on Main Street, U.S.A. Disneyland Paris is not being subtle about wanting this to be the holiday season people talk about.

Back stateside, Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas parties are already selling out, which tells you where guest planning heads are at even as September temperatures haven’t caught up. For guests plotting an actual trip rather than just admiring press releases, a solo August Walt Disney World recap is making rounds detailing a full run through Hollywood Studios and Epcot without Lightning Lanes, along with praise for Gran Destino Tower and notes on surviving Florida heat and rain in the same week.

Smaller, stranger, and very on-brand: Glaskunst, the glass art kiosk in Epcot’s Germany Pavilion, now offers a “Decorate Your Own” Glass Gingerbread Cookie experience. It’s the kind of niche offering that never makes a keynote but quietly becomes someone’s favorite park memory.

On the merchandise side, Her Universe has rolled out athletic dresses themed to Disney Villains, including a Cruella De Vil design with spotted panels and red trim, and a Hades piece for the underworld enthusiasts. Disney Store has also dropped a new Wishables Shimmer Mystery Plush series themed around Halloween cats and dogs, blind-box format, because apparently pets needed spooky season merchandise too.

Sources

• Inside the Magic
• EYNTK Disney Parks
• Disney Tourist Blog
• Disney Food Blog
• MickeyBlog
• D23
• The DisInsider
• Lightning Brain
• Disney Experiences
• Disney Parks Blog
• WDW Prep School
• TouringPlans

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