Toy Story 5 Is Chasing Franchise History at the Box Office

Toy Story 5 Is Tracking Toward the Biggest Opening in Franchise History

Thirty-one years after the original film changed animation forever, Disney and Pixar’s Toy Story 5 opened in theaters on Friday and appears to be running toward a record. According to reports, the sequel is on track for the biggest opening weekend in the franchise’s history, with projections ranging between $145 million and $150 million domestically. If those numbers hold through Sunday, it would surpass the previous franchise high and cement Toy Story as one of the most durable properties in all of entertainment.

The Walt Disney Company published a deep look at the film’s cross-company footprint this week, featuring leaders from Pixar Animation Studios, Walt Disney Imagineering, Disney Consumer Products, and Corporate Social Responsibility discussing how Toy Story threads through nearly every arm of the business. Andrew Stanton, VP of Creative at Pixar, Emily Kaplan from Imagineering’s menu and franchise planning team, Tracy Thurman from product design, and Lisa Haines from CSR all spoke to the ways the franchise moves beyond the screen. Toy Story has become infrastructure at Disney rather than just intellectual property. It lives in attractions, in merchandise strategy, in Make-A-Wish partnerships, and now in a fifth film that brings back Tom Hanks as Woody, Disney Legend Tim Allen as Buzz Lightyear, and Joan Cusack as Jessie for what the studio describes as an all-new adventure involving technology.

WDW News Today reports that the film has already set a marker before its first full weekend is even complete: Toy Story 5 has registered the highest-grossing film previews of 2026. That preview number signals massive Saturday and Sunday turnout, and it puts the film in conversation with the top Pixar openings of all time.

The parks are already leaning hard into the moment. WDW News Today spotted a Bullseye popcorn bucket arriving at Walt Disney World, reviewed a new Toy Story 5 Lilypad Lunch Box Tart at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and noted a passholder-exclusive Toy Story 5 Screen Time Swirl Float. New Toy Story 5 sticker books, a character guide, and other merchandise have appeared on Amazon. First-ever Cosmic Rewind Cake Toast items and Tomorrowland ride vehicle pins are part of a broader Walt Disney World pin wave that leans into the franchise’s park presence. This is the full Disney machine at work, and the opening-weekend tracking suggests the audience is meeting it with equal enthusiasm.

The Parks

The Toy Story 5 merchandise blitz at Walt Disney World is only one piece of a busy parks week. Over at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, WDW News Today reports that the permanently closed Indiana Jones Adventure Outpost has been repurposed for caricature drawings. It is a small operational note, but it also reflects the ongoing transformation at Hollywood Studios as Monstropolis construction continues to reshape the park. Aerial photos published by WDW News Today show major progress across the Monstropolis site, offering a tangible look at the next chapter of the park’s footprint.

The more pressing story at Walt Disney World, though, is the widespread air conditioning outage at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge. BlogMickey reports that the Deluxe Resort hotel has been without air conditioning for over 24 hours as of Friday, with the outage affecting guest rooms, common spaces, and restaurants. In what BlogMickey describes as a likely related adjustment, reservations for both Artist Point and Whispering Canyon Cafe were unavailable for June 19th and 20th. The timing is brutal because Central Florida has been under a Heat Advisory, with “feels like” temperatures forecast in the 105 to 111 degree range. BlogMickey notes that Walt Disney World has not returned a request for comment about the outage or what accommodations are being offered to affected guests. WDW News Today also covered the outage in its daily recap. For guests paying Deluxe Resort prices during peak summer, this is a serious operational failure, and the silence from Disney makes it worse.

At EPCOT, a few smaller moves caught our attention. WDW News Today reports that trees have been removed from the EPCOT entrance, providing a clear sightline to Spaceship Earth that guests have not had in years. Whether this is temporary construction clearing or a permanent design choice remains to be seen, but the visual effect is striking. Meanwhile, more signage, menus, and board bases have been added to La Poutinerie, the new quick-service location taking shape in the park. And in a quiet but curious detail, Club Cool’s dispenser info boards have been covered, possibly signaling a beverage lineup change.

Disney’s Animal Kingdom has swapped out its collectible medallion designs, with WDW News Today reporting that lion-themed medallions have replaced the Zootopia: Better Zoogether designs at a Discovery Trading Company machine. At least two of the four new designs are inspired by The Lion King, including one featuring a Pride Rock-like structure. They are $6 each or $20 for all four.

On the transportation front, Disney Tourist Blog published new details about the expanded rules restricting free bus and boat service between Disney Springs and Walt Disney World hotels. The piece also covers policies for on-site guest resort hopping, third-party property access, and parking. These transportation changes have been a slow-rolling story, but the new details clarify the scope of what Disney is implementing and what it means for off-site guests who have historically relied on Disney Springs as a free transit hub.

Friday’s crowd data from Lightning Brain tells the story of a resort loading up for Juneteenth weekend. Disney’s Hollywood Studios ran heaviest at 7/10 (Heavy), well above its typical baseline. Magic Kingdom landed at 6/10 (Average), notably outdrawing Disney’s Animal Kingdom for the day, which is unusual for summer. The Magic Kingdom’s peak came at 8:00 PM, an evening-build signature driven by guests filtering in after afternoon storms cleared and long-weekend arrivals testing the waters. Disney’s Animal Kingdom sat at a comfortable 4/10 (Moderate), essentially flat against its 30-day average. EPCOT was the lightest at 4/10 (Moderate) with the most breathing room of the four parks. A significant rain band rolled through Magic Kingdom in two waves during the afternoon, triggering weather-protocol closures across roughly a dozen outdoor attractions between about 2:40 and 3:45 PM. Indoor attractions absorbed the displaced crowds, which is part of why the park’s overall numbers held up despite half the outdoor lineup going temporarily dark.

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The Screen

While Toy Story 5 dominates the theatrical conversation, the streaming and broader entertainment side of Disney is quieter this week. But one story worth noting sits adjacent to the parks: Disney Cruise Line’s growing calendar of themed sailing events. Disney Food Blog published a detailed breakdown of the Special Days at Sea and Holiday Cruises available across the fleet, and the variety is worth a look for families deciding when to book. Marvel Days at Sea sail out of Galveston aboard the Disney Magic on select dates from late January through mid-March 2027, featuring character encounters with Spider-Man, Thor, Black Panther, Captain Marvel, and more, plus live shows including Marvel Heroes Unite and Warriors of Wakanda. Pixar Days at Sea are available aboard the Disney Fantasy on select 5-night Bahamas itineraries from late January through April 2027. For fans who want themed immersion beyond the parks, these sailings offer a meaningfully different way to experience Disney IP, and they tend to book fast.

The Vault

This month marks the 30th anniversary of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and D23 published a rich retrospective that draws heavily from the Walt Disney Archives. Released on June 21, 1996, the film was a creative gamble on multiple fronts. D23 reports that production began in early 1993 at the suggestion of David Stainton, then Creative Affairs vice president of Walt Disney Feature Animation. Members of the production team made several trips to Paris, exploring Notre Dame de Paris itself, touring its passageways, hidden rooms, and towers.

The film also served as the inaugural production for Disney’s Paris animation studio, making it a transatlantic collaboration between American and Parisian artists led by brothers Paul and Gaëtan Brizzi. Art director David Goetz drew inspiration from N.C. Wyeth, Edward Hopper, and even Victor Hugo’s own artwork, found in the collections of the Bibliothèque nationale de France. As Goetz described it, Hugo’s work had a “brooding, almost macabre graphic quality” that informed the film’s dramatic use of shadow and light.

Co-director Kirk Wise told The Disney Channel Magazine that the team wanted medieval Paris to “stand apart from Beauty and the Beast” with “a grittier feel,” taking cues from Hugo’s descriptions of street life. Producer Don Hahn saw the fundamental story as a fairytale involving a beautiful princess, a prince, and an evil stepfather who locks Quasimodo in a tower. That tension between the dark and the accessible is exactly what makes Hunchback endure. It remains one of the most visually ambitious films in the Disney canon, and thirty years later, the craftsmanship holds up.

Sources

The DisInsider · Walt Disney Company · WDW News Today · BlogMickey · Disney Tourist Blog · Lightning Brain · Disney Food Blog · D23