Animal Kingdom’s Big Build-Out and EPCOT’s Crowded Week

The Parks

Animal Kingdom is done playing it safe. Disney has announced six new rides and additions for the park, headlined by an Indiana Jones thrill attraction and what would be Disney’s first-ever Encanto ride. This move fits into a larger pattern across Walt Disney World, where Villains Land and a Monsters, Inc. doors roller coaster are already under construction elsewhere on property. Animal Kingdom has long been the park with the least new-attraction momentum. That is changing fast, and changing in a way that suggests Disney wants every park on property pulling equal weight in the years ahead.

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Meanwhile, EPCOT reminded everyone why Food & Wine still draws a crowd. According to Lightning Brain’s daily park data, EPCOT ran two full levels above its own 30-day norm on a recent Friday, hitting a 6 out of 10 on the percentile scale with a 20-minute median wait. Every other park on property stayed close to routine that day. For planners, if you were weighing where to spend a leisurely touring morning, EPCOT was the wrong answer. The festival is still the draw it has always been, and the data backs it up.

Imagineering also pulled back the curtain on Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, with a new WED Walks episode revealing hidden Easter eggs and design tricks built into the attraction’s recent updates. Even established rides are still getting fresh attention and detail work, rather than just the headline-grabbing new builds.

Port Orleans Riverside is mid-transformation too. New photos and video show the refreshed Royal Rooms next to the old versions, and the difference is stark enough that longtime guests will notice immediately. Holiday season is also fully underway at Hollywood Studios, where Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring the Muppets has debuted its holiday overlay, Santa Gertie has arrived at Echo Lake, and the park has announced where guests can meet Santa this year, all ahead of the first Jollywood Nights event of the season.

Outside Disney’s gates, Six Flags has confirmed that California’s Great America will close permanently on Labor Day, September 6, 2027, following a farewell season marking more than 50 years of operation. Over at Universal Orlando, Epic Universe’s Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment is taking a short break, closed December 11 through 15, with no reason given. New aerial photography suggests the Dark Universe land itself is expanding.

The Shows

Sony is reportedly developing a new live-action Ghostbusters movie titled Ghostbusters: Nightmare on 34th Street, according to industry insider Daniel Richtman. The project is said to be written by Josh Miller, whose credits include the Sonic the Hedgehog films and Violent Night. The title is a clear nod to Miracle on 34th Street, the 1947 Christmas classic, and it has fans speculating about a holiday-set entry for the franchise. Sony has not confirmed anything, but the pairing of Ghostbusters nostalgia with a Christmas-in-New-York premise is the kind of swing that makes sense on paper.

On the streaming side, The Remarried Empress has become the most viewed local original premiere of all time on Disney+ and Hulu globally. The romantic epic is currently the number one Korean title premiere in more than 50 markets, including the US, UK, France, Spain, Germany, Mexico, Chile, Australia/New Zealand, and Canada. This significant win signals how much weight international originals now carry on Disney’s platforms, and it raises the question of how aggressively Disney will keep investing in non-English content given numbers like these.

The Business

Holiday retail is in full swing, and Disney is leaning into gift-card season with a free limited edition holiday pin for guests who buy select gift cards at Walt Disney World and Disneyland. It is a small but smart giveaway, timed exactly when gift card flash sales already have people’s attention.

Merchandise drops are stacking up elsewhere too. Spirit Jersey released new designs tied to Hallmark’s Walt Disney World film Holiday Ever After, along with Frozen and Muppets-themed pieces. TikTok Shop is running a Super Brand Day through November 10 featuring Disney alongside brands like ColourPop, Corkcicle, and Crocs, with holiday Loungefly pieces among the highlights. Disney Parks Blog has also rolled out its 2026 gift guide focused on bag charms, blind boxes, and stocking stuffers, aimed squarely at shoppers hunting for smaller-ticket items to round out gifts.

The Details

For anyone planning a trip around food, there is plenty to chase down. AllEars is pointing guests toward a Disney World breakfast spot specifically for its pumpkin pancakes before a Magic Kingdom morning. Disney Springs has its own holiday cocktail lineup this season, with a hot chocolate flight at Jock Lindsey’s Hangar Bar, a cranberry Old Fashioned at The Edison, December specials at Morimoto Asia, and a Christmas cocktail menu at Raglan Road.

Away from the parks, Storyliving by Disney’s Cotino community in California’s Coachella Valley hosted a celebration for military families in honor of Veterans and Military Families Month, welcoming families from Marine Air Ground Task Force Training Command and the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms for a day built around Disney and Pixar surprises.

D23’s Ultimate Disney Fan Event offered a deep look at Percy Jackson and the Olympians Season 3, which will adapt The Titan’s Curse. With Annabeth Chase captured by the forces of Kronos, Percy Jackson must free a goddess in chains and work to stop the Titan’s curse before it triggers Olympus’s fall.

Sources

• Mickey Visit
• Lightning Brain
• Chip and Co
• TouringPlans
• MickeyBlog
• Attractions Magazine
• Inside the Magic
• Disney Dining
• Disney Fanatic
• Walt Disney Company
• Disney Tourist Blog
• Laughing Place
• MiceChat
• Disney Parks Blog
• AllEars
• EYNTK Disney Parks
• Disney Experiences
• D23
• The DisInsider

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