Toy Story 5 Is About to Break Box Office Records

Toy Story 5 Arrives With Record-Breaking Momentum

Eight days. That is how close we are to Toy Story 5, and the tracking numbers suggest Pixar is about to have one of the biggest opening weekends in animation history. WDW News Today reports the film is tracking for a record-breaking opening weekend, a milestone that would cap a remarkable marketing push from Disney and Pixar over the past several months.

D23 published a full character guide this week, and the details reveal a film built around a deceptively simple conflict that hits closer to home than any villain ever could. Woody, voiced by Tom Hanks, returns from his adventures with Bo Peep's toy-rescue squad. Buzz Lightyear, voiced by Disney Legend Tim Allen, has settled into a new role as Deputy to Sheriff Jessie, voiced by Joan Cusack. The gang's mission is to help Bonnie make friends. Then Lilypad arrives.

Voiced by Greta Lee, Lilypad is a tablet device with her own ideas about what is best for Bonnie. According to D23, this sets up a "Toy meets Tech" premise where the very concept of playtime is under threat. Jessie and Bullseye get separated from the group, Woody and Buzz team up like old times, and the emotional stakes center on what it means to really be there for your kid. The film is directed by Academy Award winner Andrew Stanton, co-directed by Kenna Harris, and features an original song performed by Taylor Swift, written and produced by Swift and Jack Antonoff. Oscar winner Randy Newman returns to score his fifth Toy Story feature.

The DisInsider reports that the film celebrated a star-studded world premiere at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, bringing together the cast, filmmakers, and a surprise musical guest. That premiere energy, combined with the tracking data, paints a picture of a film arriving with enormous commercial expectations and the creative pedigree to meet them.

Meanwhile, the Toy Story franchise is already spilling into the parks. WDW News Today noted that Toy Story characters have appeared inside MuppetVision 3D, a cross-franchise presence that speaks to just how aggressively Disney is building momentum ahead of the June 19 release. A dedicated 20/20 special on Toy Story is also set to release this week, according to WDW News Today. When Disney activates every arm of its empire, from parks to streaming to broadcast television, around a single title, it signals supreme confidence. The numbers so far suggest that confidence is well-placed.

The Parks

Wednesday at Walt Disney World told two completely different stories depending on which gate you tapped into. Magic Kingdom posted a 7/10 (Heavy) crowd level on June 10, running 30.7% above its 30-day average, while Animal Kingdom drifted to a 2/10 (Light), sitting 34% below its own norm. This was a peak-summer Wednesday where one park ran like a holiday weekend and another felt like a slow January morning.

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Magic Kingdom's evening got particularly rough operationally. TRON Lightcycle / Run went down at 7:36 PM and never reopened, taking the park's newest coaster out of the prime post-dinner window. The Barnstormer followed at 8:24 PM, and Seven Dwarfs Mine Train logged a 37-minute outage starting at 5:17 PM. Three separate Buzz Lightyear interruptions added to the pain. Guests in the evening were navigating a noticeably thinner attraction lineup than the morning crowd enjoyed.

Hollywood Studios landed at a 5/10 (Average), slightly above its 30-day baseline. The evening before its After Hours event was bumpy, with Rock 'n' Roller Coaster offline for 100 minutes starting just after 6:00 PM, then Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway and Slinky Dog Dash both going down around 8:00 PM. EPCOT came in at a comfortable 4/10 (Moderate), with Test Track taking a 74-minute midday outage but the rest of the park running smoothly.

Construction updates continue to dot the Walt Disney World landscape. WDW News Today reports the first track has been staged for the Monsters, Inc. Door Coaster at Disney's Hollywood Studios, a tangible sign of progress on one of the most anticipated new attractions at the resort. At Magic Kingdom, the roof has been removed from the 1994 Tomorrowland Tower, and water pipe work continues alongside retaining wall construction at Piston Peak National Park. Over at Disney's Animal Kingdom, new concrete forms have appeared during Tropical Americas construction. These are incremental updates, but for anyone tracking the long arc of Walt Disney World's current expansion cycle, each one represents real forward motion.

On the merchandise front, Disney Parks Blog announced the Logo Mania collection, a lineup of over 120 items dropping June 12 at both Disneyland Resort and Walt Disney World. The collection features six colors, each named after a feeling or place in the parks, from "Last Day of Trip Blues" in cobalt to "Tiki Tiki Tiki Room" in emerald green. Each color includes a signature park element and spans headwear, accessories, plush, home items, jewelry, and wearables. The collection also marks the return of niuMOs, which will be welcome news for collectors who have been waiting for new additions.

BlogMickey has confirmed early entertainment showtimes for Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party 2026 at Magic Kingdom. Mickey's Boo-To-You Parade will run at 8:15 PM and 11:15 PM, maintaining the earlier sunset start that debuted in 2024 and proved popular with families with younger children. Disney's Not-So-Spooky Spectacular fireworks are confirmed for 10:00 PM. Ticket prices range from $119 to $229 per person depending on the date, with Annual Passholders and Disney Vacation Club Members eligible for a $10 discount.

Across the Atlantic, Disneyland Paris continues its Fantasyland restoration work. According to a photo shared by @PixieDustDLP on X, scaffolding has been removed from the building housing La Chaumière des Sept Nains, the Snow White-themed gift shop, revealing brand-new multicolor roof tiles. Construction walls still surround the building, and the scaffolding had been in place since January 2026. Nearby, the Blanche-Neige et les Sept Nains attraction remains closed, with scaffolding still surrounding the facade and a scheduled reopening of July 28, 2026.

At sea, Disney Cruise Line earned the Blue Circle Award from the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, a distinction the line has received 13 times. Disney Experiences reports that the recognition reflects Disney Cruise Line's use of shore power in Vancouver, where the Disney Wonder plugs into the port's shoreside electric grid while docked, shutting down its engines and significantly reducing emissions. In 2026, the Disney Magic joins the Disney Wonder in sailing to Alaska from Vancouver, marking the first time two Disney Cruise Line ships will operate in the region. The line was also ranked No. 7 on the 2026 Forbes Best Brands for Social Impact list, and continues expanding with eight ships currently in the fleet and five more planned by 2031, including the Disney Believe launching next year.

The Screen

Only Murders in the Building is packing its bags for London, and it is bringing a staggering ensemble along for the trip. WDW News Today reports that Season 6 of the hit Hulu series will move the investigation outside New York City for the first time, sending Charles, Oliver, and Mabel across the pond for a new mystery. Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez return, joined by new recurring guest stars including Jennifer Saunders, Simone Ashley, Sean Teale, Amar Chadha-Patel, Rhea Norwood, Matthew Beard, and Sharon Horgan. Returning cast members include Meryl Streep, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Nathan Lane, Bobby Cannavale, Renée Zellweger, Christoph Waltz, Téa Leoni, Keegan-Michael Key, and many more. The season will consist of 10 episodes, though Disney has not announced a premiere date. Character details for the new cast remain under wraps.

While Only Murders prepares its next chapter, Disney's streaming platforms spent the past weekend leaning hard into nostalgia. The Walt Disney Company reports that Disney+ and Hulu transformed Westfield Century City into the Disney+ Hulu Throwbacks Mini Mall from June 6 to 7, a limited-time experiential activation celebrating anniversaries including High School Musical's 20th and Lizzie McGuire's 25th. Stars from Glee, High School Musical, The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder, and That's So Raven attended a preview event. The experience featured a Princess Diaries Mattress Slide, a themed beauty salon activation in collaboration with MAC Cosmetics with visual nods to Hannah Montana and The Cheetah Girls, and a Throwbacks Pin-Vending Machine. On the platform itself, Premium subscribers can access the Throwbacks Stream, an all-day marathon of the top 50 Disney Channel Original Movies.

The Vault

WDW News Today reports that Disney Legend Floyd Norman will receive an Honorary Oscar at the 2026 Governors Awards. Norman's career spans decades of contributions to Disney animation, and the honor places him in rare company. For a studio that has always drawn strength from its history, seeing one of its own recognized by the Academy is a moment worth pausing on.

Back at the parks, WDW News Today reports that Walt Disney Imagineering used motion capture to bring the Scooter Audio-Animatronic to life, marking the first time the technology has been used on a Muppet figure. The detail matters because it represents a quiet evolution in how Imagineering approaches character animation. Motion capture has been a tool in the entertainment industry for decades, but applying it to Audio-Animatronics, particularly for a character as physically expressive as a Muppet, opens up possibilities for more nuanced, lifelike figures across future attractions. It is the kind of behind-the-scenes advancement that guests may never consciously notice but will absolutely feel.

And at Disneyland, the 1967-ish Tomorrowland colors have returned on the Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters facade, according to WDW News Today. That color palette is one of those details that longtime fans can spot from across the esplanade, a visual callback to the original Tomorrowland aesthetic that has been quietly championed by park historians for years. Seeing it return, even on a single facade, is the kind of restoration work that signals respect for the source material.

Sources

WDW News Today · D23 · The DisInsider · Lightning Brain · Disney Parks Blog · BlogMickey · Disney Experiences · Walt Disney Company