Quinta Brunson Bets Her Future on Disney

Quinta Brunson Signs With 20th Television and Reshapes Disney’s Comedy Bench

Quinta Brunson, the creator and star of Abbott Elementary, has left Warner Bros. and signed a multi-year deal with Disney Television Studios’ 20th Television. WDW News Today reports that Brunson’s production company, Fifth Chance Productions, will now develop new projects under the Disney Entertainment Television umbrella, which also houses Abbott Elementary itself. In her own words: “This partnership represents an exciting next chapter for me as a creator, producer, and storyteller.”

The significance here runs deeper than a talent shuffle. Brunson is one of the few writer-creator-performers in television who has built a hit network comedy in an era when the form was supposedly dead. Abbott Elementary has been a rare bright spot for ABC, a network that Disney owns and that has struggled to develop homegrown comedies with cultural traction. By bringing Brunson fully inside the Disney tent, the company is investing in a creative voice who has proven she can build audiences on linear television while also carrying brand equity, as evidenced by her voice role as Dr. Fuzzby in Zootopia 2, according to WDW News Today.

For Disney, the timing matters. The company has been aggressive about locking down talent across its entertainment divisions, and Brunson’s deal with 20th Television slots her into the same studio home that has historically produced some of the company’s biggest comedy exports. The deal also signals confidence in Abbott Elementary’s continued run, even as it moves forward under a new corporate arrangement. Brunson specifically referenced “growing and evolving the series” alongside developing new projects, suggesting Disney sees her as a pipeline rather than a one-show signing.

The Parks

Walt Disney World just wrapped one of its quietest stretches of the year, and the data tells a clear story about when summer softness still exists. Lightning Brain’s weekly park report pegs the resort-wide median wait at 20 minutes for the week of June 14 through 20, a figure that held flat across the previous three weeks. Three of the four parks matched their six-week baselines exactly, while Animal Kingdom actually ran about 17 percent lighter than its recent norm. Wednesday at Animal Kingdom was the standout: a 2/10 (Light) morning where headliners barely asked anything of guests.

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Then the Juneteenth long weekend arrived. Friday firmed up across the board, and Saturday’s weather added a wrinkle. Lightning Brain’s daily report for June 20 found that a rain band parked over Animal Kingdom during the lunch hour knocked out demand right at its peak, closing Kali River Rapids, Expedition Everest, the Maharajah Jungle Trek, and Gorilla Falls for about an hour. Magic Kingdom saw Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Astro Orbiter, and both Railroad stations go down during the same window. The result was a reshuffled resort: Animal Kingdom finished fourth on the day with a 3/10 (Moderate) score, while Magic Kingdom’s peak shifted to 8 PM as guests waited out the storms and returned after dinner.

Hollywood Studios held the top spot Saturday with a 33.1-minute median, a 4/10 (Moderate) that Lightning Brain notes was actually a touch below its 30-day norm. Slinky Dog Dash, however, had a rough operational day, with 57 minutes of downtime at opening and additional closures later. EPCOT, meanwhile, did what EPCOT does during festival season: a 15-minute median, a 3/10 (Moderate), right on its average. The takeaway for anyone planning a summer trip is that midweek windows remain genuinely soft, even in June, but holiday weekends and afternoon storms can flip the script fast.

Over at EPCOT’s parking entrance, WDW News Today reports that dividers have been installed to prevent guests from switching lanes before reaching the parking booths. It is the kind of small infrastructure tweak that signals Disney’s ongoing effort to manage traffic flow as summer attendance builds.

At the Disneyland Resort, MickeyBlog reports that Drum Major Mickey is meeting guests at Disney California Adventure as part of Celebrate Soulfully: Summer Vibes. The character rotates with Powerline Max and Penny Proud at Paradise Gardens Park every Friday and Saturday through July 19. The event also includes Disney on the Yard: Yardfest in Downtown Disney, giving the resort a distinct cultural programming layer that goes beyond the usual seasonal overlay.

Meanwhile, Disney Food Blog reports that Disney’s BoardWalk is set to look “completely different” by the end of 2026, with Disney having revealed what is coming to the long-empty buildings along the waterfront. Over at Disney Springs, several projects are moving forward: Columbia Sportswear will reopen on July 24, Six Ravens has new signage and decor on its exterior, and Level99 will officially open on June 29, with tickets going on sale June 22. Construction at the Magic Kingdom continues as well, with Disney Food Blog noting that Piston Peak, the new Cars-themed area replacing the Rivers of America, has progressed to concrete work and land leveling.

On the membership side, BlogMickey reports that Disney Vacation Club members can pick up a free Halloween keepsake at McKim’s Mile House inside Magic Kingdom on every night of Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party this fall. The keepsake is included with party admission, requires a valid DVC Digital Membership Card and photo ID, and is available from 6:00 PM to 10:00 PM. The lounge itself will be closed during those hours, repurposed entirely for the giveaway.

The Screen

Toy Story 5 continues to dominate the conversation, but the latest data points are worth noting even as the film settles into its opening weekend. WDW News Today reports that the film earned $71 million on its opening day and holds a “Verified Hot” audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, even as it carries the lowest critical score in the franchise’s history. That gap between audience enthusiasm and critical reception is a dynamic worth watching as the weekend total comes into focus.

The Brunson signing, covered above, adds another dimension to Disney’s entertainment strategy. While Pixar drives the theatrical tentpoles, the television side is building its own bench. Brunson’s deal with 20th Television means Disney now has one of the most in-demand comedy creators working exclusively under its roof, developing for a portfolio that spans ABC, Hulu, and Disney+. The company’s entertainment strategy increasingly looks like a two-front operation: blockbuster animation in theaters and distinctive creative voices on the small screen.

The Vault

Across the Atlantic, Disneyland Paris is contending with a challenge that has nothing to do with construction timelines or attendance numbers: extreme heat. Inside the Magic reports that parts of France were hit by a severe high-temperature warning on June 20, with temperatures exceeding 90 degrees Fahrenheit and forecasts calling for highs near 104 degrees by midweek. To put that in context, the average June high in Paris is 75 degrees.

The heat has already forced operational changes at the resort. According to Inside the Magic, all costumed characters except Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, and Olaf were pulled from Disney Stars on Parade, replaced by face characters and dancers. Several outdoor and partially outdoor attractions, including Indiana Jones et le Temple du Péril, Autopia, Disneyland Railroad, and Star Wars Hyperspace Mountain, faced closures due to the heat’s effect on ride systems, sensors, and safety checks. This serves as a reminder that Cast Member safety and guest safety are critical concerns. When temperatures push past the design tolerances of outdoor attractions, closures follow, and the parks adapt in real time.

Also at Disneyland Paris, WDW News Today reports that new animal scenes are beginning to appear along the Rivers of the Far West at Thunder Mesa Riverboat Landing, fulfilling a promise the resort made last year. The previously delayed Marc Davis-inspired scenes are now visible to guests aboard the riverboats, adding a layer of detail to an attraction that has long been one of the park’s most beloved. Marc Davis, one of Walt Disney’s original Nine Old Men, was legendary for his ability to embed humor and character into attraction scenes. Seeing his artistic vision finally materialize at Thunder Mesa, decades after the concepts were first imagined, is the kind of slow-burn Imagineering story that rewards patience.

D23 marks this month as the 30th anniversary of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, released June 21, 1996. The film was the inaugural production for Disney’s Paris animation studio, a collaboration between American and Parisian artists led by brothers Paul and Gaëtan Brizzi. According to D23, the production team made several research trips to Notre Dame de Paris itself, touring its hidden rooms and soaring towers. Art director David Goetz drew inspiration from artists like N.C. Wyeth and Edward Hopper, as well as Victor Hugo’s own visual work, which Goetz described as having a “brooding, almost macabre graphic quality.” Producer Don Hahn saw the fundamental story as a fairytale with “a beautiful princess, a prince and an evil stepfather who locks Quasimodo in a tower.” Thirty years on, Hunchback remains one of Disney’s most visually ambitious animated features, a film that took real architectural grandeur and filtered it through hand-drawn animation at a scale the studio has rarely attempted since.

Sources

WDW News Today · Lightning Brain · MickeyBlog · Disney Food Blog · BlogMickey · Inside the Magic · D23