Carousel Closes, Billionth Guest Arrives, Cast Members Fight Back

The Parks

Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress spun its last spin on July 5th. The 1994 version of the attraction, the oldest one at Walt Disney World that Walt himself actually worked on, is now dark, with Disney promising a reimagining set to return in 2027. Fans showed up in force for the farewell, and the coverage matched the sentiment: multiple outlets ran full send-off videos and photo galleries, treating the closure less like maintenance and more like a funeral for a piece of Disney’s own DNA. That is the right instinct, as this represents Walt’s passion project rather than just another dark ride getting a refresh.

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Across the country, Disneyland Resort marked a very different kind of milestone. The park welcomed its one billionth guest this week, timed just days ahead of its 71st anniversary and smack in the middle of the resort’s 70th Celebration. Mickey and Minnie were there for the ceremony. It is the sort of number that sounds like marketing spin until you sit with it: one billion people through one set of gates since 1955. Few places on earth can make that claim, and Disney knows exactly how to make you feel it.

Back at Walt Disney World, the numbers told a quieter story. Hollywood Studios posted a 1 out of 10 crowd day on July 5th, a nearly 20-minute median wait that ran more than 40 percent under its own summer baseline. That is three full crowd levels below normal, and it flipped the resort’s usual order upside down. Studios typically leads the pack. On the day after the Fourth, it trailed all four gates, a textbook departure-day slump as the holiday crowd cleared out and a storm reshuffled whatever was left of the afternoon.

The Shows

Disney is leaning hard into the live-action Moana rollout. D23 introduced the cast of characters this week, confirming Catherine Lagaʻaia as Moana and newly minted Disney Legend Dwayne Johnson returning as Maui, with Thomas Kail, the Emmy and Tony winner behind Hamilton, directing. Disney is also promoting the film with a one-night-only drone show, a format the company increasingly treats as a marketing event unto itself rather than a one-off spectacle.

Elsewhere in the broader entertainment conversation, speculation around a Snyderverse revival is heating up, with reports pointing to a Batman series and the return of a previous Dark Knight actor. The context matters: James Gunn and Peter Safran’s DCU has hit turbulence following Supergirl’s box office and critical reception, and that turbulence is exactly what fuels this kind of nostalgia-driven what-if talk. Worth watching, not worth betting on yet.

The Business

The property tax fight between Disney and Orange County is escalating. Cast Members represented by UNITE HERE and members of the Orange County Classroom Teachers Association are set to deliver more than 5,000 signed petitions urging Walt Disney World to drop its property tax lawsuits. Pairing teachers with Cast Members is a deliberate framing choice because this is being pitched as a community-versus-corporation story instead of just a labor dispute, and 5,000 signatures is a number designed to make headlines, not just fill a filing cabinet.

That pressure lands against an already complicated political backdrop. Disney suspended all political contributions in 2022 after its response to Florida’s Parental Rights in Education bill put the company at odds with Governor DeSantis and Republican allies in the state. Now Disney has made a major donation to an Orange County mayoral candidate, a signal that the company is easing back into Florida politics after years of self-imposed silence. Read the two stories together and the picture sharpens: Disney is trying to rebuild political capital in Central Florida at the exact moment its property tax dispute is generating organized public opposition. That is a coincidence worth noting.

The Details

Food news this week skewed seasonal and specific. EPCOT’s Churro Sundae got a reworked recipe, and the review verdict landed on “better,” which is rarer than you would think for a snack revamp. Disney Springs added a new frozen treat too: Kakigōri Kool, a shaved ice cart now parked at Morimoto Asia in The Landing, and currently the only shaved ice option in Disney Springs. Meanwhile, several Disney World restaurants saw changes this week amid the Fourth of July crowds, alongside a limited-time Fresh Citrus Tart in the Japan Pavilion and special fireworks at both EPCOT and Magic Kingdom.

Merchandise news skewed toward Tokyo, where Toy Story has taken over the Grand Emporium in Tokyo Disneyland with a sprawling collection of apparel, stationery, keychains, and housewares, including a Mr. Potato Head-shaped peeler that is exactly as charming as it sounds.

Outside the parks, Dollywood announced its first-ever after-hours Halloween event, Harvey’s Boo Bash, limited to just three nights and featuring NightFlight Expedition, Great Pumpkin LumiNights, and trick-or-treating. Limited-capacity, limited-run Halloween events are becoming the industry’s preferred way to test demand before committing to a full seasonal rollout, and Dollywood testing the waters here is worth tracking.

On the cruise side, the case for staying up late on a Disney ship is making the rounds again, with overnight hours pitched as the line’s best-kept secret. Thinner soft-serve lines after midnight is a small detail, but it is the kind of detail that actually changes how you plan a sailing.

Sources

• WDW News Today
• Lightning Brain
• MickeyBlog
• AllEars
• TouringPlans
• Disney Tourist Blog
• Disney Food Blog
• Attractions Magazine
• BlogMickey
• Inside the Magic
• Walt Disney Company
• Disney Parks Blog
• D23
• EYNTK Disney Parks

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