Audio (provided for hearing impaired) The Parks Animal Kingdom has a new headliner, and he doesn’t need a FastPass. Bakari, the resort’s new silverback, is now regularly visible to guests walking the Gorilla Falls Exploration Trail in the Africa section. Disney confirms he’s settling into the troop, though sightings still depend on his mood and the group’s movements. No wristband guarantees a gorilla. Planning your Disney trip? Download Lightning Brain from the App Store or visit lightningbrain.app to optimize every minute of your park day. Less charming: Expedition Everest’s Sunday. The Yeti’s coaster ran for roughly three and a half hours total before a mechanical issue took it down before 8 a.m., a brief late-morning revival came and went, and then it closed at 2:29 p.m. and stayed closed through park close. That is an outage stretching past eleven hours. An afternoon storm didn’t help, shutting down a dozen rides across the resort at once. If you built your Animal Kingdom day around Everest that day, you built it on sand. Meanwhile, the resort’s transportation politics are heating up. Disney’s so-called “bus ban,” which has curbed the old tradition of resort hopping via free Disney buses, is reportedly working as intended from a logistics standpoint. But locals and off-property guests who used to Dole Whip their way through the Polynesian or wander the Animal Kingdom Lodge lobby on a free bus ride are furious. The perk that made Disney World feel a little more open to everyone is closing off, and the resentment isn’t quiet. Add to that: TouringPlans is seeing tighter queue enforcement during Early Entry testing across all four parks, a small operational shift that regular visitors will notice before Disney ever announces it officially. And then there’s Space Mountain. AllEars reports Disney adults are “suddenly freaking out” over the classic coaster, with speculation swirling that big changes are coming to the Magic Kingdom icon. Details are thin, but the reaction alone tells you how protective this fanbase is of its legacy attractions. The Shows Marvel Studios took over Hall H at San Diego Comic-Con. Kevin Feige led a presentation built around a massive Avengers: Doomsday panel, the announcement of an all-new Ghost Rider film starring Ryan Gosling and directed by Shawn Levy for a 2028 release, and a Black Panther 3 reveal in which writer-director Ryan Coogler introduced David Jonsson as the new Black Panther. These three franchise pillars moving at once signal Marvel Studios is done playing it safe after a stretch of uneven output. Doomsday alone carries the weight of resetting the entire cinematic universe’s direction. On the water, Disney Cruise Line’s Personal Navigators from the Disney Wonder’s 7-Night Alaskan cruise out of Vancouver, sailing under Captain Jonathan Kerr with Cruise Director Peter Hofer, give planners a real look at what a specific sailing actually contained, useful for anyone booking the same itinerary and wanting to know what to expect day to day. The Business MickeyBlog’s weekly rundown paints a rough stretch for the company. ESPN, Pixar, and National Geographic all took hits this week, part of what’s described as another round of Disney layoffs. Josh D’Amaro, long treated as the heir apparent to Bob Iger, is being watched closely as these internal shifts play out. When a company trims across sports, animation, and its documentary arm in the same stretch, it signals where leadership sees the pressure points. Off-property, Gaylord Palms Resort, sitting less than a mile from Walt Disney World and housing 1,718 guest rooms, is expanding its Ice! holiday exhibit for the season with Nightmare Before Christmas, Home Alone, and Harry Potter themes, while Polar Express returns to the Orlando lineup. Gaylord rarely gets attention in Disney-focused coverage despite its scale and proximity, but its holiday programming increasingly competes directly for the same families deciding where to spend their December nights. The Details Disneyland is starting its holiday season earlier than ever for 2026, bringing back returning Christmas traditions and seasonal entertainment across both parks. Anyone building a December trip around specific overlays and returning favorites should start checking dates now rather than waiting for closer-in updates. Merchandise is leaning hard into Halloween already. Disney Store has a Halloween-twist tote bag featuring Donald, joining the character tote trend that’s taken over park bags this year. The perennial best-seller, the Mickey pumpkin wreath, is back and known for selling out both in person and online every single season. Disney Store also dropped a new Mickey and Minnie Halloween sleepwear collection, including Mickey Mouse Halloween lounge pants and a matching stretchie sleeper, aimed at guests who want the spooky season to follow them home. Off the merchandise shelf and into the culture wars: a video of a group of women holding a Bible study at Backlot Express in Disney’s Hollywood Studios has sparked online debate. The group took over several tables in the quick-service outdoor seating area, with a speaker addressing the group before smaller clusters broke off to discuss scripture. Reactions online split sharply over whether that’s a fine use of shared park space or an overreach into an area meant for dining. Finally, a nod to the calendar: this week in Disney history marks the 75th anniversary of Alice in Wonderland’s world premiere in London on July 26, 1951, alongside the anniversary of Star Tours’ last operating day at Disneyland in 2010 and Beauty and the Beast’s Broadway debut in 2007. Small facts, but they’re the connective tissue that makes this whole sprawling company feel like one continuous story. Keep exploring Catch more Disney Deets coverage or get the Lightning Brain app for real-time wait times and routing. Sources BlogMickey Lightning Brain Inside the Magic TouringPlans AllEars D23 DCL Blog MickeyBlog Disney Tourist Blog Attractions Magazine Disney Food Blog The DisInsider Designed, trained, and directed by humans. Produced by Lightning Brain’s AI. Learn how we make this: https://lightningbrain.app/how-we-make-this Post navigation Corpses, Cavalcades, and a Ceiling on Growth at WDW