The Parks Jollywood Nights is back at Hollywood Studios, and the character lineup has gotten genuinely strange in the best way. Monsters, Inc. newcomers are mixing it up with Santa Duffy, Life Day Chewbacca, and Partysaurus Rex, while Powerline Max and the Rescue Rangers hold down the nostalgia end of the roster. Attractions Magazine counts more than 20 character experiences this year, which is a lot of ground to cover in one night, and the event’s spread across Hollywood Studios reflects that. TouringPlans flagged new meet and greet rules rolling out for the party’s opening night, so veterans of past Jollywood runs should expect the logistics to look a little different this time around. Planning your Disney trip? Download Lightning Brain from the App Store or visit lightningbrain.app to optimize every minute of your park day. Across the Atlantic, Disneyland Paris gave Santa Claus a proper upgrade. Disney Clothiers on Main Street, U.S.A. has been converted into a Victorian-inspired workshop, with vintage-style toys and seasonal trimmings built into the existing woodwork rather than slapped over it. Disney’s strongest overlays always work with the architecture instead of against it, and this one leans into the boutique’s existing moldings rather than hiding them. Meanwhile, the rumor mill on Space Mountain has gone quiet, and that silence is its own story. Over the summer, established Disney insider outlets reported Magic Kingdom’s Space Mountain could be facing a massive, multi-year refurbishment with potential track reconstruction, following the model of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad’s overhaul and taking cues from Tokyo Disneyland’s ground-up demolition approach. Since then, nothing. No confirmation, no follow-up, no start of construction. Whether that means the project stalled or simply hasn’t been announced yet is the open question Inside the Magic is sitting with. The Shows Lucasfilm just recast Darth Vader, and the casting choice says something about how the studio is thinking about Star Wars’ 50th anniversary in 2027. Mark Lewis Jones, best known to sequel trilogy fans as First Order Captain Moden Canady in The Last Jedi, has been cast as the character for an upcoming project. The Welsh actor’s move from the sequel era back to the original trilogy’s most iconic villain is notable, and the context makes it sharper: this is part of a joint effort between Disney, Lucasfilm, Creative Wales, and Welsh broadcaster S4C to redub the original 1977 film for Welsh audiences for the first time ever, under the title Star Wars: Gobaith Newydd. D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event delivered a full panel on Percy Jackson and the Olympians Season 3, which adapts The Titan’s Curse. Percy, played by Walker Scobell, has to rescue Annabeth Chase after she’s captured by the forces of Kronos, free a goddess in chains, and stop a prophecy that could bring down Olympus. D23’s rundown of the panel covered eleven separate details fans are chewing over, a sign the show’s fandom is paying close attention to how faithfully the series tracks the books. Hallmark’s Holiday Ever After: A Disney World Wish Come True finally gave fans a scene from the movie shot at Walt Disney World last year. The trailer dropped back in July, but this sneak peek is the first real look at footage from the production, which had Hallmark’s Christmas movie regulars spotted filming around the resort in 2025. The Business The Remarried Empress just became the most viewed local original premiere of all time on Disney+ and Hulu globally. The romantic epic is being called a global triumph by the company, and it’s currently the number one Korean title premiere across more than 50 markets, including the US, UK, France, Spain, Germany, Mexico, Chile, ANZ, and Canada. This wide footprint for a local original signals how much weight Disney is putting behind international content to drive streaming numbers outside the usual Marvel and Star Wars pipeline. Over on the Marvel side, Ben Wang is in talks to play Iceman in the X-Men reboot, according to Deadline via The DisInsider. If the deal closes, he’d be stepping into Bobby Drake’s ice-covered boots for one of the studio’s most anticipated mutant projects. D23 and The Walt Disney Company Store also teamed up for a shopping spree event in Glendale, California, running November 7th and 8th. MickeyBlog made the trip to see the sold-out experience in person, a reminder that Disney’s retail arm is increasingly building standalone events around its collector base rather than waiting for them to show up at a park. The Details Disney Springs rolled out its holiday cocktail guide for the season, with specialty drinks landing across the district. A hot chocolate flight at Jock Lindsey’s Hangar Bar, a cranberry Old Fashioned at The Edison, December sips at Morimoto Asia, and a full Christmas cocktail menu at Raglan Road are all pouring now, according to EYNTK Disney Parks. Storyliving by Disney’s Cotino community in 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 Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms for a day built around Disney and Pixar surprises. TikTok Shop’s Super Brand Day is running through November 10th, featuring Disney products alongside brands like ColourPop, Corkcicle, and Crocs, with Loungefly holiday pieces among the standouts according to MiceChat. And Disney Tourist Blog is out with a piece on the biggest disappointments at Disney’s best parks, a reminder that hype cuts both ways, even at the parks Disney itself considers its strongest. Keep exploring Catch more Disney Deets coverage or get the Lightning Brain app for real-time wait times and routing. Sources Disney Dining Disney Fanatic Attractions Magazine TouringPlans Lightning Brain Inside the Magic D23 Mickey Visit Walt Disney Company The DisInsider MickeyBlog EYNTK Disney Parks Disney Experiences MiceChat Disney Tourist Blog 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 Animal Kingdom’s Big Build-Out and EPCOT’s Crowded Week Christmas Takes Over Disney World While Robots Wait in the Wings