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Walt Disney World Resort
Orlando, FL
---- THE LATEST BUZZ ----
(7/4/2025) Walt Disney World: After Hours - What's Happening?
(7/2/2025) Is Walt Disney World Going To Build a 5th Park?
(5/31/2025) Stormalong Bay Refurbishment Update
(4/25/2025) Walt Disney World Is Already Posting Higher Prices for 2026 Visits
(4/2/2025) For The First Time in Forever... BOTH Walt Disney World Waterparks Will Be Open
Resort Rehabs - The following information is subject to change:
Typhoon Lagoon - NOW OPEN
Blizzard Beach - NOW OPEN
Note: Single waterpark operation expected to begin again shortly after Labor Day
Disney Skyliner - Jan. 25, 2026 through Jan. 31, 2026
 General Resort News - (7/4/2025) “Disney After Hours” special ticket events are a bit on the pricey side, but for groups of adults without kids looking to maximize their park fun, they just might be worth it. Currently Walt Disney World is offering a number of these special late night events at some of their parks on select nights. So let’s break down what each has to offer.
For those looking for water park fun Disney is once again offering the H2O Glow After Hours event at the Typhoon Lagoon waterpark on select nights through September 13th. The event will cost you $85 for an adult ticket and right now the July schedule appears to just be once a week on Tuesday evenings, with a mix of days once a week in August (Sun, Mon, Tues and a Wed) before switching to Saturday nights for the last two dates in September. The event itself is only 3 hours (from 8pm to 11pm) but includes free snacks (popcorn, Ice cream and select bottled drinks), lower wait times on many attractions. There is a hack that can allow you to maximize your waterpark fun into a whole day event, as a current promotion from WDW gives those staying at an on-site resort hotel free admission into one of their waterparks on the day you check in. With both waterparks currently open for the ‘first time in forever’ you could drop into Blizzard Beach for the first half of the day and then head over to Typhoon Lagoon for the After Hours party at night.
Disney After Hours at EPCOT - Prices range from $155-165 with the event happening typically one night each week now through Sept. 25th. For this you get private access to the park from 10pm to 1am, with free snacks included (popcorn, ice cream and select bottled drinks. Adult beverages can be purchased at an extra cost at select venues throughout the event. There will be character meet sessions in select locations, but the big perk is some major rides will be open with very short lines. No Lightning Lanes tonight… just jump in line as much as you want for Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, Frozen Ever After, Soarin’, Grand Fiesta Tour, Loving with the Land, Mission: Space, The Seas with Nemo & Friends and Spaceship Earth. If the price seems right to you, this may be your ultimate night to come in and ride Guardians back to back all night long until you get to hear all your favorite tracks.
Disney After Hours at Disney’s Hollywood Studios - For $155 - $165 per person you are allowed into the park for a 3-hour private event from 9:30pm to 12:30am that includes free snacks (popcorn, ice cream and select bottled beverages) and short waits on select attractions. (Note: Cocktails will be available at an extra cost.) Not every park attractions is open, but they do mention that the attractions in Toy Story Land and Star Wars: Galaxy Edge will be open in addition to others, to be determined on event to event schedule. Typically this does include the major popular rides like Twilight Zone: Tower of Terror, Rock ‘n Roller Coaster and Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway. So no paying extra for a Lightning Lane, because everyone has the same level of access. You can also count on seeing a number of your favorite characters in the park for photo encounters, as well as some surprise rarely seen characters who may be roaming the streets. The event is typically schedule for one night out of each week from now through to Sept. 3rd.
Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom currently have no After Hours events planned for the rest of this year, though Disney’s website does mention that they are planning to have some Magic Kingdom After Hours party events in 2026. These would likely be in early 2026, because the main reason the Magic Kingdom has no “After Hours” events for the rest of 2025 is because they already have a full schedule of Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party (select nights Aug. 15 through Oct. 31st / Cost $119-$229) and Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas party events (Mid November through Late December)
(5/31/2025) The latest construction update from the Stormalong Bay refurbishment project at Walt Disney World’s Yacht and Beach Club resorts can be found over at MouseSteps this week.
(4/2/2025) Consider me surprised… when I last checked Walt Disney World’s operational schedule, it only confirmed that Blizzard Beach would be closing for refurbishment on May 1st, the same day that Typhoon Lagoon would reopen to guests. Imagine my surprise when I looked over the dates again, and it now confirmed that Blizzard Beach will only be closed for a short 20-days.
You read that right… Blizzard Beach will REOPEN to guests on May 21st, 2025… and for the first time since the pandemic, Typhoon Lagoon will also be open at the same time. To be clear… both waterparks at Walt Disney World will be open once again, at the same time, for the summer season.
(3/31/2025) Walt Disney World has announced the dates for this year’s Disney H2O Glow After Hours party event at Disney's Typhoon Lagoon waterpark, which will take place on select nights from May 23rd to Sept. 13th. Visit here to read more about this special after-hours event, as well as to find out when the tickets will go on sale.
(3/24/2025) The latest construction pictures from the work taking place at Disney’s Yacht & Beach Club’s Stormalong Bay and other refurbishment work on the nearby buildings can be seen over at MouseSteps this week.
(3/16/2025) So when will Typhoon Lagoon reopen at Walt Disney World? Currently if you want to enjoy a waterpark experience, Blizzard Beach is the only water park open on properly. While lately Walt Disney World’s operational schedule has only allowed for one waterpark to open at a time since COVID, Disney has now confirmed that that they will be celebrating the 30th Anniversary of Blizzard Beach on April 1st with a celebration party that “will continue throughout April”.
Typhoon Lagoon will then reopen to guests on May 1st, 2025, and Blizzard Beach will close down and likely not reopen until late Fall 2025.
(3/10/2025) MouseSteps is back with another extensive photo update looking over the progress of the refurbishment of Stormalong Bay at Disney’s Yacht and Beach Club Resorts.
(2/17/2025) The latest pictures of the work taking place on Stormalong Bay at Disney’s Yacht & Beach Club can be seen over at MouseSteps this week.
Another item worth mentioning is that it has been confirmed that Jellyrolls, the longtime popular music club at Disney’s Boardwalk Resort, will close forever at the end of April 19th, 2025. As you might suspect, Jellyrolls is not owned by Disney, and has been a third-party tenant leasing the space for nearly 30 years now, so it does say something about the status of things going on at Walt Disney World that they are now departing.
In a previous announcement on the pending closure, Jellyrolls did state that they are “making a move”, which seems to indicate that they will be moving into a new home elsewhere in Orlando, more than likely off Disney property, but no one knows where just yet.
(2/8/2025) MouseSteps has posted a new construction update from Disney’s Yacht and Beach Club Resorts, checking in on the refurbishment of Stormalong Bay.
(1/31/2025) Roughly 16 months after the Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser hotel at Walt Disney World closed down for good, Disney has finally announced their next plan for the complex… and big surprise… you and your friends are not invited. According to several sources, the former themed ultra-hotel concept is in the midst of being converted into a new plush office space to be used for Walt Disney Imagineering.
It is an interesting choice and it does make some sense as well, as there are lessons to be learned there from what may have been one of Walt Disney’s biggest failures. While it looked cool as hell to all the Star Wars fans, the price-point and and operational costs just did not work out, causing the bright star of the Starcruiser to fizzle out very quickly.
The timing works as well, as currently Walt Disney World finds itself in the midsts of a huge series of expansions and new capital projects that are taking place not only in the four main theme parks, but across the entire resort. You may also remember that around mid 2021, Disney announced plans to relocate WDI’s HQ from California to a new campus just east of Orlando’s Airport. But when Disney found itself quickly at war between their business and the state government they opted to cancel those plans in mid 2023.
But given all the projects now in the works, I’m sure it would be useful to have a bigger dedicated office space to use within WDW than what the local crew is working out of right now, which I believe is somewhere backstage at Epcot.
(1/20/2025) Just a quick FYI for anyone planning to drop in to Disney Springs, the parking situation has gotten a little more complicated than normal. The “Orange” parking structure, which I believe is the largest of all the structures, and also the main structure that most guests planning on dropping into the West Side are likely to use, is now closing off Levels 3, 4 and 5 (out of 5) for refurbishment for an unknown period of time. So before you make your next trip, maybe plan on using one of the other lots so you don’t waste time driving in circles looking for an open spot.
(1/18/2025) Another set of pictures showing off the refurbishment of Stormalong Bay at Disney’s Yacht & Beach Club Resorts has been posted to MouseSteps this week. Things are moving fast, but perhaps one of the most interesting things is that the sand has been removed from the bottom of Stormalong Bay which should allow for some resurfacing work to be done.
(1/14/2025) If you like spending time at the pool when you stay at a Walt Disney World Resort, be advised that the Stormlong Bay and Shipwreck Pool at Disney Yacht and Beach Club Resorts is now closed until at least June 2025. Just a heads up, in case you want to try and switch your reservations.
To see what’s going on, head on over to MouseSteps this week who posted several pictures to show off the closed off pool area.
(1/2/2025) Walt Disney World is looking to increase the crowd levels at their waterparks, or rather, whatever waterpark they have open at any given time. A new promotion from WDW will now give on-site resort guests free admission to a Walt Disney World waterpark, but only on the day of your actual check-in to the hotel, and only if you are staying at one of the “Disney Resort Collection” hotels. This includes all the main WDW Resort hotels, but does not include the on-site partner hotels, such as the WDW Swan & Dolphin.
The good news is that you don’t have to wait until your room is ready to check in and get this offer. If you arrive into town early in the day, you can go to the hotel, do a pre-check-in, leave your bags at the front desk, and head straight to the waterpark.
I’m a bit surprised, as I don’t believe Disney hasn’t really offered waterpark admission for free for a couple of decades. I do remember back in the 90’s, free waterpark admission was offered as a perk for those willing to buy a multi-day pass or 4 or 5 days or more, along with admission to Pleasure Island and the long closed Discovery Island nature area. Perhaps this may be telling us a little bit about how well Disney’s waterparks may be fairing attendance-wise against all the other waterparks in the region, especially since they went down to only offering one waterpark at a time since the pandemic.
 WDW has one more special offer as well to on-site resort guests this year. With the purchase of select Walt Disney World vacation packages in 2025, Disney will include free dining plans. From the look of things, this will only be offered when booked between now and Feb. 10, for most trips arriving either between May 27 to June 26 or July 7 to Aug. 6, 2025.
If you would like more details about these new or other Walt Disney World offers, please feel free to reach out to Kerry Hart at Joyous Adventures who can assist you with all your Walt Disney World booking needs!
(11/8/2024) Ride vehicles from two former Walt Disney World attractions have now been donated to the National Roller Coaster Museum. Freshly delivered is a former ride car from the removed Snow White’s Scary Adventures dark ride in the Magic Kingdom, along with something else I haven’t seen in a long time… one of the former Buzz Lightyear’s Astro Blaster bumper cars that ran inside the closed DisneyQuest attraction at Downtown Disney. The custom bumper cars were unique in that riders sat inside an enclosed plexiglass cabin, because each of the cars was also outfitted with a cannon that could shoot rubber balls at the other cars. As I recall, upon your car being struck by a ball, it would power-down for a few seconds leaving you stranded if you kept getting pelted by the other gunners. Each Astro Blaster car could gather up a collection of new balls to shoot by driving over them on the course, scooping them up into a bin where the designed gunner could reload them into the cannon to shoot at the other players.
(9/7/2024) The hand-off between the two Walt Disney World waterparks is now set to take place in early November, with your last day to visit Typhoon Lagoon in 2024 being Nov. 4th. Blizzard Beach will reopen once again for the next several months starting Nov. 5th, 2024.
Based on the current operational pattern established since the pandemic, Blizzard Beach will likely remain open until sometime in Spring 2025, when they would swap parks again and reopen Typhoon Lagoon for the warmer months of the year, which always seemed a little counter to the theme of Blizzard Beach as the whole concept of the theme was to enjoy an arctic blasted waterpark in the warm summer season.
Even though they say Walt Disney World has returned to pre-pandemic performance numbers, the one thing they have not done is gone back to operating their two waterparks at the same time in the Spring and Summer seasons. Prior to the pandemic, both waterparks essentially had year-round operations, but would each close for about a 2-month long period in the late fall through early Spring for refurbishment.
With the rise of so many other high quality waterparks in the Orlando area, especially Aquatica and Volcano Bay, the rumor is that Disney running both waterparks at the same time either barely made back their operational budget, or were possibly even operating at a loss. If true, then much like the loss of the free FastPass program, the pandemic gave Disney the perfect excuse to shake things up and change how they were going to operate their waterparks going forward.
(6/14/2024) It has been confirmed that the Florida government and Walt Disney World have come to an agreement over a new 15-year master plan of development that will see up to $17 billion in new developments added to the theme park resort property. This seems to have finally brought an end to the angry stand-off between Florida’s Governor DeSantis and the state’s biggest tourism revenue generator.
As part of the deal, Disney has agreed to fund $10 million in ‘attainable housing projects’ in the area, and ensure that at least 50% of their construction work will be contracted out to Florida-based companies, which is also great for the local economy.
Ticket Pricing Updates - (4/25/2025) Prepare to pay more if you are visiting Walt Disney World in 2026. According to reports the resort has added newly increased ticket prices for visits between January and October 2026 on their website, where the top tier price appears to have increased about $10 to $199 for most of the parks and $179 for Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
This is also a great time to point out my latest article for Blooloop that was just posted last week. This discusses comments made at the annual Disney Shareholder meeting, where the subject of how the cost to visit a Disney park these days was becoming out of reach of your average consumer. Follow the link to see what Bob Iger’s response to this concept was.
(10/26/2024) With Disneyland having raised their ticket and annual pass prices a few weeks ago, you just knew it was only a matter of time before Walt Disney World did the same. While the Florida resort already raised their 2025 ticket prices that could be pre-booked earlier this year, they did choose this week to increase the price of their annual passes instead, with the various tiers rising anywhere from $30 to $100 for the year-long pass.
(3/2/2024) Disney fans will need to prepare themselves to pay more for their visits to Walt Disney World in 2025. Yes, I said in 2025. While previously Disney’s price increases were just sort of slammed in overnight, with little to no warning and effective from that moment forward, the new era of Disney ticketing, with surge-pricing in effect for busy days now allows them to add in their price increases over a year in advance.
According to Blooloop, based on ticket prices they are finding for 2025, it appears that most ticket prices will rise from $10 to $15 per day, based on the current prices listed for 2024. According to the report the cheapest day/tier tickets offered for Disney Animal Kingdom will jump from $109 to $119, Epcot will rise from $119 to $129, Disney’s Hollywood Studios will rise from $129 to $139 and tickets to visit the Magic Kingdom will rise from $129 to $144 in 2025. You can also expect a $5 to $20 price increase for passes with Park Hopping.
2025/2026 - LEVEL99 at Disney Springs - (2/19/2025) A new “interactive, competitive social gaming venue for adults” will soon be coming to Disney Springs with the opening of the fifth location of LEVEL99. The Walt Disney World location will be the company’s first Florida location, as they prepare to open locations in Virginia and Connecticut in 2025. Currently there are two operating LEVEL99 locations, one in Natick, MA and the other in Providence, RI.
I’ve never seen a LEVEL99 location myself, but the press release claims each location features over 50 physical and mental challenges set in artistic environments. Beyond the gaming experience, the locations also feature “award-winning” culinary offerings and craft adult beverages. A typical experience at LEVEL99 is said to take at least 2-3 hours of game play, and some players opt to stay all day.
The upcoming Disney Springs location will be the largest LEVEL99 location to gate, and feature over 60 challenge rooms and duels to experience, taking place in a 45,000 sqft two-level venue able to accommodate upwards of 1,000 players at a time. The Disney Springs location will also feature a two level bar as the centerpiece of the site.
While the exact site of LEVEL99 isn’t mentioned, it is very likely going to take the place of the former NBA Experience, which replaced the former DisneyQuest attraction. An old press release of the NBA Experience described it as a 44,000 sqft two-level experience, which matches up perfectly with the size and scope of the new LEVEL99 location. Of course, this pales in comparison to DisneyQuest which was built inside a 5-story building, but I’m so glad to hear that something more akin to the fun and game style experience that DisneyQuest offered is now coming back to Disney Springs after all these years. Even better, a quick google search of the two existing LEVEL99 locations does come with very high guest reviews for the locations as well, 4.7 stars for MA and 4.9 stars for the RI locations.
2027 - Disney’s Lakeshore Lodge - In Development - (11/28/2024) The former “Reflections - A Disney Lakeside Lodge” DVC Resort project for Walt Disney World that was put on indefinite hold shortly after starting the initial site clearing due to the pandemic is now back… kind of. Disney has spent the years revising the concept and has announced a new project on the same site (where the old River Country water park used to be) that will be called Disney’s Lakeshore Lodge. New permits have been filed and work has restarted with the goal of opening this new resort sometime in 2027. Beyond that, few details are known, other than it will be similar in size and scope and theme to the original Reflections concept.
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 ???? - New Magic Kingdom Resort - (10/23/21) Is Walt Disney World planning some kind of new resort for the Magic Kingdom area? New permits filed by Walt Disney World for a “World Drive Phase III” now show plans to move the existing Floridan Way road as it approaches the Grand Floridian. The roadway will turn to the left and cut through a small section of the Magnolia Golf Course that will essentially wipe out Hole 16 to get around a backstage work and parking area and then head North again with an all new road to eventually reconnect with the existing road at the intersection of Maple Rd.
I drew up a quick graphic showing the approximate location of the new planned route for Floridian Way and how it would open up a rather large piece of land just to the north of the Grand Floridian along an undeveloped section of the Seven Seas Lagoon. Well, almost undeveloped… you may recall that Disney management FINALLY completed the “decades in the making” walkway from The Magic Kingdom to the Grand Floridian resort with the construction of two bridges and a pathway. While the pathway was announced a long long time ago, the reveal of this new piece of the puzzle makes me wonder if they finally had a good reason to finish this pathway after all these years to provide walking access to the Magic Kingdom from any possible new resort they might choose to put there. (The distance isn’t far enough to bother with adding yet another monorail stop between the park and Grand Flo…)
Now don’t go expecting to see a new building rising in the next year or so. This is a fine example of Disney’s long term strategy at work here, and I think they’re just setting the stage for something special to come in the future… but not until they are ready.
???? - New Theme Parks - (7/2/2025) The latest plan for the Walt Disney World Resort approved through the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District (formerly known as Reedy Creek back when Disney still controlled it themselves) has given permission for the company to build two minor theme parks and a major new theme park by 2045. According to the report the major park can open anytime 2035 and 2045 and minor parks would be expected by 2030 and 2035. If the growth level is achieved, Walt Disney World could welcome an approximate 99.3 million guests a year by 2045, up from the estimated 51.2 million they served in 2023 according to the TEA/AECOM report.
That said… just because Disney has permission now to build new parks, doesn’t necessarily mean that they will. Having them on the books now however will make it easy to ask for extensions to those time windows as needed however. While a 5th major park does seem like something they might need, especially since the last new Disney park in Florida was Animal Kingdom which opened way back in 1998, Disney has been spending more time and effort than ever to renovate and expand their existing four parks in ways previously never imagined. So maybe once those latest projects are done, then we can start to dream about something entirely new.
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