Hi Dana! Welcome back to planDisney!
It's never too early to start planning for a magical stay at the
Walt Disney World Resort! While bookings for 2026 are not yet available, you can begin to visualize what your vacation will look like. This includes which Disney Resorts hotel you want to stay in, what dining locations you want to try, and what activities you will experience. Most of the time, the planning can be just as fun as the vacation itself!
I'm happy to announce that there are plenty of changes coming to the Walt Disney World Resort in the next few years. While official dates have not been announced for many of these changes, I can share some anticipated timelines of experiences that should be open by the time of your stay.
There is a
new nighttime parade coming to the Magic Kingdom. Disney Starlight is slated to open this summer, which will be in plenty of time for your June 2026 arrival. Besides the parades that occur during the special ticketed events, it's been almost ten years since the Magic Kingdom has seen a parade under the night sky. I expect there to be dazzling lights, enchanting music, and some of your favorite Disney characters.
A new show is coming to the Tree of Life Theater at
Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park. A Zootopia Show is slated to take over for Tough To Be A Bug. The anticipated arrival of this new experience is the winter of 2025. With that timeframe, it should open before your arrival. While details are limited, I'm hoping that there are interactive elements to this show as we've seen in this space in the past.
Over at
EPCOT, a newly imagined Test Track is scheduled to re-open later this summer. While this is not technically a special event, this will be something that Guests visiting EPCOT will be excited to check out. Following this trend, Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run at Disney's Hollywood Studios is set to welcome a new mission sometime in 2026. Hopefully, it will be just in time for your arrival.
Dana, I hope you have a wonderful time planning your stay! I know by getting an early head start, you will be more than prepared when it comes time to book your vacation.
Happy planning!
Greg