Walt Disney World Resort
Orlando, FL
---- THE LATEST BUZZ ----
(1/31/2026) On Property Four Seasons Resort Looking To Be Sold
(1/10/2026) Walt Disney World Offers 2026 Florida Resident Ticket Special
(1/4/2026) Two Deaths Reported at Disney Springs Over The Past Couple Days
(12/21/2025) Walt Disney World Sets Dates To Close Typhoon Lagoon and Reopen Blizzard Beach
(12/20/2025) Disney To Test Out 3D Printed Props For Attractions
Resort Rehabs - The following information is subject to change:
Typhoon Lagoon - NOW OPEN - Closing Feb. 14, 2026
Blizzard Beach - NOW CLOSED - Reopening Feb. 15, 2026
 General Resort News - (1/31/2026) According to industry trades, the Four Seasons hotel on property at Walt Disney World is apparently in the midst of being sold from Host Hotels & Resorts to BDT & MSD Partners in a deal worth over $1 billion that will also include the sale of another Four Seasons hotel in Wyoming.
It is assumed that the branding deal with Four Seasons will remain in place as part of the transition if the deal is finalized, so really nothing should change on the surface for the guests staying there.
If you’ve never really noticed a Four Seasons hotel at Walt Disney World before, that’s because it’s a bit off the beaten path from the rest of the resorts, located at the back-end of the Golden Oak housing development, in the more wooden and undeveloped north-eastern corner of the WDW complex, with the closest regular guest area being the Fort Wilderness campground.
(1/4/2026) Two more strange deaths have taken place at Walt Disney World, following five other reported deaths that took place across the resort between October and November 2025. According to news reports a man was found dead in the Orange parking structure at Disney Springs on Friday night, just before 9pm. Local law enforcement is investigating the death as a possible suicide, but no further details have been released at this time. Why suicide? Because at least two of those previous 5 deaths were also declared as suicides, taking place at Disney’s Contemporary Resort and another at the connected Bay Lake Tower at Disney’s Contemporary Resort.
Then a second death was also reported as taking place at Disney Springs less than 12-hours later, with police alerted around 10:17am Saturday morning, but no solid details have been released about the circumstances involved with this second incident.
(12/20/2025) Could 3D printed props be coming to a Disney attraction near you? Apparently so, as Haddy, a 3D print house in Florida has been working with Disney to create a new Canoe prop that will soon be installed in the park’s Jungle Cruise attraction. Disney Imagineering has worked with Haddy to ensure that the look of the new large-scale 3D printed project will blend in with the look and theme of the existing props seen throughout the attraction experience.
The concept reduces the amount of time needed to manufacture a prop from weeks and even months down to about 70-hours needed to print the prop. The concept is also interesting from as point of replacement over time, as the digitally-stored design files can be fired up to make a replacement for anything that is damaged or broken in the future in a matter of hours. The idea of seeing more 3D printed props goes on to including mentioning possibly using the process to create all the themed closet doors for the upcoming Monsters Inc. coaster under construction over at the Studios park in Florida.
(10/9/2025) Walt Disney World has announced a number of upgraded animatronic figures are coming to their Orlando theme parks. This includes upgrades to the figures on the Frozen Ever After attraction at Epcot for the Anna, Elsa and Kristoff figures that will be changed to look more like the ones used on the attraction at Hong Kong Disneyland, featuring better animated faces and movement. Look for this to be completed sometime in early 2026.
Meanwhile guests visiting Animal Kingdom later this year will enjoy a new Clawhauser animatronic figure that will be installed in the new Zootopia: Better Together 4D attraction.
And now confirmed to be arriving in time for Summer 2026 the new Muppets takeover of the Rock ‘n Roller Coaster attraction will also not only feature a number of Muppet characters along the way, but also the first-ever animatronic figure of the character, Scooter, along with some other still secret Muppet additions.
Ticket Pricing Updates - (1/10/2026) Florida Residents… Walt Disney World has announced a special ticket offer just for you. They’re calling it the Discover Disney Ticket offer, which offers the chance of admission into all four of the WDW theme parks if you visit from Jan. 12 to May 16, 2026.
You can buy a 4-day ticket for $255 (that’s $64 a day) or the 3-day ticket for $235 (that’s $79 a day). It is also worth mentioning that you are also not limited to visiting each park only once, so if you want to spend all four days at The Magic Kingdom… go ahead and knock yourself out.
Note that these are not park-hoppers, so you can only visit one park per day, HOWEVER… there is a Park Hopper add-on option for an additional $40.
One final thing to keep in mind however, advanced reservations are required to use these passes each day that you want to visit.
(10/8/2025) Disney has raised ticket prices at Disneyland and Walt Disney World this week. The parks play the “tier” game by keeping prices for the few calendar days on the lowest tier about the same as before while increasing the price to get in on the other tiers. The low price tier at Disneyland will be $104 for a one day admission, but if you drop in on a busy day, the top tier price will have increased up to $224, an increase of $18.
Prices in Orlando’s Walt Disney World will range between $119 and $209, depending on which park you want to visit as well as how busy it will be on the day you want to visit.
If you’re wondering, annual pass and parking prices have also increased. WDW parking is $35 for standard and $50 for preferred parking and over in California it will cost you $40 or $60 to park at the Disneyland Resort.
(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.
Waterpark Schedule / News - (12/21/2025) Walt Disney World has now set Saturday, February 14th, 2026 as the final day of operations for Typhoon Lagoon’s current season. As we’ve seen over the past few years, Disney has mostly only ran one water park at a time, swapping between Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach. That said, the currently closed Blizzard Beach will reopen on February 15th, 2026 .
While this might seem to be a short-season for Blizzard Beach however, as Disney’s typically summer plan has been to host their H20 Glow After Hours party events at Typhoon Lagoon from late May through to early September, this is not likely the case. If Disney follows their new waterpark plan from 2025, we should see Typhoon Lagoon reopen sometime in May, keeping both waterparks open for the Summer of 2026 once again. Last year we did see Blizzard Beach close for about 3 weeks in early May only to reopen just before Memorial Day Weekend for the dual-waterpark summer schedule so that could happen as well.
We’ll have to wait until the Summer park schedules are posted to know more.
(7/16/2025) As predicted, it looks like Walt Disney World will go back to only offering a single waterpark right after the Labor Day holiday. Currently the official website only lists hours for Blizzard Beach from now through to Sept. 7th, with the park appearing to be set for fall season slumber starting on Sept. 8th.
(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.
(3/16/2025) 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”.
(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.
2026 - LEVEL99 at Disney Springs - (12/4/2025) It has been awhile since we’ve heard any updates on the new LEVEL99 attraction that is coming to Disney Springs to replace the former NBA Experience attraction (which replaced the beloved DisneyQuest). Disney confirms that LEVEL99 will be ready to “open in 2026 with over 60 themed challenge rooms, duels and art hunts that will tes tht mental and physical prowess of you and your friends and family.”
Unfortunately… 2026 is a very large window… so they’re not yet ready to narrow it down to a season, so I’m guessing this may be something that won't be ready to open until the later part of 2026.
(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 - (7/5/2025) Things are progressing rapidly on the new Disney Lakeshore Lodge complex that is being built on the site of Disney’s former River Country waterpark that closed back in 2001. You can get a quick look from the air in photos posted by Bioreconstruct on X/Twitter as well as view how things look from the ground and from the water in the latest update from MouseSteps taken yesterday. According to the update the new Lakeshore Lodge towers will ultimately be 10 stories tall and including a series of A-Frame cabins that are being built near the shoreline, the resort will have about 900 rooms, putting it just ahead of the Grand Floridan.
(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 - (7/5/2025) Back in 2021 we reported that Walt Disney World had filed plans to re-route Florida Way away from the current path towards the Grand Floridian and instead put the road further west where they would reclaim a hole or two of the nearby golf course in order to run a new road along the backside of a cast parking and backstage facilities area for the resort. It would then reconnect with the existing road back near Reedy Creek Fire Station 3, which is also the backstage entrance road into where all the current Magic Kingdom construction is taking place for Big Thunder and the removal of the Rivers of America. The end result of removing the road was the ability to link together two sections of property on either side that would actually allow for a good size new resort to be placed eventually in a way that would allow for easy walking access to the Magic Kingdom. Or… if Disney is thinking REALLY LONG TERM… it could also allow for an expansion of the Magic Kingdom to happen behind Adventureland if they ever opted to remove the canal where they park the Electrical Water Pageant barges during the day. (But that’s a thought for another day…)
Regardless, after all this time has passed it looks like they’re finally moving along on this new road project along with a general widing and replacement of Florida Way all the way from the Magic Kingdom parking lot and past the new expansion towers at the Polynesian Resort.
For the moment, some of this land that was speculated to be for a new resort is being cleared along that canal run, which is likely going to be used as backstage project space and storage for the tons of construction that will be entering into the Magic Kingdom back here for the removal of Tom Sawyer’s Island & Rivers of America, the construction of the new Cars themed land that will replace it, and eventually followed by the clearing and construction of the new Villains themed land that will come next. (Credit for all photos below to Bioreconstruct on X/Twitter)
(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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