May 26 marked the start of Cool Kids' Summer at Walt Disney World, and the programming that launched with it is more substantial than the name might suggest.
The season runs through September 8 and touches every park, both water parks, Disney Springs, and the resort hotels in ways that make it worth understanding before your trip rather than discovering on arrival. The headline addition at Disney's Hollywood Studios is a new pin trading board exclusively for kids, which sounds small until you have watched a ten-year-old try to trade pins in a space dominated entirely by adults. It is a specific and thoughtful addition that reflects how the season has been designed: with younger guests treated as the actual audience rather than an afterthought.
Here is everything that is live across the resort right now.
Animal Kingdom
Bluey's Wild World is operating at Conservation Station and is staying beyond the summer season. Guests take the Wildlife Express Train out to Conservation Station and find Bluey and Bingo available for photos and games, including activities adapted from episodes of Bluey and a section called Jumping Junction that introduces kids to Australian animals native to Bluey's home country. The connection between the show's setting and the park's conservation mission is genuinely well executed.
EPCOT
GoofyCore has taken over CommuniCore Hall with DJ-led dancing and a lineup of interactive games including Loopy Limbo and Parachutes ‘n' Pipsqueaks. The format is simple: Goofy presides, the music plays, and the stated goal is for kids to be as silly as possible. Every activity is designed to get kids moving without any pressure to perform correctly. It is a low-stakes, high-energy use of a building that needed a better purpose during peak summer crowds.
Hollywood Studios
The kids-only pin trading board is the most talked-about new addition at Hollywood Studios, but it arrives alongside Disney Jr. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Live!, a new show debuting May 26 and staying beyond summer. Based on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse+, the show follows Mickey and Minnie tracking down their friends who have not arrived for a big Clubhouse party. It features original songs, interactive audience moments, and enough energy to hold younger guests' attention through a full performance.
The Disney Jr. Zone also launches May 26 with character greetings from Sofia the First and Bitsy from SuperKitties, set against bubbles and Disney Jr. music.
The pin trading board specifically deserves its own moment. Disney pin trading has been part of the park experience for decades, but the trading boards have always been open to everyone, which means adults who collect seriously tend to dominate the best locations. A board reserved only for younger guests gives kids their own space where the collecting experience is designed around them. It is the kind of addition that will not make headlines next to a new coaster but will be remembered by the kids who use it.
Magic Kingdom
Jessie's Roundup: A Rip-Roarin' Revue is running this summer only inside the Diamond Horseshoe. Jessie, Woody, Bullseye, and Toy Story friends lead songs, dances, and games in a venue that has rarely been used as effectively as this. The Diamond Horseshoe is a large, climate-controlled space with good sightlines and the Roundup format is designed for young guests who want to participate rather than just watch.
Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin has also been updated with new ride vehicles, a new character named Buddy who guides riders through interactive target practice before launch, interactive targets that light up and respond when hit, new handheld blasters with enhanced lighting, sound, and vibration, and new post-ride photos that display individual scores. The updates make an already repeatable attraction more engaging on return visits.
Disney Springs
The DescenDANCE Party x Camp Rock Jam runs every Tuesday through Thursday from May 26 through the summer, from 6 PM to 10 PM at the Marketplace. A DJ focused on Disney Channel Original Movies plays music from Descendants and Camp Rock for an audience that skews toward tweens and teens. It is a free addition to a Disney Springs evening and one of the few Cool Kids' Summer offerings aimed at older kids who have outgrown the character greeting circuit.
Water Parks
Both Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach are open simultaneously this summer for the second time since the pandemic. Goofy is appearing at Blizzard Beach in summer beach gear and Stitch is making his presence felt at Typhoon Lagoon. Disney hotel guests receive complimentary water park admission on check-in day through September 8.
What Resort Hotels Are Offering
Guests receive 30 minutes of early theme park entry every day of their stay. Four resorts are running expanded family programming this summer: Pop Century, Art of Animation, Caribbean Beach, and Port Orleans Riverside. The additions at these four properties include character visits with posted appearance times so families can actually plan around them, complimentary baby and toddler supplies including bottle warmers, infant bathtubs, diaper disposal units, and nightlights, curated children's book libraries from Disney Publishing, pool parties with interactive entertainment, story time pajama parties with a create-your-own bedtime story activity, and campfire evenings with marshmallows and Disney sing-alongs.
The Pricing
The 4-Day, 4-Park Magic Ticket starts at $109 per day plus tax for visits between May 26 and October 3, 2026. One park per day, all four parks eligible, and the ticket must be used within seven days of first use.
A free dining plan offer was available to guests who booked between March 12 and April 30, 2026, through a Walt Disney Travel Company package with Park Hopper tickets. That offer applies to select stay windows between late June and December 2026.
How This Affects a Disney Vacation
Cool Kids' Summer is built around a specific thesis: that families with young children deserve programming designed for their actual experience rather than the adult version of a theme park with some kid-friendly elements mixed in.
The kids-only pin trading board at Hollywood Studios is a small example of that thesis in practice. So is the posted character appearance schedule at the four family-focused resorts, which addresses one of the most common frustrations of traveling with young kids at Disney: not knowing when or where to find a character without standing in a long unscheduled queue. So is the availability of infant supplies at those same resorts, which reduces how much families with very young children have to pack and carry.
For families visiting Walt Disney World this summer with children between roughly three and twelve, the resort has rarely been as specifically designed around that demographic as it is right now. The entertainment is there. The resort perks are there. The scheduling tools are more guest-friendly than they have been in previous summers.
Before your Walt Disney World visit this summer, check the current show schedules for Disney Jr. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Live!, Jessie's Roundup, and GoofyCore at each park's entertainment page. If you are traveling with young children and choosing between resort hotels, the programming at Pop Century, Art of Animation, Caribbean Beach, and Port Orleans Riverside is worth factoring into that decision before you book.
