News
Disney Fanatic is here to deliver the latest in Disney news from The Walt Disney Company and beyond.
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Apr- 2026 -12 April
Big Thunder’s Lightning Lane Return Could Shift Magic Kingdom Strategy
If you’ve been keeping an eye on the My Disney Experience app, you might have noticed something quietly slip back into place. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is back on Lightning Lane. It’s a small update on the surface. But in reality, it’s one of the clearest signs yet that Magic Kingdom is about to feel very different again. The Return of a Crowd Favorite Big Thunder has always been one of those
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12 April
Disney Shuts Down Public Access to Two ‘Toy Story’ Properties
Disneyland Resort has quietly taken two of its three Toy Story (1995)-themed attractions off the table within the span of a single week. Unfortunately, neither has a reopening date. A One-Two Punch for Pixar Fans Toy Story Midway Mania! went dark at Disney California Adventure Park on April 6, and Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters follows on April 13 at Disneyland Park. Both will be closed indefinitel
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12 April
Airlines Under Scrutiny for Seating Assignments on Disney Routes
We love to talk about everything that goes into actually getting to a Disney park, because getting there is step one of every single food crawl, every festival lap, every dining reservation we have ever written about. And right now getting there just got more expensive in a very specific way. Six major U.S. airlines have raised their checked baggage fees in the past two weeks. Delta, Southwest, Al
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12 April
Disney Confirms 2027 Opening Date for New Theme Park Experience
Disneyland Paris Resort has given an official name and a grand opening date to an Up (2009) ride that broke ground last November. A Park Reborn The announcement comes just two weeks after Disneyland Paris Resort's second gate underwent one of the most significant transformations in European Disney Park history. Walt Disney Studios Park — the original movie-making-themed Disney Park destination — c
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12 April
Long-Running Disney Attraction Ending After 21 Years, Closure Set in 32 Days
Some attraction updates at Walt Disney World are cosmetic. A refreshed queue, a new character appearance, a tweaked storyline that most guests would not notice without a side-by-side comparison. The changes coming to Soarin' at EPCOT this spring are not that. Disney has confirmed specific dates for a transformation that will close one of the park's most popular attractions, hold it offline for nea
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12 April
Universal Orlando Resort to Close Epic Universe Center on April 13
CityWalk at Universal Orlando Resort operates in a way that most guests take for granted until something changes. It is the entertainment district that bridges the parking structure and the theme park gates, and because it is the space guests move through at the start and end of every park visit, its restaurants and retail options shape the overall resort experience more quietly than anything insi
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12 April
Fumes Detected on Disney World Monorails Serving Multiple Parks
Disney parks are full of details that most guests absorb without consciously registering them. The ambient music that shifts as you walk from one land to the next. The specific temperature of the air inside an attraction queue on a summer day. The smell of a particular environment that locks into memory so completely that encountering it years later in a completely different context stops you cold
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12 April
Double Buyout Reported: Private Firms Strike Secretive Deals Across Disney World Parks
Private corporate events have been clearing Walt Disney World parks for after-hours business functions for years, and the practice tends to generate the most attention when guests discover the early closure after their plans are already locked in rather than before. The mechanics are always the same: a company pays for exclusive access to a park during the evening hours, the park closes to regular
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12 April
Roz’s Last Shift: Why Disneyland is Leveling Monsters, Inc. for its Next Massive Land
For nearly twenty years, Roz has been “always watching” at the end of the Monsters, Inc., Mike & Sulley to the Rescue! attraction in Disney California Adventure. But as of April 2026, it seems the legendary CDA agent might want to keep an eye on the wrecking ball instead. Credit: Disney The long-rumored “Disneyland Forward” project has officially moved from the legal phase
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12 April
Disney Park McDonald’s Restaurant Is No More, Demolition Photos Confirm
The Golden Arches have officially come down at one Disney theme park. A Partnership With Deep Roots The relationship between McDonald's and The Walt Disney Company goes back decades. What started as Happy Meal toy collaborations in the 1980s eventually grew into a physical presence inside the Disney parks themselves. Throughout the 1990s, McDonald's kiosks popped up at Disneyland Park, Magic Kingd
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