2026 Disney World New Attractions And Events Guide

Walt Disney World Resort has now laid out a detailed 2026 calendar with ten new or refreshed attractions and nine returning festivals and special events across its four theme parks and Disney Springs. The list runs from January 16, 2026 through the winter holiday season, and it comes on top of recent additions like Disney Starlight, Zootopia Better Zoogether, and a reimagined Test Track that will still be "new" for many visitors next year. For travelers, the practical question is how to line up park days, tickets, and hotel offers so those additions add value instead of just extra cost and crowds.

In simple terms, the Disney World 2026 new attractions and events calendar concentrates value for on site guests who can stack kids free dining, water park access, and After Hours tickets around seasonal festivals and ride reopenings, while off site visitors will need to decide when crowd and heat tradeoffs are worth chasing the newest experiences.

2026 value offers for on site guests

Throughout 2026, guests staying at more than 25 Disney Resort hotels can get a free dining plan for children ages 3 to 9 when purchasing a dining plan for the rest of the party, ages 10 and up, as part of a vacation package. Disney describes this as stackable with certain other future offers, although the fine print on minimum length of stay, ticket type, and eligible hotels will matter, so you should always check the official booking pages before assuming every combination works.

A separate perk, returning for summer 2026, gives Disney Resorts Collection hotel guests free admission to a Disney water park on their arrival day, subject to specific date windows and water park operating schedules. Travelers flying into Orlando International Airport (MCO) for weekend trips should weigh the value of that arrival day access against jet lag and afternoon thunderstorms, which can cut short water park time in June and July. For longer stays, the water park day will be most useful if you build it in as a low stakes buffer after a late evening flight.

Disney After Hours, the separately ticketed, low capacity nighttime event, is also confirmed at Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, and Disneys Hollywood Studios on select dates in 2026. For many guests, these events are now one of the only reliable ways to ride high demand attractions with short waits, but the per person cost adds up quickly; families who already plan full length day tickets may get better value visiting in less crowded seasons instead of layering After Hours on peak dates.

Early 2026, Frozen upgrades and EPCOT Festival of the Arts

February 2026 brings newly updated Audio Animatronics figures of Anna, Elsa, and Kristoff to Frozen Ever After in EPCOT, using newer figure technology similar to the World of Frozen implementations in Hong Kong Disneyland. Travelers with Frozen fans should expect higher demand around the reopening period, so it makes sense to target a midweek EPCOT visit and use Lightning Lane or early entry rather than relying on standby lines.

From January 16 to February 23, 2026, the EPCOT International Festival of the Arts returns with food studios, performance art, and Disney on Broadway concerts, again turning the front half of the year into a viable trip window for travelers who prefer cooler weather and shorter park hours over long summer days. Because this festival overlaps with winter long weekends and some school breaks, you should still expect heavy weekends and relatively calmer weekdays, especially Monday through Thursday.

Spring 2026, Refreshed classics and Flower and Garden

From March 4 to June 1, 2026, the EPCOT International Flower and Garden Festival layers topiaries, gardens, and Outdoor Kitchens on top of the regular park lineup, plus the Garden Rocks concert series. For many repeat visitors this is now the preferred time to visit EPCOT, so book park reservations and on site rooms early if you need specific weeks.

Spring 2026 is also refurbishment season. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad at Magic Kingdom is due to reopen with "new magic" after an extended crevasse to peak refurbishment, and Buzz Lightyears Space Ranger Spin will resume operation with upgraded vehicles, handheld blasters, and targets. Both changes are positioned as plussing, not full rethemes, which means existing fans should find familiar layouts with more reliable effects and maybe slightly higher capacity. If either ride is a must do for your group, avoid locking in nonrefundable trips in very early spring, when date slips are still possible.

Summer 2026, Cool Kids Summer, Bluey, new shows, and Muppets

Summer 2026 is the busiest cluster of changes. The "Cool Kids Summer" promotion packages new and refreshed attractions with energetic dance experiences like GoofyCore in EPCOT, interactive character driven games in all four parks, and "special ticket offers and deals" that Disney has not fully detailed yet. In practice this looks like a marketing wrapper for a year where capacity and entertainment are increasing, not a fundamentally different crowd pattern; July and early August will still feel like peak season, especially for families tied to school calendars.

At Disneys Animal Kingdom Theme Park, summer 2026 adds a Bluey themed experience at Conservation Station, where families can play games inspired by episodes, meet Bluey and Bingo, and step into an Australian animal exhibit outside the main space. This will reinforce Animal Kingdom as a full day park for younger families, which could shift some pressure away from Magic Kingdom on select days if operations and marketing are balanced well.

Disneys Hollywood Studios will debut "Disney Jr Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Live" in the reimagined Disney Jr space, bringing a road trip themed show with Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Daisy, and Pluto aimed at preschoolers, along with "The Magic of Disney Animation," a new area where animated characters appear in meet and greet settings tied to different animation studio departments. Expect these experiences to soak up demand in what has become a heavily headliner driven park, making rope drop slightly less punishing if the park adds enough show times.

Rock n Roller Coaster Starring The Muppets is scheduled to open in summer 2026, after Rock n Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith closes in spring for its final retheme phase. Coaster capacity will be offline for a chunk of spring, raising wait times elsewhere in the park; if you care more about one last Aerosmith ride than the Muppets version, spring is your final window, but if the new concept is the draw, plan for late summer or fall once the initial rush eases off.

Summer also brings the return of Disney H2O Glow After Hours at Disneys Typhoon Lagoon water park, combining DJ sets, lower capacity slides, character appearances, and included snacks. Because thunderstorms are common on summer evenings, travelers should make sure they are comfortable with the risk of weather shortened events before paying the premium.

Key 2026 dates, Millennium Falcon, Soarin, Banana Ball, and Level99

On May 22, 2026, a new mission centered on The Mandalorian and Grogu arrives at Millennium Falcon, Smugglers Run in Star Wars, Galaxys Edge at Disneys Hollywood Studios. Operationally, this will likely shift standby and Lightning Lane demand within the land and could create a soft spike in late May bookings, especially among Star Wars fans who skipped earlier years of Galaxys Edge.

By Memorial Day 2026, Soarin Across America will take flight at EPCOT, replacing the global film with an all American flight path as part of Disney Celebrates America for the countrys 250th anniversary. The overlay is billed as limited time, which usually translates into higher demand and more social media coverage; travelers who prefer the original Soarin Around the World film may want to ride it in 2025, while those who want the patriotic version should plan EPCOT days from late May onward.

From May 29 to 30, 2026, Banana Ball comes to ESPN Wide World of Sports, adding a niche but high profile baseball entertainment event with its own lottery based ticketing and a small allocation of food and beverage inclusive tickets. The event itself will not move resort wide crowd levels, but it will tighten inventory at certain hotels, especially for locals and regional visitors driving in for the weekend.

At Disney Springs, Level99 is set to open on the West Side in 2026, with more than 60 themed challenge rooms, duels, art hunts, and a two story bar with Detroit style pizza and other made from scratch food. This gives off site visitors and annual passholders another non park evening option and could absorb some demand on arrival and departure days when families avoid burning theme park tickets.

Fall and winter 2026, Festivals and hard ticket parties

The EPCOT International Food and Wine Festival, Mickeys Not So Scary Halloween Party at Magic Kingdom, Disney Jollywood Nights at Disneys Hollywood Studios, Mickeys Very Merry Christmas Party, and the EPCOT International Festival of the Holidays presented by AdventHealth are all slated to return in their usual fall and winter windows in 2026. Disney has not locked exact date grids yet, but patterns from recent years suggest that festival seasons will creep longer, and party tickets will continue to sell out fastest for Friday nights and dates closest to Halloween and Christmas.

Because many of these offerings are now the main way to see special parades, fireworks, and rare characters, travelers should decide early whether they are comfortable paying for multiple hard ticket nights in a single trip. Some families will be better served by focusing on one season, for example Food and Wine only, rather than trying to chase every returning event across the entire year.

How to plan a 2026 Disney World trip

For 2026, the most efficient strategy is to pick one or two key anchors from the calendar, such as a specific EPCOT festival, the new Muppets coaster, or the Bluey experience, then build your trip around a season that matches your crowd and weather tolerance. The kids free dining plan and arrival day water park access make on site stays more competitive for families with younger children, but you should still spreadsheet the costs against off site condos or vacation rentals, especially for longer trips where transportation and parking fees accumulate.

Operational details and date ranges will continue to evolve between now and early 2026, so travelers should treat the current calendar as a planning framework, not a fixed schedule. Before you lock in flights, confirm final dates and park hours in the official Walt Disney World calendars, then stack flexible elements like Disney After Hours, water park days, and Level99 visits around the non negotiable pieces of your itinerary. With that approach, the Disney World 2026 new attractions and events become tools to shape a better trip, not just a list of things that can go wrong if you miss a date change.

Sources

• New Details About What's Coming to Walt Disney World in 2026
• Everything Coming to Walt Disney World in 2026, Full Year At A Glance Guide
• Disney Confirms Memorial Day 2026 Launch Window for New Soarin Across America Attraction
• Soarin Across America Opening Date And Details
• New 2026 Details for Walt Disney World, Bluey, Big Thunder, Frozen And More