Hello there, and welcome to our Disney Kinda Life! If you’ve stepped foot near Walt Disney World (WDW) in the past couple of weeks, you know exactly what time of year it is. The Spring Break crowds have officially descended upon Walt Disney World, and with Easter just around the corner, the “vacation vibes” are high but the wait times are higher!
I was looking through multiple news sites about the theme parks and realized a lot is going on at Disney World, so I decided to try my hand at creating a new roundup article. Currently, we are dealing with a fight against cancer, as a lot of you know, so we are a bit limited in how often we get to the parks. I do love keeping up with the news and daily events in the parks, which is why we started the blog in the first place, so I hope you enjoy this somewhat different style of article from us. As always, you can follow us visually over on YouTube here. So grab your favorite beverage or snack (always popcorn for me) and let’s go!
The DinoLand “Afterlife” at Animal Kingdom
It’s been nearly two months since DinoLand U.S.A. officially closed its gates on February 1st to make way for the new Tropical Americas land. Walking past the construction walls today is bittersweet for us. So bittersweet, we actually have no reason to go over that way. It is a total construction zone with one lonely Star Wars-like trench run that brings you to Nemo and Everest.
- The Vibe: The area is a total hive of expansion activity. You can hear the demolition crews behind the walls where the Boneyard used to be. There is a massive crane of course that is building the Encanto Dark ride attraction.
- The rest of the park: Rafiki’s Planet Watch is currently transitioning to become Bluey, which opens in May. Pandora has the usual morning crowds. The new Zootopia show seems to be a hit with families, and as always, the snack vibe at Disney’s Animal Kingdom is always on point. In fact, there is a new treat at Terra Treats named Cookie Dough Brownie Ice Cream Sandwich (Pictured above courtesy of Wright Down Mainstreet herself!. Have you tried it? Is it worth the hype?
Hollywood Studios: The “No-Muppet” Zone?
The Vibe:As many of you know, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster is currently down for its Muppets re-theme. You can watch the car being painted on multiple sites, which is fun to watch. As mentioned many times before, we are really looking forward to this change.
The Muppets have always held a special place in my heart. Growing up, I used to record movies on VHS on rainy days and watch them on repeat. The Muppet Movie is still my go-to for a cozy afternoon
The rest of the park: Not much else to report in Disney’s Hollywood Studios at this time. In years past, a long time ago in a theme park not so far away, we would be getting ready for Star Wars weekends. My, how we miss those events! The Star Wars weekends parades were always on point. Since the arrival of Galaxies edge DHS seems to feel less Star Wars and more fractured.
A special mention, of course, for the Monsters area construction on the new coaster and area dedicated to Monsters INC. We always appreciate our favorite eye in the sky Bioreconstruct. You can see the massive foundation of the Monsters INC coaster below.
EPCOT Full Blown Flower & Garden Festival
The Vibe: Over at EPCOT, the International Flower & Garden Festival is in full swing. In fact, it is one of the last videos we uploaded to YouTube. If you want to check it out, here’s the link: EPCOT Flower & Garden VLOG. We always love the Flower & Garden festival for the colors alone. The vibe in the park is amazing for the festival. We highly recommend the pizza at Connections, pictured below, which is so cheesy and has a good amount of garlic!
The Rest of the park: EPCOT currently has no major news and is hosting the festival. Check out the bands coming to the Garden Rocks series here, and be sure to catch some tunes in the park! Also, we are heading towards the closure of Soarin to make way for Soarin Across America. Last day to ride is May 13th, 2026!
Magic Kingdom Cars Piston Peak gets Vertical
The Vibe: In a park that already has everything, there are currently two massive expansions being worked on over at Magic Kingdom. A Cars-themed land named Piston Peak was announced at D23 in 2024, & a Villains land was also announced at that D23! Also we are in a countdown mode for Buzz Lightyear & Big Thunder Mountain Railroad to re-open!
Big Thunder Mountain is heavily missed, and we cannot wait to experience the wildest ride in the wilderness once again and also spy on the projects being built right next door to it! Below is an image again from Bireconstruct on Piston peak with BTMRR on the upper right
The Rest of the park: With so much going on at Magic Kingdom construction-wise, there really isn’t anything else to report on at this time! Wait times in the past couple of weeks have been brutal due to Spring Break and Megacon.
Final Thoughts around Walt Disney World
There you have it, my thoughts on the current news cycle of Walt Disney World. Did you like this style of article? Mentioned above, we are dealing with a cancer battle that keeps us close to home sometimes, and I wanted to try my hand at talking about theme parks, as we love the parks so much. I also wanted to say thanks for the outpouring of love and support are friends and followers have shown us over the past year. Thanks for being a part of our Disney Kinda Life!
Sending you love and positive energy from California ! My kids and I love watching your videos and reading your blog. Praying for strength as yall fight cancer!
Thank you for the kind words. We appreciate it. Thanks for reading and watching 😊 Say hi to Disneyland for us!