This podcast episode delves into the evolving landscape of Walt Disney World in 2026, particularly amid a myriad of ride updates, closures, and construction projects. We engage in a thorough discourse regarding the ongoing changes within the parks and assess whether this year is indeed an opportune moment for visitors. Notably, we discuss the expedited reopening of attractions, such as the revamped Buzz Lightyear ride and the anticipated enhancements to iconic experiences like the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster. Furthermore, we explore the implications of the ongoing construction, especially in relation to Animal Kingdom and its current status as a "half-day park." As we navigate through these developments, we aim to provide insights and recommendations for prospective visitors, ensuring they are well-informed in their planning endeavors.

Takeaways:

• This episode provides an in-depth analysis of the ongoing changes at Walt Disney World, highlighting the significance of upcoming attractions and ride renovations.
• Listeners will gain insights into the anticipated attractions for summer 2026, including the revamped Buzz Lightyear ride and the updated Soarin' experience.
• The discussion emphasizes the importance of planning visits to Disney during peak construction periods, advising guests to be aware of potential closures and ride availability.
• I share my personal experiences regarding character dining, offering a nuanced perspective on the value it provides for families visiting Disney World.

We are back with another episode of the Wands and Wishes podcast, your comprehensive guide to Walt Disney World.

So we're going that.

Welcome back to the Wands and Whiskeys podcast.

How are you, Lauren?

I am good.

How are you, Tony?

I am good.

I know we had to take a couple of months off.

I ended up with a histoplasmosis which knocked me out for three months.

I don't recommend that, so I'm so glad you're better.

We had kind of stopped around close to the holidays, and then we're going to take the month of December off.

And then I got this in the beginning of January and I was pretty much knocked down until I got cleared of it in April.

So now we're back with the podcast.

Close to it, anyway.

Mid May is when we're recording this.

More lands and more attractions.

I know you're going in a couple of weeks.

How have you felt like this year has kind of gone for the parks?

Has it gone for people going to the parks?

Yeah, that's a great question.

And I will say I think Disney has really delivered in opening things faster than what we expected.

That being said, with with Rock and Roller Coaster, which is, I guess, going to still be called Rock and Roller Coaster, but it's going to have that new Muppets thing.

We're going to see that May 26, we're going to see, Soren is not even going to get any downt time with its new overlay of the Soarin across America, I think it's going to be called.

We've got the new Buzz Lightyear revamp that's already been opened.

And then of course, the Long Awaited Big Thunder Mountain is back.

So I really think, with the exception of Animal Kingdom, I think that we're really seeing that uptick of things coming back.

Yeah, especially if you are going this summer.

Those two things at Magic Kingdom that you mentioned, the big Thunderbound Railroad's getting a smoother track.

It's getting better special effects.

It's bringing back sort of the rainbow cavern that a lot of people do remember that wasn't a part of the last rendition of the ride.

And then something you and I talked about in a couple of podcasts when we were talking about things we'd like to change.

Buzz Lightyear was one that drove me nuts because I kept saying this is 20 year old technology and it's not Tomorrowlandish at all.

And yet they're going to have a better animation, better ride vehicles, better maneuverability of the weapon that you're going to use to enjoy the game on screen scoring.

These were things that were just, I mean, it just felt so late 80s, early 90s, when you, when you'd ride it before.

I think for the first time, maybe ever, at least in several years, I'm actually excited to do Buzz Lightyear.

So I will have to let you know if I'll be excited for it again after this time.

But I am definitely excited for it this time.

Yeah, me too.

And it bec became one of those rides that when my kids were younger, we loved, it was fine.

But as you get older and you kind of realize, okay, this is just not as fun as Toy Story, it's not quite up to the technological advantages of the day, you know.

But listen, I remember when it was, if you had wings, it was just a promotional vehicle for Eastern Airlines.

So I can't be that picky.

But it was, it was an old sort of antiquated ride that needed an upgrade.

And I think Disney heard people say this, look, I want my Tomorrowland to be as tomorrow as possible.

And it was starting not to feel that way.

And now it's starting to feel like, well, maybe they're starting to hear that.

That's right.

Hopefully they won't completely take our carousel progress away, but maybe we'll get a little more progress with that one.

Right.

It's like, like event.

Like eventually, if you're going to have to start that ride, like in the 60s.

Yeah.

You know what I mean?

To get the four.

The sort of four levels that we're at now, not at the turn of the century.

Right.

Splitting a sarsaparilla.

I mean, it's not going to work anymore.

But you're right.

Carousel of Progress is eventually going to get that way, too.

You mentioned soaring.

Soaring because of the 250th birthday of the United States, they're changing it to.

And so that should, as you mentioned, be just a quick overlay because you're just changing the project.

You have to change the maneuverability a little bit.

But I think they synced that up to what they were shooting.

Yeah, that's another one I'm excited about.

So Epcot is, you know, I always think that there's.

There's so many good things about Epcot, but I'm never.

I'm never just super excited about it.

Aside from going to have dinner there, as you know, I'll be going to Via Napoli.

But yes, I am extremely excited about Soarin.

Another one that we've gotten back within, you know, the last few months at least, is test track.

So, you know, we've got.

We've got a lot of good attractions in every park, I think, right now.

Yeah.

And I agree with Epcot used to sort of be that educational park.

And I know I'm going way, way back.

It didn't have any ip.

It was just more of things to kind of show off, educational wise.

It got away from that.

I think a lot of that was Michael Eisner back in the 90s going, hey, listen, this is a Disney Park.

Let's make it a Disney Park.

Let's try to put some IP in this.

And as many people who know the history of that park, you take something away, there's always going to be a group of people that are mad about it and angry about it and want to petition it.

But the reality of it is, if you're Disney and you own an ip, you want to use that ip.

And I don't think anybody really misses Maelstrom as much as they say they do.

I mean, I'm sorry, I just.

I know, I get it.

Maybe if you're a Norwegian, I would understand.

But I don't think the casual fan really is screaming that Maelstrom should be roaring back anytime soon.

It's just that's what you do when you have, you know, Intellectual property.

You use that intellectual property as best you can.

And that being said, Frozen After Ever after is getting that increase in anima animatronics that we were seeing in other parks around the world.

Finally.

Have you seen the video of the Olaf animatronic in Paris?

No.

Oh, you got to see this.

It's unbelievable.

It's.

It looks like he's jumped right out of the screen.

He's walking around and I know they're doing it with robotics and somebody behind the behind the scenes kind of doing it.

Sort of like Crush when he's talking to the kids.

There's somebody that can see the kids.

I love it.

That one.

And the under the Sea with a Little Mermaid at Magic Kingdom is in desperate need of a new animal.

Absolutely without question.

I want to get to Animal Kingdom because you mentioned it earlier.

So here's a couple of things I want to talk about with this park, because I think most people, when it was at its full park, right?

Dino Land, the.

The sort of amusement park that it was, when it was at its full, it was still considered by many a half day park.

There just wasn't enough attractions.

Now there's an entire section of the park that is shut down.

So this brings up two things.

One, while I'll concede that it's still a half day park, I think it was always that way.

It's kind of a park that shuts down early.

It does have the Pandora land.

But now it becomes a tricky thing because if you are taking away rides, then the wait times for the other rides increase.

And it may not be the one park you say, I don't need a Lightning Lane for this.

It's a half day park.

Now you might.

Right?

No, you're absolutely right.

And actually, I think we talked about this before.

My favorite hack is to purchase the Lightning Lane.

This is if you have a park hopper, right.

Because the Lightning Lanes, if you purchase them for Animal Kingdom, meaning you're going to start your day at Animal Kingdom, you are going to find less than half the price for those Lightning Lanes as you would if you were going to start your day in Magic Kingdom.

So my favorite hack is to purchase Lightning Lanes for Animal Kingdom, even if I only plan to use one there.

Right, Good point.

I can scan into the Safari and modify my other two for somewhere in Magic Kingdom and not actually use them there.

So that being said, yes, it definitely can still be a half day park.

But like you said, I think the Lightning Lanes have become more and more valuable there.

If you're Going to make it a half day.

Yeah.

If you plan to stay there all day, you can certainly tour it without Lightning Lanes.

And then if you're going to do that, I definitely recommend going, getting on the waitlist for Nomad Lounge, stop by and see some snack or get some snacks, go through the trails, do the whole bit.

But if you're going to make it a half day park, then really pick and choose what you're going to see.

Exactly.

Because one of the things that you, you know from construction at Disney World and we've, you know, people who go there a lot know that they will try to space out construction so that the hat, you know, half the park is in shut down because they're revamping every ride.

They'll revamp one or two, then they'll revamp a couple more as those have come back on.

But this was unique because it took an entire land and shut down that portion of the park.

It would be like if all of Tomorrowland was shut down and you weren't even allowed access to that right hand side of the entrance.

That's basically what they did here.

They took out all of that, that whole area where Dinosaur was, that whole little amusement park area, all of that, that's all construction.

So now it shrinks the crowd even more.

It's a big park to begin with, but it's shrinking the crowd among only a few attractions.

And it's light on attractions anyway.

That's right.

That's right.

A hot crowded park is going to feel even hotter and even more crowded for sure.

Exactly.

But the two things that are coming, the Indiana Jones ride that's replacing Dinosaur, using the same ride vehicle but a different theming.

I am too because I've been on the one in California, Disneyland.

This is going to be a different ride, but kind of it's the same track it's going to, it's the same kind of ride mechanism.

And then this Encanto ride, which I don't even know what it is, I just know it's going to have a live house and I don't know what the attraction will be.

I think they said it was going to be a boat ride, I'm assuming, but I'm not even 100% sure.

So that being said, it's.

It will turn into something even better than what it already is.

I don't think anybody really cared for the amusement park attraction.

It was kind of cheap.

Kids might have liked it, but the reality is it was just kind of cheap amusement park rides themed to dinosaurs that's really all that was.

So now it's going to bring back two big IPs.

The Muppets are taking over.

Rock and roll Roller coaster.

I've had my mixed feelings about this because I am a child of the 70s and 80s and I love Aerosmith.

But I've been wondering, and I cannot get an answer to this.

What was the residual for Aerosmith every year that Disney was paying for them to use their name, image and likeness on this ride?

And if you replace it with something you own, that sounds like a smart business decision.

It definitely was.

And I think.

I think, overall, I'm excited about it.

I'm not a Muppets fan.

Yeah, my wife isn't either.

She doesn't like the Muppets at all.

Muppets 3D, that was never on my list.

However, I. I wasn't married to the Aerosmith theme.

I like the coaster.

It's fun.

And so I think that no matter what the theming is, I think it's going to be great.

And I'm excited.

I haven't listened to any of the songs, so.

So I'm gonna wait and see what song I get next week or two weeks from now and just kind of go into it blind.

And this is the other thing, too, that I think people need to understand.

It's like when you have something that is themed to something you don't control, that becomes a problem.

Because, look, the Aerosmith guys are great.

They are legendary rockers, but they're not under the Disney control.

If they get involved in controversy, if they are no longer participating, because as they get older, they may just stop participating, all of a sudden.

Now you have a very, very dated attraction that was cool back in the, you know, late 80s, early 90s when the park was opened.

And now you're dealing with something where band member members might pass away later, they may just stop touring, they may just become irrelevant.

And now you don't control that.

You can control the Muppets.

If the Muppets aren't popular anymore, you can pull it.

You can try to make the Muppets more popular.

You can try to make the Muppets more relevant to a younger.

Not guys like me that watched it when it was on in the late 70s and, you know, featuring Elton John, you control that IP.

So, to me, I look at it two ways.

One, yeah, I'm an Aerosmith fan.

I love.

I like the fact that there was a ride dedicated to them.

But I'm also.

I'm smart enough in business to know that this is the right way to go.

If you are paying Aerosmith yearly for a ride that does that, you don't need to pay them for.

This is an indoor roller coaster for.

You could put anything on it and people are still going to line up for it.

Absolutely.

So it didn't seem like it was something that was needed by Disney.

And so the other thing I wanted to mention was Star wars, because, look, I loved Star wars as a kid.

I watched the original Star wars on laserdisc a hundred times.

When there was a Millennium Falcon, I was, like, really excited.

The ride stinks.

Yeah, it does.

Stinks.

I'm sorry.

It's fun.

If you're a Star wars fan once.

I never look forward to it when I write it again.

Now there's going to be a new.

It's supposed to be smoother.

It's supposed to be another story, another adventure.

So they're trying to make that a little better.

Because if there was one universal complaint was that that really wasn't what I thought.

Yeah, no, everybody.

I mean, from the moment it opened, it's never.

It's never been appealing to anybody.

I don't know anybody that loves it.

So I don't know that I'll.

I still probably won't go on it.

It's.

I get motion sick.

So you know it.

I can take it or leave it.

I love the visual effect of seeing the Millennium Falcon and just Star Wars Land in general, but, yeah, that one was a mess.

And it's so wild, too, because that park, that area has two rides, and one.

The other one is one of the best rides they've ever made, ever.

Yeah, and the other one is just so disappointing that it sort of drags that area down just a little bit.

And a lot of it.

Look, a lot of it's our fault as guys who grew up with Star wars, thinking it was going to be something way beyond our imagination.

And I think if you're a younger generation and Millennium Falcon really isn't on your radar, I think it's fine.

Kids probably love it.

But if you grew up with Han and Chewie and the event, you know, Star Wars, Empire Strikes Back, Millennium Falcon, how cool it was and all, you know, you know, Kessel running less than 12 parsecs, that kind of thing.

And then you ride it, you're like, wow, you put a lot of money into this.

And this just wasn't what I thought it was going to be.

Right.

So that being said, they're also introducing Han and Leia and Luke.

That was also Something that people complained about.

About Galaxy's Edge.

Yeah.

You're not giving us the old stuff.

You're giving us something brand new.

Yeah.

I get why they did that, but I never understood why you wouldn't take the familiarity of something.

Absolutely.

That's what people think of when they think of Star Wars.

I mean, yes, obviously, with everything that they're putting out, they want to promote those new the Mandalorian, and they want to have a presence of Rey in the parks.

But I am really excited for these classic characters to be a little more visible.

Yeah.

Because again, if you.

If you go to Universal and you're a Harry Potter fan.

Yeah.

Read the books.

You saw the movies.

Your kids saw the movies.

Your kid read the books and you went on a ride where they were like, hey, this is something that you don't know.

This is another story.

In the Harry Potter world, you'd be like, okay, I guess.

But I. I kind of want to be immersed in the land and the.

And.

And the story.

I know.

Rather than a story you're trying to tell me through a theme park.

Yeah.

And I think that's where the disconnect came from.

I get why they were doing it.

They were trying to be like, look, there's a whole other universe to this Star wars, and we want to give you another story.

This is a planet you're not familiar with, and it's an outpost you're not familiar with.

But at the same time, people are like, yeah, but the only reason I'm into the story is because I like what you gave me before, not what you're going to give me ahead of time.

It becomes too nerdy too quickly.

Right.

Those of us who just are the casual fan.

Exactly.

Exactly.

All right, let's get to the thing that I. I've been waiting for and wondering how it affects the parks.

It affected us a bit in September, but not as much as I thought it was going to.

And that is rumors of America being out.

They're building the car's land, and then down the road, villains land is coming.

What are we hearing about that construction, and what do we hear about the impact of that construction?

Yeah.

So I've seen some aerial shots of it, and it still just looks like a lot of dirt that's being pushed around.

A lot of things have been cleared, and it looks like it's going to be massive, honestly.

But I really do worry how much time we're looking at before we actually see some things come to fruition.

And I agree, too.

And I'm not trying to be a Disney pessimist because I know I'm more of an optimist when it comes to things.

I sort of get excited.

But Villains Land concerns me.

I don't know what we're going to end up getting.

And I think the enthusiasm for that which, and what we might get out of it are not going to come together because Disney has a habit of doing this.

Now.

Covid was a big reason why a lot of projects were canceled that they brought up in D23 prior to the pandemic.

But they've, they've done this before where they'll put out this great concept art and then the concept art doesn't really match.

Now this is a project that I think is three years away.

Two.

Three years away.

So they've got plenty of time to figure out what exactly they want to do.

But the Cars Land is supposed to be coming rather quickly.

And I think that's the one thing that people are like, look, put up with walls and I can put up with the sort of non magical environment, but give me something.

I want to know what's going on.

Right.

You know, the longer the turnaround, the less the excitement is going to build.

So we, we need to see something quicker than what it looks like.

They're going to give it to us.

Yeah, yeah.

And I get it because I know people like the theming of the Haunted Mansion.

It's supposed to sort of feel like an, an old house on the Hudson and sort of like a upstate New York kind of play, you know, that kind of thing.

And it's that river was kind of a big deal, but it, you know, it's, it's not so it's, it's.

I don't think it's going to affect that area as much as people thought.

So let's talk about your trip in May and a couple of things that you're excited for when you go down there in a couple of weeks.

Yeah.

So I, you remember last year I went with just Cora, she's my youngest.

So she's going to finish kindergarten next week.

And so congratulations, Cora.

Yes.

So we're going to take that same trip.

Me, my best friend Jennifer, her daughter Elle and my daughter Cora are going to go down for about four days and then at the tail end of that trip, we're going to do exactly what we did we did last year where my mom is going to fly down with Lily, my older daughter, and we're gonna have a little three generation trip.

Just.

That's wonderful.

On the end.

So we're going to be down there about a whole week to eight days.

So yes.

So I'm very excited about it.

Cool.

Kids summer is coming back.

We're gonna check out that in each of the parks.

So we'll have some cool character sightings, some fun things that are included for kids for free.

And so whereas I've said before, we don't do a lot of character dining because my kids don't eat a lot to really justify the price for that.

We're definitely going to do that this time and take advantage of that since Cora is free.

So.

So yeah.

Oh, and you know, one thing that I am going to try and I'll report back to you whether it's is I subscribed on.

There's a website called Thrill Data.

Thrill Data, however you want to say it, that has a program called Weight Magic and this works with Lightning Lane.

So that I've said before, my favorite thing to do is to refresh, refresh, refresh.

When I'm looking for new Lightning Lanes.

And this program kind of does that for me.

And so I'm looking not to replace the fact that I want to do it, but just to assist with that and see if it would be something that we can offer just as a help for our clients.

Nice.

Very good.

Very, very good.

Are you gonna catch the Bluey show at all?

Is is.

We are.

We are excited to meet Bluey and Bingo.

And so yeah, that is definitely on the list.

That's at a conservation station in Animal Kingdom.

That's gonna be.

Now my sister, she took her three year old daughter to Disneyland for three days and did the Bluey experience at Disneyland.

And you brought up the character dining.

My sister took her daughter to character breakfast.

And you know, we talked about how much it was, what it cost and I said, you know, that's the one thing that when my kids were little, we did the character breakfast.

And you are really paying for the characters because a simple breakfast of eggs, bacon and toast should not be $65 a person or whatever it was.

Exactly.

And that's why I'm always so opposed to it.

We're eating at a couple of places that I've never been before.

Oh yeah, sure.

And so we're gonna go there and Lori will be excited.

I'm going to Crystal Palace.

Oh, very nice.

So my girls are really into Winnie the Pooh.

I think Winnie the Pooh has taken over as like the new Stitch.

You know how Stitch was so popular for years.

I think Winnie the Pooh is taking that role.

So.

So, yeah, we're excited about that.

Yeah.

We went to Crystal Palace a couple years ago and the dinner was, I thought it was really good.

I thought it was a really, really good buffet for the price.

And I do tell people about character meals when I, when they ask me for my advice because they know it's high.

They go online, they see the price, they know it's high.

So look, you know, you're going to pay for the characters.

The food is the food.

However, you are going to get some time with the characters.

This isn't a quick, you know, they come, shake your hand and leave.

They really do spend some time with you.

You can get your pictures, you can get the autographs, you can.

They really spend some time and you get all the characters will come to your table.

So kind of put that in mind.

It's ra.

It's better than like in line where, you know you're holding up a line.

You're not holding up anybody.

Everybody is going to get this experience at dinner when you go to a character meal.

So while it is expensive, if these are the kind of pictures and experiences you want your kids to have, I find it worth it.

I did, you know, years ago when my kids were younger and even as adults we, we went to Snow White at Fort Wilders.

We thought it was great.

It was so fun and it was a really, really good dinner and it was kind of part of the cool experience.

So I do recommend you do it, but know that you will get some time with the characters.

So I'm looking forward to hearing the full report when you get back.

Yes.

Very good.

Yeah.

And then you're doing some traveling.

I am next week.

Yes.

We are going to Hawaii next week for seven days.

We're doing a three Island Hopper tour, which is really exciting.

So I've never been to Hawaii.

My wife is from St. Petersburg, so is.

We kind of been married for 28 years.

Beach vacations weren't really our thing.

She grew up on St. Pete Beach, Clearwater Beach.

She's been on the beach her whole life.

So we always wanted to do something else.

And so this is going to be really cool because I've always wanted to go.

And now we get a chance to go and we're doing Halloween party in September for my niece who will be four she's got.

She did the Disneyland.

Now she's doing Disney World with my parents.

And he's invited everybody down to participate in September.

It's gonna be our third straight year at the Halloween party.

That is really cool.

I haven't been in years and you've been three years in a row.

It's gonna be three years in a row.

Last year I missed.

I wrote down some snacks I wanted to try, and when we went to Pinocchio's village house, they were all out or they were closed and I missed it.

And I was like, oh, I wanted to try this and this.

Now I won't make that same mistake.

Snacks are gonna be like a rope drop thing.

Not.

You don't have to get in line for characters, but you gotta get in line.

You gotta get in for snacks.

They just close and they're just like, yeah, you wanted that spicy whoopie pie.

Yeah, forget it.

We were out of that by 7:30.

So.

Yeah.

So I will.

I will not make that same mistake twice.

I'm just hoping she can.

She's three.

Gonna be four.

I'm hoping she can make it.

It's a.

It's.

It's four to midnight.

Have that stroller ready for her to just crack.

Exactly, exactly.

So, all right, that'll do it for all Wands and Wishes podcast.

We will have another episode is when Lauren comes, comes back and gives us the full trip report.

You can reach her Lauren at allthemagictravel.

Com.

We'll see you next time on Wands and Wishes.