Disney
keeps it
fresh

One year ago, Universal Orlando Resort opened Universal Epic Universe, its third gate in the Orlando market. It is rumored to have cost as much as $7.7 billion to construct, with Universal describing it as the world’s most technologically advanced theme park. It was a “big swing,” as parent company Comcast Corp.’s CEO Mike Cavanagh put it earlier this year. 

“The point of it was to lift all of Orlando, and that’s, in fact, what it’s done,” Cavanagh said.

Epic’s popularity with guests has been undeniable. In addition to longer stays and higher spending resortwide, Epic’s most popular attractions regularly command crowds; according to Thrill Data, a website that tracks theme park wait times, at two of its headliners — Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry and Mine-Cart Madness — wait-time averages are just shy of two hours.

In addition to being popular, Epic was also the first theme park from either Universal or Disney to open in the U.S. in a quarter century.

The Walt Disney World Resort last opened a park in Orlando in 1998: Disney’s Animal Kingdom. While countless updates have been made to its parks and greater Orlando campus in that time, it’s been 28 years since the entertainment giant opened a brand-new Orlando park.

It begs the question: Is Disney doing enough to keep up with its biggest rival in the theme park capital of the world?

With a busy summer of updates and openings at its Orlando parks — including  four new themed lands on the way, which could essentially be an entire theme park if aggregated — advisors resoundingly say “Yes.”

“I don’t know that Disney, in the theme park space, is ever playing catch-up,” said Adam Duckworth, owner of Travelmation in Fort Lauderdale (No. 56 on Travel Weekly’s Power List). “I think they are the quintessential. I think they are the standard-bearer, and I have believed that since I was knee high to a grasshopper as a little kid.”

New for summer

This summer, Walt Disney World Resort will introduce more new and updated shows and attractions than it has in recent memory.

“It’s a lot, for sure,” said Kari Dillon, owner of Marvelous Mouse Travels in Huntersville, N.C. (No. 69 on the Power List). “When Epic opened, I think all of us knew that Disney was going to have to react to this big, shiny new park, and I think that they’re really trying to up their game.”

Duckworth said he can’t remember the last time there was this many new things happening at Disney World.

For travel advisors, that has a specific upside.

“It seems to me that [Disney is] really doing what they can to draw attention to their brand, and for us who are travel advisors, we’re always looking for new things to market,” Duckworth said.

Clients, too, are always looking to do something new on trips, he added, making fresh product a welcome addition from a sales perspective.

And anything that can be used to market the destination is, simply, “always a big win,” Duckworth added.

Among the new additions to the resort are overlays for old favorite rides, like Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run, which features a new adventure starring the Mandalorian and Grogu, and Soarin’ Across America, the third version of the popular Soarin’ attraction, updated in celebration of America’s 250th. 

Rock ’n’ Roller Coaster was completely rethemed at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, now featuring the Muppets instead of Aerosmith. Other changes include a face-lift of the attraction’s exterior (in particular, on the giant guitar that graces the building), a newly decorated queue and preshow, updates to its load and unload areas and some new on-ride elements, like music from the Muppet rock group the Electric Mayhem and set pieces.

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad at the Magic Kingdom got a refresh, including a new track (making the ride smoother), scenes and set pieces. Across the park in Tomorrowland, Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin was freshened up, with new blasters and improved game play.

Several shows debuted this summer, including “Disney Jr. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Live!” in the Animation Courtyard section of Hollywood Studios, a new area; Jessie’s Roundup, A Rip-Roarin’ Revue at the Diamond Horseshoe in the Magic Kingdom; and the return of GoofyCore in Epcot. Bluey’s Wild World opened at Conservation Station at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, with the chance to dance and play with Bluey and her sister Bingo.

Disney’s strategy right now, at least with major attractions, currently relies on refreshing and refurbishing old favorites. 

And it’s a smart one, said theme park consultant Dennis Speigel, founder and CEO of International Theme Park Services.

Speigel said Epic Universe was “a grand-slam home run,” and Disney knew it would be major competition. But it takes years to plan and build a new theme park, he said, and while he believes Disney will eventually open a fifth gate in Orlando, its current focus is on reimagining existing attractions.

“It gives them something significant to come back with in 2026 to talk about to compete with Universal,” Speigel said. “I think Disney, for the short run, has taken the correct approach, and I think it’s going to pay dividends for them.”

Lisa Federico, owner and president of Academy Travel (No. 66 on Travel Weekly’s Power List), identified another good approach from Disney this year: their summer promotions, including the return of the Cool Kids Summer event, came out in the middle of Wave season this year.

Travel advisors were given information, photos, social media posts and a newsletter that could be shared with clients.

“With Disney’s help to start promoting summer during Wave season, during the wintertime, right out of the gate in 2026, it propelled our summer sales,” Federico said.

Refurbishing attractions also helps draw crowds, she added, especially fans who already loved the rides.

“You want to go back and you want to see it,” she said. “Everybody wants to go back and see something new, just like they want to go see Epic.”

The strategy also reinvigorates attractions that are starting to show their age, Duckworth said, as well as spaces that might have been largely dormant in recent years, like Animation Courtyard, which replaces Star Wars Launch Bay.

And in an age that is so visual and social media-driven, he added, it’s important the new additions are Instagrammable.

“Those things all scratch that itch for them in a major way,” he said of Disney’s new and upgraded products. “There’s so many eyes on their brand right now because of it.”

More to come

And more eyes are likely with major updates on the horizon.

At the Magic Kingdom, the park’s largest expansion in its history is coming in the form of Piston Peak National Park, themed to the “Cars” universe and eventual home to two new attractions. Disney is also developing a new land inspired by Disney villains that will have two attractions, dining and shopping. Opening dates have yet to be announced for either.

In Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Tropical Americas will be home to the world of “Encanto” and “Indiana Jones.” The 11-acre area, where DinoLand U.S.A. used to sit,  will have two new attractions. In one, guests will be able to explore a Mayan temple. The other ride-through attraction will take place inside the Casita alongside the character Antonio and his family. Tropical Americas is planned to open in 2027.

Disney’s Hollywood Studios will also get a new land, themed to “Monsters, Inc.” Located in the former Muppets Courtyard area, the land will welcome humans to Monstropolis for the first time, where they’ll get to take a spin on a suspended roller coaster inspired by the film’s iconic hanging doors.

“I think it’s incredible,” Dillon said of Disney’s slate of lands to come. “Disney knows how to do it. They pull in products that people are connected to.”

She predicted the new lands will reinvigorate their home parks. Personally, she’s most excited about the villain-themed land.

“I think that’s one that has always been a little bit of a missed opportunity,” she said. “It spans so many different movies and storylines, and I think there’s a lot of fun things they could do with it.”

Duckworth is particularly excited about Tropical Americas and its “Encanto” theme, which will fill what he saw as a largely dormant area: DinoLand U.S.A. had been slowly winding down before its eventual closure in February.

Animal Kingdom could use the boost, Federico agreed. 

It will also add more space to spread out crowds, she said, and any expansion keeps guests returning to the parks — and to their travel advisors.

“People want to come back. They want to see the new park, the new land, the new attraction,” she said. “It’s great for us. It’s great for our social media. We always have something to talk about with Disney.”

Is a new park in the plans?

While the new lands could make up an entire park on their own, Speigel said there is evidence that Disney is building infrastructure to support a fifth park. He pointed to the Lakeshore Lodge, a 967-room hotel set to open in summer 2027, as an example. 

However, a new park is “something that you don’t just do overnight,” Speigel said, adding that it can take 10 to 12 years to plan and five to seven years to build. 

A new park would likely heavily employ evolving intellectual property (IP), much like Universal did with Epic and its themed worlds tied to the Super Mario, “Harry Potter” and “How to Train Your Dragon” franchises.

“I think they have to update to get more current with the IP, and that’s part of the reason Universal Epic Universe has been so popular,” Speigel said, citing its appeal with younger generations. 

More news from the Mouse is expected later this summer at D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event, which will be held in Anaheim, Calif., from Aug. 14 to 16. The massive event always includes Disney Parks updates.

“I believe they’re going to be announcing even more stuff,” Federico said, adding that the company “did a killer job this year.”

Both Epic and Disney’s new attractions come during what advisors describe as a high point in a cyclical wave of theme park visits. 

The parks were among the few places travelers could visit during the early days of the pandemic. While they did close in March 2020, Orlando parks reopened that summer and thrived in the early pandemic years, in part because they were among the only options available. 

Naturally, that spike in visitors decreased as travel normalized, but Travelmation’s Duckworth said people are cycling back to parks again after not visiting for a few years.

Dillon of Marvelous Mouse noticed the same cycle. As cruising opened back up, that industry exploded, causing a “small decline” in parks visits, she said. But this year, she said, “we are starting to see that uptick again in the domestic theme parks.” 

Academy Travel’s Disney sales spiked 31% over last year, and Universal sales are also “way up,” Federico said.  

While it’s likely part of a natural ebb and flow, the promotions this summer could be related, she added, in addition to Epic and the new elements at Disney. 

“I just think that people are back in the swing of getting to Central Florida,” Dillon said.

Forward momentum is also strong. Right now, Duckworth said Travelmation is seeing a roughly 20% year-over-year increase for parks in 2027, on top of sales with Disney and Universal already up 25% to 35% this year.