.Hi there! Welcome to our weekly roundup of the most interesting theme park news around Universal Orlando, the Walt Disney World Resort, SeaWorld Orlando, Universal Studios Hollywood, Disneyland Resort, other theme parks and more.
- It's not quite time to deck the halls, but it is time to start planning your Disney World holiday trip! This week, Disney World announced Disney Christmas Party 2025 dates and ticket information. Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party and Disney Jollywood Nights return on select nights, starting Nov. 7 at Magic Kingdom and Nov. 8 at Hollywood Studios, respectively. Discount tickets will be available for both events through Undercover Tourist starting July 22, 2025! Find out what's new this year in our event guides for Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party and Jollywood Nights.
- And that's not all the Christmas cheer! With daily festivities across the entire resort, the holiday season will kick off Nov. 14, 2025, at Disney World. All four theme parks, Disney Resort hotels and Disney Springs transform for the season, including entertainment, food and drink, decor and more. From learning holiday traditions around the world at EPCOT International Festival of the Holidays to interacting with the most adorable Merry Menagerie at Animal Kingdom, it’s the most magical time of the year. For more info, hop over to our Disney World holiday hoppenings post.
- While the 70th Anniversary Celebration began in May, Disneyland's birthday is July 17, and the party is getting even bigger! The all-new attraction, Walt Disney — A Magical Life, debuts July 17. It will feature the first Audio-Animatronic of Walt himself. Upon opening, it will utilize a virtual queue with opportunities to join twice a day at 7 a.m. and 12 p.m. (and you can brush up on how the virtual queue system works here). Also, don't miss a new third and final verse on "it's a small world." (The verse will be added to Disney World's "it's a small world," too!)
- In other bicoastal Disney news, the Advance Dining Reservation system recently received updates on the My Disney Experience and Disneyland apps and websites for Disney World and Disneyland. New functionalities now allow you to search for dining reservations with more ease. You can view all available times for a single restaurant, as well as all available times for multiple locations across a 10-day range with optional filters.
- A new character dining experience is coming to Storytellers Cafe at Disney's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa. From Aug. 22 to Oct. 31, 2025, Clarabelle Cow and her pals dressed in their woodsy Halloween best will host an Enchanted Halloween Dinner. Reservations for Clarabelle's Enchanted Halloween Dinner — as well as the returning Mickey's Autumn Adventures Breakfast & Brunch Buffet — will be available beginning July 15, 2025.
- What's better than a runDisney race? A runDisney race with your best friend. Celebrating the power of friendship, the 2026 runDisney Springtime Surprise Weekend race themes were revealed as friendship duos, including Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde (5K), Winnie the Pooh and Tigger (10K), Joy and Sadness (10-Miler), Aladdin and Genie (Challenge) and Lilo and Stitch (Yoga). Don't froget — general registration for all 2026 Springtime Surprise Weekend events starts July 29, 2025!
- I can already imagine Leap having to guide me through this one ... Art the Clown will bring his torturous and gruesome Funhouse to Halloween Horror Nights in Orlando and Hollywood, delivering one of the goriest experiences in event history. Expect all the sanguinary sights, sounds and smells of the serial killer's sinister skills. From familiar faces, such as Vicky and the Little Pale Girl, to iconic locations, including the Clown Cafe, you'll have to escape the claustrophobic corridors or become his next victim.
- Howl-O-Scream returns for its fifth year at SeaWorld Orlando on select nights from Sept. 5 to Nov. 1, 2025. This year, the event features five haunted houses, six scare zones, two roaming hordes, live shows and themed bars. So far, two new houses have been revealed — The Collector's Curse (enter a house of horrors open for an estate sale) and The Rave Yard (party with the dead in a forgotten cemetery) — and Farm 51 returns from last year.
That's a wrap on the latest theme park news.
Hoppy planning!
