Before we turn our attention to the Disney parks, let’s focus on Canobie Lake Park, a lovely regional amusement park in New Hampshire. Specifically, let’s check in on Carl Berni, the park’s president who has spent virtually his entire life on the midway there. Berni is the subject of my latest People of the Attractions column for Funworld magazine.
Okay, let’s pivot to Disney, which has bold plans to invest $60 billion into its parks and experiences over the next few years. However, many of the company’s most anticipated projects, such as a new Villains Land at the Magic Kingdom and a new Avatar-themed experience at the Disneyland Resort, are still a ways off. There are plenty of new things planned for the coming year at Walt Disney World and Disneyland, but they are largely incremental changes, such as updates to existing attractions. Let’s take a look at what’s in store at the Mouse’s U.S. parks.
In case you haven’t noticed, the USA will be celebrating its 250th anniversary in 2026. Never one to pass up a Yankee doodle dandy opportunity to honor the nation, both Disney California Adventure and Epcot will take guests Soarin’ Across America in tandem with the country’s festivities. Set to debut in the summer, the new flight pattern will replace Soarin’ Around the World, which has been presented at the parks for about ten years. Disney says the itinerary will include urban landscapes, national monuments, coastal scenes, and more to capture the country’s purple mountain majesties. After the company pioneered the concept of the flying theater with the innovative “Soarin’ Over California” in 2001, copycat attractions, such as Wings Over Washington, have proliferated. Soarin’ Across America will represent Disney’s third iteration of Soarin’.
Folks visiting Epcot will also be able to see new figures of Anna, Elsa, and Kristoff in the park’s Frozen Ever After next year. When it opened in 2016, the attraction boasted Disney’s first all electric animatronics. While they are remarkably fluid, they feature unsettling rear-projected faces. The somewhat creepy effect is used in other attractions, including Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry at Epic Universe. Thankfully, the new figures will be modeled after the characters at World of Frozen in Hong Kong Disneyland, which use traditional animatronics to animate the faces instead of projections.
As I previously reported, Disney announced that the furry friends of fandom would replace the bad boys of Boston at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Starting next summer, guests will be able to take a ride on Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring The Muppets (instead of Aerosmith). They will still make their way into the studio of G-Force Records. But since his uncle purchased it, Scooter is now running the record label, and the Electric Mayhem is its featured artist. As was the case with Steven Tyler and the lads, the Muppet band and its fans need to hightail it across Los Angeles to get to a concert, so everybody piles into a tricked-out stretch limousine that’s actually a magnetically launched Vekoma coaster. Instead of “Love in an Elevator” and other tunes from the Aerosmith catalog, riders will hear classic rock tunes covered by Dr. Teeth and the gang as they hit 57 mph and encounter three inversions.
Also at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, cadets will be able to go on a new adventure aboard Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run. And get this: The long-suffering “engineers” who were relegated to pushing buttons for no apparent reason in the rear of the cockpit will now be able to communicate with Grogu and choose to send the crew to either Coruscant or a Death Star in orbit around Endor. The updated attraction will launch Memorial Day weekend at both of the Galaxy’s Edge lands in Disney World and Disneyland to tie in with the debut of the latest Star Wars saga, “The Mandalorian and Grogu.” A reimagined The Magic of Disney Animation will open at the Studios park next year as well.
Over at the Magic Kingdom, passengers on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad will be able to ooh and aah at colorful phosphorescent lights of Rainbow Caverns when they experience the rootin’ tootin’ ride next year. The new scenic elements recall the Rainbow Caverns Mine Train at Disneyland, which occupied the spot on which the California park’s Big Thunder Mountain Railroad now sits. The classic attraction also inspired Calico Mine Ride at Knott’s Berry Farm, which still sends guests into its multi-hued caverns.
In Tomorrowland, guests on Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin will get to zap Emperor Zurg aboard new ride vehicles that will include monitors and new blasters outfitted with haptic feedback, colored beams, and sound. Along with “Z” targets that will respond when hit, the upgrades will provide an improved gameplay experience.
Might you be heading to Disney World or Disneyland next year? Of the new projects that will debut in 2026, what are you most anticipating?