Wondering what's coming next at America's top theme parks? I have put together a calendar of upcoming attraction closings, openings, and announced event dates for the Disney and Universal theme parks in the United States. Please use this guide to help you plan your next visits to these parks.
As for what is happening right now, The Disneyland Resort 70th Celebration continues all year, with an expected end sometime after the summer 2026 season. At Disney California Adventure, construction is now underway backstage for the Avengers Campus expansion, featuring the Avengers Infinity Defense motion-base dark ride and Stark Flight Lab robot arm flight simulation.
In Florida at Walt Disney World, construction is beginning on the new Monsters Inc.-themed Monstropolis land at Disney's Hollywood Studios, and the new version of Test Track will open at EPCOT sometime later this year. We have no opening dates yet for Monstropolis or the Avengers Campus expansion, however.
Here are the dates we do have for notable upcoming events at the parks in Florida and California.
June 13 - Universal Studios Hollywood: Universal Mega Movie Summer event begins, running daily through August 10.
July 6 - Magic Kingdom: Last day for Tom Sawyer Island and Liberty Square Riverboat, as Walt Disney World removes its Rivers of America.
July 17 - Disneyland: The new Walt Disney A Magical Life show opens in the Main Street Opera House.
July 20 - Magic Kingdom: Disney Starlight, Walt Disney World's first all-new nighttime parade in a generation, debuts.
August 15 - Magic Kingdom: Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party starts, running select nights after park close through October 31.
August 17 - Disney California Adventure: Oogie Boogie Bash starts, running select nights after park close through October 31.
August 18 - Universal Studios Florida: Last day for the Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit roller coaster.
August 22 - Disneyland Resort: Halloween Time begins, continuing daily through October 31. Plaza de la Familia continues through November 2.
August 28 - EPCOT: The EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival begins, running daily through November 22.
August 29 - Universal Studios Florida: Universal Orlando's Halloween Horror Nights begins, running select nights after park close through November 2.
September 4 - Universal Studios Hollywood: The west coast Halloween Horror Nights begins, running select nights after park close through November 2.
November 14 - Disneyland Resort: Holidays at the Disneyland Resort begins, including Disney Festival of Holidays and ¡Viva Navidad! at Disney California Adventure, continuing through January 7, 2025.
November 20 - Disney Destiny: Disney Cruise Line's newest ship sails its maiden public voyage from Florida.
Fall - Disney California Adventure: Construction starts on the new Coco-themed boat ride, between Pixar Pier and Paradise Gardens Park.
Late in year - Disney's Animal Kingdom: New Tree of Life Theater show, Zootopia Better Zoogether!, debuts.
Disney California Adventure: Monsters Inc. Mike and Sulley to the Rescue closes early this year.
Disney's Animal Kingdom: The Dinosaur dark ride closes permanently. The closure is expected early in the year.
Universal Studios Hollywood: The Fast & Furious Hollywood Drift spinning roller coaster opens sometime this year.
Sometime by June - Universal Kids Resort: New theme park opens in Frisco, Texas, near Dallas.
Fall - Disneyland Resort: Construction begins on new parking structure and pedestrian bridge over Harbor Boulevard.
Disney's Animal Kingdom: New Tropical Americas land opens on the current site of Dinoland USA. This includes an Indiana Jones retheme of the Dinosaur ride as well as a new Encanto-themed dark ride.
Other attractions under development in the U.S., with no opening dates announced, include the Villains land and two new Cars rides at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom and an Avatar ride at Disney California Adventure.
For assistance in planning a Disney or Universal vacation, please contact our travel agent for a free, no-obligation vacation quote.
Remember that whenever you buy tickets or book vacations through our partners, a small portion of that goes to support Theme Park Insider. So you can support independent news while getting a great deal at the same time.
To keep up to date with more travel and theme park news, please sign up for Theme Park Insider's weekly newsletter.
Exciting time for both theme park chains. I'm most excited about the villains land which is a no brainer kind of idea and tropical americas. Dinoland has always felt a step below the other lands at DAK in terms of detailed theming.
@Formula40
Not to rant here but the roadside attraction kitsch of Dinoland was the theming, and on that level, it does very well. Problem is that people don't understand what the theme is going for, and they assume a cheap roadside carnival really is a cheap roadside carnival and not a land themed to a roadside carnival. Dinoland needed adjustments, and I hope tropical Americas turns out well because I'm excited, but Dinoland did not suffer from "bad theming".
I'm more excited for Villains because it's not replacing anything and seems like a great idea, especially with the roller coaster that they teased (high-thrill, hopefully) and overall thematic integrity. It doesn't feel like the IP roulette that most of these other expansions did.
I think the issue was that Dinoland USA did capture its theme well, which is a cheap-looking roadside carnival that is completely antithetical to the beauty and perfection of the rest of DAK theming, creating a complete non-sequitur. While WDI stayed true to the Dinoland USA theme, from the guest perspective, it felt like a complete cop-out and a way for Disney to save money by using carnival attractions and corny, kitschy characters in a park with predominantly serious and relatable characters and concepts. I always felt like the land was Disney's attempt to recreate their own Mr. DNA segment from Jurassic Park, a cute, nostalgic feel with an obvious wink and nod without coming off dorky.
I didn't necessarily think DinoLand had "bad" theming, it's just when the rest of the park is clearly at a higher level in terms of detail and beauty, it does FEEL like a cop out to have a land where the cheap, carnival esque theme is the point (similar to Russell's comment).
This article has been archived and is no longer accepting comments.
Thank you for this handy guide to this topic. I'm kind of surprised the kids Universal park will open next year. That's quite fast even for just a kids centered park. Tropical Americas at AK NEEDS to open by 2027. I believe Disney will stagger their openings. Cars I'm going to guess will be good to go by 2028 and Villains land... 2030 at the earliest.
One that wasn't mentioned here is the Monsters Inc coaster (land?) at Disney Hollywood Studios. That one will be 2029. So for Disney World...
2027- Tropical Americas at AK
2028- Cars at MK
2029- Monsters Inc at DHS
2030- Villains at MK