Rope Drop: Can Disney and Six Flags save the summer?
As the "rope drop" starts a day at theme parks, the Sunday "Rope Drop" post kicks off the week here at Theme Park Insider. Here is what lies ahead for fans at the parks this week.
The big news this week comes from the financial side of the theme park beat. Disney and Six Flags host their quarterly earnings investors call this week. Disney is up on Wednesday, with Six Flags on for Thursday.
This will be Josh D'Amaro's first earnings call since taking over as Disney's CEO. I wrote about the questions he might face as he takes over Disney's top job in a challenging global economy: D'Amaro faces tough questions about Disney's future.
It's not like Six Flags is getting off easy, of course. The same economic headwinds that might push Disney threaten to topple less-well-capitalized competitors in the tourism business. Spirit Airlines bit the dust this weekend, for example, as travel businesses struggle to overcome rising fuel prices and resulting loss of consumer demand. We will see this week what Disney and Six Flags have planned for their responses.
In better news, today is the day for the return of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad at Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom. Up the road, Mine-Cart Madness will be closed for the day at Epic Universe, in a planned short refurb. Disneyland's Pirates also closes, starting tomorrow.
Next weekend, on May 9, Cedar Point, Lake Compounce and Valleyfair reopen for their 2026 seasons.
Finally, my new monthly, paid-subscribers-only column debuts Tuesday, May 5. If you would like to support my work here on Theme Park Insider and get an exclusive, bonus column in your email in-box each month, here is how to subscribe.
Attraction closings and openings
Here are the current refurbishment schedules from Disneyland, Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando.
February 23: Conservation Station and the Wildlife Express Train closed at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Reopens as Bluey’s Wild World at Conservation Station on May 26.
February 27: Inside Out Emotional Whirlwind closed at Disney California Adventure. No reopening date yet.
April 13: Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters closed at Disneyland. No reopening date yet.
April 27: Silly Symphony Swings closed at Disney California Adventure. No reopening date yet.
April 28 - May 7: Tom Sawyer Island closed at Disneyland.
May 3: Big Thunder Mountain Railroad reopens at Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom.
May 3: Mine-Cart Madness closes for the day at Epic Universe.
May 4: Pirates of the Caribbean closes at Disneyland. No reopening date yet.
May 4 - May 22: Viking Training Camp closes at Universal Epic Universe.
May 10: Impressions de France and Beauty and the Beast Sing-Along reopen at EPCOT.
May 14: Soarin’ Around the World closes at EPCOT. Soarin’ Across America opens May 26.
May 22: Pteranodon Flyers reopens at Universal Islands of Adventure.
May 26: Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring The Muppets opens at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
May 26 - June 9: Me Ship, The Olive closes at Islands of Adventure.
June 1 - 16: Men in Black Alien Attack closes at Universal Studios Florida.
November 20: Jurassic Park River Adventure reopens at Islands of Adventure.
Planning a trip?
For great prices and assistance on planning your next theme park vacation, please shop our international and U.S. attraction ticket partners. Or 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 reporting while getting a great deal at the same time.
Finally, for my weekly update of theme park news, please sign up for Theme Park Insider's weekend newsletter.
Replies (4)
A close friend of mine said that as flights get more expensive, the theme parks will have to lower their prices to get people in the gate. As someone who can road trip to Orlando within the day, does this actually end up benefitting me or how does that work?
Hopefully Thunder Mountain isn't down too long now after video emerged of one of the station brakes catching on fire.
Increasing flight costs is a real thing. Flights we had booked just over 2 weeks ago jumped up 50% last week. Spirit did have a pretty decent presence at MCO (one of our local morning radio personalities did a bit where they flew the show to WDW and back in the same day on Spirit, because at the time, you could do it for less than $100 round trip if you didn't have any bags). The loss of Spirit is definitely going to impact guests who were trying to travel to WDW on a budget. From most major cities on the east coast, you're going to have a hard time finding reasonably priced flights on short notice for those traveling in late May and early June. With gas prices soaring, driving to Orlando isn't the savings it was even if you're within driving distance, so I could see some families cancelling trips for more local options, or pushing pause in the hopes that prices come back down in 2027.
I just don't see the Orlando parks lowering admissions because they can't undercut guests who have already invested in 2026 summer trips. I could see special deals and promotions for guests who want to extend trips (5th day free) or WDW expanding their free dining promotion or tweaking the rules of that promotion to be more inclusive and easier to use. However, I just don't think WDW or Universal will be cutting standard admission rates, even if there are tons of cancellations. Disney has established a new financial reality of increasing margins on higher admission costs exchanging for flattening attendance trends.
You must be registered and logged in to submit a comment.
What level of flights did Spirit have into Orlando? As Spirit were in the hyper-value segment is it even likely to have a great impact on Disney?