Category: InsideTheMagic

It is estimated that Walt Disney World theme parks have a capacity of around 325,000 guests every single day. Add to that the capacity of places like Disney Springs, the BoardWalk, miniature golf courses, and more, and that number skyrockets. People save for years and travel from all corners of the world to visit The Most Magical Place on Earth. Because of that, Disney needs a lot of hotels to accommodate everyone. That is why there are more than two dozen hotels on Walt Disney World Resort property. Credit: Disney Related: Disney World Overhauling All Resort Hotels—New Changes To Take Effect in 8 Months Now, many of the hotels on property are owned by Disney, but a fair number are owned by other companies that work in conjunction with Disney and offer guests perks for staying there. Two of the most popular non-Disney-owned hotels are the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Hotels, which are owned by Tishman Realty & Construction Corporation and MetLife, but operated by Marriott. The Swan and Dolphin are located right along Disney’s BoardWalk and are close to both EPCOT and Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Guests who stay there can actually choose to walk to the two theme parks or even take the Friendship boats that go between the parks, the BoardWalk, and the hotels along the BoardWalk. Credit: Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Related: Disney World Shocker, Restaurant Suddenly Closes, To Be Replaced With Game Room Many guests love

If you weren’t already excited about Epic Universe’s upcoming Dark Universe land at Universal Orlando Resort, this new video might just change that. Shared via Universal Orlando’s official social media accounts, the brief teaser gives fans a bat’s-eye view of Darkmoor Village—and it’s absolutely spellbinding. Here’s a bat’s eye view through Darkmoor Village Enter Dark Universe if you dare, only at Epic Universe opening May 22, 2025. pic.twitter.com/Fe0pSAoqhM — Universal Orlando Resort (@UniversalORL) April 25, 2025 From the very first frame, the video casts a supernatural spell. The creature flies through the portal, pulsing with eerie light and color. What follows is a magical, drone-like journey above Darkmoor, the gothic village nestled at the heart of the Dark Universe. As the bat cruises past stone walls and crooked chimneys, we get our clearest look yet at the land’s scale and detail, culminating in a final approach toward the mysterious, towering Frankenstein Manor. Though it’s under a minute long, the teaser packs atmosphere and intrigue into every second. The soundtrack, a chilling yet graceful instrumental piano piece, sets the tone immediately. Its slow, deliberate notes create an ambiance that’s both refined and unsettling, perfectly matching the gothic elegance of Darkmoor. It feels like something straight out of Dracula’s manor: haunting, aristocratic, and deeply immersive. Combined with the sweeping aerial views, the music transforms the brief clip into an eerie, cinematic invitation into the mysterious heart of Dark Universe.

Orlando International Airport (MCO) is preparing for a major transformation that promises to elevate the travel experience for millions of passengers. With an array of projects on the horizon, MCO is setting the stage to accommodate the city’s booming tourism industry and rapidly growing population. From new terminals to innovative passenger amenities, this expansion is a game-changer for one of the busiest airports in the United States. A New Terminal Takes Flight One of the most exciting developments is the construction of a brand-new terminal, courtesy of Signature Aviation. This 8,000-square-foot facility will redefine luxury air travel, boasting a state-of-the-art VIP lounge, a central lobby, private conference rooms, and flight operations areas. Two adjoining 30,000-square-foot hangars will enhance operational capacity and include additional office spaces for seamless functionality. To ensure uninterrupted service during construction, a temporary 2,000-square-foot terminal will be operational. Located near the Southwest Airlines Training Building, this interim solution will provide passengers with a comfortable and efficient travel experience until the main terminal is completed. The permanent terminal is expected to cater primarily to private and business aviation, reflecting MCO’s commitment to serving a diverse range of travelers. Credit: FlyMCO Enhancements at Terminal C Terminal C, MCO’s newest addition, is undergoing significant enhancements to optimize passenger flow and accessibility. At the heart of these upgrades is the construction of a 450-foot pedestrian bridge connecting Terminal C to the airport’s train station. This bridge will offer direct access to the Terminal Link people

A trip to the Disneyland Resort is supposed to be magical, full of fun experiences that create memories that will last a lifetime. The Happiest Place on Earth has so many amazing attractions, must-do character meet-and-greets, and more merchandise than you can possibly imagine. Every day, tens of thousands of people visit the resort, leaving with big smiles on their faces. Unfortunately, for one family, their trip to Disneyland took a terrifying turn when their 16-year-old daughter vanished. Credit: Disney Related: Disney Announces TWO New Projection Shows Coming in 2025! According to initial reports, 16-year-old Annie Kathleen was visiting Disney California Adventure Park on April 20 when she got into a fight with her family. After the argument, Kathleen reportedly left the theme park and was last seen walking down Ball Road just before 5 p.m. Ball Road is located just outside the resort. The Kathleen family was incredibly worried. They said that their daughter was not familiar with the area around Disneyland since they were not from Anaheim. They are from Calipatria, California, about four hours south of Disneyland. Credit: Anaheim Police Department Related: Teens Vandalize Beloved “it’s a small world” Attraction Thankfully, according to an updated report from the Anaheim Police Department, Annie Kathleen has been found safe and has been reunited with her grateful family. UPDATE 04/24: LOCATED AND ON HER WAY TO REUNITE WITH FAMILY ******* We’re asking for the public’s help in locating

A former Imagineer has shared concept art for a Disney theme park in Australia – and pondered its potential for other countries, too. With six resorts around the world, you could hardly complain that Disney hasn’t gone international. As of 2025, the original Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California, is joined by parks in Orlando (Walt Disney World Resort), Paris (Disneyland Paris), Hong Kong (Hong Kong Disneyland), Shanghai (Shanghai Disneyland), and Tokyo (Tokyo Disney Resort). Credit: Disney Related: Disney Expansion Plan Approved, New Park Incoming? The latest theme park only opened in 2016 (shoutout to Shanghai), but Disney fans are always pondering where and when Disney will open its next location. With Disney investing an estimated $60 billion into its theme parks over the next decade, this debate has heated up even more in recent years. While Disney is yet to so much as hint at a brand-new resort, it has teased the possibility of a fifth gate at Walt Disney World – which has prime real estate for expansion – and a third at Disneyland Resort, which successfully wooed the City of Anaheim to greenlight its DisneylandForward plans. Disney is also legally obligated to build a third theme park at Disneyland Paris at some point before 2036. Credit: Disney However, that doesn’t mean it won’t add a new location to its lineup in the future. Disney’s biggest theme park rival, Universal, has announced multiple new additions to its roster in the coming years, including

If you’re tired of virtual queues at Disney parks, we have some bad news. Plenty of things have changed at theme parks in recent years, with virtual queues being one of the most unpopular developments. While Disney isn’t the only theme park company to utilize virtual queues for its attractions, it has generated some of the deepest frustration from guests. Credit: Disney At present, Walt Disney World Resort and Disneyland Resort primarily utilize virtual queues for their newest attractions. The likes of Guardians of the Galaxy – Cosmic Rewind, TRON Lightcycle / Run, Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, and Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance all initially utilized virtual queues after opening, with guests required to rush to secure a boarding group via each resort’s respective app in order to ride. Theoretically, this slashes the time that guests spend standing in a standby queue. However, the reality is that these virtual queue systems still require standing in a lengthy physical line – Disney just tells you when it’s your chance to do so. Is Disney Expanding Its Virtual Queues? Divisive though virtual queues may be, it seems like Disney believes it can put them to further use. Credit: Disney The company is reportedly testing virtual queues aboard the Disney Cruise Line right now. Disney is piloting an online reservation system for select experiences aboard the Disney Wish, where guests on the April 21 voyage were apparently encouraged to use the Disney Cruise Line’s Navigator app to

Last April, Disney CEO Bob Iger announced that the company planned to spend $60 billion on its Disney Experiences division over the next decade. Of that, $30 billion would be spent on Disney Parks, $18 billion on tech and maintenance, and $12 billion on Disney Cruise line. Credit: Disney At the time, Iger said: As I looked at the returns on the invested capital that we made in this business over the 15 years prior to my coming back, it was extraordinarily compelling. We should allocate in a direction where we had great returns. When Iger made that announcement a year ago, he could not have foreseen the headwinds the company is currently facing. Disney’s domestic parks are looking at fewer guests and uncertainty in the economy, which is causing guests to rethink paying thousands for a Disney trip. Credit: Gage Skidmore, Flickr; Disney Disney is also facing increased costs due to the tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump. The new tariffs rose exponentially in cost for steel and other building materials from China. The company will also have to deal with increased costs to import most of its merchandise from China, which it will pass along to already strapped consumers. These additional stressors have caused Disney’s stock to dip below $90 for the first time since September 2024. Credit: Disney With the economy turning against Disney, fans fear that the company might cut back on its planned expansion plan, and

In 2019, Disney and Star Wars fans fell in love with Game of Thrones star Pedro Pascal when he took on the role of Din Djarin, AKA The Mandalorian, in the hit Disney+ show The Mandalorian. The Mandalorian was one of the first series to premiere on Disney+ and was an original Star Wars series created specifically for Disney’s new streaming platform. Since then, Pascal has become one of the most recognizable faces in Hollywood, starring in even more blockbuster films and television shows, including Wonder Woman 1984 (2020), The Book of Boba Fett, Gladiator II (2024), and The Last of Us. Credit: Lucasfilm Related: Jon Favreau Speaks Out on ‘The Mandalorian’ Season 4’s Replacement Fans love many things about Pedro Pascal, including his sense of humor, humble nature, fun fashion choices, and how much he loves and supports his family, including his sister, Lux Pascal, who came out as transgender in 2021. Pascal has taken his sister to red carpet events and gushed about what a fantastic person she is. So, he does not take kindly to those who would attack her and think of her as less than them because of who she is. That includes controversial Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling.   View this post on Instagram   A post shared by Pedro Pascal he/him (@pascalispunk)

There’s something about walking under that Main Street Train Station archway that immediately makes your heart swell. It’s the first thing you see when you enter Magic Kingdom, and for so many Disney fans, it’s the thing that sets the tone for the entire day. Between the whistling steam engine and the rhythmic sound of the Walt Disney World Railroad pulling into the station, it’s as iconic—and nostalgic—as it gets. Credit: Ed Aguila, Inside the Magic But if you’ve visited lately, you may have noticed something feels… different. Maybe even a little off. And you’re not wrong. Magic Kingdom has been changing over the last few years Let’s back up for a second. Magic Kingdom has already been undergoing a bit of an identity shift. The addition of Tiana’s Bayou Adventure in place of Splash Mountain was a major change to Frontierland, and Disney has already teased even bigger updates on the horizon. We’re talking potential expansions like Disney Villains Land and even Cars Land—the same type of idea from Disney California Adventure—coming to Florida. While those projects are still in development phases, conceptually they mark a pretty dramatic evolution for Walt Disney World’s most nostalgic park. Now, enter the latest surprise: the Main Street, U.S.A. Train Station is currently a construction zone. Credit: Brett Kiger via Flickr Panels have been removed, decorative elements are gone, and instead of being greeted by the crisp, elegant façade you remember, guests are now seeing

If you’re a Disney fan, animation buff, or someone who loves owning meaningful art pieces, here’s a rare chance to score something truly special. The Walt Disney Company is joining a powerful, community-driven effort by partnering with Heritage Auctions to release a curated selection of original animation artifacts, and it’s all to benefit Los Angeles fire relief. A Creative Community Comes Together This isn’t just another memorabilia auction; it’s a celebration of the animation industry uniting around a shared purpose. Studios like Warner Bros., DreamWorks Animation, Sony Pictures Animation, Paramount, and Disney have all stepped up to contribute both historic pieces and new, specially created artwork for this event. It’s a meaningful chance for the artists to give back through their craft. And for fans and collectors, it’s a rare opportunity to own authentic production art from beloved films, or even a one-of-a-kind piece created just for this moment. Credit: Disney A Cause Close to Home What makes this moment even more personal for Disney is its proximity to the cause. With its animation studios based in Burbank, the effects of the wildfires are felt deeply across the Disney community. Many artists and employees live in the areas impacted, and this auction is a heartfelt response, using art and legacy to support the very people who help create the magic every day. A Moment of Industry Solidarity While Disney has participated in art auctions before, this moment stands out for its scale and heart. It’s not just