Many changes to Disney theme park rides are invisible by design. They aren’t noticeable to guests, but are related to maintenance, performed stealthily by workers overnight or during routine refurbishments. That won’t be the case this summer, when Disney will reintroduce guests to a handful of familiar attractions whose changes are anything but subtle.
Disneyland in California and Walt Disney World in Florida will open new versions of existing rides in summer 2026 after significant overhauls. We have the full list of opening dates and what’s changing. Mickey Visit brings you the latest Disney news and planning resources, including Disney wanting to reduce guests’ phone use and free Minnie Van transportation from the airport.
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1. Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run
Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run is a thrilling simulator ride in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at both Disneyland Park in California and Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Florida. A crew of six guests flies the Millennium Falcon through the galaxy, their actions impacting what happens in the ride.
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In the current version of the attraction, riders are enlisted by Hondo Ohnaka, a character from the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels, to smuggle coaxium fuel on the planet Corellia.
Disney will soon update the ride to star Din Djarin, aka the Mandalorian, and Grogu, aka “baby Yoda.” Riders assigned the role of engineer will now be responsible for communicating with Grogu. This is a nice upgrade for what is typically lamented as the most boring ship role compared to pilots and gunners.
After beginning the voyage on the planet Batuu, the ride will visit Tatooine. From there, the ship will venture to one of three planets:
- Bespin, home of Cloud City
- Endor, where the wreckage of the second Death Star is strewn about
- Coruscant, one of the galaxy’s busiest cityscapes
This differs from Star Tours – The Adventures Continue, which also utilizes different possible ride settings, but leaves destinations to chance rather than letting guests choose.
Disney will also upgrade the software of Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run from its 2019 iteration. This should result in smoother real-time rendering for the attraction’s computer-generated imagery.
The new version of Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run, featuring the Mandalorian and Grogu, will open at both Disneyland and Disney’s Hollywood Studios on May 22, 2026. This is the same day that the new movie The Mandalorian and Grogu will be released in theaters.
Disney has not announced any downtime required for the transition from the old version to the new version of Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run. The ride is expected to remain operational daily.
Disneyland’s version of Galaxy’s Edge will also expand its timeline to include the original Star Wars trilogy starting April 29.
2. Soarin’ Across America
Soarin’ is a gentle simulator ride at Disney California Adventure, EPCOT, Tokyo DisneySea, and Shanghai Disneyland. The attraction mimics hang-gliding over various picturesque destinations.
One version of the film travels above the state of California, while a more recent version traverses the entire globe. Soon, a third iteration will debut at both Disney California Adventure and EPCOT: Soarin’ Across America.
This new version will focus on famous sights of the United States, including the Statue of Liberty and the Grand Canyon.
Disney has shared at length about how the production crew of Soarin’ Across America used real cameras mounted on helicopters and drones to capture the film’s scenic views.
Soarin’ Across America will open at EPCOT on May 26, 2026. This will be preceded by a 12-day closure period for the attraction from May 14 to 25. The final day to experience Soarin’ Around the World is May 13.
Soarin’ Across America will open at Disney California Adventure on July 2, 2026. For this park, Disney will not require any closure before introducing the new version. Soarin’ Over California will continue to operate through July 1.
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Disney has said that Soarin’ Across America will be a limited-time presentation, but has not specified how long this version of the attraction will run. See all the details on Soarin’ Across America here.
3. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, the self-proclaimed “wildest ride in the wilderness,” has been closed at Magic Kingdom since January 2025. Marking one of the longest refurbishments for a Disney ride in recent memory, Imagineers and construction crews have spent the 16-month closure period sprucing up the roller coaster from top to bottom.
Just a few of the changes to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad include an entirely new track, new ride vehicles, a new ride control system, and new special effects in one of the attraction’s indoor sequences.
During the lift hill scene inside the rocky cavern, guests will encounter new rainbow lighting that’s soon disrupted by ominous red lighting and a flurry of bats!
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad will reopen at Magic Kingdom on May 3, 2026. See more of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad’s transformation here.
4. Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring The Muppets
Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith opened at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in 1999, back when the park was called Disney-MGM Studios.
Onboard the only Walt Disney World roller coaster to go upside-down, ride vehicles launched from 0 to 60 mph in three seconds, zooming through the dark to the tune of Aerosmith songs. Within the attraction’s story, riders sped through Los Angeles en route to an Aerosmith concert.
In March 2026, the Aerosmith version of the ride permanently closed to make way for a revised experience: Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring The Muppets.
For this new version, most, if not all, of the physical ride will be retained from its predecessor, but the cosmetics will change.
In the pre-show, instead of being greeted by Aerosmith, guests will encounter The Electric Mayhem, the house band of The Muppet Show. Instead of the ride vehicle being a superstretch limo arranged by Aerosmith’s agent, it’s a limo made long thanks to Muppet Labs technology.
Onboard the ride itself, guests will still travel at high speeds, but now to the tune of radio hits covered by The Electric Mayhem and guest-star musicians like Questlove, Def Leppard, and Kelly Clarkson. Kermit, Miss Piggy, penguins, and chickens are involved along the way, too.
Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring The Muppets will open at Disney’s Hollywood Studios on May 26, 2026. See more details, including all the songs and celebrity cameos, here.
5. Bluey’s Wild World at Conservation Station
Conservation Station debuted as a land within Disney’s Animal Kingdom on the theme park’s opening day in 1998.
Guests could visit this educational facility to take part in hands-on science exhibits and even view medical procedures of the park’s animal residents through a large window. The only way to access Conservation Station was by riding the Wildlife Express Train from the park’s Africa section.
In 2000, the land was renamed Rafiki’s Planet Watch, named after the mandrill from The Lion King. The land’s primary exhibit space and medical building retained the name Conservation Station.
Over the years, many exhibits shuttered. As of February 2026, the Rafiki’s Planet Watch experience consisted of the Wildlife Express train ride, a petting zoo, and the Conservation Station building with an animation class and medical procedure presentations.
In the coming weeks, the area will take on new life as Bluey’s Wild World at Conservation Station. Upon the land’s reopening, Disney will have spent three months transforming the space with theming based on the popular preschool series Bluey. The Rafiki’s Planet Watch branding will be dropped.
Bluey and her sister, Bingo, will make live appearances. Guests can join in on dance parties or visit animals from Bluey’s home continent, Australia. I expect the five-minute train ride to have some Bluey narration or music, too.
It remains to be seen how much of the previous educational components of Rafiki’s Planet Watch, including the medical presentations, will remain part of Bluey’s Wild World at Conservation Station.
Bluey’s Wild World at Conservation Station will open at Disney’s Animal Kingdom on May 26, 2026. Read more details on this and other new attractions coming to Animal Kingdom here.
Just Completed: Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin
Guests visiting Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom this summer can also enjoy a recently refurbished attraction that reopened on April 8, Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin.
The family-friendly, interactive dark ride, which debuted in 1998, was closed for eight months while Disney installed new handheld blasters with more gameplay flexibility, enhanced special effects, and a new character named Buddy, who trains riders before the blasting begins.
See all the details on the Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin makeover here.
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