Disney World Rolls Out Late-May Slate Headlined by Star Wars and Muppets Refresh

Walt Disney World is opening one of its largest May attraction slates in years, with a refreshed Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run, a fully reimagined Rock 'n' Roller Coaster reborn as a Muppets attraction, the launch of The Walt Disney Studios transformation at Disney's Hollywood Studios, the debut of Soarin' Across America at EPCOT, and the opening of Bluey's Wild World at Disney's Animal Kingdom. The wave of openings spans the resort's four theme parks and represents the most concentrated burst of new content the resort has delivered in a single month in years.

For Central Florida, the announcement carries significant tourism implications. Walt Disney World remains the largest single-site theme park complex in the world, and major new attractions reliably translate into bookings, hotel nights, and broader regional spending. Industry analysts have been watching for Disney to respond to the opening of Universal's Epic Universe in 2025, and the late-May 2026 slate represents one of the company's most assertive responses to date, deploying its strongest intellectual property across all four parks.

The new and reimagined attractions also reflect Disney's evolving approach to its theme park portfolio, with refresh investments aimed at extending the relevance of existing attractions and weaving newer characters into legacy properties. The Star Wars refresh focuses on the Mando and Grogu characters from the Star Wars Disney+ series and upcoming film, while the Muppets makeover applies the classic franchise to a beloved coaster that had been running its original theme since 1999. Floridians and visitors alike will see the changes in action by Memorial Day weekend.

The Star Wars Refresh

Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run, the interactive flight simulator attraction at Disney's Hollywood Studios, is receiving a major thematic refresh. The original 2019 attraction placed guests in the cockpit of the iconic ship on missions for the smuggler Hondo Ohnaka set in the new sequel trilogy era of the Star Wars timeline. The refreshed version repositions the missions within the Mandalorian era, with Din Djarin, also known as Mando, and his ward Grogu featured as central characters.

The updated ride does not change the fundamental physical structure of the attraction, which sends groups of guests into a full-scale Millennium Falcon cockpit set with motion simulation and visual effects. The mission briefings, in-flight communications, and visual sequences have all been updated to align with the Mandalorian timeline, and the queue experience has been refreshed with new themed environments and character interactions. The voice cast for the new mission has not been fully disclosed, but reports suggest it includes voice work from cast members of the Disney+ series.

The refresh is timed to coincide with the theatrical release of The Mandalorian and Grogu, the live-action Star Wars film that brings the Disney+ characters to the big screen. The film's release in late May provides a powerful marketing tie-in for the attraction refresh, with Disney's marketing operation able to cross-promote across film, television, theme parks, and consumer products. The combined push represents one of the largest Star Wars-focused marketing campaigns the company has executed since the sequel trilogy era.

The Muppets Take Sunset Boulevard

Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith, the high-speed indoor coaster at Disney's Hollywood Studios that has been running since 1999, has been fully reimagined as a Muppets-themed attraction. The reimagined attraction opens during the May slate after an extended closure for the transformation, with details of the new storyline focused on Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem, the Muppets' fictional rock band, leading guests on a chaotic, music-filled adventure through Hollywood traffic.

The coaster's physical layout remains largely intact, preserving the high-speed launch and the inverted loops that have made it one of the most thrilling attractions at the park. The on-board audio, ride video sequences, queue environments, and post-show areas have all been completely rebuilt around Muppets characters, music, and humor. The original Aerosmith theming, which had become dated to many guests and was tied to a licensing arrangement, is fully retired.

The change is part of Disney's broader effort to give the Muppets franchise a more prominent place across its parks, with Muppet Vision 3D continuing to operate at Hollywood Studios and other Muppets-themed offerings appearing at various resort locations. The Muppets are a Disney-owned property, giving the company full creative latitude over the franchise without external licensing considerations. Long-time fans of the original coaster have expressed mixed feelings online, but Disney has emphasized continuity in the ride experience itself.

The Walt Disney Studios Transformation

A broader land-level transformation at Disney's Hollywood Studios is launching alongside the individual attraction openings, with portions of the park rethemed and rebranded as The Walt Disney Studios. The transformation reorients the park around a celebration of Disney's century-plus history in entertainment, with new themed environments, character meet-and-greets, food and beverage offerings, and entertainment programming. Park signage, maps, and wayfinding have been updated to reflect the new theming.

The transformation responds to feedback that Hollywood Studios had become a collection of distinct themed lands without a unifying identity, with Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge, Toy Story Land, and the original Sunset Boulevard and Hollywood Boulevard areas representing different aesthetic worlds. The Walt Disney Studios theming provides a unifying frame, casting the entire park as a working studio that celebrates Disney's storytelling across all of its franchises.

Several legacy attractions remain unchanged, including The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, Star Tours: The Adventures Continue, and the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular. New entertainment offerings have been added to flesh out the studio theme, including character processions, stage shows, and interactive experiences that incorporate Disney's broad catalog of intellectual property. The park's evening fireworks show has also been updated to incorporate the new theme.

Soarin' Across America at EPCOT

Soarin' Across America debuts at EPCOT as the latest version of the popular flight simulator attraction that has cycled through multiple themes since its original debut as Soarin' Over California. The new version takes guests on a continental tour featuring American landmarks, natural wonders, and iconic destinations, with updated audio, visual effects, and scent technology that synchronizes with the flight sequences. The attraction occupies the same Soarin' building at the World Nature section of EPCOT.

The Around America theming responds to guest feedback that the previous Soarin' Around the World version, while popular, had grown familiar to repeat visitors. The new flight sequence visits locations spanning the country, including the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, the Florida coast, urban skylines, and historical sites. The film was shot in high resolution with helicopter and drone photography, and the audio mix takes advantage of the attraction's surround sound system.

The change reflects the broader thinking at EPCOT's ongoing renovation, which has rebranded the park around four neighborhoods: World Celebration, World Discovery, World Nature, and World Showcase. The original Future World theming has been retired in favor of the new structure, and several major attractions have either been refreshed or replaced as part of the multi-year project. Soarin' Across America fits within the World Nature neighborhood's celebration of natural environments and landscapes.

Bluey's Wild World at Animal Kingdom

Bluey's Wild World opens at Disney's Animal Kingdom as a new family-friendly area aimed at younger guests and fans of the popular Australian animated series. Bluey, the show about a six-year-old Blue Heeler puppy and her family, has become a massive global hit since its debut in 2018, with strong appeal to preschool-age children and their parents. Disney has held the broadcast rights for the show in the United States through its Disney+ streaming service and the Disney Channel.

The Bluey area at Animal Kingdom features themed play environments, character meet-and-greets, food and beverage offerings, and a small attraction designed for young children and families. The land's design draws on the show's distinctive aesthetic, with brightly colored play structures and references to episodes that fans of the series will recognize. The area sits within the park's overall theming around wildlife, conservation, and family connections with the natural world.

The opening reflects Disney's strategy of expanding theme park offerings for younger audiences as part of broader visitor experience programming. Animal Kingdom has historically been one of the more adult-oriented of the Disney World parks, with offerings like the Avatar Flight of Passage and Expedition Everest drawing teen and adult thrill-seekers. The Bluey addition broadens the park's appeal to families with preschoolers, a demographic that represents a significant portion of Disney's vacation traffic.

Tourism Implications

The combined May slate is expected to drive a significant uplift in Walt Disney World visitor traffic during what is typically a moderate-traffic late-spring period. Tourism analysts who track Orlando theme park performance have noted that major attraction openings reliably correlate with visitor surges, and Disney's marketing operation has been promoting the new and refreshed attractions heavily through television, digital, and partnership channels in advance of the openings.

Orlando's broader tourism economy benefits when Disney World traffic grows. The region's hotels, restaurants, transportation services, and attractions all depend in part on Disney-driven visitation, even as Universal's Epic Universe has emerged as a major competitor for visitor attention. The combined competition between the two operators is widely viewed by industry observers as a net positive for the regional economy, with both companies investing aggressively to maintain and grow market share.

Central Florida's tourism marketing organizations, including Visit Orlando and the Central Florida Hotel and Lodging Association, work closely with both Disney and Universal on regional promotion. The competition between the two operators has resulted in significant capital investment in the region over the past several years, including new theme park additions, hotel construction, infrastructure improvements, and entertainment offerings beyond the parks themselves.

What's Next

Disney has additional attraction openings and refreshes scheduled across the remainder of 2026 and into 2027, including ongoing work at Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, and the resort's hotel properties. The company has signaled continued investment in its Florida parks, with a multi-year capital plan that includes new attractions inspired by various Disney franchises. Detailed announcements are typically released through the Disney Parks Blog and through media events held at the resort.

For Florida residents, Disney's Florida Resident ticket and annual pass options provide ongoing access to the parks at preferential pricing, and the company has historically used new attraction openings to drive renewals and new pass sales. Annual pass holders are typically among the first to experience new attractions during preview periods that precede public openings. For visiting tourists, the late-May slate provides a particularly compelling reason to plan a Walt Disney World trip during what has typically been a slightly slower tourism window between spring break and the summer family travel season. The combined effect is likely to produce one of the busier late-May periods Walt Disney World has seen in years, with Florida's broader tourism economy across hotels, restaurants, transportation, and attractions a clear beneficiary of the surge in visitor interest tied to the new and refreshed attractions across all four major parks.