If you’re a Disney enthusiast, you might want to double-check your calendar, because today officially marks the start of the most monumental week of the year at Walt Disney World. While casual park-goers might be waiting for the traditional mid-summer rush, die-hard fans have today highlighted, circled, and starred. On this Friday, May 22, the floodgates are officially opening on a wave of massive new attraction rollouts, seasonal events, and long-awaited character debuts across the resort.
The historic week kicks off this morning inside Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Starting today, Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run is fundamentally expanding its narrative timeline with a brand-new, high-stakes mission featuring The Mandalorian and Grogu. For the first time since the land opened in 2019, your flight crew isn't just following a fixed script—engineers actually have the agency to maneuver the ship into three entirely new branching destinations, including Bespin and Coruscant. It adds an incredible level of repeatability to the simulator, and yes, seeing a state-of-the-art Baby Yoda pop up on your viewscreen to help the engineers handle a hyperdrive crisis is worth the price of admission alone.
Related: Disney Just Dropped 3 Brand-New Missions Inside Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge
View this post on InstagramIf you happen to be a Disney Annual Passholder, today carries a massive double-dose of adrenaline. Not only do you get first crack at the new Falcon missions, but the park is also hosting the exclusive, final days of the Rock ’n’ Roller Coaster Starring The Muppets Passholder previews. Over on the r/WaltDisneyWorld Reddit community, the positive energy is completely contagious. In the official opening megathread, lucky riders who caught the early previews are already raking in the praise, with one fan sharing, "Saw it Monday for cast previews, loved it. I'm a big ol Muppet fan so it was awesome!" Another fan noted how incredible the new storytelling elements are, writing, "I thought it was cute how they really tried to make a story that made sense. The animatronics are really good."
Related: Disney World Just Dropped the First Look at Muppet Coaster’s ‘Mayhem’ Makeover—And the New Lead Character Isn’t Who You Think
Because demand for this final preview weekend has been completely through the roof, spaces are strictly limited, meaning you'll need to master the My Disney Experience app. Disney has implemented a highly competitive virtual queue system opening at 7 a.m., 11 a.m., and 3 p.m. to help manage the crowds rushing toward Sunset Boulevard.
But the excitement hitting the parks today is really just the opening salvo for a relentless sprint of openings. If today belongs to Hollywood Studios, Tuesday, May 26, is set to completely reshape the rest of the property. Just four days from now, the general public can finally join in on the puppet-infused pandemonium when the Muppet coaster officially opens its doors, showcasing a mind-blowing, motion-captured Scooter animatronic in the pre-show and a freshly locked funk-rock setlist featuring covers by Kelly Clarkson and Def Leppard.
Tuesday also marks the official launch of the resort-wide Cool Kids' Summer event, which brings an onslaught of nostalgic heavy-hitters to the property through the beginning of September. As Walt Disney World Ambassadors Phelicia Blake and Kylee Withers shared during a recent preview, "There is so much to look forward to this year... we have things going on at all four theme parks, our resorts, even Disney Springs has something going on this year." Blake noted that the celebration spans everything from "reimagined attractions for our guests to experience for the first time" to specific comfort additions for traveling families.
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Over at Disney's Animal Kingdom, Bluey’s Wild World makes its highly anticipated East Coast debut, bringing Bluey and Bingo to Conservation Station for real-life games of Keepy Uppy. Meanwhile, EPCOT is getting in on the celebration by debuting Soarin’ Across America, a patriotic, landscape-spanning update to the classic flight simulator just in time for the United States semiquincentennial. Back at Hollywood Studios, the grand opening of the newly landscaped Animation Courtyard includes a custom-built Mickey Clubhouse experience—providing parents with a much-needed, air-conditioned cooldown moment away from the intense summer heat while the little ones play.
Related: Bluey is Finally Coming to Disney World—Here Are All the Details
Even after the park turnstiles close, the magic keeps rolling right into the evening. Guests staying at select Disney Resort hotels this summer will get to experience a brand-new, exclusive "goodnight concert" activation. According to Withers, "We're going to have 'bedtime stories' for our guests staying at select resorts this summer... and you're going to have some characters from Disney visiting as well."
Whether you’re rushing to the Falcon cockpit this morning, dialing into the virtual queue, or counting down the hours until the Swedish Chef takes over the Sunset Boulevard snack bars, one thing is certain: there has never been a better week to be a Disney fan.
Related: 8 Park-Day Must-Haves From a Certified Disney Adult
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