Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is reportedly closing for a major refurbishment as part of the Magic Kingdom expansion, a Disney World food and beverage union has filed a list of demands, and Rex from “Toy Story” is coming to Shanghai Disney Resort — all this and more in today’s daily recap for Saturday, June 15, 2024.
Walt Disney World
Magic Kingdom
- Disney has filed a permit for a Big Thunder Mountain Railroad refurbishment, possibly indicating the beginning of the Beyond Big Thunder expansion project at Magic Kingdom.
EPCOT
- A new EPCOT park entrance sign has been installed to match the updated logo style.
Disney’s Hollywood Studios
- One of two construction walls around the Toy Story Mania exit in Disney’s Hollywood Studios has been removed after four months.
Walt Disney World Resort Hotels
- On a recent visit to Disney’s Port Orleans Resort – Riverside, we discovered a new Tiana’s Bayou Adventure photo op.
New Merchandise
- On a recent trip to Magic Kingdom, we discovered four new “The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror” pins.
- Arribas Brothers locations at Walt Disney World have an expensive new limited edition Princess Cinderella figure covered in Swarovski crystals.
- The new Lion King MagicBand+ is now available at Discovery Trading Company in Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
- New World Showcase pins featuring Mickey, Minnie, and more are now available at Walt Disney World Resort.
- To celebrate the 15th anniversary of “Up,” a new limited edition Carl and Ellie doll set is now available for purchase.
Other Walt Disney World News
- UNITE HERE Local 737, which represents Walt Disney World food and beverage Cast Members among other workers, has issued a list of demands for improvements for tipped employees and requested a meeting with Disney regarding guest allergy concerns.
Disneyland Resort
- A coalition of unions representing over 13,000 Disneyland Resort Cast Members has filed charges against Disney for disciplining employees wearing union buttons.
- The new Disney Eats donut and Stitch Attacks donuts collections are available at Disneyland Resort.
- Disneyland Resort has a new bottle topper in honor of Pride Month 2024.
- Disney artist Ashley Taylor has designed a new Sleeping Beauty home collection now available at Disneyland Resort.
- A new collection of Stitch 626 merchandise has crash-landed in Disneyland Resort ahead of June 26, a.k.a. 6/26.
Tokyo Disney Resort
- Tokyo Disney Resort and Calbee, Inc. have created new flavored potato chips inspired by the theme parks’ classic bone-in sausage snack.
Shanghai Disneyland
- Shanghai Disney Resort shared via their official Instagram account that a new Rex character meet and greet is coming to the resort.
Entertainment and Media
- “Inside Out 2” grossed $13 million domestically and $22.3 million internationally during Thursday night previews, giving it the biggest preview night of 2024.
WDW News Today
Opening Day Attraction Closing To Become DVC Lounge
Tiana’s Bayou Adventure – Nighttime POV – 4K Multicam
That’s it for today; we hope you enjoyed this Daily Recap. Thanks for stopping by, and we’ll see you tomorrow!