Disney made several new announcements during the “The Future of World-Building at Disney” session at SXSW 2025, including a first look at the ride vehicle concept for the off-road “Cars” attraction and the date for a new mission featuring The Mandalorian and Grogu coming to Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run — all this and more in today’s daily recap for Saturday, March 8, 2025.
Walt Disney World
Magic Kingdom
- Disney shared a first look at the ride vehicle concept for the off-road “Cars” attraction coming to Magic Kingdom, as well as early sketches for the cars themselves.
EPCOT
- The opening day for the 2025 EPCOT International Flower & Garden Festival has arrived, and we’ve reviewed every single item available at the festival.
- The 2025 EPCOT International Flower & Garden Festival is underway, and here are the 7 best and 7 worst items from this year’s festival.
- Many of the newly added floral flooring decals for the 2025 EPCOT International Flower & Garden Festival are already decimated in CommuniCore Hall.
Disney’s Hollywood Studios
- The “Monsters Inc” door coaster coming to Disney’s Hollywood Studios will be the first-ever suspended coaster at a Disney Park, and feature the first-ever vertical lift.
- After its initial reveal yesterday, March 8, the limited edition Mara Jade Skywalker lightsaber set is now available for purchase at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
- The new mission featuring The Mandalorian and Grogu coming to Millenium Falcon: Smugglers Run in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge now has an opening date.
- BD-X droids will be making their way to Walt Disney World “later this year.”
Disney’s Animal Kingdom
- Thanks to bioreconstruct on X, we now have aerial photos of the ongoing demolition of Chester & Hester’s Dino-Rama in DinoLand U.S.A.
New Merchandise
- The Mara Jade Legacy Lightsaber set is now available for purchase online from the Disney Store.
- A few more items originally released by Disney Store Japan have arrived at Disney Ever After in Disney Springs.
Disneyland Resort
- Robert Downey Jr. joined Kevin Feige and Bruce Vaughn on stage at SXSW 2025 to share new details about the Stark Flight Lab attraction coming to Disney California Adventure.
- A new exhibit featuring both original and concept art from the Pixar series “Win or Lose” is now available to guests visiting the Pixar Place Hotel at Disneyland Resort.
- President of Marvel Studios Kevin Feige has announced that the Fantastic Four will be meeting guests this summer at Disneyland Park.
- The new mission featuring The Mandalorian and Grogu coming to Millenium Falcon: Smugglers Run in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge now has an opening date.
- A crowd-favorite entertainment offering during the 2025 Disney California Adventure Food & Wine Festival is Cookin’ with the Jammin’ Chefs, who have returned once more to share their culinary-inspired beats.
- Susan Egan, the voice of Megara from “Hercules,” gave a surprise performance of “I Won’t Say (I’m In Love)” at Disneyland After Dark: 90s Nite.
Disney Cruise Line
- We have compiled the full menus for each of the rotational dining restaurants aboard the Disney Treasure: Plaza de Coco, Worlds of Marvel, and 1923.
Tokyo Disney Resort
- BD-X droids will be making their way to Tokyo Disneyland sometime in 2025.
Disneyland Paris
- Two new stores, named Disney Style and Disney Glamour, are now open to guests in Disney Village at Disneyland Paris.
- BD-X droids will be making their way to Disneyland Paris “later this year.”
Entertainment and Media
- A new droidsmith Audio-Animatronic named Otto, the same species as Babu Frik, was revealed at the Disney Experiences session at SXSW 2025, sitting atop a BDX Droid.
WDW News Today
Disneyland Monorail Returns From Refurbishment 2025 – FULL Nosecone POV
Disneyland Railroad Returns From Refurbishment Ahead of Disneyland’s 70th Anniversary 2025
Cooking with the Jammin’ Chefs – Disney California Adventure Food and Wine Festival 2025
Universal Epic Universe Map, Single Rider Lines, & New Harry Potter Wands
That’s it for today; we hope you enjoyed this Daily Recap. Thanks for stopping by, and we’ll see you tomorrow!