The first original house has been announced for Halloween Horror Nights 34, the Universal Islands of Adventure theater that once featured “The Eighth Voyage of Sindbad” is now a “Cool Zone,” and Epic Universe rides were staying open one hour after park close — all this and more in today’s daily recap for Friday, June 20, 2025.
Daily Recap (6/20/25)
Walt Disney World
Magic Kingdom
- Disney announced the performance times for “Disney Starlight: Dream the Night Away” and revealed the nighttime parade will follow the Magic Kingdom parade route backwards.
- The new Magic Kingdom nighttime parade, “Disney Starlight: Dream the Night Away,” won’t perform on Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party dates.
- Magic Kingdom has extended operating hours starting on the premiere date of “Disney Starlight: Dream the Night Away.”
- After being completely deconstructed and reconstructed, the Astro Orbiter rockets took to the sky on Friday for testing.
- Join Bryce for the latest photo report from Magic Kingdom.
Walt Disney World Resort Hotels
- The Blue Ribbon Corn Dogs location at Disney’s BoardWalk has a new exclusive cheesy corn dog on the menu.
New Merchandise
- Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground has a series of new merchandise available at Settlement Trading Post.
Other Walt Disney World News
- An Illinois doctor vacationing at Walt Disney World was in the right place at the right time to save the life of a 17-year-old girl.
- From fireworks to merchandise, here’s how Walt Disney World is celebrating Fourth of July 2025.
Disney Store Merchandise
- Hurry over to DisneyStore.com to take advantage of 25% off sitewide today (Friday, June 20).
The Walt Disney Company
- Walt Disney Animation Studios may bring back 2D animation among experimentation with different styles.
Universal Orlando Resort
Epic Universe
- WDWNT visited Epic Universe on the evening of Thursday, June 19 to confirm reports that rides were staying open one hour after park close at 9 p.m.
- We reviewed the cosmic fare at Meteor Astropub in Celestial Park.
Universal Studios Florida
- The first original house, El Artista: A Spanish Haunting, has just been announced for Halloween Horror Nights 34 at Universal Orlando Resort.
Islands of Adventure
- The Universal Islands of Adventure theater that once featured “The Eighth Voyage of Sindbad” is now a “Cool Zone” where guests can relax and drink water.
- Universal Orlando Resort teased a special one-day-only Passholder-exclusive “Jaws” offering coming to the UOAP Lounge and WDWNT was at the park on Friday morning to discover the surprise.
Universal Studios Japan
- Universal announced the opening date for the Minion Park expansion at Universal Studios Japan, including an “enhanced” version of Illumination’s Villain-Con Minion Blast.
Entertainment and Media
- Pixar’s “Elio” is expected to have a low opening weekend box office, reflecting the studio’s troubles with original films — but don’t count it out yet.
- About halfway through 2025, Disney is leading the domestic box office with a total of $1.1 billion.
- Marvel has confirmed that Jon Bernthal will reprise his role as Frank Castle/The Punisher for “Spider-Man: Brand New Day.”
WDW News Today
- The WDWNT Summer Auction is this weekend! If you’ve not already registered, you can do so now and be ready when the action starts tomorrow at 1:00 PM EDT.
That’s it for today; we hope you enjoyed this Daily Recap. Thanks for stopping by, and we’ll see you tomorrow!