Megatron cheers on a guest fight at Universal Studios Hollywood, another lawsuit for Stardust Racers, Darth Vader has a new Hollywood Studios meet and greet, and 2026 Disney After Hours announced — all this and more in today’s daily recap for Thursday, September 25, 2025.
Daily Recap (9/25/25)
Walt Disney World
Magic Kingdom
- Walt Disney World will hold Disney After Hours events at Magic Kingdom, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and EPCOT in 2026.
- Following the first night of Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, the second night is now sold out as well.
Disney’s Hollywood Studios
- New Darth Vader and Disney Visa Cardmember meet and greet experiences have opened at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in the wake of the Star Wars: Launch Bay closure.
- Following the closure of Star Wars: Launch Bay, guests can now meet Chewbacca near the Millennium Falcon in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Hollywood Studios.
- Construction walls have arrived at Animation Courtyard in Disney’s Hollywood Studios following most of the area’s closure.
- My Disney Experience now reflects the closure of Star Wars Launch Bay and the Disney Jr. Theater at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
New Merchandise
- Walt Disney World and Disney Store have a new series of Lincoln Logs sets inspired by Frontierland, including Country Bear Jamboree and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.
- Pandora – The World of Avatar has a new Na’vi-inspired ear headband that glows under blacklight.
- A Magic: The Gathering booster pack featuring Spider-Man has been released early at Disney World.
- Are you ready for 2026? Disney World is, and they just released a hoodie to celebrate the new year that’s coming!
Disneyland Resort
New Merchandise
- We spotted the very first piece of Christmas merchandise at Disneyland. Get in the holiday spirit with this Stitch t-shirt.
Other Disney Merchandise
- Disney Parks merchandise has arrived at the Disney Store at Selfridges in London and is rolling out to other locations.
The Walt Disney Company
- Following the suspension and return of Jimmy Kimmel Live, investors are demanding Disney share its records to understand the reasoning behind the decision.
- More than 100 former ABC employees are urging Disney CEO Bob Iger to publicly defend journalists after the suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live.
Universal Orlando Resort
Epic Universe
- A Central Florida woman is suing Universal, claiming she was injured on Stardust Racers at Epic Universe, the same coaster where a man was found unresponsive and later pronounced dead.
- Check out our tour of Hiccup’s Work Shop in How to Train Your Dragon – Isle of Berk at Epic Universe.
Universal Studios Florida
- Demolition of Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit continues, with even more track removed from the Double Take loop and loading area.
Islands of Adventure
- Construction walls went up at the exit of the defunct Poseidon’s Fury attraction in Universal Islands of Adventure earlier this month — but the walls are already down with no signs of construction.
Universal Studios Hollywood
- A new video taken by a guest at Universal Studios Hollywood shows the Transformers villain Megatron seemingly encouraging a guest brawl happening in front of him.
Universal Studios Japan
- Universal Studios Japan has announced details for its annual New Year’s celebration NO LIMIT! Countdown 2026.
Entertainment and Media
- Avatar: Fire and Ash is the third installment in the Avatar film franchise, and we now know the history of the evil Ash tribe, thanks to the new trailer that was just released.
- Tuesday night’s return of Jimmy Kimmel Live saw a massive boost in ratings with 6.26 million viewers.
WDW News Today
- The WDWNT Fall Blowout Auction is coming soon! If you’ve not already registered, you can do so now and be ready when the action starts on Saturday, October 11 at 11:00 AM EDT. Just head over to auction.wdwnt.com and click the Registration link in the upper left.
That’s it for today; we hope you enjoyed this Daily Recap. Thanks for stopping by, and we’ll see you tomorrow!