The new model arrives June 16 for $400

Summer is here, and Disneyland is continuing its year-long70th anniversary, a celebration of the originalDisneytheme park opening its gates in 1955. Three new rides are also being built at the California Disney Parks, as well as a sprawling new Avatar area.

Over at Walt Disney World in Florida, four new lands are being constructed right now, themed around villains, Pixar characters and more.

Here’s everything you need to know about Disneyland and Disney World — starting with offerings coming this summer and then exploring what’s arriving beyond 2026.

Disneyland’s 70th anniversary

Disneyland continues its celebration of its 70th anniversary, following its kick-off in May 2025, for much of the summer. Its last day is Aug. 9, 2026 — after which the parks will transition to Halloween decor on Aug. 21, then the holidays on Nov. 18, before fully returning to its natural state in early 2027.

There are many 70th anniversary shows to see, including the Paint the Night parade, Celebrate Hpy Cavalcade and the Wondrous Journeys fireworks and projection show on the castle. Mickey and friends are also wearing 70th celebration outfits.

You can catch 70th anniversary-themed merchandise, food and drink items as well as a projection show at Carthay Circle and a 50-foot sculpture of Sleeping Beauty Castle on the esplanade between Disneyland and California Adventure; you can also find decorations sprinkled throughout Downtown Disney, Main Street USA, Disney’s hotels and even inside rides.

Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster starring The Muppets opens this week

While MuppetVision 3D closed last year to make way for anentire landthemed around the Monsters Pixar movies at Hollywood Studios, theMuppets are being moved to the Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster. That overlay didn’t take long to complete — Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith had its last day of operation on March 1, and theMuppets-themed versionopens onTuesday, May 26.

“The legendary ride roars back to life with a rock-charged remix that drops guests straight into the middle of The Electric Mayhem’s biggest night yet. With high-speed thrills, a pulse-pounding soundtrack, and a VIP list like no other, this reimagined attraction hits all the right notes,” the Disney Parks Blog posted on ril 16.

Replacing the old Muppets areaof Hollywood Studios, meanwhile, Monstropolis — home of the Monsters, Inc. movies, shorts and Disney Plusstreamingseries — will featureDisney’s first suspended roller coasterinside the city’s laugh/scream factory.

“The first time I saw Monsters, Inc., all I wanted to do was ride on one of those doors like Mike and Sulley,” Disney Experiences Chair Josh D’Amaro said at D23 in 2024. “Remember in the movie how those claws grab the doors and hoist them up into the air to take them away? We’re doing that too. And you’re going along for the ride.” ThisTikTokshows the design concept for the Monsters Inc. ride.

MuppetVision 3D closed permanently on June 8, 2025, but we don’t expect Monstropolis to be complete for another year or two.

Soarin’ Across America, coast to coast

At Disney’s California Adventure and Disney World’s Epcot, the Soarin’ Around the World attraction is getting a US-themed makeover.Soarin’ Across Americawill arrive on July 2, 2026, and will feature scenes, sounds and scents from more than a dozen citysces and scenic areas.

Disney released atrailer starring Patrick Warburton, the original Soarin’ narrator and pilot, in which he says we’ll soon “sail across spacious skies” and may see “amber waves of grain” and “purple mountain majesties.” It’s part of Disney’s celebration of America’s 250th anniversary.

Juneteenth at Disneyland

On June 19, Downtown Disney will host Disney on the Yard Presents Yardfest: Part of Celebrate Soulfully, which celebrates HBCUs, including performances by drum majors.

This event on Juneteenth kicks off the Celebrate Soulfully: Summer Vibes celebration, which goes from June 19 until July 19 to celebrate Black music, food, art and culture. Concerts will be held on certain days at Paradise Gardens in California Adventure, as well as “special character encounters and live variety acts” on Fridays and Saturdays, per Disney.

Bluey has arrived at Disneyland

Bluey and her family are now hosting a stage show and themed area at the original Disney park. Debuting two months ago,Bluey’s Best Day Everis located at the Fantasyland Theatre next to Mickey’s Toontown, which has been transformed into Bluey’s school classroom and grounds, including a gnome village and fairy garden.

Bluey and her sister, Bingo, pear several times each day, along with actors and musicians, to “bring to life the popular music and games emblematic of beloved Bluey episodes.” Those games will include “keepy uppy” and the “grannies,” as well as pearances by Chattermax and Unicorse.

There are also puzzles, games and photo ops throughout the Bluey area, and Disneyland is serving up Bluey-themed foods at Troubadour Tavern.

Thehugely popularAustralian cartoon about a family of dogs is a worldwide hit, and Disney is slated to release a Bluey movie in 2027. (In the meantime, you can watchBluey episodes and minisodesonDisney Plus.)

Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge: Old characters, new Mandalorian missions

New characters have begun roaming around the Star Wars-themed lands in Disneyland, as the area “expands its timeline” to include Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa and Han Solo. The original trio of Star Wars main characters arrived in Batuu on ril 29 and are now interacting with guests and other characters.

To help tie them in with the more modern Star Wars land, there are also new props, merch, grhics and music (featuring the legendary John Williams score) in Galaxy’s Edge.

“Black Spire Outpost will roll back in time several decades, thoughtfully introducing beloved characters from across the Star Wars timeline,” the Disney Parks Blog announced in ril. “Each era will be brought to life with the same care and attention to detail that the land was originally designed with, masterfully weaving together stories from across time and space in one location.”

Darth Vader has also joined the fun, and you can still see Ahsoka Tano, The Mandalorian, Grogu, Rey, Chewbacca and R2-D2.

Over in Tomorrowland, Space Mountain has transformed into Hyperspace Mountainfor a limited time.

Disneyland (and Hollywood Studios at Disney World) has also now addedMandalorian and Grogu missionsto the Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run ride in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, tying in with the release ofThe Mandalorian and Grogu in cinemas. The new missions launched on May 22.

Discounted summer Disney tickets

Disneyland now has aKids’ Summer Ticketdeal, with a one-day Park Hopper ticket costing $50 per child, ages 3 through 9. It can be used until Sept. 7.

Disneyland is also adding (and removing) a Magic Key option: The Explore Key will replace the Enchant Key. All California residents will be able to purchase it — not only Southern California residents. It will allow access on weekdays in June and July, which were blocked out for Enchant Key holders. TheExplore Keycosts $999, with a $99 down payment and 0% R on repayments for 12 months. Disney said its “full value” can be unlocked in just four visits to the parks, thanks to Park Hopper admission, 25% off parking, Lightning Lane Multi-Passes and 10% off merchandise and dining.

For what Disney World is callingCool Kids’ Summer, it’s offering two free nights and two free theme park days when you buy a four-night, four-day Disney hotel and ticket package for a visit during May 26 through Sept. 15. You can also save up to 30% on some Disney hotels between May 1 and Oct. 4.

Also part of Cool Kids’ Summer is a free day at a Disney World water park (Typhoon Lagoon or Blizzard Beach) on your check-in day when staying at a Disney hotel between May 26 and Sept. 8; and a free dining plan for kids aged 3-9 when you buy a dining package for guests over 10 and a room at a Disney hotel.

California Adventure celebrates 25 years

The second Disney theme park built in Anaheim opened 25 years agoon Feb. 8, 2001. While the look of the park has changed a lot over those years, California Adventure has a few ways it’s celebrating the quarter-century milestone: It’s switching the Soarin’ attraction back to Soarin’ Over California until July 1; dressing Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse on Buena Vista Street with new outfits, featuring sun motifs like the one originally on the roller coaster; and offering anniversary-themed food items, merchandise and drinks.

Disneyland expansion: Avatar area begins construction

Disneyland is finallyexpandingafter unveiling plans almost five years ago. The expansion is expected to take a couple of years to complete and will push the park’s current boundaries past Downtown Disney and into the nearby parking lots. It’ll also transform “a portion of the current Hollywood Backlot area,” leading to the closure of the Monsters Inc. attraction permanently in2027.

The biggest part of the expansion will be adding anAvatar-themed land, based on the second film,The Way of Water, as well asAvatar: Fire and Ash. It will include a dark boat ride much like Pirates of the Caribbean, “taking guests all the way to the wide-open seas of Pandora.”

It follows the success of the world of Pandora, based on theoriginal Avatar film, in Disney World’s Animal Kingdom. Disney has no dates or details yet on when it’ll be complete.

Coming sooner than the Avatar land, however, is a new esplanade entry “experience” to replace the current walkway entry at the east side of Disneyland, as well as a new parking structure and pedestrian bridge over Harbor Boulevard. Construction on this begins in the fall.

A Coco ride is coming to California Adventure

It won’t be launching this year, but construction has begun backstage at California Adventure to build a new dark ride. It’ll be themed for thebeloved Pixar movie Cocoand populated by audio-animatronics.

The Coco ride will be located in the area near Pixar Pier and Paradise Gardens, in what is primarily backstage areas for cast members currently. It’ll have characters and music from the movies as you travel through the land of the dead with Miguel.

Two more Avengers Campus rides

Avengers Campusalready has two rides: Spider-Man Web Slingers and Guardians of the Galaxy. Soon, this will double as Disney buildstwo more Marvel attractionsat California Adventure.

“We’re doubling the size of the land with two new attractions,” a structural engineer said in avideoposted to Walt Disney Imagineering’s Instagram account on Feb. 26. The engineer showed off how the Avengers Infinity Defense structure is looking now, including its columns, foundations and a catwalk that will “support projectors, speakers and other types of show elements.”

Avengers Infinity Defense will see you assemble alongside the Avengers, battlingKing Thanos— set in a multiverse — featuring pearances by Black Panther, Ant-Man and Hulk.

Stark Flight Lab, the second ride, will see you help test Tony Stark’s latest tech.

“In Stark Flight Lab, guests will sit in ‘gyro-kinetic pods’ and roll along a track before stopping in front of a giant robot arm,” Disney said. “This robot arm will hoist you into the air where you’ll make several high-speed maneuvers inspired by Iron Man and some other Avengers.”

Construction began in 2025, but no launch dates have been revealed yet.

Villains Land at Disney World

While it won’t be ready in time for 2026, construction is well underway for Disney’s first villains-themed area. Villains Land, which will celebrate all the classic baddies from Disney films, is coming to the Magic Kingdom at Disney World in Florida.

Imagineers have been drawing inspiration from architectural structures in Paris and Barcelona — like Gaudí’s buildings in the latter — to design Villains Land, Disney revealed during Destination D23 in August 2025.

“Paris is a city full of classic Art Nouveau … natural motifs and swirling designs there make nature pear to be ‘cursed,’ like magic has frozen it into place,” Disney said on its Parks Blog. “Barcelona’s art style is Modernisme, which has less natural patterns but gives the architecture an otherworldly, unnerving pearance.”

Villains Land, first teased during D23 2022, will be positioned on the other side of Big Thunder Mountain at the top left edge of the current Magic Kingdom m and will stretch around to where the Haunted Mansion is.

Two major attractions are planned, along with dining and shopping. Still no word yet on when it’ll open.

First peek at Piston Peak

The Rivers of America and Tom Sawyer Island at Disney World’s Magic Kingdom have been closed and removed from the online m, as Disney works to construct a new land themed after Pixar’s Cars movies. Cars Land, which was added to Disney’s California Adventure back in 2012, remains extremely popular in the west, so it was only a matter of time before it was added to the eastern outpost.

In an expansion of Frontierland — which also includes Tiana’s Bayou Adventure and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad — Route 66 will feature a look inspired by the Rocky Mountains and the “American Frontier and its national parks.”

The Disney Parks Blog described the new area as “an awe-inspiring wilderness filled with towering trees, snowcped mountains, breathtaking waterfalls, roaring rivers and impressive geysers.” Disney Imagineers are “using a style of architecture called ‘Parkitecture,’ which was developed by the National Park Service to create structures that harmonize with the natural environment.”

There will be two attractions, one of which is a rally race. Pixar Chief Creative Officer Pete Docter and Imagineer Michael Hundgen spoke about the new ride vehicle for this, and you can see a TikTok of Imagineers testing out off-road vehicles in the Arizona desert to create what the ride will feel like. Each rally car will have its own personality, name and racing number, Docter said.

“These are all things Lightning McQueen and Mater haven’t experienced before, like racing over rocky terrain, ascending to mountain peaks and dodging around geysers — how do you take these real-world elements and put a Cars spin on it?” Disney Parks said in a previous blog post.

While construction has begun and Disney has even released a m showing what the land may look like (geysers shooting water, a running river, an off-road rally track, mountains, a visitor’s lodge, a Ranger HQ and walking trails), we don’t expect Piston Peak to open until at least 2027 or 2028.

Tropical Americas Land at Animal Kingdom

Animal Kingdom’s DinoLand USA area is no more, with the area on the Disney World m now a blank sea of grass as Disney slowly builds out the newTropical Americas Land.

Construction began in the fall of 2024, with TriceraTop Spin and the midway area closing down in January 2025. The Dinosaur ride remained open until Feb. 1 this year, but has since closed its doors as it’s transformed into a new Indiana Jones ride through a Maya temple (a relatively easy overlay since Disneyland’s Indiana Jones reportedly follows almostexactly the same ride trackas Disney World’s Dinosaur).

The Pueblo Esperanza area will be themed like a South American village, with an Encanto-themed attraction, where you get to explore Antonio’s rainforest room inside the Casita, as well as a huge quick-service dining location, a fountain and a carousel.

Tropical Americas is planned to open in 2027.

Disney Cruise Line: New ships

Disney has been all in on launching cruise ships over the last few years, including the Disney Wish in 2022, the Disney Treasure in 2024 and the Disney Destiny in 2025.

TheDisney Adventuresailed on its maiden voyage from Singore on March 10, the first of four new ships set to embark soon. Disney’s next cruise liner, the Disney Believe, was unveiled by new CEO Josh D’Amaro on March 18.

“The Disney Believe will bring to life the magical worlds of Encanto and Frozen, the wishing wells of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and the depths of the sea with Moana and The Little Mermaid,” Disney said.

The Disney Believe is expected to set sail in late 2027. The other ship names and destinations have yet to be revealed, but they’re expected to sail before 2031.

Everything else new at Disneyland and Disney World

Here’s what else is new and coming soon to the theme parks:

• A 3D-printed prop canoe was added to the Jungle Cruise ride in January.
• Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin closed at the Magic Kingdom in August to receive new ride vehicles with video monitors and two handheld blasters featuring always-on lasers in two different colors (so you can finally see which laser is yours). It’s also getting a new opening scene starring Buddy the friendly robot, and static Z targets will light up when you hit them. The ride reopened on ril 8.
• Big Thunder Mountain Railroadreopened on May 3at Magic Kingdom after a lengthy refurbishment. It will include “a journey through the spectacular natural phenomena of the Rainbow Caverns.”
• Disney World’s water parkBlizzard Beach reopened on Feb. 15, and Typhoon Lagoon reopened on May 12.
• Kids summer shows at Disneyland include Disney Friends Dance Party at Hollywood Land in Disney California Adventure, and Stitch’s Intergalactic Beach Party Blast at Tomorrowland Terrace in Disneyland.
• Bluey and Bingo meet-and-greets are coming to Disney World at the Conservation Station at Animal Kingdom as part of the Cool Kids’ Summer celebration, which goes from May 26 until Sept. 8.
• Cinderella Castle at Magic Kingdom is currently being repainted in its original theme colors: gray, cream, blue and gold.
• From July onwards, you’ll be able to book awedding at the Haunted Mansion in Disneyland. Weddings will be hosted at the courtyard right outside the mansion’s front doors. The area can seat up to 25 guests. Unfortunately, it doesn’t include thematic midnight ceremonies — you can only host your wedding there in the early morning before park opening. Othernew Disneyland wedding venues include the Magnolia Park Gazebo (right outside Tiana’s Palace), Magnolia Park Terrace (right outside the new Haunted Mansion queue) and Fantasy Faire Garden (opposite the castle).
• Following the release of the Walt Disney animatronic at Disneyland, Disney announced that a similar animatronic will be added to Disney World’s Carousel of Progress at Magic Kingdom in a new introductory scene to the ride.

Since his earliest days in the job, Pope Leo XIV has made talking about AI a priority of his pacy. On Monday, he released his first encyclical under the name Magnifica Humanitas (which translates to magnificent humanity) — a powerful 42,300-word document calling for regulation of the technology and a moral framework that protects humanity for generations to come.

The 70-year-old American pope, who is a mathematician by training, was elected to the pacy in May 2025 and has made “the safeguarding of the human person in the time of artificial intelligence,” as the encyclical’s subhead reads, a central tenet of his first year in the role.

The document’s publication arrives at a moment when many are already comparing it to the industrial revolution in terms of its impacton our work and ways of life. AI companies, including OpenAI and Anthropic, are growing and improving the cabilities of their models at extraordinary rates, stoking the fires of the ongoing debate about whether AI will be more beneficial or harmful to society.

Amid all of this, Pope Leo identifies AI as “a valuable tool that requires vigilance,” challenging the concentration of power among tech companies and addressing developers directly in places. The document is broad scope, calling for caution in deploying AI in warfare and the workplace, and it will likely become a cornerstone text as policymakers and tech companies hammer out their strategies for building and regulating the technology in the coming years.

One message in the text that’s already drawing attention is Pope Leo’s call to “disarm AI.” While this might sound like a warning against the military use of artificial intelligence, it goes much further than that.

“To disarm means discrediting the assumption that technical power automatically confers the right to govern,” the pope writes. “To disarm does not mean rejecting technology, but preventing it from dominating humanity. It means freeing technology from monopolistic control and opening it to discussion and debate, therefore making it human-friendly and restoring it to the plurality of human cultures and ways of life.”

What the pope’s encyclical says about our use of AI

This encyclical is more than just a message to tech companies and the Catholic Church. Instead, the pope seems to be addressing all of humanity, prioritizing “equal dignity of all human beings,” “the supreme value of human rights,” and “building a common good.” For Catholics and non-Catholics alike, Magnifica Humanitas presents ideas for people across the globe to rally around as AI becomes an ever-increasing presence in our lives.

The pope cautions against allowing those who control AI to dictate and impose the ethical frameworks for governing the technology. Instead, he says, the ethics of AI should be subjected to “shared standards of social justice” and openly discussed among all people. “A more moral AI is not enough if that morality is determined by a few,” he writes. In other words, we should all get to have a say about the role of AI in our world.

He also has thoughts about how we should proach our own use of AI. The speed and simplicity of using AI tools might be pealing, he says. But they can also “encourage excessive reliance and the search for ready-made answers, and weaken personal creativity and judgment.”

AI’s imitation of positive human communication can be engaging and even helpful at times, he adds. “However, for less discerning users, it can also be misleading, creating the illusion of a relationship with a real personal subject.” This is particularly risky, he adds, when the imitation of care and support occurs in contexts where real human bonds are lacking.

“Here, the danger is not so much that a person may believe they are communicating with another person, but rather that they may gradually lose the very desire to form genuine human connections,” writes the pope.

Why does the pope care about AI?

To understand the extent of the pope’s interest in AI, we first need to look at his choice of name. His decision to go by Pope Leo XIV harks back to Pope Leo XIII, who held the pacy at the time of the industrial revolution and wrote an encyclical called Rerum Novarum on cital and labor.

The current Pope Leo is in many ways continuing the work of his namesake, according to Brian Boyd, US faith liaison at The Future of Life Institute.

“Leo is developing the tradition of Catholic social teaching on asking how can we, as a society, serve the common good better — recognizing that AI is the most important technology that we have in the last couple of centuries, possibly last couple of 1,000 years, for how it’s going to affect how we live together,” said Boyd, speaking with CNET ahead of the encyclical’s publication.

In the past year, the pope has spoken about AI in the context of the protection of children, what he calls “the sacred nature of the human face and voice,” and concerns about workers’ rights, Boyd added. Pope Leo has made a point of addressing the tech industry directly, including in his encyclical, where he says developers “bear a particular ethical and spiritual responsibility, for every design choice reflects a vision of humanity.”

Sometimes, he’s faced backlash to this stance. Back in November, for example, when the pope addressed the Builders AI Forum, venture citalist Marc Andreessen mocked him publicly — although his use of memes fell flat when many, including some in Silicon Valley, agreed that the pope had a point.

“It was fascinating to see not just Catholics, [but] people of goodwill from all different stripes, saying, why are you upset about someone pointing out what should be common sense, but outside of certain niches is just utterly ignored?” Boyd said.

The fact that Leo is the first American pope also likely plays a role in how and why he’s addressing the big US-based tech companies, Boyd added. While he was born in the US, he spent many years working for the Catholic Church in Latin America, giving him an understanding of both America’s self-perception and the global view of the country

“That dual perspective really makes him ideally suited to both address people in Silicon Valley and also to represent the rest of the world in a way that’s deeply needed, because… a lot of these voices aren’t listened to, aren’t cared for,” he said.

The pope might not have the power of governments to regulate AI companies and hold them accountable in a way that affects their ability to do business and their bottom line, but that doesn’t mean his soft power should be underestimated. Earlier this month, he created a Commission on AI designed to convene leaders in the name of promoting human flourishing, and the Vatican’s moral authority could well carry significant weight as regulation continues to develop.

Spiders? Skeletons? Bad omens? My kind of party.

Marshals, a new Yellowstonespinoff starringLuke Grimes as Kayce Dutton, is airing on CBS right now. You can also tune in with Paramount Plus. The Yellowstone sequel series sees Grimes’ former Navy SEAL join an elite unit of US Marshals to bring range justice to Montana, according to asynopsis fromCBS.

The show includes Yellowstone actors Gil Birmingham as Thomas Rainwater, Mo Brings Plenty as Mo and Brecken Merrill as Tate. Spencer Hudnut is the showrunner of Marshals — formerly known as Y: Marshals — and Taylor Sheridan is an executive producer.

When to watch new Marshals episodes on Paramount Plus

Episode 13 of Marshals airs on CBS on Sunday, May 24. Viewing options forParamount Pluscustomers vary by subscription tier. You can watch the episode live if you haveParamount Plus Premium, which includes your local CBS station. If you subscribe toParamount Plus Essential, you can watch the installment on demand the following Monday, but not live on Sunday.

• Episode 13, Wolves at the Door: Premieres on CBS/Paramount Plus Premium on May 24 at 8 p.m. ET/8 p.m. PT/7 p.m. CT. Streams on Paramount Plus Essential on May 25.

You can also watch CBS and the finale of Marshals without cable with a live TVstreaming servicesuch asYouTube TV, Hulu Plus Live TV or the DirecTV MyNewsskinny bundle. In addition to offering a lower-cost option, Paramount Plus lets you watch the other three Yellowstone spinoffs: the prequels 1883 and 1923 and the sequel Dutton Ranch.