TouringPlans Travel Beat 9-21-2025

At Travel Beat we have all the “other” news from the last week or so—the stuff that wasn’t big enough to stop the presses for. What did the newsroom bring us this week? Bullets are just ahead if you’re in a hurry, and more details follow below. Don’t forget to check out the Headline News Recap, in case there was something you missed!

• TRON: Ares Overlay Arrives at Disney World
• A Long Refurb Is Coming for Jurassic Park River Adventure in 2026
• Rock the Universe Dates Announced for 2026
• Man Paddles Away From Paddlefish With Up to $20K
• Animal Kingdom’s Gorilla Patriarch Passes Away
• SeaWorld Orlando Announces New Ride Coming in 2026
• Catch the Muppets in a Disney+ 50th Anniversary Special in 2026
• Man Dies at Epic Universe After Ride on Stardust Racers
• Disney Skyliner Refurb Announced for January 2027
• Boardwalk Inn & Villas Pool Refurb Begins January 2027
• Disney Destiny Departs Meyer Werft Shipyard for North Sea
• Headline News Recap

Can you guess which story inspired this week’s cover image? Leave your guesses in the comments!

TRON: Ares Overlay Arrives at Disney World

ICYMI: If you’re heading to Disney World from now through at least mid-October, your ride on TRON will be just a tiny bit different. In celebration of Tron: Ares coming to theaters, a limited-time overlay has the attraction flashing red and playing Nine Inch Nails. More details here: Limited Time Overlay Coming to TRON Lightcycle Run September 2025

A Long Refurb Is Coming for Jurassic Park River Adventure in 2026

If you’ve got a holiday trip to Universal Orlando, it’ll be your last chance to squeeze in a ride on Jurassic Park River Adventure for quite some time. Universal has announced that a multi-month refurbishment will begin on January 5, 2026 and conclude in November.

Rock the Universe Dates Announced for 2026

Rock the Universe, held in January at Universal Studios Florida, is the state’s biggest Christian music festival. Tickets for individuals and groups are now on sale for the 2026 event, to be held on the weekend of January 23-24, 2026.

The 2026 performance lineup is below, and you can read our Saturday Six team’s report on the 2025 event here: The SATURDAY SIX Checks out Universal’s ROCK THE UNIVERSE Christian Music Festival

Friday, January 23	Saturday, January 24
Forrest Frank	LECRAE
Switchfoot	Phil Wickham
KB	Colton Dixon
Blessing Offor	Passion
Hulvey	Terrian
bodie	Sam Rivera
Eli Gable	Caleb and John
Hopeful.	Bay Turner
Claire Leslie	Megan Danielle

Man Paddles Away From Paddlefish With Up to $20K

This is not the kind of story that we typically cover here at Travel Beat, as it’s unlikely to affect your vacation or your plans. But every once in a while, you get something like this that you feel you can’t leave out.

Paddlefish is a Disney Springs restaurant which serves its guests aboard a building set into the water and disguised as a paddlewheeler. The boat recreation is solid enough that a thief scuba’d up to the side after closing, climbed up from the water, tied up the employees, and then scuba’d away with up to $20,000 that they had been counting.

Animal Kingdom’s Gorilla Patriarch Passes Away

We love to report when there are new babies at Animal Kingdom and Animal Kingdom Lodge, but every once in a while, we have the unhappy task of reporting on an animal’s death. After almost three decades at Animal Kingdom, the western lowland gorilla Gino passed away this week at 44. Our parks team visits the animal trails frequently and often checks in with the gorillas and the Cast Members at the exhibits; you can read more about Gino’s life (and some of his 14 children!) in Chrissy’s tribute post: Gino, Patriarch and Oldest Gorilla at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Passes Away

SeaWorld Orlando Announces New Ride Coming in 2026

SeaWorld Orlando has announced a new attraction opening in 2026: SEAQuest: Legends of the Deep. Guests will be able to “embark on a vibrant submersible adventure dazzling undersea ecosystems, where they’ll encounter extraordinary lifeforms, breathtaking environments, and inspiring stories of the sea”. The attraction touts “an immersive feel and advanced special effects”, which we take to mean that you are not actually boarding a sub. But we could be wrong; time will tell. The sizzle reel announcement is below.

Catch the Muppets in a Disney+ 50th Anniversary Special in 2026

We don’t usually cover the crime beat, and we also don’t usually cover Disney+, but we can usually make an exception to the usual for anything having to do with the Muppets.

 

As announced this week in Variety, Sabrina Carpenter will star in a one-off Muppet Show special that will air in 2026 to coincide with the 50th Anniversary of the original, which ran from 1976 to 1981. Many long-time performers and some of the original cast will participate, and Variety reports that the special could serve as a backdoor pilot for a reboot. We can hope, right?

Man Dies at Epic Universe After Ride on Stardust Racers

We’re sorry to announce that an Epic Universe guest passed away on Wednesday after being found unresponsive on Stardust Racers. The death has been ruled an accident resulting from multiple blunt impact injuries, and Stardust Racers will remain closed until the investigation is complete.

Disney Skyliner Refurb Announced for January 2027

If you’re staying at a Skyliner resort between January 25, 2026 and January 31, 2026, you may be aware that the Skyliner will be down for yearly maintenance during your visit. Reservations for these resorts in 2027 aren’t available yet, but for your planning purposes, Disney has indicated that the dates of this yearly maintenance in 2027 will be January 24, 2027, through January 30, 2027. When the Skyliner is closed, complimentary bus service is available between points normally serviced by the Skyliner.

Boardwalk Inn & Villas Pool Refurb Begins January 2027

Guests at the Boardwalk between January 11, 2027 and April 2027 will need to make use of the quiet pools for a swim as the feature pool will be closed for routine maintenance. During this time, the Luna Park Pool, the Luna Park Crazy Play Area, and Leaping Horse Libations will be closed, and guests may see and hear construction while the work is underway.

Disney Destiny Departs Meyer Werft Shipyard for North Sea

The Disney Destiny has left the nest! Just a few weeks after her float out on August 9, 2025, the Destiny left the Meyer Werft shipyard on September 19 to head down the Ems River to Eemshaven in the Netherlands. From there, she’ll undergo sea trials in the North Sea and receive a few finishing touches ahead of her maiden voyage on November 20.

If you’ve been following the cruise news on Disney’s newest ships, you’ll know that the Adventure made a similar journey in early September, which was followed by the announcement that her maiden voyage would be postponed by three months. Such delays are not uncommon in the delivery of a new ship class, but as the Destiny is the third of the Triton (Wish) class ships, we’re expecting the Destiny to stay on target for November.

Headline News Recap

One Florida Resident Ticket Offer is coming to a close, but if you’re local you won’t have to wait long to visit the parks on a discount as a new offer dropped this week. Disney World Florida Resident Special 3-Day, 3-Park Ticket to Select Parks Offer

Is the Candlelight Processional a must-do during your Disney World holiday trip? The schedule is out, and Dining Packages can be booked beginning October 14. 2025 Candlelight Processional Schedule and Dining Packages

And if you’re a Disney Vacation Club Member, here are some dates to maybe plan a visit around: 2026 Moonlight Magic Dates and Details for Disney Vacation Club

It’s World Gratitude Day today (I admit, I had never heard of this), and you might feel thankful about this chance to save 40% of select Disney Cruise Line fares. Save 40% on a Disney Cruise for World Gratitude Day 2025.

That’s it for this week’s Travel Beat. What news are you most excited about? Let us know in the comments!