Disney Diary
The Disney Diary is your one-stop spot for Disney news as it breaks — parks updates, Disney Cruise Line announcements, ride news, and all the magical (and occasionally mad) developments we can't wait to tell you about. Fresh updates as they happen, 
If you are heading to Disneyland Paris for Bastille Day this year, there is a last-minute change worth knowing about. The resort has confirmed that its 14 July nighttime show will still go ahead, but in an adapted version without any fireworks, after local authorities placed a temporary ban on pyrotechnics across the region because of the ongoing heatwave.
When visiting the Magic Kingdom one ride that Mr Disney and I love to ride is the Carousel of Progress. However from tomorrow, 6 July, the doors close for the biggest reimagining the attraction has had in decades, and it is not due to reopen until 2027.
For anyone who has never squeezed into that slowly rotating theatre, here is a brief history. The Carousel began life as the star of the General Electric Pavilion at the 1964 New York World's Fair, dreamed up by Walt Disney himself. It spun its way to Disneyland from 1967 before settling into its long term home in Tomorrowland at the Magic Kingdom in 1975. It has been gently updated here and there over the years, but the heart of it has never changed: one cheerful American family living through the march of technology, and that impossibly hummable song promising a great big beautiful tomorrow.
So what is changing? One thing I'm looking forward to seeing when it opens is the brand new scene featuring an Audio-Animatronic of Walt Disney himself. The scene apparently draws on the 1964 television special Disneyland Goes to the World's Fair, the very moment Walt first shared his idea for the Carousel and his belief in progress shaping a better tomorrow. Early word is that the set will be full of lovely period details and little nods to Disney history.
As well as the new opening, all four acts are being refreshed with new time periods, shifting the whole timeline forward so the eras feel a little closer to home for today's guests, with the finale getting a completely reimagined vision of the future with a new robot assistant character, which sounds like it will be interesting.
The Carousel for us has always been a go to attraction and we cannot wait to take our seats again in 2027 to see what a great big beautiful tomorrow looks like next.
For years, budget-minded visitors had a tidy little trick for getting around Walt Disney World. Park for free at Disney Springs, hop on a resort bus or boat, and you could reach the hotels or slip across to a park without ever paying the $35 theme park parking fee. It worked nicely. It also got far too popular for its own good.
Read more: Disney Closes the Disney Springs Bus Loophole for Good
If you have been near Disney social media this week, you will have seen the headlines: Disneyland Paris baking under a record heatwave, outdoor rides going dark, and one eye-watering temperature reading that seems to climb higher every day. We have been watching closely, and not only because we love the place. Here in the UK we have been having our own run of scorchers, so a proper heatwave is something we recognise, and Mr Disney still talks about the summer of 1976 as though it were yesterday.
France, though, is in the grip of something far more severe, and Disneyland Paris sits right in the middle of it. The park is still open, but the experience there has shifted, and if you are travelling soon it is worth knowing what that means before you go.
Read more: Disneyland Paris and the June 2026 Heatwave: What's Actually Happening
