Bitesize Orlando February 2026 – Issue 56

Last month I mentioned I had been working on a new homepage for the website and I’m pleased to announce that I has been live now for a week. I have also been giving the menu structure a facelift to make it more navigable now that the site has over 100 separate pages. You’ll notice that the Explore menu has a fresh new look. I’m working on a new layout for the planning menu, which should be live in a few days.

Along with the new homepage, I have launched a new consultancy service that you can view in the bottom section. Connect with me and have your questions answered so you can get back to the important stuff of planning fun while you’re away. My bespoke planning service is still available, but I realise that people sometimes want to control that, and my new consultancy service allows more choice in how you can get the help you need.

Disney started the month by announcing the closing date for Conservation Station and Affection Section in Animal Kingdom, which closed on February 23rd as Disney works to bring Bluey to Animal Kingdom later this year. There is currently no opening date scheduled.

One experience that is being retired permanently is the popular animation experience inside Conservation Station. Check a little firther down for details of a brand new animation experience opening at Hollywood Studios later this year.

Early Entry is one of the best uses of time during your Disney World stay. All the theme parks open 30 minutes earlier than the scheduled time for on-site guests and those staying at select partner hotels. It allows you to knock out some popular attractions with minimal or no waiting before the parks even open to regular ticket holders.

Usually, only attractions, shops and cafes are open early, but as part of the Cool Kid Summer promotion, which runs from May 26th until September 8th, you will now have the chance to meet some Disney characters during early entry. There is no definitive list of who you will be able to meet, but Disney is encouraging us to visit all parks because the character roster will be different at every park.

Being able to knock out character meets early is a huge benefit, as some character lines eclipse or even surpass popular attractions because character meets are not included in Disney’s Lightning Lane system, so the only way to meet a character is to queue in the standby line. If character meet-ups are on your to-do list, make sure you take advantage of early entry this summer.

Great news for water park fans as Disney has confirmed that both Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach will be open for the peak summer season from May 12th through September 8th. 2026 marks the second year that both water parks have been open simultaneously during the summer. Since 2019, Disney has typically only operated with one water park open at a time, with Typhoon Lagoon usually taking the summer season while Blizzard Beach takes over for winter.

Typhoon Lagoon is currently closed for scheduled maintenance. Until then, guests can use Blizzard Beach, which reopened on February 15th.

Walt Disney Studios Lot is replacing the Animation Courtyard in Hollywood Studios. On schedule for a summer 2026 opening, Disney has released some new details and updated timelines about what this new area will include.

We already know the current Disney Junior Live show has closed and won’t be returning. Now for the good news: The space is being reimagined to bring a port of “Disney Jr. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Live!” from California Adventure. Mickey and Minnie embark on a roadtrip picking up some pals along the way (Pluto, Goofy & Daisy).

The new lot will be anchored by the Magic of Disney Animation building, oronically coming full circle from its original purpose as a combined animation studio and educational attraction from the park’s opening days.

Exploring The Magic Of Disney Animation, you’ll notice that it is designed as an art gallery on first glance, but this gallery has some Disney magic sprinkled in. The more you explore, the more magic you will find in the painings to discover with all-new animations created just for this experience.

The gallery empties into the Once Upon A Studio Theatre, where you can watch the Emmy Award-winning short film. As the film progresses, you’ll notice that the walls are filled with magic just like the gallery as characters come to life placing you right in the middle of the story.

“Off The Page!” is a dedicated meet and greet area within The Magic Of Disney Animation building, celebrating the magic of Disney animation while bringing visitors closer to the characters that mean so much. Check out a brief introduction video below.

Divided into 6 distinct spaces, with each space highlighting a different aspect of the animation process. Each space will offer incredible photo opportunities, including meeting Mulan in the Story department, posing in front of an oversized storyboard. Rapunzel, meanwhile, in the Layout department, poses in front of a panel designed to look like a classic multiplane camera, with backgrounds and painted cells coming together like magic. The Full character roster and space design for “Off The Page!” is:

• Mulan in Story
• Rapunzel in Layout
• Chip n’ Dale in Hand-Drawn Animation
• Donald and Daisy in CG Animation
• Goofy in Lighting
• Stitch in Effects

Not long after Disney announced the permanent closure of the Animation Experience at Animal Kingdom, They have confirmed details of a brand new animation experience coming to Hollywood Studios later this year when the Walt Disney Studios Lot area opens.

“Olaf Draws!” will feature a brand new animatronic inside a setting inspired by “Once Upon A Studio”. Children can sit at sleigh-themed tables, while older kids and adults will sit at desks resembling professional animator desks. Josh Gad, who has voiced Olaf in the movie,s has returned to record dialogue exclusively for the experience.

Olaf will introduce Disney animators who have pre-recorded instruction guides to guide guests step-by-step through drawing popular Disney characters. Each session will spotlight a different character, keeping the experience fresh for returning visits. The full list of characters and featured artists is:

• Mickey Mouse, instructed by Dan Abraham (Once Upon a Studio, Baymax!)
• Minnie Mouse, instructed by Hyun Min Lee (Frozen 2, The Princess and the Frog)
• Donald Duck, instructed by Austin Traylor (Once Upon a Studio, Moana 2)
• Genie, instructed by Eric Goldberg (Aladdin, Hercules)
• Moana, instructed by Samantha Vilfort (Encanto, Zootopia 2)
• Stitch, instructed by Fawn Veerasunthorn (Wish, Raya and the Last Dragon)
• Olaf, instructed by Trent Correy (Once Upon a Studio, Frozen 3)
• Ursula, instructed by Michael Woodside (Big Hero 6, Encanto)
• Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde, instructed by Byron Howard (Zootopia, Zootopia 2)

Check out the short introduction video courtesy of the Dans and Walt Disney Animation, which features some great footage of the animators recording their session and Josh Gad laying down the voice track for Olaf.

Now for some not-so-good news. Disney hasn’t been shy in saying that the new animation experience won’t open with the rest of the land. The wording has recently changed to “late summer”, which could mean as late as August or even into September. As soon as an official date is announced, you’ll find it here.

Luke Combs is expanding his Category 10 franchise with a third restaurant opening in a brand-new space in Universal CityWalk. The three-storey venue is set to open in late 2027 and will feature  “experiential areas influenced by Combs’ music and passions”.

The venue will join the flagship location in Nashville, Tennessee, which opened in 2024 and a Las Vegas location, which is set to open later in 2026. Visitors will notice construction starting later this summer as work begins to bring this brand-new 33,000-square-foot venue to life. Concept art released alongside the official announcement puts the venue in a waterfront setting, almost opposite Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville to the left of the performance stage.

Inspired by Combs’ debut hit ‘Hurricane’, Category 10 is described as an entertainment experience that offers top-tier live music, food, and drinks.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Category 10 (@officialcategory10)

By the time you read this, Universal Volcano Bay will have already transitioned to cashless operations. Announced at the beginning of February, the change came into effect on February 25th. Volcano Bay is the first of Universal’s parks to transition to completely cashless operations.

SeaWorld Orlando and Busch Gardens in Tampa, both owned by United Parks & Resorts, have been cashless for well over a year, and Kennedy Space Centre joined them last year.

Although not officially cashless as yet, Epic Universe utilises mobile ordering for all of its restaurants, meaning you have to pay in the app before you receive your food. Physical menus are not available at many locations, which instead display a QR code to bring up the menu in the Universal Orlando app.

The slow transition to cashless operations is starting to gather momentum as parks look to cut operating costs where they can. This latest announcement means getting used to using no fee travel cards is becoming more and more important for your visit.

Shingle Creek Transit & Utility Community Development District, a public entity established by Universal Orlando to address infrastructure needs, met earlier in February to evaluate 3 companies’ transit proposals to connect its growing list of properties.

According to the Orlando Business Journal, the brief was for a period of 25 years initially for the “design, build, operation and maintenance services” for a “point-to-point innovative transportation project”.

Musk’s Boring Company came out as the preferred partner, allowing for formal talks between the companies to proceed, during which the scope and costs can be finalised.

With Universal now spanning over 1200 acres on 2 parcels of land, roughly 5 miles apart, the obvious choice would be linking the North and South campuses together. Currently, Universal operates a fleet of electric buses ferrying visitors from Citywalk in the north to Epic Universe in the south, using dedicated bus lanes and congested public highways.

The project will also take in innovative solutions to better connect Universal’s hotels with the theme parks in time, especially as Universal looks to build out offerings on the south campus, which currently has 3 onsite hotels and Epic Universe. There is plenty of space for more hotels, another entertainment district and even a further theme park in the future.

What surprises me is Universal’s choice on this project. Infrastructure costs a lot of money, no matter what solution they end up with, but by choosing Boring Company, they have decided on the most complex and costly solution. Contrary to what you may have heard, tunnels can exist in Florida despite a very high water table; they are just incredibly costly and time-consuming. Then again, the project might not end up using tunnels but toehr methods or a hybrid solution. It’s far too early to speculate.

The other bidders both offered innovative mass transit solutions that look, on paper, at least more viable from a cost and maintenance perspective, yet Universal went with this! Boring Company may be the preferred bidder, but we have a very long road (or tunnel) to travel before we see any reality.

That’s it for this brief update. Thanks for reading. I’ll be back next month with another update, but in the meantime, keep a lookout for another update to the website menu in the next few days.