Honestly, if you thought 2025 was a wild ride for the industry, hold onto your lap bar. This morning, January 16, 2026, the world of theme parks feels like it’s being re-coded in real-time. We’ve got construction walls moving in Orlando, a literal piece of Broadway appearing at EPCOT, and a massive financial "death drop" for one of the world's biggest park chains.
It's a lot.
Whether you’re a local pass holder or just someone trying to figure out if that 2026 summer vacation is going to cost you a kidney, the theme park news today is actually pretty staggering. We aren't just talking about a new coat of paint on a carousel. We're talking about the potential sale of major regional parks and a fundamental shift in how you'll pay to get into Epic Universe.
Let's break down what’s actually happening on the ground.
The Six Flags "Fire Sale" and the Mystery of Enchanted Parks
If you live near a regional park like Worlds of Fun or The Great Escape, you might want to sit down.
The biggest shock in theme park news today stems from a digital paper trail found at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Just days ago, a mystery entity called "Enchanted Parks Holdings, LLC" filed for trademarks that effectively strip the Six Flags branding from five major properties.
Why does this matter? Because Six Flags Entertainment Corp is currently staring down a $5.2 billion debt mountain.
The "Enchanted Five" on the chopping block appear to be:
- Worlds of Fun / Oceans of Fun (Missouri)
- The Great Escape & Lodge (New York)
- Six Flags St. Louis (Missouri)
- Michigan’s Adventure (Michigan)
- Schlitterbahn Galveston (Texas)
It looks like the honeymoon phase of the Six Flags and Cedar Fair merger is officially over. By offloading these "mid-tier" parks, the company can stop paying those massive licensing fees for DC Comics and Looney Tunes characters. If this sale goes through to the rumored buyer—Innovative Attraction Management out of Orlando—your local park might look very different by the time the gates open this spring. No more Batman: The Ride? It's a real possibility.
Universal Epic Universe Just Changed the Rules of Park Hopping
If you’ve been waiting to "hop" into Epic Universe, today is your lucky day—sort of.
Universal Orlando has officially opened up the gates for multi-day park hopping to and from Epic Universe as of this month. But there’s a catch. You can’t just buy a one-day ticket and expect to bounce between Islands of Adventure and Super Nintendo World.
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Basically, you need a 3-day, 4-day, or 5-day Park-to-Park ticket to make it work.
The pricing is, frankly, a bit of a gut punch. For a 3-day ticket, you’re looking at anywhere from $138 to $194 per day. If you’re a Florida resident, you get a slight break, but the days of the cheap "after 4 PM" pop-in are long gone for the new park.
Meanwhile, over in Celestial Park (the central hub of Epic), weird things are happening. Construction walls went up overnight. Rumors are flying about a new "event space" or a massive nighttime drone show hub. Public records show a permit for 150,000 square feet of "site utilities and foundation work" with a completion date of May 7, 2026. Universal doesn't move this fast unless they’ve got something big planned for the park’s first anniversary.
Disney’s 2026 Pivot: Muppets, Mountains, and a 14-Foot Lamp
Disney isn't exactly sitting still while Universal builds a new empire down the road.
If you’re at EPCOT today, you’ll see something bizarre: Genie’s magic lamp from the Aladdin Broadway show. It’s 14 feet tall, weighs 1,200 pounds, and it was literally trucked down from New York City for the Festival of the Arts, which kicks off right now.
It’s a cool photo op, but the real meat of the theme park news today for Disney fans is the 2026 "Refurbishment Wave."
The schedule is finally firming up:
- Big Thunder Mountain Railroad: The "wildest ride in the wilderness" is currently gutted. It’s slated to reopen this spring with a brand-new "Rainbow Caverns" scene involving phosphorescent pools.
- Rock 'n' Roller Coaster: The Aerosmith era is ending. The ride is transforming into a Muppets-themed coaster featuring Dr. Teeth and The Electric Mayhem. Expect it to open Summer 2026.
- Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin: This one is getting a massive technical glow-up. We’re finally getting handheld blasters (thank god) and video monitors for real-time scoring.
One weird thing to watch out for: Florida is currently under a Freeze Warning. Typhoon Lagoon has been shut down for several days because, honestly, nobody wants to go down a water slide when it’s 59 degrees. It’s supposed to reopen tomorrow, Saturday the 17th, when it hits 71, but keep an eye on the weather app if you're in Orlando.
What Most People Get Wrong About 2026 Openings
There’s a common misconception that 2026 is a "gap year" for parks.
Actually, it's the year of the "Record Breaker."
While Disney and Universal are busy retooling, the regional parks are going for blood. USA TODAY just named Fire Runner at Lost Island Themepark as the #1 new attraction. It’s the Midwest’s first single-rail coaster.
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Then you have Dollywood. They are dropping $50 million on NightFlight Expedition. It’s being billed as a "family hybrid coaster and whitewater river raft ride." I’m still trying to figure out how you do a 5-minute indoor rafting excursion and a coaster in the same building without everyone getting soaked and dizzy, but Dolly usually knows what she’s doing.
Actionable Insights for Your Next Trip
If you're looking at all this theme park news today and wondering how to plan, here is the expert "ground truth" for 2026:
- Wait for Spring for Magic Kingdom: Don't go in February. Both Big Thunder and Buzz Lightyear are down. Wait until late April or May when the "Rainbow Caverns" and the new blasters are actually online.
- The "3-Day Rule" for Universal: If you want to see Epic Universe without losing your mind, buy the 3-day Park-to-Park ticket now. The price isn't going down, and the single-day tickets are being throttled to keep crowds manageable.
- Check Your Pass Reciprocity: If you have a Six Flags or Cedar Fair Gold/Prestige pass, keep a very close eye on those "Enchanted Parks" filings. If your home park gets sold off to IAM, your "All Park Passport" might stop working there by mid-summer.
- The EPCOT "Starlight" Strategy: The Disney Starlight parade is currently fluctuating between one and two shows a night. On weekdays, it’s usually just 7:45 PM. If you want the 10:00 PM (lower crowd) show, you have to book a Friday or Saturday night.
The industry is in a massive state of flux right now. Between the Six Flags debt crisis and the "Epic" expansion of Universal, 2026 is shaping up to be the year that changes the map—literally.