This quarter across Disney Parks brings major shifts into focus as long-running projects move from concept art to real-world construction, classic attractions enter major reinventions, and new lands begin to visibly take shape across Walt Disney World and beyond.

In this Q2 2026 edition of State of the Kingdom, we break down the biggest official announcements from Disney, including a landmark reimagining of Carousel of Progress and new details surrounding Monstropolis at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. We also look at Halloween season changes coming to Disneyland Resort and what they signal for the future of seasonal entertainment.

Then we move into the construction updates, where major projects like Tropical Americas, Piston Peak, and Monstropolis continue to rise at an accelerating pace, alongside ongoing work across Magic Kingdom and classic attractions like Cinderella Castle and Haunted Mansion.

Finally, we dive into the rumors making waves this quarter, from emerging technology patents and expansion speculation to ongoing questions about Disneyland and international resort growth, including renewed discussion around Shanghai Disneyland’s future.

A quarterly report on Disney Parks and Imagineering… where everything is always under construction.

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Animal Kingdom broke Stephen this week.

After scrapping multiple fully developed concepts (including a Tarzan attraction, a suspended canopy ride, and an Emperor’s New Groove idea that refused to fit the park’s philosophy), the team tackles one of the most challenging design questions in Disney Parks: what is missing on Discovery Island?

Inspired by Shanghai Disneyland’s Challenge Trails and grounded in the values that define Animal Kingdom, Stephen proposes the Wilderness Explorers Challenge Course: a multi-level treetop adventure through Discovery Island that transforms guests from observers into participants as they climb, cross, and explore their way toward Paradise Falls.

Plus, listener Nate Heasley (the reviewer formerly known as "Hedgehog") joins the show with an Imagineering pitch of his own, finally proving once and for all that he is, in fact, a real person, not a woodland creature.

Can a challenge course become Animal Kingdom’s next great adventure? And what makes designing for this park so different from every other Disney destination?

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A timeless EPCOT icon becomes the center of a modern debate about how communication continues to evolve in the age of AI. This week, Stephen reimagines the final act of Spaceship Earth, restoring its physical storytelling roots while introducing a new interactive layer that reflects how technology is reshaping human connection in real time.

The result is a grounded, thoughtful update that stays true to the attraction’s core thesis: bringing people closer together across distance, language, and time. From classic communication scenes to a carefully constrained AI-driven personalization system, the pitch explores what it means for Disney storytelling to remain human in an increasingly automated world.

Plus, Brett of Ride Creator joins the Idiots live to pitch Mission to Mars…Needs Moms!, a chaotic crossover that combines the infamous Disney film with the classic Tomorrowland attraction in a way that somehow makes perfect sense.

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