Walt Disney World simply wrapped up a quiet summer time, opening a pair high quality stage reveals and new nighttime parade, however no new points of interest or any “reply” to Epic Universe. The shock sleeper of the season was Cool Child Summer time, which introduced new family-focused experiences to Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom. This explains the teachings realized from this shock success that punched above its weight and made some magical recollections.
In case you missed it, Cool Child Summer time featured dance events, further character appearances, hands-on actions, and a number of interactivity. Highlights included the Goofy takeover of CommuniCore Corridor at EPCOT, in any other case often called GoofyCore Corridor. As an alternative of being a pageant heart, GoofyCore Corridor was a Goofy-led immersive expertise, with video games with foolish twists, like Crazy Limbo and Parachutes ‘n’ Pipsqueaks all in superb air-con.
Over at Animation Courtyard at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, there have been video games and crafts, magicians and bounce rope performers, shock character appearances, and a full of life indoor DJ dance social gathering the place little ones can turn out to be additional indoctrinated into the Cult of the Scorching Canine Track. It was an analogous story in Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom, the place there have been dance events, sing-alongs, and different such silliness.
Along with this, characters had been additionally out within the parks sooner than regular for Walt Disney World resort lodge friends throughout the every day Early Entry interval. How this occurred was by no means actually defined in official Walt Disney World communications, however my statement was that it usually occurred as a pop-up, free roaming ‘road social gathering’ kinda deal, with particular music chopping into the traditional background loops and signaling the arrival of characters.
Equally, friends staying at Artwork of Animation, Pop Century, Caribbean Seashore and Wilderness Lodge had been all in a position to get pleasure from extra Disney-themed actions designed for households with children. This included character visits with set look occasions that will help you plan your day and an expanded itinerary of issues to do with your loved ones all through your keep at these 4 resorts. So mainly, the Character Caravan however with a printed schedule.
Anecdotally, I additionally observed extra shock & delight “Character Paloozas” throughout my most up-to-date go to to Walt Disney World.
For many who are unfamiliar with them, Character Paloozas are spontaneous meet & greets with a lot of uncommon characters in out of the best way places. They normally occur fairly near backstage entry factors, for fast entry and exits.
The true goal of Character Paloozas is giving Solid Members on the job coaching in decrease stakes environments. That is additionally why the characters featured are uncommon or rare-ish, because the “character integrity” bar is decrease. Large Al or Wendell performers have way more, ahem, autonomy for interactions than Mickey Mouse, who should keep on-brand.
I’ve at all times thought that Character Paloozas are the most effective issues Walt Disney World does with meet & greets, regardless that the aim is usually about coaching in a decrease strain setting. We’ve got fond recollections from the Toontown Teardrop manner again within the day, and nonetheless get pleasure from stumbling upon a Character Palooza infrequently. It’s the stuff of sudden magical recollections.
The sheer quantity of Character Paloozas I noticed within the lead-up to Labor Day might’ve been due to some big waves of School Program arrivals. It most likely had extra to do with that than being a shock Cool Child Summer time providing or paradigm shift in character encounters.
I’m nonetheless together with Character Paloozas as one thing Walt Disney World ought to do extra, purposefully, exterior of Solid Member coaching. They’re win-win, and an instance of Walt Disney World getting one thing proper, perhaps with out realizing how impactful it’s to the visitor expertise.
As for Cool Child Summer time, it was nothing particular this yr on paper. The unique announcement struck me as an “occasion” that was thrown collectively in a short time as Walt Disney World tried to market to households and fight mainstream media studies that Walt Disney World was “turning its again” on center class households with kids. (See Disney’s Response to Rising Prices Criticism.)
In follow, Cool Child Summer time was the scrappy little occasion that brightened up days and introduced a little bit of magic to blighted corners of the parks. Animation Courtyard felt like a useless mall that was somewhat-alive for the primary time in years. Simply in observing children fishing with ‘Trip’ Goofy, coloring with Clarabelle or partaking in antics with Donald, my robust suspicion is that visitor satisfaction was larger amongst those that visited Animation Courtyard than those that didn’t. I extremely doubt that was true earlier than this summer time!
Animation Courtyard was essentially the most pronounced instance, however Cool Child Summer time injected a number of pleasure round numerous hotspots of the parks. I’d likewise hazard a guess that the households who stopped for particular moments with the characters behind Cinderella Citadel had higher qualitative experiences than those that raced on to Peter Pan’s Flight. Similar goes for individuals who took the time to decelerate in Storybook Circus, Discovery Island or in GoofyCore Corridor.
Nobody goes to accuse Walt Disney World of dreaming too massive with Cool Child Summer time. As seasonal occasions go, it was a minor one. There wasn’t a lot of a decor bundle to talk of, and it was thrown into a number of underutilized venues round Walt Disney World. So simply to be abundantly clear, we’re not saying it was really nice or imploring you to plan a visit round Cool Child Summer time in 2026.
It additionally had a blink and also you’ll miss it high quality. I wouldn’t be shocked if over half of friends visiting this summer time had no clue Cool Child Summer time occurred. Not simply that they couldn’t determine it by title (that quantity might be even larger), however that additionally they didn’t expertise something I’ve simply described.
Cool Child Summer time was simple to miss. Should you weren’t eligible for Early Entry or didn’t keep at on of the handful of resorts with further choices, you wouldn’t have skilled that. Should you didn’t enterprise into some out of the best way places the place it was held (they’re underutilized for a motive!), you additionally wouldn’t have seen any of that.
What we’re saying is that there’s room for refining and enhancing on the idea with a full yr of lead-time to plan the 2026 Cool Child Summer time. That the occasion has potential and its good concepts might (and will!) be carried out full-time, past summer time.
Most significantly, Cool Child Summer time demonstrated Walt Disney World lastly “will get” the enchantment of Disneyland-style free roaming characters. That is one thing we’ve been discussing right here for some time, particularly again with the debut of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge in 2019.
One of many largest questions at the moment was whether or not free-roaming characters would translate to Walt Disney World given visitor demographics. The priority was that once-in-a-lifetime friends needed posed photographs with characters, to not “play” with them.
That is regardless of free-roaming characters being a staple of the Disneyland expertise for years. So a lot of Disneyland’s finest moments with characters unfold in an natural and spontaneous method as characters like Mary Poppins, Peter Pan, or the Evil Queen wander the park.
(It additionally helped that Cool Child Summer time didn’t completely eschew conventional meet & greets in favor of character ‘play’ experiences; Animation Courtyard added a number of each. We’re cognizant that many first-timers need the picture of their children posing with characters, getting an autograph, and many others. This isn’t an both/or proposition. And as an entire, DHS has quietly turn out to be an important park for assembly characters.)
Based mostly on my observations, Cool Child Summer time definitively demonstrated that spontaneous character experiences not solely work at Walt Disney World, however are an enormous hit with friends. Animation Courtyard was the most effective proof of this, and I hope what was supplied there this summer time was proof of idea for the kind of ‘play’ that’ll be featured within the reimagined Walt Disney Studios Lot.
There’s one thing particular about these spontaneous encounters, getting an opportunity to briefly play with characters versus posing for a photograph, assembly-line type. That is the stuff that ‘core recollections’ are fabricated from. Regardless that Cool Child Summer time clearly didn’t come wherever close to being an “reply” to Epic Universe, I wouldn’t be in the slightest degree shocked if a number of the character encounters at Walt Disney World left equally highly effective lasting impressions.
Hyperbolic because it might sound, that is formative stuff. We’ve usually pressured that it’s the “little issues” that kind the muse of nostalgia and sentimentality, and forge new Walt Disney World followers within the course of. Clearly blockbuster new points of interest and lands are essential, however getting these little issues proper is the ‘secret sauce’ for Walt Disney World.
Though Cool Child Summer time was nothing noteworthy on paper, and positively not the kind of factor anybody deliberate journeys round (apart from Walt Disney World’s unprecedented summer time reductions that basically supplied 2019 pricing), it did handle to punch above its weight and supply one thing particular to lots of the friends who obtained to expertise it.
The seasonal occasion additionally urged that Walt Disney World is lastly beginning to get the enchantment of enjoying with characters or having spontaneous and memorably interactions, and may use Cool Child Summer time as a template for future character encounters. That alone can be an enormous win, and actually, it’s form of wild that they didn’t study this lesson from Disneyland a decade or extra in the past.
As for the seasonal occasion itself, I’m cautiously optimistic about Cool Child Summer time getting a sophomore season in 2026. Hopefully the inaugural yr was a studying expertise, and it returns larger and higher subsequent yr with (presumably) extra lead-time for planning it. Though that is in regards to the character element, I hope extra emphasis is positioned on the cool side of Cool Child Summer time, as there are such a lot of artistic methods for Walt Disney World to assist friends beat the summer time warmth.
In terms of characters, the massive factor on my want record for some time has been 90s nostalgia. The latest Vacation spot D23 did this very well each with its panels and the distinctive Kuzcotopia Night time at Storm Lagoon. Hopefully that was proof-of-concept for in-park choices, and perhaps even a tough ticket occasion.
Doing extra with Disney Afternoon, Disney Channel, and cult classics animated movies from the late Nineteen Nineties can be superior. Folks my age adore these animated movies from the second half of the Nineteen Nineties, together with Rescue Rangers, Darkwing Duck, TaleSpin, and DuckTales. We’re additionally now the audience of the parks, whether or not we’re Childless Disney Millennials or mother and father who wish to share our personal childhood nostalgia with our children.
As coated beforehand in our High 10 Uncommon Characters We Want Walt Disney World Would Carry Again, we are able to’t be the one millennials who would overpay for a 90s nite at Magic Kingdom or Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Possibly Walt Disney World might weave that along with Cool Child Summer time, and pull deeper from the 2000s playbook by providing a “Pirates, Princesses & Friends Celebration.”
Regardless, I’m wanting ahead to seeing what they do with the occasion in 2026, and hopefully we don’t have to attend virtually a yr to see Walt Disney World apply classes realized from this summer time to spontaneous character encounters across the parks. There’s large unrealized potential for Disney to leverage its beloved characters in playful methods, and the chance to make new lifetime followers of the parks by way of these little moments of magic.
Planning a Walt Disney World journey? Study resorts on our Walt Disney World Lodges Critiques web page. For the place to eat, learn our Walt Disney World Restaurant Critiques. To save cash on tickets or decide which sort to purchase, learn our Ideas for Saving Cash on Walt Disney World Tickets put up. Our What to Pack for Disney Journeys put up takes a novel have a look at intelligent gadgets to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Trip Guides will assist. For complete recommendation, the most effective place to begin is our Walt Disney World Journey Planning Information for all the pieces it is advisable to know!
YOUR THOUGHTS
Did you expertise any of the character encounters throughout Cool Child Summer time? What did you consider these spontaneous experiences? Any particular lasting recollections from ‘enjoying’ with the characters? Do you hope Walt Disney World learns classes from this particular occasion and applies them year-round? Will you be visiting for Cool Child Summer time 2.0 if the occasion is expanded upon and improved in 2026? Ideas on the brand new character experiences/encounters on the parks & resorts this summer time? Any questions? Listening to your suggestions about your experiences is each attention-grabbing to us and useful to different readers, so please share your ideas or questions under within the feedback!
Walt Disney World simply wrapped up a quiet summer time, opening a pair high quality stage reveals and new nighttime parade, however no new points of interest or any “reply” to Epic Universe. The shock sleeper of the season was Cool Child Summer time, which introduced new family-focused experiences to Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom. This explains the teachings realized from this shock success that punched above its weight and made some magical recollections.
In case you missed it, Cool Child Summer time featured dance events, further character appearances, hands-on actions, and a number of interactivity. Highlights included the Goofy takeover of CommuniCore Corridor at EPCOT, in any other case often called GoofyCore Corridor. As an alternative of being a pageant heart, GoofyCore Corridor was a Goofy-led immersive expertise, with video games with foolish twists, like Crazy Limbo and Parachutes ‘n’ Pipsqueaks all in superb air-con.
Over at Animation Courtyard at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, there have been video games and crafts, magicians and bounce rope performers, shock character appearances, and a full of life indoor DJ dance social gathering the place little ones can turn out to be additional indoctrinated into the Cult of the Scorching Canine Track. It was an analogous story in Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom, the place there have been dance events, sing-alongs, and different such silliness.
Along with this, characters had been additionally out within the parks sooner than regular for Walt Disney World resort lodge friends throughout the every day Early Entry interval. How this occurred was by no means actually defined in official Walt Disney World communications, however my statement was that it usually occurred as a pop-up, free roaming ‘road social gathering’ kinda deal, with particular music chopping into the traditional background loops and signaling the arrival of characters.
Equally, friends staying at Artwork of Animation, Pop Century, Caribbean Seashore and Wilderness Lodge had been all in a position to get pleasure from extra Disney-themed actions designed for households with children. This included character visits with set look occasions that will help you plan your day and an expanded itinerary of issues to do with your loved ones all through your keep at these 4 resorts. So mainly, the Character Caravan however with a printed schedule.
Anecdotally, I additionally observed extra shock & delight “Character Paloozas” throughout my most up-to-date go to to Walt Disney World.
For many who are unfamiliar with them, Character Paloozas are spontaneous meet & greets with a lot of uncommon characters in out of the best way places. They normally occur fairly near backstage entry factors, for fast entry and exits.
The true goal of Character Paloozas is giving Solid Members on the job coaching in decrease stakes environments. That is additionally why the characters featured are uncommon or rare-ish, because the “character integrity” bar is decrease. Large Al or Wendell performers have way more, ahem, autonomy for interactions than Mickey Mouse, who should keep on-brand.
I’ve at all times thought that Character Paloozas are the most effective issues Walt Disney World does with meet & greets, regardless that the aim is usually about coaching in a decrease strain setting. We’ve got fond recollections from the Toontown Teardrop manner again within the day, and nonetheless get pleasure from stumbling upon a Character Palooza infrequently. It’s the stuff of sudden magical recollections.
The sheer quantity of Character Paloozas I noticed within the lead-up to Labor Day might’ve been due to some big waves of School Program arrivals. It most likely had extra to do with that than being a shock Cool Child Summer time providing or paradigm shift in character encounters.
I’m nonetheless together with Character Paloozas as one thing Walt Disney World ought to do extra, purposefully, exterior of Solid Member coaching. They’re win-win, and an instance of Walt Disney World getting one thing proper, perhaps with out realizing how impactful it’s to the visitor expertise.
As for Cool Child Summer time, it was nothing particular this yr on paper. The unique announcement struck me as an “occasion” that was thrown collectively in a short time as Walt Disney World tried to market to households and fight mainstream media studies that Walt Disney World was “turning its again” on center class households with kids. (See Disney’s Response to Rising Prices Criticism.)
In follow, Cool Child Summer time was the scrappy little occasion that brightened up days and introduced a little bit of magic to blighted corners of the parks. Animation Courtyard felt like a useless mall that was somewhat-alive for the primary time in years. Simply in observing children fishing with ‘Trip’ Goofy, coloring with Clarabelle or partaking in antics with Donald, my robust suspicion is that visitor satisfaction was larger amongst those that visited Animation Courtyard than those that didn’t. I extremely doubt that was true earlier than this summer time!
Animation Courtyard was essentially the most pronounced instance, however Cool Child Summer time injected a number of pleasure round numerous hotspots of the parks. I’d likewise hazard a guess that the households who stopped for particular moments with the characters behind Cinderella Citadel had higher qualitative experiences than those that raced on to Peter Pan’s Flight. Similar goes for individuals who took the time to decelerate in Storybook Circus, Discovery Island or in GoofyCore Corridor.
Nobody goes to accuse Walt Disney World of dreaming too massive with Cool Child Summer time. As seasonal occasions go, it was a minor one. There wasn’t a lot of a decor bundle to talk of, and it was thrown into a number of underutilized venues round Walt Disney World. So simply to be abundantly clear, we’re not saying it was really nice or imploring you to plan a visit round Cool Child Summer time in 2026.
It additionally had a blink and also you’ll miss it high quality. I wouldn’t be shocked if over half of friends visiting this summer time had no clue Cool Child Summer time occurred. Not simply that they couldn’t determine it by title (that quantity might be even larger), however that additionally they didn’t expertise something I’ve simply described.
Cool Child Summer time was simple to miss. Should you weren’t eligible for Early Entry or didn’t keep at on of the handful of resorts with further choices, you wouldn’t have skilled that. Should you didn’t enterprise into some out of the best way places the place it was held (they’re underutilized for a motive!), you additionally wouldn’t have seen any of that.
What we’re saying is that there’s room for refining and enhancing on the idea with a full yr of lead-time to plan the 2026 Cool Child Summer time. That the occasion has potential and its good concepts might (and will!) be carried out full-time, past summer time.
Most significantly, Cool Child Summer time demonstrated Walt Disney World lastly “will get” the enchantment of Disneyland-style free roaming characters. That is one thing we’ve been discussing right here for some time, particularly again with the debut of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge in 2019.
One of many largest questions at the moment was whether or not free-roaming characters would translate to Walt Disney World given visitor demographics. The priority was that once-in-a-lifetime friends needed posed photographs with characters, to not “play” with them.
That is regardless of free-roaming characters being a staple of the Disneyland expertise for years. So a lot of Disneyland’s finest moments with characters unfold in an natural and spontaneous method as characters like Mary Poppins, Peter Pan, or the Evil Queen wander the park.
(It additionally helped that Cool Child Summer time didn’t completely eschew conventional meet & greets in favor of character ‘play’ experiences; Animation Courtyard added a number of each. We’re cognizant that many first-timers need the picture of their children posing with characters, getting an autograph, and many others. This isn’t an both/or proposition. And as an entire, DHS has quietly turn out to be an important park for assembly characters.)
Based mostly on my observations, Cool Child Summer time definitively demonstrated that spontaneous character experiences not solely work at Walt Disney World, however are an enormous hit with friends. Animation Courtyard was the most effective proof of this, and I hope what was supplied there this summer time was proof of idea for the kind of ‘play’ that’ll be featured within the reimagined Walt Disney Studios Lot.
There’s one thing particular about these spontaneous encounters, getting an opportunity to briefly play with characters versus posing for a photograph, assembly-line type. That is the stuff that ‘core recollections’ are fabricated from. Regardless that Cool Child Summer time clearly didn’t come wherever close to being an “reply” to Epic Universe, I wouldn’t be in the slightest degree shocked if a number of the character encounters at Walt Disney World left equally highly effective lasting impressions.
Hyperbolic because it might sound, that is formative stuff. We’ve usually pressured that it’s the “little issues” that kind the muse of nostalgia and sentimentality, and forge new Walt Disney World followers within the course of. Clearly blockbuster new points of interest and lands are essential, however getting these little issues proper is the ‘secret sauce’ for Walt Disney World.
Though Cool Child Summer time was nothing noteworthy on paper, and positively not the kind of factor anybody deliberate journeys round (apart from Walt Disney World’s unprecedented summer time reductions that basically supplied 2019 pricing), it did handle to punch above its weight and supply one thing particular to lots of the friends who obtained to expertise it.
The seasonal occasion additionally urged that Walt Disney World is lastly beginning to get the enchantment of enjoying with characters or having spontaneous and memorably interactions, and may use Cool Child Summer time as a template for future character encounters. That alone can be an enormous win, and actually, it’s form of wild that they didn’t study this lesson from Disneyland a decade or extra in the past.
As for the seasonal occasion itself, I’m cautiously optimistic about Cool Child Summer time getting a sophomore season in 2026. Hopefully the inaugural yr was a studying expertise, and it returns larger and higher subsequent yr with (presumably) extra lead-time for planning it. Though that is in regards to the character element, I hope extra emphasis is positioned on the cool side of Cool Child Summer time, as there are such a lot of artistic methods for Walt Disney World to assist friends beat the summer time warmth.
In terms of characters, the massive factor on my want record for some time has been 90s nostalgia. The latest Vacation spot D23 did this very well each with its panels and the distinctive Kuzcotopia Night time at Storm Lagoon. Hopefully that was proof-of-concept for in-park choices, and perhaps even a tough ticket occasion.
Doing extra with Disney Afternoon, Disney Channel, and cult classics animated movies from the late Nineteen Nineties can be superior. Folks my age adore these animated movies from the second half of the Nineteen Nineties, together with Rescue Rangers, Darkwing Duck, TaleSpin, and DuckTales. We’re additionally now the audience of the parks, whether or not we’re Childless Disney Millennials or mother and father who wish to share our personal childhood nostalgia with our children.
As coated beforehand in our High 10 Uncommon Characters We Want Walt Disney World Would Carry Again, we are able to’t be the one millennials who would overpay for a 90s nite at Magic Kingdom or Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Possibly Walt Disney World might weave that along with Cool Child Summer time, and pull deeper from the 2000s playbook by providing a “Pirates, Princesses & Friends Celebration.”
Regardless, I’m wanting ahead to seeing what they do with the occasion in 2026, and hopefully we don’t have to attend virtually a yr to see Walt Disney World apply classes realized from this summer time to spontaneous character encounters across the parks. There’s large unrealized potential for Disney to leverage its beloved characters in playful methods, and the chance to make new lifetime followers of the parks by way of these little moments of magic.
Planning a Walt Disney World journey? Study resorts on our Walt Disney World Lodges Critiques web page. For the place to eat, learn our Walt Disney World Restaurant Critiques. To save cash on tickets or decide which sort to purchase, learn our Ideas for Saving Cash on Walt Disney World Tickets put up. Our What to Pack for Disney Journeys put up takes a novel have a look at intelligent gadgets to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Trip Guides will assist. For complete recommendation, the most effective place to begin is our Walt Disney World Journey Planning Information for all the pieces it is advisable to know!
YOUR THOUGHTS
Did you expertise any of the character encounters throughout Cool Child Summer time? What did you consider these spontaneous experiences? Any particular lasting recollections from ‘enjoying’ with the characters? Do you hope Walt Disney World learns classes from this particular occasion and applies them year-round? Will you be visiting for Cool Child Summer time 2.0 if the occasion is expanded upon and improved in 2026? Ideas on the brand new character experiences/encounters on the parks & resorts this summer time? Any questions? Listening to your suggestions about your experiences is each attention-grabbing to us and useful to different readers, so please share your ideas or questions under within the feedback!
Walt Disney World simply wrapped up a quiet summer time, opening a pair high quality stage reveals and new nighttime parade, however no new points of interest or any “reply” to Epic Universe. The shock sleeper of the season was Cool Child Summer time, which introduced new family-focused experiences to Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom. This explains the teachings realized from this shock success that punched above its weight and made some magical recollections.
In case you missed it, Cool Child Summer time featured dance events, further character appearances, hands-on actions, and a number of interactivity. Highlights included the Goofy takeover of CommuniCore Corridor at EPCOT, in any other case often called GoofyCore Corridor. As an alternative of being a pageant heart, GoofyCore Corridor was a Goofy-led immersive expertise, with video games with foolish twists, like Crazy Limbo and Parachutes ‘n’ Pipsqueaks all in superb air-con.
Over at Animation Courtyard at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, there have been video games and crafts, magicians and bounce rope performers, shock character appearances, and a full of life indoor DJ dance social gathering the place little ones can turn out to be additional indoctrinated into the Cult of the Scorching Canine Track. It was an analogous story in Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom, the place there have been dance events, sing-alongs, and different such silliness.
Along with this, characters had been additionally out within the parks sooner than regular for Walt Disney World resort lodge friends throughout the every day Early Entry interval. How this occurred was by no means actually defined in official Walt Disney World communications, however my statement was that it usually occurred as a pop-up, free roaming ‘road social gathering’ kinda deal, with particular music chopping into the traditional background loops and signaling the arrival of characters.
Equally, friends staying at Artwork of Animation, Pop Century, Caribbean Seashore and Wilderness Lodge had been all in a position to get pleasure from extra Disney-themed actions designed for households with children. This included character visits with set look occasions that will help you plan your day and an expanded itinerary of issues to do with your loved ones all through your keep at these 4 resorts. So mainly, the Character Caravan however with a printed schedule.
Anecdotally, I additionally observed extra shock & delight “Character Paloozas” throughout my most up-to-date go to to Walt Disney World.
For many who are unfamiliar with them, Character Paloozas are spontaneous meet & greets with a lot of uncommon characters in out of the best way places. They normally occur fairly near backstage entry factors, for fast entry and exits.
The true goal of Character Paloozas is giving Solid Members on the job coaching in decrease stakes environments. That is additionally why the characters featured are uncommon or rare-ish, because the “character integrity” bar is decrease. Large Al or Wendell performers have way more, ahem, autonomy for interactions than Mickey Mouse, who should keep on-brand.
I’ve at all times thought that Character Paloozas are the most effective issues Walt Disney World does with meet & greets, regardless that the aim is usually about coaching in a decrease strain setting. We’ve got fond recollections from the Toontown Teardrop manner again within the day, and nonetheless get pleasure from stumbling upon a Character Palooza infrequently. It’s the stuff of sudden magical recollections.
The sheer quantity of Character Paloozas I noticed within the lead-up to Labor Day might’ve been due to some big waves of School Program arrivals. It most likely had extra to do with that than being a shock Cool Child Summer time providing or paradigm shift in character encounters.
I’m nonetheless together with Character Paloozas as one thing Walt Disney World ought to do extra, purposefully, exterior of Solid Member coaching. They’re win-win, and an instance of Walt Disney World getting one thing proper, perhaps with out realizing how impactful it’s to the visitor expertise.
As for Cool Child Summer time, it was nothing particular this yr on paper. The unique announcement struck me as an “occasion” that was thrown collectively in a short time as Walt Disney World tried to market to households and fight mainstream media studies that Walt Disney World was “turning its again” on center class households with kids. (See Disney’s Response to Rising Prices Criticism.)
In follow, Cool Child Summer time was the scrappy little occasion that brightened up days and introduced a little bit of magic to blighted corners of the parks. Animation Courtyard felt like a useless mall that was somewhat-alive for the primary time in years. Simply in observing children fishing with ‘Trip’ Goofy, coloring with Clarabelle or partaking in antics with Donald, my robust suspicion is that visitor satisfaction was larger amongst those that visited Animation Courtyard than those that didn’t. I extremely doubt that was true earlier than this summer time!
Animation Courtyard was essentially the most pronounced instance, however Cool Child Summer time injected a number of pleasure round numerous hotspots of the parks. I’d likewise hazard a guess that the households who stopped for particular moments with the characters behind Cinderella Citadel had higher qualitative experiences than those that raced on to Peter Pan’s Flight. Similar goes for individuals who took the time to decelerate in Storybook Circus, Discovery Island or in GoofyCore Corridor.
Nobody goes to accuse Walt Disney World of dreaming too massive with Cool Child Summer time. As seasonal occasions go, it was a minor one. There wasn’t a lot of a decor bundle to talk of, and it was thrown into a number of underutilized venues round Walt Disney World. So simply to be abundantly clear, we’re not saying it was really nice or imploring you to plan a visit round Cool Child Summer time in 2026.
It additionally had a blink and also you’ll miss it high quality. I wouldn’t be shocked if over half of friends visiting this summer time had no clue Cool Child Summer time occurred. Not simply that they couldn’t determine it by title (that quantity might be even larger), however that additionally they didn’t expertise something I’ve simply described.
Cool Child Summer time was simple to miss. Should you weren’t eligible for Early Entry or didn’t keep at on of the handful of resorts with further choices, you wouldn’t have skilled that. Should you didn’t enterprise into some out of the best way places the place it was held (they’re underutilized for a motive!), you additionally wouldn’t have seen any of that.
What we’re saying is that there’s room for refining and enhancing on the idea with a full yr of lead-time to plan the 2026 Cool Child Summer time. That the occasion has potential and its good concepts might (and will!) be carried out full-time, past summer time.
Most significantly, Cool Child Summer time demonstrated Walt Disney World lastly “will get” the enchantment of Disneyland-style free roaming characters. That is one thing we’ve been discussing right here for some time, particularly again with the debut of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge in 2019.
One of many largest questions at the moment was whether or not free-roaming characters would translate to Walt Disney World given visitor demographics. The priority was that once-in-a-lifetime friends needed posed photographs with characters, to not “play” with them.
That is regardless of free-roaming characters being a staple of the Disneyland expertise for years. So a lot of Disneyland’s finest moments with characters unfold in an natural and spontaneous method as characters like Mary Poppins, Peter Pan, or the Evil Queen wander the park.
(It additionally helped that Cool Child Summer time didn’t completely eschew conventional meet & greets in favor of character ‘play’ experiences; Animation Courtyard added a number of each. We’re cognizant that many first-timers need the picture of their children posing with characters, getting an autograph, and many others. This isn’t an both/or proposition. And as an entire, DHS has quietly turn out to be an important park for assembly characters.)
Based mostly on my observations, Cool Child Summer time definitively demonstrated that spontaneous character experiences not solely work at Walt Disney World, however are an enormous hit with friends. Animation Courtyard was the most effective proof of this, and I hope what was supplied there this summer time was proof of idea for the kind of ‘play’ that’ll be featured within the reimagined Walt Disney Studios Lot.
There’s one thing particular about these spontaneous encounters, getting an opportunity to briefly play with characters versus posing for a photograph, assembly-line type. That is the stuff that ‘core recollections’ are fabricated from. Regardless that Cool Child Summer time clearly didn’t come wherever close to being an “reply” to Epic Universe, I wouldn’t be in the slightest degree shocked if a number of the character encounters at Walt Disney World left equally highly effective lasting impressions.
Hyperbolic because it might sound, that is formative stuff. We’ve usually pressured that it’s the “little issues” that kind the muse of nostalgia and sentimentality, and forge new Walt Disney World followers within the course of. Clearly blockbuster new points of interest and lands are essential, however getting these little issues proper is the ‘secret sauce’ for Walt Disney World.
Though Cool Child Summer time was nothing noteworthy on paper, and positively not the kind of factor anybody deliberate journeys round (apart from Walt Disney World’s unprecedented summer time reductions that basically supplied 2019 pricing), it did handle to punch above its weight and supply one thing particular to lots of the friends who obtained to expertise it.
The seasonal occasion additionally urged that Walt Disney World is lastly beginning to get the enchantment of enjoying with characters or having spontaneous and memorably interactions, and may use Cool Child Summer time as a template for future character encounters. That alone can be an enormous win, and actually, it’s form of wild that they didn’t study this lesson from Disneyland a decade or extra in the past.
As for the seasonal occasion itself, I’m cautiously optimistic about Cool Child Summer time getting a sophomore season in 2026. Hopefully the inaugural yr was a studying expertise, and it returns larger and higher subsequent yr with (presumably) extra lead-time for planning it. Though that is in regards to the character element, I hope extra emphasis is positioned on the cool side of Cool Child Summer time, as there are such a lot of artistic methods for Walt Disney World to assist friends beat the summer time warmth.
In terms of characters, the massive factor on my want record for some time has been 90s nostalgia. The latest Vacation spot D23 did this very well each with its panels and the distinctive Kuzcotopia Night time at Storm Lagoon. Hopefully that was proof-of-concept for in-park choices, and perhaps even a tough ticket occasion.
Doing extra with Disney Afternoon, Disney Channel, and cult classics animated movies from the late Nineteen Nineties can be superior. Folks my age adore these animated movies from the second half of the Nineteen Nineties, together with Rescue Rangers, Darkwing Duck, TaleSpin, and DuckTales. We’re additionally now the audience of the parks, whether or not we’re Childless Disney Millennials or mother and father who wish to share our personal childhood nostalgia with our children.
As coated beforehand in our High 10 Uncommon Characters We Want Walt Disney World Would Carry Again, we are able to’t be the one millennials who would overpay for a 90s nite at Magic Kingdom or Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Possibly Walt Disney World might weave that along with Cool Child Summer time, and pull deeper from the 2000s playbook by providing a “Pirates, Princesses & Friends Celebration.”
Regardless, I’m wanting ahead to seeing what they do with the occasion in 2026, and hopefully we don’t have to attend virtually a yr to see Walt Disney World apply classes realized from this summer time to spontaneous character encounters across the parks. There’s large unrealized potential for Disney to leverage its beloved characters in playful methods, and the chance to make new lifetime followers of the parks by way of these little moments of magic.
Planning a Walt Disney World journey? Study resorts on our Walt Disney World Lodges Critiques web page. For the place to eat, learn our Walt Disney World Restaurant Critiques. To save cash on tickets or decide which sort to purchase, learn our Ideas for Saving Cash on Walt Disney World Tickets put up. Our What to Pack for Disney Journeys put up takes a novel have a look at intelligent gadgets to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Trip Guides will assist. For complete recommendation, the most effective place to begin is our Walt Disney World Journey Planning Information for all the pieces it is advisable to know!
YOUR THOUGHTS
Did you expertise any of the character encounters throughout Cool Child Summer time? What did you consider these spontaneous experiences? Any particular lasting recollections from ‘enjoying’ with the characters? Do you hope Walt Disney World learns classes from this particular occasion and applies them year-round? Will you be visiting for Cool Child Summer time 2.0 if the occasion is expanded upon and improved in 2026? Ideas on the brand new character experiences/encounters on the parks & resorts this summer time? Any questions? Listening to your suggestions about your experiences is each attention-grabbing to us and useful to different readers, so please share your ideas or questions under within the feedback!
Walt Disney World simply wrapped up a quiet summer time, opening a pair high quality stage reveals and new nighttime parade, however no new points of interest or any “reply” to Epic Universe. The shock sleeper of the season was Cool Child Summer time, which introduced new family-focused experiences to Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom. This explains the teachings realized from this shock success that punched above its weight and made some magical recollections.
In case you missed it, Cool Child Summer time featured dance events, further character appearances, hands-on actions, and a number of interactivity. Highlights included the Goofy takeover of CommuniCore Corridor at EPCOT, in any other case often called GoofyCore Corridor. As an alternative of being a pageant heart, GoofyCore Corridor was a Goofy-led immersive expertise, with video games with foolish twists, like Crazy Limbo and Parachutes ‘n’ Pipsqueaks all in superb air-con.
Over at Animation Courtyard at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, there have been video games and crafts, magicians and bounce rope performers, shock character appearances, and a full of life indoor DJ dance social gathering the place little ones can turn out to be additional indoctrinated into the Cult of the Scorching Canine Track. It was an analogous story in Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom, the place there have been dance events, sing-alongs, and different such silliness.
Along with this, characters had been additionally out within the parks sooner than regular for Walt Disney World resort lodge friends throughout the every day Early Entry interval. How this occurred was by no means actually defined in official Walt Disney World communications, however my statement was that it usually occurred as a pop-up, free roaming ‘road social gathering’ kinda deal, with particular music chopping into the traditional background loops and signaling the arrival of characters.
Equally, friends staying at Artwork of Animation, Pop Century, Caribbean Seashore and Wilderness Lodge had been all in a position to get pleasure from extra Disney-themed actions designed for households with children. This included character visits with set look occasions that will help you plan your day and an expanded itinerary of issues to do with your loved ones all through your keep at these 4 resorts. So mainly, the Character Caravan however with a printed schedule.
Anecdotally, I additionally observed extra shock & delight “Character Paloozas” throughout my most up-to-date go to to Walt Disney World.
For many who are unfamiliar with them, Character Paloozas are spontaneous meet & greets with a lot of uncommon characters in out of the best way places. They normally occur fairly near backstage entry factors, for fast entry and exits.
The true goal of Character Paloozas is giving Solid Members on the job coaching in decrease stakes environments. That is additionally why the characters featured are uncommon or rare-ish, because the “character integrity” bar is decrease. Large Al or Wendell performers have way more, ahem, autonomy for interactions than Mickey Mouse, who should keep on-brand.
I’ve at all times thought that Character Paloozas are the most effective issues Walt Disney World does with meet & greets, regardless that the aim is usually about coaching in a decrease strain setting. We’ve got fond recollections from the Toontown Teardrop manner again within the day, and nonetheless get pleasure from stumbling upon a Character Palooza infrequently. It’s the stuff of sudden magical recollections.
The sheer quantity of Character Paloozas I noticed within the lead-up to Labor Day might’ve been due to some big waves of School Program arrivals. It most likely had extra to do with that than being a shock Cool Child Summer time providing or paradigm shift in character encounters.
I’m nonetheless together with Character Paloozas as one thing Walt Disney World ought to do extra, purposefully, exterior of Solid Member coaching. They’re win-win, and an instance of Walt Disney World getting one thing proper, perhaps with out realizing how impactful it’s to the visitor expertise.
As for Cool Child Summer time, it was nothing particular this yr on paper. The unique announcement struck me as an “occasion” that was thrown collectively in a short time as Walt Disney World tried to market to households and fight mainstream media studies that Walt Disney World was “turning its again” on center class households with kids. (See Disney’s Response to Rising Prices Criticism.)
In follow, Cool Child Summer time was the scrappy little occasion that brightened up days and introduced a little bit of magic to blighted corners of the parks. Animation Courtyard felt like a useless mall that was somewhat-alive for the primary time in years. Simply in observing children fishing with ‘Trip’ Goofy, coloring with Clarabelle or partaking in antics with Donald, my robust suspicion is that visitor satisfaction was larger amongst those that visited Animation Courtyard than those that didn’t. I extremely doubt that was true earlier than this summer time!
Animation Courtyard was essentially the most pronounced instance, however Cool Child Summer time injected a number of pleasure round numerous hotspots of the parks. I’d likewise hazard a guess that the households who stopped for particular moments with the characters behind Cinderella Citadel had higher qualitative experiences than those that raced on to Peter Pan’s Flight. Similar goes for individuals who took the time to decelerate in Storybook Circus, Discovery Island or in GoofyCore Corridor.
Nobody goes to accuse Walt Disney World of dreaming too massive with Cool Child Summer time. As seasonal occasions go, it was a minor one. There wasn’t a lot of a decor bundle to talk of, and it was thrown into a number of underutilized venues round Walt Disney World. So simply to be abundantly clear, we’re not saying it was really nice or imploring you to plan a visit round Cool Child Summer time in 2026.
It additionally had a blink and also you’ll miss it high quality. I wouldn’t be shocked if over half of friends visiting this summer time had no clue Cool Child Summer time occurred. Not simply that they couldn’t determine it by title (that quantity might be even larger), however that additionally they didn’t expertise something I’ve simply described.
Cool Child Summer time was simple to miss. Should you weren’t eligible for Early Entry or didn’t keep at on of the handful of resorts with further choices, you wouldn’t have skilled that. Should you didn’t enterprise into some out of the best way places the place it was held (they’re underutilized for a motive!), you additionally wouldn’t have seen any of that.
What we’re saying is that there’s room for refining and enhancing on the idea with a full yr of lead-time to plan the 2026 Cool Child Summer time. That the occasion has potential and its good concepts might (and will!) be carried out full-time, past summer time.
Most significantly, Cool Child Summer time demonstrated Walt Disney World lastly “will get” the enchantment of Disneyland-style free roaming characters. That is one thing we’ve been discussing right here for some time, particularly again with the debut of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge in 2019.
One of many largest questions at the moment was whether or not free-roaming characters would translate to Walt Disney World given visitor demographics. The priority was that once-in-a-lifetime friends needed posed photographs with characters, to not “play” with them.
That is regardless of free-roaming characters being a staple of the Disneyland expertise for years. So a lot of Disneyland’s finest moments with characters unfold in an natural and spontaneous method as characters like Mary Poppins, Peter Pan, or the Evil Queen wander the park.
(It additionally helped that Cool Child Summer time didn’t completely eschew conventional meet & greets in favor of character ‘play’ experiences; Animation Courtyard added a number of each. We’re cognizant that many first-timers need the picture of their children posing with characters, getting an autograph, and many others. This isn’t an both/or proposition. And as an entire, DHS has quietly turn out to be an important park for assembly characters.)
Based mostly on my observations, Cool Child Summer time definitively demonstrated that spontaneous character experiences not solely work at Walt Disney World, however are an enormous hit with friends. Animation Courtyard was the most effective proof of this, and I hope what was supplied there this summer time was proof of idea for the kind of ‘play’ that’ll be featured within the reimagined Walt Disney Studios Lot.
There’s one thing particular about these spontaneous encounters, getting an opportunity to briefly play with characters versus posing for a photograph, assembly-line type. That is the stuff that ‘core recollections’ are fabricated from. Regardless that Cool Child Summer time clearly didn’t come wherever close to being an “reply” to Epic Universe, I wouldn’t be in the slightest degree shocked if a number of the character encounters at Walt Disney World left equally highly effective lasting impressions.
Hyperbolic because it might sound, that is formative stuff. We’ve usually pressured that it’s the “little issues” that kind the muse of nostalgia and sentimentality, and forge new Walt Disney World followers within the course of. Clearly blockbuster new points of interest and lands are essential, however getting these little issues proper is the ‘secret sauce’ for Walt Disney World.
Though Cool Child Summer time was nothing noteworthy on paper, and positively not the kind of factor anybody deliberate journeys round (apart from Walt Disney World’s unprecedented summer time reductions that basically supplied 2019 pricing), it did handle to punch above its weight and supply one thing particular to lots of the friends who obtained to expertise it.
The seasonal occasion additionally urged that Walt Disney World is lastly beginning to get the enchantment of enjoying with characters or having spontaneous and memorably interactions, and may use Cool Child Summer time as a template for future character encounters. That alone can be an enormous win, and actually, it’s form of wild that they didn’t study this lesson from Disneyland a decade or extra in the past.
As for the seasonal occasion itself, I’m cautiously optimistic about Cool Child Summer time getting a sophomore season in 2026. Hopefully the inaugural yr was a studying expertise, and it returns larger and higher subsequent yr with (presumably) extra lead-time for planning it. Though that is in regards to the character element, I hope extra emphasis is positioned on the cool side of Cool Child Summer time, as there are such a lot of artistic methods for Walt Disney World to assist friends beat the summer time warmth.
In terms of characters, the massive factor on my want record for some time has been 90s nostalgia. The latest Vacation spot D23 did this very well each with its panels and the distinctive Kuzcotopia Night time at Storm Lagoon. Hopefully that was proof-of-concept for in-park choices, and perhaps even a tough ticket occasion.
Doing extra with Disney Afternoon, Disney Channel, and cult classics animated movies from the late Nineteen Nineties can be superior. Folks my age adore these animated movies from the second half of the Nineteen Nineties, together with Rescue Rangers, Darkwing Duck, TaleSpin, and DuckTales. We’re additionally now the audience of the parks, whether or not we’re Childless Disney Millennials or mother and father who wish to share our personal childhood nostalgia with our children.
As coated beforehand in our High 10 Uncommon Characters We Want Walt Disney World Would Carry Again, we are able to’t be the one millennials who would overpay for a 90s nite at Magic Kingdom or Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Possibly Walt Disney World might weave that along with Cool Child Summer time, and pull deeper from the 2000s playbook by providing a “Pirates, Princesses & Friends Celebration.”
Regardless, I’m wanting ahead to seeing what they do with the occasion in 2026, and hopefully we don’t have to attend virtually a yr to see Walt Disney World apply classes realized from this summer time to spontaneous character encounters across the parks. There’s large unrealized potential for Disney to leverage its beloved characters in playful methods, and the chance to make new lifetime followers of the parks by way of these little moments of magic.
Planning a Walt Disney World journey? Study resorts on our Walt Disney World Lodges Critiques web page. For the place to eat, learn our Walt Disney World Restaurant Critiques. To save cash on tickets or decide which sort to purchase, learn our Ideas for Saving Cash on Walt Disney World Tickets put up. Our What to Pack for Disney Journeys put up takes a novel have a look at intelligent gadgets to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Trip Guides will assist. For complete recommendation, the most effective place to begin is our Walt Disney World Journey Planning Information for all the pieces it is advisable to know!
YOUR THOUGHTS
Did you expertise any of the character encounters throughout Cool Child Summer time? What did you consider these spontaneous experiences? Any particular lasting recollections from ‘enjoying’ with the characters? Do you hope Walt Disney World learns classes from this particular occasion and applies them year-round? Will you be visiting for Cool Child Summer time 2.0 if the occasion is expanded upon and improved in 2026? Ideas on the brand new character experiences/encounters on the parks & resorts this summer time? Any questions? Listening to your suggestions about your experiences is each attention-grabbing to us and useful to different readers, so please share your ideas or questions under within the feedback!
