Overview
- The attraction ran its last scheduled performances on Sunday, July 5, 2026, and Walt Disney Imagineering began work on Monday, July 6, 2026.
- Disney has confirmed the creative reset will retire the 1994 script, add a new opening scene with a Walt Audio‑Animatronic, and replace the four existing acts with scenes set in the 1960s, 1980s, New Year’s Eve 1999, and a possible Future.
- Construction permits name a specialty industrial contractor and detail removal of the ride’s aging hydraulic systems with modern electric actuators plus substantive structural and steel work inside the rotating theater.
- Frequent recent breakdowns, including recurring ‘carousel loop’ stoppages, safety‑sensor lockouts, and animatronic lip‑sync lag, were cited as the proximate reasons for the full technical gutting.
- Disney offered no formal farewell events on the final day; fan groups provided grassroots send‑offs while modest wait times suggested turnout was lower than some observers had expected, and permit windows through April 2027 leave the late‑2027 target reopening subject to scope changes.