Disney Starlight: Dream the Night Away Parade Times & Route Revealed & More: Daily Recap (6/20/25)

The first original house has been announced for Halloween Horror Nights 34, the Universal Islands of Adventure theater that once featured “The Eighth Voyage of Sindbad” is now a “Cool Zone,” and Epic Universe rides were staying open one hour after park close — all this and more in today’s daily recap for Friday, June 20, 2025.

Magic Kingdom

• Disney announced the performance times for “Disney Starlight: Dream the Night Away” and revealed the nighttime parade will follow the Magic Kingdom parade route backwards.
• The new Magic Kingdom nighttime parade, “Disney Starlight: Dream the Night Away,” won’t perform on Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party dates.
• Magic Kingdom has extended operating hours starting on the premiere date of “Disney Starlight: Dream the Night Away.”
• After being completely deconstructed and reconstructed, the Astro Orbiter rockets took to the sky on Friday for testing.
• Join Bryce for the latest photo report from Magic Kingdom.

Walt Disney World Resort Hotels

• The Blue Ribbon Corn Dogs location at Disney’s BoardWalk has a new exclusive cheesy corn dog on the menu.

New Merchandise

• Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground has a series of new merchandise available at Settlement Trading Post.

Other Walt Disney World News

• An Illinois doctor vacationing at Walt Disney World was in the right place at the right time to save the life of a 17-year-old girl.
• From fireworks to merchandise, here’s how Walt Disney World is celebrating Fourth of July 2025.

• Hurry over to DisneyStore.com to take advantage of 25% off sitewide today (Friday, June 20).

• Walt Disney Animation Studios may bring back 2D animation among experimentation with different styles.

Epic Universe

• WDWNT visited Epic Universe on the evening of Thursday, June 19 to confirm reports that rides were staying open one hour after park close at 9 p.m.
• We reviewed the cosmic fare at Meteor Astropub in Celestial Park.

Universal Studios Florida

• The first original house, El Artista: A Spanish Haunting, has just been announced for Halloween Horror Nights 34 at Universal Orlando Resort.

Islands of Adventure

• Universal announced the opening date for the Minion Park expansion at Universal Studios Japan, including an “enhanced” version of Illumination’s Villain-Con Minion Blast.

• Pixar’s “Elio” is expected to have a low opening weekend box office, reflecting the studio’s troubles with original films — but don’t count it out yet.
• About halfway through 2025, Disney is leading the domestic box office with a total of $1.1 billion.
• Marvel has confirmed that Jon Bernthal will reprise his role as Frank Castle/The Punisher for “Spider-Man: Brand New Day.”

• The WDWNT Summer Auction is this weekend! If you’ve not already registered, you can do so now and be ready when the action starts tomorrow at 1:00 PM EDT.

That’s it for today; we hope you enjoyed this Daily Recap. Thanks for stopping by, and we’ll see you tomorrow!

Katie Francis