Walt Disney Global has introduced that the “speeding” and “bold” persona meet & greet places inside of Pete’s Foolish Sideshow in Storybook Circus at Magic Kingdom might be quickly closed for refurbishment beginning in early 2026 for an unknown length.
This put up stocks respectable dates & main points, what to anticipate from the refurbishment and relocation of the characters, in conjunction with what we are hoping occurs to this tucked-away nook of the park long-term. Oh, and it’s additionally an excuse to in spite of everything proportion footage of the superior new decorations that debuted for Christmas 2025 in Storybook Circus!
For starters, Walt Disney Global has posted an identical ‘caution’ announcements at the respectable pages for “Meet Rushing Disney Friends as Circus Stars at Pete’s Foolish Sideshow” and “Meet Bold Disney Friends as Circus Stars at Pete’s Foolish Sideshow.”
The ones each have an identical messages, indicating that the respective meet & greets might be quickly unavailable starting January 5, 2026. The announcements additional point out that the characters might be greeting visitors somewhere else in Storybook Circus all over the closure of Pete’s Foolish Sideshow.
Walt Disney Global has no longer but introduced when the meet & greet location will go back, or why it’s final within the first position. The present calendar extends via February 16, 2026 and there aren’t any hours up till that date, suggesting the closure will ultimate a minimum of till then.
At Pete’s Foolish Sideshow in Storybook Circus, visitors can step proper up and greet one of the vital Giant Most sensible’s largest stars.
There’s the marvelous Minnie Magnifique and the mysterious fortune teller Daisy Fortuna which might be a part of the Rushing Disney Friends meet & greet. Over at the Bold Disney Friends aspect, there’s snake charmer extraordinaire The Astounding Donaldo and his bold stuntman buddy The Nice Goofini.
Each and every of those meet & greets is a two-fer, that means you stand in line as soon as and get each Rushing or Bold characters. The room is mainly divided in part, with Daisy and Minnie on one aspect and Donald and Goofy at the different.
We’re giant lovers of Pete’s Foolish Sideshow. It’s one of the most extra underrated choices at Magic Kingdom.
It is a distinctive and well-themed location, that includes ingenious costumes and engaging backdrops. Being fully indoors with air-conditioning is any other plus a lot of the yr. There’s additionally PhotoPass, albeit the automatic selection that provides hit and miss effects.
I’d most definitely cross so far as pronouncing that Pete’s Foolish Sideshow is my favourite meet & greet location in all of Walt Disney Global. They did a actually just right activity with it, particularly for the reason that it doubles as a flex house (as noticed on the Halloween and Christmas events).
The truth that visitors will nonetheless have the ability to meet Daisy Duck, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, and Goofy all over the closure strongly means that it’s the construction of Pete’s Foolish Sideshow that’s being refurbished, and not anything particular to the meet & greets themselves.
We wouldn’t be stunned if Walt Disney Global offers a few those characters mounted spots in Storybook Circus, and makes the opposite two extra unfastened roaming. I additionally wouldn’t be stunned if the meet & greets in reality grow to be extra fashionable as soon as moved to extra visual, higher-traffic (and possibly out of doors) places.
A part of the rationale we adore Pete’s Foolish Sideshow is as it’s tucked away and quiet. Stationing a personality outdoor through the doorway to the land could be a wise solution to beckon visitors deeper into Storybook Circus.
I’ve at all times concept it’d be a laugh to have Pluto be the “barker” close to the gateway to the Giant Most sensible. It might even be fascinating to look Pete himself in that position, particularly as the nature has loved a resurgence in reputation over the previous few years (I’m no longer even positive how that’s came about, but it surely has).
It additionally wouldn’t be unexpected if the characters seem of their conventional costumes outdoor in Storybook Circus, versus Minnie Magnifique, Daisy Fortuna, and so forth. Those costumes are extra lavish and heavier than standard meet & greets, and it’s imaginable Disney received’t need them uncovered to the weather.
It’s a near-certainty that it’s the tents in Storybook Circus being refurbished. Again in overdue October, Walt Disney Global filed two structure lets in with addresses that correspond with the 2 massive tents in Storybook Circus–the only for the Giant Most sensible Souvenirs reward store and the Pete’s Foolish Sideshow meet and greet.
The ones lets in are fascinating in that they didn’t have the default twelve months expiration, however moderately, prolonged over 14 months into the longer term with a December 31, 2026 expiration. Now, this was once both performed for the reason that mission is meant to be long, or as a result of whoever was once filling out the bureaucracy was once unsure as to when the mission could be scheduled, and erred at the aspect of warning with the top of 2026.
Both rationalization is similarly believable, particularly with lets in filed in October for paintings that isn’t starting till January 2026. It’s additionally imaginable that it’s each a long mission and one with that had nebulous scheduling. Both means, we’re no longer anticipating this to wrap up in Wintry weather 2026. Simply how for much longer it is going is any person’s wager.
The ones lets in listing Birdair, Inc. because the contractor and the scope of labor because the equally-nebulous “normal structure.”
We will be able to slender the most probably scope of labor even additional with a handy guide a rough take a look at Birdair’s web site, which signifies the corporate has 70 years of enjoy designing and construction “customized tensile cloth constructions used to create cutting edge roofing techniques, canopies and skylights.” Birdair supplies pre-construction help; together with design help, budgeting, structure methodologies and mission agenda building.
From this, it’s beautiful secure to mention it’s the tents in Storybook Circus being changed or refurbished. By the point 2026 rolls round, it’ll were 5 years since paintings was once ultimate performed at the tents, when new protecting coatings have been carried out to increase their helpful lifestyles within the harsh Florida solar. It’s most probably that must be performed once more to revive the fading cloth, or most likely they wish to get replaced utterly. I don’t have any clue–Birdair is the professional on tensile cloth, no longer me.
Truthfully, up to we revel in Pete’s Foolish Sideshow as a meet & greet, I’d like it if Walt Disney Global ultimately revisited the concept that of Storybook Circus.
That’s without a doubt no longer what’s taking place right here–this can be a regimen refurbishment, simply so we’re transparent. Nor must Storybook Circus be reimagined in 2026, as Walt Disney Global has larger fish to fry presently. But when we’re speaking the again part of the 10-year plan, it must completely be at the desk.
As soon as the Piston Height Automobiles Land and Villains Land debut, that opens the door for transforming Tomorrowland (which can with a bit of luck proceed to be incrementally stepped forward between every now and then) and Storybook Circus. It sort of feels inevitable to us that Tomorrowland Speedway might be changed; Piston Height makes it slightly redundant.
The elimination of Tomorrowland Speedway opens up the door for increasing Storybook Circus, Tomorrowland, Fantasyland–or all the above. (That is precisely what Tokyo Disneyland did to liberate house for Enchanted Story of Attractiveness and the Beast and the Satisfied Experience with Baymax.)
I’d additionally upload that there’s house to extend past tents, most definitely sufficient for a mid-tier darkish trip with out re-routing the carrier street or educate tracks. With Magic Kingdom seeking to maximize each and every foot of its house throughout the berm, the plot those tents occupy moves us as underutilized capability.
That’s most definitely the simpler trade than soaking up a portion of the Tomorrowland Speedway, as it sort of feels not likely that Walt Disney Global would wish to take out Barnstormer or transfer the dueling Dumbos (once more), which limits building within the different path.
However I’ll be offering the caveat right here that, simply as I’m no longer a tensile cloth professional, I’m additionally no longer an adept armchair Imagineer. All I know is this land–Mickey’s Birthdayland/Starland/Toontown/Storybook Circus–was once at the beginning supposed to be transient within the overdue Nineteen Eighties.
Storybook Circus is a long way and away its easiest incarnation, and has a a lot more everlasting high quality than anything else that got here prior to. Nonetheless, it’s now over a decade previous and most definitely will succeed in its twentieth Anniversary regardless of recycling parts from that transient Nineteen Eighties land. Storybook Circus is good for what it’s, but it surely’s nonetheless the weakest land in Magic Kingdom. It’s honest to have a dialog about whether or not it’s due for substitute or retooling and growth as a part of Walt Disney Global’s 10-year plan.
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Your Ideas
Have you ever skilled the Pete’s Foolish Sideshow? Do you settle or disagree that this is among the higher meet & greets at Walt Disney Global? Ideas at the chance of the tents being refurbished or having their cloth changed? What a couple of reimagining, substitute, or growth of Storybook Circus as a part of Walt Disney Global’s 10-year plan? Do you settle or disagree with our evaluate? Any questions we will let you resolution? Listening to your comments–even while you disagree with us–is each fascinating to us and useful to different readers, so please proportion your ideas beneath within the feedback!
