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Credit: Renato Mitra, UnsplashA new trend has started to take place at Disney World: unannounced soft openings. These soft openings have taken place since the summer with new and updated Disney World rides and attractions surprisingly opening to the public at random.
Disney started this new “tradition” in June when it reopened the Hall of Presidents on a random Sunday without any warning or notrice to guests. However, most took that as a way to avoid controversy with the return of Donald Trump to the attraction.
However, Disney continued the practice with the Astro Orbiter at Magic Kingdom, and the big one was the soft opening of Test Track 3.0. Fans knew for weeks that Test Track was opening, but on a random day in July, Disney started letting guests walk on the ride.
A week after the Test Track soft opening, Disney previewed Starlight: Dream the Night Away at Magic Kingdom for two nights before its official opening, giving guests a first look at the first parade at the park in over a decade.
Disney continued the practice this weekend, when it opened the updated Spaceship Earth to guests without notice. Guests who showed up at EPCOT on Saturday night were greeted with the reopened ride.
So, what made Disney chose soft openings for its refurbished attractions? It’s hard lessons learned from past openings.
The soft openings give Disney a chance to work out any technical issues with the ride/attraction/parade before the overwhelming crowds on opening day. This also gives cast membes a chance to practice their craft with presumably smaller crowds.
So, what Disney World rides should we expect a soft opening for soon? There’s two big choices coming up that could allow random guests to walk onto the attraction.
Zootopia: Better Together
Disney has already made Lightning Lane changes to include Zootopia: Better Together when it arrives at Animal Kingdon on November 7, but given Disney’s past few attraction openings, you may not have to wait.
Given past timelines of other rides, if Disney chooses to do a soft opening of the newest Animal Kingdom attraction, expect it sometime after Halloween but before the official opening. Election Day, November 4, could be the perfect day to open the attraction for a test run.
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
This one would be big (pardon the pun) for guests. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad at Magic Kingdom has been down for the majority of 2025, while Disney works on its new Cars Land and refurbishes the attraction.
Disney has been running cars on the ride since the summer, but those were mostly height tests, and as the year closes, there is still no reopening date for Thunder Mountain.
Guests can expect the ride to return sometime in early 2026. If Disney announces the opening for Martin Luther King weekend, a good soft opening would be during the second week of January when the holiday crowds have left the parks.
For now, Big Thunder fans will have to wait until Disney announces an official reopening date to get a better estimate on when the soft opening should start.
With Disney’s new practice of soft openings, some lucky guests will be the first to jump on these updated attractions and have a great story to tell.
What do you think of Disney’s new practice of soft openings of its updated rides and attractions? Let us know in the comments.