It has been one of the biggest weeks of the year for theme park news. Disney used D23 2026 to reveal a huge amount about the attractions and lands currently heading to its parks, Universal Orlando is saying goodbye to one of its most controversial rides, and Alton Towers has started revealing what awaits guests when Scarefest returns this autumn.
There has also been plenty happening elsewhere, with a freshly rebuilt wooden coaster returning in Florida just in time for National Roller Coaster Day. Here are the stories that caught our attention this week.
D23 2026 gives us our clearest look yet at Disney's future
There was really only one place to start this week.
D23 delivered one of the biggest dumps of Disney Parks news we've had in some time, with new details, models and artwork giving us a much clearer idea of what the next few years will look like across Disney's resorts.
Among the biggest reveals were new details surrounding Villains Land at Magic Kingdom, alongside a much better look at Piston Peak National Park and Disney's other major projects currently under development.
Rather than repeat every single announcement here, we've pulled together all of the concept art, attraction details and biggest reveals in our dedicated D23 2026: Every Major Disney Parks Announcement and Reveal coverage.
Fast & Furious: Supercharged reaches the end of the road
From attractions Disney is building to one Universal is removing.
Sunday 16 August marks the final day of operation for Fast & Furious: Supercharged at Universal Studios Florida, with the attraction permanently closing to guests from 17 August.
Opening in 2018, Supercharged transported guests aboard a party bus into an oversized Fast & Furious chase sequence featuring characters from the film franchise.
It never quite achieved the popularity Universal may have hoped for.
The attraction became something of a running joke among theme park fans, with its screen-heavy experience and unusual interpretation of the Fast & Furious franchise frequently criticised. Eight years after opening, its Orlando run is now officially over.
There is, however, considerably more Fast & Furious on the way.
Universal has taken a very different approach with Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift - a genuine outdoor roller coaster concept rather than another screen-based attraction. After arriving at Universal Studios Hollywood, the coaster concept is also heading to Universal Orlando, giving the franchise another chance to prove that fast cars and roller coasters really should be a natural combination.
Alton Towers reveals Final Exhibit for Scarefest 2026
Halloween season is rapidly approaching, and Alton Towers has revealed the latest addition to this year's Scarefest line-up.
Final Exhibit is a brand-new scare maze centred around the mysterious Curator and his forgotten collection.
Guests will pass through the doors of the archive and explore a series of rooms containing increasingly disturbing secrets, with the experience promising to draw visitors deeper into the Curator's collection as the maze progresses.
Final Exhibit joins the wider Scarefest programme when the event returns on selected dates between 26 September and 1 November.
While Scarefest still offers plenty for families during the daytime, the resort continues to push the darker side of the event through its dedicated scare attractions. A completely new maze gives repeat visitors another reason to return this year - and we're particularly interested to see how far Alton Towers takes the unsettling museum and archive concept.
Coastersaurus roars back to life at LEGOLAND Florida
There couldn't be a much more appropriate day for a roller coaster to return.
LEGOLAND Florida's Coastersaurus reopened on Sunday 16 August - National Roller Coaster Day - following an extensive refurbishment of the wooden family coaster.
And this has been considerably more substantial than a fresh coat of paint.
The work has included replacement of the coaster's wooden structure alongside upgrades to its control and train restraint systems, effectively giving the veteran attraction a major new lease of life.
Coastersaurus originally opened at the park when it was still Cypress Gardens, making it an important surviving part of the site's pre-LEGOLAND history. Its refurbishment is therefore particularly welcome at a time when older wooden coasters are increasingly disappearing from parks.
National Roller Coaster Day celebrates 40 years
That reopening wasn't the only reason roller coasters were getting extra attention this weekend.
16 August is National Roller Coaster Day, and Merlin Entertainments marked the occasion in the UK with its Straight Face Challenge - asking riders to somehow keep a completely straight face while taking on some of its biggest coasters.
It's a fairly simple bit of fun, but it arrives during an extraordinary period for roller coasters. From increasingly ambitious family coasters to record-breaking thrill rides and the next generation of highly themed Disney and Universal attractions, there aren't many signs of the industry's obsession with coasters slowing down.
What we're watching next
D23 may have provided enough announcements to keep us busy for months, but the theme park calendar isn't slowing down.
Halloween announcements are now coming thick and fast on both sides of the Atlantic, construction continues on several of the world's biggest new attractions, and attention will increasingly start shifting towards what parks have planned for 2027.
For now, though, Disney unquestionably owns this week. D23 has transformed several projects that previously existed mainly as pieces of concept art into attractions we can finally start to understand - and some of them look considerably more ambitious than we expected.
We'll be following all of them as they move from convention-floor models to actual theme park attractions.
