A reader's guide to which 2026 Disney openings are genuine new builds, which are re skinned rides wearing fresh IP, and which are still years from delivery beneath the 70th anniversary marketing.
Disney's 70th-anniversary marketing is selling 2026 as a milestone year, but readers booking a trip need a clearer map of what is actually open this summer, what is still behind construction walls, and what is a familiar ride wearing a new costume.
The cleanest split is between three categories: from-scratch builds, re-skins of existing attractions, and announced projects that will not open in 2026 at all. The Disney Parks Blog groups all of these under "new," which is the source of most visitor confusion heading into a peak-pricing anniversary window.
The headline addition is Monstropolis, a Pixar Monsters, Inc.-themed land rising at Disney's Hollywood Studios. It is a genuine new build, but it is not a 2026 opening. Disney has framed the project as a multi-year expansion — the D23 announcement described plans as drawn and dirt moving, with a first-of-its-kind suspended coaster inside the factory building — and the Disney Parks Blog lists it among developments in progress rather than among attractions opening this summer.
The Muppet-themed re-skin of Rock 'n' Roller Coaster is the opposite case. Disney's announcement describes the ride as "reimagined" with a new story starring the Electric Mayhem, a new soundtrack featuring rock classics and new tracks, a new pre-show set inside G-Force Records recording studio, and new queue theming throughout — but the launch mechanism, indoor coaster shell, and core ride experience are carried over from the Aerosmith version. Visitors who rode the previous version are not getting a new ride. They are getting a new soundtrack, a new pre-show, and new gift-shop merch. Calling that "new" is a marketing choice, not an engineering one.
The 70th-anniversary programming at Disneyland is a third category entirely. Disneyland opened July 17, 1955, and the parks have stretched the celebration through summer 2026, so the "70th" branding applies to a roughly two-year marketing window rather than a single calendar milestone. The most visible additions — the return of Paint the Night and World of Color Happiness!, the Wondrous Journeys nighttime spectacular, and limited-time character costumes — are overlay entertainment layered onto existing attractions, not permanent new builds. Visitors paying peak 70th-anniversary pricing should know that the anniversary is mostly an event overlay layered onto an existing park, not a structural expansion of the resort.
The dynamic-pricing layer is the part Disney does not put on the marquee. Ticket prices step up with demand, the parks continue to use reservation systems that lock visitors into specific dates, and Lightning Lane passes are now a baseline cost for many families rather than an optional upgrade. The combination means a family booking a 70th-anniversary window in 2026 is paying peak prices for an anniversary overlay plus a re-skinned coaster, with the genuine new-build, Monstropolis, still years from opening at the Florida park.
The closest watch item for 2026 travelers is the calendar. If Disney moves any opening dates forward, the calculus changes. If Monstropolis slips further, the "Monstropolis is here" marketing will only get louder while the land stays behind walls. Visitors who want a real 2026 novelty should weight the Avatar expansion at Disney California Adventure and any confirmed Disneyland ride additions, and treat the rest of the "new" slate as either re-skin or roadmap.