Pumpkin chomping > pumpkin carving 🐊

Pumpkins aren’t just seasonal décor at Gatorland — they’re a natural dewormer and a crunchy snack that the gators love to chomp on, much to the delight of guests.

Hi friends — Haley here, voice of the In the Loop: Theme Park Scoops.

At this year’s Gators, Ghosts, and Goblins preview, my mission was simple: witness a gator pumpkin chomp. Some gators attack the pumpkin like it’s a steak dinner; others inspect it with a cautious side-eye.

Other Halloween highlights include “Swamp Ghost’s Monster Movie Museum,” where you’ll get a lesson on classic movie monsters, plus a viewing of “Curse of the Swamp Ghost” starring familiar Gatorland faces.

Then there’s the bug-out zone, where Rhonda and Betty, the fearless exterminators, wage war against an insect invasion trying to take over Gatorland.

Gators, Ghosts, and Goblins kicks off Saturday and runs three weekends in total throughout October.

Walt Disney World

Historic price jump 🤑

Disney World announced some eye-opening changes to its ticket prices this week, and that dream vacation or annual pass is getting more expensive.

For the first time in Disney World’s history, you’ll need to shell out more than $200 for a single-day ticket during peak times. The average single-day ticket price got a $5 increase.

Attraction updates 🌳🤘

The Disney World ticket price hikes come as some new attractions are in the works.

In less than a month, Zootopia: Better Zoogether takes up Tree of Life Theater residency.

This week, Disney revealed an all-new audio-animatronic figure, Benjamin Clawhauser, the beloved ZPD officer.

As part of the Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring The Muppets queue experience, guests will encounter Scooter as an audio-animatronic figure during a recording session with the Electric Mayhem.

The big takeaway from this week’s Muppet news bulletin was that this attraction is targeted for a summer 2026 opening.

That means we’re going to get a closing date announcement soon for Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith, which will likely be sometime in early 2026.

Universal Orlando

A Celestian Christmas 🎄

One of my biggest questions during my first Epic Universe visit was how or if the park would be decorated for the holidays.

Universal confirmed this week that The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic and Celestial Park will be decked out starting next month.

Click here for the full resort holiday lineup.

Holiday decorations make great photo ops.

Don’t forget to post a photo on our PinIt! page. There’s an “In The Loop” channel.

As always, keep me in the loop through my email or reach out to me on X or Instagram.

- Haley