Disney's Biggest Fan Weekend in Two Years Just Kicked Off — Here's What Went Down on Day One at Disneyland

The biggest Disney fan weekend in two years is officially underway. On Thursday, August 13, 2026, Disneyland hosted D23 Day — the pre-party that kicks off D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event, running August 14 through 16 in Anaheim — with a one-day-only Disney Legends cavalcade, free commemorative ear hats, and a full day of live entertainment. It matters because this weekend is when Disney historically drops its heaviest slate of parks, resort, and Disney Cruise Line news, and the Thursday kickoff is the first taste. Below we break down the three stories worth your attention from the last 24 hours: the D23 Day blowout at Disneyland, a newly surfaced Disney patent that fakes hills on flat ride tracks, and the full tracklist for “The Music of EPCOT” vinyl.

D23 Day Turned Disneyland Into a Legends Reunion

According to Disney’s official announcement on the Disney Parks Blog, D23 Day arrived at Disneyland on Thursday, August 13, with a Disney Legends Cavalcade stepping off at 1:30 p.m. down Main Street, U.S.A. — 23 different Disney characters marching alongside the Disneyland Band and a rotating group of Disney Legends. Guests with valid admission got a complimentary Mickey Mouse ear hat carrying the D23 logo (while supplies lasted), a commemorative guide, and unlimited Disney PhotoPass digital downloads for the day.

The entertainment ran from midday to nearly midnight: “Stitch’s Interplanetary Beach Party Bash” took over Tomorrowland Terrace from 2 to 6 p.m., a Disney+ and Hulu Throwbacks Dance Party ran 7:30 to 11:30 p.m., and “Disney Princess: The Ultimate Concert Celebration” performed at 8:30 and 9:45 p.m. Character rarities like Merlin and the Blue Fairy appeared in Fantasyland, and limited merchandise — including a Hatbox Ghost popcorn bucket capped at two per guest — rolled out the same day.

We’ve walked Main Street, U.S.A. on past D23 mornings, and the pre-event Thursday is quietly the best value of the weekend: no convention badge required, just park admission. The marquee Legends induction ceremony and the “Horizons” parks showcase land later this weekend.

A New Disney Patent Fakes Hills on Flat Ride Tracks

Here is the story the Imagineering nerds are buzzing about. A Disney patent that surfaced this week — publicly available through the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, listing Imagineer Daniel Joseph as lead inventor and originally filed February 10, 2025 — describes a set-design trick that makes a flat, level ride vehicle feel like it is climbing or plunging without any actual elevation change in the track.

The mechanism is pure Disney sleight of hand. The patent details a deliberate mismatch between two vanishing points: the ride track has its own true vanishing point, while the surrounding walls, scenery, and set pieces are angled to project a second, conflicting one. Calibrated correctly, your brain reads the forced-perspective cue as a hill or a drop even though the car never leaves level ground.

Why it matters: real elevation changes demand lift hills, heavy show buildings, and a lot of vertical real estate — the kind of infrastructure that is expensive and hard to retrofit into existing parks. An illusion that delivers the sensation of rising and falling on flat track could unlock more dynamic dark rides in tighter footprints. Patents are not promises, and Disney files many it never builds. But we always read new ride filings as a window into where Imagineering’s head is at, and this one is a clever one.

‘The Music of EPCOT’ Vinyl Tracklist Is Finally Here

For the EPCOT faithful, Disney revealed the complete tracklist for “The Music of EPCOT,” a new two-LP vinyl set inspired by the beloved 1983 release “The Official Album of EPCOT Center.” The record debuts at D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event, where attendees can pre-order it with free shipping at the Disney Music booth (E13) in Hall B, with a wider release on October 2, one day after the anniversary of EPCOT’s October 1, 1982 opening.

The 2LP threads classic and current park history together. The tracklist spans deep-cut nostalgia like “New Horizons” (from the long-closed Horizons), the “Main Entrance Medley” from Future World, “Energy (You Make the World Go ‘Round)” from Universe of Energy, and “Makin’ Memories” from Journey Into Imagination, alongside modern-day EPCOT with a Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure ride-through mix and “Heartbeat Symphony” from the “Luminous: The Symphony of Us” nighttime spectacular.

We pre-ordered our copy the moment the tracklist posted, and the pairing of a 1967 Walt Disney EPCOT recording with a current-park nighttime-show score is exactly the kind of full-circle move that makes these Disney Music Emporium releases sell out. If you cannot make it to Anaheim this weekend, October 2 is the date to circle.

The Bottom Line

D23 weekend is the story, and it is only getting bigger through Sunday — if a Disneyland trip is on your horizon, our complete Disneyland planning guide walks you through building a smart, low-stress day around the park.