Bluey is coming to the Disney Parks this year in 2026. Finally. Disneyland Resort just announced that the popular pups will make their first-ever meet & greet appearances in the parks next year. This reveals details about “Bluey’s Best Day Ever” in Fantasyland, and on where things stand with Bluey, Bingo and the Heeler family over at Walt Disney World.
The announcement of Bluey coming to the Disney Parks was first made during last year’s holiday season. Even then, it felt long overdue, as the most popular show on Disney+ for a long time seemed like such an obvious candidate for in-park entertainment and meet & greets.
Per the original announcement made on December 19, 2024, the producers of Bluey are working closely alongside BBC Studios and Disney on a number of special activations for fans to enjoy. Details about how guests can meet Bluey and her family at Disneyland Resort and Walt Disney World Resort were to be shared “in the months ahead.”
Things started out promising enough for the prospects of Bluey’s arrival at Walt Disney World. Less than a month after the announcement, Bluey and Bingo made their debut on the Disney Cruise Line! You could find these characters onboard Disney Wonder sailings originating from Australia and New Zealand through 2026.
During those sailings, the pups were available for character meet-and-greets and a clue-filled game that ends in a paw-some dance party where you can unleash your flossing skills. So pack your bags—this holiday is perfect for kids, mums, dads… and even grannies! So it’s great and all that Bluey and Bingo have been aboard the Disney Wonder for several months now, but what about the Disney Parks?!
Well, we now have at least a partial answer to that question. As part of its Full 2026 Disneyland Calendar of Events, Disney announced the following:
Beginning March 22, 2026, and continuing through the year, “Bluey’s Best Day Ever!” will invite Disneyland Park guests to an immersive celebration of the heart and humor of the critically acclaimed Disney+ animated series, Bluey, inside the Fantasyland Theatre at Disneyland Park.
Fantasyland Theatre will transform into the grounds of Bluey’s school, where guests can join the fun of Bluey’s best day ever. Throughout the day, Bluey and her sister Bingo will appear live on stage, joining a troupe of comedic actors and musicians. Together, they will bring to life the popular music and games that are emblematic of beloved Bluey episodes, inspiring young families and guests of all ages to participate.
From entertaining live musical show moments that seamlessly segue into iconic games like Keepy Uppy, to interactive adventures in a life-sized Gnome Village and Fairy Garden, it’s a special time when play is welcomed and memories are created by all. Guests can step into the fair at Bluey’s school with the Grannies, Chattermax, Unicorse and delight in select themed fave foods at Troubadour Tavern, inspired by the animated series.
Our Commentary
This sounds fantastic to us! While I love the idea of Fantasyland Theatre being restored to its proper purpose as, you know, a theater, our family gets way more use out of the interactive experiences that the venue hosts throughout the year. This started with Pixar Fest a couple of years ago, and Disneyland continues to iterate on the concept.
The current occupant of the Fantasyland Theatre is “Holiday Fun with Santa and Friends,” which is, as the name suggests, fun. This offering is squarely aimed at young families, with craft making, sing-alongs of holiday classics and atmospheric music.
This offering has various permutations throughout the year, but all follow the same formula. If there’s a version of this happening during your visit, it’s worth checking out if you have small children. It isn’t well publicized so crowds are often low back here–it’s a good reprieve from the heat and crowds.
We’re optimistic that “Bluey’s Best Day Ever!” will be the best version of the Fantasyland Theatre interactive area yet. Between this being the debut of Bluey at Disneyland and the likelihood that this offering is getting that sweet, sweet Disney+ promotional budget, it bodes well for this to be well done.
We cannot wait. Our daughter loves the Fantasyland Theatre offerings, and it’s one of our must-do attractions with every visit to Disneyland. She has no clue who Bluey is, but that hasn’t stopped her in the past from loving adorable new characters. (Pikachu is suddenly a favorite despite no prior knowledge.) And she does love dogs!
This is a big win for young families…I just wish it hadn’t taken so long. Disney’s turnaround times from announcement to realization have become glacially slow, even on the (seemingly) simplest of projects. I’ll cut some slack here because they’re dealing with third parties, but it was a similar story with Encanto and plenty of other in-park integrations before that.
Disney is a bloated bureaucracy, and there are too many layers of approval and non-creatives needlessly involved in things like this. It’s always refreshing hearing stories from leaders in the 1980s and 90s, when things just got done quickly. These days, there’s always no shortage of excuses, but zero sense of urgency.
What About Bluey at Walt Disney World?
As for where Bluey will land at Walt Disney World, that’s anyone’s guess. The company announced the New Magic of Disney Animation Coming to Disney’s Hollywood Studios in 2026 a few months back. With this, Animation Courtyard will be reimagined into “The Walt Disney Studios,” a newly-designed outdoor space. Prior to that, Animation Courtyard was the very obvious location for Bluey.
This entire area is inspired by Walt Disney Animation Studios in Burbank, California and the award-winning short “Once Upon a Studio.” It’ll invite guests into a whimsical version of the studio where, with the animators away, the characters come out to play. All of this sounds fantastic–from the production gallery to the indoor playground and more.
At this point, we do not expect Bluey to debut in the Walt Disney Studio area next year, as she’s not a Disney animated character. That normally wouldn’t matter much as the company plays fast and loose with this type of thing, but given the “Once Upon a Studio” inspiration and how closely the parks are working with Walt Disney Animation Studios on this, we suspect it does make a difference in this case.
Our best guess is that Bluey and Bingo will arrive for Cool Kid Summer in 2026, which is the (now-annual?) event heavily aimed at young families (see our Guide to “Cool Kid Summer” at Walt Disney World). It would stand to reason that Disney would want Bluey, the most popular character with this demo at the moment, to be front and center during this celebration.
This year, Cool Kid Summer saw the Goofy takeover of CommuniCore Hall, otherwise known as GoofyCore Hall. There you could dance and play along with Goofy in an immersive experience. Show off your best moves in DJ-led dance parties and join your favorite games with silly twists, like Loopy Limbo and Parachutes ‘n’ Pipsqueaks.
That sounds very similar to “Bluey’s Best Day Ever!” at Disneyland. Accordingly, it wouldn’t surprise us if CommuniCore Hall becomes BlueyCore Hall in 2026. At the same time, it seems like Disney found a winning formula with GoofyCore Hall, so perhaps they’ll take a “don’t fix what isn’t broken” approach and bring that back.
The most logical landing spot for Bluey at Walt Disney World is Animal Kingdom. Not because they’re a family of dogs (although that doesn’t hurt), but because DAK needs the most help. That’s doubly true given that 2026 will be the year when Dinoland is fully closed, and Tropical Americas has yet to open.
There are plenty of spaces in Animal Kingdom where Bluey could end up. Maybe we’ll get a menu update at Pizzafari, dance party on Discovery Island, and who knows what (African painted dog surgeries???) back at Conversation Station. If we’re really lucky, perhaps they’ll do a jetski show with gigantic Bluey balloons. Call it DogTails or something clever like that. I’ll bet it’d be a huge hit that no one would say a negative word about!
Regardless of where the characters land, Cool Kid Summer in 2026 will be the perfect time to roll out the blue carpet for Bluey and Bingo, and either CommuniCore Hall or Animal Kingdom would be perfect locations. (We don’t expect the characters to come to DHS or MK; neither park needs the Bluey Boost.)
For what it’s worth, there is no actual need for all of this to take so long.
Blue and Bingo first appeared in a character meet & greet at last year’s D23 Expo. That experience was insanely popular, so it should’ve proven to Disney that demand for these characters is sky-high. But that’s not really the point.
More so, it’s that these character costumes have already been designed, as have backdrops and settings. All of this stuff has been designed and is already out there in the wild, which is precisely how Disney Cruise Line was able to deploy Bluey and Bingo in the span of only ~3 weeks from the original announcement. Now almost 12 months later, there’s really no good excuse for radio silence from Walt Disney World.
Ultimately, it’ll be interesting to see where Bluey ends up landing at Walt Disney World. My hope is that Disney bets big and goes bold on Bluey, and that this new interactive experience at Disneyland’s Fantasyland Theatre is just the start. That it has taken so long because Disney has large-scale ambitions for a Season of Bluey.
Here’s hoping there’s more meaty entertainment–like a cavalcade, stage show, dance party, or interactive experience–given the wait for the characters to come to Walt Disney World. Bluey is an international sensation, and its theme park presence should be treated accordingly.
Disney already regrets passing on the theme park rights to Bluey, Bob Iger loves synergy and acquisitions, Bluey’s current rightsholders are obviously open to immersive experiences, and Walt Disney World needs a near-term shot in the arm. But at this point, I’ll accept anything in the near-term, so a character meet & greet and/or dance party for Cool Kid Summer would suffice. This experience in Fantasyland Theatre at Disneyland will likewise suffice. Look for us there every week next summer!
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YOUR THOUGHTS
What do you think about Bluey coming to Disneyland in “Bluey’s Best Day Ever!”? Surprised the meet & greet hasn’t debuted yet? Does the Heeler family deserve a big presence in the parks? Think Bluey entertainment or characters would be good additions in EPCOT or Animal Kingdom? Hopeful that Bluey, Bingo, Bandit and other characters are added to entertainment or as meet & greets at Walt Disney World? Do you agree or disagree with our commentary? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!