Big Top Souvenirs Sets Reopening Date & New Menu Items at Magic Kingdom!

A little over 6 months after closing for a lengthy refurbishment, Walt Disney World has announced that Big Top Souvenirs in Storybook Circus at Magic Kingdom will soon reopen with new menu items. Here are dates & details, along with quick commentary.

As basic background, here’s the ‘warning’ bulletin on the official site for this project: “Big Top Souvenirs will temporarily close for refurbishment on February 20, 2026, and is expected to reopen for Guests to enjoy later this year.”

There were previously similar alerts on the official pages for the meet & greets at nearby Pete’s Silly Sideshow. That indoor character greeting location allows guests to meet with Donald, Goofy, Daisy, and Minnie in their greatest circus roles and had been closed most of the year until reopening in late June. The location is once again back in use during Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party, albeit with a reduced roster with other characters moving elsewhere.

Earlier this month, the construction walls around Big Top Souvenirs started coming down, suggesting that the popular spot would likewise reopen soon. Last we saw, there were still some construction walls up around the side of the tent, but it’s now mostly rolling planters blocking access to the entrance. The renovated Big Top Souvenirs sign was also recently revealed.

The latest update is that Walt Disney World has now officially announced a reopening date for Big Top Souvenirs…

Walt Disney World has revealed that Big Top Souvenirs officially reopens on August 21, 2026 with “sweet surprises and tasty treats.”

The accompanying photo showed a spread of circus-themed offerings. Dumbo the Flying Elephant-shaped candy apples sat alongside a Mickey Mouse candy apple and other sweet treats.

Along with this, Walt Disney World teased the following menu additions:

Mickey Churro Caramel Apple: Granny Smith apple with marshmallow ears dipped in Werther’s Original caramel, white chocolatey coating, and churro cinnamon sugar.

Dumbo Caramel Apple: Granny Smith apple with sugar cookie ears dipped in Werther’s Original caramel and chocolatey coating with red fondant collar and yellow chocolatey hat.

Mickey Snowcone Marshmallow Pop: Marshmallow coated in fruit-flavored chocolatey coating with colorful sanding sugars.

Minnie Pink Lemonade Cupcake: Pink lemonade-flavored cupcake and buttercream frosting with white chocolatey ears, assorted sprinkles, and chocolatey bow.

Mickey Vanilla Celebration Cupcake: Vanilla cupcake with buttercream frosting, dark chocolatey ears, colorful chocolatey stars, and sprinkle surprise inside.

Dumbo Sandwich Cookie: Two Dumbo-shaped sugar cookies with vanilla buttercream and colorful sprinkles.

Mickey Circus Cookie: Mickey-shaped sugar cookie with pink or white chocolatey coating and colorful sprinkles.

Circus Chips: Corn chips coated in brown sugar and cinnamon.

Big Top Dippers: Animal crackers and apple slices served with vanilla buttercream, Werther’s Original caramel, and colorful sprinkles for dipping.

I have no opinion on any of these things. Aside from the occasional cupcake, Big Top Treats typically doesn’t serve up anything that appeals to me. I love sweet treats, don’t get me wrong, but I’m generally less into ones that skew towards the candy end of the spectrum. That’s where I draw the line.

I know others love this stuff, though, and that’s great! Not everything at Walt Disney World needs to appeal to everyone. In fact, it shouldn’t. I’m just glad one set of construction walls/rolling planters will soon come down, as there’s already a lot of work happening at Magic Kingdom, and likely more on the horizon.

In addition to the Big Top Treats confectionery counter, the entirety of Big Top Souvenirs will reopen on August 21, 2026. As the name suggests, this means the merchandise side of the gift shop will also reopen.

It sits across from Dumbo the Flying Elephant and adjacent to Pete’s Silly Sideshow. The combined Big Top Souvenirs space is a great reprieve from the chaos and crowds in Storybook Circus. Our favorite use of Big Top Souvenirs was back when it was a Relaxation Station during the post-COVID phased reopening.

I am pretty sure, but not entirely confident, that Big Top Souvenirs retained some indoor seating even after that. Honestly, this is not a place that we seek out all that often, and it’s entirely possible we would’ve gone the last ~6 months without ever purposely stepping foot in shop, even absent the refurbishment.

On the other hand, we’re big fans of Pete’s Silly Sideshow, which reopened a little over a month ago. It’s one of the more underrated offerings at Magic Kingdom.

This is a unique and well-themed location, featuring creative costumes and interesting backdrops. Being entirely indoors with air-conditioning is another plus much of the year. There’s also PhotoPass, albeit the automated variety that offers hit or miss results.

I’d probably go as far as saying that Pete’s Silly Sideshow is my favorite meet & greet location in all of Walt Disney World. They did a really good job with it, especially given that it doubles as a flex space (as seen at the Halloween and Christmas parties).

Part of the reason we love Pete’s Silly Sideshow is because it’s tucked away and quiet. Stationing a character outside by the entrance to the land might be a smart way to beckon guests deeper into Storybook Circus.

I’ve always thought it’d be fun to have Pluto be the “barker” near the gateway to the Big Top. Amusingly, this is sort of where he appears this year during MNSSHP. It’d also be interesting to see Pete himself in that role, especially as the character has enjoyed a resurgence in popularity over the last few years (I’m not even sure how that’s happened, but it has).

It also wouldn’t be surprising if the characters appear in their traditional costumes outside in Storybook Circus, as opposed to Minnie Magnifique, Daisy Fortuna, etc. These costumes are more lavish and heavier than normal meet & greets, and it’s possible Disney won’t want them exposed to the elements.

If you’re visiting Magic Kingdom in the next few months, we’d recommend heading back to Storybook Circus even if you’re not into meet & greets or the attractions.

That’s because the area started receiving circus-themed decor packages within the last couple of years for both Halloween and Christmas. These are an extension of what’s debuted in Fantasyland as a whole, but distinct for the Storybook Circus subsection.

They’re really cute and are great additions. Just wanted to call your attention to them because they’re easy to overlook if you have no other business in Storybook Circus. Moreover, because we’ve been critical of Walt Disney World’s cutbacks of Christmas decorations, and this is the opposite of that. The decorations around Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, and Storybook Circus are nice enhancements. More like this please, Walt Disney World!

As for the nature of the closure, the tents in Storybook Circus were being refurbished. Prior to this refurbishment, work was last done on the Storybook Circus tents in 2021, when new protective coatings were applied to extend their useful life in the harsh Florida sun.

Last October, Walt Disney World filed two construction permits with addresses that correspond with the two large tents in Storybook Circus–the one for the Big Top Souvenirs gift shop and the Pete’s Silly Sideshow meet and greet. Those expired December 31, 2026, and by all appearances, the project will wrap up well before then.

Those permits listed Birdair, Inc. as the contractor. That company has 70 years of experience designing and building “custom tensile fabric structures used to create innovative roofing systems, canopies and skylights.” Birdair provides pre-construction assistance; including design assistance, budgeting, construction methodologies and project schedule development.

As much as we enjoy Pete’s Silly Sideshow as a meet & greet, I would love it if Walt Disney World eventually revisited the concept of Storybook Circus.

Not anytime soon, necessarily, as Walt Disney World has bigger fish to fry right now. But if we’re talking the back half of the 10-year plan, it should absolutely be on the table.

Once the Piston Peak Cars Land and Villains Land debut, that opens the door for reworking Tomorrowland (which will hopefully continue to be incrementally improved between now and then) and Storybook Circus. It seems inevitable to us that Tomorrowland Speedway will be replaced; Piston Peak makes it somewhat redundant.

The removal of Tomorrowland Speedway would allow expansion of Storybook Circus, Tomorrowland, Fantasyland–or all of the above. This is exactly what Tokyo Disneyland did to free up space for Enchanted Tale of Beauty and the Beast and the Happy Ride with Baymax.

I’d also add that there’s space to expand beyond tents, probably enough for a mid-tier dark ride without re-routing the service road or train tracks. With Magic Kingdom trying to maximize every foot of its space within the berm, the plot these tents occupy strikes us as underutilized capacity.

It seems unlikely that Walt Disney World would want to take out Barnstormer or move the dueling Dumbos (again), but we could absolutely see the tents being removed, expansion occurring on both sides, and this entire area being rethemed and absorbed into Fantasyland.

Ultimately, it’s hard to believe that Storybook Circus still exists even as of today. Mickey’s Birthdayland was originally intended to be temporary in the late 1980s, before becoming Starland, then Toontown Fair, and now Storybook Circus. Each subsequent iteration has given the temporary area a bit more permanence, to the point that we wouldn’t expect Storybook Circus to disappear.

Storybook Circus is far and away its best incarnation, and has a much more permanent quality than anything that came before. Still, it’s now over a decade old and probably will reach its 20th Anniversary despite recycling elements from that temporary 1980s land. Storybook Circus is nice for what it is, but it’s still the weakest land in Magic Kingdom. It’s fair to have a conversation about whether it’s due for replacement or retooling and expansion as part of Walt Disney World’s 10-year plan.

Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!

Your Thoughts

Looking forward to revisiting Big Top Souvenirs? Will you be trying any of the new menu items inside at the Big Top Treats confectionery counter? Have you experienced the Pete’s Silly Sideshow? Thoughts on a reimagining, replacement, or expansion of Storybook Circus as part of Walt Disney World’s 10-year plan? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment? 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!