Walt Disney World has announced that the “dashing” and “daring” character meet & greet locations inside Pete’s Silly Sideshow in Storybook Circus at Magic Kingdom will be temporarily closed for refurbishment starting in early 2026 for an unknown duration.
This post shares official dates & details, what to expect from the refurbishment and relocation of the characters, along with what we hope happens to this tucked-away corner of the park long-term. Oh, and it’s also an excuse to finally share photos of the awesome new decorations that debuted for Christmas 2025 in Storybook Circus!
For starters, Walt Disney World has posted similar ‘warning’ bulletins on the official pages for “Meet Dashing Disney Pals as Circus Stars at Pete’s Silly Sideshow” and “Meet Daring Disney Pals as Circus Stars at Pete’s Silly Sideshow.”
Those both have similar messages, indicating that the respective meet & greets will be temporarily unavailable beginning January 5, 2026. The bulletins further indicate that the characters will be greeting guests elsewhere in Storybook Circus during the closure of Pete’s Silly Sideshow.
Walt Disney World has not yet announced when the meet & greet location will return, or why it’s closing in the first place. The current calendar extends through February 16, 2026 and there are no hours up until that date, suggesting the closure will last at least until then.
At Pete’s Silly Sideshow in Storybook Circus, guests can step right up and greet some of the Big Top’s biggest stars.
There’s the marvelous Minnie Magnifique and the mysterious fortune teller Daisy Fortuna that are part of the Dashing Disney Pals meet & greet. Over on the Daring Disney Pals side, there’s snake charmer extraordinaire The Astounding Donaldo and his daring stuntman pal The Great Goofini.
Each of these meet & greets is a two-fer, meaning you stand in line once and get both Dashing or Daring characters. The room is basically divided in half, with Daisy and Minnie on one side and Donald and Goofy on the other.
We’re big fans of Pete’s Silly Sideshow. 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).
The fact that guests will still be able to meet Daisy Duck, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, and Goofy during the closure strongly suggests that it’s the structure of Pete’s Silly Sideshow that’s being refurbished, and nothing specific to the meet & greets themselves.
We wouldn’t be surprised if Walt Disney World gives a couple of these characters fixed spots in Storybook Circus, and makes the other two more free roaming. I also wouldn’t be surprised if the meet & greets actually become more popular once moved to more visible, higher-traffic (and presumably outdoor) locations.
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. It would 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.
It’s a near-certainty that it’s the tents in Storybook Circus being refurbished. Back in late 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 permits are interesting in that they did not have the default one year expiration, but rather, extended over 14 months into the future with a December 31, 2026 expiration. Now, this was either done because the project is intended to be lengthy, or because whoever was filling out the paperwork was uncertain as to when the project would be scheduled, and erred on the side of caution with the end of 2026.
Either explanation is equally plausible, especially with permits filed in October for work that isn’t beginning until January 2026. It’s also possible that it’s both a lengthy project and one with that had nebulous scheduling. Either way, we’re not expecting this to wrap up in Winter 2026. Just how much longer it goes is anyone’s guess.
Those permits list Birdair, Inc. as the contractor and the scope of work as the equally-nebulous “general construction.”
We can narrow the likely scope of work even further with a quick look at Birdair’s website, which indicates the 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.
From this, it’s pretty safe to say it’s the tents in Storybook Circus being replaced or refurbished. By the time 2026 rolls around, it’ll have been 5 years since work was last done on the tents, when new protective coatings were applied to extend their useful life in the harsh Florida sun. It’s likely that needs to be done again to restore the fading fabric, or perhaps they need to be replaced completely. I have no clue–Birdair is the expert on tensile fabric, not me.
Honestly, 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.
That’s definitely not what’s happening here–this is a routine refurbishment, just so we’re clear. Nor should Storybook Circus be reimagined in 2026, 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 opens up the door for expanding 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.
That’s probably the easier change than absorbing a portion of the Tomorrowland Speedway, as it seems unlikely that Walt Disney World would want to take out Barnstormer or move the dueling Dumbos (again), which limits development in the other direction.
But I’ll offer the caveat here that, just as I’m not a tensile fabric expert, I’m also not an adept armchair Imagineer. All I do know is that this land–Mickey’s Birthdayland/Starland/Toontown/Storybook Circus–was originally intended to be temporary in the late 1980s.
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.
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Your Thoughts
Have you experienced the Pete’s Silly Sideshow? Do you agree or disagree that this is one of the better meet & greets at Walt Disney World? Thoughts on the likelihood of the tents being refurbished or having their fabric replaced? What about 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!
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