One of Magic Kingdom's most popular character spots is open again. Pete's Silly Sideshow — the big-top meet-and-greet tucked into the back of Storybook Circus in Fantasyland — returned the weekend of June 27 after roughly six months behind construction walls, and it actually jumped its own start date, soft-opening a day early on June 26. Minnie, Daisy, Donald, and Goofy (in his Great Goofini stunt-rider getup) are once again greeting guests indoors, each at their own spot inside the tent.
What This Means for Your Trip
The timing is the real story. This is an indoor, fully air-conditioned character meet coming back online in the dead middle of a Central Florida summer — and during the refurbishment, those four characters had been meeting outside in the Storybook Circus heat, which was nobody's idea of a good time. It's also one of the park's highest-capacity character locations, so having it open again takes pressure off the other Fantasyland meet lines. If you're doing a summer Magic Kingdom day with kids, this is a genuinely useful air-conditioned breather that also knocks four classic characters off the list in one shaded stop. Waits ran short on day one — around five minutes — though Minnie and Daisy pulled the longer lines, as they usually do.
If you're touring Magic Kingdom in the summer heat, Pete's Silly Sideshow is back to doing the one thing it does best: four classic characters, indoors, in the air conditioning, in a single stop.
What We Know (and Don't)
The reopening is confirmed — Disney had it on the calendar for June 27, and it quietly opened a day ahead of that. Hours are running 10:00 AM to 7:00 PM, but character times can shift, so check the My Disney Experience app the morning you go. The refurbishment went well past a touch-up: it included a new tent roof (installed back in April) along with refreshed signage, décor, and carpeting, so the whole space looks cleaner than it did going in.
The one thing still missing from this corner of Storybook Circus: Big Top Souvenirs, the shop right next door, remains closed with no announced reopening date. If you were counting on it for a mid-day browse or a specific piece of merch, plan around it for now.
Details accurate as of June 27, 2026.