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A record fiscal quarter for Walt Disney Co.’s theme parks division was dampened slightly by a streaming aquisition and a protracted fight with YouTube, the Burbank media and entertainment giant reported Monday.

Disney recorded overall revenue of about $26 billion in the three-month period that ended Dec. 27, up 5% compared to the previous year. Disney’s income before income taxes totaled nearly $3.7 billion, a 1% jump from the same time period last year. Earnings per share were $1.34 for the quarter, down from $1.40.

Disney Chief Executive Bob Iger said in a statement that he was “pleased” with the company’s start to the fiscal year and nodded at the transition ahead to a new CEO.

“As we continue to manage our company for the future, I am incredibly proud of all that we’ve accomplished over the past three years,” he said.

It was a big quarter for Disney’s experiences division, which includes its theme parks, cruise line and Aulani resort and spa in Hawaii.

The sector reported $10 billion in revenue, aided by a 1% bump in attendance at its domestic theme parks and higher guest spending. The launch of the new Disney Destiny cruise ship in November also helped boost operating income to $3.3 billion, a 6% boost compared to the previous year.

Disney’s box office success with billion-dollar hits like “Zootopia 2” and “Avatar: Fire and Ash” helped propel revenue for its entertainment division by 7% to $11.6 billion. But costs related to its acquisition of a majority stake in FuboTV, as well as higher marketing costs in theatrical distribution and streaming services affected the sector’s operating income, which declined 35% to $1.1 billion.

The dip in operating income from the entertainment sector took a toll on the company’s total segment operating income, which was down 9% to $4.6 billion. That was also partly due to Disney’s contract dispute last fall with YouTube TV, which lasted for nearly 15 days and resulted in a blackout of Disney channels.

The temporary suspension of Disney channels on YouTube TV took a $110 million toll on operating income within Disney’s sports division, which was down 23% to $191 million. Sports revenue for the quarter totaled $4.9 billion, up 1% compared to the previous year.

This huge park that’s 2.5 hours from the UK is already among the largest in Europe, and visitors arriving in 2026 will have two more thrilling experiences to enjoy including a one-of-a-kind ride

One of the largest theme parks in Europe, which is popular with Brits on holiday, has announced two huge new attractions for the summer season.

PortAventura World is already a vast theme park set in a popular part of Spain. The resort includes PortAventura Park, the main theme park, which is split into six worlds including China, Mexico, and even Sesame Street. There’s also the separate Ferrari Land, which is themed around the luxury car; and PortAventura Caribe Aquatic Park, a large water park which has a range of waterslides, a lazy river, and more.

The first new attraction will be found in Caribe Aquatic Park and is named Coral Bay: The Lost Legend. It’s set to be a 6,000 m² family area themed around a pirate bay that has risen from the depths of the water.

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At Coral Bay, visitors will be able to make a splash on a water coaster, which PortAventura claims will have a unique twist that’ll be a first in Europe. This is in addition to an adventure pool, featuring a fun obstacle course for kids to take on. The new area will also include more waterslides and new food and drink options for visitors.

The second addition is Makamanu Jungle: The Adventure Trek. The attraction will be added to the Polynesia area of PortAventura Park. Guests will experience exploring the deepest jungle, with secret walkways, hanging bridges, and obstacles and challenges for both “children and their companions”.

The adventure park will join existing rides in the Polynesia world, including Tutuki Splash, a water ride that’s popular on hot sunny days as it includes a cooling splash at the end, and Kontiki, a pirate ship-style ride with a Tiki theme.

PortAventura confirmed that both attractions will open to the public by summer, although it didn’t give exact dates.

PortAventura is close to the popular tourist town of Salou, and just a short drive from Reus Airport, which has seasonal flights to the UK from easyJet, Jet2, Ryanair, and TUI throughout the summer months. It’s also just under 90 minutes from Barcelona, and a popular day trip for those staying in the city.

If you want to spend longer exploring PortAventura, one option is to stay in the resort’s hotels, six of which can be found on-site and include unlimited visits to PortAventura Park. Packages also include one-day access to Ferrari Land, and discounted tickets to Caribe Aquatic Park, so you can enjoy all that this vast resort has to offer.

Four-star Hotel PortAventura is a popular option for guests as it offers direct access to the park through its Mediterrània area, home of Europe’s fastest rollercoaster, Furius Baco. Themed around a charming Mediterranean village, the hotel has its own pool, games room, and entertainment. Guests can also opt for half- or full-board stays, with buffets and an on-site restaurant.

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Another fun-themed hotel is the Hotel Gold River, which is close to the park’s cowboy-themed Far West area. Designed to look like a Wild West town, the hotel has its own saloon and an upmarket Victorian-style restaurant. It also has three pools open for the summer season, so you can cool off after a day exploring the park.

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DID you know there’s a place in the UK so dark that you can see planets, shooting stars, and even the Northern Lights.

There’s an observatory in Northumberland nestled in a huge National Park that’s set to be the ‘world’s best travel adventure’ for this year.

National Geographic recently revealed their ’20 travel adventures to book in 2026′.

And at the very top of the list is going on a ‘mini stargazing safari in Northumberland’.

The publication suggested that adventure-hungry Brits head up to Kielder Forest which has a huge public observatory and organises over 700 events a year.

Kielder Observatory is one of the best places to see the night sky as it sits in Europe’s largest Gold-Tier International Dark Sky Park – Kielder Forest.

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It’s also the third-largest protected Dark Sky reserve in the world.

The fact it’s unaffected by light pollution means you’re likely to see thousands of stars and the Milky Way on a cloudless night.

Through binoculars or observatory telescopes, visitors can sometimes see Andromeda Galaxy, planets and the Northern Lights.

Many visitors say the experience was “unbelievable” and “out of this world” with lots seeing them.

One added: “When the clouds eventually started to clear we were given the chance to use the telescopes and stay a bit longer after the experience had finished to see Jupiter and some stars.

“Absolutely brilliant night, would fully recommend it to anyone! And the hot chocolate is amazing…”

Tickets for the observatory start from £25 and it’s open all year-round.

There are other experiences in the surrounding areas for stargazing; the local Twice Brewed Inn country pub offers some too.

You can enjoy a two course meal before an evening of stargazing with astronomers from the Kielder Observatory.

There’s even a ‘stargazing, supper and slumber’ package which is tailored to guests.

For those who are keen to embrace the great outdoors, you can also pitch up at the ‘remotest campsite in England‘ which is Kielder Village Camping & Caravan Site.

The three-star site is right in the heart of the forest, so there’s no phone signal and very little Wi-Fi.

Facilities include a dish washing room, showers, hair dryer sockets, drinking water, washing machines and BBQ stands.

It’s dog-friendly too and there’s a children’s play area onsite.

There are pitches for tents, caravans, motorhomes, touring caravans and two family pods – these don’t have beds but are more weather-proof than tents.

The campsite will reopen to the public on March 27, 2026 with bookings available from February 1, 2026.

Rates start from £12 for a single occupancy tent, with two-man tents increasing to £20 per night – or £10 per person.

For more on the Northern Lights – here are the five best places to see the Northern Lights near the UK.

Plus, one Travel Writer spent the night in the UK’s biggest National Park with both stargazing and Northern Light spotting.

Here are the top 10 travel adventures to book in 2026…

Here are all the adventures you should book in 2026 according to National Geographic…

1. Stargazing Safari in Northumberland
2. Take a modern-day pilgrimage in Portugal
3. Conquer Slovenia in six days
4. Try forest bathing in Japan’s Kii Peninsula
5. Wallow in a warm mud bath in Italy
6. Get a change of scenery on a grief retreat
7. Sweat it out in an urban sauna in London
8. Soak with seaweed in Brittany
9. Take a football pilgrimage across South America
10. Play padel under the sizzling Spanish sun

This year’s Sundance felt marked by great uncertainty. Personally, I was never quite sure how to feel, as the many unknowns of next year’s move to Boulder meant that it was unclear how much this year was supposed to feel like the end of something or the start of a new beginning. I didn’t know just how mournful to be, though, as the festival marched along, it became clear there was a space for nostalgic reflections.

The first movie I ever saw at Sundance was Andrew Fleming’s comedy “Hamlet 2” in the Library Center Theatre. Which means it was 2008 and I was then an intrepid freelancer who talked my way into sleeping on a recliner at a condo rented by The Times until staffers trickled out and I eventually had the place to myself because of the vagaries of an extended rental agreement. Which is how I found myself, entirely unexpectedly, in a room interviewing all of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, who were in town for their tour documentary “CSNY/Déjà Vu.”

That sense of surprise and discovery — and in-person interactions that likely wouldn’t happen anywhere else — are what have brought me back to the festival every year I could manage since. It’s exactly why I have been a huge fan of the festival’s NEXT section, made up of films that don’t quite fit elsewhere in the program. A standout this year was Georgia Bernstein’s debut feature, “Night Nurse,” a film of assured poise about a young woman (a compelling Cemre Paskoy) who takes a job at a retirement home only to find herself drawn into a series of phone scams, erotic role play and psychosexual transference with one the clients. Recommending the film to colleagues feels a little like an HR violation, but the kinky undercurrents and unsettling emotions are worth it.

Cemre Paksoy and Bruce McKenzie in the movie “Night Nurse.”

(Lidia Nikonova / Sundance Institute)

Many conversations around the festival seemed to firmly center on “The Invite” and “Josephine,” but another film people consistently brought up was “Wicker.” Written and directed by Eleanor Wilson and Alex Huston Fischer, adapting a short story by Ursula Wills-Jones, the film takes place in an unspecified time and place: a sort of medieval-ish middle European village of the mind, in which an unmarried woman (Olivia Colman) asks a local basket weaver (Peter Dinklage) to make her a husband. That he comes out looking like Alexander Skarsgård sets the whole town into a tizzy. Nimble and inventive, with convincing special effects work, the film is a charming parable that continually finds ways to reset itself.

It is unclear just how planned it was, but there could have been no better film than “The Only Living Pickpocket in New York” to be the final fiction feature to debut in the Eccles Theatre, one of the festival’s most storied venues. Character actor Noah Segan’s directorial debut, the movie is a warmly elegiac portrait of the city and the pain of recognizing when your time has passed. Led by a quietly commanding lead performance by John Turturro, the film also features Steve Buscemi and Giancarlo Esposito in supporting roles.

As the trio took the stage with Segan and other cast members after the film, it quickly became apparent how special it was to have those three actors there in that moment. Buscemi rattled off a quietly astounding number of films he has appeared in with “New York” in the title — “New York Stories,” “Slaves of New York,” “King of New York” — while Turturro spoke movingly about his relationship with Robert Redford, whose absence hung heavy over the entire festival.

John Turturro in the move “The Only Living Pickpocket in New York.”

(MRC II Distribution Co. L.P. / Sundance Institute)

As Esposito began talking about what Sundance has meant to him over the years, his words took on a fierce momentum. He recalled when he first came to the festival in the ’90s, he was “ecstatic because it gave a voice to those who didn’t have a voice. … We didn’t come to sell a film to a big studio. We came to share our small movie with human beings that could really see themselves in a mirror on the screen.”

Of Redford, he added, “His vision is priceless. It’s the gem that we all hope for. It’s the juice of why we live. It’s the connection of why this movie works. It’s the love of what we do. This, to me, will stick with me for the rest of my life. My interactions with this man who started this festival will always be a beacon of light in my creative process.”

It was a beautiful and inspiring way to leave that theater for the last time and, in turn, leave Park City behind for a future that, while full of unknowns, will for now also hold the promise of new discoveries to come.

A GIANT new theme park ride that’s the “tallest of its kind” in the UK has taken a major step forward.

The iconic amusement site is gearing up for a massive landmark moment as engineers have now installed the ride’s giant gondola.

Structural work has begun on the £8.72m mega attraction, with steel frameworks now emerging on site.

Blackpool Pleasure Beach Resort is currently busy installing its newest ride – a record-breaking gyro-swing called Aviktas.

When everything is finished, the mega ride will officially be the tallest of its kind in the UK.

The scream machine will carry 40 people at a time, swinging them through a massive 120-degree arc that reaches 138ft above the promenade.

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Riders’ legs will dangle giving them the feeling of flying.

With its gigantic pendulum finally hanging in place, the structure is starting to look like a finished ride.

Frames are popping up to create the loading area where the first brave riders will eventually wait for their turn.

The latest crowd-pleaser will drastically change the way the seaside resort’s coastline will look.

While an exact opening date has not yet been confirmed, the ride is expected to welcome its first passengers later in 2026.

Amanda Thompson OBE, CEO of Pleasure Beach Resort previously teased: “This ride will be colossal, daunting, exhilarating and an incredible addition to the town.”