Disney cracks open the door on new attractions
Updates on what’s next for Walt Disney World and Disneyland
Disney is sitting on $60 billion worth of plans to develop new attractions and more for its parks and experiences division over the next few years. At its D23 fan event last August and in subsequent announcements, The Mouse has given broad outlines about what’s on the way to the parks, including Walt Disney World in Florida, which is slated for a whopping $17 billion of the capital expenditures booty, and California’s Disneyland Resort, which is in the midst of a $2.5-billion DisneylandForward expansion program.
At the recent South by Southwest (SXSW) festival in Texas, the company presented The Future of World-Building at Disney panel and offered a few more details about some of the developments. The latest installment of Disney’s YouTube series, “We Call it Imagineering” also provides some insights. Let’s dig in on some of the reveals.
The Monsters Inc. coaster will be an uplifting experience
Disney had previously indicated that a Monsters Inc.-themed roller coaster would be coming to Disney’s Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World. It will take over the park’s Muppets Courtyard. (Fear not Kermit and Miss Piggy fans. While the fate of Muppet*Vision 3D is unclear–although the company has vowed to preserve the film in some way–the furry gang will remain at the Studios by displacing Aerosmith as the focus of the Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster.)
The Disney folks had also previously shared that guests on the new coaster would be invited into the Monstropolis factory to ride alongside Sulley and Mike Wazowski, mimicking the door vault scene from the original Monsters Inc. movie. They also indicated that the attraction would be an inverted coaster, which is an inspired use of the ride system in which the train hangs suspended from the track above. This will be the first inverted coaster at a Disney park.
What was revealed by Imagineers at SXSW was the wild vertical lift that passengers will encounter in the ride’s loading station. Guests will board the cars at ground level, and, similar to the scene in the movie, the train will be hoisted into the air and dispatched into the elevated door vault. It will be a dual-load station with one train lifting into position, while guests board a second train. The process looks fascinating, although it may be intimidating for those tending toward the squeamish side of the thrill spectrum. I’m guessing that the coaster itself will be more or less family friendly. (Disney tends to shy away from the more extreme rides of its rival, Universal.) Regardless, I’m also guessing that once guests reach the indoor loading station in the queue and witness the trains rising vertically, some of them are going to bail. But that won’t be the case for ride warriors like us, right?
Get your Cars kicks off Route 66
We already know that the Rivers of America at Disney World’s Magic Kingdom will be drained (sigh) to make way for a Cars-themed area. It has been teased that a new E-Ticket attraction would take guests for a ride along dusty trails and over rugged mountains aboard the anthropomorphic vehicles. At SXSW and on the latest “We Call it Imagineering” episode, Disney divulged that the attraction would take the form of an off-road rally and that passengers would race over rocky terrain while dodging geysers and other obstacles. To simulate the experience, Imagineers are developing a prototype production vehicle.
“No one builds these in a factory because it has to do so much more than just carrying you from one place to another,” said Imagineer Michael Hundgen at the SXSW panel. “We have to create a car that conveys a feeling when you ride in it.”
“It allows us to put the emotion into the motion,” added Bruce Vaughn, Imagineering president and chief creative officer.
It appears that the ride vehicles may be autonomous and free roaming. This reminds me of the Dynamic All-Terrain Dark Ride that Orlando-based ride designer Dynamic Attractions introduced back in 2018. I don’t believe the company, which has subsequently faced financial troubles, ever produced the concept for an actual attraction.
Take flight with Tony Stark
Over on the other side of the country, Avengers Campus at Disney California Adventure is expanding. For one of the new attractions, Stark Flight Lab, guests will have the chance to soar like Iron Man using the same kind of robotic arm technology that is featured in Universal’s Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. At SXSW and in the You Tube episode, Imagineers shared some peeks at what guests can expect when they visit Tony Stark’s gizmo-packed workshop. It seems passengers will zoom along a track using LSM motors (which sounds suspiciously like a roller coaster, albeit probably not a very fast one) and align with the robots. Each arm will couple with a two-passenger car, pluck it from the chassis, and lift it into the air for some acrobatic maneuvers.
Star Wars synergy
Changes will be coming to both of the Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge lands at Disneyland and Disney’s Hollywood Studios. The company has already announced that it will be dropping its strict timeline orthodoxy and allow guests to experience the franchise’s multiverse when they visit the parks. For example, a young Luke Skywalker will be on hand to greet guests at the annual Season of the Force event that will take place March 28 to May 11 at Disneyland. Now, Disney says, guests will be able to go on an adventure with Din Djarin, AKA The Mandalorian, and Grogu aboard the interactive attraction, Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run. Imagineers will be trading out the media for the new storyline, which will debut Memorial Day weekend 2026–the same time that a new “The Mandalorian and Grogu” movie will debut in theaters.
To what new Disney attraction are you most looking forward? How do you think more casual Disney fans (i.e., the GP) will react to the vertical lift for the Monsters Inc. coaster?
I'm looking forward to the Monsters, Inc. coaster. That's kind of a perfect synergy between a ride concept and a movie scene.
I was thinking about the vertical lift question and while it may be a bit intimidating for younger kids, I think it fits right in with how Hollywood Studios skews slightly older. Rides like Tower of Terror and Rock n' Rollercoaster are pretty intense. This takes a kiddie IP and adds an element that in some small part fits in with the rest of the thrills in the park.
It's going to be really interesting to see how Disney responds to Universal's third gate and its seemingly neverending announcement of new attractions. Exciting times to be a theme park nerd!