Walt Disney himself part of $60B plans
A boatload of actual new attractions, lands, and more revealed at D23 event
We’ve seen this show before: Josh D’Amaro, Disney’s affable experiences chairman, takes the stage at a D23 fan event to tell the Disney faithful what’s on the way to the parks. For the past few years he has been mostly sharing news about updates to existing attractions and other incremental changes sprinkled with hints about aspirational future projects. Coming on the heels of the company’s promise to drop a cool $60 billion on its parks and experiences over the next ten years, however, D’Amaro finally came clean on where all that capital will be going at the “D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event” that just wrapped in Anaheim, California.
The frustration over the dearth of actual announcements at recent D23 presentations was not lost on D’Amaro. “Plans are drawn. Dirt is moving. I just want to be clear about this: We are doing everything you’ve heard here tonight,” the chairman assured the throngs.
And wowsa, what a treasure trove of reveals. This Disney Decade will be filled with a whole host of new lands–including one devoted to the company’s villains–new attractions, and four (yes, four) new Disney Cruise Line ships. The lion’s share of development will be taking place at Florida’s Walt Disney World, where the Imagineers will be lavishing $17 billion alone. But much is also on the way to Disneyland, where it all began, including an attraction featuring Walt Disney, the man who began it all.
Avengers Campus to expand at Disneyland Resort
With the Anaheim City Council’s approval of the Disneyland Resort’s $2.5-billion DisneylandForward plans earlier this year, we now have more info about what is in the works, most of which will be built at Disney California Adventure. When it opened in 2021, the company said that the park’s Avengers Campus was only half done. Sure enough, the superhero haven will double in size with two new attractions. We will get to visit Wakanda, Asgard, New York City, and other locales when we experience Avengers Infinity Defense. It seems King Thanos is causing mayhem by capitalizing on a rift in the technology that enables Avengers to jump between worlds. It’ll be up to us recruits to help the heroes restore order on this wild-sounding E-ticket ride. Over at Stark Flight Lab, we will get to make like Iron Man and take to the skies thanks to robotic arms. Construction on the expansion will begin in 2025.
Disney CEO Bob Iger previously said that an Avatar-themed experience would be coming to California. It was revealed at D23 that guests will be heading to Pandora, but this big-bucks attraction will be different from the ones at Pandora—The World of Avatar at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. The boat ride will use the series’ second film, “Avatar: The Way of Water” and future installments as its source material.
Are you ready to journey to the Land of the Dead? DCA guests will be able to join Miguel on a music-filled jaunt to the netherworld in the first ride based on “Coco.” D’Amaro said that it will incorporate the latest animatronics technology and take its cues from classic skeletons-filled attractions such as Pirates of the Caribbean and Haunted Mansion. Construction will begin in 2026.
Speaking of animatronics, the announcement that most warmed my heart was that Walt Disney – A Magical Life will be taking up residence in Disneyland’s Main Street Opera House. The man who pioneered Audio-Animatronics will be rendered using the latest iteration of the art form. Walt will share a folksy few words about his storied life and career from the studio office that people of a certain age (ahem, guilty as charged) remember from his TV shows back in the day. If the figure appears a little too realistic, perhaps it will reignite the legendary rumors about Walt Disney being cryogenically frozen.
“I speak for our entire team when I say there is so much pride and excitement for everyone involved in this endeavor,” D’Amaro said about the project. “Creating our first Walt figure is a huge responsibility.”
The show is set to open in 2025. After its debut run, Walt Disney – A Magical Life will share the Opera House stage with the long-running Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln.
Villains will take up residence at Disney World
For as long as I’ve been covering the industry (and it’s been a long time) folks–including me–have been clamoring for a Disney villains park or land. The wait is over.
At previous D23 events, D’Amaro and Disney Imagineers talked about possibly expanding the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World and creating new worlds beyond Big Thunder Mountain. They even mentioned that villains might reside there. Now we know that a Villains Land is, in fact, brewing. Given what’s in store at Universal Epic Universe, the land draws inevitable comparisons to the Universal monsters-driven Dark Universe. There were no villainous details shared at D23 other than the land would include two attractions.
I’ve long thought that a true, kick-ass thrill ride, say something along the lines of Jurassic World VelociCoaster at Universal Orlando’s Islands of Adventure, would work well in a land populated by Maleficent, the Evil Queen, Chernabog, and other baddies. Of course, a lavishly themed, psychologically disturbing dark ride would do the trick as well. With any luck, maybe we will get both.
So long Tom Sawyer Island and the Rivers of America (no more Liberty Square Riverboat, sniff?), hello Cars obstacle course. The Magic Kingdom’s Liberty Square and Frontierland will be radically altered when the island and waterway will be transformed into a new Old West outpost. The Frontierland expansion will include two new attractions featuring the anthropomorphic vehicles. One, which looks like it will share the same ride system as Radiator Springs Racers (but not be identical to it). will be a thrilling race through the mountains and dusty trails. A toned-down second ride, probably similar to the spinning rides at Cars Land in California, will be geared to the entire family. Construction will start in 2025.
Disney had previously announced that DinoLand USA would be replaced with a Tropical Americas land. D’Amaro confirmed that Indiana Jones would take over the Dinosaur dark ride, although the re-themed attraction will tell a different story than the one told on the Indy ride at Disneyland.
Also coming to the new Tropical Americas land will be an “Encanto”-themed attraction. The boat ride will take guests inside the Madrigal family’s enchanted Casita where they will travel through an otherworldly rainforest. Both of the Animal Kingdom attractions, along with a new carousel, will open in 2027.
Perhaps the most surprising announcement at D23 (other than the animatronic Walt Disney) came when Billy Crystal, who voices Mike Wazowski, joined D’Amaro to reveal that a “Monsters, Inc.” land would be coming to Disney’s Hollywood Studios. What theme park fan hasn’t watched the 2001 movie and thought that the Monstropolis factory scene with the racing doors would make a great ride? The Imagineers are going to create exactly that by using an inverted coaster, in which the cars hang suspended from the track above, as the ride system. That sounds wildly intriguing. Construction will begin in 2025.
But wait, there’s more. In a future article, I’ll share additional D23 revelations about attractions and other developments coming soon to the stateside parks as well as what’s on tap for the parks beyond the U.S. and the Disney Cruise Line.
Whoo, that’s a lotta stuff. What land or attraction are you most looking forward to? What are your other most striking D23 takeaways?
The loss of Magic Kingdom’s Rivers of America and Tom Sawyer’s Island hits me hard. I have countless memories of exploring and playing on the island as a child, and loved rediscovering all its secrets as an adult. My only hope is that since Disneyland’s is hopefully NOT going away, they’ll give it some much needed TLC. I know it’s not a realistic hope, but it’s a hope nonetheless.
Well, I'm officially bumping out my family trip to Disney World a few years to wait for some of this to open! Hope the kids still like riding Dumbo when they're older 🤪