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The Disney Parks Announcements Put the Rest of D23 to Shame

Theme Parks

| Aug 11, 2024 |

Tonight at D23, the Horizons: Disney Experiences Showcase unveiled a host of new attractions coming to the Disney Parks. Josh D’Amaro, the Disney Experiences Chairman, assured attendees that they are all in active development, saying, “This isn’t Blue Sky… we’re gonna do all of this.” Blue Sky is the term for Disney Parks projects that are being talked about but haven’t been greenlit; in other words, this stuff is on its way, which is a must if Disney wants to compete with Universal’s Epic Universe. Here are the announcements, courtesy of WDW News Today’s website and X feed, as well as their sister X accounts, Disneyland News Today and DCL News Today.

Before the presentation began, Patrick Warburton gave the crowd a speech on safety precautions:

This was followed by a live performance of music from Horizons, a former attraction from Epcot:

The first big piece of news is that a new Avatar “experience” will be coming to Disney California Adventure in Disneyland and that it will consist of “a land with a boat ride,” taking inspiration from Avatar: The Way of Water. It will be located partially on some space in Hollywood Land and some unused land. According to WDW News Today, there are rumors that it will use a ride system similar to the Shanghai Disneyland attraction Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for the Sunken Treasure.

Next came the news that the Magic Kingdom in Disney World will have a new nighttime parade called “Disney Starlight,” which will include stories from several Disney movies, with Peter Pan, Encanto, and Frozen named. “Disney Starlight” will debut in the summer of 2025. Other parades will arrive at international Disney Parks even earlier, with “Reach for the Stars” coming to Tokyo Disneyland in September of this year and an unnamed one in Disneyland Paris in January, the latter featuring imagery from Sleeping Beauty.

John Stamos (yep, Uncle Jesse) took the stage to announce that there will be a Disneyland 70th Anniversary celebration next year to commemorate the park’s opening on July 17, 1955. There’s no other information at this point, although WDW News Today says that the “Paint the Night Parade” will return.

To coincide with the 70th Anniversary Celebration, Disneyland’s Main Street Opera House will debut “Walt Disney: A Magical Life,” a presentation featuring an audio-animatronic Walt Disney, a first for Disney’s Imagineers. After its initial run, it will rotate with “Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln.” This makes me happy; it feels like modern Disney rarely wants to acknowledge Walt Disney, and certainly not in a positive way. I hope this is as great as it should be.

Disneyland will also host the first Disney Parks attraction based on the Pixar movie Coco. This will be a boat ride with animatronics and music from the film located in Disney California Adventure. Construction on the Coco ride begins in 2026, so this one is a long way off.

Disneyland Paris will be getting a new “land” based on The Lion King called “The Pride Lands,” which seems like it should have been a thing a long time ago. This will be found in the section that is currently Walt Disney Studios Park but will be renamed Disney Adventure World, and it will feature a ride with a waterfall drop that traces Simba’s arc in the movie. It will also have meet-and-greets, food, and, of course, shopping. There’s no time frame on “The Pride Lands,” so I imagine it’s in the early stages of development.

Also coming to Disneyland Paris is “World of Frozen,” which will open in 2026 and coincide with Walt Disney Studios Park officially becoming Disney Adventure World. “World of Frozen” will be located on the edge of the upcoming Adventure Bay expansion and feature a new nighttime spectacular, but nothing else is known yet.

A new Indiana Jones ride is coming to Disney’s Animal Kingdom in Disney World, a revamping of the current DINOSAUR attraction as Dinoland USA becomes a Tropical Americas land called Pueblo Esperanza, which means City of Hope. The ride begins construction in the fall and will find Indiana Jones exploring a Mayan temple, looking for a “mythical creature.” Ke Huy Quan introduced this ride at D23, which is awesome and makes me wonder if Short Round will be incorporated into the attraction.

Tropical Americas Land in Disney’s Animal Kingdom will also host the first attraction based on Encanto. The ride will take parkgoers through the Casita and encounter characters from the movie. This will open in 2027.

Disney World is also getting a couple of new bars, perhaps to draw in people like me. The first is a tavern based on Pirates of the Caribbean in The Magic Kingdom, which will have food and drinks for all ages – almost certainly including rum. They’re missing an opportunity if they don’t name this place Tortuga; on the other hand, if they aren’t able (or willing) to use Captain Jack Sparrow, it’s not going to feel right. This one opens in 2025.

The next one is a lounge in Epcot based on Spaceship Earth, the attraction housed in the sphere known as the Epcot Ball. This is taking the place of the Siemens lounge and will also be welcoming to families. The layout is not quite sci-fi but definitely ultra-modern, with overhead lights resembling the Epcot Ball. This one also opens in 2025.

Hollywood Studios will feature a Monsters Inc. Land, which was introduced by the movie’s star, the legendary (and mah-velous) Billy Crystal. The set-up of Monsters Inc. Land is that humans are being invited into the Monsters’ world so they can power it with their laughter. Disney’s first suspended roller coaster, based on the Door Vault from the film, and a replica of the Laugh Factory will be available for guests. Construction on Monsters Inc. Land begins in 2025.

There’s also an update on the reimagined version of Test Track, a ride at Epcot that was closed down in June. A collaboration with Chevrolet, the new Test Track will have six exhibits featuring vehicles “that push the envelope and help get people to our next chapter in our motion journey,” as well as “show scenes” that highlight technological advances in mobility and feature “customization and personalization.” Test Track will reopen in its new guise in 2025, and construction is already underway.

An attraction called Zootopia Better Together will take the place of It’s Tough to Be a Bug in Disney’s Animal Kingdom in the winter of 2025. Featuring characters from Zootopia, this will give guests a look at “biomes” from the film, plus some new ones.

The Magic Kingdom’s Frontierland is getting two new rides based on Pixar’s Cars. One features a race through the mountains, while the other is for kids. Construction begins in 2025.

Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge is also getting the most obvious new attraction you could imagine (keeping in mind that Disney is allergic to the original trilogy): a ride based on The Mandalorian and Grogu, which will coincide with the movie’s opening in 2026. Located in Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run, this ride will team parkgoers with Mando and Baby Yoda on a new adventure.

A new Spider-Man roller coaster is on its way, this one to Shanghai Disneyland. No other details are known at this time.

Hong Kong Disneyland is also getting a Spider-Man attraction where parkgoers will help Spidey protect Star Tech from some of his villains. There’s little information on this one, too.

Speaking of Marvel superheroes, two new attractions are coming to Avengers Campus in Disney California Adventure. One is called Stark Flight Lab, a flight simulator in which you sit in a two-person pod and get spun around by a giant robot arm. Stark Flight Lab will feature several different test flights, meaning you’ll have to ride it several times to try them all. Presumably, these are test flights for different Marks of the Iron Man armor. The other attraction will be based on the multiverse, because of course it is. But the best part is that both of these will feature Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark!

The Magic Kingdom is getting that long-rumored Disney Villains Land as part of its big expansion that will feature “two major attractions, dining, and shopping.” No other details were mentioned.

Another announcement confirmed that Disney Villains, Marvel, The Incredibles, and IG-11 and Grogu from Star Wars will be coming to Fortnite.

Disney Cruises is adding four new ships, with another four already announced, which brings their total up to thirteen with the five already in service. These newly announced ones are still in development and won’t set sail until 2027-2031, but the previous four will begin their journeys sooner. The Disney Treasure arrives in December of 2024, the Disney Destiny and the Disney Adventure (the latter based in Singapore) in 2025, and one from Tokyo Disney Resort in 2029.

The Disney Destiny has also revealed its third stage show, which will join the already announced Frozen, A Musical Spectacular and Disney Seas the Adventure. The third one will be Disney Hercules and will be different from a previous Hercules cruise show.

Disney Treasure will also have a new stage show, Disney The  Tale of Moana, and concept art for the production was unveiled at D23, which showcases a 15-foot Te Ka puppet.

And to top it all off, Tiana’s Bayou Adventure will open in Disneyland on November 15, 2024. There’s no word on whether this one will actually work.

The Disney Parks had more D23 announcements than anything else. What do you think of these new attractions? Let us know in the comments!

Make sure to check out Park Hoppin’ for more theme park news, reviews, and fun stuff.

Thanks again to WDW News Today and its affiliates for the information!

Comments (3)

Tehlis
August 11, 2024 at 9:20 pm

Am I the only one that feels if they went to the Magic Kingdom as a kid and there was a bar that actually served liquor and a land filled with Disney villains as the primary characters, that the park wasn’t meant for you?

    Alex Gherzo
    August 12, 2024 at 6:38 pm

    Perhaps, although I recall my grandfather finding beer at Universal Studios when I went in the 90s. And the section of Epcot that’s designed like various foreign countries had alcohol as well. I don’t know if the Magic Kingdom did.

      Tehlis
      August 12, 2024 at 10:30 pm

      No. The Magic Kingdom for a very long time had a no-alcohol policy. Later they allowed wine at some of their upper restaurants and that was it.
      EPCOT had a older target audience and didn’t have that policy.

      Honestly, pretty much every announced change/addition seems like the people in charge don’t understand (or care) about the theme of the parks.

      I’m really hoping most of this was a lie to keep guests at D23 from being bored and to bring in more stock holders.

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