Disney Rumors for October 2022
With the 2022 D23 Expo in the books, Disney has provided fans with a roadmap for everything coming to the parks soon.
Park officials also provided insights for a few other projects that may or may not happen.
However, what’s most interesting about the recent announcement is the stuff that Disney didn’t mention.
We’ve had some time to ruminate over Disney’s silence on these projects.
So, in the latest Disney Rumors, we’ll place odds on whether each one will happen.
Think of this edition as more of a rumor killer, even though many of these weren’t rumors but rather projects Disney announced.


Image: DisneylandParis.com
The Brazil Pavilion
We will discuss eight projects today. Disney previously confirmed six of them, while the other two were open secrets among park insiders.
The Brazil pavilion falls into the latter category, as Disney never officially announced it. In fact, that whole situation was strange.


Credit: Disney
Days before the 2019 D23 Expo, someone working for Disney indicated that they were either currently visiting or had recently visited Brazil.
Their purpose there was to entice Brazilians to work at EPCOT’s World Showcase as Cultural Representatives.


Photo: mickeycentral.com
Disney pulled the rug out from under expectant fans, though. It never confirmed the pavilion.
Then, the pandemic happened and put the Cultural Representative program on hold for roughly two years.


Photo: CDC
Disney isn’t in the expansion phase right now at its parks. So, I place long odds on a Brazil pavilion arriving by 2025. Let’s call it 10 percent.
The Festival Pavilion
World Showcase Plaza should look much different today. According to the D23 parks panel in 2019, Disney planned to build a new pavilion here.


Photo: Disney
Specifically, the Festival pavilion would have worked as home base for all EPCOT festivals.
Disney showed illustrations of the planned facility, and they were impressive.
This multi-level structure would have provided a panoramic view of Spaceship Earth and many other integral parts of EPCOT.


Credit: Disney
You’ll notice that I’m talking in the past tense because EPCOT officials quickly moved away from this announcement after less than a year.
Someone decided that the project would cost too much money and required massive modifications. You read that as budget cuts.


Photo: skillastics.com
Now, the entire thing appears dead. When I place odds, I realistically mean whether something will debut within the next five years.
Right now, the Festival pavilion’s odds of that approach zero. It may arise as something else, but it’ll be much more modest in scope.


Photo: David Roark/Courtesy Disney
The Mary Poppins Flat Ride
We’ve gotten mixed messages about this one for a while. Rumblings from within Disney had hinted at a Mary Poppins attraction long before that D23.
People expected some sort of tie-in with the movie, Mary Poppins Returns. Well, that was four years ago in December.
Disney announced the Mary Poppins attraction at the United Kingdom pavilion would involve a unique flat ride design.
Then, the pandemic ruined any chance of the attraction happening in the short term. Yes, this is a recurring theme.


PhotoL Disney-MARY POPPINS, Julie Andrews, 1964
However, questions had arisen about the project’s advancement before the pandemic.
At the time, Disney’s current CEO, Bob Chapek, was in charge of the parks division.
While he has since claimed he liked the attraction, he didn’t do anything to push it.


Source: CNBC.com
As such, I think this ride only has a one-in-three chance of happening soon. Frankly, the only reason I’m that optimistic is that it sounds cheap to produce.
The PLAY! Pavilion
Out of everything we’re discussing today, this one surprises me the most.


Photo: Disney
Disney has done more than announce the PLAY! pavilion at EPCOT. Park officials have announced attractions, including one in a monorail.
Disney executives have done this in official Disney books, which is about as much as they can pot-commit to anything.


Photo: Disney
Frankly, the PLAY! pavilion is also something that EPCOT needs. While I happen to love the infotainment concept, critics lament its current identity.
The argument centers on the appeal of EPCOT to kids. Yes, the park delights adults as a cultural touchstone, a melting pot of international customs.


Photo: Disney
However, kids only have a few rides, many of which are at, let’s say, Journey into Imagination with Figment levels of quality. You get what I’m saying here.
Conversely, the PLAY! pavilion would entertain kids with a futuristic wonderland of next-generation character interactions and immersive games.


Photo: Disney
Disney needs this, but I suspect you understand why nothing is happening here. It sounds expensive, right?
Also, we’re still in a transitional phase with current technology. Disney may be waiting until it possesses a clearer view of how the metaverse will work.


EPCOT
Image Credit: Disney
This project should happen because Disney made it too high-profile. So, I give it a 60 percent chance of happening…in like 2026.
The Reflections DVC Resort
Disney revealed Reflections: A Lakeside Lodge as the next great Disney Vacation Club resort. Of course, non-DVC members could have stayed there, too.


Photo: Disney
This project has worked a bit differently than the others up for discussion. Park officials made progress on the Reflections campus by razing the land.
At one point, construction crews were hard at work on bringing Reflections to life. And it looked amazing!


Image Credit: Disney
Disney even promised a restaurant based on The Princess and the Frog. In a troubling sign, Disney appears to have repurposed this idea for New Orleans Square at Disneyland.
Also, management filed the paperwork to remove all construction from Reflections. At the time, we all hoped that this was a temporary decision.


Photo: Disney
That statement may yet prove accurate since Disney has unused land it has prepared for development.
However, the paperwork suggests that this project is on life support…at best. I give it a 25 percent chance of happening. If it does, it’ll be in 2025 or later.
The Spaceship Earth Reboot


Photo: Disney
What you’re hearing right now is the sound of silence.
During the 2019 D23 Expo, Disney promised new story updates to Spaceship Earth. In fact, the modified presentation would connect all scenes via “the art of storytelling.”


Photo: Disney
Disney planned to spend a year adjusting Spaceship Earth and adding an exit area called Dreamers Point.
Coincidentally, the pandemic occurred two months before Spaceship Earth would have closed for these changes. Disney even confirmed the date of May 26th, 2020.
As you may recall, EPCOT wasn’t even open on that date due to the pandemic.
Since the park has returned, nobody has provided any guidance on the Spaceship Earth reboot. I think this idea is dead, at least in the short term.
Disney has surprised me before, but I don’t even give this project a 10 percent chance of happening.
Park officials are nearly finished with the updates they have prioritized at EPCOT. They’ll move on to Disney’s Animal Kingdom soon enough.
Wondrous China
My suspicion here is that park officials have soured on Circle-Vision 360 attractions as a whole.
Canada Far & Wide received an update in January 2020. Since then, Disney has closed the show at least twice in favor of repurposing the space.
This part of the Canada pavilion sells festival food and merchandise instead. That’s not a good sign for the popularity of the movie attraction here.
Disney announced Wondrous China at the same time as Canada Far & Wide. Obviously, filming in China requires a bit more governmental negotiations than in Canada.
Also, China locked down its borders during the pandemic. So, it’s entirely possible that Disney suffered widespread delays here, and the project’s still on.


Photo:Disney
For this reason, I think there’s a 90 percent chance we still get this attraction, possibly within the next year.
The fact that Disney didn’t mention the project at D23 is concerning, though.


Photo: Disney
The Wreck-It Ralph Tomorrowland Attraction
Here’s the other project that Disney never officially announced. However, insiders have discussed it for approximately five years now.
In the months leading up to the release of Ralph Breaks the Internet, Disney appeared certain to replace the former Stitch’s Great Escape with this ride.
The new Tomorrowland at Magic Kingdom would include a Wreck-It Ralph augmented reality ride, one that could fit inside the small auditorium for Stitch.
Now that Tron Lightcycle Power Run has nearly completed construction, Disney is probably investigating other projects at Magic Kingdom and beyond.


Photo: thecoasterkings.com
Yes, I’m referencing what lies beyond Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. That seems like the future. It’s also a project that will require massive capital.
As such, I suspect that the window for a Ralph attraction has come and gone. I think we’re only looking at a 40 percent chance of this happening.


Photo: Disney
The only reason why I put the odds that high is because A) it’s supposedly an inexpensive build and B) Wreck-It Ralph 3 remains a distinct possibility.
So, as you can see, if Disney didn’t talk about something at the most recent D23 event, I’m skeptical we would see it become a reality over the next five years.