Disney Wishes I Want to Come True
This November, Disney will transport guests into a new realm where wishes come true.
Wish, the 62nd feature film from Walt Disney Animation, will tell the story of Asha, a young woman who wishes on a star and gets more than she bargained for.
In honor of that film, I started thinking about Disney wishes I could manifest.
Some of them are simple, while others are unlikely, maybe even impossible.
Here are six Disney wishes I want to come true.
PS: I plan to do another one of these around the time the movie arrives in theaters.
Chris Sanders Returns to Disney
Admittedly, this one is more for my wife, but it matters to us.
On a fateful date in 2002, we held hands in a movie theater and watched the latest release.
That was far from rare for us as the webmasters for a film site. We went to see three or four films a week…but this one proved different.
Lilo & Stitch resonated with us on that first viewing and only became more influential in our lives afterward.
At one point, we owned a red wagon filled with nothing but Stitch stuffed animals.
The amount of Stitch merchandise we own is in the hundreds if not thousands.
Later, we watched in frustration as Chris Sanders, the film’s writer and voice of Stitch, departed Disney and joined DreamWorks Animation.
Along the way, Sanders created an impeccable new franchise, How to Train Your Dragon.
As a pet owner, I’m astounded by the level of nuance in Sanders’ storytelling regarding human/animal relationships.
Lilo & Stitch started that arc for him as Lilo found her place in life thanks to her ugly duckling of a “dog.”
With How to Train Your Dragon, Sanders cemented his place as one of the most emotionally impacting filmmakers ever.
I’m not ashamed to say that I cried at the end of this film as Toothless looked down at Hiccup just as one of my cats had done with me for 17 years.
My GREATEST Disney wish is that Chris Sanders returns home to Disney where he belongs.
We love Sanders so much that we have a first edition of Rescue Sirens: The Search for the Atavist, but I’d figured his time at Disney had permanently ended.
Then, I saw this:
@chrissandersart When you’re me, on property, I have this surreal thing that happens every time I see a plush, a T shirt, Stitch ears on someone’s head. But this is a new level of surprise. ..Hearing myself. #stitch #Stitch #liloandstitch #disney100 #disney100thcelebration #charactervoice #chrissanders
Now, I have hope again. Make this happen, Iger! Disney fans like me NEED it!
A Real-Life Casita from Encanto
Among the things I’m wishing into existence today, this one’s the likeliest to become a reality.
Disney has previously hinted that Imagineers are working on this very thing…and we should all want it!
A certain segment of society somehow remains blissfully unaware of how popular Encanto is.
However, I track streaming ratings for my podcast, Streaming into the Void. I’m stunned by how consistently this movie makes the list.
People want to talk about Bruno and watch the adventures of the Madrigal family.
A park experience would be even better, especially if it included the magical, sentient house named Casita.
Here are some of the things that Casita can do in Encanto:
I don’t honestly know what Imagineers could pull off from the movie. The communicating floor tiles with musical accompaniment seem possible.
Anything beyond that would honestly impress me, as some of the Casita ideas in Encanto are remarkable.
An interactive house like this would dazzle children (of all ages) with its technical innovations and unprecedented level of immersion.
A New EPCOT Pavilion
Admittedly, the odds are long on this one happening anytime soon.
Disney has just spent several years modernizing the former Future World, which had grown sadly outdated. And the project isn’t even completed.
Still, the primary changes Disney has made are an expansion of the France pavilion, a repurposing of the former Energy pavilion, and the Moana water attraction.
What we never got is something Disney appeared poised to announce in 2019.
EPCOT chose not to add a new pavilion. During the 2019 D23 Expo, rumors abounded of a new Brazil pavilion.
Those suggestions made sense because Disney hasn’t added a new World Showcase pavilion since the 1980s!
Many of you reading this weren’t even born the last time it happened!
The World Showcase needs new international representation. And Disney should know which one would make the most sense.
After all, the EPCOT festivals offer food booths and merchandise for these countries.
One (or more) of the best sellers should find a home at the World Showcase.
Pandora II and Zootopia at Animal Kingdom
I’m fanatical about Pandora – The World of Avatar, which I still consider the best themed land in the world.
Yes, I know that many guests would describe Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge that way, but I prefer Pandora.
You can tell that Bob Iger cares about James Cameron’s opinion and wants this land to exemplify the filmmaker’s vision.
Disney didn’t even own the rights to Avatar when it started Pandora.
Now, in a fortunate happenstance, the company does, and that ownership can solve an amusing problem.
The creation of Pandora has created an imbalance at Animal Kingdom. Guests enter the park and veer left, not right.
What would solve that problem? Disney needs to add new attractions on the right side, a plan that sounds like it’s in motion.
The Zootopia rumors are so loud at this point that you must wear headphones not to hear them…and that’s terrific because I want that.
As a film, Zootopia always felt like a Disney themed land come to life. It’s an entire city filled with anthropomorphic animals.
The whole story doubles as an audition for a Disney park appearance.
Shanghai Disneyland will debut its Zootopia later in 2023. So, an Animal Kingdom version feels like an achievable wish.
As for a Pandora expansion, that’s not as realistic, at least not in the short term.
Would Disney add to the existing area, or would it try to balance the park even more by positioning Pandora II on the (current) DinoLand U.S.A. side?
I suspect that asking for more Pandora right now is a wish that won’t come true…but I want it anyway!
Zootopia on its own would be an exceptional consolation prize, though.
A Villains Theme Park
I’m one of those Disney fans still carrying a grudge about the de facto cancellation of Beastly Kingdom.
Disney infamously delayed the construction of Beastly Kingdom at Disney’s Animal Kingdom until phase two…and we’re still waiting on phase two.
As a reminder, Animal Kingdom is more than 25 years old now. We eventually got Pandora – The World of Avatar instead, which is a solid trade.
Still, the idea of a themed land based on magical creatures of legend would work well. For me, that’s only half the story, though.
I was always drawn to the villainous side of Beastly Kingdom, the part where an evil dragon’s castle towered above the land.
So, I’m passionate about the idea of Disney building a Villains Theme Park as the long-anticipated fifth gate.
I wrote about this several years ago and should probably do so again now that Disney has given itself the power to build a new park.
My favorite of those five ideas for a fifth gate is Marvel, but that’s currently impossible due to a prior agreement.
While Disney could work a trade to change that, a Villains Park probably pleases more fans anyway.
You could ride attractions based on Maleficent, Scar, Ursula, Gaston, Jafar, and the Evil Queen.
Disney Villains merchandise and special events have proven wildly popular, so much so that Bay Lake Tower at Disney’s Contemporary Resort now hosts a Villains lounge.
I’m ready for Disney to expand the idea to a full park.
An Indiana Jones Ride at Walt Disney World
Seriously, how does Walt Disney World, the most trafficked theme park campus on the planet, not have an Indiana Jones ride?
This needs to happen, Disney.
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Feature Photo: Disney