What Should We Expect at D23?

In roughly three weeks, Disney Experiences Chairman Josh D’Amaro will take the stage at the 2024 D23 Expo.

D’Amaro will host the Disney Experiences Showcase, and it’s a seminal event for him and his company.

On a personal level, D’Amaro needs to ace this test to keep himself in the running as Disney’s next CEO.

For the company, D23 needs to convince guests that there are huge experiences in the offing.

So, what should we expect at D23? Let’s evaluate each park.

Disney California Adventure

We’ve got plenty of cause for excitement at Disneyland Resort.

Now that the paperwork for DisneylandForward has been signed, Disney has committed at least $1.9 billion toward park expansion.

Much of that will come at Disney California Adventure (DCA), presuming that Disney doesn’t announce a third theme park instead.

How likely is that? Honestly, everything depends on how Disney chooses to approach the expansion.

We already have a solid idea of where the various projects will go in that there’s not much room available.

Have you ever seen an aerial view of DCA? Here’s one on YouTube:

What you’ll realize while looking at it is how developed the land already is.

Park officials believe they can expand by 50 percent, and I believe them. It’s gonna be tight, though.

For right now, the announcement that makes the most sense is more details about the King Thanos ride.

This is the multiverse attraction where a team of Avengers work together to stop the Thanos Who Won.

However, we might hear more about expansion. Specifically, Disney should confirm the Avatar boat ride.

Disney has hemmed and hawed about whether the “Avatar experience” is a single ride or a themed land.

Either way, this addition could go into DCA or Disneyland. I’ve heard both.

The one thing that sounds likely is that it’ll use the same ride tech from Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for the Sunken Treasure at Shanghai Disneyland.

Disney’s Animal Kingdom

Here’s the park where fireworks are certain.

At D23, D’Amaro should take the stage and announce all the details of the Tropical Americas.

So, we should finally find out about the Indiana Jones ride coming soon, and it sounds like this would be a unique offering.

Park officials sound disinclined to copy the existing Indiana Jones Adventure and would rather keep the experiences distinct.

Ordinarily, I’d dismiss that thought, as it costs a lot more.

However, the new Frozen ride is objectively different from Frozen Ever After in several key ways. Here’s just one example:

We’ll also learn about Encanto, which I expect will be Casa Madrigal brought to life, possibly as a dark ride.

Other rumors have percolated for a while now, including a Zootopia-themed land, which sounds perfect at Animal Kingdom.

The expenses of this project make it something longer-term, though.

Remember that Disney has warned that most of its $42 billion investment won’t happen until the late 2020s and early 2030s.

So, if Disney announces more than the Tropical Americas, that’s a pleasant surprise.

If they do, I’m hoping that the rumored Lion King attraction becomes a reality. It’s time, Disney. It’s long past time.

Disney’s Hollywood Studios

Those of you who read Disney Rumors know that I expect either a ride announcement or possibly more.

Lately, people have wondered whether Disney will finally repurpose the space at Animation Courtyard for something better-themed.

Currently, this area includes a hodgepodge of experiences that don’t go together, and Star Wars Launch Bay is just weird.

Why is a Star Wars experience at Animation Courtyard? That has never made sense, yet it’s the main draw.

Since The Little Mermaid’s new show will return this year, Disney may modify other parts of Animation Courtyard instead.

There’s a wild rumor that I frankly don’t believe that a Disney Villians-themed land could go here.

The idea is that Disney would compete with Epic Universe’s Dark Universe by adding its own thing.

Real talk: I hadn’t heard anything about Disney Villains at Animation Courtyard until last month.

So, if this plan is in place, it either happened quickly or Disney kept it quiet, a rarity.

I’m not holding my breath on this one, especially not with The Little Mermaid taking up some of the space.

I would LOVE to be wrong, though. Still, I think the simplest thing to do is add Inside Out 2 at the parks.

Animation Courtyard makes a lot of sense as a destination, doesn’t it?

I haven’t heard that from anybody. I’m just thinking logically about open spots and best fits.

To a larger point, Hollywood Studios needs more rides. That’s true from a management/load-balancing perspective.

So, we should get some big announcements here.

Disneyland Park

Let’s start with the wildest rumor out there, which I’m gonna mention just to try to will it into existence.

Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln is reportedly changing a bit, and the update could include…Walt Disney.

Yes, some insiders swear that Imagineers are working on a Walt Disney Audio-Animatronic (AA) that could be integrated into the attraction.

Since insiders HAVE recently visited the Candy Store, they should know.

I’d be surprised if Disney changed one of its most iconic shows, but I would have said the same thing about the Country Bears.

Now, we have Country Bear Musical Jamboree in place of the 1971 version of the show.

So, anything is possible. And Walt Disney as an AA seems like an obvious inclusion at Disneyland.

In my opinion, even if this is an absolute lie of a rumor, it SHOULD happen.

The timing is ideal for this project as well, as Disneyland celebrates its 70^th anniversary on July 17^th, 2025.

Park officials have plenty of time to integrate that AA for the big anniversary.

Disneyland could also go ahead and confirm plans that will take longer to bring to life.

Those include the Zootopia-themed land, some version of Frozen Ever After, and maybe some of the other stuff at Fantasy Springs.

EPCOT

On the one hand, I don’t expect much to happen in terms of big EPCOT announcements.

If Disney does something here, that would be a bit out of line with how the company has done business during the 21^st century.

Park officials improve a theme park and then leave it alone for the most part.

As of June 2024, Disney itself proclaimed the EPCOT expansion complete. So, it’d be a (pleasant) surprise if more were announced.

Still, D’Amaro should provide context about the style of Test Track 3.0, which could be one of Disney’s biggest 2025 projects.

Also, we’ve still got that unused space where the PLAY! pavilion was supposed to go. Disney could feasibly do something there.

Finally, there’s always the possibility and the hope of new pavilions at the World Showcase.

Since those projects should be relatively inexpensive, I honestly don’t understand why Disney doesn’t add more. It strikes me as an oversight.

Magic Kingdom

I suspect we’re about to find out What Lies Beyond Big Thunder Mountain.

Now, I should manage your expectations a bit. I don’t think Disney will announce everything just yet.

As I previously discussed, Disney shouldn’t name names. I mean, I wrote that article in early April.

Since then, Inside Out 2 has exploded in popularity while becoming the biggest Pixar movie ever.

Soon, the film will surpass Frozen II to become THE most popular animated release of all time.

If Disney had promised something else in a spot, it couldn’t improvise to Inside Out 2 later. Promises were already made.

That’s why Disney doesn’t pot-commit until it’s ready to move, and that’s the smart approach.

Universal Studios can do that because, let’s be honest, it doesn’t own much desirable intellectual property.

That’s why Epic Universe will include another Wizarding World of Harry Potter and Super Nintendo World.

Universal has licensed that content from other businesses since it’s lacking on its own.

Disney has the opposite problem, where an Inside Out sequel could break out at a moment’s notice.

How does this factor into Magic Kingdom? I fully expect that we’ll learn about two or three experiences coming soon.

However, you should accept the fact that Disney won’t tell fans everything in the pipeline just yet. There’s no upside to that.

Instead, I expect announcements based on beloved franchises, with Coco being the most likely one.

After all, Disney previously promised that ride. If there’s a surprise, it’ll be the Moana boat ride Disney finally patented in May.

Finally, I don’t expect a fifth theme park announcement, but you never know…

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