Disney Announces Tons of New Expansion Plans

Josh D’Amaro stood in front of 12,000 excited Disney fans and told us what we all wanted to hear.

“Everything we’re going to share tonight is in active development. This means that plans are drawn. This means that dirt is moving. I want to be clear. We’re going to do all of it.”

With those simple words, the Chairman of Disney Experiences pushed theme park expansion to the forefront.

We now know many (but nowhere near all) of Disney’s upcoming plans to make future theme park visits the best yet.

Here’s everything Disney just announced.

The Walt Disney Audio-Animatronic

Disney revealed bombshell after bombshell during the parks panel entitled Horizons.

However, the most fitting of them is the upcoming experience, Walt Disney – A Magical Life.

This tribute to the life and legacy of Walt Disney will include arguably the most significant piece of Imagineering tech ever.

An Audio-Animatronic of Walt Disney will host this show, which will rotate with Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln.

D’Amaro stressed that his team of Imagineers understands the importance of such an experience.

Walt Disney himself was the person most responsible for pushing Audio-Animatronics to the forefront of theme park experiences.

So, D’Amaro stated, “I speak for our entire team when I say there is so much pride and excitement for everyone involved in this endeavor.”

Friends, you can meet Walt Disney! It just doesn’t get better than that!

By the way, Roy P. Disney, the great-nephew of Walt Disney, attended the event and has apparently given his blessing for this AA.

Four New Cruise Ships

The Disney Wish set sail for the first time in July 2022. At the time, Disney Cruise Line described it as the start of a new era.

Well, that era will prove even larger than initially expected.

As MickeyBlog has chronicled, we have four new ships currently announced, including the Disney Treasure.

When that ship sets sail in December, it’ll become the newest ship in the fleet.

However, Disney will quickly follow the Treasure with the Disney Adventure and the Disney Destiny, both of which will launch in 2025.

Disney also recently announced a new Japanese ship via the Oriental Land Company.

Remarkably, during the D23 Parks Panel, D’Amaro revealed that four more are coming soon.

According to Disney, these new ships will embark on their maiden voyages from 2027-2031.

We are in an era of dramatic expansion for Disney Cruise Line!

The Tropical Americas

Here’s one of the few things from D23 that Disney had previously announced, the Tropical Americas.

However, we just received significant details regarding the rebuild/expansion coming to Disney’s Animal Kingdom.

In 2027, Disney will re-theme DinoLand U.S.A. into an “11-acre section of the park.”

Park officials promise that this new section will feel lived in, with theming that hints at a long and storied history.

The anchor attractions here are the ones Disney had previously promised.

An Indiana Jones ride will show our hero discovering an ancient, perfectly preserved Mayan Temple.

Henry Jones Jr. invites guests to join him as he explores the temple, which may or may not but probably does have snakes.

The other attraction is the long-rumored Casa Madrigal dark ride.

When you enter this Madrigal family home, you’ll explore the various rooms of family members, one of whom is Antonio.

This young Madigral has just learned that he can commune with animals. So, his room has evolved into an entire rainforest!

Oh, and you might bump into Bruno along the way…

Monstropolis!!!

Among the bombshell announcements, one of the most popular among the MickeyBlog staff was the news about Monsters, Inc.

Disney’s Hollywood Studios will soon add an entire themed land based on the characters from the Monsters franchise.

Actor Billy Crystal, the voice of Mike Wazowski, appeared as part of the D23 announcement event.

During the conversation, we learned that Monstropolis will feature the long-rumored Doors Roller Coaster.

For those of you who haven’t read any of my Disney Rumors articles, this one has been floating around for a decade now.

People have kept discussing it because the idea is so spectacular.

Remember the door chase scene in Monsters, Inc.? Here’s a fascinating Pixar video of it:

Well, Disney will build a roller coaster based on this idea!

The timeline of the new Monstropolis-themed area will set it soon after the events of Monsters, Inc.

So, the power of laughter will power everything!

Even better, Disney promises that Monstropolis work will begin in 2025. This one isn’t too far away from happening!

Frontierland Adds Cars

Over the past few years, speculation has centered on the fate of Frontierland, a themed land with few attractions.

I’m happy to report that Frontierland will survive, as Disney is about to reinvigorate the area.

Friends, Cars is coming to Frontierland! Disney will add two Cars-based rides to this area, both of which are entirely new designs.

The Cars characters will depart the friendly confines of Radiator Springs to participate in a road rally race on the wild frontier.

Disney promises that Mater and presumably Lightning McQueen will splash through the mud, climb mountain trails, and avoid geyser bursts.

Also, we’ll get a second ride. Details are sparse regarding this family-friendly attraction.

Disney states, “But what about smaller racers? The second attraction will be geared towards them and will be fun for the whole family.”

Avatar Destination at Disneyland

We’ve known for a while that an Avatar experience would come to Disneyland Resort.

During D23, D’Amaro finally fleshed out the details a bit.

While Pandora – The World of Avatar’s setting is the Valley of Mo’ara, Disneyland’s version will explore a different part of Pandora.

Specifically, we’ll explore locations shown in Avatar: The Way of Water and the upcoming third film, Avatar: Fire and Ash.

The images show a darker, more mysterious setting for an attraction.

One of the Imagineers on the project promises that guests will:

 “Go on the adventure of a lifetime in search of majestic natural wonders that can only be found on Pandora and the beauty – and danger – that come along with the journey.”

The King Thanos Ride…and Another One!

Disney officials have been hinting at an Avengers Campus upgrade for a while now.

Two years ago at D23, park officials promised an attraction based on the Thanos Who Won.

This storyline involves a Marvel universe where The Hulk and Tony Stark never snapped their fingers and reset Thanos’ actions.

Instead, this Thanos, the King Thanos, emerged victorious.

We cannot have one of those hanging around the multiverse, as you never know when King Thanos might invade other universes.

So, Wakandans have built some technology that allows guests to travel across universes.

We’re putting together a team of the greatest Avengers in their own universes to assemble and defeat King Thanos.

The new attraction is entitled Avengers Infinity Defense, and it’ll be as E-ticket as theme park rides get.

However, Avengers Campus won’t stop there! Remember Tony Stark’s robotic arm buddy in Iron Man?

Well, Disney has built a ride based on a giant Dum-E. Stark Flight Lab. You’ll sit in a two-person pod that looks like a giant Dum-E.

The ride experience is: “A robot arm grabs your pod and starts whirling you around in a simulated flight.”

By the way, Spider-Man will also get new rides at Shanghai Disneyland and Hong Kong Disneyland.

The Coco Ride

Here’s perhaps the biggest surprise announcement of the evening. Okay, it’s the second-biggest, but we’re getting to that.

Anyway, a Coco attraction is coming to Disneyland Resort! And yes, it’s a boat ride!

Disney had the untrustworthy Ernesto de la Cruz come out and sing “Remember Me,” the song he’d stolen from Hector.

The performance set the stage for the announcement that the upcoming attraction will explore the Land of the Dead.

As Disney describes it, the new Coco ride will take the best elements from Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean.

Real talk: I kinda stopped what I was doing last night and paused to contemplate that.

Friends, can you name a better mash-up than the combination of those two rides? I’d be hard-pressed to do it.

That’s why I’m so excited about Coco, which is coming to Disney California Adventure in 2026.

The Lion King Ride at Disneyland Paris

As expected, Disney has confirmed several new experiences coming to Disneyland Paris.

Remember that the current Walt Disney Studios Park is transitioning to Disney Adventure World over the next few years. So, it needs new stuff.

As part of the upcoming changes, Disney confirmed that World of Frozen will officially open in 2026.

MickeyBlog broke that story in April, but we’ll be getting new details over the next 18-24 months.

During the parks panel, we learned about a new addition, and it’s also a bit of a surprise.

As I’d discussed in recent Disney Rumors articles, The Lion King is finally getting its first ride after more than 30 years.

The interesting part is that Disney didn’t announce this attraction at Animal Kingdom as expected.

Instead, the (first?) home of The Lion King ride will be at Disney Adventure World.

So, The Olympics may be over, but you’ll still have plenty of great reasons to visit Paris over the next few years…not that you needed more.

Miscellaneous Announcements

Disney also confirmed a few more experiences and dates, all of which should leave you excited for the future.

At Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run, fans will enjoy a new storyline involving arguably the most popular character in the franchise today.

Yes, Baby Yoda – I’m not calling him Grogu – and The Mandalorian will star in the story.

So, lines at Smugglers Run are about to get MUCH longer because…BABY YODA! Squee!!!

At Magic Kingdom, Disney will introduce a new nighttime parade called Disney Starlight.

Disney promises the experience employs the most modern technology and special effects. As for the story:

“All of this is brought to life by the magic of the Blue Fairy, in addition to beloved characters from Walt Disney Animation Studios films ‘Peter Pan,’ ‘Encanto,’ ‘Frozen,’ and more.”

As expected, nighttime presentations are way in at Disney right now. Tokyo Disneyland will also open Reach for the Stars on September 20^th.

Then, Disneyland Paris will debut a currently unnamed nighttime spectacular in January 2025.

So, several Disney parks will upgrade their pageantry over the next six months.

At EPCOT, Test Track has confirmed the 2025 opening timeline MickeyBlog had previously sleuthed out.

We’re also getting two new lounge spaces at Walt Disney World.

One is the previously confirmed Pirates of the Caribbean tavern coming to Adventureland. The other is a lounge themed to Spaceship Earth. So, I’ll live there soon.

At Disneyland Park, we learned that its version of Tiana’s Bayou Adventure will officially open on November 15^th.

Finally, if you’re a Fortnite player, you’ll want to read this update!

You could be fighting as Baby Yoda – I’m not calling him Grogu – right now!

Villains Land

Disney saved the best for last. So, I have, too.

A couple of years ago, during the blue-sky presentation at D23, D’Amaro unintentionally field-tested the idea of a Villians-themed land.

As MickeyBlog has noted several times since then, the crowd reaction at that moment basically willed this place into existence.

Park officials later confessed that they were taken aback by the ferocity of our passion for the idea.

The audience reception forced Disney to prioritize a themed land based on its iconic villains…and here we are.

Two years later, D’Amaro went on stage and gave the people what they wanted…what we’ve all so desperately desired.

The Villains-themed land is real and coming to Magic Kingdom!

Here are a few of Disney’s comments regarding this project:

“Once upon a nightmare… A place where poison apples are aplenty and magic potions can ruin your whole day.

“For all those things hiding in the shadows, it’s time to join them as we lift the veil on a forthcoming Villains Land at Magic Kingdom Park in Walt Disney World Resort.”

Disney ominously adds that “happily ever after may feel like just a distant dream.” Eep!

“The new land will encompass all your dreams- er, nightmares. The space will be home to two major attractions, dining, and shopping on an incredibly twisted grand scale.”

I’ll have plenty more to add about this themed land in the coming days and weeks, so much so that you may beg me to shut up about it.

That’s how excited I am about the idea of an entire themed land celebrating Disney Villains. It’s real, and it’s gonna be spectacular!

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