Here’s What’s Coming to Disneyland Resort

After nearly 70 years, change has remained one of the constants of Disneyland Resort.

Walt Disney himself demanded that his prized theme park evolve and thrive over time.

Nearly 60 years after Uncle Walt’s death, his loyal Imagineers maintain his vision for the perfect family getaway.

Of course, to attain such lofty standards, the parks must add new experiences.

Thankfully, at the 2024 D23 Expo, we learned Disney is more than up to the challenge.

Here’s what’s coming to Disneyland Resort.

The Avatar Ride

We finally gained some insight into what Disney has planned for its so-called Avatar experience.

As fate would have it, Disney is building a themed land, albeit likely a modest one.

The prevailing belief, while currently unconfirmed, is that Imagineers will slot the new Avatar area at Hollywoodland.

Please don’t quote me on that, as Disney seemingly hasn’t finalized plans for several of its expansions.

Instead, the recent D23 Expo parks panel came across as more of an expansive mea culpa for previous years of the event.

So, Disney announced tons of new experiences, and while Disney Experiences Chairman Josh D’Amaro swore the dirt is moving, that’s metaphorical.

We can look at the area around Disney California Adventure and recognize that none of it is really underway. It’s more theoretical.

We’ll forgive D’Amaro for his hyperbole here, as he showed up with gifts. Who could ever turn down such a kind offering?

One of those gifts was a rendering of the upcoming Avatar experience, along with context regarding the story.

As previously mentioned, Imagineers will set this film sometime in the timeline of Avatar: The Way of Water and Avatar: Fire and Ash.

You’ve seen the children from The Way of Water and know that at least 15 years have passed since Pandora – The World of Avatar.

Thus, Disney has provided its Imagineers with leeway here to create an entirely different West Coast experience contrasted to Disney’s Animal Kingdom.

One of the Imagineers described the anchor attraction at the upcoming Avatar land as “intense and emotional.”

That’s a big ask for what looks like another Disney boat ride.

However, as someone who has written about movies since the 1990s, I’ve learned NEVER to underestimate James Cameron.

You can safely expect something special here. 

The Coco Ride

Notably, much of Disney’s West Coast attention will go to Disney California Adventure (DCA), at least initially.

During the DisneylandForward negotiations, public hearings had indicated the growth potential for this park.

Still, I think most of us were a bit taken aback by the aggressive nature of the proposed expansion.

DCA will add many new rides over the next few years. While I’m still hammering out a timeline roadmap, some of it is likely to happen fast.

Coco doesn’t quite fall into that category, as an Imagineer indicated that construction will begin in 2026.

While that’s only 16 months away, it still places the opening of the new Coco ride squarely in 2027.

Of course, I’m a strong proponent of Disney taking its time to do things right.

Fans wasted all their cell phone minutes back in the day by venting about the glacial pace of Pandora at Animal Kingdom.

Now, we’re all grateful Disney handled the project that way. And Coco sounds like it’ll be worth the wait.

Disney published dazzling, colorful images of the Land of the Dead, as well as the various Coco characters.

The idea here is that you’ll ride a boat through the spirit world, which isn’t the Coco attraction I’d expected.

Instead, Disney has identified the odd mesh of iconic theme park ideas for the ride.

The afterlife aspects will remind fans of Haunted Mansion, while the spirit of the ride – no pun intended – strikes a different chord.

That portion will remind guests of Pirates of the Caribbean, arguably Disney’s most iconic boat ride.

Avengers Campus Changes

A few years ago, the people running Disney theme parks took a stance. They firmly decided, “No more half-measures.”

Alas, the pandemic disrupted everyone’s conviction on the point.

With Disneyland Resort closed for more than a year, one project suffered mightily.

Avengers Campus became a kind of half-measure, a wonderful themed land that was less than what Disney had promised.

Nobody did anything wrong there. The world simply spun out of control for a while. As it did, Disney’s bottom line suffered.

So, some of the original plans for the Marvel themed land fell by the wayside, including an E-ticket Quinjet attraction.

We can quibble about whether that would have happened anyway, but it was a functional impossibility after March 2020.

Thus, Avengers Campus opened in the most understated manner, at a time when social distancing was still a thing.

While the Marvel area delights guests with its characters and limited-time experiences, something’s missing. Everyone knows it.

In a way, Avengers Campus mirrors DCA itself. That park’s 2001 opening was also representative of half-measures and budget cuts.

The King Thanos Ride

Disney needed more than a decade to fix DCA. It’s definitely not waiting that long on Avengers Campus, though.

Imagineers will double the number of attractions here, starting with Avengers Infinity Defense.

That’s the official name for what I will always call the King Thanos ride.

Disney announced that attraction a couple of years ago and promptly went into radio silence about it.

Now, we know what the ride cart looks like, and it’s a familiar design. It’s eerily similar to Peter Pan’s Never Land Adventure.

I dunno whether the rides will share other tech, but that feels significant.

As for the ride’s story, Thanos has emerged victorious in an alternate universe.

To stop his reign of terror, various Avengers from other universes must come together to fight him.

For that to work, you’ll need a vehicle capable of multiversal travel. Thankfully, DCA will build one soon!

The Robotic Arm Ride

Did you hear that Robert Downey Jr. is returning to the MCU?

I have no idea how much Disney paid RDJ to come back, but it must have been a LOT.

In addition to starring in two upcoming Avengers films, the actor will also appear in a new Avengers Campus ride.

Called Stark Flight Lab, this ride is a two-person adventure in, well, pod-shaking.

A giant robot arm will lift people in the air and shake them around in what I sincerely hope is a non-threatening manner.

During the parks panel, Disney showed images of Iger and RDJ testing the ride.

However, the details about the experience itself were nebulous.

The rider will test some new technologies at Stark Lab. These are ostensibly the kind that help take down villains like Thanos.

Still, the ride seems like it has a high propensity for motion sickness. So, I’ll be curious to see what Disney does here.

As long as RDJ is heavily involved with the presentation, I’m sure that fans will love it, though.

Walt Disney Himself

Before D23, Disney CEO Bob Iger hinted that his company would make a huge announcement.

While any number of the new additions would qualify, Iger referenced something more significant to Disney history.

During the early 1960s, Walt Disney gleefully described Imagineering technology to reporters.

The entrepreneur recognized a blockbuster innovation when he saw it. To him, that was the Audio-Animatronic.

At the 1964 New York World’s Fair, Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln freaked out tourists, who couldn’t believe its realism.

The mechanical Abraham Lincoln looked and moved like a person.

Since Uncle Walt admired the technology at the time, I have to believe he’d like the idea of himself as an AA.

Well, I hope he would, because Disneyland Park will get one in 2025!

That’s when Walt Disney – A Magical Life will debut at the Main Street Opera House.

Fittingly, this attraction will alternate showtimes with Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln.

Time is a flat circle, or Disney has come full circle. I honestly cannot decide which.

The Other New Additions

Disney confirmed two other experiences at Disneyland Resort, one of which we already knew.

Tiana’s Bayou Adventure at Disneyland Park has gained an official opening date.

Disney fans on the West Coast can experience the attraction for the first time on November 15^th, 2024, which is three months from now.

Recent Magic Kingdom guests already know that this attraction equals pure joy. It’s so upbeat and earnest.

So, Disneyland guests can receive their burst of emotional contentment in mid-November. You’re going to love this ride!

Finally, Disney finally updated comments from several years ago.

During the pre-opening discussions regarding Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run, Imagineers stated it would have updates.

As with Star Tours – The Adventures Continue!, the in-ride movie is relatively easy to change.

At some point in the not-too-distant future, Smugglers Run will introduce a new story involving The Mandalorian and Baby Yoda.

To be clear, this announcement does NOT signal the end of the coaxium heist. Instead, Disney will rotate the ride experiences.

In other words, Smugglers Run will soon add the same randomness factor as Star Tours…complete with Baby Yoda!

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Feature Photo: Disney