What Do You Want from Disney?
Here’s an open-ended question, and I’m genuinely curious to learn your response. What do you want from Disney? I’m thinking about this in the context of theme park expansion.
Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company has committed $60 billion in resources to Disney Experiences.
An estimated $42 billion of that will go toward improving theme parks, with the rest focusing on infrastructure.
We know $17 billion of that money will go toward Walt Disney World, while Disneyland remains a question mark.
Disney has only contractually obligated itself to about $2 billion at Disneyland.
Photo: Disney
However, the company’s currently announced projects probably already cost that.
So, what are you hoping Disney does, and what are your concerns? Let’s discuss.
Should Disney Take Its Time?
Throughout his tenure as Disney CEO, Bob Iger has adopted a modular approach to theme park expansion.
Iger loves having an annual selling point for his various theme parks, something that can be the focus of a marketing campaign.
Photo: Getty
Perhaps the most famous recent example was Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, a single ride.
Disney cared about that project so much that it spent tens of millions of dollars advertising the ride.
Photo:Ivan Marc / Shutterstock.com
For more than a year, the roller coaster sold Disney vacations to people watching network/cable television.
More recently, Disney has advertised vibes more than singular experiences, but the strategy hasn’t changed.
Photo: simplemost.com
Each year, management wants something that it can advertise in a Super Bowl commercial to sell vacation packages.
Meanwhile, Disney fans want it all, and we want it now. Well, some do. The consensus isn’t universal, though.
Disney
I’ve noticed some fans expressing concern about Disney moving too fast, which isn’t a complaint I hear often.
The underlying fear is that if Disney rushes a themed land, it may wind up like Toy Story Land.
Yes, everyone loves Toy Story Land, but its early days were rough due to the lack of shade and seating.
Disney cut corners here to spend more money on Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, and there were ramifications.
In 2025, Disney added new seating at Woody’s Lunch Box, something fans had wanted since 2018!
That’s the problem with a rush job. Things fall between the cracks. Then, they tend to take time to fix.
With this much construction underway, it’s a particularly pressing concern.
If a themed land isn’t perfect now, Disney may not address the issue until the mid-2030s.
That’s why some fans are hoping for theme park delays. It’s not the majority opinion, but I get it.
Is Quicker Better?
Photo: Playbuzz.com
Did you visit Disney California Adventure (DCA) during the pre-Radiator Springs era?
How about during the pre-Marvel/Pixar era? If so, you know the deal here.
Photo: Disney
Sure, Tom Petty was right that the waiting is the hardest part, but delayed gratification can be a good thing.
Disney flat-out panicked in rushing DCA, and the park just plain sucked for a decade.
Photo: Disney
The company later spent $1 billion on Radiator Springs alone, a tacit admission of guilt.
Some fans worry that Disney has condensed the timeline at Disney’s Animal Kingdom too much.
Lightning McQueen
Their concern is that the Tropical Americas will need time to breathe, and I get it.
Since DinoLand USA remains open, tourists can easily track the construction of this new themed land.
Photo: Disney
Currently, we’re still waiting for the Casa Madrigal ride building to go vertical.
Presuming that Disney maintains the projected 2027 opening date timeline, that’s kinda tight.
Photo: Disney
The fear is that if Disney rushes the inside of the building, the ride won’t be quite so magical.
Now, based on Disney’s recent results, I don’t worry about that at all. Imagineers are on top of their game recently.
Look no further than Test Track 3.0, Disney Starlight: Dream the Night Away, and Walt Disney – A Magical Life as proof.
But I understand what’s happening. Fans are passionate about Encanto, and they want this dark ride to be perfect.
Photo: Disney
So, if Disney needs another year to perfect Casa Madrigal, fans would prefer that to an inferior rush job.
Do You Want More Now?
Photo: Pexel.com
The same logic applies to Monstropolis, which appears to be moving at breakneck speed.
Disney shut down Muppets Courtyard and wasted no time in starting the re-theme.
Muppets Courtyard
Since we’re getting an indoor roller coaster in this area, it’s one of Walt Disney World’s most important current projects.
And that’s the unique aspect of what we’re witnessing at Disney right now. It’s a time of unprecedented change.
At this moment, Disney is working on expansion at four of its six American theme parks.
With Destination D23 occurring later this month, there’s a realistic chance that announcements are coming for the other two.
I fully expect at least one major EPCOT announcement, which raises another question.
Do you worry that Disney is stretching its Imagineers too thin?
Photo: @michael.e.moriarty via Instagram
Remember that we just had two different purges within the past five years.
The first one occurred when Disney performed mass layoffs at the start of the pandemic.
Photo: Disney
Then, former CEO and proud Disney Villain Bob Chapek encouraged a bunch of them to quit.
Remember that Chapek moved the jobs of all Imagineers to Lake Nona, Florida.
Photo: AdWeek
Later, Disney canceled the Lake Nona project once Bob Iger returned, but the damage was done.
Disney threw away centuries of institutional knowledge about theme park creation.
Photo: @michael.e.moriarty via Instagram
So, a vocal minority of fans are actively rooting against Disney’s announcing even more projects.
They want the company to focus on the current ones, which makes a certain amount of sense.
Photo: Disney
And I just offered one reason why. When Hollywood Studios worked on two projects, one fell by the wayside.
If Disney hadn’t been doing Toy Story Land and Star Wars Land simultaneously, the former would have turned out better.
What Do You Want from Disney?
So, you understand why this conversation isn’t as cut-and-dried as it may seem.
There’s an undercurrent of fear in some circles based on Disney’s (fairly) recent past.
In the 21st century alone, a few projects could have been better if they’d had more time and resources.
Thus, a small segment of fans are fearful of history repeating itself…and I get it.
Well, I would if I weren’t in awe of Test Track 3.0 and Disney Starlight.
I’m not saying that Josh D’Amaro is the x-factor here or anything, but Disney’s been quantifiably better lately.
The Imagineers seem to be reaching heights we haven’t witnessed since the earliest days of Walt Disney World.
That’s reason enough for me to be positively giddy about what’s coming next at the parks.
The Walt Disney Company
I understand why you may feel differently, though. So, what do you want from Disney? And why?
Photo: MickeyBlog
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