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The Big Picture
- The highly anticipated Disney Experiences Showcase at D23 featured teases on new lands, attractions, and cruise ships.
- Walt Disney World gets a Monsters, Inc. Land and Villains Land, with attractions for Indiana Jones, Encanto, and Cars, as well as new lounge spaces.
- Disneyland Resort highlights include an Avengers Campus expansion, a thrilling Avatar experience, and the first Coco ride.
One of the most highly anticipated panel presentations at D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event was the Disney Experiences Showcase, held for the first time ever at the massive Honda Center with 12,000 of the biggest and loudest Disney fans in attendance. Billed as an immersive celebration of Disney experiences around the world, Disney Experiences Chairman Josh D’Amaro gave exciting teases on new and highly anticipated projects across the domestic and international theme parks and their fleet of cruise ships, along with some announcements to hold fans over during the time that it will take to make things a reality (attractions aren’t built in a day!).
The presentation showcased some expected announcements, like the opening date of Tiana’s Bayou Adventure at Disneyland, details for the Avatar experience and the Avengers Campus ride that was first introduced at the D23 Expo in 2022, and an Indiana Jones attraction at Animal Kingdom. But Disney is always thinking ahead to the future, and sometimes many years into the future, which means that it could be a few years before we can actually step into these new lands and onto these new attractions. Here’s everything we learned at the Disney Experiences Showcase at 2024’s D23: The Ultimate Fan Event.
Walt Disney World Resort
Let’s start with what’s coming to Walt Disney World. Across the theme parks in Orlando, Florida, they’ll be getting a Monsters, Inc. Land in Hollywood Studios, attractions for Indiana Jones and Encanto in the Tropical Americas in Animal Kingdom, a Villains Land in Magic Kingdom, and an expansion of Frontierland themed around Cars.
With a city that needs laughter to run smoothly, the Monsters, Inc. inspired area, which picks up after the events of the film, will invite humans to stroll the streets among their favorite monsters. While there, guests will get the opportunity to go into the factory to experience the first suspended coaster ever in a Disney park. If you’ve seen the movie, which I have, and you’ve been on the “Mike & Sulley to the Rescue” ride at Disney California Adventure, which I also have, then you know about the door vault and you’ve wondered what it might be like to take a ride through there. Soon, you’ll actually get the chance to do just that, as construction begins in 2025.
Over in Animal Kingdom, a new 11-acre section of the park will be themed around Tropical Americas and will include two new attractions, the first of which is an Indiana Jones ride with a completely new story featuring an ancient Mayan temple that’s different from any of the previous rides around the world. And then, there will be a water ride for Encanto that’s set inside the Casita after Antonio has received his ability to communicate with animals, where you’ll go exploring with him, as you see members of the Madrigal family. Construction on this land will begin this fall, but since it will not open until 2027, guests will still have time to experience the Dinosaur ride before it’s gone for good.
The thing that got the biggest response, but that also had the fewest details of the night was the reveal of a Villains Land at Magic Kingdom. Home to villains from Walt Disney Animation Studios’ classic films, two major attractions, dining, and shopping, the new land will make all of your dark and nightmarish dreams come true, and I, for one, cannot wait.
Before that happens, Cars will be coming to a reimagined section of Frontierland with two new attractions. No longer just in Cars Land at Disney California Adventure, Lightning McQueen and Tow Mater will welcome guests to enjoy a thrilling rally race through the mountains over wild terrain, as well as a ride geared more towards the whole family. Some Disney lovers might be disappointed to know that this new frontier is likely taking over the Rivers of America and Tom Sawyer Island, and I absolutely get that, I try to remind myself that Walt Disney himself wanted the parks to continue to change and evolve.
In addition to the new lands and attractions, the Reimagined Test Track is opening in EPCOT, Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde will have a new show called “Zootopia: Better Zoogether” at the Tree of Life Theater in Animal Kingdom, a new nighttime parade called “Disney Starlight” is coming to Main Street, U.S.A. in Magic Kingdom, and two new lounge spaces – a Pirates Louge in Magic Kingdom and a Spaceship Earth lounge in EPCOT – will open in 2025.
Disneyland Resort
Moving over to the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California, there are some cool new experiences and attractions coming to Disney California Adventure. The wait for an e-ticket attraction in Avengers Campus is finally over, as it will double in size with the addition of two new attractions – Avengers Infinity Defense and Stark Flight Lab. Avengers Infinity Defense will be a multi-world adventure that will give guests the opportunity to travel to Asgard, Wakanda, and New York City alongside heroes big and small, eventually leading to King Thanos, who is never up to any good. With Stark Flight Lab, equipped with Tony Stark himself (and Robert Downey Jr. reprising his role), a robot arm will grab the two-person pod you’re sitting in and take you on a simulated flight.
Unlike Pandora – The World of Avatar at Animal Kingdom, which is based on the first film, the Avatar experience coming to DCA draws inspiration from Avatar: The Way of Water and upcoming Avatar films. Guests will board a boat that will venture out to the wide-open seas of Pandora to showcase the beauty and danger of this iconic world in a way that is sure to be epic.
Coco is the type of movie that has been screaming for a ride, and now that will become a reality via a boat ride in DCA, breaking ground in 2026. Drawing inspiration from the Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean attractions, and featuring the characters and music from the film, you’ll join Miguel on a trip to the Land of the Dead as animatronic skeletal characters are brought to life.
While you’re anxiously awaiting all of these new attractions and experiences, Tiana’s Bayou Adventure will be opening at Disneyland at the start of the holiday season, on November 15, 2024. Located in what will now be known as Bayou Country instead of Critter Country, guests will be able to experience the beauty of the bayou and the music of the celebration that awaits. I’ve already experienced the attraction at Magic Kingdom and found it to be absolutely delightful, so I think it will be a great addition to the first Disney park as well.
Additionally, the Disneyland 70th celebration is coming in 2025, as well as the first audio-animatronics figure of Walt Disney for “Walt Disney – A Magical Life,” which will run in the Main Street Opera House in rotation with “Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln.” And then, in 2026, accompanying the release of The Mandalorian and Grogu in theaters will be a brand-new story featuring the characters in Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run in both Batuu East and West.
Disney Parks and Experiences Around the World
The biggest chunk of the evening was focused on the Disneyland and Walt Disney World Resorts because there were just so many announcements about what’s to come in those parks over the next five years. But that doesn’t mean the international Disney parks aren’t also getting some new experiences to look forward to.
Disneyland Paris’ second park, which is home to Avengers Campus and World of Pixar, is being renamed Disney Adventure World. Joining World of Frozen, set to open in 2026, the beloved Disney classic The Lion King will get a new area with dining, shopping, character meet-and-greets, and a water attraction that will take you on the journey of Simba’s life. And Shanghai Disneyland is getting a thrilling new high-speed Spider-Man coaster while Hong Kong Disneyland is getting a new attraction that’s also featuring Spider-Man.
There will also be new nighttime spectaculars coming to the international parks, with “Reach for the Stars” debuting at Tokyo Disneyland in September 2024, a fireworks and projection spectacular at Disneyland Paris in January 2025, and a lake show being added to Adventure Bay in 2026.
Disney Cruise Line
If all these experiences on land aren’t enough, Disney is expanding their fleet of ships with an additional four, debuting between 2027 and 2031, bringing the total up to 13. The Disney Treasure will debut the Broadway-style show “Disney The Tale of Moana” later this year, featuring a 15-foot-tall puppet of the lava-wielding Te Kā. When their latest ship, the Disney Destiny, sets sail in November 2025, it will feature the all-new Broadway-style show “Disney Hercules,” with the Muses taking center stage as the show’s storytellers.
All of these spectacular announcements about the future of the Disney parks were interwoven throughout the night with performances by Pentatonix, Meghan Trainor, Plain White T’s, Shaboozey, Rita Ora, American Idol winner Abi Carter, Billey Crystal, a duet from Skylar Astin and Darren Criss, and a memorable dance number from Deadpool. During the showcase, D’Amaro made it clear that these new lands, attractions, and experiences are not just blue sky announcements that could happen down the road. Instead, plans are drawn, dirt will be dug, construction will be started, and they will come to life throughout the Disney parks over the next five years.
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