It’s been a massive weekend of announcements for Disney, thanks to their annual fan event D23 taking place in Anaheim, California. And this year may have seen more announcements for their theme parks around the world than ever before.
Some attractions were long rumoured, like the Indiana Jones attraction at Animal Kingdom, or even semi-confirmed in past statements from the company, like the Avatar attraction at California Adventure, as part of DisneylandForward. While others have come as a surprise – like the first ever Coco ride at California Adventure, and Monsters Inc. and Disney Villains lands coming to Orlando! Not to mention an amazing Spider-Man coaster in Shanghai.
Here’s a brief look at everything that was announced this weekend:
Coco is coming to California
The Pixar film Coco will be getting its first ever attraction. It’s going to be a boat ride that “lets guests join Miguel on a trip to the Land of the Dead.”. The ride may sit as part of the DisneylandForward expansion of California Adventure, taking place in a new part of the park, rather than replacing something existing – or it could be taking over one of the under used theatres near the Monsters Inc. ride – but those sorts of details weren’t revealed. Construction will begin in 2026 for this one.
Avengers Campus is finally expanding
When Avengers Campus officially opened at California Adventure, we were greeted with an impressive Spider-Man ride, but ultimately what felt like an unfinished section of the park. Early renderings promised us multiple attractions, and the building that is currently a gift shop was originally set to be the exit for a massive attraction – teasing us of an unfulfilled vision. Something that is finally being fulfilled now.
But what wasn’t expected was that there will be not one, but two rides added to the land – doubling its size. Avengers Infinity Defense and Stark Flight Lab, the latter of which will see Robert Downey Jr. reprise his Iron Man role, potentially simultaneously to donning the Doctor Doom suit on the big screen. This looks to be utilising some pretty unique robotic technology, letting guests simulate what it’s like to fly like Iron Man.
Infinity Defense, meanwhile, “will have guests join in battle across the multiverse alongside the Avengers to defeat King Thanos and recover stolen Stark technology.”
Construction will begin for this one next year, so it may be one of the first attractions on this list we get to see open.
The Lion King is getting its first ever attraction
It’s hard to believe The Lion King has never had a ride at any Disney park. I mean I guess they were busy turning it into one of the most successful musicals of all time. And it will be Paris that sees the IP debut in log flume form – essentially making it the Splash Mountain of France. On the ride, “guests can follow Simba’s journey from cub to king”. So enemy’s beware.
It promises to be a part of a whole new land that will feature dining, shopping and meet and greets for the iconic franchise.
It will open in Paris’ second gate, Walt Disney Studios. And that’s not the only expansions planned for the park, as it shapes up to build a literal new name for itself. Because it will be renamed in 2026 (when the World of Frozen opens) to Disney Adventure World. This will be the third Frozen land to open internationally, following Hong Kong and Tokyo DisneySea.
No release date has been set for the Lion King land. The only disappointment with the Paris announcement is that it seems to confirm that Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge will not be ported to the French park, as was long expected. But given the somewhat mixed response of these lands in the USA, it does make sense that they’d try for something different… and what safer route to take than The Lion King.
Orlando is getting a bunch of new lands…
Disney are promising some massive expansions in Florida. At Animal Kingdom, “Tropical Americas” will see new Encanto and Indiana Jones attractions. For Encanto, the attraction will follow Antonio the day after he received his magical gift – the ability to communicate with animals. While the Indiana Jones attraction – the fourth in Disney theme park history – lets guests explore a preserved Maya temple – and the ensuing adventure – alongside Indiana Jones.
Two new attractions will come to the Magic Kingdom with a Cars land to start construction in 2025, pulling inspiration from the amazing work they’ve already achieved in California, while re-imagining Frontierland. One of the attractions will feature a “thrilling off-road rally” race, and the other a more kid-friendly attraction.
Magic Kingdom will also be getting a land dedicated to “Disney Villains”, with another two attractions. Details for those weren’t revealed.
Together, these two lands will serve Magic Kingdom with its biggest expansion ever.
And finally, one of the most surprising announcements was that Monsters, Inc. is getting its own land, and a family friendly roller coaster which looks like it’s going to be a lot of fun. It’ll be Disney’s first-ever suspended coaster! We presume this will serve as something of an expansion to Toy Story Land in Hollywood Studios, and work will start next year on this one too.
Walt Disney is getting his own animatronic
Given how far he pushed the animatronic technology in his lifetime, it feels inevitable that we would get an animatronic of the man himself. And next year, we will, with the Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln theatre playing host to the first-ever Audio-Animatronics figure of Walt Disney in the new show “Walt Disney – A Magical Life,” which will eventually play in rotation with Lincoln himself (Walt’s first animatronic), at Disneyland California.
Shanghai is getting a Spider-Man roller coaster
First, they got the Tron cycle coaster (which now is also open in Orlando), and now the second largest Disney park (behind Animal Kingdom) is getting Disney’s first ever Spider-Man roller coaster. It promises to be a high speed attraction – possibly with a launch, like the Aerosmith coaster in Orlando.
Hong Kong is getting a Spider-Man attraction, too!
They were the first park to get a Marvel ride, with the Iron Man attraction debuting in “Stark Expo” in 2017, and the first park to get a Frozen land. Now Hong Kong Disneyland is getting a Spider-Man ride too, joining Shanghai in the announcements this weekend. California Adventure and Paris already has one of its own, but this looks more like an elevator ride (a la Tower of Terror) than an interactive web-slinging attraction.
Yes, Avatar is officially coming to California
It had already been confirmed by Bob Iger that the California Adventure expansion that was being proposed in the DisneylandForward development would include an experience based around the Avatar franchise. And now we know that – following the approval of the park’s expansion by Anaheim council – this is definitely, positively happening. And it will not be a copy of what they built for Animal Kingdom, but a new experience built around Avatar: The Way of Water, and the upcoming films, such as 2025’s Avatar: Fire and Ash – the title of which was revealed at D23. If we assume the first film was about Earth, here’s hoping Wind and Heart round out the series. James Cameron: Captain Planet.
While it will be different from Animal Kingdom, it does look like we’re getting a boat ride here – one that takes you through a “Bio Lume Forest”. The attraction “will take guests on a journey to explore the wonders of Pandora, and the dangers that come along with the trek.”
And wait… there’s more!
On top of all this, Disneyland Resort in California will celebrate its 70th anniversary in 2025. No details of how they’re going to celebrate this were revealed.
Tiana’s Bayou Adventure – The updated Splash Mountain, now themed around The Princess and the Frog, is already open in Orlando. But for a while now, the opening date in California has remained a secret. That is no more as they confirmed at D23 the ride would open on November 15th of this year, coinciding with the start of the Disneyland Holiday celebrations.
Magic Kingdom in Orlando will get a new parade called “Disney Starlight” in 2025. New spectaculars are also promised for Tokyo and both parks in Paris, including a lake show in Paris’s new Adventure World, akin to what we’ve enjoyed at California Adventure over the years. That one will launch alongside the World of Frozen in 2026, while the signature Paris park will see a new show built around its castle opening next year.
The EPCOT ride Test Track will re-open with a new theme in 2025. We already knew this one, but they’ve confirmed next year as the opening.
And much in the way that Star Tours has evolved with new adventures, so too will Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run, with the ride set to be updated in 2026 to coincide with the release of The Mandalorian and Grogu. And yes, you guessed it – it will feature our favourite heroes in the new adventure.
An ever changing, never completed Disneyland experience? This is the way.
You can see more about all these announcements at https://disneyparksblog.com/.
