D23, the bi-annual Disney Exposition event, took place this past weekend. 

The event saw a number of exciting announcements for Disney Parks and Experiences worldwide, including Walt Disney World. 

At D23 in 2022, whilst Disney teased many new projects, for the most part these were all ‘blue sky thinking’ and in the time since have not materialised into anything concrete. Many fans were sceptical that this time around it may be very much the same story. However, this D23 was jam packed with the announcements of new projects for each of the parks at Walt Disney World, with Josh D’Amaro even going as far to provide (whilst very very loose) timelines for some of the upcoming lands and attractions.

So what are we expected to be getting at Walt Disney World in the next five years?

Magic Kingdom: 

At the Magic Kingdom, it was announced that the park would be receiving its largest expansion ever – which will add much needed capacity to the most popular park. 

In frontier land, we will be seeing the addition of a new Cars themed area. This area will feature a new e-ticket attraction which is suspected to be a fast and thrilling ride, putting guests in the seats of rally cars as they race through the muddy and rugged landscape of the wilderness. A second, family friendly attraction will also be present in the area, likely to be a flat ride. 

This addition has divided fans, with anthropomorphic cars being a rather harsh juxtaposition to the rest of the Frontierland area, which is more themed on the whimsical charm of the wild west and american rockies. But what’s even more divisive is the fact that to make way for this new addition, Tom Sawyers island will be closing and the Rivers of America filled in. Now, we are all for change in the name of progression, and Walt Disney himself always saw the Disney parks that were something which should always evolve, however, it’s the removal of the waterways and landscaping which we feel will change the atmosphere of this area and possibly make it feel like just any other theme park. In our opinion if they can try to replicate the vibe of the landscaping surrounding Fort Wilderness Lodge, or that of what can be found at Grizzly Peak in California Adventure, then I think this will be a nice area to meander around and the removal of the Rivers of America can be excused. After all this does take up an awful lot of land that can be used for additional experiences. Construction is set to start next year.

The second addition will be the highly anticipated Villains Land. Whilst little is known about the attractions themselves – this land is now confirmed. The land was described as being ‘incredibly twisted on a grand scale’ which can clearly be seen in the artwork. Whilst not confirmed, we can see in the artwork what looks like to be a rollercoaster of some sort, and the reference to ‘twisted’ can make us speculate that it could include inversions – possibly themed to Maleficent. There is expected to be a second attraction, no guesses here what it might be, but it would be great to have a live stage show featuring villains or even a walk-through outdoor maze. Just please not another spinner. There is also a new dining location rumoured. It would be a great idea if this could be a sit down restaurant, perhaps called The Poison Apple or a sit down Haunted Mansion restaurant, or at the very least a Haunted Mansion cocktail lounge would be a nice addition. We feel that this new land will be very geared towards Disney adults. Work is likely to begin on construction after the new Cars area, so we can expect the Villans Land to open nearer to 2030 in our opinion. Although it was teased that some ground works have already begun. 

We also received an update about the Pirates of the Caribbean themed tavern, which is now expected to open in 2025. 

Hollywood Studios: 

At Hollywood Studios, we will be getting a new mini land themed to the Pixar film Monsters Inc. which will feature a new indoor roller coaster themed to the door warehouse within the Laugh Factory. This will be the first suspended roller coaster in any Disney Park world wide. 

There is also a dining location promised for the area, though currently details are unknown. Hopefully it will be themed to one of the restaurants from within the film. 

The new land is suspected to have kinetic energy with roaming characters and a lively atmosphere, although similar was said about Galaxy’s Edge, so let’s see what materialises. Construction is due to start next year.

There have been many concerns that this land was going to replace Muppets and potentially Star Tours. But as these are popular attractions we doubt that to be the case. The likely area will be either Animation Courtyard in its entirety including Launch Bay, or from Launch Bay backwards. Launch Bay only takes up a small proportion of this building which was the from Animators building, so is currently very underutilised space and the theatre which used to house the Little Mermaid show still remains vacant since the show closed. It would make far more sense to use these underutilised areas and add additional capacity and new experiences to this park rather than replace other attractions. 

Animal Kingdom: 

Whilst we already knew that the current Dinoland USA area would be replaced, we have now had more details regarding the two attractions within this new re-themed area, Tropical Americas.

Dinosaure will be closed, and rethemed to Indiana Jones. This will not be a carbon copy of any of the existing versions already present at Tokyo Disneyland and Disneyland, but rather a unique version bespoke to the Animal Kingdom. The storyline will be based on Indi’s quest to find a mysterious undiscovered animal. It’s great that they’re being sympathetic to the overall theme of the park. 

The second attraction will be themed to Encanto and be an indoor dark ride. The ride vehicles are to be designed as pieces of furniture as we’re initially in Antonio’s bedroom when we witness him receive his special gift – his ability to communicate with animals. Guests are then magically transported to a rainforest and we go exploring alongside Antonio through the lush rainforest. 

Restaurantosaurus will also be getting a retheme to something more fitting to the area. 

The land is expected to open in 2027.

We also had an updated timeline on the new show replacing It’s Tough To Be a Bug. Zootopia: Better Together is due to open in Winter 2025. 

Epcot: 

With the multi-year (questionable) transformation at Epcot only just concluding, not much was expected to come from D23 for Epcot, but we did get two small announcements.

Test Track is set to reopen as Test Track 3.0 in 2025, and we’re very excited to see what the upgraded attraction will be like. Unfortunately no new concept art has been shared. It’s likely that the new attraction will feature multiple new show scenes and the addition of new technology for a heightened experience.  

Opening in 2025, Epcot will be receiving a new lounge called The Spaceship Earth Lounge. From the concept art, it looks as though this lounge will feature some great views of the park, and provide a relaxing and sophisticated space to relax and grab a beverage.

Sadly there was no news about Figment. 

Conclusion:

In conclusion, a lot of new things are heading to the Floridian resort. Whilst fans were reassured that none of this was blue sky thinking, many understandably including ourselves remain unsure whether all of what was promised will come to fruition. 

Will all of these additions be able to contend with the new Universal theme park, Epic Universe? Will Disney be able to deliver on their timelines, given Universal have been able to construct a whole theme park in the same time it took Disney to build a single roller coaster, Tron? Time will tell, and we can only hope that we receive a new range of exciting and Immersive experiences across the Disney parks in Florida.

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