Posted in: D23, Pop Culture, Theme Parks | Tagged: avengers campus, cars, d23, Disney Parks, monsters inc., Villains at Magic Kingdom

D23: Disney Parks Fans Ate Well, That Is For Sure

D23 wraps up today, but Disney Parks fans are still buzzing about everything we learned last night. Here is all the big stuff in one place.

D23 wraps up today, but those of us who are big Disney Parks people are still recovering from the big Horizons: D23 Disney Showcase Parks presentation from last night. Though for some unfathomable reason, they decided not to livestream it this time, the news came fast and furious, and those of us at home figured out a way to watch anyway. Disney Experiences Chairman Josh D'Amaro once again took the stage and guided us through three hours of reveals, surprises, and way too many musical numbers to let us know what is coming all around the world in the Disney Parks in the next few years and by the time the biggest reveal came at the end, we had to pick ours jaws up off the floor.

D23 Sends Disney Parks Fans Into A Tizzy

First, overseas, we will see a new Lion King attraction open in Disney Adventure World, the recently renamed park at Disneyland Paris. The ride will be surrounded by themed dining and shopping. It's about time the Lion King got a ride in a park. Shanghai Disney Resort and Hong Kong Disneyland will each have their own Spider-Man-themed rollercoasters.

For those Disney Cruise fans at D23, the announcement was made that four new ships will join their fleet, bringing the total number of ships to a staggering 13 by 2031.

Disneyland is celebrating its 70th anniversary next year, and D23 fans got their first look at the logo. If it is anything like the 50th at Walt Disney World, it will be epic. We also knew that there were major changes coming to Disneyland and Disney California Adventure, as approval was recently granted for the project Disneyland Forward. Lots of new areas of the park will be added, and the first tastes of this plan were revealed last night. Avatar, already a popular area of Animal Kingdom in Florida, is coming to DCA as an area based on The Way of Water, and the third film, Fire and Ash, will be built. Also, coming to DCA is the first ride based on the Pixar film Coco.

In an announcement that made pretty much everyone cry both at D23 and at home, the first Walt Disney animatronic is coming to Disneyland, part of a new show "Walt Disney-A Magical Life". This is something Disney fans have wanted for a very long time, and Imagineers seem to be taking this job quite seriously. Finally, the size of the Avengers Campus is going to double. Two new attractions will be built. One we knew about, but it now has a name: Infinity Defense. This ride will take us through the multiverse as we defend it from the clutches of King Thanos. Also announced is Stark Flight Lab, as two-person pods will be grabbed by a robot arm and taken through the flight patterns of different Avengers characters. Robert Downey Jr. will be lending his voice to the ride, which he has also tested. A Mandalorian scene is also coming to Star Wars: Smuggler's Run.

All the most significant news was saved for Walt Disney World Resort in Flordia. First: Dinoland USA is going away. it will be replaced with Tropical Americas, with a new land named Pueblo Esperanza. This area will be home to three new attractions, including a Disney-animal-themed carousel and an Encanto ride that will see guests take a trip through casita as it comes to life to celebrate Antonio's new gift to speak to animals. The last ride will see Dinosaur re-themed to a new Indiana Jones ride. This new area will be completed in 2027. That will feature a brand new story. Finally, It's Tough To Be A Bug will close to make way for a Zootopia show called Better Together. That will open in winter 2025.

One of the most significant surprise announcements was that a new land is coming to Hollywood Studios, themed to Pixar's Monsters Inc. This will include the first inverted coaster in a Disney Park, where guests will travel through the doors like in the film. This ride has been bandied about by fans for a long time, so to see that they are finally giving it to us is fantastic. Now, where is this area going? Fans are concerned that this means the Muppet area of the park is going away, but I think that this goes over in the animation courtyard. We shall see.

Finally, Magic Kingdom. In the biggest surprise of the night, two new Cars-themed rides are coming to the park, and curiously, Josh said they will be part of an expansion to Frontierland. Now, anyone who has been to Magic Kingdom can tell you that there is not a lot of room in that area for two new rides, let alone ones that will require the kind of space these will require. Does that mean that Tom Sawyer Island and Liberty Belle riverboat are going away? They didn't say, but speculation is running wild.

The biggest announcement was the confirmation that yes, they are indeed building a Villains Land. Many thought this could be a fifth gate, but instead, it stays part of the "Beyond Thunder Mountain" program that will see the most extensive expansion of Magic Kingdom in its history. This will include two rides, dining, shopping, and more, all themed to Disney Villains. This has been a long time coming, and the single announcement that got the biggest response in the room at the Honda Center at D23.

Lots of questions remain. Where exactly is all this stuff going in the parks? Josh gave us timelines that take us through 2031 for all this, does that mean we may not see it all done for another seven years? Is there any hope of ever breaking Universal's contract so we can get Avengers Campus in Flordia? Probably not on that last one.

Look, I am biased in this. Myself and my family love nothing more in the world than the Disney Parks, we basically live to go there as often as we can. But I think this was a home run all around for Disney. They needed to flex a bit at D23 in the face of Epic Universe opening at Universal next year, and I think they accomplished that. Now, let's see them execute, not scale back after the fact, and deliver on all the promises like only they can do.

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