It was like watching a mash-up of Broadway performances of Disney classics and a keynote speech from a tech company. And, throw in some Uncle Jessie from Full House.
D23 took place over the weekend, and as always its making headlines with its announcements.
Here’s what you need to know:
The Ultimate Disney Fan Event presented, Disney Experiences Chairman Josh D’Amaro hosted an extraordinary musical celebration for Disney’s biggest fans as he unveiled the future for Disney parks, cruise ships and beyond, including the future of storytelling made possible through a groundbreaking collaboration with Epic Games. Major announcements, surprise celebrity guests and special musical performances closed out day two of the mega fan event.
“Disney Experiences is embarking on an accelerated path of ambitious growth and innovation,” said D’Amaro. “With so many great Disney stories to tell, we’re excited to bring an unprecedented number of new projects to life in the near future, whether it be in our theme parks, on our cruise ships or through our partnership with Epic Games in the digital space.”
Among the many announcements were plans for four new cruise ships and details about six new themed lands and areas that will bring guests deeper into the stories they love, including Monsters, Inc., Cars, Indiana Jones, Encanto, Avatar, The Lion King, and the classic Disney Villains fans know and loathe. D’Amaro announced plans for 14 all-new attractions featuring those stories and more, such as The Avengers, Spider-Man, and the first-ever ride-through attraction themed to Coco coming to Disney California Adventure park at the Disneyland Resort, inviting guests to join Miguel on a trip through the Land of the Dead. Among the five new shows and nighttime spectaculars coming to Disney parks around the world is “Disney Starlight,” an all-new nighttime parade coming to the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World Resort.
D’Amaro was joined onstage by Disney Imagineers and creative leads across Disney’s film studios to share breaking news, as thousands of fans heard from stars and storytellers in an unexpected show only Disney could deliver. Celebrities, surprise guests, and award-winning recording artists joined the fun. Billy Crystal announced a Monsters Inc.-themed land coming to Disney’s Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World Resort. Meghan Trainor surprised the audience with a moving rendition of “Feed the Birds.” D’Amaro also announced the largest expansion in history for the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World Resort, before Shaboozey brought the house down with a new rendition of “Life Is a Highway” to announce a Cars-themed area and Rita Ora joined the Magic Mirror to perform “Trust in Me” as part of the announcement of a Villains-themed land.
“Today we unveiled an extensive slate of new experiences that only Disney can deliver,” D’Amaro said. “Work is well under way on all of the new projects we announced, and fans will start to see them come to life in the near future.”
Top 10 Announcements from the Disney Experiences Showcase:
- Expansion of Disney Cruise Line– Disney Cruise Line will add four new vessels to its growing fleet between 2027 and 2031. Once these ships are built, guests will have 13 different ways to experience Disney’s world-class entertainment, renowned dining, and impeccable guest service in more parts of the world.
- Monsters, Inc. at Disney’s Hollywood Studios – Construction begins next year on the first full land dedicated to Monsters, Inc., coming to Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Florida. The land will feature the first suspended coaster ever in a Disney park, where guests can experience what it’s like to zoom through the door vault in the factory, just like Mike and Sulley.
- Cars at the Magic Kingdom– Pixar Animation Studios’ beloved Cars franchise is coming to a reimagined area of Frontierland with two all-new attractions taking guests into the wilderness beyond Radiator Springs – a thrilling off-road rally race and a family friendly attraction even the youngest racers will love. Construction on this area will begin early next year.
- Villains Land at the Magic Kingdom– Work is already underway on a new land dedicated to Disney Villains coming to the Magic Kingdom – complete with two attractions, dining, and shopping – where happily ever after may feel like just a distant dream. It will be a fearless new vision of what a Disney experience can be on a grand scale that only Disney can deliver.
- Tropical Americas at Disney’s Animal Kingdom – Tropical Americas at Disney’s Animal Kingdom will feature two new signature attractions – a thrilling adventure following the heroic Indiana Jones into an ancient Maya temple and a journey through the Casita Madrigal from “Encanto” following Antonio’s story on the day after he received his magical gift. It will also feature a beautiful carousel featuring animals from many favorite Disney stories, perfect for young families to enjoy. Tropical Americas is set to open in 2027.
- Avatar at Disney California Adventure – An all-new Avatar experience will come to Disney California Adventure including an innovative new attraction that will bring all the action, the excitement, and the wonder of Avatar to life in a completely new and thrilling way.
- First-ever Audio-Animatronics Figure of Walt Disney – Next year, a new show based on the life of Walt Disney, “Walt Disney – A Magical Life,” will play at the Main Street Opera House at Disneyland park and feature the first-ever Audio Animatronics figure of Walt Disney. After the show’s debut run, it will play in rotation with “Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln.”
- Avengers Experiences in California, Shanghai and Hong Kong – The presence of Super Heroes is expanding at Disney parks around the globe. The original Avengers Campus in Disney California Adventure at Disneyland Resort will double in size with the addition of two new attractions, Avengers Infinity Defense and Stark Flight Lab. Shanghai Disney Resort will introduce its first major Super Hero attraction, a Spider-Man-themed, high-energy thrill coaster. At Hong Kong Disneyland, the presence of the Avengers will continue to expand with a major new attraction coming to Tomorrowland featuring Spider-Man and one of his most formidable villains.
- Lion King Area at Disney Adventure World at Disneyland Paris – On the heels of the highly anticipated World of Frozen, set to open in 2026, the first-ever ride through attraction themed to “The Lion King” will come next to Disney Adventure World at Disneyland Paris in a new Lion-King themed area of the park, complete with dining, shopping and character meet & greets. This water attraction will go down into the caves beneath Pride Rock to follow Simba on his journey from cub to king, following the story from the classic Walt Disney Animation Studios film.
- Epic Games Collaboration – While livestreamed in Fortnite, D’Amaro was joined live on stage by creative leads from across The Walt Disney Company — Jennifer Lee from Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pete Docter from Pixar Animation Studios, Kevin Feige from Marvel Studios, and Dave Filoni from Lucasfilm — to discuss Disney’s expansive collaboration with Epic Games and how the full power of Disney storytelling will come to this dynamic, new environment. They shared how the world’s most notable characters and stories will converge in one connected universe where fans can watch, play and even create Disney stories. The group also announced new characters and skins coming soon to Fortnite, from Disney Villains to The Incredibles and The Mandalorian, and showed a trailer for the next Marvel season featuring Doctor Doom which debuts on August 16.
These experiences will give fans around the world even more to be excited about, and more ways to be captivated by the joy and magic of Disney’s iconic stories.
