From Robert Downey Jr. returning as Iron Man (no, he won’t be wearing this Iron Man-style exoskeleton) for a thrilling attraction to a coaster themed after the flying doors in Monsters Inc., Disney Parks worldwide are getting a bunch of new rides and even lands.
Now, rather than just teasing the future, much of the focus on Disney’s Experience showcase at D23 2024 (outside of the unveiling of one of the best Star Wars rides as a high-tech toy) was on active or soon-to-be projects with development underway and, for some, construction starting soon.
The panel itself was lengthy and filled with songs and numbers for the biggest developments at its parks and resorts, which bucked the trend of focusing on global expansion plans and instead put a spotlight on parks in the United States. That’s right: Disney World is getting several new attractions and lands. Find out more about these below.
A suspended coaster in a new Monsters Inc. land
Hollywood Studios at Disney World is already home to Galaxy’s Edge, aka Star Wars land, and has Andy’s backyard from Toy Story, but it’s now getting a Monsters, Inc. land, which will be home to the first-ever suspended coaster in a Disney theme park.
Teased with much fanfare, it’s a coaster that lets you ride through the door vault at Monsters. Inc headquarters. It doesn’t look disappointing from the first released concept art, which shows two seats suspended with laugh or scare canisters on the top. So basically, holding onto a door – in a safe manner – as you zoom past others. It should be fun. Work on the land will kick off next year.
A similarly fast-moving attraction in Disney World’s Epcot will officially reopen in 2025 – ‘Test Track 3.0’ by Chevrolet will still launch you at fast speeds on an outdoor course but will have new ride scenes focused on in-vehicle technology, customization, and personalization. It’s summarized as “highlighting the past, present, and future,” focusing on celebrating vehicles.
Avengers Campus is getting a major expansion, and quite the guest star
Deadpool and Wolverine are already finding a new home at Avengers Campus at Disneyland, but D23 also teased a massive expansion to this land. Two new attractions are set for construction, and one of them will feature a familiar face.
‘Stark Flight Lab’ will have you spinning at all sorts of heights from a robot arm as you test superhero skills on a simulated flight. Of course, Tony Stark will be featured, and Robert Downey Jr. will be reprising the role; he has also tested the ride with Disney CEO Bob Iger. This should be quite the adventure, though, from riding on a track to a robot arm performing flips and twirls.
Second, and likely coming a bit sooner, is ‘Avengers Infinity Defense’, which will have you sit in a custom ride vehicle that will let you jump between worlds like Wakanda, Asgard, and New York City alongside classic Marvel heroes and eventually meet King Thanos. Disney also announced several Marvel attractions for global parks, including Hong Kong Disneyland and Shanghai Disneyland.
An Encanto themed-ride and Indiana Jones will land at Animal Kingdom
Encanto, one of the best Disney Plus movies, will finally get its first-ever attraction at Disney World’s Animal Kingdom. You’ll be seated on a journey that takes you through the famous house from the film – the Casita – and follow along as Antonio gets his special gift with other characters from the Madrigal family.
This will be part of a new ‘Topical Americas’ land replacing the current Dinoland at the park. Alongside the Encanto Casita, Animal Kingdom will get an all-new Indiana Jones-themed ride to let you join “Indy” in exploring a recently discovered Maya temple. It should be a bumpy, thrilling ride that might have snakes.
The new ‘Tropical Americas’ land will begin construction this fall (think September to November 2024), and it should open in 2027.
Disney World’s Magic Kingdom is getting an entirely new land
Hollywood Studios is getting Monsters Inc., and Animal Kingdom is getting the first ride themed after Encanto, but Magic Kingdom is getting several enhancements, including an entirely new land focused on Villains. The Evil Queen, Ursula, Hades, Captain Hook, and the Magic Mirror are just a sum of evil-doers who will likely be apart.
Dubbed ‘Villains at Magic Kingdom’ currently, Josh D’Amaro, Disney Experiences Chairman, teased that the park will get two flagship attractions, dining and shopping, on a massive scale. Aside from that tease, we only have some spooky concept art that looks very immersive. No set exact date for an opening was given, but preparation at the park is said to be underway.
Separate from this, ‘Frontierland’, which is home to the recently opened Tiana’s Bayou Adventure and other coasters, will get a new section themed after the film Cars. That’ll offer two new attractions, the first of which will be a thrilling race across the frontier, and the second will be more family-focused, both likely featuring a lot of Lightning McQueen and Mater. Construction kicks off in early 2025.
While Disney is known for nighttime entertainment that comes to life through projection, fireworks, plenty of LEDs, and sometimes drones, there is a new evening parade set to start in the summer (June, July, or August) of 2025 called ‘Disney Starlight’. It’s inspired by the ‘Main Street Electrical Parade’ and promises to use the latest technology to run through a story with characters from Frozen, Peter Pan, and Encanto, among others.
Separate from the physical experiences, such as attractions or evening shows, we also got more details on Disney’s massive partnership with Epic Games. The main event is still being teased as a connected universe with Disney, Star Wars, Marvel, and Pixar characters all under one roof in a converging, immersive world where you can play, create, and watch all sorts of content. It’s still “a few years away,” but for now, more Disney characters are arriving in Fortnite as skins and playable characters.
Villains like Maleficent, Captain Hook, and Cruella de Vil are the first Disney Animation cast to arrive, and The Incredibles from Pixar is set for this fall. Next week, more Star Wars characters will be appearing, including Moff Gideon, and on August 16, 2024, the next Marvel event will bring Doctor Doom to Fortnite.