Disney recently wrapped up it’s D23 conference, revealing a wide array of news and changes coming to the brand at large. As a result, there is a whole lot of Disney updates regarding their parks and Disney Cruise Line. At this point, it might be worth me mentioning that we’re a travel agency and not an entertainment blog, so if you’re reading this hoping for some hot takes or theories on Avengers Doomsday, I don’t have any.
Disney World
Back in 2024, Disney announced their plans to expand Magic Kingdom with a whole new land, named “Villain’s Land”. Although the name might be a bit on the nose, Disney villains are quite popular with many fans, so the idea has merit to it. This is slated to include two rides, one themed on the magic mirror and including a large cast of villains, and one focused on Maleficent. Early reporting estimates that this land will be about the same size as the Galaxy’s Edge Star Wars land in Hollywood Studios.
Villains Land is part of the massive Disney updates dropped during D23. Disney Promotional Image owned by Disney
Continuing with the changes in Magic Kingdom, construction has already started where Tom Sawyer Island was in Frontierland. Replacing it is Piston Peak, an area themed around the Cars franchise. A demolition derby ride and a rally ride are expected to be part of this new space. While in Tomorrowland, the Carousel of Progress is getting an update, with the dad being voiced by Bryan Cranston, and the mom by Jamie Lee Curtis. Whether this means any revisions to the dialogue isn’t clear. Perhaps they’ll spice up the script with door knocking discussions or add a brother named Mike to the story.
Piston Peak is part of the enormous Desney updates announced at D23. Disney Promotional Image owned by Disney.
Over in Hollywood Studios, that park recently saw the reimagining of the Rock’n’Roller Coaster to include the Muppets, something that I am looking forward to seeing myself. The area that used to host the famous felt cast has been under construction for a new Monsters, Inc themed area, including two new dining locations, Harryhausen’s and Archie’s Scare Pig Pizza. Replacing Muppetvision 3D will be Welcome to Monstropolis, which will be a similar stage show. They are also bringing a coaster ride based off the Door Vault from the films, which will be Disney’s first “suspended” coaster style ride, that is, the track is above the cars. While parts of the land are set to open in 2027, the coaster, sadly, will not be.
The Monster, Inc. takes over the former Muppet area in the latest Disney updates. Disney Promotional Image owned by Disney.
Moving to Epcot, we are seeing the first update of Spaceship Earth in 20 years, however, there isn’t much information about it yet. These are part of delayed upgrades that were supposed to have happened before COVID. Another update coming to Epcot is that they are reworking Journey Into Imagination with Figment. Their big announcement is that Dreamfinder is coming back from the original 1983 version. While I never got to experience that version, my wife and MANY other Epcot fans are very excited to see his return.
The Tropical Americas area is part of the sweeping Disney updates. Disney Promotional Image owned by Disney
Finally, we come to Animal Kingdom, with another slate of changes announced. Construction is already underway on the Tropical Americas section of the park, which used to be the DinoLand area. As part of those changes two rides are being built. The first is an Encanto themed ride where guests will enter The Casita on the day Antonio receives his gift where they will be taken through the house seeing the events of that day. The other ride is being built where the Dinosaur ride was. This one will be an Indiana Jones ride, similar to the one at Disneyland but with its own story and theming. There is also set to be a carousel ride in the Tropical Americas area with popular animal characters from across Disney’s properties.
The terrifying Yeti in Expedition Everest will move again! Just one more of the huge Disney updates. Disney Promotional Image owned by Disney
There’s Yeti more news, though, because the biggest news is about the Expedition Everest ride. When you’re on that ride, the ominous presence of a Yeti disrupts your journey, and for many visitors that monster has always been limited to shadows, noises, and a statue near the end of the ride. That statue is actually an animatronic Yeti and, when the ride first opened, it would claw at the riders. But the complex figure promptly broke and Disney imagineers permanently disabled its movements. Well, Disney has announced that it is coming back and it will once again move! We’ll see how long that lasts.
Disneyland
Over on the West Coast, Disneyland is seeing some serious changes as well. In California Adventure, they are expanding the Avengers Campus to include two new attractions. Avengers Infinity Defense and the Stark Flight Lab are both set to open in 2028. Additionally, in California Adventure, we are going to see a boat-style ride themed around the movie Coco with a journey through the Land of the Dead. While it’s known that a Pandora area is being built in California Adventure, Disney was surprisingly quiet on that front.
Over in Disneyland, two shows are set to be refurbished 2027, the Magic Happens parade, and the fireworks show Remember … Dreams Come True. They also announced that changes will be coming to Tomorrowland at Disneyland, but were pretty light on the details.
Disney Cruise Line
Finally, some new announcements for Disney Cruise Line. Their newest ship, Disney Believe, is still set to arrive in 2027, with some new details released. The Grand Hall will feature a statue of Moana and her animal companions. They went over some more of the ship’s decoration and aesthetics, but overall, it is expected to be similar to the other ships in the class.
I really like the design for the Believe’s aft that was shown as part of all the Disney updates. Promotional Image owned by Disney.
Their big announcement was the reveal of the next class of DCL ships and they were very, very light on details. Here’s what we know right now:
- They are set to first arrive in 2029
- They will have a lower passenger capacity than the Wish class ships, probably around 3000 passengers.
That’s it. That’s all we know about it. In my opinion, this seems like a very reasonable step to take, with cruise ships hitting capacities of 5, 6, and 7,000 passengers, the trend has become stressful for the crew, the ports, and the passengers as well. I believe that it also creates some fragility in the market, if you can’t fill such a giant ship, the logistics needed to support it risk collapsing. To me, it has felt like an over-expansion like we see so many famous retail brands commit to and then collapse from. So, I am glad to see Disney Cruise Line taking a step back from these megaships.
If any of this news has piqued your interest and made you want to visit one of Disney’s properties, we can help. As you might have guessed we are a travel agency and if you are looking to book a trip to a resort, take a cruise, or just get away for a few days we’ve got you covered! Each year we book hundreds of vacations for individuals, families, and large groups. We’ve got years of experience and firsthand knowledge to make sure you get the best trip possible with support all along the way. Our team of travel professionals can help find and book the best rates and discounts for your trip because it’s our job. So don’t book on your own, use our expertise and book with us so we can help get you, far far away.
