Wow the D23 fan event did not disappoint. One major complaint about past events was announcements for the parks were often just blue sky musings and not actual plans or projects. Well that changed this time. Disney Parks Chairman Josh D’Amaro promised that these announcements were in his words “Shovel to Soil” projects due to come on line in the next 5 years. There has already been a lot written about what was revealed in the panel presentation. I will try my best to summarize here, especially the parts Ole Grandpa finds most exciting. Note: All images are concept art from Disney that was presented at the event.

Disney Land Resort

California Adventure

The big news for Disneyland Resort area is that Avatar themed land is coming to California adventure. This will be like pandora in the animal kingdom and feature a boat ride themed after the movie Avatar: The Way With Water . From the concept art, it looks to be a pretty dark thrill ride.

Next up for California Adventure is a CoCo inspired ride. This will also be a boat ride, and construction will start in 2026. This will be the first CoCo based ride in any Disney park.

Avengers Campus is also getting much needed love with 2 new attractions. Avengers Infinity Defense and Stark Flight Lab. Infinity Defense will be along the lines of the Spiderman Ride at Universal Studios, where the car you are riding in is synched to 3D movie screens. Makes for a great thrill ride. Stark Flight Lab is going to feature a 2 person pod where a robot arm grasps the pod and takes you on a simulated flight. That also sounds pretty cool! Construction to start in 2025.

Disneyland

One thing I am really excited about is a brand new Audio-Animatronic of Walt himself. This show is entitled: Walt Disney — A Magical Life. It will be shown in the Main Street Opera house. This show will bring me back to the time where I watched the Disney shows on TV where Walt would do the introductions. This show is slated to start running in 2025.

Let’s not forget Disneyland 70th anniversary is also coming next year. I was there for the 50th anniversary. Got my Golden Ears! Not sure what the 70th will bring, but I’m sure it will be special.

Walt Disney World

Animal Kingdom

First up is not such a well kept secret. Dinosaur area is going to be transformed to Tropical Americas. This will happen in phases. The Dinosaur ride will be changed to Indiana Joes, but not a complete copy of the Disneyland Ride. This land will also feature a dark ride based on Encanto featuring Madrigal Casita. This is supposed to be a very innovative ride. Really cannot wait to see it. Work starts in 2025

Epcot

Not much announced here. Test Track is slated to reopen next year 2025 and that was about it. Disney has already done a Butt Load (a Butt is 2 hogsheads so get your mind out of the gutter) of work at Epcot, so it is no surprise that this is the only thing of note here.

Disney Holywood Studios

DHS is getting a whole new land based on Monsters Inc. This land will feature a roller coaster based on the hanging doors in the movies. This will be the first inverted roller coaster at any Disney park. Grandpa used to love inverted coasters. Ground breaking should start in 2025.

Magic Kingdom

Lots to unpack here. Two major additions are coming. This is all part of the Beyond Big Thunder initiative. First up is 2 cars themed rides in Frontierland. There will be a rally race sorta like Radiator Springs racers in DCA. The next is one targeting younger guests. At this point I do not know if there will be an entire cars land or just 2 rides added to Frontierland.

Now for what I consider the biggest news. VILLAINSLAND. This is going to be huge! Villiansland will focus on the nightmares, terrible deeds, and unique stories of Disney’s many different villains and there might be a poison apple or two!.

This land will be home to 2 attractions along with shopping and dining. No dates were given, but based on the size of the project, it will be a while before shovels hit the dirt here.

What does Grandpa Think

All in all I found it pretty refreshing that these are actual planned projects and not just blue sky musings. I am very excited about Villiansland. This will transform MagicKingdom into a 2 or 3 day visit park. Grandpa has always been a fan of Disney villains!

The schedules are just place holders at this point. Many moving parts to projects such as these. I do like that dirt will be turned starting next year. We have already seen permits filed in Animal Kingdom. I don’t think they will keep the Bone Yard. My grandkids think that the Bone Yard is the greatest thing and spent hours there. Which gave Grandma and I much needed down time to just enjoy the day and people watch. It would be great if they replaced it with say Mayan Ruins to play in.

Hollywood Studios is already a very crowded park. Wait times for the major attractions early exceed 60 min on a regular basis. Adding more E-ticket rides may help as it will spread the demand over more rides. Of course it could hurt in that more people will come to the park. Time will tell I guess.

That’s about it. Let me know in the comments what got your attention and what you are looking forward to.

Later