The Disney Company held D23 this past weekend and made lots of exciting announcements for things to come at Walt Disney World. For those that don't know, D23 is an annual event where Disney makes announcements about the Disney Company. There tend to be announcements made regarding the future of Disney Parks. While the announcements made at D23 are not guaranteed or set in stone, they give a general idea of the path that Disney Parks are headed towards, and it is fun to hear the ideas that Imagineers are considering.
As someone who frequents Walt Disney World, I love hearing about the little (or big) changes to come. Change is necessary at Disney World to keep people coming backing and to always have something new to experience on every visit. Walt Disney said it best- "The park means a lot to me in that it's something that will never be finished. Something that I can keep developing, keep plussing and adding to—it's alive. It will be a live, breathing thing that will need changes." Here I will layout the D23 announcements that I am most excited about and that I hope Disney actually brings to life.
1) Beyond Big Thunder Mountain
This is the most exciting announcement in my opinion, because there is just so much possibility there and so much unknown. Walt Disney World owns a large portion of land behind Big Thunder Mountain that it has never used. The company is now considering adding to Magic Kingdom and creating an all new area in the biggest expansion of Magic Kingdom that there has ever been. It is almost goosebump raising to think that Walt's first park at Disney World will be grown so many years later and will make Magic Kingdom even more desirable to visit.
Now, the Disney Company has been talking about this expansion to Magic Kingdom for a few years now and there haven't been any kind of concrete decisions made. I think it is great that the Imagineers are taking their time to make sure that the expansion fits in with the feeling of Magic Kingdom and accomplishes Walt's goals with the original park. There would be nothing worse than tacking on another "land" to Magic Kingdom that makes the Park feel cheap and amusement park-esque.
Some ideas that have been discussed for Beyond Big Thunder Mountain is a Coco Land, an Encanto Land, or a Villains Land. Encanto is looking unlikely, since Disney has announced that another Park may be gaining an Encanto area (keep reading below for more information on this). I would personally love to see an expansion of Frontierland as that is my favorite Land in Magic Kingdom and there is not currently enough space or rides to do it justice. A Frozen Land would also be neat, but it would be hard for Imagineers to make a smooth transition between Big Thunder Mountain to Frozen. Although this expansion will likely not be open for public consumption until at least a decade from now, I am very very excited to see that Disney continues its mantra that the Parks will never be considered complete.
2) Pirates of the Caribbean Themed Lounge
Now that Magic Kingdom has sadly lost my favorite ride, Splash Mountain, Pirates of the Caribbean has moved into that top spot. Therefore, I am pretty excited about this announcement. The Pirates of the Caribbean lounge will be located right by the Pirates ride, but an exact location has not yet been announced. There haven't been too many details released on if this will be a restaurant or just a drink spot like Oga's Cantina in Hollywood Studios.
I personally would love to see it open as a Table Service restaurant because there are not many good Table Service spots in Magic Kingdom. I also really don't think a drink spot would fit in with Magic Kingdom. This was after all the park that used to not allow any alcohol and it has slowly transitioned to allowing alcohol to only be served at Table Service restaurants. The park just feels too wholesome to have a quote un-quote bar in it. I really hope Disney hits the mark with the theming of the lounge because this has the potential to feel like an eatery straight out of the Pirates movies.
3) Hatbox Ghost is Coming to the Haunted Mansion
There is quite a history behind the Hatbox Ghost and true Disney fans are very excited at the news that it will finally be making an appearance on the Haunted Mansion attraction in Disney World. The Hatbox ghost is one of the 900 Haunts and holds his head inside the hatbox he is holding. While this may seem insignificant, the Hatbox Ghost holds a lot of history in Disney parks and will be a cool thing for people to see who know about that history.
The Hatbox Ghost was supposed to have appeared in the Haunted Mansion when the attraction first opened. However, the technology at the time and the lighting effects in the Mansion made it impossible to pull off the effect. There has been talk about bringing back the Hatbox Ghost for years, and now it looks like it will be coming in November 2023.
4) Tropical Americas Themed Land in Animal Kingdom
Disney World is planning on replacing Dinoland in Animal Kingdom with a Tropical Americas themed area. The Dinoland area of Animal Kingdom is desperately in need of a retheme and modernization. It is mostly for small children, the theming is not great, and I tend to skip right over that area every time I visit Animal Kingdom. It was a shame because I love the theming of Animal Kingdom, and Dinoland just felt like a poorly thought-out area that didn't fit in with the vibe of the rest of the Park. I am very excited about this reimagination.
Disney has announced the replacement of Dinoland for a couple of years now, and they are not consistent on an intended plan. It definitely does not seem like any final decisions have been made. Last year, Disney announced it would be rethemed to a Moana or Zootopia area. That clearly never happened. This year at D23, it was announced that it would be rethemed to "Tropical Americas" and contain experiences for both Encanto and Indiana Jones. It is further rumored that the Indiana Jones ride from DisneyLand will replace the Dinosaur ride. I think Tropical Americas will fit in with the theming of the rest of Animal Kingdom and would love if Disney could convince Imagineer Joe Rhode to come out of retirement to create this!
5) Zootopia Show coming to the Tree of Life
The Tree of Life contains a theater in its core and has always played the show "It's Tough To Be A Bug" since the opening of Animal Kingdom. As much as I enjoy the current show, I also love Zootopia and think it is time for some change. There are only so many times you can feel ants scurrying under you on the benches and get poked in the back by hornets before it starts to feel little old. I'll admit that I'm a little disappointed that it now looks like Zootopia will not be awarded its own land in Walt Disney World. We can only trust that the Imagineers know what they're doing. If you really want to experience Zootopia, there is always the new Zootopia Land opening in Shanghai Disneyland!
6) Soarin' Over California to Return to Epcot
This is a small one compared to others I mentioned above, but is exciting for guests who frequently go to Disney World. Small things like this wouldn't entice the normal Disney guest to make a special trip to Disney World. But the small things are nice for guests who go to Disney World often and help to make their experiences slightly different each time. This one coincidentally occurs when we will be in Epcot, so we will get to go on a different Soarin' ride than the last time we visited.
Soarin' Over California is the original version of the attraction as it opened for the first time in Epcot. It features sights from the state of California. It was eventually replaced by Soarin' Over the World. Starting September 2023 until likely the end of the year, Soarin' Over California returns for the first time to Epcot for guests to experience!
There are a lot of exciting things coming to Disney World. I hope this post gets you excited to visit in the future and shines a light on the fact that Disney World will never actually be "finished."
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