Visiting Walt Disney World these days, it’s hard to not notice the massive construction walls. These construction walls line significantly large areas of three of the resort’s four theme parks. Many new rides are in the works. Most of them are part of bigger construction projects that will introduce entire new lands based on some of Disney’s most popular franchises and characters.
As we look ahead, there’s a lot to be excited about. However, there are also many unanswered questions about when Disney World’s new rides will open we’d like to tackle with some predictions, based on Disney’s history of theme park construction and other projects in development elsewhere. At Mickey Visit, we cover the latest Disney news, like all the restaurants Disney is opening this year and the recent Disney response to a guest lawsuit.
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When Will Disney World’s Turbocharged Future Rides Open?
In 2023, Disney Experiences Chairman, and now recently announced Disney CEO-elect, Josh D’Amaro shared plans for Disney to “turbocharge” its investment into theme parks. Specifically, D’Amaro pledged $60 billion toward new theme park attractions and cruise ships. Furthermore, $17 billion of that has been specifically designated for Walt Disney World in Florida.
As part of this initiative, Disney has a full slate of projects at various stages of development for all of its global properties. For example, we’re especially excited for the robust lineup of new Avengers, Coco, and Avatar rides opening at Disney California Adventure. Disney is also opening other new expansions at their theme parks around the world.
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In Orlando, Disney’s “vacation kingdom of the world” will welcome an unprecedented list of new attractions themed to favorite characters old and new. Many of these are projects of significant scale that will take up huge parcels of space within the theme parks.
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New Disney World Rides Opening Dates
Before we dive into the major new ride and land additions, let’s first look at the 2026 additions coming soon. There are multiple new ride improvements and reimaginings set to open in the coming months.
Walt Disney World has a huge new slate of additions coming over the next five years. 2026 is a set of small and medium-sized changes, but these will still be a big hit with guests.
At Magic Kingdom, both two classic rides will reopen in spring 2026 after significant refurbishments. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, which closed in January 2025, received a completely new track and an updated show element.
Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, which closed in August 2025, installed handheld blasters and a new character, among other improvements.
Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run at Disney’s Hollywood Studios will introduce a new mission with Din Djarin aka the Madalorian and Grogu aka “baby Yoda” on May 22, 2026. This new storyline will also come with upgraded technology for this 2019 attraction. The real-time image rendering inside the Millennium Falcon windows will look smoother than ever.
The changes to Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run will also debut at Disneyland Park in California, where they arrive shortly after a more fluid timeline for Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge debuts.
Also at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring The Muppets will open in summer 2026. Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith will permanently close on March 2, 2026, to prepare for this transformation.
When the ride reopens, the existing track will remain in place. The story will instead incorporate Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, the Electric Mayhem band, and other favorite Muppets.
In late summer 2026, Disney’s Hollywood Studios will introduce a new area called The Walt Disney Studios. The aesthetic here will be modeled after the Animation building at The Walt Disney Company’s global headquarters in Burbank, California. This area replaces the section of the park formerly known as Animation Courtyard.
The Walt Disney Studios will repurpose the buildings within its vicinity for updated experiences. The complex that once housed Star Wars Launch Bay will be transformed back into a new version of The Magic of Disney Animation, a longtime attraction that closed in 2015.
The new iteration of The Magic of Disney Animation will showcase the artistry of Walt Disney Animation Studios with hands-on activities like drawing classes, an indoor playground, and character meet & greets.
Next door, the building known for hosting preschool-geared productions will debut Disney Jr. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Live!, a show that first premiered at Disney California Adventure in 2025.
While we’re on the subject of Disney Jr., and rounding out our survey of short-term Walt Disney World additions, Bluey and Bingo are coming to Disney’s Animal Kingdom in summer 2026. To prepare for Bluey’s arrival, the Wildlife Express Train and Rafiki’s Planet Watch will temporarily close starting February 23, 2026.
Looking beyond 2026, Walt Disney World has far more ambitious plans than sprucing up rides that are already built. In the years to come, Walt Disney World guests will be able to step into massive expansions based on the story worlds of Encanto; Indiana Jones; Monsters, Inc.; Cars; and Disney Villains. Let’s get into each of these one by one and predict when they may open. There is no insider information here, just helpful historical and business context to provide around all of these new planned attractions.
Timeline for New Disney World Rides Opening
First up, let’s dive into the project furthest along in construction and likely opening soonest, Tropical Americas at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
This is the only project of the bunch that Disney has publicly assigned an opening timeframe: 2027. The question remains, though, whether Disney will open all of Tropical Americas at once, or in phases.
Tropical Americas will depict a fictional village called Pueblo Esperanza. Here, guests can experience attractions based on the Indiana Jones franchise and the Walt Disney Animation Studios film Encanto.
This land replaces DinoLand, U.S.A., which closed in phases over the past few years and officially shut down for good in February 2026.
The Indiana Jones ride will repurpose DINOSAUR’s ride system. Inside, riders will be immersed in a new story about Indy exploring an ancient temple.
This will be inherently similar in nature to Indiana Jones Adventure at Disneyland in California. The DINOSAUR ride already used the same ride system as the Disneyland Indiana Jones Adventure attraction. This new ride will rely on the similar Jeep transport, but feature an original story.
The Encanto ride, meanwhile, will be built from the ground up.
The story will take place inside the Madrigals’ casita. Riders are visiting on the day Antonio, the young boy in the film, receives his gift of being able to talk to animals. While Disney hasn’t announced the ride system, expect a family-friendly ride in the style of a modern Fantasyland dark ride.
The third ride in Tropical Americas will be a carousel with ride vehicles shaped like favorite Disney animal characters.
We predict the Indiana Jones ride may open first with the Encanto ride or carousel following later. There was a time when if Disney was building a huge theme park project, the whole thing would open at once. This was the case, for example, when all of Buena Vista Street and all of Cars Land at Disney California Adventure opened on the same day in June 2012.
Disney has gotten away from this strategy since then with nearly every recent major expansion in the United States. Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge opened in 2019 at both Disneyland and Disney’s Hollywood Studios without its star attraction, Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, until several months later. In 2023, Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway opened at Disneyland a few months before the rest of the Mickey’s Toontown makeover opened for guests.
There is a push and pull of having a big launch with the opening of an entire new land to market nationally vs the need to have ride capacity at a theme park. At Disney’s Animal Kingdom, the park will be hurting for ride capacity during the period that this land is under construction with DINOSAUR now closed. That would be the cause of a staggered opening vs full land debut.
In any case, the Indiana Jones attraction at Disney’s Animal Kingdom should be further along than the Encanto ride right from the moment DINOSAUR closed, as the show building, track, and ride vehicles for Indiana Jones are all already in place. Even with all the work to be done on the scenery and new characters along the ride path, that’s a significant head start compared to Encanto still being built from the ground up with a long way before they resemble anything close to their final forms.
So when in 2027 can we expect Tropical Americas? Let’s compare to another attraction Disney repurposed into a new experiences. Splash Mountain at Magic Kingdom closed in January 2023, replaced by Tiana’s Bayou Adventure in June 2024. We’d expect the transformation from DINOSAUR to Indiana Jones to be comparable. Even though there is more rock work and other changes needed, the team is only focused on handling the change on one coast compared to the need to work simultaneously at Disneyland and Walt Disney World for Tiana’s Bayou Adventure.
So, if the rides are staggered, we expect that the Indiana Jones Adventure will open before the Encanto ride. That would mean that Encanto would come some time later in the year.
Indiana Jones new ride opening prediction – Summer 2027
Encanto new ride opening prediction – Fall or late 2027
Moving on, Monstropolis is a new land coming to Disney’s Hollywood Studios based on the Pixar film Monsters, Inc. The headliner attraction here is a new roller coaster themed to the chase sequence through the door vaults at the climax of the movie. This ride is going to be awesome!
This will be the first suspended coaster in a Disney theme park. This means the track is above riders, with the coaster trains hanging from it.
Monstropolis replaces the Muppets Courtyard area of Disney’s Hollywood Studios, including Muppet*Vision 3D, the PizzeRizzo quick-service restaurant, the Mama Melrose’s Ristorante Italiano table-service restaurant, and two shops. One of those shops, Stage 1 Company Store, was bulldozed as part of construction. Its absence will allow for more pedestrian traffic through this soon-to-be very popular area.
Disney will repurpose the other facilities into new experiences that match the Monstropolis theme. For example, concept art depicts a theater venue named “The Glob,” pictured above, replacing what was once Muppet*Vision 3D and a restaurant resembling Harryhausen’s from the movie replacing what was once Mama Melrose’s Ristorante Italiano.
The key construction here is really the new roller coaster, but the remainder of the land infrastructure appears to be what is already in place.
Unlike Tropical Americas, Disney has not publicly assigned an opening year for Monstropolis. The lightly themed exterior of the roller coaster building seen in the concept artwork has us confident in a faster construction than the other projects on this list.
The attractions in Muppets Courtyard closed in May and June 2025. We expect that this will be the next new addition opening after Tropical Americas. Combine that with a marketing goal of opening one big new addition each year. We would expect to see Monstropolis on track for 2028.
At the time of this writing, construction has not yet gone vertical on the building that will house the indoor roller coaster. However, prep work on its foundation has been ongoing for months.
Unlike Tropical Americas, we think Monstropolis will open all at once. While the new land does have multiple attractions, the smaller experiences likely aren’t enough to stand on their own in attracting new guests. This stands in contrast to Tropical Americas’ Indiana Jones and Encanto rides.
Both of those are huge draws to Disney’s Animal Kingdom in their own right. We think they can open separately if needed. Therefore, we think all of Monstropolis with its roller coaster, new indoor theater attraction, and restaurants will open together.
Monstropolis new ride opening prediction – Summer 2028
Piston Peak National Park is the name of a new subsection of Frontierland at Magic Kingdom. It will be home to two new rides based on Pixar’s “Cars” franchise. One of the rides will be an “off-road” thrill ride while the other will be family-friendly.
As the area’s name implies, Disney will emulate a national park aesthetic, going for a rugged atmosphere with lots of trees, rocks, a river, and mountainous terrain. Other than these basic descriptions, Disney hasn’t shared many other details about what to expect with the two new “Cars” rides. To be clear, this is not a duplicate of Cars Land from Disney California Adventure. Radiator Springs is not coming to Magic Kingdom.
Because of Piston Peak National Park’s location within Magic Kingdom, we’re going to move on to talk about Magic Kingdom’s other big project under construction, then loop back to discuss both of them together.
As the final major project in our conversation today, we turn to one of most highly anticipated Disney ambitions in recent memory: Villains Land. The Disney Villains will be the centerpiece of their own land at Magic Kingdom. Details remain scarce, but we know there will be two attractions. One attraction seems to be a roller coaster in the concept art. Maleficent in dragon form is featured in the artwork, but otherwise no other specific Villains are confirmed just yet.
Disney Imagineers have shared briefly about their artistic inspirations for Villains Land’s aesthetic. Other than that, though, specifics about what to expect from the attractions or ride systems are still under wraps.
Note that “Villains Land” may not be the formal name of the area. Initially Disney used this term officially to describe the project. Then later the company began referring to it as a “Villains-themed land,” simply as a description rather than an actual name. As a shorthand, we’ll keep using Villains Land until Disney specifies further.
Now let’s loop back to Piston Peak National Park. Both that project and Villains Land will comprise the area of Magic Kingdom previously home to the Rivers of America and Tom Sawyer Island, as well as a portion of previously undeveloped forested property. Tom Sawyer Island closed and the Liberty Belle Riverboat was decommissioned from the Rivers of America in July 2025. Since then, all traces of what was there have been completely destroyed and backstage trees have been cleared, all to prepare for what’s coming.
The area is nearly unrecognizable as Disney begins the process of building Piston Peak National Park and Villains Land. It’s all still dirt for now. That being said, Disney had much more to get out of the way first with this project compared to Tropical Americas and Monstropolis.
Despite being located right next to each other and sharing the same massive construction site, Piston Peak will open before Villains Land. The two lands may end up opening multiple years apart.
Disney has been tight-lipped about both projects. However, they’ve shared many more specifics about Piston Peak National Park than Villains Land.
Clues from similarly sized Disney construction projects the past give us an idea of what the timeline may be. At Disney’s Animal Kingdom, a land called Camp Minnie-Mickey closed in January 2014. In its place, Pandora – The World of Avatar opened in May 2017.
At Disney’s Hollywood Studios, the Studio Backlot Tour attraction closed in September 2014. This was followed by the closure of the Streets of America land in April 2016. These huge parcels of property were transformed into Toy Story Land, which opened in June 2018, and Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, which opened in August 2019.
A minimum three-year turn-around for a project of this scale seems to be Disney’s realistic pace. With this project in particular, there’s the extra work involved of clearing the Rivers of America and building the intricacies of Piston Peak National Park’s planned rockwork and water components. This all may may take a bit longer than three years. Given the summer 2025 closure of Tom Sawyer Island and the Rivers of America, that would place an estimated opening for Piston Peak National Park at late 2028 or into 2029 depending on speed. The scale of this new addition combined with the previous two projects occupying the important 2027 and 2028 marketing spots could easily mean Piston Peak moves to 2029.
It’s here where we get into Disney’s good problem to have: With Disney building so many new rides, how much time do they want to space between each grand opening? If Monstropolis could open in 2028, and Piston Peak National Park may be ready sometime that same year, does Disney care more about increasing park capacity as soon as possible, in which case Piston Peak National Park may open in 2028? Or would Disney want to let each project have its own season of marketing blitz and wait to open Piston Peak National Park in 2029, even if it’s technically ready to go in late 2028? We could see one opening in summer of one year and then another opening in the now busy early months of the following year.
Then there’s Villains Land to consider. Based on the level of unknowns about this expansion and the sheer volume of new rides in the pipeline that need to open before it, we expect Villains Land to be at least four years away. From everything Disney has said so far, villains is being planned to open second after Piston Peak.
Piston Peak new rides opening prediction – 2029
Villains Land new rides opening prediction – 2030
There’s a lot to look forward to in the coming years at Walt Disney World, and we’re excited to continue to bring you coverage of all it right here at Mickey Visit. We will be watching closely and sharing any details as we get them.
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