It’s the biggest week of the year for Disney theme park announcements! We’re at Disney’s massive fan convention to see what’s coming to Disneyland in California, Walt Disney World in Florida, and other Disney destinations around the world. So far, we’ve shared first looks at a Coco ride, new Cars ride, an Avatar land, massive new Cars area, and there’s tons more to dive into below.
An area of the D23 fan event that is most exciting for us is the pavilion hosted by Walt Disney Imagineering with exciting sneak peeks at future theme park attractions, complete with never-before-shared information. There will be a lot of news coming out of D23 this weekend, especially during a special presentation livestreaming on Disney+. Mickey Visit brings you the latest Disney news and planning resources, including what theme park guests get wrong without knowing it and Magic Kingdom’s transportation expansion. Plus, make sure to check out the movie announcements from last night.
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First Look at Villains Land Coming to Disney World
Villains Land is coming to Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World. This entire new land is inspired by the classic antagonists of Walt Disney Animation Studios films. Disney first announced Villains Land at D23 2024, and the project is now under construction on a massive site inside Magic Kingdom.
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Disney is sharing a first look at the “guardian trees” that will be part of Villains Land. Imagineers describe these as “clay dimensional sketches” and “early explorations,” so their final design could change. They seem to be inspired by the foreboding woods in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
Seeing as the only other visual reference revealed so far for Villains Land has been the concept art pictured above, shared two years ago, this is pretty exciting to see more of what’s being developed.
Visuals for Reimagined Space Mountain
Space Mountain is being reimagined at Tokyo Disneyland. In 2024, the previous iteration of the classic indoor roller coaster permanently closed. Since then, Disney has completely demolished the old Space Mountain and built an entirely new one, with a new take on the building’s conical exterior.
Models of the ride building, the rocket vehicles, and a structure that will stand in the ride’s outdoor plaza are all on display.
Earlier this week, Disney announced that the new version of the ride will be titled Space Mountain: Earthrise. It will open in 2027.
Lion King Log Flume Sneak Peek
A combination of a log flume thrill ride and a classic Fantasyland-style dark ride telling the story of The Lion King is coming to Disney Adventure World at Disneyland Paris.
Disney is showing off maquettes, or small statues, of one of the scenes from the ride. This sequence will feature Timon and Pumbaa showing young Simba their “Hakuna Matata” lifestyle of no worries.
The log ride vehicles will contain four rows, the same as the Walt Disney World version of Tiana’s Bayou Adventure.
A large tree will flank the ride out front. Look closely, and you can spot Rafiki’s abstract painting of Simba.
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New Magic Kingdom Family Ride
Piston Peak National Park, a new area themed to a mountainous region set in the world of Pixar’s Cars, is coming to Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World.
Piston Peak will feature a family-friendly outdoor ride starring Miss Fritter, the demolition derby school bus from Cars 3. Guests will ride in small cars that spin on a turntable, somewhat similar to Alien Swirling Saucers at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. See more about Magic Kingdom’s new ride in our separate coverage.
Monstropolis Businesses
Monstropolis, a new land based on Monsters, Inc., is coming to Disney’s Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World. The land’s headliner attraction will be a roller coaster based on the door factory chase sequence from the film.
Imagineers previously shared how they’re designing Monstropolis to feel like a real place inhabited by real monsters. A bulletin board displays some of that design thought process. It teases that Monstropolis will have “buildings and landscapes that reflect the unique environment of the monster world.”
The bulletin board also seemingly reveals some of the community spots that will make up Monstropolis at Disney’s Hollywood Studios:
- Tony’s Grossery
- Mike & Sulley’s
- Hidden City Café
- Art’s Gallery
Art is the purple monster from Monsters University, pictured above in Disneyland’s former Pixar Play Parade.
Note that these may or may not be places that guests can actually walk inside. We might just see them as part of the exterior façades.
The Show Floor also displays some of the new monsters Imagineers are creating to fill Monstropolis and help it feel alive, including a “splitting hare” and a “monster pigeon.”
Encanto Animals and Ride Vehicle
An Encanto ride is coming to Disney’s Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World. As previously announced, this attraction will take place on the day Antonio Madrigal receives his gift of talking to animals.
Some of the animal friends that guests will see in the Encanto ride are making their debut, including a donkey and a capybara.
Maquettes of the ride vehicles are also being shared for the first time. Each vehicle seems to be made of parts and accoutrements from the Madrigals’ Casita.
There’s also a look at one of the scenes in the ride, depicting animals entering the kitchen, which is prepped for Antonio’s celebration.
Carousel of Progress Costumes
Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress at Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World is currently closed for a major transformation that will change every scene and introduce an Audio-Animatronics figure of Walt Disney.
New costumes for John and Sarah, the main couple in the attraction, are on display. As Imagineers make changes for the future version of this ride, they are looking to the past for inspiration, and you can see a mood board of sorts from the original 1964 Carousel of Progress.
Rover the dog is also on the Show Floor. He looks pretty much the same as he did in the previous version of the attraction.
Piston Peak’s Thrill Ride Will Be on a Track
In addition to the family-friendly ride described above, Piston Peak National Park at Magic Kingdom will also feature a thrill ride emulating the feeling of off-roading.
This attraction was first announced in 2024, but its ride system has remained a mystery. Would it have a track? Would it be trackless? How would the ride vehicles move across the terrain?
The scale model of Piston Peak displayed on the D23 Show Floor reveals that the area’s thrill ride will be on a track. However, the track seems to be more outward from the ground as opposed to the concealed nature of Disney’s other ast-car rides, Test Track at EPCOT and Radiator Springs Racers at Disney California Adventure.
See more of the Piston Peak scale model in our separate coverage.
A screen near the model also shows new concept art for the Piston Peak thrill ride. Guests will travel through various types of landscapes, including bumpy planked bridge. This is a reference to the barrel bridge on Tom Sawyer Island, which Piston Peak is replacing.
This new concept art shows the vistas of teh Piston Peak Ridge Run Trail. The race that guests are participating in is being “broadcast” by the Racing Sports Network.
As riders cross the finish line, they’ll be greeted by Lightning McQueen, Mater, Luigi, and Guido. See that concept artwork at the top of the article.
Coco Ride Queue
A Coco boat ride is coming to Disney California Adventure at Disneyland Resort. The ride appears to be taking place after the events of the Coco movie, not during the film’s narrative.
A statue in the queue will pay tribute to Héctor Rivera, Miguel’s great-great-grandfather, the musician who wrote all the songs Ernesto de la Cruz stole. See more from the Coco ride reveals from this weekend here.
Carousel Animals
A new carousel is coming to Disney’s Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World. This new take on a traditional carousel will substitute horse steeds with sculptures of favorite Disney animal characters. Within the story of the ride, each one was created by a local woodcarver.
Attendees can see what some of those cute carousel animals will look like, including Nigel the pelican from Finding Nemo, the capybara from Encanto, and Eeyore.
Indiana Jones Temple
Disney is transforming the former DINOSAUR ride at Disney’s Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World into a reimagined attraction starring Indiana Jones.
The façade of the ride will feature a large Mayan pyramid, for which we’ve been tracking construction progress. A scale model of that pyramid is on display, showing the level of detail that Imagineers are putting into this structure.
Avatar Land Next to the Monorail
A new land based on Avatar is coming to Disney California Adventure at Disneyland Resort. The area will partially replace a portion of the park’s Hollywood Land, and partially replace an area currently categorized as just beyond the park’s borders, the Disneyland Resort transportation hub.
A model of the huge Avatar land mountain architecture is on display on the D23 Show Floor. Not only does the model show how the land’s headliner boat ride will travel in front of a waterfall, but it also reveals the placement of the land in relation to the Disneyland Monorail. See more of our coverage of the Show Floor’s Avatar reveal.
Avengers Tower of Terror Building
A new drop tower ride starring the Avengers is coming to Hong Kong Disneyland. This new attraction will use the same ride system as Disney’s previous drop towers, The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror and Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission – BREAKOUT! However, Disney is building this one from scratch, as Hong Kong Disneyland has never had its own version of either of those two rides.
A model of the tower is on display, showing what awaits guests as they approach this huge building and how it fits within the park’s existing Marvel rides. Within the story, the new building is the Avengers’ Research Testing Labs.
Lots More to Come
Believe it or not, these reveals from the D23 Show Floor may be just the tip of the iceberg of this huge weekend of Disney theme park news. Click here to see all the news revealed at D23 with our ongoing coverage, and stay tuned for more!
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