15 HUGE Disneyland & Disney World Announcements We Could Hear This Week

Disney is expected to make a range of announcements about new additions coming to Walt Disney World, Disneyland, and Disney Parks around the world next week on September 9 at the Destination D23 event held at Disney's Contemporary Resort in the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando.

Though Disney often chooses to leave big announcements for the D23 Expo which happens on alternating years with Destination D23, this year there are a number of reasons we anticipate that large theme park announcements could be made at Destination D23.

What is Destination D23?

The Destination D23 event is a three-day long conference that features Disney history and a look behind the scenes at ongoing projects across the Disney company. This year the Walt Disney Company celebrates its 100th anniversary so to celebrate Destination D23 has promised guests a fun journey through every era of Disney's storytelling. The event also provides a setting for Disney executives to make big announcements.

Here's Why We Expect Big Disney Parks News

Disney Parks, Experiences and Products Chairman Josh D’Amaro will open the conference with a panel titled “A Celebration of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.”

This first panel with Josh D'Amaro is likely to hold the bulk of news released during the event. Disney updated the panel description released initially back in March to include the promise of “updates from around the world and some fun surprises along the way.”

We're anticipating updates on projects originally announced at the 2022 D23 Expo along with opening dates released for projects that are planned to open this year. While some of these anticipated updates are Disneyland news, Disney may decide to wait and save the biggest Disneyland announcements for the 2024 D23 Expo or which takes place in Anaheim, CA each year or share online as it makes sense to speak more directly to a local Disneyland crowd. We expect a range of updates on Walt Disney World but believe we could get some news for Disneyland too.

This is a list of announcements we could see this week or may come further in the future.

Wildcard Impact of CEO Bob Iger Return to Disney

This year's Destination D23 event may also reveal how the return of Bob Iger as the CEO of The Walt Disney Company may shift priorities in terms of these theme park projects. Bob Iger has stated he is prioritizing new experiences and projects at the Disney Parks and we may see this focus reflected in the announcements. Iger stated earlier this year that Disney plans to invest $17 billion in Walt Disney World over the next ten years.

During the 2022 D23 Expo, former CEO Bob Chapek was in charge so there is a chance some timelines of projects announced then have been shifted now that Bob Iger is the CEO. Though they are high up the chain, the Disney CEO position does have final say on expansion investment in the theme parks and the two CEO's differing personal preferences could have a real impact here.

Animal Kingdom Dinoland Changes

Dinoland at Animal Kingdom has been rumored for some time to be replaced by new and more popular Disney properties. This was teased during the 2022 D23 Expo when a segment of the Disney Parks presentation took guests on a ‘what if’ adventure through the mind of Imagineers and shared potential concept art to show guests what it would look like IF a Zootopia and Moana-themed land replaced the Dinoland area at Animal Kingdom.

Of course, the plans shared here were all potential “what ifs” to show guests what it looks like when Imagineers dream up ideas (often called “Blue Sky”) and were not a definite announcement.

However, it's clear this area will see some change, especially with the removal of Primeval Whirl in 2021. Announcements may include further details about changes to Dinoland at Animal Kingdom and whether the imagined concepts of Zootopia or Moana are still being considered as a replacement. We know that Disney executives and Imagineers have been actively reviewing the site for expansion.

Magic Kingdom Expansion

Also shared at the D23 Expo during this Disney Parks Panel of Imagineers sharing possible ideas they've shared, Disney teased an expansion they called “Beyond Big Thunder Mountain” to talk about what they could do with that area of Magic Kingdom if they expanded beyond that attraction. Concepts shared included popular Disney fan ideas like the much-discussed Villains Land featuring Maleficent at the center of the concept art to a land featuring the village from Coco or an area focused on the magic of Encanto.

Nothing was settled in terms of what this expansion could be so more details are definitely needed to think about which of these three ideas (Villains, Coco, Encanto) would likely be part of a Magic Kingdom expansion. An exciting announcement would include an update about a potential future Magic Kingdom project!

Tiana's Bayou Adventure Opening Date

Currently, all we know about the opening timing of Tiana's Bayou Adventure attraction coming to Walt Disney World and Disneyland is that it will open in late 2024. This new attraction is currently the one big ride actively being built in either Disneyland or Walt Disney World.

We recently heard when the new Tiana's Palace restaurant was opening at Disneyland it has us excited to learn more about the opening times. Construction started on this Splash Mountain replacement in Walt Disney World a couple of months before the Disneyland attraction so we expect that the Walt Disney World version of the attraction will open first.

NOTE – keep scrolling down for all of our Disneyland-related predications!

EPCOT Construction Finish Date

EPCOT’s redesign of the park split the previous Future World of the theme park into three neighborhoods: World Celebration, World Discovery, and World Nature.

We are still awaiting more details on the new outdoor space called CommuniCore Hall and CommuniCore Plaza for musical performances and other EPCOT festivals being built in World Celebration. There will also be a brand new location in this area for a Mickey & Friends meet and greet. This is one EPCOT neighborhood that is largely incomplete so we might see some updates on this progress.

Though Disney has stated that the multi-year Epcot transformation is completed, we would definitely expect some discussion of the expansion and some final news about the additions.

Moana Journey of Water Opening Date

We still do not have an opening date for Moana's Journey of Water, the new interactive water experience coming to EPCOT later this year in the World Nature neighborhood.

While the attraction has been in full swing with cast previews, Disney may have been holding off on announcing a specific date for the event since the attraction is already completed.

Figment Coming to EPCOT Date

Figment has also been announced as a returning character meet and greet by the end of 2023 but no official end date nor concept art has been shared yet.

It is possible we will get a full character preview of what this Figment interaction will be like along with an opening date!

New Disney100 EPCOT Nighttime Spectacular

EPCOT Forever has been running temporarily at EPCOT since Harmonious ended its run in April in the World Showcase.

Walt Disney World has been developing a brand new show for EPCOT to honor the Disney100 Celebration which takes place primarily in EPCOT. The new show will debut in late 2023 but we have not received any concept art or details about this new nighttime spectacular.

Avatar Experience at Disneyland

The Avatar experience coming to Disneyland was first mentioned in the February 2023 earnings call by CEO Bob Iger. The commentary present in that earnings call gave us a clear indication this was more than just a temporary experience and is an actual addition to the parks. This experience was called a bold expansion and it was revealed that Disney Imagineers are working closely with James Cameron (Avatar director) to develop the new experience.

We haven't heard news about this Avatar experience since the first news broke and Destination D23 may provide Disney the location to share an update with fans.

Fantasmic! Disneyland Return Date

The nighttime spectacular Fantasmic! at Disneyland burst into flames earlier this Spring which resulted in a shutdown of the show until Spring 2024. Disney announced that when the show returns in 2024 it will not feature the Maleficent dragon figure that was the showpiece that caught on fire but that the show will feature “new exciting magic” when it returns.

Disneyland fans have been anxiously awaiting news of this beloved nighttime spectacular so this is on our list of potential announcements. We could also see Disney announcing that some new version of the show is coming next year.

Tomorrowland Disneyland Transformation

It's no secret that Disneyland fans have been clamoring for a Tomorrowland transformation for many years. There is so much potential for construction changes in Tomorrowland including the now underutilized Star Wars: Launch Bay and the old tracks of the shutdown PeopleMover which take up considerable space in the land.

Expand the lens even more and you have a bevy of attractions ripe for replacement or to be cleaned up – Space Mountain, Star Tours, Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters, and the Submarines could all be eventual targets for a massive overhaul. No speculation here, but this is an area where we would love to see some love.

There appears to be an increase in Disneyland placemaking projects these days as we have seen with the recent Haunted Mansion expansion which was unexpected, but welcome news. A Tomorrowland renovation is often on the list of rumors for potential Disney announcements.

Note, of all the items on this list this item might have the highest likelihood of saving for a big announcement at D23 Expo in 2024 for Iger's return. For the right expansion, the energy might match the eruption we saw when he announced Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge. “We're Not Just building 0ne” – SCREAMS! – “we're building two!”

Avengers Campus E-Ticket Updates

At the 2022 D23 Expo, we heard some news about the new Avengers Campus e-ticket attraction coming to Disneyland. This new attraction focuses strongly on the multiverse so guests will see the Avengers fight against all the Marvel villains along with a new villain called King Thanos. This is a new version of Thanos created just for the ride and in this scenario, this is a Thanos that won the battle with the Avengers.

Destination D23 may provide further details about when the Avengers Campus expansion will take place and when construction will start. This is another area where Disney CEO Bob Iger's return and the shifting success of Marvel projects could impact what the final attraction looks like and the timeline.

DisneylandForward Project Updates

DisneylandForward is an effort that was announced in 2021 to allow for re-zoning of some of the property at the Disneyland Resort to support a massive multi-year resort expansion. This new expansion project has been called DisneylandForward to support what Disney could build out if Anaheim gives them the green light to re-zone the existing land.

While news of what this expansion could include would be exciting, Disney won't know for sure about the definitive future of the project until early 2024 when the Anaheim City Council reviews Disney’s proposal. We will likely hear Josh reference this project in some way as a call out to the city to emphasize the big dreams they have for Disneyland but few specifics.

Tokyo Disney Resort- Fantasy Springs Opening Date

Tokyo Disney Resort recently announced more details about their new Fantasy Springs land coming to Tokyo DisneySea which includes brand new attractions themed after Peter Pan, Tangled, and Frozen. You can read all about this new fantasy-themed land in our Fantasy Springs guide. 

Disney Fantasy Springs at Tokyo DisneySea does not have an opening date and some fans are hoping we will see this officially announced at Destination D23. We do know it will open in 2025 and progress is moving along swiftly to create this new land. There is a lot of speculation the opening date will coincide with Tokyo Disney Resort’s opening date which was April 15, 1983.

Josh may also connect these projects back to the DisneylandForward proposal in Anaheim as the FantasySprings project in Tokyo was pointed to as inspiration for a future Disneyland expansion. We would be interested to see some of the attractions headed to Tokyo or Hong Kong next coming to Disneyland either as part of the DisneylandForward expansion or just added to Fantasyland. Frozen or Tangled, please! Same caveat that a Disneyland announcement of this magnitude would be more likely to come at D23 Expo in 2024.

Hong Kong Disneyland- World of Frozen Opening Date

Hong Kong Disneyland is also in the process of creating its own Frozen-themed land called World of Frozen. This new Frozen-themed land will include brand new attractions like the first Frozen-themed coaster, Wandering Oaken’s Sliding Sleighs, the Frozen Ever After attraction, and unique character experiences. Currently, Hong Kong Disneyland has shared this first-ever Frozen-themed land would open in November 2023 but no specific opening date has been released yet. Perhaps we will see this opening date shared at Destination D23? See all details on our ranking of all the international Disney Parks.

This land is also being built at Disneyland Paris. We will likely get some update on the Disneyland Paris construction also.

New Disney Cruise Line Ship Revealed

Disney Cruise Line is about to debut a brand new ship called the Disney Treasure which will be inspired by the “mystery and grandeur of a gilded palace.” We will likely hear more about the Disney Treasure at this panel along with potential timelines for cruises.

We might also see more cruise itineraries announced in the future along with any updates Disney feels ready to share about the Disney Treasure. Disney has also stated that separate from the event new updates for the ship will be coming on September 5, 2023.

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