Changes are in effect throughout all of Disneyland Resort, with new rides coming to Disney California Adventure, new restaurants opening at Downtown Disney, and a long-term, multi-decade vision that will impact every area of the property. Walt Disney Imagineers and executives will share more details about Disneyland’s future during D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event, an official convention that Disney hosts every two years. As the event approaches, we have some guesses as to what Disneyland may reveal there. See also our predictions for Walt Disney World announcements at D23.
Mickey Visit predicts 8 big announcements about new Disneyland rides and experiences will be revealed at D23 2026 during the event’s “parks panel,” plus a few items we expect Disney not to address at all. Below, we detail each prediction and how Disney may elaborate on the project. Mickey Visit brings you the latest Disney news and planning resources, including the full menu of Disneyland’s new celebrity chef restaurant and Haunted Mansion becoming a wedding venue.
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Huge Disneyland News Incoming
D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event, formerly known as D23 Expo, happens every two years in Anaheim, California. 2026’s event runs from August 14 to 16.
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D23 is a weekend packed with major announcements, reflective looks back on Disney history, fan-focused activations, celebrity appearances, one-time-only musical performances, and the induction of new Disney Legends. Most D23 programming takes place at the Anaheim Convention Center, practically in Disneyland’s backyard. One large-scale presentation each day of the event is held at the Honda Center arena.
Among theme park fans, one of the highlights of D23 is the “parks panel,” the arena presentation detailing the future of Disney theme parks, cruise ships, and resorts. In 2026, the parks panel is officially titled Horizons: Disney Experiences Showcase, and will be hosted by Neil Patrick Harris. It will take place on Saturday, August 15.
“Building on the ambitious projects announced in 2024,” Disney said of the Horizons presentation, “this year’s showcase will take fans deeper into the creative vision behind what’s to come, hearing directly from the Imagineers, storytellers, artists, and innovators bringing these experiences to life.”
Reading between the lines, we expect this to mean we’ll hear less about first-look rides Disney is revealing for the first time, and more about projects Disney has already announced. That being said, Disney also promises “a few surprises along the way,” and we have some predictions for what that could entail for Disneyland.
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Coco Ride Expansion
A new Coco boat ride is coming to Disney California Adventure, as revealed at D23 2024. The ride will be located in what was previously backstage space between Incredicoaster and Paradise Garden Grill. Construction is underway.
Mickey Visit predicts Disney will share new concept art for the Coco ride during the D23 parks panel, as well as provide more details on the ride’s story. Disney hasn’t yet revealed if the ride retells the events of the Coco film or if the story takes place after the movie, continuing the tale of Miguel and his family.
Given the proximity of the Coco ride to Paradise Garden Grill, which already annually transforms into Plaza de la Familia with Coco-inspired food and entertainment each year in honor of Día de Muertos, we think a permanent transformation of this quick-service dining hub into a Coco courtyard would be a home run for Disney. D23 would be an ideal opportunity to reveal that expansion, essentially creating a Coco mini-land adjacent to Pixar Pier.
If we’re lucky, Disney might share the name of the Coco ride, but seeing as its opening is likely still several years away, we’re not holding our breath for that announcement.
Return of Fantasmic Dragon
Toward the end of Disneyland Park’s nighttime Fantasmic! show, the evil Maleficent previously shapeshifted into her dragon form to battle Mickey Mouse. The large dragon figure was stunning, easily one of the highlights of the show.
A fire in 2023 destroyed the dragon and paused Fantasmic! performances for a year. When the show returned in 2024, the dragon was noticeably absent, with Maleficent maintaining her evil fairy form for the entire battle. The sequence has remained this way ever since, with the dragon no longer part of the show, despite the show director hinting to the LA Times that it was being worked on in 2024.
Mickey Visit predicts Disneyland could reveal the return of the Maleficent dragon to Fantasmic! at the D23 parks panel 2026.
With Disneyland’s 70th anniversary celebrations wrapping up this summer, Disney will need something else to attract guests while the Avengers Campus expansion, detailed below, is being completed. Pair this with Disney being very vocal lately about its leaps in Audio-Animatronics technology, such as with the controversial pirate skeleton added to Pirates of the Caribbean, and the pieces are seemingly in place for Disneyland to prioritize restoring this signature of its centerpiece nighttime spectacular.
Extent of Autopia’s Upcoming Refurbishment
Autopia, the Tomorrowland ride where guests drive their own small vehicles, is an opening day attraction dating back to 1955, but it’s getting a big upgrade soon.
In accordance with a state mandate, Disneyland will have to close the current version of the attraction by February 1, 2027, to convert the cars’ gas-powered engines to electric.
That much is confirmed, but what’s unknown is the extent of how Disney might change the rest of the attraction during the switchover. Will Disney install the electric vehicles and call it a day, or take the opportunity to refresh other components of the ride, such as props, music, or back-of-house controls?
Much of this could have to do with the sponsor of the attraction. Recently, the GM-sponsored Test Track at Walt Disney World was completely overhauled as part of a deal with the company. Honda is the sponsor of Autopia, and the 10-year sponsorship is up for renewal this year. We expect that Honda will remain the attraction sponsor and will help to fund a complete ride overhaul.
The extent of the refurbishment remains to be seen, but if more significant changes are planned beyond the electric engine installations, we expect Disney to reveal what else is changing about Autopia during the D23 parks panel.
“New” Parade
With no new rides slated to open within the next 12 months at either Disneyland Park or Disney California Adventure, and no upcoming milestone anniversaries to celebrate, Disneyland Resort will likely turn to live entertainment for its next promotional blitz.
A new parade is a common shoo-in whenever new Disneyland entertainment is revealed, but the current circumstances are somewhat precarious. With the construction of the Coco ride, parades at Disney California Adventure are seemingly not possible for the foreseeable future.
That leaves Disneyland Park, where the Magic Happens parade, pictured above, is still fresh for many park guests. Despite having debuted in 2020, the parade’s pandemic-inflicted multi-year shutdown and recurring seasonal pauses for Halloween and holiday entertainment mean that many guests have still not seen Magic Happens, even though it premiered six years ago. Given this situation, Disney is unlikely to invest in another entirely new daytime parade.
Therefore, we turn to a nighttime parade. Longtime Disneyland visitors might be one step ahead of us here and see where this is headed. The current nighttime parade, Paint the Night, will have its final performance on August 20, 2026, as Disneyland’s 70th anniversary celebration concludes.
It’s always possible that Disney may revive Paint the Night yet again in the near future, or that a new nighttime parade may be in development. However, we think the likelier outcome is that the Main Street Electrical Parade, the classic production from the ’70s that has “ended” and returned more times than fans can count, will come back yet again.
It last performed in 2022, when it revamped its Americana finale into a float featuring Disney characters in the style of “it’s a small world” dolls, pictured above. That tenure only lasted five months, so very few guests have seen the updated finale. This means Disney could promote it again, and it would be new for many people.
The possible return of the Fantasmic! dragon, described above, as well as possibly a new World of Color show or Disneyland Park fireworks spectacular, and the return of the Main Street Electrical Parade would provide Disneyland with a marketable suite of nighttime entertainment to promote next summer.
We expect that Main Street Electrical Parade could return next summer, but don’t know for sure if it will warrant an announcement at D23.
Refreshes of Classic Attractions
Reinvesting in older attractions to ensure their relevancy for a new generation of park guests is a priority for Imagineers at Walt Disney World in Florida. A few of the many recent examples of this include the debut of Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring The Muppets and the current closure of Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress to change every scene and add an Audio-Animatronics figure of Walt Disney.
This D23 will mark two years since the Imagineering leadership team of Daniel Jue and Emily O’Brien arrived from Tokyo Disney to oversee Disneyland Resort in California. Since Disneyland hasn’t yet seen refreshes of classic rides revealed by these two leaders at Disneyland in a comparable way to Florida’s long list of reinvestments, we suspect updates may be in progress behind the scenes and may be announced at D23.
Then again, the parks panel at D23 is an arena full of passionate Disney fans, and changes to beloved rides often receive mixed reactions from frequent park visitors. Disney may not want to share such changes in a space where it can’t control the response.
In any case, there are plenty of rides due for a refresh at Disneyland, with our top prediction being Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters after the success of the overhaul at Walt Disney World. Some other potential rides that could be refreshed include older rides like the Matterhorn, Jungle Cruise, Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, and Pinocchio’s Daring Journey. We’d love to see them continue their run of refreshing Fantasyland Dark Rides.
Hyperion Theatre Production
The Hyperion Theatre at Disney California Adventure is a beautiful venue built for Broadway-style productions, but it’s been sitting empty for years.
The venue’s most recent show was the intentionally temporary Rogers: The Musical in 2023, and its most recent full-time show was Frozen – Live at the Hyperion, which closed in 2020 with the onset of the pandemic. For most of its history, the Hyperion hosted Disney’s Aladdin: A Musical Spectacular, from 2001 to 2016.
Since Disney California Adventure’s new rides aren’t anywhere close to opening, a new show in the Hyperion could be a way to add something to the park in the meantime. Prep time could be expedited by mounting a duplicate production of one of the fantastic shows already developed for Disney Cruise Line, such as the Moana show on the Disney Treasure or the Hercules show on the Disney Destiny. Those scripts are already written, and their sets and costumes are already designed. Even with any modifications needed to fit the Hyperion space, Disney would already have a huge head start as opposed to developing a new show from scratch.
After all, Disney California Adventure’s former Aladdin show was later duplicated for multiple Disney ships, where it still performs today. This demonstrates that the Hyperion and the Cruise Line shows are compatible, and that a production initially created for one venue can indeed translate well to the other.
Avengers Campus Expansion Reveals
Avengers Campus is expanding at Disney California Adventure with two new rides. The big-budget Avengers Infinity Defense will take riders through the multiverse to battle Thanos. Another ride, Stark Flight Lab, will fling riders through the air in various superhero-like maneuvers.
Construction is underway on the Avengers Campus expansion, and though it’s likely not opening for at least another year, it will still open before the Coco ride, described above, and the new Avatar land, detailed below.
We already know the names of the Avengers rides and their basic premises. While there isn’t a ton of broad-stroked information left to reveal about Avengers Infinity Defense and Stark Flight Lab at D23, there are still many unknowns about these rides.
During the D23 parks panel, Disney will likely share new concept art for both rides and possibly their queues. We’d also love to hear announcements of specific Marvel talent who are reprising their roles for one or both rides. Disney previously revealed Robert Downey Jr. will return as Iron Man in Stark Flight Lab. Who else might be returning? The existing Avengers Campus rides feature A-list talent from the Spider-Man and Guardians of the Galaxy films.
The most significant unknown variable about Avengers Infinity Defense is its ride system. Disney has shared concept art and models of the ride vehicles, but hasn’t concretely defined what exactly the ride is. Based on what’s been revealed so far, our best guess is that Avengers Infinity Defense will employ a versatile vehicle capable of advanced movements as it travels through scenes that combine physical sets with screen-based media. In this way, it would be similar to The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man at Universal Islands of Adventure and Peter Pan’s Never Land Adventure at Tokyo DisneySea.
The Fate of Avatar Land
Disney previously announced a new Avatar land coming to Disney California Adventure, featuring a large-scale boat ride with indoor and outdoor scenes.
The land will replace the family-friendly dark ride Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue!, which will close in early 2027, as well as the current Disneyland Resort transportation hub, which will be rebuilt across the street.
Disney California Adventure’s Avatar land is the furthest from opening among the park’s announced expansions. There is a lot of preliminary work that needs to happen before Disney begins constructing the Avatar area in earnest. The new Avengers Campus rides and the Coco boat ride will all open before the Avatar land.
Despite this, there’s been more publicly shared concept art for the Avatar boat ride than for any other upcoming Disney California Adventure attraction. Compared to other future rides, about which we know very little, it’s surprising that Disney has already revealed so much artwork for Avatar.
This places the project in a strange position for this year’s D23. If Disney wants to share something new for the sake of sharing something new, another piece of concept art seems the likeliest. With the overall look and main attraction of the land already revealed, and the project still so far away, it’s unlikely that Disney is ready to share much else about the details of the land.
Some have speculated that the Avatar land at Disney California Adventure has been scrapped in favor of a different expansion altogether. If this is the case, it’s unlikely that Disney would formally announce the Avatar project’s cancellation, especially at the D23 parks panel. Instead, Disney could not mention it.
On the other end of the spectrum, if it’s still happening, Disney would definitely want to tout it during the D23 parks panel, even if by reiterating previously shared information and concept art. This year’s event is expected to focus on the already announced projects, and we could see them taking a more specific approach to the biggest openings and attractions coming in the coming couple of years, vs. giving more information on their entire slate that stretches out to 2031.
What We Don’t Predict Will Happen at D23
One item has been on many Disneyland fans’ wish lists for a long time, but we don’t think Disney is quite ready to go full speed ahead with it: an overhaul of Tomorrowland. While we’d love to see Tomorrowland receive a much-needed refresh, so many other large-scale projects are already in play that we think this project, if it happens, is further into the future than it would make sense to share at D23.
In a perfect world, the mandated refurbishment of Autopia would be the first step in a sweeping transformation that would remove or reinstate the old PeopleMover/Rocket Rods track, reimagine or bulldoze the Star Wars Launch Bay building, and create a custom attraction for the Tomorrowland Theater instead of screening Pixar shorts that anyone can watch on Disney+. We think it’s more likely that Disney may make incremental updates to Tomorrowland attractions over time rather than undergoing a massive, all-at-once reimagining. Similarly, we could hear about a Buzz Lightyear overhaul.
We also don’t anticipate Disney revealing any of the long-term plans for its DisneylandForward vision during the D23 parks panel. Approved by the city of Anaheim in 2024, DisneylandForward was a rezoning initiative that reallocates Disney-owned property for theme park, hotel, or shopping district use. Eventually, it could lead to Disneyland Park or Disney California Adventure Park expanding significantly, or even Disney building a third theme park.
However, former Disneyland President Ken Potrock, one of the architects of the zoning agreement, previously shared with us how DisneylandForward was crafted as a roadmap for the next 30-40 years of the resort’s growth. The only project currently announced that could only exist with the backing of DisneylandForward is the Avatar land at Disney California Adventure.
Beyond this, we don’t expect Disney to reveal any concrete plans for other DisneylandForward-influenced lands, rides, or expansions. Generally, we also expect to see the DisneylandForward naming be left in the past and instead have any future projects that benefit from the approval to be discussed as one-off additions and not part of the bigger master plan. The campaign around DisneylandForward was to win approval from the city for future expansions, and they achieved that.
What do you think Disneyland will announce at D23? Do you have a wish list for what you’d like to see open in the parks?
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