4 New Disney California Adventure Rides Coming Soon. They May Replace These Existing Attractions.

Disney announced a big set of new Disney California Adventure rides coming to the Disneyland Resort. These new offerings are actually the majority of the new rides at Disneyland in the near future.

There are four new Disney California Adventure rides and in the time since the announcements, we have already started to learn about where these new rides are going to be located. We already got the news that one Disney California Adventure ride that helped redefine the theme park is closing to make way for one of the new rides. I originally wrote this article last year, but now have an additional update looking at any progress made on new attractions since then and any new information we have now.

Based on that news, I wanted to pull together a look at where these four new rides could be going at Disney California Adventure and what existing attractions could be impacted. None of this information has been confirmed by Disney yet. Consider this commentary and informed predictions. If you are just joining us, be sure to join our FREE Mickey Visit newsletter to get all the latest Disneyland news as it breaks and exclusive discounts.

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New Rides at Disney California Adventure

Since I first wrote this preview of the new Disney California Adventure rides, we have seen construction begin to ramp up for the first two new rides coming. We've also gotten new reveals about those projects. Somewhat surprisingly, we haven't heard much of anything beyond a passing mention about the two other projects since they were first announced. Another aspect of this is that there was just a big Disneyland executive shakeup that may impact some decisions around the new rides.

For Avengers Campus, another Disney California Adventure attraction is now closed to allow for construction to begin. Since that time we've heard that they are moving forward with work, but nothing is visible from within the theme park. Disney is actively talking about the two new attractions and just released another look at the new Avengers Campus Tony Stark ride. We're a bit surprised that we haven't seen framing for the new show building shoot up on this new ride because it's been in progress for so long. I would expect that they'd be ready to dive into construction immediately. I really hope that they don't slow this one down further.

For the other two new rides that we discuss in more depth below, we haven't heard anything more definitive about the construction of these two lands. They aren't necessarily behind schedule on talking about them because even initially they said that the new Coco boat ride wouldn't begin construction until 2026 and the new Avatar area had no start date.

What we have seen in the six months since I wrote my initial speculation is Disney's continued choice NOT to fill the Hyperion Theater in Disney California Adventure. We speculate below that the Avatar area could go next in this backlot area. Now, we are wondering if they are considering tearing down that theater. They have chosen not to mount a new theatrical production in that space. Typically, when Disney creates a new show, they want to have it run for at least a certain number of years to spread the cost of creating that new show over that period. If the theater is going to be torn down, they wouldn't be staging a new show.

Now, here's our look at where the new rides are likely going to be going with some additional new notes based on what we've learned since I initially wrote this.

Avengers Campus Main Big Ride

This is the main Avengers Campus ride that will sit right next to the Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: Breakout! building. It will be a big show building that will allow for this super hero ride that will take place across worlds.

The new ride will be called Avengers Infinity Defense and will bring guests on jumps between worlds to defeat King Thanos. We already wrote about the likely ride system this new ride will use.

The common thinking on this new attraction is that the ride building will be located in what is currently backstage areas. It shouldn't disrupt normal operations much more than the one big closure that was already announced. The Red Car Trolley barn is located in the exact same spot as the expected location of the new attraction which means that the service for that attraction will discontinue. We are still waiting to hear if that will be a permanent closure or if that ride track will be rerouted.

Avengers Campus Stark Flight Simulator

There was also a surprise Avengers Campus announcement at D23 that a new Stark Flight Lab attraction would be coming in addition to the above main ride announcement. This will be a two person ride that moves you around on the end of an arm to simulate flight. It's not clear the length or extent of the actual ride experience.

In the concept artwork, you can see that it fits into the space beyond the current back of the land. This is within the same backstage area that we originally thought would only be home to the new main Avenger Campus ride. It also looks like it wraps into the area towards Cars Land. In the concept artwork the Dr. Strange area of the land is still in tact as is the connecting area over to Cars Land that is under the crane device.

There shouldn't be any impact to an attraction with the building of this new ride unless the ride is as big as the concept artwork seems to suggest and it stretches over into Cars Land and gets ride of Luigi's Rollickin' Roadsters. I doubt they would trade that popular enough attraction for this new one. They can likely both fit back there. Generally, we are pleased to see another Avengers Campus ride added to really fill out this space and bring new movement here.

Construction for both the new Avengers Campus rides is set to start in early 2025.

Update – Construction is ongoing for Avengers Campus, and from what we have heard this area backstage has been cleared for construction and now the blacktop is fully dirt. It feels like we are on the edge of major construction about to begin and hopefully once it does this attraction shoots up. We are getting Universal Orlando envy right now with looks inside the incredible new Epic Universe theme park and that envy would definitely be taken care of by some rapid construction.

Avatar Land Construction

Next Disney confirmed at the new Avatar Experience would be coming to Disney California Adventure. The location of the Avatar land is one of the two big question marks around construction for these new rides at Disney California Adventure. This is a good time to dispel some assumptions that have become common since Disneyland first had their huge expansion plans approved by the city.

DisneylandForward is a zoning measure that was approved to give Disneyland increased flexibility on their existing land. It basically means that now the surface parking lots next to Disney California Adventure and Disneyland Park can be used for theme park expansion along with the Toy Story Parking lot. Below you can see these spots labeled on the map. It also was an agreement from Disney that they would spend a certain amount to expand the parks in the coming decade.

During a recent conversation with the President of the Disneyland Resort, Ken Potrock, he emphasized to me that this initiative is meant to allow for Disneyland to grow for decades to come and that not all of the land would be used at once. This is something similar to what Disney CEO Bob Iger shared with a group of us when we were visiting Imagineering. There needs to be room for future expansions based on popular movies that haven't even been created yet. Potrock also emphasized to me that the new parking structure that would be required to free up the surface parking lots for construction would take awhile and isn't being built in the near term. They haven't even come close to starting work there.

Update – Now Thomas Mazloum is Disneyland Presiden but we know that Ken Potrock will still be involved in various Disneyland initiatives as part of his new Disney Experiences role. I look forward to connecting with Thomas to hear if his thoughts differ at all about how they are approaching the expansion projects.

All of that to say, the vibe that I got from the recent conversations was that the new expansions would be all be based within the existing bounds of the theme park rather than into the parking lots.

That takes us to our original question of where will Avatar be located. The concept artwork for the new area make the rockwork of the land look massive. They have only mentioned one attraction at this point but there could be some kind of smaller attraction within the space also. It seems like it will take up quite a big corner of the park. The discussions going around right now are that the area will be built within the Hollywood Backlot area to the left of the Hyperion Theater space. This space is currently home to Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue! and two other interior spaces used for different offerings as well as the outdoor stage area. It is unclear whether the Mickey's PhilharMagic Theater or the Hyperion Theater would also fall into this area, but we would guess that they would want to keep the theaters if they are able to. Update – Since I initially wrote that they'd want to keep the theaters my thinking has changed a bit on the Hyperion and believe that it may be on the chopping block. I'd love to see that space be saved, but it worries me that we don't have a show there.

The next part of this rumor about putting the Avatar expansion into this space is that the backside of Disney California Adventure would push out into the current bus loop area and take that real estate. Eventually that space would be freed up by moving those offerings to the new parking structure arrival area but in the meantime we could imagine them just squishing more of the buses together or taking over more of the Cast Member arrival space on the Disneyland side.

In the concept artwork released for the new land seen above you can kind of see the positioning of the buildings in the bottom right that looks like it could be a kind of tunnel portal into the land. Those building line up with the Hyperion Theater and end of the street leading into the theater's blue sky backdrop. Here's what that looks like today.

The other movement that would be required to full take advantage of this space would be rerouting the monorail or covering it with the rockwork. Right now the monorail beam goes directly through the middle of this space. Again, I want to be clear that all of this is predictions based on the limited information we have and these recent conversations. The land could also push out into the new expansion pad area, but I expect they will wait to use that use.

No construction timeline has been announced for the Avatar area.

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New Coco Ride

Of all the new additions coming to Disneyland, I am most excited about the newly announced Coco ride. It is also the one that we know the least about. Disney has compared the attraction to the Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion rides. We take that comparison to mean that the ride would be incredibly detailed and also a big people eater that adds increased capacity to the theme park. The concept artwork makes this look like it will be fully fledged boat ride which means LOTS of space.

This new ride will also be inside Disney California Adventure and the plans are not nearly as solid on where it will go. Looking at the current Disney California Adventure it seems to me that the ride would fit best somewhere off of the Pixar Pier area. This is also where the current Coco show that is a highlight of the Dia de los Muertos celebration is today.

Most importantly, the spot is also a large area with an attraction that would likely not be missed by guests. Goofy's Sky School is a repurposed wild mouse roller coaster that you can find at many local amusement parks. The theming on it was improved during the 2012 Disney California Adventure redo, but it has never been a stand out attraction for the park. I wouldn't be surprised if the entire area here was shifted to make way for a kind of Coco mini-land. You could see the Jumpin' Jellyfish attraction also go away or change. Hopefully our beloved Silly Symphony Swings remain. We need more of these small rides, not less.

We could also see the ride slide into the Pixar Pier area where the current games on the boardwalk are located. This would mean building the ride in the area that is currently home to backstage buildings. Disneyland has been super impressive in recent years with their ability to free up backstage space to allow for ride expansion. I am thinking of both the moves to allow for Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge to fit behind Frontierland and the shifts to add Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway to Toontown. Both amazing additions that were truly additive without losing too many offerings (we do still miss the Frontierland goats).

Between the two potential spots my guess is that it goes into the Paradise Gardens area where the Goofy's Sky School ride is today. That could allow for the new ride and an accompanying restaurant.

We don't yet have any further concept artwork besides the view of the interior boat ride so we don't have any idea what the exterior will look like. That will also dramatically impact how long it will take to build out this attraction. Here's an aerial look at this area that we could see become home to the Coco boat ride.

Construction for the Coco ride won't even start until 2026 so there is lots more to learn. We will be keeping a close eye on all of these new projects.

Update – This new Disney California Adventure ride is the one that I am most excited about and also the one that we have heard the least amount. We'll keep watching to see more about where this new ride is going to be placed. I would actually hope that they would accerelate this new attraction due to the popularity of the franchise. We also just got news about a Pixar Coco sequel.

We'll continue to update this article with additional information on the new Disney California Adventure rides as we get it and hopefully we begin to see visible progress soon.

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