We Expect Big Disneyland and Disney World News This Weekend About New Rides and Lands

Last year's D23 was the last time we got a major set of announcements on upcoming Disney projects, and we even got some total surprises for new rides coming to Disney World and new rides coming to Disneyland. Now that we are into 2025, there are some major projects we have our eye on with construction progress underway or starting soon. Some of these do not yet have an opening timeline announced, so we are hoping to hear more details this weekend.

The SXSW Conference is starting this week, and we are hoping for some big Disney news to come out of a Featured Session with Disney Experiences Chairman Josh D’Amaro and Disney Entertainment Co-Chairman Alan Bergman taking place this weekend. There are many exciting projects in the works for Disneyland and Disney World that we do not yet have full details on, and this event could shed some more light on these!

Keep reading for the major Disney projects we could hear big news about this weekend and what types of news this will likely be.

Event With Potential Big Disney Announcements This Weekend

READ MORE – 13 Spooky (and Somewhat Disturbing) Secrets of Disney’s Haunted Mansion You Don’t Know

This Saturday on March 8, there will be a Featured Session at the SXSW Conference called “The Future of World-Building at Disney” at the Austin Convention Center. This is the description according to the SXSW website:

“Disney tells stories fans love, invites them into worlds they never dreamed possible and then makes those places real. Join Disney Experiences Chairman Josh D’Amaro, Disney Entertainment Co-Chairman Alan Bergman and special guests as they show the convergence of imagination, innovation and the future of experiential storytelling.”

We hope that we get some news during this, and we expect the news to relate to projects around the Disney studio. We are just about due for some more solid details regarding a few major projects in particular at Disneyland and Disney World. This is an opportunity for Josh D'Amaro to share some big updates with us. We know that the updates will focus in on technology and storytelling based on past presentations. During the past SXSW appearance the updates were more focused on Walt Disney Imagineering and new technology. Now that we have moved beyond the “what if” stage in this development cycle we anticipate more real updates to get to share.

Make sure you on our Mickey Visit newsletter and following along on social media (links above) to get the latest news when it is released on Saturday.

For potential Disney World announcements, we got a pretty detailed idea of the Tropical Americas land coming to Animal Kingdom and the construction timeline during D23. It's possible we could hear more about that, but it's much more likely we'll get details about some projects that we're yet to receive more details on like the upcoming Villains Land or Cars Land at Magic Kingdom, or the Monsters, Inc. Land at Hollywood Studios. Closures for the Monsters, Inc. land construction were recently announced.

Beyond the Villains Land concept art, we are still yet to hear more details about the land beyond the overall description that it will include two attractions, dining, and shopping in Magic Kingdom. We know that there will also be two Cars attractions coming to Magic Kingdom, and we are likely due to hear more about this new area of the park and what to expect. The announcement of the Monsters, Inc. doors coaster was a major aspect of the announcement for this new land in Hollywood Studios, and we're hoping to hear more details about what will be featured in this new land.

READ MORE – Totally Unique Front-Row World of Color View That Comes With Dinner

At Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge on both coasts, there will be a new storyline coming to the Millennium Falcon in 2026 featuring the Mandalorian and Grogu. As we're already into 2025, we expect we may hear some more details on this concept.

All that was shared previously was that guests would be soaring “alongside Mando and Grogu on thrilling, and dangerous, missions.” The appearance of the Mandalorian and Grogu on Star Tours was such a hit (one of our favorite parts of the new Star Tours scenes), so we can't wait to hear more details about this if this attraction is a talking point.

For potential Disneyland announcements, we are still yet to get a firm timeline on two very major projects coming to Disney California Adventure. We got a lot of details about Avatar at Disneyland at D23, but we still do not yet have a sense of when construction will start or where exactly in the park this land will be located. This has been one of the major projects teased for the resort for a while now, but we still don't have a lot to grasp other than some recently released concept art and models.

It's also possible that we could get some new details about the Avengers Campus expansion at Disneyland. Most recently we got a bunch of new concept art photos for the major Avengers E-Ticket ride coming to the land and a surprise announcement of a fourth ride. Construction for this expansion has already kicked off, and we are eager to potentially hear more details about these attractions and what else may be coming to the land.

The event will be livestreamed this weekend and we will be covering all of the action closely with updates from the event here on Mickey Visit. You can watch that livestream here.

Read More Disney Planning Advice

For the best resource and helpful information for planning your Disney trip, make sure to subscribe to our FREE Deals newsletter​. We’ll provide you with helpful planning information, exclusive Disney deals, and access to the lowest-priced Disney tickets anywhere.