All the Big New Rides Announced Coming to Disneyland From D23 Presentation

Chairman of the Disney Parks, Josh D'Amaro, delivered a solid show at the D23: Ultimate Disney Fan Event during the Disney Experiences Showcase. The panel at the Honda Center focused purely on all the news about Disney Parks including Walt Disney World and Disneyland along with the Disney Cruise Line.

During this panel, Disney announced the biggest lineup of news for Disneyland than we've seen in years. Many Disney fans have been eagerly awaiting concrete, defined, plans for the parks and Disney generally delivered on this expectation.

Let's get into all the news released for Disneyland including details on the Avatar expansion, a Coco ride, a surprise announcement for Avengers Campus plus a reboot of one of the rides in Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge.

Avatar Land Coming to Disney California Adventure

In the first big announcement for Disneyland, we found out more details about what was previously referred to as the “Avatar experience” coming to to the park. Pandora is now confirmed as a new land coming to Disney California Adventure inspired by the second movie, “Avatar- The Way of Water,” and will also take inspiration from the upcoming “Fire and Ash” third film along with future Avatar films.

I appreciate that this new land is not just a replica of the existing one at Animal Kingdom and will provide guests with a new immersive Avatar experience.

We do not know yet where in Disney California Adventure this new land will be located or where this expansion will connect to.

READ MORE- Avatar Land Coming to Disney California Adventure Promises Grand Scale, Innovative Attraction

Disneyland Avatar Attraction Promises Innovative Technology

The Disneyland Pandora land will include a brand new attraction that brings guests through the world of Pandora in what looks like a typical boat ride.

However, the concept art of this ride looks much larger than life than the existing Pandora boat ride (Na'vi River Journey) at Animal Kingdom. Looking at the concept art above, this new attraction seems a bit more thrilling than a typical ride through experience while still retaining similar effects of a ride through experience.

There was no specific timeline provided for the Avatar land at Disney California Adventure. This is the one Disneyland announcement that did not provide a specific date or timeline. Since this is easily the biggest expansion amongst the news, Disneyland likely still needs time to figure out logistics but I hope we do not need to wait too long to get an idea of when construction will begin.

First Ever Coco Ride Announced

In a surprise announcement, it was revealed that a new Coco ride is coming to Disney California Adventure. This new Coco ride will highlight Miguel’s journey to the Land of the Dead and will be told through expansive, colorful scenes. One of the most exciting reveals about this ride is knowledge that  Disney will be drawing inspiration from classic attractions like Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean and will feature the latest in audio-animatronics technology.

It was not revealed where in Disney California Adventure this new attraction will be placed but I would speculate that Paradise Gardens Park would be a logical choice. This is a perfect addition that taps into the popularity of the Pixar film and will deliver such amazing, colorful visuals.

Construction for the Coco ride will begin in 2026.

READ MORE- First-Ever Coco Ride is COMING to Disneyland!! All Details

Details Revealed for New Avengers Campus Ride

We learned the attraction name and full experience details for the new e-ticket attraction coming to Avengers Campus at Disney California Adventure. The new ride will be called “Avengers Infinity Defense” and focuses on a storyline that brings guests along with the Avengers as they jump between worlds to defeat the new villain of the ride, King Thanos.

READ MORE- Disney Announces NEW Details on Highly-Anticipated E-Ticket Avengers Ride

Guests will travel to locations like Asgard, Wakanda, and New York City and find themselves face-to-face with King Thanos. The ride vehicle and concept art shared looks very similar to the ride technology used at Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal Orlando with Transformers: The Ride – 3D. Since the ride incorporates the multiverse, this means the possibilities are endless for characters that can appear.

Disney Surprises With Second Avengers Campus Ride

Disney surprised us all with the announcement of a second new Avengers Campus attraction called “Stark Flight Lab” that will double the size of Avengers Campus. The new attraction brings Robert Downey Jr. back to reprise his role as Tony Stark for the attraction. This is a pleasant surprise and will turn Avengers Campus into a more defined land as one of the common critiques now is its small scale and size.

Guests will visit his lab to experience what it's like to be a super hero and features two-person pods that whirl guests around in a simulated flight.Based on the concept art this ride technology looks like the same technology that is used in the popular Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey at Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal Orlando.

Construction for both these Avengers Campus attractions will begin in 2025.

First Ever Animatronic of Walt Disney Created for New Show

In another surprising move, D'Amaro announced that Disney Imagineering is hard at work to bring the first ever Walt Disney animatronic to life. This new animatronic is being made with the upmost care and devotion to properly honor Walt's legacy.

The Walt Disney animatronic will be part of a new show called “Walt Disney – A Magical Life” at Disneyland’s Opera House. After its initial run the show will play in rotation with “Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln.” This is a perfect fit as it acknowledges Walt Disney’s advances with audio-animatronics with “Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln.”

This project is already in the works and will debut in 2025. Currently, “Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln” has been down for refurbishment which gives us an idea that this work is already moving along nicely.

READ MORE- First Ever Animatronic of Walt Disney Coming to New Disneyland Show

Tiana's Bayou Adventure Opening Date Revealed

We also got the opening date of Tiana’s Bayou Adventure at Disneyland! This reimagining of Splash Mountain will open November 15th 2024 on the same day as the start of the holiday season at the resort!

D'Amaro also revealed that once the ride opens the name of Critter Country will change to Bayou Country. The same attractions will be a part of this land, like The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh and the Davy Crockett’s Explorer Canoes along with the newly reimagined Hungry Bear Barbecue Jamboree.

Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge Ride Gets Reboot

Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run is getting a reboot in Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge to change the ride storyline to feature the Mandalorian and Grogu! Because of the new partnership with Disney and Epic Games, the team at Lucasfilm has used Epic’s Unreal Engine to create virtual sets.

Guests will soar “alongside Mando and Grogu on thrilling, and dangerous, missions” on the Millennium Falcon according to Star Wars creative executive Dave Filoni. This is a good sign that we’re seeing Disney continue to loosen the reigns on the strict timeline in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge

This new mission will debut in 2026 alongside the new film.

How Were the Disneyland Updates Overall?

During the Disney Experiences Showcase, the news came swiftly and surprised many of us with the announcements fulfilling some of my biggest hopes for the future of Disneyland. The big hole was any expansion news for Disneyland Park or solid information on future entertainment. We have been hoping for the return of Paint the Night, which absolutely may still happen, but we didn't get that news last night. There was a moment when they announced that next year they were celebrating the park's 70th anniversary but then there was no substance. They really teased us with the announcement of a new nighttime parade at Disney World.

We also have been predicting and wondering about a Tomorrowland overhaul and a Frozen expansion at Disneyland Park. Both could still be happening but we got no news on it last night.

Disney Experiences Chairman Josh D’Amaro made a strong effort to emphasize that these plans are not Blue Sky (a term used to refer to a general brainstorming process at Walt Disney Imagineering) but are definite, moving plans. D'Amaro elaborated on this promise by stating, “And we have Imagineers in place right now all around the world because everything we’re going to share with you is in active development. Plans are drawn. Dirt is moving. I just want to be clear about this: We are doing everything you’re going to hear tonight.”

This continued to emphasis on “dirt is moving” and “shovels in the ground” is likely a response to criticism Disney has received for not announcing finalized details in the past few years and being too vague about upcoming projects. This is all within the context of Universal Orlando's planned third park opening in 2025 that is being built on a far shorter timeline than anything Disney has ever built.

Though they are using this “dirt moving” language and responding to the fact that there isn't much in the pipeline today and nothing under construction, we now have to wait and see whether they can deliver on a speedy timeline.

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