D23 2024: Key Timelines for Disney's Upcoming Park Projects

Aug 13, 2024 in "D23 - Official Fan Organization"

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D23 2024 Villains Land

Posted: Tuesday August 13, 2024 2:51pm ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

At D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event 2024, Disney unveiled a slate of nearly 50 new projects that will shape the future of its parks, resorts, and entertainment offerings. From new lands to reimagined attractions, here’s a top-level overview of when construction will begin and when these new and updated experiences are set to open at Walt Disney World and Disneyland Resort.

For more in-depth details, go to The Future of Disney Parks: Everything You Need to Know from D23 2024.

Wide view of the new Frontierland, with two Cars-themed attractions replacing Tom Sawyer Island

Projects at Walt Disney World

Tropical Americas at Animal Kingdom

Construction Start: 2024
Opening: 2027
Details: Encanto and Indiana Jones will come to life in a new Tropical Americas land at Animal Kingdom, set to open in 2027.

Disney Starlight Nighttime Parade at Magic Kingdom

Debut: 2025
Details: Magic Kingdom will light up with a new nighttime parade, Disney Starlight, arriving in 2025.

'Zootopia: Better Zoogether' at Disney's Animal Kingdom

Opens Winter 2025
The show, "Zootopia: Better Zoogether!" will take guests on an adventure through different biomes seen in the film.

Monsters, Inc. Land at Hollywood Studios

Construction Start: 2025
Opening: TBA (expected by 2029)
Details: Disney’s Hollywood Studios will introduce a new land based on Pixar’s Monsters, Inc., featuring the company’s first suspended coaster.

Cars at Magic Kingdom

Construction Start: 2025
Opening: TBA (expected by 2029)
Details: A new Cars themed area will bring two family-friendly attractions to Magic Kingdom, with construction starting in 2025.

Villains Land at Magic Kingdom

Construction Start: Soon
Opening: TBA (expected by 2029)
Details: A darker, Villains-themed land will be coming to Magic Kingdom, with construction slated to begin in the near future.

Test Track Reimagined at EPCOT

Opening: 2025
Details: EPCOT’s Test Track is undergoing a major reimagining, with a new version set to debut in 2025.

New Lounges at Walt Disney World

Opening: 2025
Details: Two new themed lounges will open at Walt Disney World in 2025. One will be inspired by Pirates of the Caribbean at Magic Kingdom, while the other will draw inspiration from Spaceship Earth at EPCOT, offering unique themed environments.

New Adventures in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge

Debut: 2026
Details: Fans of The Mandalorian can look forward to a new adventure at Millennium Falcon:Smugglers Run in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, coming in 2026.

Updates for Disneyland and Beyond

AVATAR concept art for Disneyland

Walt Disney Audio-Animatronics Figure at Disneyland

Debut: 2025
Details: Disneyland will introduce the first-ever Walt Disney Audio-Animatronics figure in 2025 as part of a new show at the Main Street Opera House.

Tiana’s Bayou Adventure at Disneyland

Opening: November 15, 2024
Details: Inspired by The Princess and the Frog, Tiana’s Bayou Adventure will open at Disneyland this November.

Avatar-Themed Land at California Adventure

Construction Start: TBA
Details: Disney California Adventure will offer a new Avatar-themed area in the coming years.

Coco Attraction at Disney California Adventure

Construction Start: 2026
Details: A new Coco boat ride attraction will begin construction in 2026, bringing the Land of the Dead to Disney California Adventure.

Avengers Campus Expansion at Disney California Adventure

Construction Start: 2025
Opening: 2027
Details: Avengers Campus at Disney California Adventure is set for a significant expansion that will double its size. Two new attractions, Avengers Infinity Defense and Stark Flight Lab, will be added to the existing land. The expansion will begin construction in 2025, with completion expected by 2027, offering guests even more immersive experiences in the Marvel universe.

The Lion King Attraction at Disneyland Paris

Construction Start: TBA
Details: Disneyland Paris will soon introduce a ride-through attraction based on The Lion King, a first for the franchise.

World of Frozen at Disney Adventure World

Opening: 2026
Details: A new Frozen-themed land is coming to Disney Adventure World, set to open in 2026.

Expansion Plans for Disney Cruise Line

Setting Sail: 2027-2031
Details: Disney Cruise Line is expanding its fleet with four new ships, set to launch between 2027 and 2031, bringing the total number of ships to 13.

For more in-depth details, go to The Future of Disney Parks: Everything You Need to Know from D23 2024.

Discuss on the Forums

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Tony the TiggerAug 21, 2024

From a friend’s post. Here’s what’s up with Shaboozey:

Sir_CliffAug 21, 2024

Yes, I'm puzzled why people are insisting he said all of this would be completed in 5 years when he clearly didn't: it's right there on YouTube for anyone who wants to watch it. Maybe Disney PR later briefed the media that all of this would be finished in 5 years, but I don't get why anyone would cling to that. None of the public statements from the company either through D'Amaro or the DisneyParks blog (to the best of my knowledge) have claimed everything announced at D23 would be completed within the next 5 years. I would trust what they are willing to actually say in front of the cameras or put in writing over what a PR person is quoted as saying given the potential for wires to get crossed along that chain. It would be odd for D'Amaro to say all the projects would only start to come to life if the plan is for them to be finished during that period. Then again, they announced a ride based on the original Lion King with artwork depicting the new Lion King, so who knows how thought through all of this was.

brb1006Aug 21, 2024

Mousesteps just uploaded the full D23 Parks Presentation for those that missed it.

BrianLoAug 21, 2024

There seems to be some poor memory of what the timelines actually looked like last decade. Galaxies Edge: "The lands were announced on August 15, 2015, and construction at both parks began on April 14, 2016. The Disneyland version opened May 31, 2019, and Disney's Hollywood Studios' version opened August 29, 2019." Really, Galaxies Edge is the most viable comp with two major attractions. We're currently a full year ahead of that timeframe. Now, I personally think Villains Land from a marketing roll out perspective is most likely a 2029 project. But 2029 is certainly not "fast" or even unrealistic.

TTA94Aug 21, 2024

Are we expecting anything to be announced or further details discussed at D23 Brazil? Will there even be a presentation?

wutisgoodAug 21, 2024

My assumption was villinans land does will not require reconfiguration of existing areas as a true expansion so they can start work sooner even if the area is more complex. I would think it was possible they would want to open villians land first for extra capacity while they take down frontierland to reconfigure it. In any case especially with with big thunder moutain retrack there has to be some clear phased opening plan. Disney wasn't really direct about what that was. I expect thatsome of this constuction may be accelerated if the Universal 3rd gate does prove sucessfull in taking marketshare away more than disney thought. I could also see timelines accelertaing or slowing base on other unnanouced projects being finalized.

SWGalaxys_EdgeAug 20, 2024

Maybe then add a "speeder chase" as depicted in the trading cards...

J4546Aug 20, 2024

i dont think so....it was gonna be a capacity and maintenance nightmare

SWGalaxys_EdgeAug 20, 2024

Maybe GE will reconsider the 3rd ride and put it into the park.

Andrew25Aug 20, 2024

Yes - but 2025's film slate is worrying... but WDW should benefit from increased travel to Orlando next year. (Even if people skip a WDW park or two, Disney's hotels should benefit).

doctornickAug 20, 2024

So I was just thinking... I know many of us are jittery about how the financial state of the company can impact decisions to cut funding or value engineer projects. And the stock price not doing well has me on edge a bit as to whether the planned parks investment will be cut. But I will say that the recent movie successes (Inside Out 2, Deadpool & Wolverine, now Aliens) means that that division will be healthier in the shorter term. and with streaming collectively turning a profit last quarter, can we be optimistic that they will let investments in the parks happen rather than siphoning off that profits there to support other branches of the company? The parks alone generate enough net profit to find the $6B/year that they planned.

bwr827Aug 20, 2024

Yup — setting clear expectations for the market. “As we previously shared, we’re on a multi-year path of investing $60B to turbocharge our parks…” (not an actual quote)

doctornickAug 20, 2024

But they are increasing their Capex spend. That's kind of the entire point of the "we'll be spending $60B on the parks division in the next 10 years" announcement.

Nubs70Aug 20, 2024

Why?? Fixed CAPEX expenditures. They seem to only want to spend a fixed amount for construction per month. If you build 2 projects at once, they will take 2x as long to complete.