Everything We Learned From the Disney Parks Panel at D23 Expo 2024

The time of the wicked has come.

Disney Classic villains will have their own theme park at the Magic Kingdom in Orlando, Florida.

The company first raised the potential for a malicious takeover at the last D23 expo in 2022, as part of a series of “blue sky” projects it was considering but was unsure whether they would come to fruition.

While the prospect of exploring what lies beyond Big Thunder Mountain has intrigued fans, its lack of tangibility has left many wondering what exactly Disney is doing to compete with the upcoming opening of Universal Epic universe.

The answer came Saturday night during the company’s experience presentation at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.

“As we sit here together at Honda Center, we have Imagineers hard at work,” Josh D’Amaro told a cheering crowd. “Everything we have to share with you is in development… That means the earth is moving. It’s not blue skies.”

This revelation caused frenzy in the crowd.

Disney’s theme parks, part of the broader division known as experiences, have long been one of the company’s best-performing segments, particularly at a time of ups and downs for linear TV networks and declining cable ad revenue. The parks have offered stability in recent quarters as Disney works to adapt its entertainment business to consumer habits that have changed after the pandemic.

However, during the last quarter, Disney’s national parks in California and Florida experienced slowing consumer demand and rising inflation. The company expects this stagnation in attendance to continue in the coming quarters.

Disney, however, remains optimistic about its Experiences division, which encompasses its theme parks, cruise lines and hotels. The company has committed to investing $60 billion in experiences over the next 10 years, a key part of its strategy to keep the parks fresh and relevant in a competitive segment.

About 70% of that money will go toward new experiences at domestic and international parks, as well as cruises. The remaining 30% will go toward technology and infrastructure, including maintaining existing attractions.

On Saturday, Disney fans got a glimpse of where that investment was being placed with the help of some big names.

Rita Ora took the stage to perform “Trust in Me” from “The Jungle Book” to announce the arrival of new villains in the Magic Kingdom. This new area of ​​the park will include two major attractions as well as shops and restaurants.

“So be prepared, poor unfortunate souls,” D’Amaro teased.

Shaboozey rocked the Honda Center with a rendition of “Life Is a Highway” as part of the announcement that parts of Frontier Land, Florida, will be revamped with elements from the movie “Cars.”

The area will be different from Disney California Adventure, D’Amaro told the crowd, and will be set in nature. There will be an e-ticket attraction, a thrilling off-road rally race and a second attraction geared more toward families. Construction is expected to begin in early 2025.

D’Amaro noted that these expansions to Magic Kingdom are the largest ever made in the park.

At Hollywood Studios, Disney is preparing to build an area dedicated to “Monsters, Inc.” Billy Crystal, the voice of one-eyed green monster Mike Wazowski, appeared on stage to tease viewers about the new area.

Crystal sang a rendition of “If I Didn’t Have You” and received a standing ovation.

The land will feature a major attraction that will take visitors on a thrilling tour of the Laugh Factory via a suspended roller coaster. Audiences have applauded the new attraction. Construction will begin next year, D’Amaro said.

Animal Kingdom’s Tropical America theme park, set to open in 2027, will feature an Indiana Jones attraction set in a Mayan temple. Ke Huy Quan appeared on stage with D’Amaro to preview the new attraction and reminisce about his first acting role in “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.”

“Josh, I have to ask, will there be snakes?” Quan joked.

D’Amaro said construction will begin in the fall and visitors will have to wait and see what the Orlando-based attraction’s new story has in store.

As part of the Tropical America’s Land project, Disney is creating Pueblo Esperanza, which means village of hope. Here, the company is building the Casita Madrigal de “Encanto” and will feature an attraction centered around the character Antonio who has the magical gift of talking to animals. The Casita has animated furniture in the house to allow guests to tour the house and they will venture into Antonio’s jungle bedroom.

Part of this area will also feature a brand new carousel featuring wooden carved animals from classic Disney stories.

The world of Avatar will be coming to Disney’s California Adventure park, D’Amaro announced Saturday. The area will be inspired by the second film, “The Way of Water,” and will feature a new attraction.

“For our new destination, we’ve taken inspiration from the second ‘Way of Water’ film as well as the upcoming ‘Fire and Ashes’ and future Avatar films,” Ali Rubinstein, Walt Disney Imagineering’s global chief creative officer, said during Saturday’s presentation. “And it’s going to be a scale and level worthy of those epic stories.”

The park is also set to open a “Coco” attraction that will follow Miguel through the land of the dead. It will use cutting-edge audio animatronics like those seen in the recently renovated Tiana’s Bayou adventure. It is also inspired by the iconic Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean attractions. The company will break ground in 2026.

Deadpool appeared on stage to poke fun at the parks, including the animatronic dragon that caught fire at Disneyland last year, as well as D’Amaro.

The company then revealed that Avengers Campus will nearly double in size with the addition of two new attractions. The first is called Avengers Infinity Defense and will take guests on an adventure to stop King Thanos from using stolen portal technology. Participants will help defend iconic locations like Asgard, Wakanda, and New York City.

The second attraction is the Stark Flight Lab, where visitors will learn to fly like a superhero. Construction will begin next year.

The company also announced that Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, the new version of Splash Mountain, will open on November 15. The Walt Disney World Resort version of the attraction opened in June.

Disneyland Paris’ Adventure World theme park will welcome a new area based on “The Lion King” with a “log slide” attraction inspired by Pride Land. The Frozen-themed area, previously announced, is scheduled to open in 2026.

Shanghai is set to welcome a new thrill ride featuring Spider-Man.

“It’s going to be a high-energy, thrill-ride roller coaster,” said Scott Trowbridge, senior creative director at Walt Disney Imagineering.

The Hong Kong park will also welcome a Spider-Man thrill ride added to the Stark Expo area.

In September, Tokyo will launch a new nighttime spectacle called “Reach for the Stars,” featuring characters from “Big Hero Six,” “Up,” and Marvel superheroes.

The Disney Cruise Line is set to undergo a major expansion. In addition to the five ships already sailing the world and the four ships currently in production, Disney will add four more ships to its fleet between 2027 and 2031.

D’Amaro had All-4-One sing “This I Swear” to announce the four new ships. Disney will soon offer 13 different destinations for its cruise ships.

“Disney Cruise Line is consistently the top-rated line for families because it offers something for everyone,” said D’Amaro. “Our fleet expansion gives more people, in more parts of the world, the opportunity to experience the sea experience that only Disney can provide.”

Disney also used Saturday’s presentation to update fans and shareholders on its $1.5 billion investment in Epic Games.

D’Amaro was joined on stage by creative leaders from across the company, including Walt Disney Animation’s Jennifer Lee, Pixar’s Pete Doctor, Marvel’s Kevin Feige and Lucasfilm’s Dave Filoni to share several upcoming collaborations with Epic Games and Fortnite.

Disney streamed that segment of the show on Fortnite and more than a million people tuned in to watch that live stream, D’Amaro said.

Disney Animation characters will be coming to the game this fall, including Cruella, Hook and Maleficent, Lee announced. They will be joined by Pixar’s Incredibles, including Frozone, ElastaGirl and Mr. Incredible, the Doctor added.

For Lucasfilm, Filoni said new Star Wars characters are coming next week, including IG-11 and a Grogu back bling. Filoni also said he and Jon Favreau are working on a Mandalorian and Grogu story for the Star Wars Smugglers Run attraction in Galaxy’s Edge.

Marvel has been a partner with Epic Games since 2018, and more projects are in the works. Feige said many fans are introduced to Marvel characters through Fortnite, then read the comics and watch content from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Next week, a new Doctor Doom-centric event will be coming to the game. D23 audiences got a teaser Saturday night that featured a number of new special weapons, including Captain America’s shield and a Peely version of Wolverine.

Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal and CNBC.