Here is what Disney announced Saturday at D23

The Yeti joke was fun.

Just hoping he does the rest of the show in the smoker's jacket.

Could not be happier to hear Disneyland Paris is showing Hyperspace Mountain the exit.

Dates??? They didn't give dates for the new stuff to open. Frustrating if you're trying to plan a WDW trip.

The Yeti is back?! DisneyLand Paris' Space Mountain is back?! Dreamfinder is back?! Villains Land might be good?!

Pretty much a home run on every level except the Piston Peak thing. What kind of name is Cars Ridge Run Rally anyway?

Really vague about the Villains land stuff, though. The Maleficent coaster looks like Vekoma track, but I'm hoping for something thrilling in a park full of family coasters (I know it's MK, but asking for something with inversions isn't that crazy). And is the boat ride going to be the Battle for the Sunken Treasure system?

Overall, I'd say a solid 70% of the announcements for the American parks are things I'm looking forward to (I'm taking off points for Piston Peak and Tropical Americas). Which is a lot better than last year.

Glenn Close was talking about a Cruella ride. What's the deal with that?

Nothing from Imagineering about a Cruella ride. She might be featured in the Magic Mirror ride, but I have not seen that confirmed. Agreed, that bit was confusing.

I have some more thoughts, after some time:

What are the logistics for the Yeti replacement? How long should that take? Is everest going to be receiving more updates alongside that or is the Yeti all?

The Spaceship Earth update has me scared. Are they really going to give it a meaningful update, or are they going to cram it full of IP such as Moana's Grandma's ghost a la previous (hopefully scrapped) concept art?

And Monstropolis opening without its only ride is a little disappointing and kind of points to poor planning. That land really could've used an extra C-ticket to give it some legs. TH can whine all he wants about HRRR getting replaced with another roller coaster but seeing 3 reskins in DHS is kind of sad.

I don’t really get the consternation about Monstropolis opening in phases given that we didn’t expect any of it to open until 2028 anyway. I’d rather have the land open without the coaster than to wait for it all to be ready in two years, personally.

Overall, many quality rides and attractions to look forwards to in the parks. However, the only new ride in Disneyland Paris in the past 25 years is…retheming to an original ride? Also, the give the people what they want themes - a new tomorrow land, a revamped spaceship earth, a revised Journey into imagination, a working Yeti- seem more like campaign trail promises that may or may not be further expounded on in D23 2030.

I think the Piston Peak area for Magic Kingdom looks fantastic and the ride promises a scenic journey with variety in its vehicle range of motion. Sign me up for that!

Plus it was welcome getting more info on Indiana Jones. It seems theyre putting a lot of thought into this and not just making an Anaheim, or Tokyo, clone. (Although it will share a lot of features)

I am worried about the Spaceship Earth work. If they wouldve said the ride is getting a new ending I wouldve gotten off my seat, at home, and cheered. But it seems its more than that. Almost like theyre going to redo the beginning of the ride too which is what is left of retro Epcot. You could sense the uneasiness at the Honda Center with this announcement. Change the backwards descent part, nothing else!

Much of this was already known or heavily speculated, but here's my thoughts on a few things...

Tropical Americas: Seeing the details of the attractions, I'm more okay with Encanto and Indy being included (though I still would have preferred Zootopia). It's unclear if the Encanto ride is trackless or not...I was assuming the former, but I don't think that system can do slopes so it might be something else.

The Yeti: Nice way to plus the ride. Presumably this won't be happening for a few years as it will probably require significant downtime and the park needs capacity with Tropical Americas.

Monstropolis: Hearing that most of the area would be opening next year was a surprise, but I'm totally fine with the two phase opening given that Tropical Americas will also be debuting next year. That said, it does feel a bit like a filler land without that attraction.

New Journey Into Imagination and Spaceship Earth: Finally!

Piston Peak: Feels like a reskin of the DCA land, which isn't a bad thing but is a bit of a disappointment. Hopefully Cars Ridge Run Rally will have some surprises in store to differentiate it from the other Test Track style attractions.

Villains Land: Honestly the most compelling of all the WDW stuff to me. A major thrilling roller coaster (which, being Disney, I assume means about on par with Everest) and what looks to be a Shanghai Pirates style boat ride could easily give this land the top two attractions in the park. I'm guessing it's still probably five years out, but it should be worth the wait.

Avengers Campus: Was expecting late 2027 to capitalize on Secret Wars, but if it's early 2028 that's pretty close anyway.

Coco: Eh, I'm not the biggest fan of this film, so not much to get excited about here.

Avatar: I'm actually really glad it appears to be downsized to a single attraction rather than a full land, as I think that fits the available space in DCA better. Kind of surprised that they've got a model for it given that it now sounds like it's at least five years away.

Tomorrowland 2030: Heck yeah! I'd been hearing rumors about that and figured it might be the end of show bombshell this year. Presumably that will be the focus for DLR at the next D23 with Avengers Campus and Coco both either open or close to it by then. I just hope they don't feel the need to IP everything as part of the project.

D23 2026 = "It's a Small Ball Walt Disney World after all ..."

Fix the Yeti = Small Ball.

Jamie Lee Curtis and Bryan Cranston on 'Carousel of Progress' = Small Ball.

Phased opening of 'Monstropolis' -- with the first (ahem) "smaller" portion opening in 2027 = Small Ball.

Spaceship Earth update = Small Ball.

These are (relatively speaking) low cost, simple improvements, spread out over time across the WDW property. Of course Tropical Americas, the whole of Monstropolis, Piston Peak and Villains Land are major expansions.

But, as I may have mentioned before (chuckle), Disney's steady drumbeat of (Boom!) something new, (Boom!) something new, (Boom!) something new ... is working.

And based upon its most recent financial report, it's working really well.

Incidentally, neither in last night's presentation nor anywhere else in the D23 agenda, did I hear any reference to the company adding a Walt Disney animatronic to Walt Disney World.

What's up with THAT?

AJ: "Piston Peak: Feels like a reskin of the DCA land, which isn't a bad thing but is a bit of a disappointment."

Me: How on earth is this a "reskin"? It's a brand new land with new attractions. It's not new IP laid over an existing building/ride system.

One word, "WOW!"

Dreamfinder! Yay! I wish they would have told us more, though!

Fantastic announcements all around! While I wish they would have showcased more concrete details or given timelines (I remember Josh D. during 2024 D23 saying everything announced would be open within the next 5 years or some such), I'm glad they are committing to projects fans have clamored for in the last 20 years (Yeti! Dreamfinder! New Tomorrowland! OG Space Mountain Paris!).

The willingness to de-IP attractions also shows that perhaps this new administration isn't as wed to the "IP at all cost" ecosystem of the old guard.

In terms of announcements, I think this was better than '24 -- but the overall presentation (at least at home) was odd. Everything felt stilted. It seemed like no one really knew what was going on. For those in the Honda Center -- did it read differently than at home?

Ultimately, I'll take this unrehearsed presentation format over '24, which felt like it kept unveiling an endless conveyor belt of musical acts to the detriment of announcements.

@Aj: I can see the similarities of the Ms. Fritters demolition derby to the Luigis Tires attraction at DCA but beyond that this Cars Land looks wholly different then DCA’s Radiator Springs Land. The Imagineers that spoke (forgive me their names escape me) even expressly mentioned that the Ridge Rally Run ride system wasn’t found anywhere else in the world. I personally think that Pistons Peak might take a lot of people by surprise in terms of how well it meshes with the pre-existing vibes of Frontierland and also with the quality of the E-ticket ride there. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll forever lament the loss of TSI and the iconic sight lines of the waterways. But I don’t feel that this new area is a simple reskin based on the model, concept art and information we’ve been given.

@AJ Hummel, do you think the Avengers expansion will open before the LA 2028 Olympics?

Hands "... but the overall presentation (at least at home) was odd. Everything felt stilted. It seemed like no one really knew what was going on".

Me: That assessment is right on target.

I’d be curious to know what the budget on fixing the Yeti is. At the time of its opening, Expedition Everest was the most expense roller coaster ever built ($100 million in 2006, $167 now) and a good chunk of that undoubtedly went to the massive animatronic. I would have to think that it will cost a pretty penny even by Disney standards to replace that figure or even just spruce it up.

Timbo. . . seriously doubt it.

By the way, with all the attraction names that dropped last night, let’s appreciate that there wasn’t a single “Adventure” in there. Now that’s progress!

D23 2026 - Final Grade: C+

TH and fattyackin, I call it a "reskin" because it feels more like a thematic variation of Cars Land at DCA than a completely original concept created from scratch. The main ride looks to be very similar to Radiator Springs Racers and the secondary attraction looks like the same model as Mater's Junkyard Jamboree, thus for those who have already visited that land I'm not sure how much drive there will be to make a special trip for this one. That said, Ridge Run Rally is indeed a completely new ride system and not just a variation the same slot car type ride pioneered with Test Track, my opinion would change significantly, but I haven't seen anything convincing yet that it's indeed a different system.

Also, I am not saying that Piston Peak looks bad...it actually looks way better than I expected, and Ridge Run Rally will almost certainly be a top attraction in the Magic Kingdom. I think I'm just a little disappointed that the offerings feel so similar to DCA's version despite all the options they had on the table.

Timbo, I would be very surprised if the new Avengers Campus attractions are not open by that time. I'm sure they'll want to capitalize on the wave generated by Avengers: Secret Wars, so I'd guess spring 2028 is probably the target.

AJ: ", I call it a "reskin" because it feels more like a thematic variation of Cars Land at DCA than a completely original concept."

Me: So then Gringotts is a "reskin" of Forbidden Journey? Diagon is a "thematic variation" of Hogsmeade?

@AJ, I’d be surprised if they weren’t open by then too. Secret Wars comes out December, 2027…so spring 2028 makes sense.

I still remember seeing the working Yeti in March 2006 that looked awesome so long past time for an upgrade.

Excited for the Encanto and Villians Land additions but also the different story/setting for the Indy ride that sounds great.

Also the Glenn Close cameo made me wonder if they're prepping 103 Dalmatians.

D23 is akin to the Milwaukee Brewers making the playoffs. A lot of hype, then nothing.

Seems like the Disney PR powers that be had "fan service" as their goal for this presentation, perhaps recognizing some of the souring sentiment from their biggest cash cows?

I don't think anything "new" that was announced is of particular interest to a casual guest, but EVERYTHING "new" announced (death of Disco Yeti, Tomorrowland revamp, return of DLP Space Mountain, Dreamfinder and Figment, Spaceship Earth revamp with emphasis on 'old Epcot spirit'...) was trying to send the message to the super parks-fans of "Hey! We're actually listening to you now!"

Favorite post-event meme: "The reviews are in. D23 could have been an email."

So many words were spoken, yet so little was said.

I think there's an article to be written in all of this (which I don't have the time or expertise to write) about corporations waking up to the spending power of Gen-Xers, a generation which has been underserved by the marketing machine. For me, like NPH, the Dreamfinder and Figment announcement was the big thing at this D23. I went to EPCOT as an 8 year old the year after it opened. For years, the MO with EPCOT has been to ignore my generation's needs. The '90s-early 2000s incarnation of the park seemed so embarrassed by its idealistic edutainment roots that the park was basically left adrift with no real identity. The recent overhaul of the park looked so promising--but as far as hitting the real nostalgia strings, they tried to sell us on vintage looking T-shirts (at least with graphic design that paid homage to the early years of the par, instead of the weird 90s version), while convincing us that the most EPCOT thing possible is to pump more Disney animation IP into the park. These announcements seemed designed to cater to us, the group that actually remembered what made EPCOT great to begin with. They have a chance to do Journey Into Imagination right (people don't remember that when the park was new, this was the BEST attraction at the park--and certainly the most ambitious dark ride I had ever seen.) Since the theme of that ride, the imaginative spirit itself, is at the core of Disney's identity, it has been a shame that for three decades that ride has instead been "the journey into 3 of the 5 senses." I hope that they put their best and brightest on this overhaul, and prove the naysayers wrong by building a ride that is once again wildly popular, wildly exciting, and wildly inspiring to a new generation of creative kids.

Here are my thoughts on the D23 announcements:

1. There was a surprising amount of retro-focused announcements - what's old is new again. I guess that fits with the Carousel of Progress theme of the presentation, but over half of the projects were either a refurbishment or return to a previous version of a classic attraction. Paris' Space Mountain reviving it's original soundtrack and Verne-esque theme, Dreamfinder returning to Imagination, stripping Verne from Disneyland's Tomorrowland, refresh of Spaceship Earth, return of nighttime shows and parades, the Yeti (I'll believe that one when I see it with my own eyes), and the obvious revision of Carousel of Progress are all announcements that represented returns or slight revisions to existing attractions. There was a lot of talk of listening to fans, but it makes you wonder how Disney ended up with so many attractions that veered away from what fans supposedly wanted, not to mention the ripping of RoA/TSI out of the middle of the company's crown jewel.

2. Debut dates were extremely nebulous and rare for many of the projects announced. I could be forgetting, but there were only 2 dates provided for US parks projects, which was 2028 for Avengers CAMPUS at DCA and 2027 for Monstropolis at DHS (minus the Door Coaster, who knows when this will open, though it looks more like F.L.Y. than previous concept videos indicated). The lack of dates provided for other projects, particularly those that seemed further along in their development/construction was telling to me. First, Disney going out of their way to open Monstropolis in 2027 indicates to me that Tropical Americas' timeline may have slipped from it's previous announced 2027 debut and into 2028. Disney would not open a land without its e-ticket if they already had something to market in 2027, so the fact that they're seemingly pushing to open this area in DHS early is a clear indication to me that Tropical Americas is taking longer than initially anticipated. Over in California, the 2028 announcement indicated that both attractions (Infinity Defense and Stark Flight Lab) would open together, and not in a staggered fashion. I would anticipate 2028 means by the summer, but they've definitely given themselves a long runway to get these attractions ready. Aside from that, no other dates were provided, so I think the expectation is 2028 or later for everything else to provide fodder for the next D23.

3. Disney showed a lot of shots of Infinity Defense, but very little of the actual ride vehicle or who will be the villain(s) in the attraction. There appears to be section of the ride where riders are shrunk down (a la Antman), which calls back to the old Body Wars attraction. The brief shots of the ride vehicle appear to indicate a 3-D motion base (like Spiderman or Transformers at Universal parks).

4. Villains Land was the biggest thud of the night. Imagineers tried to provide the backstory to the land with a poisoned wishing well and the 2 main attractions, but you could tell that the land is still too "Blue Sky" for them to provide any clear details to make it significantly different from Dark Universe. They said the word "architecture" at least a half dozen times during this presentation, and the land's name reveal went over like a lead balloon - though I guess it is ultimately better than some of the silly, tongue twisting names that were floating out there. The Maleficent Coaster drawing debunked the long-rumored theory that it would be an inverted coaster - looked like a relatively stock Vekoma family sit-down coaster, perhaps similar to the new Spiderman coaster in Shanghai. The Magic Mirror boat ride might be another version of the Battle of the Sunken Treasure system, or at least the same as the ride system coming to Avatar at DCA since they were depicted with similar sized/shaped boats. As noted above, no dates were provided for this project, so 2030 would probably be the absolute earliest we would expect this to open.

5. No height requirement attractions - I think this was one of the highlights of the night, because it's something Disney has gotten away from in many of its recent attraction additions. This not only is great news for families, but it pretty much pins down the ride systems that will be utilized for these 2 attractions. Coco will almost certainly be the same ride system as Na'Vi River Journey, which similarly has no height restriction, while the Encanto ride at DAK will almost certainly be the same ride system as Micky and Minnie's Runaway Railway, which also has no height requirement. The concept images confirm the shapes and seat layout that match each of those ride systems, so the lack of height restrictions gives us almost 100% confirmation of those ride vehicles even though Disney did not make that direct comparison.

6. They gave a really detailed look and description of Piston Peak National Park, but also didn't provide a date. It sounds like they are maybe trying to get this open by 2028, but I think it wouldn't be surprising to see this open in 2029. The flat ride (Miss Fritter's Daredevil Spin-Along) appears to be another spinner like Alien Spinning Saucers and Mater's Jamboree, though with what appears to be a water feature to spray guests during the cycle. I guess this is fine, but there are all kinds of flat rides that could have been tapped here, yet they've seemingly chosen the same one they used in Cars Land and already exists in DHS. They gave plenty of details on Cars Ridge Run Rally, but I think the biggest reveal here is that the land's e-ticket only has a single track now instead of the dueling track depicted in the original Piston Peak concept art. This could be a huge deal, because capacity could be a big issue, though since the attraction was described as very dynamic (airtime hills, bumps, and other thrilling elements) it might have a significant height restriction to limit its potential audience/demand. It also means that you lose the racing element that was advertised, though Imagineers hinted that you would be timed against other vehicles on the track (whoopee). They kept cutting to a fountain with a Lightning McQueen balancing on top of the geyser, so I expect that will be a centerpiece of the attraction and/or land. The one thing that seemed clear is that there weren't any characters from Planes shown, which is the spinoff series where Piston Peak is actually featured, so while they're in the same universe, WDI seems hesitant to veer from the core IP even if none of the Cars movies utilize the setting chosen for this land.

7. Imagineers talked about how depictions of animals in the Encanto and Indy rides at Tropical Americas were being done faithfully to South American species. However, there was no mention of any animal exhibits or live animal attractions as part of this expansion. It's understandable why live animals were not found in Dinoland USA, but if you're going through all the trouble to make accurate figures and representations of new rides in Tropical Americas, why not also include some actual live creatures from the region? WDI has never promised any of the sort as part of this project, but it seems like a missed opportunity that they've gone through the trouble to do research on the animals of the area, but not include any live ones in the new land. It makes sense to not include live animals on these new attractions (and rides like Jungle Cruise), but to not have any exhibits in a new land in a park that already has infrastructure and staffing to support such installations that would further guests' understanding and appreciation of this region of the world seems shortsighted.

8. There were quite a few announcements that were short on information and detail despite oodles of detail given for others like Bryan Cranston and Jamie Lee Curtis voicing characters in Carousel of Progress. Both of the final announcements were super vague with the renovation of Disneyland's Tomorrowland. Attractions were mentioned as part of that redo, but nothing specific other than the look of the land would be changing. That indicates to me that any such work is likely years off, and is highly subject to change. The same goes for the Imagination Pavilion at EPCOT, where the only thing specifically mentioned was a return of the Dreamfinder animatronic. This could represent anything from adding a single figure to the queue/pre-show to a full renovation of the attraction with a new (or return to the original) storyline. This also includes the vague talk about the Spaceship Earth renovation - when will it happen, and will it have a new narrator - other than the change in focus from Communication to interconnectivity. Both of these EPCOT projects have been long rumored with the Spaceship Earth renovation announced but abandoned as part of the full park re-envisioning that was a Pandemic casualty, but there's no indication when these might be completed or how expansive the changes might be. Then there are the projects that Disney mentioned, but just glossed over without providing any material details like Avatar at DCA and Disney Abu Dhabi, suggesting that they are more than 5 years off from being reality. Finally, there were a few projects that were hinted ahead of the presentation, or previously announced that Disney did not talk about at all like the full retrack/renovation of Space Mountain at MK, the future of Star Wars in Paris with Hyperspace Mountain reverting to the park's OG version, and what the long term plans are for the Toy Story Parking lot at the Disneyland Resort. These all seemed like pressing topics that Disney would at least address or provide some outline of when information/plans would be announced, but crickets.

Maybe it was just me, but there was very little in the presentation that I didn't already know, and the song and dance and delayed start (15 minutes late and 15 minutes long) was borderline annoying, particularly given the payoff of Dreamfinder at the end did not outweigh the nails on a chalkboard that much of the presentation was. Perhaps it was that I am well educated and connected with what Disney is/will be doing across their parks, so what some may find interesting and newsworthy to me is yesterday's news. Many of the celebrity appearances were downright sad - Los Lobos sounded awful due to a poor audio mix, Gloria Gaynor could only sit in a chair while she was lauded as the "Queen of Disco" despite Donna Summer undoubtedly holding that title, and poor Glen Close who did an amazing performance, but was completely distracting to the presentation of Villains Land that barely featured Cruella DeVille (I guess Angelina Jolie was too expensive or unavailable). Disney is doing a lot of stuff around the world right now, and it's clear they have their hands full (the same Imagineer came out to talk about 3 different WDW projects). I wonder if some of the expectations are weighing on the team trying to deliver so much over such a short period of time. I trust that the teams will not necessarily cut corners or compromise quality, but I think the biggest takeaway from the presentation is that timelines are extremely flexible because WDI is spread extremely thin.

Also, 1 more thing - Did those images of the 3 featured villains shown before Glen Close came out look like AI slop, particularly the Dr. Facilier? I know the land is a long ways off from being reality, so utilizing AI for design and other internal uses probably makes sense, but if those images distributed for the world to see (including the most adamant Disney fans in the universe) were not drawn or at least touched up by human hands, SHAME (and perhaps furthers my theory that WDI is being stretched given this massive push to expand, refresh, and design new attractions around the world)!!!!!

I’m sensing a lot of baiting around these parts today lol

fattyackin, ha ha ha ha