“I know you’ve all been hungry for something besides Blue Sky,” said the head of Walt Disney Imagineering when unveiling the pavilion during a media event ahead of the 2024 D23 Expo. “Blue Sky is great, but this year’s future projects are all about putting shovels in the soil.” He further punctuated his opening remarks by promising “really cool” stuff and reiterating that this would be the largest and most exciting development phase for Imagineering ever. No pressure or anything.
Earlier in the day, Disneyland President Ken Potrock similarly hyped up this weekend’s keynote during his speech to media at D23 Day at Disneyland. Potrock suggested that locals would be in for a treat, with a large swath of the announcements to come being exciting for Disneyland diehards. I would hazard a guess that he isn’t talking about Disney Cruise Line news.
Because I just can’t help myself, my mind immediately went to Tomorrowland. There was just something about the way he said it–but I’m probably setting myself up for disappointment. (I never learn my lesson.) Pandora – World of Avatar and the King Thanos Multiverse attraction are givens at this point, with more likely surprises being a Fantasyland expansion (Frozen) or Zootopia. But my heart is foolishly hoping for Tomorrowland and a revival of the PeopleMover.
I also had the chance to preview the show floor for the 2024 D23 Expo and, even while some booths were still being set up, it is clearly massive. Easily the largest in the event’s history, and it’s not like it was a small event before. The floor consumes space previously used for keynotes now that those have been moved over to the Honda Center, which allows for more pavilions–but also a bit more breathing room, which was needed. I won’t bore you with details about shopping and merchandise (although there is a really cool Starspeeder that plays the OG Star Tours!), but I did want to share a look inside the Walt Disney Imagineering pavilion, along with accompanying thoughts.
“Imagineering: Behind the Dreams” is a pavilion where guests can get a closer look at how Imagineers collaborate to create immersive experiences guests enjoy every day around the world. It also continues WDI’s trend of pulling back the curtain, which started with the YouTube series “We Call It Imagineering.”
Imagineers took a new approach to designing the space, making it Imagineering-centric to give guests the full Imagineering experience when they step inside. This is good news if you want to see the creative process, but less so if you’re wanting detailed looks at what’s new and next at the parks–there’s less ‘newsworthy’ content at this year’s incarnation of the pavilion than in most prior years.
The pavilion showcases the creative process with the venue divided into four quadrants: Invent, Build, Entertain and Design. Let’s take a look at just a few of the models, interactive demos, and displays in the “Imagineering: Behind the Dreams” pavilion!
In the “Invent” section of the pavilion, guests will step into the world of technology, a cornerstone of Imagineering storytelling.
Recently spotted at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disneyland, the BDX Droids will be interacting with guests in the Imagineering pavilion. Utilizing new technologies developed by Disney Research and Walt Disney Imagineering Research & Development, these free-roaming robotic characters are capable of great balance and highly expressive motions. They are designed to be explorer companions, and they have cute personalities.
Guests will get to see the HoloTile floor in person — the world’s first multi-person, omni-directional, modular treadmill floor — demonstrated by Lanny Smoot, a recent inductee into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.
With the HoloTile floor, any number of people can have a shared virtual reality experience, walk an unlimited distance in any direction, and never collide or walk off its surface. Besides VR and gaming applications, the HoloTile floor may be used as an insert in a theatrical stage, allowing performers to move and dance in new ways, or stage props and structures to move around or set themselves up.
Watching the modular floor adjust in real-time while also seeing the displays was mindblowing. The monitors in tandem with the floor in tandem with Lanny Smoot and other Imagineer’s actions are like a technological symphony, for lack of a better term. The end result seems simple, but achieving that simple result is unbelievably complex. Imagineering has been highlighting the HoloTile floor a lot recently, making me wonder if it has an upcoming practical, in-park application.
Get a detailed look at how Disney Live Entertainment Costuming designs and develops custom garments created for Disney shows, parades, and more. In this space, guests can see the various steps that went into the creation of Minnie Mouse’s new Halloween outfit that she’ll be wearing at Disneyland this year.
In the “Design” section, guests will get an inside look at models and maquettes for upcoming projects around the world.
On the high seas, Imagineers are hard at work on the Disney Treasure and Disney Destiny. Pavilion guests will get to see how Imagineering’s Interior Designers ideate and gather inspiration for Disney Cruise Line ships, including mood boards, sketches and more.
One of the displays focuses on how happy haunts will be materializing aboard the Disney Treasure at the Haunted Mansion Parlor. The project team compiled concept art, fabrics and maquettes that have influenced the design of the space, including a sculpture of the Disney Legend Rolly Crump bust.
Within the space, guests will see a maquette of the new ride vehicle, which is key to the attraction’s story. In the attraction, guests will join The Avengers on a new multi-world mission spanning destinations across the universe. Thanks to unique collaborations between inventors at Avengers Campus, the heroes have created a new vehicle capable of jumping between these worlds and even realities — on planet Earth and beyond.
Even though Disney shared concept art of the ride vehicle at last year’s Destination D23, nothing was said about the substance of the attraction. Honestly, I was wondering whether we’d get a third incarnation of the plot for this–especially since the last was conceived under different leadership at the end of the Chapek regime. It appears not!
This is the same ride vehicle utilized by Peter Pan’s Never Land Adventure in Fantasy Springs at Tokyo DisneySea. You can read our review, which describes that as Avatar Flight of Passage meets Universal’s Spider-Man, for somewhat of a “sneak peek” at what to expect from this Marvel E-Ticket.
When World of Frozen inspired by Disney Animation’s “Frozen” opens at Disneyland Paris, Walt Disney Studios Park will receive a brand-new name, Disney Adventure World.
Guests will discover the exciting expansion and reimagining of Disneyland Paris’s second park with a detailed model of Disney Adventure World, bringing with it a new creative vision that will nearly double the park’s footprint and transform it into a world of adventure.
Frankly, the very first thing I wondered when I saw this model is whether it was designed so the Lion King expansion (which is the rumored replacement for the cancelled Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge) can be easily attached once that announcement is made.
While cool to see how the Walt Disney Studios Park is going to evolve, it’s not that impressive of a model as-is. The Frozen area is small and difficult to see in detail, and the soundstage-heavy nature of the park makes for a lot of rooftops. It’s cool to see the whole park, I guess, but it looks underwhelming. (Fitting for WDSP.)
And honestly, I was really hoping for a model of Tropical Americas at Animal Kingdom, so to get this instead of that was a bit of a letdown. I kind of figured that would be shared before the Parks Panel given that aerial concept art has already been released, and I cannot fathom many material changes from that.
With that said, guests visiting the Imagineering pavilion on Sunday can get an up-close look at future projects revealed during the aforementioned Parks Panel on Saturday night, hosted by Disney Experiences Chairman Josh D’Amaro.
A fairly large area of the pavilion is currently walled off, and I would assume that will contain at least two models. Again, hopefully Tropical Americas. I’d also guess that Pandora for Disneyland Resort is in there. Maybe if we’re lucky, we’ll also get a few surprises–more concept art, posters, and perhaps a multimedia presentation a la the EPCOT overhaul back at the 2019 D23 Expo? Either way, we’ll keep you posted on all of the breaking news throughout the 2024 D23 Expo, so stay tuned for more!
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YOUR THOUGHTS
What do you think of this look inside the Imagineering pavilion at the 2024 D23 Expo? Think it’s cool that Disney is pulling back the curtain on WDI and the creative process, or would you prefer more models and other newsworthy morsels to pore over? Pleased that Bruce Vaughn is so bullish on the future of parks and what Imagineers are working on? Any of the innovations mentioned here really wow you? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
