It’s an exciting time to be a Walt Disney World fan. We’re anxiously awaiting announcements for the upcoming construction cycle of “turbocharged” growth to see what’s on the horizon in the next decade. Rumors and wishful thinking are swirling, with speculation of new lands and attractions, plus ride reimaginings and other expansion.
Along with fresh and exciting new buzz, some age-old rumors won’t die, popping up again and again over the years with a stubborn persistence–like a penguin or camel or cockroach, depending upon your perspective. So it should come as no surprise that certain possibilities are making a resurgence once again, given that a few of these projects were pitched during the last development cycle that came to a premature end.
That so many rumors are swirling is no surprise. The company has $17 billion investment plans for Walt Disney World in the next decade. There’s every incentive to spend that much or more, as theme parks have been an area of strength and stability for the company, with the past decade of investments fueling massive growth. On top of all that, the elephant in the room for Walt Disney World is Universal’s Epic Universe, the third theme park being built in Central Florida by Comcast. That will renew the theme park wars in the decade to come, motivating Disney to come up with a better “answer” to Epic Universe than it’s current “nothing.”
With all of that said, not all “rumors” for the future of Walt Disney World are of equal quality or likelihood. Those are very much air quotes around rumor, as so many of the proposals we’ve heard about are WDW diehard’s daydreams. Things we as a fan community would collectively love to see and might like to will into existence, but are nevertheless unlikely. If this wishful thinking is repeated often enough and with a certain confidence, it takes on quasi-rumor status–like a bad game of telephone. That’s some of the list below.
There are also entries that have more credibility to them, and a greater likelihood of coming to fruition down the road. These are real rumors, or were at one point. If the above category is like a bad game of telephone, this is akin to “where there’s smoke, there’s fire.” Rumors that have lingered because they’re good ideas–and those never die in Imagineering. However, being a good idea doesn’t alone guarantee a project being greenlit, meaning we might have to wait a while longer for these concepts to come to life.
Suffice to say, we’d bet against hearing any of the following announcements during the Horizons Park Panel at the 2024 D23 Expo. Maybe in 2026, 2028, or further down the road–but the chances of anything on this list becoming official in 2024 is exceedingly unlikely…
Skyliner Expansion – This one keeps coming up, and I’m not really sure from where. Every time I hear rumors of a supposed Skyliner expansion, the routes are different. Sometimes there’s a connection for Coronado Springs, Animal Kingdom Lodge, and the All Stars to Animal Kingdom. Then there was Coronado Springs to Blizzard Beach and Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Yet another was ??? (I don’t remember) to Disney Springs.
I have a hard time believing that any of these or other routes happen. The first Skyliner fulfilled a goal of getting buses off the roads, upgrading accommodations to create two “Value Plus” and one “Moderate Plus” resort, while giving a new Disney Vacation Club tower in no man’s land a distinct selling point.
Before daydreaming about Skyliner expansion, you have to answer a critical question: what does this do for Disney? Coronado Springs already does reasonably well as the convention hotel, the All Stars serve a role as budget-friendly accommodations, and there’s little incentive to spend a lot to make access easier to a shopping center filled with third parties. About the only possibility, I guess, is further reducing labor and other costs of buses, but I don’t see that alone as sufficiently compelling for Skyliner expansion.
De-Disco-ified Yeti – Joe Rohde promised to fix the infamous Disco Yeti that hasn’t worked for most of Expedition Everest’s existence. The legendary Imagineer couldn’t get that done when he was around, and now he’s gone (at least officially). C’mon, does anyone really believe that Disney is going to spend the money necessary to fix this? When even the park’s biggest advocate–and one with internal influence–couldn’t get it done?
I’ll admit that this is partially wishful thinking on my part. The Yeti Audio Animatronics was a colossal waste of money for something that can only be seen for a fraction of a second. In a park that has plenty of problems and is in urgent need of a lot of help, the yeti should not be fixed anytime in at least the next decade. Budgets are finite and that’s a poor use of both (down)time and money. Sorry not sorry.
If you still think Disco Yeti should be fixed, I’m curious which parks project you think the ~$50 million should come from? Tropical Americas, Beyond Big Thunder–maybe Magic Kingdom doesn’t actually need a night parade? Fans complain about Walt Disney World not getting enough attention, but it does–the bigger problem is that the company doesn’t spend money smarter when it comes to WDW.
5th Gate – I’m not even going to dignify this one with a lengthy explanation. We’ve been over this time and time again, but it keeps coming up due to Universal’s Epic Universe.
Many fans expect an equivalent “answer” to Epic Universe, and the only thing that can really compete with a new theme park is a new theme park. That absolutely will not happen. There is a 0% chance Disney announces a 5th theme park for Walt Disney World at the 2024 D23 Expo and like 2% that one is announced by the 2034 D23 Expo. If you want to read more about this topic: Here’s Why a 5th Theme Park Will NOT Be Built at Walt Disney World in the Next Decade.
Wonders of Wakanda – Back when the first Black Panther movie was a smash success at the box office, there were almost-immediate credible rumors that Disney was evaluating it for the parks. One of the leading contends was for it replacing Wonders of Life back in 2018. Obviously, it did not win out as Play Pavilion was announced instead. That concept has since been shelved.
In the last year, both Disney CEO Bob Iger and Parks Chairman Josh D’Amaro have discussed Wakanda as a leading candidate for expansion at Walt Disney World or Disneyland. It’s right up there with Frozen, Encanto, and Coco as the IPs mentioned most. And it’s the only one of those that doesn’t already have a home at Walt Disney World or a landing place in Tropical Americas at Animal Kingdom or Beyond Big Thunder at Magic Kingdom.
Repurposing the Wonders of Life pavilion into Wakanda would create a de facto Marvel miniland in World Discovery, and it could be the second ‘Other World Showcase’ pavilion. From Walt Disney World’s perspective, and as a matter of marketability, that probably makes a lot of sense. Personally, I don’t love the idea of more Marvel in EPCOT, but I suspect that Wakandan technology could be the jumping off point for this to be shoehorned into EPCOT. It wouldn’t make any less sense than the Wonders of Xandar, which works decently well as a framing device.
Still, I don’t think this happens. If Walt Disney World has any appetite for more Marvel (and that’s a big “if”), a reimagined Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster is the most logical landing point. That would be the cheaper and more marketable option, and leave the Wonders pavilion open for more family-friendly concepts that might be better fits.
The Simpsons – There are highly credible rumors that when Universal’s license on the Simpsons expires in 2028, those lands will close. There are myriad reasons for this, from the ride system being in poor shape and approaching the end of its life to Universal wanting dedicated Nintendo presences in each of its existing gates in addition to Epic Universe. I cannot independently corroborate Universal rumors, but those explanations pass the smell test for me.
What does not pass the smell test is the assumption that once the theme park license reverts to Disney, they will take advantage of that by building their own land, attraction–whatever. This is not a credible rumor, it’s an assumption. And, in my view, it’s not a good one. The Simpsons is valuable to the Hulu back catalog because it has a ton of episodes. I’m highly skeptical that it’s valuable as a theme park property in the 2030s, when the franchise’s peak popularity is over 30 years in the past.
Monsters, Inc. Doors Coaster – Since I’ve been active in the fan community as an adult, there have been rumors of a Monsters Inc. Doors Coaster. At one point, it was a “done deal” for the spot next door to Toy Story Mania in Pixar Place. That was long before Toy Story Land was a thing.
At some point (probably when Toy Story Mania got a third track, taking that option off the table), the location moved to Animation Courtyard. Other versions place it in Sunset Showcase or area that is currently backstage but could be repurposed to connect dead ends of the park.
For the record, I think the Monsters Inc. Doors Coaster is a brilliant idea for a family-friendly “story” coaster. I also think that there’s truth to the notion that good ideas never really die in Imagineering and that applies to this concept. So I still think there are decent odds this gets built somewhere, someday. I’m just not confident it’ll be at DHS or greenlit until there’s another Monsters movie that does well at the box office.
Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge Expansion – Disney will never admit it, but Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge has underperformed relative to expectations. I kind of hate even saying this, as there’s a cottage industry of Cartmans who feed off of anger towards Disney’s handling of the franchise. But it’s nevertheless true, and you need to look no further than Disney cancelling plans for the Paris version of the land and never cloning the expansion anywhere else. (Not to mention the unmitigated failure of Galactic Starcruiser, but that’s a somewhat separate topic.)
Had Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge been a success, it had plenty of room for expansion at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. And it still seemingly could take over Grand Avenue or more backstage real estate, adding another ride and more in the process. It won’t. At least, not anytime in the foreseeable future.
The best case scenario–and one that I strongly believe should happen–is a soft reboot of the land that ditches the strict “story” and timeline rules to make the land more fun. That could yield more entertainment and the previously-planned restaurant, and it would give Galaxy’s Edge a shot in the arm in the process. And that could result in further expansion of the land down the road, but no time soon.
Jungle Book Ride – Back before there were credible rumors of a Lion King ride heading to Animal Kingdom, there were reports of a Jungle Book attraction heading to EPCOT as part of an India pavilion. Like Lion King, part of the rumor was that the Jungle Book attraction would utilize the same ride system as Shanghai Disneyland’s Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for the Sunken Treasure.
This ride system for an underwater-controlled boat was patented by Disney several years ago, but has yet to resurface in other attractions aside from Shanghai. Previously, the ride system was also rumored for Peter Pan’s Never Land Adventure in Fantasy Springs at Tokyo DisneySea and a new Pandora attraction in Animal Kingdom (long before it became a rumor for Disneyland Resort).
Despite Lion King having the clear advantage, it doesn’t appear that Jungle Book ride rumors are totally dead. I wouldn’t bet on them coming to fruition anytime soon, but I also wouldn’t bet against them. Jungle Book is one of the few animated classics that doesn’t have an attraction (the live action remake also did really well). That alone adds an element of plausibility to this possibility.
Ice Age Mountain – Ever since Disney acquired the rights to Ice Age via the Fox transaction, ideas have floated around about the franchise finding a home at Animal Kingdom. Note that I’m not calling these rumors or even wishful thinking, it just seemed like fans baselessly assumed that since Ice Age was popular (was it really, though?), it’d end up in the parks.
The latest iteration of this is an overlay of Expedition Everest. Not because there’s a single iota of truth to it, but because, I guess, there’s snow on the mountain and in the movie? It should go without saying, but this is not going to happen.
More generally speaking, I don’t think any Ice Age attractions or a land will ever happen at Walt Disney World. Rightly or wrongly (rightly is the correct answer), Disney does not view Ice Age as one of its top-tier franchises. There has never been any signal whatsoever that the company plans on incorporating these movies into the parks.
It should be telling that not even characters have appeared in the parks at this point. If they’re not willing to spend the minimum on entertainment or temporary offerings, what reasonable basis is there for believing they might build a full land or ride?
World Showcase Expansion – Walt Disney World has a long and rich history of unbuilt World Showcase pavilions that came so close to happening. Most notable are Equatorial Africa, Spain, and Israel, all of which were actually announced by Disney. If you’re not familiar with these concepts, there’s a lot about them in Walt Disney’s Epcot Center: Creating the New World of Tomorrow. At the time this book was written, it was still believed that these pavilions were coming to EPCOT Center, so the book spends time discussing them.
Fast-forward to the 2010s (and perhaps even earlier), and the big rumor was Brazil. The rumors really gained momentum from 2017 to 2019, to the point that an announcement during the latter year’s D23 Expo was believed to be a done deal. In fact, a scheduled tweet from Disney partners “leaked” the news…that never was. While we don’t know for sure what happened, more rumors afterwards suggested it was a timing issue and Disney not wanting to announce during the 2019 Amazon rainforest fires. Then, of course, 2020 happened.
Fast forward again to this year, when Disney announced D23 Brazil: The Ultimate Fan Event to be held in Sao Paulo this November. So of course that’s going to rekindle the rumor and/or speculation mill. For our part, we’ve heard absolutely nothing credible. About a Brazil or any new pavilion in World Showcase. It does not seem like there’s any appetite for further expansion in World Showcase. Even if there should be.
Disney’s Magical Express Returns – It’s unlikely that Disney’s Magical Express is ever coming back. However, if ever there was a time to bring back the airport transportation that gave Walt Disney World a quasi-captive audience and helped increase occupancy, it’s when the competitor across town is opening a new theme park and has a glut of hotel inventory awaiting the occasion.
Since the decision to end Disney’s Magical Express was made, we’ve been saying it makes no sense even from a business perspective–that there must be more to the story. This is because, unlike other on-site guest perks, the “free” service was incredibly valuable to Walt Disney World. It made tourists a captive audience who were less likely to go and spend money elsewhere.
Long ago, Walt Disney World determined that the increase in average per guest spending with Disney’s Magical Express plus the perceived convenience and goodwill obtained from offering the service outweighs the average per guest cost of offering the service. It’s possible that calculus changed during the era of pent-up demand, especially as rideshare services became more common and easier to burst the Disney bubble, so to speak.
But the opening of Epic Universe might be occasion for revisiting the decision. We’ve also been saying for a while that the biggest threat Universal poses to Disney comes via hotel occupancy numbers. If Epic Universe can peel away even ~10% of on-site guests from Walt Disney World, that’s a big problem.
Disney’s Magical Express could help address that, while also keeping a subset of guests entirely on-site. The bubble isn’t as strong as it once was and there’s literally no way to prevent WDW guests from taking day trips to Universal, but there are ways to keep them staying on-site at Walt Disney World. Perks is one of them, and there’s no better perk than DME!
So while I’d still bet against a return of Disney’s Magical Express in the near future, I think there’s a non-zero chance of it happening…and the likelihood increases if Walt Disney World feels pressure from Universal Orlando.
BONUS: 3rd Gate at Disneyland – DisneylandForward has broken the brains of Disney fans. What was once thought impossible–a third gate at Disneyland–now feels like a foregone conclusion to some. We keep seeing this pop up on lists of predictions for the 2024 D23 Expo, to the point that it’s driving me crazy.
The possibilities of DisneylandForward are really exciting. But that’s all they are–possibilities. For like the dozenth time, DisneylandForward is not a substantive plan or construction project, it’s more like a zoning proposal. DisneylandForward is really all about paving the way for future developments of an uncertain nature by giving Disney more autonomy over land use by relaxing the DRSP.
Although its approval does require Disney to invest at least $2 billion into the parks over the next decade, with potential for $2.5 billion, it doesn’t require that to be spent on actual expansion beyond the berms. Disney could spend double that amount on the existing parks without growing the footprint of the resort at all and that would still satisfy the conditions of the DisneylandForward approval. In fact, that’s almost exactly what I think will happen (with the possible exception of what’s currently the Hollywood Backlot being built out into the bus loop).
A lot of fans are making big assumptions based on the environmental impact study for DisneylandForward. That used actual show buildings for attractions from Tokyo and Shanghai, which got fans excited, but all of those were placeholders. It’s a lot easier to just recycle plans that have already been made and drop them into such a report rather than make new (fake) plans for no real purpose.
To end this on an optimistic note, I actually do think I’ll see a third park at Disneyland in my lifetime. And frankly, I wouldn’t be surprised if work started on it sometime in the 2030s. Unlike Walt Disney World, there are a lot of reasons why it actually makes some degree of sense. Whenever the 3rd gate does come to fruition, it’ll be a direct result of DisneylandForward laying the foundation for it. I just don’t think that it’s in the cards for the medium-term. There’s plenty of room for growth within the existing gates, so that’s what we’ll see first.
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YOUR THOUGHTS
What rumors would you bet against being confirmed at the 2024 D23 Expo–or ever? Which of these do you think are fan daydreaming? Which do you view as ‘good ideas that never die’ within the halls of Imagineering? Any other persistent rumors for Walt Disney World that you’d bet against? Are you excited/optimistic about what will be revealed during the Horizons Park Panel, or taking an “I’ll believe it when I see it” stance given all of the cancelled projects of the last ~5 years? Any surprise announcements you think might be possible?
