‘Avatar,’ ‘Coco’ attractions are coming to Disneyland — and other big news from D23

Walt Disney created it. James Cameron will help add to it.

The Disneyland Resort in its seventh decade is getting a new area dedicated to a world of fantasy, this one having originated from the mind of filmmaker Cameron. A long-teased “Avatar”-inspired section is coming to Disney California Adventure. The Walt Disney Co. confirmed the plans Saturday night at its D23 fan convention in Anaheim.

Concept art shown by Disney revealed a water-focused attraction that Walt Disney Imagineering, the division of the company responsible for theme park design, promised would be “dynamic, intense and an emotional experience on a grand scale.”

Imagineering executive Ali Rubinstein said the new area in California Adventure would differ greatly from an “Avatar”-themed land at Walt Disney World in Florida. This one, she said, would draw heavily from the second “Avatar” film, “The Way of Water.” Consider it “an excursion in search of majestic natural wonders that can only be found in Pandora,” said Rubinstein.

The announcement arrives at a crucial time for the Walt Disney Co. The firm reported lower than anticipated operating income for its parks division in its third-quarter results, with executives attributing the slowdown, in part, to a dip in demand driven by financial stress on consumers. Any drop in attendance at Disney theme parks — global tourist destinations that draw millions per year — raises questions not only regarding public sentiment on the economy, but the affordability and excitement surrounding the parks.

In turn, this D23 convention was seen as crucial in inspiring fan passion for what’s to come. And fans left Saturday’s park-focused presentation with plenty to think about.

“It’s kind of overwhelming,” said Matt Reynolds, 31, from Orlando, Fla. “There’s so much information and I’ll have to read over it all and digest it all. I think it’s all very ambitious.”

Throughout the weekend it was stressed that announcements at a parks-focused event Saturday evening at the Honda Center would focus on projects in some stage of active development, including a “Coco”-themed boat ride also destined for California Adventure.

“Disney’s plans are drawn,” said Josh D’Amaro, chairman of Disney Experiences, from the arena’s stage. “This means the dirt is moving.”

Disney executives indicated that they were well aware that fans were anticipating relatively major reveals at this D23, especially after the last convention, in 2022, went heavy on potential projects but was light on concrete proposals. A quick sampling of the 12,000 who attended the event found that Disney’s most ardent fans — and often harshest critics — generally had an upbeat response to the shift in direction.

“We got some better announcements than last time. It was more than ‘what if?’ I definitely was very happy with some of these announcements,” said Justin Ramos, 22, from Orlando. “I’d like to see them follow through with a lot of this.”

Concept art shown at D23 for Avengers Infinity Defense, which will feature multiple heroes in a multiverse battle against King Thanos.

(Marvel / Disneyland )

D’Amaro said ground would break in 2026 for the “Coco” attraction. He added that the ride would be influenced largely by classics such as the Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean, and would feature new animatronic technology.

“We’re bringing our skeletal cast of characters to life in a big way,” he said. “These figures will appear in ways you’ll have to see to believe.”

Locations for the “Avatar” and “Coco” attractions — and what, if anything, they may replace — were not detailed at the Honda Center.

The biggest roar of the night was reserved for a villains-themed land coming to the Magic Kingdom in Florida’s Walt Disney World. The announcements, sprinkled among pop performances of Disney songs from the likes of Rita Ora, Meghan Trainor, Chromeo and more, came quick, and ranged from four new cruise ships to a land with a “Monsters, Inc.” theme for Disney’s Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World. The latter will come complete with a suspended coaster. Elsewhere, look for attractions based on “Encanto” and the “Indiana Jones” franchise to come to Florida resort’s Animal Kingdom.

Concept art for Stark Flight Lab, an elaborate amusement park-like attraction that will simulate flight movements.

(Marvel / Disney)

Much attention, however, was placed on California Adventure.

Imagineering creative Scott Trowbridge said the park’s Avengers Campus would essentially double in size with two attractions in development. One is a previously announced ride featuring the Avengers in battle across the multiverse with King Thanos. The attraction, first announced in 2019, was given a name, Avengers Infinity Defense, and will feature locations such as the Black Panther world of Wakanda, Asgard and New York City. It looks to lean heavily on visual effects interspersed with physical sets.

Another, Stark Flight Lab, is pitched as a testing of new Avengers technology. It’s an amusement-park-like thrill ride, in which guests will sit in two-person pods and then attach to a mechanical arm that will lift them into the air and attempt to simulate sensations of flight. Actor Robert Downey Jr. will reprise his role as Tony Stark for the ride. Ground is set to break on both attractions next year, said Trowbridge.

The Avengers ride, in particular, has been a long time coming, having first been unveiled five years ago. Fans are eager for its arrival. “We unfortunately are Disney World people, but we want to be Disney California Adventure people because of all of the Avengers Campus and the ‘Coco,’” said Julie McGrady, 31, of Nashville.

Disney did place a high significance on this D23 when it came to the Disneyland Resort. The birthplace of the modern American theme park turns 70 in July 2025, and recently after a multiyear process the company won approval from Anaheim to significantly expand its parks, hotels and shopping districts.

Concept art for a suspended roller coaster coming to a ’ “Monsters, Inc.”-themed land Disney’s Hollywood Studios at Florida’s Walt Disney World.

(Pixar / Walt Disney World)

The project, known as DisneylandForward, came with a pledge, as the Walt Disney Co. has promised to spend a minimum of $1.9 billion on Disneyland attractions, lodging, entertainment, shopping and dining in the next 10 years. Additionally, Disney has stated it will be doubling down on its theme parks, as it has guaranteed to spend $60 billion throughout the next decade in its experiences division, with at least half of that total dedicated to parks and resorts, according to a recent SEC filing.

At a media event preceding D23, Disneyland Resort President Ken Potrock said DisneylandForward gave the resort the “possibility” of expanding its footprint by approximately 50%, largely by rezoning parking districts.

“Turbocharge” has been the buzzword used by top Disney brass in relation to its proposed park expenditures. If there’s a cohesive thread to Disney’s intended additions and changes over the coming years, it is this: intellectual property.

Also on the docket: Two new “Cars” rides for Florida’s Magic Kingdom, one pitched as an off-road rally and the other as a tamer, family-friendly attraction; a “Lion King”-focused area for Disney Adventure World at Disneyland Paris with a centerpiece flume ride; and a Spider-Man roller coaster for Shanghai Disneyland.

A villains-themed land coming to Walt Disney World will feature two new attractions.

(Walt Disney World)

A villains-themed land seemed to generate so much curiosity because it deviates slightly from this path. Though the land will no doubt feature many recognizable characters, it also offers Imagineers an opportunity to expand on larger themes rather than simply build on known stories. “‘Happily ever after,’” D’Amaro said, “may just feel like a distant dream.”

“I feel like we were just waiting for that. We get touches of villains during events at the parks, but they don’t have nearly as much representation as needed,” said Ashton McGrady, 32, also of Nashville. “I think it’s cool to show the fairy tale princess side and then get to see the villain side.”

Coming to the Disneyland Resort much sooner will be a new show for the Main Street Opera House to tell the story of Walt Disney. The show, dubbed “Walt Disney – A Magical Life,” is dedicated to the park’s patriarch and will debut next year for Disneyland’s 70th anniversary.

“This attraction will imagine what it would have been like to be in Walt’s presence,” D’Amaro said.

The robotic show will be set in the Disney founder’s studio office, and D’Amaro said great care is being taken to bring him to life, hinting that it will also feature what’s long been said to be his favorite song: “Feed the Birds” by the Sherman Brothers.

“It will feature for the first time an audio-animatronic figure of Walt,” he said. “We’re advancing the technology he pioneered 60 years ago with Abraham Lincoln.”

An audio-animatronics figure of Walt Disney will appear in the show “Walt Disney – A Magical Life,” which will debut in the Main Street Opera House at Disneyland in 2025.

(Disneyland)

Nostalgia fans and Disneyland purists need not worry. The Opera House’s current show, “Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln,” will play in rotation with the Disney-focused show after the latter has its initial run.

The following year in 2026 will see Disneyland’s Millennium Falcon: Smugglers’ Run in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge receive an updated interactive storyline. Timed to the film “The Mandalorian and Grogu,” the ride will be tweaked to feature a mission starring the bounty hunter and his little pal, colloquially known as “Baby Yoda.”

Both reflect an evolving approach to Disney’s theme parks.

Disneyland, Walt’s original park, was pitched as a place dedicated to “the world of yesterday, tomorrow and fantasy.” Today, the parks are viewed more as platforms, spaces designed to shift and pivot around the popular franchises of the moment.

The fact that Abraham Lincoln will now share space with Walt Disney doesn’t erase the original intent, but is indicative of a more inward-looking Disney, one dedicated as much or more to its own myths as those of America, fairy tales and pop culture.