D23 2022 News & Rumours

[stuffandfluff]

I noticed on D23's Instagram, they noted that there are 58 different Disney references in the poster. I just went through and counted, and even including Mickey, the castle, and the tentacle with the Nautilus as 2 separate things - I'm only at 57. Could the sparkly swoop on the right side (mimicking the tentacle on the other side) be something? The only thing I'm thinking of is the Sorcerer's Hat from Hollywood Studios!

 

[stuffandfluff]

Ok, I've done some digging and discussing with my mom, haha, and she brought up some interesting ideas for what some of these could mean!

Could the star logo next to Oswald be Woody's sheriff badge? If so, that could be referencing the upcoming Roundup Rodeo restaurant!

I keep thinking about the monkey - it looks so familiar with the blue face! My first thought was Festival of the Lion King, but they don't look too similar, and I don't know if there are any announcements theorized for this. Then, I thought about Fantasmic and the monkeys in that - could we be getting an official start date? Mom also thought about Jungle Book - maybe a live action sequel?

The gargoyles are also making me think about Hunchback - and I know they've been discussing a live action remake... maybe that? (Though I agree, they look more Haunted Mansion-esque).

To add to the theories about Elsa, it could be referencing the Arendelle section coming to Tokyo Disneyland?

The genie lamp might be referencing Aladdin 2 or the Prince Anders spin-off being planned.

And theorizing about the sparkly swoop - maybe a Happily Ever After return? (Please!!)

Also, mom was thinking about how people have been saying they'll announce more about the upcoming Triton class ships for the cruise line, but I don't see anything leading to that, unless Mulan is going to be featured on one of the new ships in the Atrium or on the back of the ship?

Love theorizing about this with you guys!

 

[1lilspark]

Mansion gargoyles-mansion movie teaser

 

[Luxurious_Lumiere]

I think maybe Mickey himself is a reference? If he is, we would be at 58. He is purposely drawn in the classic black and white style. Perhaps they are doing something with old Mickey cartoons?

@1lilspark is prob correct that the HM gargoyles are for a movie teaser....but since there are TWO gargoyles Im holding out hope that there are two Haunted Mansion tidbits at D23. I just want that hatbox ghost! haha

 

[stuffandfluff]

I think maybe Mickey himself is a reference? If he is, we would be at 58. He is purposely drawn in the classic black and white style. Perhaps they are doing something with old Mickey cartoons?

It could be, but on my list, even with including Mickey, I was only at 57, (unless I counted wrong which could be likely!)

 

[WedWayPilot]

I think maybe Mickey himself is a reference? If he is, we would be at 58. He is purposely drawn in the classic black and white style. Perhaps they are doing something with old Mickey cartoons?

@1lilspark is prob correct that the HM gargoyles are for a movie teaser....but since there are TWO gargoyles Im holding out hope that there are two Haunted Mansion tidbits at D23. I just want that hatbox ghost! haha

This seems like a good theory. With the impending 2024 copyright expiration of the classic Steamboat Willie cartoon, Disney might try to release a modern version of the classic Steamboat Willie to muddy the waters for anyone who would try to release a similar cartoon.

 

[dieumeye]

Here’s what I’m hoping for at D23 for Disneyland Resort. I don’t expect them all to happen.

-Info on what the dining situation will be at Disneyland Hotel & new DVC tower now that Steakhouse 55 is closed.

-Timeline and specifics on Paradise Pier Hotel retheme, especially regarding dining options.

-More specifics and timeline for the Downtown Disney remodel and expansion.

-Closing date for Splash Mountain and opening date for Tiana‘s Bayou Adventure.

-Date for Toontown reopen.

-Info on what’s happening with the Treehouse.

-Specifics on whatever is going on with a Frozen project at Disneyland. What is it?

-Some announcement on the future of Tomorrowland, preferably a plan for major work and new attractions and experiences. And whatever is going on with those PeopleMover rumors.

-News that Avenger’s Campus Phase 2 (Avengers e-ticket) is proceeding.

-And finally, something new and cool that was completely unexpected!

 

[WedWayPilot]

Some interesting announcements at todays panels.

The biggest announcement of “What’s beyond Big Thunder” including Coco, Encanto and Villians areas is going to be a major addition to Magic Kingdom. In a way I believe this is Disneys response to Epic Universe. Instead of a whole new park Disney is expanding into a new land or multiple new lands. This allows them to utilize Magic Kingdoms existing transportation system and infrastructure instead of rebuilding all of it for a new park. This also probably makes it easier to expand with the possible demise of the Reedy Creek Improvement district. Magic Kingdom will effectively become a 2.5-3 day park. I wouldn’t be surprised to see an alternate entrance and new hotel(s) along with this expansion.

The other big announcement for WDW are the Moana and Zootopia areas replacing Dinoland. From the concept art it looks like they are adding a log flume and a spinner ride. I really hope they keep Dinosaur, but it won’t fit with the new themes at all. I’m surprised that Moana is getting another attraction/land in Animal Kingdom when there are many other animal centric stories that don’t have representation. This seems like a way to put current IP into Animal Kingdom. In my opinion Moana would fit a lot better in Adventureland than animal kingdom and especially EPCOT.

The only announcement for Epcot was a figment meet and greet and another year of construction in future world/world celebration.

 

[stuffandfluff]

The biggest announcement of “What’s beyond Big Thunder” including Coco, Encanto and Villians areas is going to be a major addition to Magic Kingdom. In a way I believe this is Disneys response to Epic Universe. Instead of a whole new park Disney is expanding into a new land or multiple new lands. This allows them to utilize Magic Kingdoms existing transportation system and infrastructure instead of rebuilding all of it for a new park. This also probably makes it easier to expand with the possible demise of the Reedy Creek Improvement district. Magic Kingdom will effectively become a 2.5-3 day park. I wouldn’t be surprised to see an alternate entrance and new hotel(s) along with this expansion.

I also think it was interesting how they used the segment as a sort of brainstorming moment. Correct me if this sort of thing has happened at D23s in the past, but I think this is a way for them to gauge guest opinion before they start any permanent work, which I think means a lot for the guest experience going forward. We've seen how they've responded to the backlash against Enchantment, and it seems like they're going to start trying to avoid these sort of massive implosions by testing the waters first. I've also heard unconfirmed rumors that Jordan Fisher's recent tweets about Happily Ever After were also used to test guest response, which could also point towards this idea!

 

[Devil13]

Some interesting announcements at todays panels.

The biggest announcement of “What’s beyond Big Thunder” including Coco, Encanto and Villians areas is going to be a major addition to Magic Kingdom. In a way I believe this is Disneys response to Epic Universe. Instead of a whole new park Disney is expanding into a new land or multiple new lands. This allows them to utilize Magic Kingdoms existing transportation system and infrastructure instead of rebuilding all of it for a new park. This also probably makes it easier to expand with the possible demise of the Reedy Creek Improvement district. Magic Kingdom will effectively become a 2.5-3 day park. I wouldn’t be surprised to see an alternate entrance and new hotel(s) along with this expansion.

The other big announcement for WDW are the Moana and Zootopia areas replacing Dinoland. From the concept art it looks like they are adding a log flume and a spinner ride. I really hope they keep Dinosaur, but it won’t fit with the new themes at all. I’m surprised that Moana is getting another attraction/land in Animal Kingdom when there are many other animal centric stories that don’t have representation. This seems like a way to put current IP into Animal Kingdom. In my opinion Moana would fit a lot better in Adventureland than animal kingdom and especially EPCOT.

The only announcement for Epcot was a figment meet and greet and another year of construction in future world/world celebration.

Did they really announce anything though? They announced ideas for what could be coming but they never came out and said anything actually is coming.

All of us do that in here on a daily basis.

I mean, how many things did they announce for Epcot that they actually planned and then dumped? This stuff wasn’t even that solid.

They have no real plans and are just throwing out ideas to keep us walking towards the mirage in the distance while Universal is actually building things.

Add to that, the pace in which they bring these things live, I can‘t imagine we’ll see any of it until 2030 If it even does materialize.They announce a re-theme of Splash Mountain in 2020 and it’s scheduled to be done by the end of 2024. A re-theme will take them 4 years. I can’t imagine how long it would take to do all the things they pretended could happen.

Edit to add: The more I think about it, the more insulting the whole charade was.

 

[dieumeye]

For Disneyland itself, there wasn’t much new. Mostly confirmations or small additional details of projects that have already been announced.

Pretty surprised there was no announcement regarding Tomorrowland at Disneyland considering the rampant PeopleMover rumors, nothing about the treehouse, and nothing about the Scott Trowbridge project he tweeted about awhile back.

Early on after the initial Disneyland announcements Josh said “we’ll come back to Disneyland later” so I figured maybe the announcement would be the big finish. A few times he ended segments without something about “tomorrow” and I thought for sure it would be a throw to Tomorrowland. But going back to Disneyland was just for the new shows relating to the 100th.

I guess we now know that Avengers Campus Phase 2 is happening. Would have liked a little bit about ride system details though.

 

[1lilspark]

I honestly think after all the 2019 announcements and other misc projects that were scrapped especially at WDW (Main Street theater, Mary Poppins, spaceship earth overhaul, China film, world showcase adventure reskin, play pavilion, festival center, reflections resort (and Tiana’s place as its signature restaurant)…) they don’t want to over promise things and so it’s all blue sky maybe we will do this if we get enough fan response and the budget informs how extensive we can go

Yes I know a lot of these project cancellations were Covid related but stlll

In Tiana’s bayou defense yes it was announced in 2020 but it was probably still in blue sky at the time… it’s September 2022 and splash as of this post is still open… I think it was about 2.5 years to flip maelstrom into FEA so it will be interesting if it even makes the late 2024 deadline

I think the biggest takeaway is that there isn’t many major projects in the works to compete with epic universe however if they could quietly start some smaller scale projects in show structures already present like stitch or voyage of little mermaid maybe we will be surprised down the pipeline just my unsolicited opinion

 

[disneyland_is_magic]

I looked back on the original announcement for Splash and at the time it was reported they had been working on it for a year already. I don’t think people believed them since it was just concept art but Disney themselves put the timeline in 2019.

I also think there is something to be said that MK was opened for a year before DL reopened. If they had started work behind the scenes immediately at MK (which was about to reopen), like was reported they intended to, the two attractions should be on very different timelines now.

 

[Devil13]

Interesting that they keep using COVID as an excuse for not doing things when it was the perfect time to actually do things.

Money was cheap at the time and they could have loaded up pushed forward.

Again, what happened at the other place? New roller coaster and new gate being built.

5 years for Tron. A ride they already built in another park.

 

[firefly_ris]

The opening timeline for Tron is just pathetic.

 

[starlite_]

Interesting that they keep using COVID as an excuse for not doing things when it was the perfect time to actually do things.

Money was cheap at the time and they could have loaded up pushed forward.

Again, what happened at the other place? New roller coaster and new gate being built.

5 years for Tron. A ride they already built in another park.

Money might have been cheap but cast members health is an important consideration. Ppl have to plan and build these things you know. Are you saying ppl should have been building a roller coaster for entitled park goers while said park goers where safe at their homes from a pandemic??

 

[Devil13]

Money might have been cheap but cast members health is an important consideration. Ppl have to plan and build these things you know. Are you saying ppl should have been building a roller coaster for entitled park goers while said park goers were safe at their homes from a pandemic??

Not really. Just saying that the time was ripe to load up on the cash to push forward as soon as they safely could. Once the theoretical green light was given they should have unleashed on contruction expenses and finished things asap.

Also, wouldn’t having the entitled park guests away from the parks given more space for constuction to carry on? I don’t know, seems to me like outdoor contruction could have at least continued to some extent with minimal risk.

 

[eandt]

Money might have been cheap but cast members health is an important consideration. Ppl have to plan and build these things you know. Are you saying ppl should have been building a roller coaster for entitled park goers while said park goers where safe at their homes from a pandemic?

Many 'entititled said park goers" never missed a day at their jobs, I know I didn't.

 

[Dsny4fun]

The opening timeline for Tron is just pathetic.

The opening timeline for Moana is even more pathetic....End of year 2023 ????

 

[afan]

Many 'entititled said park goers" never missed a day at their jobs, I know I didn't.

Which is great for you but many in construction did miss work while things were figured out. New safety plans and ppe were required to meet state osha and other orgs new requirements. Then there's the owner of the project and whether they slowed it down, required more etc.

I understand first responders and others with public facing jobs had to keep working but not everyone got that option.