D23 2024 expectations (Parks & Experiences)

[Icarus846]

My expectations are high. Disney is about 5 years behind in terms of building new attractions, while down the road Epic Universe just continues to look more and more awesome with every weekly update.

I need more than a vague picture with some IP from their past 3 successful movies (you'd have to go back a few years to find successful ones) and Josh D'Amaro saying "these things won't be built, but wouldn't it be cool if they were?!"

I’m with you. Although my Expectations were fairly high last year as well.

 

[mdmost]

I will go in with the exact same expectations that constantly get me disappointed. The first is they'll announce they are renovating Tomorrowland in Anaheim complete with restoring the People Mover. The 2nd is they're renovating Journey Into Imagination and bringing back the Dreamfinder. Neither will happen but I carry this hope every year.

 

[Douglas Dubh]

Also on the latest Disney Dish they said the Magic Kingdom expansion could be added using the following land:

View attachment 834837

They really need to add a few more family rides to Animal Kingdom and Studios before adding much to Magic Kingdom. I hope they keep Dinoland and put South America north of Asia.

 

[Icarus846]

They really need to add a few more family rides to Animal Kingdom and Studios before adding much to Magic Kingdom. I hope they keep Dinoland and put South America north of Asia.

Agree. Would love to see an Encanto dark ride featuring Antonio. Have the queue go through Casita.

 

[soniam]

They really need to add a few more family rides to Animal Kingdom and Studios before adding much to Magic Kingdom. I hope they keep Dinoland and put South America north of Asia.

The problem is that adding a little to Animal Kingdom probably won’t increase its attendance; whereas, adding new stuff to MK will increase attendance and guest satisfaction. I think AK and DHS do need attention, but I think they are going to get slighted for MK.

 

[clarker99]

They really need to add a few more family rides to Animal Kingdom and Studios before adding much to Magic Kingdom. I hope they keep Dinoland and put South America north of Asia.

100% that DHS and AK are in most need of more capacity.

Re-purposing the Dinoland space into something that guests actually gravitate to would be my idea. It needs a big refresh. And yes they need a new land or area that is completely fresh. Also, apparently Pandora has an expansion pad and they need to use that.

In DHS, Galaxy's Edge has an expansion pad as well. That needs to used. The space North of Toy Story Land and West of Hollywood Blvd up to RnRC is a likely expansion area (see screen shot below). Then they just made some land category adjustments on the land East of the DHS parking lots & the Starcruiser. See my screen shot for the areas marked in red:


The area in the top left is most likely to be used 1st. No real idea on how the new land designations play out in the future but maybe some parking lot space gets used or something.

 

[clarker99]

The problem is that adding a little to Animal Kingdom probably won’t increase its attendance; whereas, adding new stuff to MK will increase attendance and guest satisfaction. I think AK and DHS do need attention, but I think they are going to get slighted for MK.

From a PR perspective it makes sense that the initial investment would go into the flagship park. You could fit 3 New Fantasylands into that space I posted earlier.

 

[Douglas Dubh]

The problem is that adding a little to Animal Kingdom probably won’t increase its attendance; whereas, adding new stuff to MK will increase attendance and guest satisfaction.

I don’t see how that follows. Adding stuff to AK and HS would make people visit them more often, or at least for longer.

 

[Douglas Dubh]

100% that DHS and AK are in most need of more capacity.

Re-purposing the Dinoland space into something that guests actually gravitate to would be my idea. It needs a big refresh. And yes they need a new land or area that is completely fresh. Also, apparently Pandora has an expansion pad and they need to use that.

In DHS, Galaxy's Edge has an expansion pad as well. That needs to used. The space North of Toy Story Land and West of Hollywood Blvd up to RnRC is a likely expansion area (see screen shot below). Then they just made some land category adjustments on the land East of the DHS parking lots & the Starcruiser. See my screen shot for the areas marked in red:

View attachment 835565
The area in the top left is most likely to be used 1st. No real idea on how the new land designations play out in the future but maybe some parking lot space gets used or something.

They could build new cast parking east of the channel, then construct new cast buildings east of the existing ones, then build a new Launch Bay where currently the Backlot Express and the cast buildings are. Maybe include a Star Wars themed restaurant.

Once that’s done, turn the current Launch Bay back into a Disney Animation attraction. Add a new family ride to the west.

 

[Douglas Dubh]

You could fit 3 New Fantasylands into that space I posted earlier.

Not sure all that area would be usable. Access to the utiladors is underneath the back of small world. Cast buses and delivery trucks need to have room to get there and out.

 

[clarker99]

Not sure all that area would be usable. Access to the utiladors is underneath the back of small world. Cast buses and delivery trucks need to have room to get there and out.

Yeah, was more pointing out that it is a massive space. I am not up to speed on the logistics of what all needs to be done or any speed bumps that might occur.

 

[Douglas Dubh]

Yeah, was more pointing out that it is a massive space. I am not up to speed on the logistics of what all needs to be done or any speed bumps that might occur.

The fireworks launchers are also back there. And that brings up another problem with adding more capacity to MK - more people trying to stand in the hub to watch fireworks.

 

[peabody58]

Yawn fest! Too many broken promises and cost cutting changes. Probably some more 'Pandaverse' updates which nobody asked for. I'm getting too old these days to really get all excited about what Disney promises but is NOT doing.

 

[Elijah Abrams]

100% that DHS and AK are in most need of more capacity.

Re-purposing the Dinoland space into something that guests actually gravitate to would be my idea. It needs a big refresh. And yes they need a new land or area that is completely fresh. Also, apparently Pandora has an expansion pad and they need to use that.

In DHS, Galaxy's Edge has an expansion pad as well. That needs to used. The space North of Toy Story Land and West of Hollywood Blvd up to RnRC is a likely expansion area (see screen shot below). Then they just made some land category adjustments on the land East of the DHS parking lots & the Starcruiser. See my screen shot for the areas marked in red:

View attachment 835565
The area in the top left is most likely to be used 1st. No real idea on how the new land designations play out in the future but maybe some parking lot space gets used or something.

Are we even sure the lands you highlighted are even suitable for use/expansion?

Also, the only thing Dinoland needs help with is having its Dino-rama section gone, and replaced with a better dinosaur attraction, something presented/hosted by National Geographic, since Disney owns its media units now.

They could build new cast parking east of the channel, then construct new cast buildings east of the existing ones, then build a new Launch Bay where currently the Backlot Express and the cast buildings are. Maybe include a Star Wars themed restaurant.

Once that’s done, turn the current Launch Bay back into a Disney Animation attraction. Add a new family ride to the west.

I would love DHS to have a Toontown, featuring a "Toon Studio Tour" dark ride, where guests go on a tour of a cartoon-making studio resembling a film lot, showing a whimsical, fictional, and humorous way of how cartoons are made. It would even feature references, tributes, and easter eggs to Disney Television Animation's cartoons, and have cameo appearances of characters from DTVA shows like Phineas and Ferb, Kim Possible, Gravity Falls, Star vs. The Forces of Evil, Big City Greens, Amphibia, and The Owl House!

I think a Star Wars table-service restaurant should be part of a Galaxy's Edge expansion that replaces the Galactic Starcruiser.

They really need to add a few more family rides to Animal Kingdom and Studios before adding much to Magic Kingdom. I hope they keep Dinoland and put South America north of Asia.

I think a South America land at Disney's Animal Kingdom should serve as part of a westside expansion of the park in the area I highlighted in yellow. That way SA land would be able to include enclosures for animals native to said continent. Even Pandora land would also have an expansion as part of it, themed to The Way of Water. The north expansion of Asia should be a Mystical/Mythical Asia one, featuring Raya and the Last Dragon.

 

[nerdboyrockstar]

I guess we should look forward to something... actually opening that's announced.

Of what was announced last year for WDW, only Country Bears seems like it's currently being worked on for its re-do. All quiet on the Western front for Zootopia in It's A Tough To Be A Bug, Test Track 3.0, new Star Tours Updates, & the Pirates Lounge so far.

 

[Gusey]

I guess we should look forward to something... actually opening that's announced.

Of what was announced last year for WDW, only Country Bears seems like it's currently being worked on for its re-do. All quiet on the Western front for Zootopia in It's A Tough To Be A Bug, Test Track 3.0, new Star Tours Updates, & the Pirates Lounge so far.

Star Tours updates are expected in Spring, likely around April for Star Wars Season at Disneyland or May for May the Fourth. I'm expecting we're hear updates on Zootopia in Tree of Life, Test Track 3.0 and Pirates Lounge at D23, but maybe earlier

 

[🍀TwinsMom]

I've been burned too hard on the D'Amaro Blue Sky promise of a maybe -- possibly -- but we have 60 million bazillion we'll spend! Oh, but half is going to cruise ships, a ton is going to foreign parks that are already better than domestic parks -- and we're canceling all the things we already promised to do.

The only thing I desperately want/wish to hear about is a massive Skyliner expansion to Floridian Way/TTC to divert traffic and looky loos away from Poly, service SOG, and cut down on buses for all the monorail resorts. If they could tie in MK to the Skyliner, not only could they charge beyond prime pricing on Poly 2.0, but it would rejuvenate everything over there and clear a lot of the logjam away from the TTC and get people moving from MK to Epcot and HS to divert the crazy crowds and help on party days to park hop.

And then announce Skyliner expansion to AK/AKK/AKJ and the All Stars/Grand Destino/Blizzard Beach so that folks can hit THAT park. Win win for WDW, they can now hike prices for All Stars and AK and tie it in with any new attractions over there to make it a full-day park.

 

[mamaofsix]

Bob Iger from latest Earnings Call transcript:

(RE: Parks Investement) I'm not going to really give you much more of a sense of timing, except that we're hard at work at getting these things basically conceived and built. And we've got a menu of things that we'll basically start opening in ‘25, and there'll be a cadence every year of additional investment and increased capacity.

If we go off Iger's timeline of something new every year starting in 2025, I could see the following for the next 5 years:

2025
Bugs Life retheme to Zootopia in AK
Test Track Refurb
Poly Tower Hotel opens

2026
Dinosaur retheme to Indiana Jones
Star Wars hotel rethemed to interactive dinner theatre experience

2027
Figment Refurb
Encanto House AK opens

2028
Beyond Big Thunder opens
Hotel / DVC opens on Reflections land

2029
Avatar Way of Water Attraction in AK

 

[mamaofsix]

I've been burned too hard on the D'Amaro Blue Sky promise of a maybe -- possibly -- but we have 60 million bazillion we'll spend! Oh, but half is going to cruise ships, a ton is going to foreign parks that are already better than domestic parks -- and we're canceling all the things we already promised to do.

The only thing I desperately want/wish to hear about is a massive Skyliner expansion to Floridian Way/TTC to divert traffic and looky loos away from Poly, service SOG, and cut down on buses for all the monorail resorts. If they could tie in MK to the Skyliner, not only could they charge beyond prime pricing on Poly 2.0, but it would rejuvenate everything over there and clear a lot of the logjam away from the TTC and get people moving from MK to Epcot and HS to divert the crazy crowds and help on party days to park hop.

And then announce Skyliner expansion to AK/AKK/AKJ and the All Stars/Grand Destino/Blizzard Beach so that folks can hit THAT park. Win win for WDW, they can now hike prices for All Stars and AK and tie it in with any new attractions over there to make it a full-day park.

I can't see this happening since the monorail already connects people to Epcot / MK, and by extension to the skyliner. My guess is that it would end up bringing MORE crowds to the monorail resorts, not divert them away.

It would, however, be nice to see a skyliner expansion to AK.

 

[Duckbug.Ducktales]

Wow, interesting to see so many different priorities!

I'm with @soniam - I don't "expect" anything. I hope there will be big announcements that will make people happy but best not to set yourself up for disappointment. Even if there are big announcements, as this thread shows, it may not be the particular expansions/improvements that each person would like to see.