7 New Disney Parks Attractions Revealed at D23 2024 That I’m Most Excited For
From Robert Downey Jr. returning as Iron Man (no, he won’t be wearing that Iron Man-style exoskeleton) for a thrill ride to a roller coaster themed around the flying doors in Monsters Inc.Disney parks around the world are getting a ton of new attractions and even areas.
Rather than simply previewing the future, the focus of Disney’s Experience at D23 2024 (beyond the reveal of one of the best Star Wars attractions as a high-tech toy) was largely on active or upcoming projects, some of which were already in development and construction would begin soon.
The panel itself was long and filled with songs and numbers for the biggest developments at its parks and resorts, bucking the trend of focusing on global expansion plans and instead putting the spotlight on parks in the United States. That’s right: Disney World is getting several new attractions and lands. Read more about them below.
A suspended roller coaster in a new Monsters Inc. land
Disney World’s Hollywood Studios is already home to Galaxy’s Edge, also known as Star Wars land, and has Andy’s backyard of Toy Storybut now it becomes a Monsters, Inc. country, where the very first suspended roller coaster will be built in a Disney theme park.
Teased with much fanfare, it’s a roller coaster that lets you ride through the vault doors at Monsters. Inc.’s headquarters. It doesn’t look too bad from the first released concept art, which shows two chairs suspended from the top with laugh or scare canisters. So basically, you’re holding on to one door—safely—while zooming past others. It should be fun. Work on the land begins next year.
A similar fast-moving attraction at Disney World’s Epcot is set to officially reopen in 2025 — Chevrolet’s “Test Track 3.0” will still launch you at high speeds on an outdoor track, but will feature new ride scenes focused on in-vehicle technology, customization and personalization. It’s summarized as “highlighting the past, present and future,” with an emphasis on celebrating vehicles.
Avengers Campus is getting a major expansion and a big guest star
Deadpool and Wolverine already find a new home at Avengers Campus in Disneyland, but D23 also announced a huge expansion to the land. Two new attractions are being built, and one of them will feature a familiar face.
‘Stark Flight Lab’ will have you spinning around at various heights on a robotic arm as you test out your superhero skills on a simulated flight. Tony Stark will be there, of course, and Robert Downey Jr. will reprise his role; he also tested the ride with Disney CEO Bob Iger. But this should be quite the adventure, from riding on a track to a robotic arm that performs flips and twirls.
Second, and likely a bit earlier, is “Avengers Infinity Defense,” which sees you riding in a special vehicle that lets you jump between worlds like Wakanda, Asgard, and New York City alongside classic Marvel heroes, ultimately encountering King Thanos. Disney also announced several Marvel-themed attractions for parks worldwide, including Hong Kong Disneyland and Shanghai Disneyland.
An Encanto-themed attraction and Indiana Jones will land at Animal Kingdom
Enjoy, one of the best Disney Plus movies, is finally getting its very first attraction at Disney World’s Animal Kingdom. You’ll journey through the iconic home from the film – the Casita – and follow Antonio as he receives his special gift alongside other characters from the Madrigal family.
This will be part of a new ‘Topical Americas’ land that will replace the current Dinoland in the park. In addition to the Encanto Casita, Animal Kingdom will get an all-new Indiana Jones-themed ride, allowing you to explore a recently discovered Mayan temple with ‘Indy’. It should be a bumpy, thrilling ride that may include snakes.
Construction on the new “Tropical Americas” area will begin this fall (September to November 2024) and it is scheduled to open in 2027.
Disney World’s Magic Kingdom is getting a whole new land
Hollywood Studios Gets Monsters Inc.and Animal Kingdom gets its first themed ride to Enjoybut Magic Kingdom is getting several improvements, including an entirely new land focused on villains. The Evil Queen, Ursula, Hades, Captain Hook, and the Magic Mirror are just a collection of villains that are likely to fall apart.
Disney Experiences President Josh D’Amaro is currently calling it “Villains at Magic Kingdom” and indicated that the park will have two flagship attractions, dining and shopping, on a grand scale. Aside from that teaser, all we have is some creepy concept art that looks pretty compelling. No exact opening date has been given, but preparations are reportedly well underway at the park.
Separately, ‘Frontierland’, home to the recently opened Tiana’s Bayou Adventure and other roller coasters, will get a new section based on the film Cars. That will bring two new attractions, the first of which will be a thrilling race across the border, and the second will be more family-oriented, both likely featuring plenty of Lightning McQueen and Mater. Construction is set to begin in early 2025.
While Disney is known for its nighttime entertainment that comes to life with projections, fireworks, lots of LEDs, and sometimes drones, there is a new nighttime parade set to debut in the summer (June, July, or August) of 2025 called “Disney Starlight.” It is inspired by the “Main Street Electrical Parade” and promises to use the latest technology to play out a story featuring characters from FrozenPeter PanAnd Enjoyamong other things.
Outside of physical experiences like attractions or nighttime shows, we also got more details about Disney’s massive partnership with Epic Games. The main event is still being teased as a connected universe with Disney, Star Wars, Marvel, and Pixar characters all under one roof in a converged, immersive world where you can play, create, and watch all sorts of content. It’s still “a few years away,” but for now, more Disney characters are arriving in Fortnite as skins and playable characters.
Villains like Maleficent, Captain Hook and Cruella de Vil are the first Disney Animation cast to arrive, and The Incredibles Pixar is scheduled for release this fall. More Star Wars characters, including Moff Gideon, will be introduced next week, and on August 16, 2024, the next Marvel event will bring Doctor Doom to Fortnite.
