Disney Announces Massive Park Expansion

Disney has recently announced a massive expansion of both of their United States resorts and the addition of new cruise ships to their fleet, and the new attractions are sure to be a new amazing experience for Disney lovers.

Disney currently has two resorts in the United States -- located in Orlando, Florida and Los Angeles, California -- in addition to four others around the world in Paris, Tokyo, Shanghai, and Hong Kong. Within those six resorts are 12 theme parks, four of which are in Orlando, and another two in Los Angeles.

Disney hosts an event titled D23 2024: The Ultimate Fan Event every two years, and it is at this event where they release their biggest upcoming attractions. In case you were wondering, the D in D23 is for Disney, while the 23 stands for 1923, which was the year Walt Disney founded the company. This year, Disney released details of a huge expansion coming to both of their American resorts-- Orlando's Magic Kingdom will experience the single largest land expansion ever in the history of the park. Here's a look into the new developments:

In Orlando, Magic Kingdom will receive two new lands-- one dedicated completely to Disney's iconic villains and another for Pixar's beloved 'Cars' franchise. Villains Land will include two major attractions in addition to tons of new food and drink options and new shopping opportunities for unique Disney villain merchandise. The area devoted to 'Cars' will include a new thrilling rally race, which will be the highlight of that section of the expansion.

Walt Disney World's Hollywood Studios will get an entire new land dedicated to Monsters, Inc., where Disney's first-ever suspended roller coaster will carry visitors straight into the main area of the park, replicating the iconic door scene from the movie. Construction has already begun on remodeling EPCOT's Chevrolet Test Track, and it is expected to open in 2025. Two new rides will be arriving in Animal Kingdom as well, based on 'Encanto' and Indiana Jones, in a new section named the Tropical Americas. A 'Zootopia'-themed show will arrive at the Tree of Life Theater in Animal Kingdom this winter, and a nighttime spectacular will also premiere on Magic Kingdom's Main Street in 2025. Also arriving next year, a Pirates Lounge and Spaceship Earth Lounge will be coming to Magic Kingdom and EPCOT, respectively. Lastly, a new mission is coming to Millenium Falcon: Smugglers Run, located in Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge, which will feature Grogu and the Mandalorian.

In Los Angeles, Disneyland also received a host of new attractions. Disney's first-ever 'Coco'-themed ride will begin construction at Disney California Adventure in 2026, and Disneyland's Avengers Campus will double in size as two major attractions and loads of new dining and shopping experiences arrive soon. Visitors will go an epic, multi-world quest to stop King Thanos in Avengers Infinity Defense, and they can also wildly spin around in the all-new Stark Flight Lab-- construction on the Avengers Campus expansion begins next year. Pandora will soon arrive in Los Angeles as well, with an Avatar-themed area coming to Disneyland in the coming years. A first-of-its-kind Walt Disney Audio-Animatronics figure will be added to Main Street in Disneyland, and Tiana's Bayou Adventure will open this year on November 15.

New Spider-Man-themed rides will also be arriving in Shanghai and Hong Kong-- the Shanghai attraction will involve a high-speed coaster while the Hong Kong experience will be an expansion of the Stark Expo and will involve Iron Man.

As for the new cruises, those won't arrive for a while. Disney currently has a fleet of five ships -- Magic, Wonder, Dream, Fantasy, and Wish -- and four more are in the works-- Treasure (December 2024), Adventure (2025), Destiny (November 2025), and and another unknown one coming in 2028. The first of the four new ones that they announced at D23 is not expected to arrive until 2027, while the last one will set sail sometime around 2031.