UPDATED December 4, 2024
If you’ve been a Disney World fan for all of about five minutes, you probably know that the parks are constantly changing.
Walt and Mickey
Not only that, but change can happen a lot more quickly than you might think. In the past five years, we’ve seen new attractions, restaurants, skip-the-line services, price increases, and more. With so much change happening in such a short period, it’s only a matter of time before we might look at Disney World and hardly even recognize it. We might not be able to see the future, but we can take a look at what the next five years look like for Disney World!
Magic Kingdom
A MAJOR expansion is in the works for Magic Kingdom, Walt Disney World’s original theme park!
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
At the 2022 D23 Expo, Disney announced a “blue sky” project — “Beyond Big Thunder Mountain” — that would potentially bring a NEW land (or possibly lands) to Magic Kingdom. Then, in April of 2024, Disney confirmed that the first steps had been taken to make this massive expansion a reality. And, in August 2024, Disney shared exactly what the expansion will entail!
So… what IS coming “Beyond Big Thunder Mountain”? Well, you may want to BEWARE… there is something wicked on the way to the park. In August 2024, Disney officially announced that Magic Kingdom is expanding the theme park with a brand new Villains Land! TWO major attractions, along with new dining and shopping experiences will be presented “on an incredibly twisted grand scale.”
Villains Land Concept Art
©Disney
Disney has not shared a timeline for the opening of Villains Land; however, the company has confirmed that preparation is already underway at Magic Kingdom. In April 2024, Disney had confirmed that permits were going to be filed for storm drainage and other foundational work. This means that work is officially happening NOW on this new land!
EXPLORE everything coming to Magic Kingdom’s Villains Land HERE!
Along with Villains Land, Disney announced another addition to Magic Kingdom: a Cars expansion coming to the park’s Frontierland. Guests can look forward to two NEW Cars attractions coming to the area!
©Disney
The Rivers of America and Tom Sawyer Island will be transformed into this brand-new land coming to the park. Though this area does not technically lie “beyond Big Thunder Mountain,” the massive new Villains-themed land, together with the Cars expansion will make up the largest expansion in the history of Disney World’s original theme park.
Rivers of America
Disney has shared, however, that construction on the new Cars area in Frontierland will begin early in 2025. That is also when the existing Liberty Square Riverboat (which sails down the Rivers of America) and Tom Sawyer Island will close to accommodate construction.
EXPLORE everything coming to Cars-themed expansion HERE!
Disney has also revealed that a new tavern is in the works for Adventureland in Magic Kingdom.
Pirate Tavern Concept Art ©Disney
That tavern will be themed to Pirates of the Caribbean, and it will open in late 2025! So there is something to look forward to visiting VERY soon in addition to the longer-term projects.
Check out EVERYTHING we know about the new Pirates of the Caribbean Tavern HERE!
And finally, a brand new nighttime parade is coming to Magic Kingdom in the summer of 2025. Get ready for Disney Starlight!
“Disney Starlight”
©Disney
In August 2024 at the D23 Ultimate Fan Event in Anaheim, California, Disney shared the big news about this new nighttime spectacular, revealing that Disney Starlight will be “using the latest technology to tell new stories about the characters you love.”
Check out Disney Starlight HERE!
Disney’s Animal Kingdom
A NEW LAND is coming to Disney’s Animal Kingdom park in 2027. At the 2023 D23 Expo, Disney Parks, Experiences and Products Chairman Josh D’Amaro shared that Disney would be “building on what makes Animal Kingdom so, so special” with a new area focused on the Tropical Americas! Then, in August 2024, Disney shared more details on what we can expect from from this new land, now officially named Pueblo Esperanza.
Pueblo Esperanza Concept Art ©Disney
Pueblo Esperanza will become home to two signature attractions — an Encanto ride featuring the Madrigal family and a new Indiana Jones adventure ride!
©Disney
With this announcement, Disney also confirmed that what is now DinoLand, U.S.A. will become Pueblo Esperanza.
Dinoland U.S.A.
While Pueblo Esperanza is expected to open in 2027, the transition of DinoLand will take place in phases. To begin, Disney has shared that the last day for TriceraTop Spin, Fossil Fun Games, and Chester & Hester’s Dinosaur Treasures at Animal Kingdom is January 12th, 2025.
Disney has also shared the following about the DINOSAUR attraction specifically: Disney has officially announced that “2025 is your year to visit before it goes extinct!” So, if you want to ride Dinosaur at least one more time before it’s gone for good, make sure you plan a trip to Animal Kingdom in the coming year, 2025.
EXPLORE everything coming to Pueblo Esperanza HERE!
Additionally, It’s Tough To Be a Bug — an attraction uniquely housed in Animal Kingdom’s Tree of Life — will receive a Zootopia-themed makeover. The Tree of Life Theater will soon present an all-new show: Zootopia: Better Zoogether!
Zootopia: Better Zoogether ©Disney
Guests will see Judy Hopps, Nick Wilde, and more characters from Disney Animation’s Zootopia in a production that Disney shares “will take guests on an adventure through different biomes seen in the film.” Get ready for Zootopia: Better Zoogether! to make its debut in winter of 2025!
Disney’s Hollywood Studios
Disney’s Hollywood Studios is preparing to open a BRAND NEW THEMED LAND featuring those lovable monsters from MONSTERS, INC.!
Hollywood Studios
In August 2024, Disney Experiences Chairman Josh D’Amaro made the official announcement as he shared, “The first time I saw Monsters, Inc., all I wanted to do was ride on one of those doors like Mike and Sulley. You’ll go into the factory and experience the first suspended coaster ever in a Disney park. Remember in the movie how those claws grab the doors and hoist them up into the air to take them away? We’re doing that, too. And you’re going along for the ride.”
Monsters Inc. Land Concept Art ©Disney
Monsters, Inc. Land will feature Disney’s VERY FIRST suspended coaster, which “will put you right in the middle of the monster action. Just be sure to fill out your paperwork! Roz is always watching…”
©Disney
In November 2024, Disney confirmed the upcoming location of the new land. Monsters, Inc. land will be taking over what is currently the Grand Avenue south side of Disney’s Hollywood Studios. This area is also known as the Muppets Courtyard.
©Disney
BUT this isn’t the end of The Muppets in Hollywood Studios. In fact, The Muppets will be moving to Sunset Boulevard and taking over Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster! The Muppets will be the star of the show on Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster and will be teaming up with some of “music’s biggest stars for a rockin’ music festival.”
Construction on the new land will begin in 2026, and we’re so excited! But don’t you worry… if you’re feeling a teeny bit frightened about the presence of monsters in Disney’s Hollywood Studios, just remember the Monsters, Inc. motto: “We Scare Because WE CARE!”
EXPLORE the upcoming Monsters, Inc. Land HERE!
EPCOT
As of June 2024, EPCOT has recently completed a multi-year transformation; so, for now, the park gets to rest a bit from major changes and we as guests can enjoy a (MOSTLY 😉 ) construction wall-free park! However, there is still something new and exciting on the way…
Spaceship Earth
A NEW LOUNGE has been announced for EPCOT! For over 40 years, Spaceship Earth has welcomed park visitors to EPCOT as the park’s beacon and one of the most memorable buildings in all of Disney World.
Spaceship Earth Lounge ©Disney
Well, a newly-announced lounge is coming to EPCOT, and its sleek look is inspired by the “stories, shapes, and enduring legacy” of this beautiful icon. The decor draws inspiration from its unique geometric sphere and hopes to offer a zen space for families filled with “rich textures and warm metallic tones, giving it a mysterious and elegant intimacy.”
This NEW lounge is set to open in the late Spring of 2025.
Click HERE to check out the upcoming Spaceship Earth Lounge!
A NEW Disney World Resort Hotel
A NEW Disney Vacation Club Resort hotel will be opening in Disney World in 2027: Disney Lakeshore Lodge! Disney shares that the brand-new hotel is “inspired by the majesty of nature and its enduring influence on Disney artists.”
The newly announced Lakeshore Lodge ©Disney
In 2019, Disney originally announced Reflections — A Disney Lakeside Lodge Resort. Reflections had an expected opening date of 2022; however, construction was halted following the 2020 global health crisis. It was set to occupy the former home of Disney’s River Country water park near Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground. Disney Lakeshore Lodge will be constructed in that same location.
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Not a lot., and you can be sure that there will be nothing at a reasonable price…. rooms, tickets, trinkets, memories. The best days of Disney were in the 1990-2000 time frame. If you were there, you loved it, if you missed it, you missed the golden age of the Florida resorts and parks.
This sentence “Disney is still trying to control the number of people that visit the parks each day and how the crowds are spread out amongst each park.” implies this is being done for crowd control. I believe that is far from the case. The Parks Reservation system is designed to inform Disney management of expected demand so they can staff their parks to the minimum viable level in order to achieve operational cost targets. This is why food lines are so long as well as other services.
So…a walk thru water attraction (yawn), an attraction that is mostly already built but just getting a faceover and a coaster that is taking forever and a day, meet and greets that only take costumes and personnel..while Universal has been busy and building an entire new theme park – what’s wrong with this picture?
I picture Banks along with loan companies out in front of the parks so you morgage your house or take out a loan just so can afford to go toDisney Wprld in the next five years.