We’re gearing up for one of the BIGGEST Disney events of the year!
D23: The Ultimate Fan Event runs from August 9th-11th in Anaheim, California and it will be THE place to be for all the latest Disney news. The weekend-long convention has panels on a variety of Disney topics, including the highly-anticipated Disney Experiences Showcase, where we learn about all the new projects coming to the parks and Disney Cruise Line. So what is Disney going to announce this year? We think we’ve got a hint!
Ahead of D23: The Ultimate Fan Event, Disney Parks posted a teaser on Twitter/X for the Disney Experiences Showcase. The theme for this year’s event is “Horizons” and the stunning artwork shared has some major hints about what could be shared during the panel!
JUST RELEASED 📣 The full programming lineup for D23: The Ultimate Fan Event is here! Don’t miss the Disney Experiences Showcase on Aug. 10 for a live musical celebration of Disney storytelling 🐭🪄🎶: https://t.co/93XgXvp7N2 pic.twitter.com/2v9rvSxAxP
— Disney Parks (@DisneyParks) July 11, 2024
So let’s dive into this photo and see what hints we can uncover!
All 6 Disney Parks Castles
The first thing we noticed about this artwork is that there are six different castles positioned directly in the middle of the photo to represent the six Disney theme park resorts around the world. At each Disney Resort, there’s a “castle park” (essentially different versions of Disneyland Park) and all of them are represented, so what does that mean?
Our immediate thought is that this means we’ll be getting some updates for each Disney Resort around the world — hopefully, nobody is getting left out of this announcement train! Howoever, it’s possible that it could be something to do with the castles specifically, although that’s not quite as likely since many of the
Pixar Pal-A-Round
The next icon we’ve got to mention is the Pixar Pal-a-Round! The “Mickey death wheel” is the weenie for Disney California Adventure, and that leads us to think we’ll be getting some announcements for that park. There are a couple of ways a California Adventure announcement could go, though.
The announcement for California Adventure could have something to do with the Disneyland Forward project, where Disney is planning to expand the Disneyland Resort parks into the unused space of the resort. Or, this could also be related to the previously announced Avengers Campus expansion that’s coming in the future. We can’t wait to find out what’s next!
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
On the far right side of the photo, we’ve got a structure that looks suspiciously like Big Thunder Mountain Railroad! And if you’ve been paying attention to Disney Parks news recently, then you know that Magic Kingdom is getting a big expansion beyond Big Thunder Mountain Railroad…and we’re not-so-patiently waiting for updates.
Several different things have been teased for this expansion, including a Disney Villains-themed section. Hopefully, during the Experiences Showcase, we’ll get some new details!
Tree of Life
And speaking of expansions, there’s another one we might get updates about! The Tree of Life is worked into the left side of the picture, so we’ve got our fingers crossed that we’ll get official announcements about the new offerings coming to the Tropical Americas land, which is replacing DinoLand, USA.
Indiana Jones and Encanto-themed experiences have already been teased for this land, but we’re eager to get some confirmed attractions or maybe a closing date for the current offerings. Give us the deets, Disney!
Earffel Tower
If you noticed the Earffel Tower in the artwork, you might be confused, considering the icon was removed from Disney’s Hollywood Studios several years ago. However, it’s not for Disney World! Nope, the Earfull Tower is likely there to represent Walt Disney Studios Park at Disneyland Paris.
It was announced a few months back that Walt Disney Studios Park will be renamed Disney Adventure World and is getting a full overhaul! Disney has announced a few new offerings for the rethemed park so far, but we’re hoping to get more attraction details and maybe some timelines during the showcase.
Chinese Theater
Now, we reach one that has us scratching our heads a little! The Chinese Theater from Disney’s Hollywood Studios is present in the artwork, but there aren’t any previously announced projects coming to that park at this time. So what could it be?!
One of the most highly theorized updates is a retheme for Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster on Sunset Boulevard, so it’s possible that the time has finally come for that ride to get an overhaul. It’s also possible we could get more information about the revamped Little Mermaid show that’s set to open in Animation Courtyard this fall. Or maybe we’ll get news about one of the big lands in the park — Toy Story Land or Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge? We’ll have to wait and see!
Cruise Ships
And last but not least, we’ve got to talk about the two obvious hints in the very front of the artwork — the cruise ships! Disney Cruise Line has been on a ROLL lately with announcing new ships, from the Disney Treasure that’s setting sail later this year to the Disney Adventure in 2025, the Disney Destiny in 2026, and the currently unnamed ship that’ll be departing out of Japan.
With all those ships, it makes sense that we’d be getting a few Disney Cruise Line announcements. Since there are two ships in the artwork, we’ll likely get details on the offerings on the Disney Adventure and Disney Destiny. We can’t wait!
So we’ve got a lot of news to look forward to, it seems! We’ll make sure to keep you updated throughout the event and we’ll be sharing ALL the Disney Experiences Showcase news as soon as it’s announced. Stay tuned to DFB for all the details.
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Bryan Gilkes says
HEY AJ,
Bryan from Sydney Australia here. Firstly m,y wife & I (in our 50’s) visited WDW in May last year for 2 weeks staying at the Beach Club resort & absolutely loved it, yes cost us more but it was central to the whole of WDW. All the staff were very kind & helpful & I mean all staff from the cleaners through to the front staff my congratulations to them all.
The transportation system is brilliant, the only flaw we had was getting back from AK to the Beach Club after doing a night Safari tour but we were lucky we got a bus driver that was willing to take us back to HS then we got the 2nd last boat back to the YC. Other than that we had a great time .
I have a question, have you heard any rumour of Disney building a Park in Australia? Because it surface here again a couple of weeks ago that it may be happening.