Disney’s major fan event just wrapped up, and we were left with a LOT of big announcements!
In front of the convention center
D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event took place in Anaheim, CA, and it was basically an entire weekend filled with Disney news. We got updates on future films, announcements about Disney Cruise Line, and of course, plenty of big reveals about things coming to the theme parks. But through all that news, there were some things that we didn’t get ANY information about! So here are the announcements that were missing from D23.
Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort Expansion
First of all, we expected to get a lot more information about the expansion coming to Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort. We’ve already seen pictures of the rooms and we know the opening date, but what about details on the special offerings or the dining options?
Restaurant concept art
The closest that we got to information about the new Island Tower is that there was an exhibit featuring some Disney Vacation Club concept art. Among those pictures, we spotted a few new pieces of concept art that featured a sneak peek at a restaurant and at one of the water play areas.
Click Here to See the NEW Concept Art!
BoardWalk Restaurants
Over at Disney’s BoardWalk, we’re waiting on some major restaurant updates! The Cake Bake Shop has been under construction for quite a while now, with the opening timeline getting pushed back as construction moves slowly. We’d love to get more details about this restaurant, but alas, we learned nothing from D23!
Cake Bake Shop construction
The resort is also welcoming a new walk-up stand in the future, Blue Ribbon Corn Dogs. It has been under construction since last year, and we were hoping to get a little update during D23 on this spot as well.
Click Here to Learn More About The Cake Bake Shop!
Tiana’s Palace?
Another announcement we were crossing our fingers for at D23 was the possibility of getting Tiana’s Palace as a restaurant in Disney World. Rumors have circulated in the past that Tiana’s Palace might replace Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn & Cafe in Frontierland, considering its close proximity to Tiana’s Bayou Adventure.
Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn & Cafe
Disneyland Park already has Tiana’s Palace in its New Orleans Square, but we’d love to get the same treatment here on the East Coast — imagine that delicious southern food!
Click Here to See What Tiana’s Palace Is Like at Disneyland!
PLAY! Pavilion
Several years ago, Disney announced a new offering called the PLAY! Pavilion would be coming to EPCOT, finding its home in the former Wonders of Life Pavilion in World Discovery. It was supposed to arrive as part of the EPCOT transformation, but we haven’t had an update on this project in quite some time.
©Disney || Play Pavilion Concept Art
The EPCOT Monorail spiel still mentions a “city built on the power of play” as something that’s coming soon to the park, so we were hoping D23 would provide us with an update on this offering — is it still on the table or canceled entirely? We suppose we’ll have to wait and see.
Click Here to Learn More About the PLAY! Pavilion!
Spaceship Earth Update
And speaking of possibly abandoned ideas from the EPCOT transformation, what about the Spaceship Earth overhaul? It was announced at a D23 event a while back that Spaceship Earth would get some new scenes, some much-needed updates, and a new storyline. However, this project has been quite stagnant in recent years.
©Disney
During D23, we did get some information about Spaceship Earth, but it was only related to the new Spaceship Earth lounge. Alas, this seems like something else we’ll just have to hope Disney shares more information about in the future.
Click Here to Get the Details on the Spaceship Earth Changes!
Locations for Some Lands
After D23 ended, the first thing many fans did right after was hop onto the internet and speculate WILDLY about some of the new announcements. Multiple new lands and attractions were announced, but Disney wasn’t very specific with locations for some of them. Mainly, we’re left wondering where things like the new Monsters, Inc. Land at Hollywood Studios and the Avatar experience in California Adventure will go.
Monsters Inc. Land Concept Art ©Disney
Will these be expansions to the parks or will they take over older attraction spaces? We’re so curious! Disney also didn’t reveal the specific locations of the Cars and Villains offerings at Magic Kingdom during the Experiences Showcase, but they announced those details after the weekend was over.
Click Here to Learn More About the Monsters, Inc. Land!
Fifth Park
And last but not least, the biggest announcement that many were hoping for or expecting that got left off the list was a fifth park! With Disney World’s neighbor, Universal Orlando, building a new park, many fans speculated that it was time for Disney World to add another park of its own.
Magic Kingdom
Instead of this, however, Disney has revealed several expansions and changes to the current parks that will likely increase capacity and allow them to grow revenue, without the massive cost of building a park from the ground up. Maybe they’ll announce that fifth park someday, but for now, we’ll be on the lookout for these current expansions.
So there you have it — all the announcements that were MISSING from D23 this year! We’ll make sure to keep you in the loop with any more Disney news, so stay tuned to DFB for the latest.
Click Here to Learn About More Big News From D23!
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I would rather they keep Spaceship earth the same but do any required maintenance. A new park would have been so much better than trashing the current parks to shoehorn in new stuff.
We don’t need a fifth park. They just need to update and maintain what they have. I would have made the last thing an update or redo of the Imagination pavilion. They teased that with Figment walking into Imagineering. I care more about that than a Boardwalk restaurant.
What happened to Behind Thunder mountain COCO village