When Is the New Avatar Land Opening in Disney California Adventure?

An all-new Avatar experience is coming to Disney California Adventure at Disneyland Resort!

Disney California Adventure

In August 2024, Disney Experiences Chairman Josh D’Amaro made a surprising announcement at D23 2024: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event. Okay… he actually dropped a TON of surprising announcements, and one of them is the Avatar expansion at Disney California Adventure at the Disneyland Resort! And that, of course, begs the question: When will this new Avatar section open?

You may already be familiar with Pandora — The World of AVATAR located in Disney World’s Animal Kingdom. But Disney shares that this new destination in Disney California Adventure will “bring Pandora to life in a brand-new way,” inspired primarily by Avatar: The Way of Water, Avatar: Fire and Ash and more upcoming Avatar films.

Concept art for an Avatar area in Anaheim ©Disney

Though this project was officially confirmed by Disney Experiences Chairman Josh D’Amaro in August 2024, we have been following developments on this story for a little while.

Pandora Concept Art ©Disney

In March 2024, Disney CEO Bob Iger stated the following during the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media, and Telecom Conference: “We have one Avatar-based land, Pandora, in Florida. We’re going to put a second one in California.” D’Amaro’s announcement serves as the official confirmation.

©Disney

This addition will be part of multi-year expansion project in Disneyland. The DisneylandForward website describes “DisneylandForward” as “a multiyear public planning effort with the City of Anaheim to update existing development approvals that will allow Disney to meaningfully invest in Anaheim for years to come and meet the future demands in entertainment.” This has been a proposal that has been in the works since 2021.

©Disney

On May 7th, 2024, a historic vote was made by the Anaheim City Council to officially APPROVE the DisneylandForward project! This means that Disneyland can begin to build new experiences for fans, create over 4,500 new jobs in the parks and over 9,000 new jobs in construction in the first 10 years, and bring new revenue to Anaheim.

The new area of Pandora will be different than the one in Animal Kingdom and will feature new exciting sights and experiences. The new destination will have all-new adventures that explore Avatar: The Way of Water, Avatar: Fire and Ash, and more upcoming Avatar films. There will also be a brand-new ride!

©Disney

D’Amaro confirmed that the new Coco attraction, a boat right with a similar style to other Disney classic boat rides like Pirates of the Caribbean and Gran Fiesta Tour, is scheduled to open in 2026. With the Avatar expansion being a whole new themed land, we expect a bit of a longer time frame to complete the project. No official dates have been announced, but we wouldn’t expect it before the end of 2026. We will share more information as soon as it is announced!

©Disney

We CAN’T WAIT to share EVERYTHING about this exciting expansion as it is revealed. In the meantime, find a COMPLETE GUIDE to Disney California Adventure HERE!

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So if you’d love to hear the rest of it, please check out our DFBGuide YouTube video below!

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