D23 Parks Panel 2024: Every announcement

Not sure how many other theme park fans there are on Tildes, but I thought it'd be fun to make a topic to discuss some of the latest announcements - especially the biggest one, the VILLAINS LAND at Magic Kingdom!!

While I wish Disneyland itself was getting more, it's understandable that their focus would be on further improving DCA, which is appreciated. Still wish they'd announced something for Tomorrowland though... there's always next year... I tell myself, delusionally...

I haven't been to the parks since a few years before COVID, so I haven't seen Galaxy's Edge or Avenger's Campus yet. Galaxy's Edge looks great, but the new addition they showed off for Millennium Falcon sounded, ehm, not that substantial. I've also never been able to get myself excited about Avengers Campus, for multiple reasons, and Infinity Defense, the new e-ticket, looks like a simulator ride? So, doubly unexciting... However, the new Avatar Land looks quite nice! Pandora in Animal Kingdom seems amazing, and I'm glad that they're not just copy-pasting it into DCA like people thought! The theming based on the newer films looks REALLY cool, with the fire and water elements! That, and the Coco ride, are the two big standouts of the Disneyland Resort news! I looove Coco, and it's always been a slam-dunk for a boat ride - and a second boat ride at the Avatar Land is awesome, because I'm biased and LOVE boat rides.

Lots of exciting stuff coming at WDW, which I still have yet to visit myself. It's all schedule far out enough such that I'll probably still try to visit within the next few years before it all opens, but wow, what a lineup for the future! I expect some people will be down on the Cars stuff at Frontierland, but I actually think it's a great way to flesh out the land, since it's become increasingly obvious over the decades that 'cowboys' just isn't enough to sustain an entire land, and the aesthetics of Cars and Radiator Springs do fit perfectly with Big Thunder Mountain.

I'm still shocked that, not only are we getting the long-rumored 'Doorcoaster' for Monsters Inc., we're ALSO getting the ALSO long-rumored VILLAINS LAND. Insane! I can't help but imagine the alternate universe where Villains Land had been the second-gate instead of DCA (wistful sigh...) but given the tone, being a single land does make the most sense. It feels like a direct response to Epic Universe, which honestly, gives me a little hope? Universal has been growing more and more into a serious competitor for Disney parks, and that hopefully will light a fire under Disney to seriously invest actual effort and time into their parks again. Speaking personally, I've never really considered going to Universal before, but am actually interested in checking out Epic Universe now, and the rest of Universal Orlando with it!

There's also the Tropical Americas section coming to Animal Kingdom, which looks really nice! As mentioned, I haven't been to WDW myself, but it sure seems more exciting than Dinoland USA, while still having some kid-friendly experiences. An Encanto dark ride is a lovely idea, and a new Indiana Jones attraction could be seriously amazing.

Epcot also got the short-end of the stick, it looks like, with just a lounge, and the already-known-about Test Track re-do? That's a bit of a bummer, I've heard that Epcot is struggling a little bit lately?

Disneyland Paris has been one of the few Disney parks I was like "Ah, I can probably skip that"... I had been thinking I'd take like, a day to visit it, just to see Phantom Manor, and their take on Big Thunder (which I've heard is lovely), their Discoveryland and awesome-looking Space Mountain, and so on... but it's nice to see that they're investing in refreshing the second gate into something nicer, with "Disney Adventure World". The Lion King land being based on the live-action movies seems like a horrible mistake, but... log flume ride! I do love log flume rides... And it's still weird seeing the studio-lot-aesthetic, now that it's not studio-production themed, so I hope they continue to invest and improve that aspect of the park.

Lastly, Shanghai and Hong Kong both getting Spider-Man rides! One of them seems to be an elevator-ride which would be pretty awesome! The other one is a coaster, which could be nice if they do more than just statuettes.

Anyways, hope there's other folks on Tildes who will get a kick out of talking about theme park stuff!