Disney Admits It Disappointed Fans, But Doesn’t Seem to Care
Every two years, The Walt Disney Company hosts its biennial D23 Expo — the ultimate Disney fan event. Disney executives and a ton of celebrities attend the Expo, which is full of exciting panels, dazzling costumes, and more exclusive shopping experiences than you can imagine. Fans look forward to D23 months in advance, preplanning their outfits, booking hotels, and crossing their fingers, hoping they get into all the best panels.
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Disney’s 2024 D23 Expo took place from August 9 through 11, and it was bigger than ever. Typically, the expo takes place at the Anaheim Convention Center, right across the street from Disneyland Resort. However, this year, the expo expanded to the Honda Center, so more fans could experience the most in-demand panels, like the Disney Parks Panel. This year, that panel was called Horizons: Disney D23 Experience Showcase.
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As this year’s D23 Expo wound down, Disney posted a video that fans were sure to love. The video was funny and nostalgic, but also made some surprising claims.
Disney enlisted Patrick Warburton — Chief Flight Attendant Patrick from Soarin’ — to reenact his iconic intro to Disney’s Soarin’ attraction, but with a D23 twist. He had an extensive list of items to store under your seat, and then mentioned the “hype indicator,” and here’s where things get interesting.
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Patrick said that if Disney’s announcements didn’t measure up to the “hype indicator”, then that was on fans. It is an interesting way to say, “Don’t get mad at us if you aren’t impressed.”
By saying that fans might be disappointed, Disney basically admitted what everyone was saying two years ago — that the 2022 D23 Expo was a huge disappointment. Nothing truly major or transformative came out of that weekend, and expected announcements that didn’t happen left fans shaking their heads.
Thankfully, this year’s D23 was not like 2022, even if some announcements did have guests divided.
Disney’s 2022 D23 Disappointment
Overall, Disney’s 2022 D23 weekend started out on a relatively positive note. Now-fired Disney CEO Bob Chapek confirmed that a promised E-ticket attraction was indeed coming to Avengers Campus at Disney California Adventure Park. Then, the Legends Ceremony was full of excitement, tears, and an amazing speech from the brother of Chadwick Boseman.
Sadly, that’s where the good stopped for a lot of fans. Disney did announce new films, like Disenchanted (2022), as well as live-action remakes of The Little Mermaid (2023) and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Pixar also announced a sequel to Inside Out. Fans were excited about the films, but since then, Snow White has become a controversial firestorm, with its release date even being pushed back to 2025.
Related: Disney Reveals New Snow White Footage, and Fans Are NOT Happy
While the entertainment announcements left a lot to be desired, it was the Parks Panel — the highlight of the weekend — that really left a black mark on the expo.
Fans had been expecting more information on the promised Cherry Tree Lane and Mary Poppins (1964) attraction, as well as the Play Pavilion and the Spaceship Earth reimagining. Of course, we now know that those promised things were not addressed because they are not happening. Disney has officially canceled the Cherry Tree Lane area and the Play Pavilion, while ignoring the Spaceship Earth project.
Fans had also been hoping that Disney would announce a revamp of Tomorrowland in Disneyland Park. Fans have been begging for a revamp and the return of the iconic PeopleMover attraction. This became especially true after Disney invested millions in renovating Mickey’s ToonTown and bringing in Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway.
During the expo, Disney also completely ignored its Dining Plan, which guests had been asking about non-stop. The Dining Plan has since returned, but fans were surprised that it was not even mentioned over the weekend.
And let’s not forget about the announcements — or lack thereof — regarding Walt Disney World Resort’s Magic Kingdom Park. Instead of announcing big reveals, Josh D’Amaro showed some drawings and said that Imagineers were thinking about what lies beyond Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.
D’Amaro teased several things during the Beyond Big Thunder announcement, including a possible Villains Land, an area possibly themed after Pixar’s Coco (2017) or Encanto (2021). But what was actually confirmed? What solid plans were in existence? Absolutely nothing. There were no plans announced for Walt Disney World’s staple theme park. Unless you count a few more details that were revealed about Tiana’s Bayou Adventure.
Was the 2023 D23 Expo Disney’s Redemption?
While it might not have been everything fans were hoping for, this year’s D23 definitely had more excitement and bigger announcements than the one two years ago.
To start off with, Disney doubled down on its continued focus on sequels more than creating original content, but fans didn’t seem too upset about it. Guests who attended the Entertainment Panel were treated to an exclusive look at Moana 2, which is coming out this November.
James Cameron — who was named a Disney Legend — also announced the name of the third film in the Avatar series. The new movie, which is set to release in December 2025, will be called Avatar: Fire and Ash.
Then, there was the announcement of Zootopia 2 in 2025 and Frozen III in 2027. The live-action Lilo & Stitch is set to be released next summer as well and Disney is going all-in on its Freaky Friday (2023) sequel, which they revealed would be called Freakier Friday.
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Pixar Animation Studio also had several big announcements during the panel. The studio announced that a Disney+ series based on the hit Inside Out franchise was on the way. Plus, there is a third Incredibles film in the works, the original film Elio is expected to be released next year, and Toy Story 5 is planned for 2026.
When it comes to the theme parks, unlike in 2022, Disney did not give guests a list of dreams that might possibly be coming in the future. This year, Josh D’Amaro shared big plans for not only Disneyland Resort and Walt Disney World Resort but also Disney’s global theme parks.
But let’s just take a look at Disneyland and Walt Disney World Resort, shall we?
Let’s start with Disneyland Resort. D’Amaro announced that some big changes were coming to Disney California Adventure Park. First, the Avatar expansion is still very much happening, and the new area will be based on the second and third films.
Not a ton of details were given on top of that, but we will keep our fingers crossed that Pandora’s popular cheeseburger bao buns will make their way over to the West Coast with the expansion.
An expansion will also be coming to Avengers Campus. In addition to the E-ticket attraction in the original area, Avengers Campus will double in size, and two new rides will be introduced. Guests will team up with Tony Stark, AKA Iron Man, in Stark Flight Lab. And there will be multiple Avengers featured in Avengers Infinity Defense.
It seems that Disney is also planning on expanding Pixar Pier and bringing a new Coco-themed boat ride to DCA.
Disneyland Park was not left off the announcement list. D’Amaro announced that Tiana’s Bayou Adventure will open on November 15. However, it will not open in Critter Country; instead, the area will be renamed Bayou Country. In addition, Walt Disney’s original theme park will honor the visionary with a brand-new audio-animatronic.
Fans will also be able to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Resort next year. Disneyland’s official birthday is in July, but odds are, Disney will start celebrating months before that.
Moving on to Walt Disney World, some MAJOR changes were announced for the Magic Kingdom, and fans are really divided. D’Amaro announced that a Cars Land will be coming to Frontierland, which many found odd. Where will Cars Land be going, you ask? Well, Disney will reportedly be tearing down Tom Sawyer Island and getting rid of the Liberty Square Riverboat to make space for the new area.
In addition to Cars Land, we finally know what lies beyond Big Thunder Mountain — a new Villains Land! Disney fans have been asking for a Villians Land for years, and Disney is finally delivering. Maleficent’s castle will be the central focus, but according to Disney, the new land will feature more than a dozen newer and classic villains.
As for Disney’s other three theme parks? Well, there are big changes coming to two of them. EPCOT was largely left out of this year’s announcements, but that isn’t surprising considering the theme park just finished a major renovation and reimagining.
Disney’s Animal Kingdom theme park fans were given more details on the Tropical Americas area that will replace DinoLand U.S.A. We knew that the land would feature areas dedicated to Encanto and the Indiana Jones franchise, but now we know that the Indiana Jones attraction will take guests into the heart of a Mayan Temple.
The Encanto attraction will bring guests inside Antonio Madrigal’s magical bedroom, where they will meet the rest of the Madrigal family (maybe even Bruno!).
Over at Hollywood Studios, Disney will bring Monstropolis to life with a new land themed after Monsters, Inc. (2001). The new land will feature a new ride that brings guests into the iconic Door Vault, where they will join Mike and Sully on an exciting hanging coaster ride. It will be Disney’s first-ever suspended roller coaster.
Right now, we don’t know where the land will go, but some fear that Disney will demolish Muppet*Vision 3D. Disney has not confirmed anything at this time.
That is quite an extensive list, and we haven’t even included EVERYTHING that Disney announced at this year’s D23 fan event. However, the announcements we’ve mentioned above are way more than we got in 2022, so we will take the win. However, it does seem odd that Disney — and Patrick Warburton — would tell fans not to get their hopes up.
We have gotten used to Disney delivering in a big way, and we can only hope that this improved D23 experience is just the beginning.
What announcement made at this year’s D23 are you most excited about? Let us know in the comments!
No matter what Disney does, someone will be unhappy. If they did nothing people, would complain. Just get over it. Be sad for those things that will be leaving, but look forward to what’s ahead. Don’t be such Debbie Downers!