April 4, 2024, 9:01 AM ·
Walt Disney World is proceeding with previously announced plans to build two new themed lands in Florida.
Disney CEO Bob Iger and Disney Experiences Chairman Josh D’Amaro confirmed Disney’s plans during a presentation to invited reporters at Walt Disney Imagineering in Glendale, California on Tuesday afternoon. (I was held to an embargo not to reveal that information until now.) The two projects will be an expansion of the Magic Kingdom on the park’s west side and the expansion and conversion of Disney’s Animal Kingdom’s Dinoland USA into a Tropical Americas land.
Bob Iger and Josh D’Amaro at Walt Disney Imagineering. (With the back of my head to the right of Josh.) Photo courtesy WDIIger said that Disney will be filing permits, presumably with the Southwest Florida Water Management District, for construction preparation on a site west of Frontierland. A graphic shown by Iger showed a work area that spans both the waterway connecting the Rivers of America with the Seven Seas Lagoon as well as Floridian Place, north of Maple Road.At the latest D23 Expo in Anaheim, in 2022, D’Amaro introduced Blue Sky plans for the Magic Kingdom “beyond Big Thunder Mountain” expansion, suggesting that it could include attractions themed to Coco, Encanto or perhaps Disney Villains.D’Amaro introduced the Animal Kingdom plans at last year’s Destination D23 event in Orlando. This week, Iger and D’Amaro confirmed that work is now underway on that project, which is expected to see the Dinosaur ride rethemed to Indiana Jones with a new Encanto themed dark ride added to the revamped and expanded land. Neither Disney leader confirmed those exact plans, but they did share new concept art for the Tropical Americas project.There are, as yet, no dates for either project, though Disney sources have said that more details will be announced at the sold-out D23 fan event at Anaheim’s Honda Center in August.To keep up to date with more theme park news, please sign up for Theme Park Insider’s weekly newsletter. And to help support Theme Park Insider while saving money on discounted theme park tickets, please visit our international and U.S. attraction ticket partners.
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