Destination D23 Announcements

[John]

Saturday morning at Destination D23 2023 at Walt Disney World Resort, Disney Parks, Experiences and Products Chairman Josh D’Amaro shared several exciting announcements about the future of Walt Disney World Resort, including the below:*

- The Hatbox Ghost is coming to the Haunted Mansion attraction in Magic Kingdom Park in late November 2023.

- The Country Bear Jamboree at Magic Kingdom is getting new songs and a new act in 2024.

- A new Pirates of the Caribbean-themed lounge is coming to Adventureland at Magic Kingdom.

- The World Celebration neighborhood in EPCOT will start welcoming guests in December 2023.

- Journey of Water, Inspired by Moana will open in EPCOT on Oct. 16, 2023. Moana herself will arrive in World Nature on Oct. 16, 2023, and start greeting guests in her own dedicated space near Journey of Water, Inspired by Moana in EPCOT.

- Imagineers, along with teams from Chevrolet, are reaching back into history for inspiration to reimagine Test Track at EPCOT.

-A new nighttime spectacular at EPCOT called “Luminous: The Symphony of Us” will debut on Dec. 5, 2023.

-Future expansion plans for Magic Kingdom are the largest ever for the park. Imagineers are looking to tell stories “Beyond Big Thunder Mountain” similar in scale to things like Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge and Pandora - The World of Avatar by adding new attractions, restaurants, shows and more.

-A new show based on “Zootopia” is being created for the Tree of Life Theater at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park.

-Walt Disney Imagineering is planning to reimagine Dinoland U.S.A. at Disney’s Animal Kingdom into a new land inspired by a region sometimes referred to as “the tropical Americas.” New experiences inspired by “Encanto” - the Academy Award winning Walt Disney Animation Studios film - and the fan-favorite adventurer Indiana Jones are being considered for the reimagined land.

-Figment will begin meeting guests at EPCOT on Sept. 10, 2023.

[1DisneyNut]

Sounds like a lot of good things are coming. I am especially glad to hear they are going to update Country Bear Jamboree. I was worried they would remove it and replace it with some nonsense. I really like having some of the older classic attractions for nostalgia.

[Zippy 1]

Let's see if they follow through with all they say they have planned. They scaled back the projects they were doing in Epcot.