D23 recap
What does Disney have planned next?
Current CEO at Disney, Josh D’Amaro. Photo Courtesy of Albert Juarez, Wikimedia Commons
Every year, Disney will host D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event. This is a massive three day presentation that celebrates both the past and future of one the most impactful leaders of the film and entertainment industries. Disney, alongside its fans, celebrate where the company has been and tease where it will go, giving sneak peaks, trailers, and announcements of future projects, as well as additions to the many Disney theme parks.
One cannot point toward the future before first addressing the past, so D23 takes the time to welcome new Disney Legends into their ranks. These are people who worked with Disney—as voice actors, leaders, imagineers—anyone who truly made a large impact on the franchise. According to the official D23 website, there were a total of 14 new legends accepted this year. This included Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, the Jonas Brothers, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Anne Hathaway, all of whom definitely deserve this honor. Even those who played an integral part more in the background were recognized, including Eric Goldberg, an incredible animator responsible for many beloved characters, and Kim Irvine, a leading “imagineer”—a head designer of the Disney parks—for Disneyland.
Speaking of the parks, this event revealed some exciting additions for future guests to look forward to. According to an article on Deadline, Disney’s biggest park, Walt Disney World, has a plethora of exciting updates coming. This included more information on the upcoming Villains Land that will be added to Magic Kingdom, which we now know will include a rollercoaster based on the Mistress of all Evil herself, Maleficent, and a log flume ride based upon the Evil Queen from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937).
This is not the only update the Magic Kingdom will get. The panel gave updates on the upcoming land based upon the Cars (2006-2022) franchise, which will include two new attractions, including a ride that will feature a race through mountains and rivers alongside the main characters Lightning McQueen and Mater, according to the official D23 website.
Animal Kingdom, too, will be getting updates, including a ride based upon the hit musical Encanto (2021), which will be called “Antonio’s Fiesta de Encanto,” and will center around the youngest Madrigal and his ability to talk to animals. Animal Kingdom is also getting a new ride centering around Indiana Jones, though this will unfortunately be replacing the current attraction, Dinosaur, according to Entertainment Weekly. Luckily, Animal Kingdom is not just preparing for the future, it is honoring the past by repairing the famous Yeti animatronic on the attraction Expedition Everest, according to the Disney Food Blog, which has been broken for years. The other parks within Walt Disney World—Epcot and Hollywood Studios—are getting updates of their own, including a modernization of Epcot’s famous attraction, Spaceship Earth, and a new land in Hollywood Studios based off of Monsters, Inc. (2001), according to the official D23 website. Suffice to say, there are many exciting new attractions coming to Disney's parks.
However, there is one thing that Disney is known for even more than parks, and that is their films. At D23, fans were told plenty of exciting new films that Disney had planned, and were even shown teasers for a few of them. Like most film companies at the moment, many of the films that were announced turned out to be sequels. According to ABC News, some of these sequels included Zootopia 3, a sequel of the live-action Lilo & Stitch (2025)—which will include a live-action version of Angel, Stitch’s love interest— Incredibles 3 (2028), Coco 2 (2029), and probably the most anticipated, Frozen 3 (2027). Disney even showed a short sneak peek of the upcoming movie, and though the clip has not been officially released, it is not hard to find online. It appears that the conflict of Frozen 3 (2027) will be driven by a villain, someone else out there with ice magic, which is unique compared to the first two films.
Disney announced a few original upcoming films as well, according to the official D23 website. This included Pixar’s newest film, Gatto (2027), which will center around a black cat named Nero traveling through Venice, Italy and attempting to find purpose in his life. Pixar also announced a new film in the works known as Ghost Market (2028), which will center around a market for spirits stuck in limbo, not quite dead and not quite alive. Disney itself is working on some original films, too, including the upcoming Hexed (2026), which is coming soon, on Nov. 25, 2026, and will center around the main protagonist discovering her magical abilities. Disney also announced the company’s next original film, set to release in 2028, which currently has the working title Clay, and will be about the friendship of a rebel human and a ball of clay within a magical forest.
Safe to say, Disney has some exciting things planned, and has given their audience a lot to look forward to!