News Destination D23 2023

[TP2000]

What is the footprint of FOP?

Well, it's sort of hard because the Navi River Adventure building is connected to Flight of Passage as one massive facility. But if you combine those two rides, plus the queue and scene-setting land area in front of it, it's 206,000 square feet. Or just under 5 acres.

And what is the footprint of Nemo + Autopia?

Using the Nemo/Autopia footprint almost has to draw in the attached Motorboat Cruise area, especially considering the Submarine maintenance bay is on the backside of the Motorboat Cruise canal. But that area is approximately 346,000 square feet. Or 8 acres.

The more promising area for Pandora West is the expansion land on the north flank of Disneyland, extending up to Ball Road where some backstage warehouses currently are that could be moved across Disneyland Drive to the current CM surface parking lot.

That expansion pad shown above outlined in Blue is just over 10 acres in size. It doesn't include the Fantasyland Theatre, which would probably be used as the entrance portal into whatever they plan to do with that land that showed up on Disneyland Forward planning maps as "Disneyland Expansion".

But using the entirety of Pandora at DAK, including its access paths from the Tree of Life, nets you a smaller piece of land than that 10+ acre expansion pad at Disneyland. The entirety of Pandora at DAK is just over 8 acres. A healthy 9 acres if you extend the perimeter across the bridges and canals towards Tiffins. This is what has people wondering and contemplating what's to be announced for "Avatar" at Disneyland....

So, in effect, you've got...

Flight of Passage/Navi River Adventure combo warehouse plus 1+ acres of outdoor queue and gardens = 5 Acres
Autopia/Submarine Voyage footprint = 8 Acres
Pandora land at DAK = 9 Acres
Disneyland Forward Expansion Plot north of Galaxy's Edge = 10 Acres

 

[Surferboy567]

Reporting in from the Disneyland side of this forum for all our East Coast fans here, as the general consensus over on the Disneyland side is that Josh D'Amaro will announce something Pandora related coming to Disneyland Resort at this Destination D event.

The options for this Anaheim announcement that will thus cover the Parks segment for this fan event is as follows, from least to biggest:

• A Pandora Meet N' Greet N' Merchandise Experience in the now empty Star Wars Launch Bay in Tomorrowland.
• An Avatar 3-D Clip Show in the now empty Tomorrowland 3-D Theater beneath Space Mountain.
• An Avatar dance party and cocktail immersion therapy session on weekends and vacation seasons in DCA's Hollywood Backlot.
• An Avatar retheme of a currently operating Tomorrowland E-Ticket; either the Submarines or Star Tours. Maybe Autopia.
• A new build Avatar E Ticket, likely a Flight of Passage clone, built on unused Disneyland acreage on border of Fantasyland/Tomorrowland.
• A DAK Pandora clone land expansion on currently unused expansion acreage on the north side of Disneyland.
• An even bigger than DAK Pandora land on expansion acreage west of Disneyland Drive as Phase 1 of "Disneyland Forward".

Stay tuned!

Mr. D'Amaro may announce a Billion dollar Anaheim expansion, or he may announce a meet n' greet and a snack bar. Who knows?!?

I hope that Disneyland gets an incredible Pandora Avatar (both) are incredible movies. That being said, California Adventure has already been announced to be getting a Thanos multiverse ride for Avengers Campus.

Disney World I believe needs the announcement of new additions more. We currently have no new projects to expect in the way of major new attractions. Besides Tiana’s but I am not sure I’d count that as a “new” attraction.

Perhaps they will announce those blue sky plans are happening? Maybe even villains land if those plans were indeed real? Not holding out a lot of hope but it’s a possibility.

 

[Sorcerer Mickey]

Has Grizzly Peak / Little Mermaid been discussed as an option?

Not sure if this is a serious suggestion, but Grizzly Peak is under renovation now and Little Mermaid is smack in the middle of DCA.

 

[Andrew25]

I am going to be positive, and assume we would at least get a solid idea of where Dinoland is going and any potential short term projects they are working on to have this park compete in the post-EU era.

 

[JustInTime]

This would be $700 to attend. I’d love to but that price for 2 of us is kinda crazy. Especially if nothing happens.

Also - do you have to pay the fee just to shop at the booths? Assuming you do but that’s a bummer.

 

[TP2000]

This would be $700 to attend. I’d love to but that price for 2 of us is kinda crazy. Especially if nothing happens.

Also - do you have to pay the fee just to shop at the booths? Assuming you do but that’s a bummer.

Yes, you have to pay the ticket price just to have access to the Exhibit Floor, where all the private booths and shopping is.

It's gotten ridiculous. Save your money and just watch whatever they announce for the Parks, or don't announce, in the comfort of your home for free on the Internet. The people who set up booths with stuff for sale have online stores too. And if there's some chunk of plastic made in Communist China for sale in the official Disney Store at D23, it will be available for sale at a markup on Ebay within an hour or two. You may pay more that you'd pay at D23, but you won't pay more than the price of a ticket to the Expo that's for sure.

The traditional highlight of the Expo, the WDI Pavilion, has also been noticeably dumbed down and cheapened in recent years.

The only good news in recent years is that at least the utterly charmless and inherently unlikable Bob Chapek is gone. So you don't have to suffer through his awful and painfully faked presentations any longer.

I say this as someone who went to every single D23 Expo from 2009 to 2019, there's no longer a good reason to go to the actual event.

 

[JustInTime]

Yes, you have to pay the ticket price just to have access to the Exhibit Floor, where all the private booths and shopping is.

It's gotten ridiculous. Save your money and just watch whatever they announce for the Parks, or don't announce, in the comfort of your home for free on the Internet. The people who set up booths with stuff for sale have online stores too. And if there's some chunk of plastic made in Communist China for sale in the official Disney Store at D23, it will be available for sale at a markup on Ebay within an hour or two. You may pay more that you'd pay at D23, but you won't pay more than the price of a ticket to the Expo that's for sure.

The traditional highlight of the Expo, the WDI Pavilion, has also been noticeably dumbed down and cheapened in recent years.

The only good news in recent years is that at least the utterly charmless and inherently unlikable Bob Chapek is gone. So you don't have to suffer through his awful and painfully faked presentations any longer.

I say this as someone who went to every single D23 Expo from 2009 to 2019, there's no longer a good reason to go to the actual event.

I’m gonna be at WDW this weekend so it was tempting but I fully agree. Really, the only store I was interested in was the WDI store. So I think you just helped me save $700+. Because you are right, just pay more on eBay at that point.

 

[MarvelCharacterNerd]

Again, just for reference - Destination D23 is NOT a D23 Expo. It's some small seminars and a few shopping opportunities, not a large scale convention.

This one is just for the local Disney diehards who want to hear more about the company from the execs and archives folks and for the pin resellers. The Expo in Anaheim is the big one to travel for.

 

[vikescaper]

Again, just for reference - Destination D23 is NOT a D23 Expo. It's some small seminars and a few shopping opportunities, not a large scale convention.

This one is just for the local Disney diehards who want to hear more about the company from the execs and archives folks and for the pin resellers. The Expo in Anaheim is the big one to travel for.

Speaking of the D23 Expo, when do they normally announce the dates. I know it won’t be until next year but we may consider going again.

 

[KatiebugFan]

Speakin

Speaking of the D23 Expo, when do they normally announce the dates. I know it won’t be until next year but we may consider going again

D23 Expo is usually held in August or September.

 

[vikescaper]

D23 Expo is usually held in August or September.

I know that. I didn’t know how far in advance they usually announce the dates.

 

[Surferboy567]

As a D23 Gold Member, I got an email with the following info:

DESTINATION D23 LIVESTREAM For those unable to attend in person, select presentations at Destination D23 will be livestreamed on D23.com for audiences to enjoy no matter where you are in the world. D23 SHOPPING SPREE While current ticketholders to Destination D23 will gain priority first access to the exclusive shopping opportunities at this event, we will be offering a separate, specially ticketed experience for D23 Gold Members who aren’t attending Destination D23 but still want to snag collectibles, exclusives, and marvelous merchandise with the D23 Shopping Spree. Fans will be offered a chance to take part in shopping at Mickey’s of Glendale, The Walt Disney Company Store, and the Ink & Paint Marketplace—all of which are creating a stellar lineup of products that allow all fans to showcase their love of Disney in a multitude of ways. Stay tuned for more information on this special shopping opportunity.​

 

[yensid1967]

Or better yet bring Paint the Night since it seems to just be sitting around not doing anything.

YES! That's what I thought too! I know a lot of guests would love the Spectro Magic Parade back, but they SAID they dismantled it, but they have lied about things before! Bring in a NEW PARADE for Walt Disney World like PAINT THE NIGHT...it would well received! The Electric Parade needs to stay at DL since it was the original to DL...WDW should have a bigger parade since it's THE WORLD...Disneyland is just a Park with THREE Hotels...while WDW is a RESORT with MORE HOTELS than DL!

 

[Magenta Panther]

Please leave the old man to his cali retirement

Yeah, really. Enough of that old thing.

 

[brb1006]

YES! That's what I thought too! I know a lot of guests would love the Spectro Magic Parade back, but they SAID they dismantled it, but they have lied about things before! Bring in a NEW PARADE for Walt Disney World like PAINT THE NIGHT...it would well received! The Electric Parade needs to stay at DL since it was the original to DL...WDW should have a bigger parade since it's THE WORLD...Disneyland is just a Park with THREE Hotels...while WDW is a RESORT with MORE HOTELS than DL!

WDW deserves it's own parade.

 

[Cmdr_Crimson]

As a D23 Gold Member, I got an email with the following info:

DESTINATION D23 LIVESTREAM For those unable to attend in person, select presentations at Destination D23 will be livestreamed on D23.com for audiences to enjoy no matter where you are in the world..​

Can't imagine what they want to "hype" up on updates and nothing new...

 

[TTA94]

YES! That's what I thought too! I know a lot of guests would love the Spectro Magic Parade back, but they SAID they dismantled it, but they have lied about things before! Bring in a NEW PARADE for Walt Disney World like PAINT THE NIGHT...it would well received! The Electric Parade needs to stay at DL since it was the original to DL...WDW should have a bigger parade since it's THE WORLD...Disneyland is just a Park with THREE Hotels...while WDW is a RESORT with MORE HOTELS than DL!

Guess we’ll see if anything gets announced in September. Youd think if they were going to announce a nighttime parade for WDW Destination D23 that’s actually taking place at WDW would be the time to do it rather than the main D23 expo in CA. But who knows. We’ve been hoping the last few D23 events they’d announce a parade and it didn’t happen.

 

[yensid1967]

Guess we’ll see if anything gets announced in September. Youd think if they were going to announce a nighttime parade for WDW Destination D23 that’s actually taking place at WDW would be the time to do it rather than the main D23 expo in CA. But who knows. We’ve been hoping the last few D23 events they’d announce a parade and it didn’t happen.

Its not good "SHOW" for The Magic Kingdom to be without any kind of night time parade! PERIOD!!
They said that Spectro Magic was OBSOLETE! But this is Disney, nothing is obsolete! Just replace the lighting on the floats with LED's. I remember "The Lights of Winter" in Epcot came down and Disney said they were obsolete. The only thing they had to do was replace the lighting with LED's. But they concocted a story that the Lights of Winter were taken down and could not be fixed...BUT the arches that made up the Lights of Winter stayed packed up near backstage at Epcot FOR YEARS! BUT Disney said they were dismantled! WDW has been without a night time parade for so long, they SHOULD NOT wait until September to annouce it!

 

[MagicHappens1971]

WDW has been without a night time parade for so long, they SHOULD NOT wait until September to annouce it!

Even if they wait till September to announce it, that doesn't mean work hasn't begun on this hypothetical parade.

 

[Surferboy567]

Parades are the least of the problems. We need attractions announced, we have no new projects after Tiana’s.