News Destination D23 2025

[Animaniac93-98]

I actually would have been upset at COP removal because it is legitimately WDW’s only true Walt legacy attraction.

Hall of Presidents is officially dedicated to him, and was an attraction he wanted to build years before he died. I would say it is very closely tied to him, more so than other direct holdovers from Disneyland and the World's Fair

The irony with CoP in WDW is that it was moved to Florida and had its theme song changed (to the Sherman Brother's disappointment) at the direction of General Electric. The version(s) that ran from 1975-1993 were a great thematic departure from his vision, despite the show looking the same on the surface. It reclaiming Walt's ideals in 1993 and cementing them now in 2025 was a long overdue correction.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Also hilarious that WDW gets it slow Tomorrowland fix and we sit and wait for Disneyland Tomorrowland.

What happens first?

Disneyland Parc in Paris gets a new ride or Disneyland Park in California gets a renovated Tomorrowland?

 

[BrianLo]

Good catch. Interesting. So no update on the 80s ending but we get an intro by Walt himself.

My impression was the entire attraction is getting refurbed as well. There were more details to come.

 

[BrianLo]

What happens first?

Disneyland Parc in Paris gets a new ride or Disneyland Park in California gets a renovated Tomorrowland?

Or the yeti is revived?

I think Disney has more or less owned the Yeti will never work again.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Or the yeti is revived?

I think Disney has more or less owned the Yeti will never work again.

I think we're at the point where they just pretend it never did

 

[DomVF07]

Great this is much better than the curtain. Do we think they will finally update the last scene?

My take is we’ll learn more @D23 26. Beatty quickly said after the reveal before leaving there’s more to come and we’ll see “updates from John, Sarah, and rest of the family. Take it for what it’s worth? A new t shirt/sweater?

 

[Gusey]

My impression was the entire attraction is getting refurbed as well. There were more details to come.

From the parks blog:

There are still plenty of additional details to be revealed, including what John, Sarah, and the rest of the family are up to.

 

[Casper Gutman]

Here's the concept art for the new Walt Disney Audio-Animatronic:

View attachment 880408

Suddenly sticking Walt AAs and statues all over the parks strikes me as very much of a piece with sticking Disney characters in every hotel or making every attraction an IP - it’s what I’ve called “memefication.” Symbols without content. Walt Disney was reflected in every corner of the parks, most of all in CoP, in profound and meaningful ways. It’s as those significant elements of Disney are destroyed or forgotten, as the spirit of Disney dies, that the company needs to stick up the ham-handed symbols to assert some sort of legitimacy.

 

[BrianLo]

I think we're at the point where they just pretend it never did

They did this bit with Josh and Deadpool. Which I thought was hilarious and sufficiently self deprecating.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Suddenly sticking Walt AAs and statues all over the parks strikes me as very much of a piece with sticking Disney characters in every hotel or making every attraction an IP - it’s what I’ve called “memefication.” Symbols without content. Walt Disney was reflected in every corner of the parks, most of all in CoP, in profound and meaningful ways. It’s as those significant elements of Disney are destroyed or forgotten, as the spirit of Disney dies, that the company needs to stick up the ham-handed symbols to assert some sort of legitimacy.

I think the Disney brand being so ubiquitous and diluted is why having his full name signature on specific shows doesn't necessarily mean anything on its own to most guests.

Sticking his face on something makes it that much clearer. Questionable and unnecessary a tactic as it may be

 

[Rockishcoco]

Throwing my hat into the ring

Magic Kingdom:
- Refreshed Cars concept art and family flat ride detailed.
- Look at new BTM finale and some other updated elements
- Surprise renovation news (Space Mountain, or Tiki Room my primary suspects)
- Pirates Bar opening date.
- WILDCARD: Maybe the Walt animatronic makes its way to COP

Tooting my own horn on the Walt animatronic but also wow what a bunch of misses otherwise!

 

[James Alucobond]

Suddenly sticking Walt AAs and statues all over the parks strikes me as very much of a piece with sticking Disney characters in every hotel or making every attraction an IP - it’s what I’ve called “memefication.” Symbols without content. Walt Disney was reflected in every corner of the parks, most of all in CoP, in profound and meaningful ways. It’s as those significant elements of Disney are destroyed or forgotten, as the spirit of Disney dies, that the company needs to stick up the ham-handed symbols to assert some sort of legitimacy.

I think with this change in particular, it's possible that the goal is actually to make it a bit more of a "forever" attraction. In its current form, it quickly feels outdated if the dressing and script of the final scene aren't consistently updated, but I could see them potentially reverting the finale to something that feels more of Walt's time and then just locking it in narratively.

 

[DisDude33]

Tooting my own horn on the Walt animatronic but also wow what a bunch of misses otherwise!

It’s always possible that you get another match tomorrow.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Anyone attending the phineas and ferb panel?

I was there - it was fun to hear them talk about developing the show and their favorite elements from it. Had a fun intro that I clouded Candice saying "Moooom, Phineas and Ferb are going to Destination D23!!!"

Was fun to see them sketch too. Felt like they cut it short though but was fun

 

[BrianLo]

So technically coming out of day 1 this is the best destination D23 for “studios” (by a lot) and currently the second best for attraction announcements. Which perhaps speaks to expectation setting.

After being lead to thinking we weren’t getting anything I’m pleasantly surprised about CoP and like a quarter point for Tron - A nice inconsequential thing.

The “best” for volume would be last one with Test Track, Country Bears and Zoogether.

I’m also an entertainment sucker and am really just there for the singing. Which is normally what people eye rolled about when these were streamed. It was a nice assortment of recognizable singers today.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Overall had a good day and enjoyed many of the panels. Always love good performances too so the intro number and Broadway panel were good

I think my favorite panel was the D2K about the animated forms from the 90s with a number of directors. Had some cool back stories of their research trips.

Not a ton of news but wasn't expecting much - the CoP refurb was a nice surprise

The Disney Eats panel definitely could have been shorter though lol

 

[DisDude33]

The Disney Eats panel definitely could have been shorter though lol

I would have to agree. It was a good panel and actually made me want to go on a Disney cruise which I’ve never had the urge to do before but it definitely felt like it was dragging on.

 

[Agent H]

I was there - it was fun to hear them talk about developing the show and their favorite elements from it. Had a fun intro that I clouded Candice saying "Moooom, Phineas and Ferb are going to Destination D23!!!"

Was fun to see them sketch too. Felt like they cut it short though but was fun
View attachment 880439

I was there - it was fun to hear them talk about developing the show and their favorite elements from it. Had a fun intro that I clouded Candice saying "Moooom, Phineas and Ferb are going to Destination D23!!!"

Was fun to see them sketch too. Felt like they cut it short though but was fun
View attachment 880439

“Excellent! Now where’s my thank you-inator?” “What?” “Perry the platypus?!” “No please don’t touch the self-destruct button on my thank you-inator!” “Please!” (Explosion) “nooooo” “curse you Perry the platypus!”

 

[TheMaxRebo]

The Zootopia 2 print is pretty nice and are all individually numbered (out of 5,000)

 

[FigmentsBrightIdeas]

you’ll see updates on John, Sarah and the rest of the family and there will be more to come at a later date.

Now that’s interesting, wonder if it’ll be something like what they did with the Country Bear AAs in that they’re updated to be hybrid hydraulic & electric for better/smoother/more finely articulated movement. Admittedly, my hope would be if that’s what they’re doing, they make the parts that have the highest stress/pressure electric while keeping the ones that aren’t hydraulic. Unfortunately, the one big issue with the Bears atm is that they kept the high stress parts hydraulic while the low stress ones are electric, which has resulted in more show malfunctions and hydraulic fluid bursts/spills. Basically the hydraulic & electric parts should be reversed, Here’s hoping they fix that problem with this show if that’s what they decide to do (make them hybrid AAs). (And maybe on a future CBJ refurb, they’ll fix that problem. Make the high stress parts electric and the low stress hydraulic)