What will Disney announce for Disney World at the 2022 D23 expo?

[Marc Davis Fan]

If they don’t have a big response ready in 2025 they are going to lose some serious market share.

This.

Disney underestimated what Universal would do with Harry Potter, and they paid a price for it, which required them to spend feverishly in order to slow their loss of market share. Are they really going to make the same mistake again? (Quite possibly.)

In order to maintain brand loyalty and thus longterm market share, WDW needs something in The Magic Kingdom—their flagship park (whether you and I want it to be or not), the one that Orlando visitors will remember as "Disney"—that absolutely knocks it out of... well... the park. They need something at the quality and scale of TDS's Fantasy Springs, to blow guests' minds and increase park capacity / improve crowd-flow.

 

[Minthorne]

Epic Disney (Price Increases)

 

[CJR]

For WDW, I would expect some clarity regarding EPCOT and maybe - stretching it a bit - VOTLM and Dinoland USA replacements/enhancements.

I don't see anything too extreme coming to WDW anytime soon, outside of Primeval Whirl's replacement, which is several years away from happening, I think. Small show swaps and entertainment changes, maybe. I could see Enchantment getting swapped out in 2023, for example. I doubt they'd announce it at D23 though. If they really wanted to make my jaw drop, they'd announce a new nighttime parade that isn't based on a concept like PTN or the original electrical parade.

 

[Neaunderhill]

My Guess:

Magic Kingdom:
Tron: Opening Date Announced: March 23rd 2023
Wreck it Ralph replacement for Stitch
Splash Mountain Closing/Construction Date
Replacement of Enchantment to new 100th Anniversary Fireworks
New Nighttime Parade
Long Shots:
Restart the Main Street Theater Attraction

Hollywood Studios:
New Theater Show to Replace Little Mermaid
Long Shots:
Retheme Rockin Rollercoaster

Epcot:
Moana Journey of Water Opening Date: March 23 2023
Play Pavilion Opening Date: 2023
Long Shots:
Restart Spaceship Earth Refurbishment
Restart Mary Poppins UK Expansion

Animal Kingdom:
Retheme of Dinoland
New Eticket Attraction replacement Dinoland
Longshots:
Zootopia Expansion

 

[Brer Panther]

What if... it never happens? There's a part of me that believes it was announced as a knee-jerk reaction, and they've scrambled to come up with a way to make it happen and have little-to-nothing to show for it, for whatever reason (I could be 100% wrong, of course, but the lack of movement after how many years makes you wonder...). I mean, the characters in the ride have no ties to the movie, they were plucked from it and a new story for them was written for the ride.

Who knows what's going to happen with Splash Mountain. I've heard so much "it's gonna happen! no it's not gonna happen! no it IS gonna happen!" back and forth so at this point I'm just going to assume that it's happening until I get some solid proof that it isn't.

My best guess is that the best chance it has of getting cancelled is if it keeps getting delayed until Chapek leaves and his replacement decides it's not worth the amount of money it'll cost. But that's just me.

 

[EagleScout610]

Magic Kingdom:

• Splash Mountain retheme speech (With no new art and a vague "We're working on it"
• TRON praise
• Stitch replacement

EPCOT:

• Praise for GOTG, Rat and Moana
• Maybe PLAY! open date

Hollywood Studios:

• Starcruiser praise
• GE Update
• Maybe Muppets replacement

Animal Kingdom:

• Announcement of full on Yeti fix with a tearful apology to Joe Rhode for leaving his child broken for so long

 

[EagleScout610]

Who knows what's going to happen with Splash Mountain. I've heard so much "it's gonna happen! no it's not gonna happen! no it IS gonna happen!" back and forth so at this point I'm just going to assume that it's happening until I get some solid proof that it isn't.

My best guess is that the best chance it has of getting cancelled is if it keeps getting delayed until Chapek leaves and his replacement decides it's not worth the amount of money it'll cost. But that's just me.

I'm in the boat of "Doubt it'll happen until Marni himself says "Yes it's happening on this date" but with the fact he keeps saying it's been bumped I have hope it gets axed.

 

[yensidtlaw1969]

Universal doesn't really own the rights to the IPs they use. Disney knows this and sits pretty. It's really annoying. If anything we need Universal to keep knocking it out of the park. They need another Potter like experience to wake up the folks at Disney and even then I'm not so sure.

I think part of the issue is that Disney has a habit of learning the wrong lessons from situations like that.

Galaxy's Edge was essentially built with Disney money but following Universal M.O., and that proved to be a real mistake. Rise of the Resistance was able to pick up a lot of that slack once it opened, but there are very real, deep problems in that land that go against Disney's traditional approach, and neither recent nor forthcoming projects give much indication that they understand what those problems are.

I'd hate to see Disney double-down any further on trying to beat Universal at its own game when I've personally always preferred Disney's game to begin with. They don't need to reinvent their strategy - Disney's Potter Problem was never about what they were capable of doing and always about whether they were willing to spend the cash to do it.

There's nothing at the Wizarding World that Disney couldn't do, but the reason they lost the property was that they weren't interested in making such a large investment. And now they've spent the last decade throwing around all that money and fundamentally reexamining the practices of its entire Parks and Resorts department . . . when actually, their own formula pretty much always worked provided it was properly funded.

To think they could have instead spent all that time and money doing their own thing and spared themselves the comparisons that inadvertently help legitimize their competition.

 

[Ripken10]

There's nothing at the Wizarding World that Disney couldn't do, but the reason they lost the property was that they weren't interested in making such a large investment. And now they've spent the last decade throwing around all that money and fundamentally reexamining the practices of its entire Parks and Resorts department . . . when actually, their own formula pretty much always worked provided it was properly funded.

I was under the impression it was not that Disney wasn't willing to spend to get the Wizarding World, it was they weren't willing to give so much control to Rowling. That was a deal breaker for Disney

 

[larryz]

Disney D23 Platinum Plus. $1,000 per year per person, but you get an exclusive name badge, a member-only pin, and free cupcake once per visit in the Main Street Confectionary.

 

[Cmdr_Crimson]

Time to bring this gem out again..

 

[World_Showcase_Lover007]

Here’s what they will announce:
-Lightning Lane Park Reservations (extra fee to ensure you get last minute priority reservations to any park)
-Moana: The Experience of Water Coins ($20 for three specialty coins to throw in new water fountain)
-Disney Transport Surcharge (extra fee added to your hotel bill or park ticket for use of Disney buses, gondolas, monorails, etc.)
-The Lightning Lane Blitz (small fee for non-resort guests to add Lightening Lane to their tickets the day prior so they can sleep past 7am)
-Lightning Lane: Galaxy Max (a third level paid fast pass that lets you access Disney’s newly opened TRON and GotG for $35 per person/per ride
-Lightning Lane Mobile Food Order (you get the picture by now)
-Kilimanjaro Safari presents ‘Celebration of the Legend of the Spirit of Mufasa’ (for $45, a DAK cast member will make sure the lions are out and active when your truck passes by)
-Others: paid bus tours of Golden Oak subdivision, Lightning Lane Tram Service, special meet and greet with either Chip OR Dale for guests who are DVC, Disney Visa card holders AND subscribe to Disney+/ Hulu bundle

 

[yensidtlaw1969]

I was under the impression it was not that Disney wasn't willing to spend to get the Wizarding World, it was they weren't willing to give so much control to Rowling. That was a deal breaker for Disney

That's true - Which I sort of attribute to her vision being off and away FAR more expensive than what they were interested in building for the property. She wanted a 5th Gate, they wanted a Mini Land - A Shop, Quickservice, and a Shooter-ride variant inside a forced-perspective Castle, if I recall correctly.

 

[MagicHappens1971]

I was under the impression it was not that Disney wasn't willing to spend to get the Wizarding World, it was they weren't willing to give so much control to Rowling. That was a deal breaker for Disney

I think it was a combo of what @yensidtlaw1969 said, and the creative control. Rumblings were that even Uni fought with her on shop sizes, walkway sizes, and benches, etc. She wanted the land to look exactly like it came out of the movie. In all honesty, though, I think the money was the biggest deal breaker for her, they were thinking to small scale.

 

[HauntedPirate]

That's true - Which I sort of attribute to her vision being off and away FAR more expensive than what they were interested in building for the property. She wanted a 5th Gate, they wanted a Mini Land - A Shop, Quickservice, and a Shooter-ride variant inside a forced-perspective Castle, if I recall correctly.

Wonder which party got the better end of that deal... And whose vision was ultimately the "better" one?

 

[Midwest Elitist]

Here’s what they will announce:
...
-Kilimanjaro Safari presents ‘Celebration of the Legend of the Spirit of Mufasa’ (for $45, a DAK cast member will make sure the lions are out and active when your truck passes by)

This sounds so lame, I will be surprised if Disney does not announce this.

 

[Cmdr_Crimson]

Disney will be bottling the air you breathe..

 

[Indy_UK]

I’m not expecting anything this year really for WDW. Maybe updates on previously announced stuff which they went quiet on

I think new concept for lighthouse point.

Maybe the 2nd of the new cruise ships (are they still doing 3?)

 

[EeyoreFan#24]

My WDW list.

Magic Kingdom:
Splash Details and timeline
Tron date
WDWRR date
GF/MK hotel

EPCOT:
Moana/Spine date
Harmonious update
Reimagined Festival Center
Play date
(WS need something, but not on my hopeful shortlist)

DHS:
Animation Courtyard land project
Star Tours retheme
MFSR new missions

Animal Kingdom
Dino land/dinosaur retheme
New lake show

DS
NBA Experience replacement

 

[casplas]

of course, this assumes bob the beancounter will actually show up this time.