Disney spins more magic

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Disney Parks, Experiences and Products Chairman, Josh D’Amaro, announced new attractions for Disney World, Disneyland, and other Disney properties around the globe at the D23 Expo in Anaheim, California, on September 11. 

Here are the biggest upcoming attractions, according to USA Today: 

Disney World 

  • ‘Happily Ever After’ will return to the Magic Kingdom next year with new updates. 

  • TRON Lightcycle Run will open in Spring 2023 in Magic Kingdom. 

  • The Hatbox Ghost will come to Magic Kingdom's Haunted Mansion next year. 

  • A new nighttime spectacular is in development for EPCOT and will debut in 2023. 

  • Figment will make character appearances at EPCOT next year. 

  • Major transformations at the centre of EPCOT will open to guests in late 2023. They include Journey of Water, Inspired by ‘Moana’, a new experience in the coming World Nature neighbourhood. 

  • When Tiana's Bayou Adventure opens at Disney World and Disneyland in late 2024, it will feature the familiar voices of many of the actors who worked on The Princess and the Frog. Disney Executive Creative Producer Charita Carter said the attraction, which is replacing Splash Mountain, would also use mists "like a painter's canvas, to create this amazing sense of aura, which is going to be different from anything that you have seen in an attraction".  

  • Disney is exploring a retheming of Animal Kingdom's DinoLand that could incorporate ‘Zootopia’ and ‘Moana’. 

  • D'Amaro, Walt Disney Animation Chief Creative Officer Jennifer Lee, and Walt Disney Imagineering Creative Portfolio Executive Chris Beatty said they were exploring a land "beyond Big Thunder Mountain" at Magic Kingdom that could include Santa Cecilia's Dia de Los Muertos celebrations from ‘Coco’, the Madrigals' enchanted Casita from ‘Encanto’, and a place overrun by Disney villains. 

Disneyland and Disney California Adventure 

  • Hulk will begin making appearances at Avenger's Campus during September. 

  • Mando and Grogu from ‘The Mandalorian’ will begin making character appearances at Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge in mid-November. 

  • The ‘Magic Happens’ parade will return next spring.  

  • While every Disney park will celebrate Disney's 100th anniversary starting next January, D'Amaro said Disneyland would be the heart of the celebration with platinum-infused decor, new looks for Mickey, Minnie and their pals, and two new nighttime spectaculars: ‘Wondrous Journeys’ at Disneyland and ‘World of Color – One’ at Disney California Adventure. 

  • When Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway opens in Mickey's Toontown early next year, D'Amaro said, "we're going to make some very special adjustments to ensure that this version fits perfectly into our Toontown story," compared with the version already at Disney's Hollywood Studios in Florida. He also said Mickey's Toontown would step "into a new era of inclusive experiences" with its reimagining. 

  • A new multiverse-centred attraction coming to Disney California Adventure's Avengers Campus will allow guests to fight alongside all the Avengers, against every foe from every time period, according to Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige. 

  • California Adventure's Pacific Wharf area is being reimagined as San Fransokyo, from ‘Big Hero 6’, and guests will have the chance to meet Baymax.  

  • Disney's Paradise Pier Hotel will be renamed Pixar Place Hotel when its reimagining is complete. "You'll feel like you walked right into a Pixar art gallery," D'Amaro said.  

  • RunDisney races will return to Disneyland in 2024. 

Other Disney properties 

  • Disneyland Paris's 30th anniversary celebration will continue through next September, and a new ‘Pixar: We Belong Together’ show will debut next year. A new ‘Tangled’-themed attraction is also headed for Disneyland Paris.  

  • World of Frozen will open at Hong Kong Disneyland in the second half of 2023. The park is also getting a new statue of Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse next year, which depicts the moment Disney saw his kids on a merry-go-round and his imagination was sparked to eventually create Disneyland. 

  • Tokyo Disney's Space Mountain transformation will begin in 2024 and debut with a new plaza in 2027. 

  • No new announcements were announced for Shanghai Disney Resort, but D23 attendees were given a first look at the park's coming Zootopia land. 

  • Disney's sixth cruise ship will be named Disney Treasure. 

  • The Disney Wonder will sail in Australia and New Zealand late next year. 

  • Disney is developing another island destination in the Bahamas called Lighthouse Point, 90% of which will run on solar energy.