Disney has revealed exciting plans for Disneyland at the D23 Expo that include plans for Coco ride, Avatar-themed land, and more as a part of their billion-dollar expansion.
During the Disney Experiences Showcase at D23 on Saturday, August 10, Josh D’Amaro — Chairman of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products — unveiled several new rides and attractions coming to Disneyland in Anaheim as part of the DisneylandForward expansion project.
Among the highlights were plans for an Avatar-themed land at Disney California Adventure. Additionally, D’Amaro announced that Disneyland will have its first-ever ride based on Coco. In another update, D’Amaro offered details about a new show coming to the Main Street Opera House in Disneyland. For the first time ever, an animatronic figure of Walt Disney himself will be featured in this attraction.
Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, inspired by The Princess and the Frog, is also set to open at Disneyland on November 15.
As per People, this 1.9 billion USD expansion project, which was approved with unanimous support from the Anaheim City Council on May 7, enhances rides, attractions, lands lodging entertainment shopping and more over the next decade without expanding overall square footage.
D’Amaro has previously hinted at potential themes that could be brought to Disneyland over the next decade including Frozen, Tangled, Coco, Black Panther, Peter Pan, Zootopia, Tron, Toy Story and more. Now, the West Coast is getting James Cameron’s world of Avatar.
Imagineer Ali Rubinstein talked about the new land for Avatar explaining that it will represent a brand new area of Pandora, as per The Wrap. Unlike its Floridian counterpart which is set in a rainforest among floating mountains and represents the first movie, this new destination takes its cues from Avatar 2 and future films such as Avatar: Fire and Ash.
Rubinstein promised an all-new attraction that would immerse guests in everything they love about Avatar but in a way, they’ve never seen before. She said, “It will be at a scale and at a level that is worthy of these epic stories. An innovative new attraction will bring all the action, all the excitement of ‘Avatar’ in a new and thrilling way. Along the way we’ll discover dense forests, taking all the way to the wide open seas of Pandora. But while this world can be beautiful, if we lose our way, it can also be dangerous.”
She added, “This is going to be a dynamic, intense, emotional experience on a grand scale.” She promised that this epic-scale high-thrill emotional experience would capture guests from beginning to end.
