Disneyland will add new attractions based on Avatar, Coco, Avengers, Mandalorian, Princess Tiana and even Walt Disney himself as the Anaheim theme park launches an ambitious expansion plan.
Disney Parks Chairman Josh D’Amaro announced plans for seven new attractions at Disneyland and Disney California Adventure over the next five years during the D23 fan event at the Honda Center on Saturday, August 10.
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“Everything we’re sharing with you is in active development,” D’Amaro said during the D23 event. “The plans are drawn. The first steps are well underway. I just want to make one thing clear: we’re doing everything you’re going to hear tonight.”
What will open first? And what comes next? Here’s an overview of the expected opening schedule for all seven new attractions.
1) Tiana’s Bayou Adventure
The transformation of Splash Mountain into Tiana’s Bayou Adventure has been underway for over a year.
The redesigned log flume will return on November 15, just in time for Disneyland’s winter holiday season.
Some areas of the newly renamed Bayou Country may open earlier than Tiana’s Bayou Adventure.
2) Walt Disney Animatronic
The world’s first Walt Disney Audio-Animatronics figure will premiere in 2025 at the Main Street Opera House at Disneyland.
The new animatronic show “Walt Disney – A Magical Life” will run alone in its first performance phase and will then alternate with “Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln”.
Tying the opening of A Magical Life to Disneyland’s 70th anniversary celebration next year would likely give Anaheim’s theme parks plenty of promotional leverage in 2025.
3) Smuggler Run Redesign
Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge is getting a Mando makeover in conjunction with the May 2026 release of The Mandalorian and Grogu.
The early summer release date likely means the ride redesigns will debut in the spring of 2026 in the two Star Wars lands at Disneyland and Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Florida.
4) Avengers Infinity Defense
The Marvel-themed land at Disney California Adventure is doubling in size with the addition of two new rides: Avengers Infinity Defense and Stark Flight Lab.
Construction on the Avengers Campus expansion will begin in 2025.
Concept art for the Avengers Campus expansion shows the new buildings for the attractions, which extend into the last remaining section of the original Disneyland parking lot behind the Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: Breakout free fall tower ride.
The Avengers E-Ticket ride has been in development since 2019 – which likely means Avengers Infinity Defense is further along in the development process and will likely open first.
If that’s the case, Avengers Infinity Defense could be released as early as 2026.
5) Stark Flight Lab
At Stark Flight Lab, passengers are placed in capsules attached to robotic arms during a flight simulation.
Disneyland has not yet announced whether Avengers Infinity Defense and Stark Flight Lab will open at the same time – but that’s unlikely. A gap of a year or two between the opening dates would give Disneyland the opportunity to market each of the attractions individually – and thus get more bang for its buck.
If that happens, the Stark Flight Lab could open sometime between 2027 and 2029.
6) Coconut Attraction
The world’s first Coco attraction at Disney California Adventure takes visitors on a musical journey to the land of the dead with Miguel and other characters from the 2017 Pixar film.
Work on the new Coco attraction will begin in 2026.
A Coco-themed area has been touted as a possible Disneyland Forward expansion project – suggesting that the new attraction could be built in the parking lot south of the Pixar Place Hotel.
A new Coco attraction built by Walt Disney Imagineering could take a year or two to open, and a full-fledged themed land would take even longer—if Disneyland eventually decides to expand the attraction into a land.
A new Coco ride could be added to the Disneyland development calendar in 2027. In the following years, there could be a further expansion of a Coco-themed land, if planned.
7) Avatar area
An innovative new attraction at Disney California Adventure based on Avatar: The Way of Water and other upcoming films in the franchise takes guests on an exciting and action-packed journey to the vast seas of Pandora.
Disneyland has not yet announced a start date for construction or an opening date for the Avatar-themed destination.
An Avatar experience has been hinted at as a possible DisneylandForward expansion project.
According to Disneyland officials, DisneylandForward will allow Walt Disney Imagineering to think more broadly about the possibilities and develop ideas for the development of the Avatar destination.
Of all the new attractions announced for the Disneyland Resort, an Avatar-themed land would take the longest to build. Disney has not yet called the Avatar addition a “themed land,” but has described it as an “experience,” a “destination,” and an “area.”
A blog post by D23 promised that the new Avatar experience at DCA would be just as amazing as the 12-acre World of Avatar theme park at Disney’s Animal Kingdom in Florida.
Building a full-fledged Avatar-themed land based on The Way of Water would likely take as long as the 14-acre Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge, which took four years to build.
That would put DCA’s Avatarland on the calendar in 2028 at the earliest – and 2029 if Stark Flight Lab is planned before Pandora. A single Avatar attraction without a full land could be completed sooner.
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