Walt Disney World Will Add Monsters, Cars, and Villains

The Walt Disney Company has spent the body of the past five years playing defense against accusations of lackluster theme park expansion. In the immortal words of Michael Jordan, they took that personally. 

So, Disney Experiences Chairman spent two hours on Saturday night revealing all the exciting projects coming to Walt Disney World. By the end of the evening, Disney fans had withdrawn all complaints and replaced them with hope and excitement. 

We just learned that Walt Disney World will soon add Cars, Monsters, and Villains. Oh, my! Folks, as great as you think the Most Magical Place on Earth is right now, it’s about to get so much better!

Disney Confirms Monstropolis 

In recent weeks, one of the hottest rumors was that Disney would add something new to Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Given the park’s recent expansion, you may find that odd. I’d gently remind you to remember the wait times for all the various E-ticket attractions here.

Currently, Hollywood Studios is a top-heavy park that needs more attractions to balance the scales. Disney officials know this and are bringing in a heavyweight. So, Imagineers are bringing in one of the company’s most popular brands, Monsters, Inc., to distribute park crowds more evenly.

That’s the boring managerial speak for what’s happening. All you should care about as a DVC member is that Hollywood Studios is adding a roller coaster! Yes, the long-rumored inverted Monsters Coaster is about to become a reality.

This attraction will recreate the climactic sequence from Monsters, Inc. It’s the one where Mike and Sulley chase Randall through a series of doors. Imagine this as a roller coaster:

To a larger point, the idea of exploring Monstropolis is winning. This franchise has already spawned a sequel and a popular animated series. Disney can draw from plenty of stories in creating this themed land.

Cars Are Coming to Frontierland 

Perhaps the biggest surprise of the parks panel involves Frontierland. For a long time, fans have wondered whether Disney would shutter this themed land, which currently lacks thematically appropriate attractions. 

DVC members recently got a hint that the current format would remain. The DVC Member Lounge replacing Frontierland Shootin’ Arcade will have a modest Frontierland theme, at least on the exterior. So, it seemed likely that more announcements were in the offing. 

Still, not many people expected what happened next. Disney confirmed that not one but two Cars rides are coming to Frontierland. Just to be clear, these are not Radiator Springs attractions, either.

Instead, the theming involves the various Cars characters like Mater heading to the wild frontier for a car race. Along the way, they’ll encounter pitfalls like mud holes and spraying geysers during this ride experience. Disney stated that this isn’t a duplicate of Radiator Springs Racers, but it could feasibly employ similar technology with a new story. 

The other attraction here will be a family-friendly ride. All Disney says about the second Cars ride at Frontierland is that it’ll be “geared towards smaller racers.” I would expect something akin to Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree and Luigi’s Rollickin’ Roadsters in terms of simple, engaging fun. 

The Villains Will Appear at Magic Kingdom

For many years now, the popularity of Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party has hinted at the popularity of a particular concept. Disney fans adore their Villains and can never get enough of them.

At the D23 Expo two years ago, D’Amaro asked whether fans wanted to see Disney Villains at What Lies Big Thunder Mountain. The Cast Members attending the event later acknowledged that they couldn’t help but note the overwhelmingly positive response to that question.

Two years later, the prophecy hath been fulfilled. Now, Disney has officially confirmed that Magic Kingdom will add a Villains Land. The Disney Parks Blog describes it as a place that will “encompass all your dreams- er, nightmares. The space will be home to two major attractions, dining, and shopping on an incredibly twisted grand scale.”

Disney made no mention of specifics. So, we don’t know whether any of these plans will utilize previous ideas from the announced but never completed Beastly Kingdom at Animal Kingdom in the 1990s. But D’Amaro bragged that “It’s going to be a fearless new vision for what a Disney experience can be.”

The Tropical Americas Add New Details 

We’ve known about the re-theming at DinoLand USA for a while now. Disney previously confirmed that this area would convert to the Tropical Americas one day soon. Now, D’Amaro has revealed the timeline as 2027, which is probably later than fans had hoped. However, it’s so fast that Bruce Vaughn, the head of Imagineering, looked visibly stressed at the thought. 

His worry speaks volumes about the ambitions that executives have for the new themed land. This isn’t a cheap knock-off conversion but rather the kind of meticulous transformation that would gain Disney Legend Joe Rohde’s approval. 

Disney just revealed the two rides coming here, one of which we already knew. It is, in fact, an Indiana Jones experience different from the one at Disneyland Park. 

In this newly created story, the archaeologist will discover an abandoned Mayan Temple. Of course, he wants to explore it and brings Disney guests along for the ride. It’ll probably go badly right up until he saves the day.

The other ride will take guests inside Casa Madrigal, the family home of Mirabel et al. In the story, Antonio has just learned that he can speak with animals. So, he has converted his bedroom into a rainforest that will factor heavily into the ride. Also, Disney hinted that You Know Who (Bruno) will appear. 

Disney also quietly announced another ride, and here’s the description. “Additionally, a woodcarver has created a giant working carousel featuring his favorite animals from Disney stories. It’s a new take on a classic attraction that young families are going to love.” Nobody’s talking about this carousel for whatever reason, but it’ll entertain your kids. Thus, you and they will love it. 

Disney Announced Even More

I think we all know that Monstropolis, Cars at Frontierland, and Villains Land would be more than enough, especially compared to recent D23 parks panels. However, Disney didn’t stop there.

Instead, D’Amaro and other Cast Members confirmed several other experiences. For starters, Test Track 3.0 will reopen in 2025, which fits with some of the construction paperwork for the project. 

Here’s Disney’s description for the new iteration: “Enjoy a joy ride through scenes focusing on onboard technology, customization and personalization. Followed by a trip through a scenic outdoor route reminding us all of the joys of driving, taking in the world around us and spending quality time with friends and family.”

At Magic Kingdom, we’re getting a new parade as well. Disney Starlight will open next summer. Disney says it “will continue the nighttime spectacular legacy started by the ‘Main Street Electrical Parade’ using the latest technology to tell new stories about the characters you love. All of this is brought to life by the magic of the Blue Fairy, in addition to beloved characters from Walt Disney Animation Studios films ‘Peter Pan,’ ‘Encanto,’ ‘Frozen,’ and more.”

We’ve also got two new lounges coming to Walt Disney World. One of them is the previously announced Pirates of the Caribbean tavern at Adventureland. The other one celebrates Spaceship Earth. So, these lounges are 100 percent for diehard Disney theme park fans. 

Finally, Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run will add a new story, which will alternate with the current coaxium heist. The updated tale will involve the Mandalorian and Grogu and apparently be based on events from the upcoming standalone movie.