From villains to Indiana Jones: Everything we learned at Disney’s parks panel at the 2024 D23 Expo

The time of villains has come.

Disney’s classic baddies are getting their own theme park land at the Magic Kingdom in Orlando, Florida.

The company first teased the potential for a villainous takeover at the last D23 Expo in 2022 as part of a series of “blue sky” projects that it was contemplating, but not sure would come to fruition.

While the prospect of exploring what lies beyond Big Thunder Mountain tantalized fans, its lack of tangibility left many wondering what exactly Disney was doing to compete with the upcoming opening of Universal’s Epic Universe.

The answer came on Saturday night during the company’s experience showcase at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.

“As we sit here together at the Honda Center we have Imagineers hard at work,” Josh D’Amaro said to a roaring crowd. “Everything we have to share with you is in active development … This means dirt is moving. This isn’t blue sky.”

The reveal sent the crowd into a frenzy.

Disney’s theme parks, which are part of the wider division known as experiences, have long been a top-performing segment for the company, especially at a time of flux for linear television networks and cable advertising revenue slumps. Parks have offered stability in recent quarters as Disney shuffles to adapt its entertainment business to match consumer habits that changed after the pandemic.

However in the most recent quarter, Disney’s domestic parks in California and Florida saw slower consumer demand and increased inflation. The company expects this flat attendance will carry over the next few quarters.

Still, Disney is bullish on its experiences division, which encompasses its theme parks, cruise lines and hotels. The company has pledged to invest $60 billion in experiences over the next 10 years — a key part of its strategy to keep the parks fresh and relevant in a competitive segment.

About 70% of that money will go toward new experiences in domestic and international parks, along with cruise lines. The other 30% will go toward technology and infrastructure, including maintenance of existing attractions.

On Saturday, Disney fans got a glimpse at where that investment was being placed with the help of some big names.

Rita Ora graced the stage to perform a rendition of “Trust in Me” from “The Jungle Book” to announce the new villains land coming to Magic Kingdom. This new area of the park will include two major attractions as well as shopping and dining.

“So be prepared, you poor unfortunate souls,” D’Amaro teased.

Shaboozey rocked the Honda Center with a rendition of “Life Is a Highway” as part of the announcement that parts of the Florida-based Frontier Land will be rethemed with elements from the movie “Cars.”

This area will differ from the one at Disney California Adventure, D’Amaro told the audience, and will take place in the wilderness. There will be one e-ticket attraction, a thrilling off-road rally race, and a second ride that is more for families. Construction is slated to begin in early 2025.

D’Amaro noted that these expansions at Magic Kingdom are the largest at the park ever.

Over at Hollywood Studios, Disney is set to build a land centered on “Monsters, Inc.” Billy Crystal, the voice of the one-eyed green monster Mike Wazowski, appeared on stage to tease those in attendance about the new area.

Crystal sang a rendition of “If I Didn’t Have You” and received a standing ovation.

This land will feature a major attraction that takes guests on a thrilling tour of the Laugh Factory via a suspended coaster. Audiences cheered for the new ride. Construction starts next year, D’Amaro said.

Animal Kingdom’s Tropical America’s land, set to open in 2027, will feature an Indiana Jones attraction set inside a Mayan Temple. Ke Huy Quan appeared on stage with D’Amaro to tease the new ride and reminisce about his first ever acting role in “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.”

“Josh, I have to ask you, will there be any snakes?” Quan joked.

D’Amaro said construction will start in the fall and guests will have to wait to see what the new story of the Orlando-based ride will have in store.

As part of the Tropical America’s land Disney is creating Pueblo Esperanza, which means village of hope. Here the company is building the Casita Madrigal from “Encanto” and will have an attraction centered on the character Antonio who has the magical gift to talk to animals. The Casita has animated the house furniture to give guests a tour of the home and they will venture into Antonio’s jungle room.

Also part of this area will feature an all new carousel featuring wood carved animals from classic Disney stories.

The world of “Avatar” will make its way to Disney’s California Adventure, D’Amaro shared Saturday. The area will take inspiration from the second film “The Way of Water” and feature a new attraction.

“For our new destination we are inspired by the second movie ‘The Way of Water’ as well as the upcoming ‘Fire and Ash’ as well as future avatar films,” said Ali Rubinstein, executive global management of creative development at Walt Disney Imagineering, during Saturday’s showcase. “And it will be a scale and a level that is worthy of these epic stories.”

This park is also set to open a “Coco” attraction that will follow Miguel through the land of the dead. It will utilize state-of-the-art audio animatronics like the ones seen in the recently refurbished Tiana’s Bayou Adventure. It also takes inspiration from the iconic Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean rides. The company is breaking ground in 2026.

Deadpool appeared on stage to poke fun at the parks, including the animatronic dragon that caught fire at Disneyland last year, as well as D’Amaro.

The company then revealed that the Avengers Campus land will almost double in size with the addition of two new attractions. The first is called Avengers Infinity Defense which will take guests on an adventure to stop King Thanos from using stolen portal technology. Riders will help defend iconic location like Asgard, Wakanda and New York City.

The second attraction is Stark Flight Lab where guests will learn how to fly like a superhero. Construction will start next year.

The company also announced that Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, the Splash Mountain revamp, will open November 15. The Walt Disney World Resort version of the ride opened in June.

Disneyland Paris’ Adventure World theme park will be getting a new area based on “The Lion King” with a log flume attraction based on the Pride Lands. The previously announced Frozen-themed land is due to open in 2026.

Shanghai is getting a new thrill attraction coaster featuring Spider-Man.

“This is going to be a high energy thrill coaster,” said Scott Trowbridge, senior creative executive at Walt Disney Imagineering.

Hong Kong’s park will also have a Spider-Man thrill attraction added to the Stark Expo area.

Tokyo will debut a new nighttime spectacular in September called “Reach for the Stars.” It features characters from “Big Hero Six,” “Up” and super heroes from Marvel.

Disney’s cruise line is getting a major expansion. In addition to the five ships already sailing the world, and the four ships in production, Disney will be adding another four ships to the fleet between 2027 and 2031.

D’Amaro brought out All-4-One to sing “This I Swear” to announce the four new ships. Disney will soon have 13 different destinations for its cruise ships.

“Disney Cruise Line is consistently the top-rated line for families because it offers something for everyone,” D’Amaro said. “Expanding our fleet gives more people – in more parts of the world – opportunities for an experience at sea that only Disney can deliver.”

Disney also used Saturday’s presentation to update fans and shareholders about its $1.5 billion investment in Epic Games.

D’Amaro was joined on stage by creative leads from across the company including Jennifer Lee from Walt Disney Animation, Pete Doctor from Pixar, Kevin Feige from Marvel and Dave Filoni from Lucasfilm to share several upcoming collaborations with Epic Games and Fortnite.

Disney streamed this segment of the show on Fortnite and more than one million people tuned into that live stream, D’Amaro said.

Disney Animation characters will arrive in the game this fall, including Cruella, Hook and Maleficent, Lee teased. Joining them will be Pixar’s the Incredibles, including Frozone, ElastaGirl and Mr. Incredible, Doctor added.

For Lucasfilm, Filoni said new Star Wars characters are coming next week, including IG-11 and a Grogu back bling. Filoni also teased that he and Jon Favreau are working on a Mandalorian and Grogu story for the Star Wars Smugglers Run ride in Galaxy’s Edge.

Marvel has been a partner with Epic since 2018 and more is on the way. Feige said many fans discover Marvel characters through Fortnite and then go read the comics and watch Marvel Cinematic Universe content. Coming next week to the game is a new event centered on Doctor Doom. Audiences at D23 saw a tease Saturday night that included a number of new special weapons, including Captain America’s shield, and a Peely version of Wolverine.

Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal and CNBC.