During Bob Iger’s video during the shareholders’ meeting, filmed, naturally, at Disneyland, Iger mentioned several theme park expansion projects, including a new “Avatar”-themed land possibly going into Disneyland, and a new “Frozen”-themed land headed to Disneyland Paris.
Iger shared a concept image of the “Avatar” project, which builds off of the success of Pandora: The World of Avatar, a highly immersive land at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, which was announced in 2011 and didn’t open until 2017. That land’s marquee attraction, Flight of Passage, is one of the most technologically advanced and emotionally compelling rides in the Disney portfolio.
The image Iger shared shows a lagoon with a boat-like attraction (perhaps a new version of Na’vi River Journey?), with several large show buildings, which could include Flight of Passage. It’s unclear where this would be built given the limited amount of land in California. Iger did mention that the Disneyland Forward project, which aims to dramatically increase the size of both the Disneyland Resort parks, goes in front of Anaheim legislatures next week. That could dictate when and where this land is developed.
The last big Disneyland expansion happened with the opening of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, which sits in the former Big Thunder Ranch area of the park and opened on May 31, 2019. Recently, Mickey’s Toontown, another area of Disneyland, got a refresh thanks to the addition of Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway and a general overhaul of the land’s aesthetics that opened in 2023.
For a long time the Disneyland “Avatar” project has been basked in confusion, as the terms “land” and “experience” have been utilized interchangeably to describe it. An experience could be anything from a live-show to a meet-and-greet to a photo op, but the concept art that Iger showed, even though he couched it as being a “possibility,” clearly shows it is a full-fledged land.
Look for more details to be revealed at D23, the Disney-only Comic-Con, which happens in Anaheim in August.