Uncovering the SECRETS of Disney World’s NEW Expansion Plans

Disney World has teased some seriously huge expansion plans over the past few years — and we happen to be pretty excited about it!

Cinderella Castle

But, in typical Disney fashion — they’ve been keeping the details a secret. Animal Kingdom’s DinoLand U.S.A. is set to be rethemed, and a Magic Kingdom expansion has been mentioned — and later confirmed. We’ve broken down the concept art and dug into some of the clues, but now, we’re uncovering all the secrets of Disney World’s new expansion plans.

Disney has announced expansions for Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom! And, while we only have a handful of details, we can speculate as to just what might be in store with these new lands.

Animal Kingdom

At the 2023 D23 Expo, Disney excecutive Josh D’Amaro shared that Disney is “building on what makes Animal Kingdom so, so special” with The Tropical Americas! New experiences inspired by the beloved film Encanto and the fan-favorite character Indiana Jones are “being considered” for the reimagined land (currently DinoLand, U.S.A.) at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. So, keep in mind that even though we have concept art — these lands are only proposed. 

Tree of Life

Below is the concept art for the Encanto and Indiana Jones land that Disney has proposed and that which we have gathered our clues.

©Disney

Casa Madrigal

We’re starting with the most obvious clue here, Casa Madrigal. Casa Madrigal is probably the most iconic part of the movie Encanto.

It’s the premise behind the whole plot of the movie and it’s magical! If you’ve seen the movie, you know that the house changes shape, often making the stairs into a slide. We wouldn’t be surprised if Disney were to make this into a Haunted Mansion-style ride with a bit more pizzazz.

Casa Madrigal

The possibilities for a ride at Casa Madrigal seem endless with all the magic that is happening inside La Casita.

A New Carrousel

If you look closely at the concept art, you might notice, slightly hidden by some trees, that there seems to be a Carrousel.

With Disney wanting to incorporate so many different animals from around the world into this land, we can only imagine the many different options for animals seats on a Carrousel in this new land! It could be like an exotic Prince Charming Regal Carrousel!

Prince Charming Carrousel

This would be a fun addition to the new area!

Is That the Mexican Pavilion We See?

Ok, so obviously the building from the Mexico Pavilion in EPCOT did not find its way into the concept art for Animal Kingdom. But if you look closely, there is a building that looks VERY similar to it!

Mexico Pavilion

We wouldn’t be surprised if we could find some good eats inside this new building (maybe some of Julieta’s healing arepas?). If this new building does turn out anything like the Mexican Pavilion, we could see there is a delicious restaurant inside or maybe a new boat ride!

Walking Paths

We also noticed several walking paths added to the concept art that wander in and out of the forests around the land. This would be on par for Animal Kingdom, where you can find many of these scattered around the park. 

Gorilla Falls Exploration Trails

Typically on the trails throughout Animal Kingdom, you can find a plethora of animals. Disney is hoping to create a land that is inspired by the Tropical Americas because of the abundance of biodiversity in that region. So adding walking paths around this area could be a great way to showcase all those new animals!

Indiana Jones Ride

If you are saddened to hear that Dinoland U.S.A. is going away, you’re not alone. And along with that, the DINOSAUR ride will also be leaving the park.

But fear not! The DINOSAUR ride uses the same ride system as the Indiana Jones ride in Disneyland. So we would not be surprised to learn that the ride on the West Coast will be finding its way to the East Coast.

Indiana Jones Adventure ride vehicles

Perhaps we would see some different theming in Disney World, possibly calling on one of the other many Indiana Jones movies, but with the same ride concept. The bones of the ride are already in place and the concept art seems to hint at a fairly big ride in the bottom right corner, so maybe we’ll be seeing this ride in Florida soon!

Reptile Building

On the concept art, we noticed several buildings that we just never know what they could be used for. There will probably be shops and restaurants, of course.

But when we think of animals from South and Central America we think about a lot of reptiles and creepy crawlies. It could be very possible that we will see a reptile building of sorts.

Conservation Station

There are a few places we can find reptiles and amphibians in Animal Kingdom already. It would be no surprise at all if we got some Tropical American species coming to this new land.

Magic Kingdom

At the 2022 D23 Expo, Disney teased a GIANT expansion for Magic Kingdom. And at the 2023 Destination D23 event, they shared new details on the huge expansion.

The team threw out a few different possible ideas for the space in the back of Magic Kingdom, including expansions themed to Coco, Encanto, or the Disney villains. With those lands, you could celebrate Dia de los Muertos in the little town of Santa Cecilia, walk inside the Madrigal family’s Casita, or live like a Disney villain!

Possible Land Expansion in Magic Kingdom

At the Destination D23 event, Chief Creative Officer at Walt Disney Imagineering, Bruce Vaughn, said that the future expansion plans for Magic Kingdom are the “largest ever” for the park. He also shared that Imagineers are looking to tell stories “Beyond Big Thunder Mountain.”

A Villains-themed land?!

There were no specifics announced regarding what types of attractions, restaurants, or shows might be added, but it was said that more details are to come in the future. But whatever is coming, it sounds like it will be big — according to the presentation, the stories in the expanded area will be told on a scale similar to things like Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge and Pandora – The World of Avatar, including the addition of new attractions, restaurants, shows, and more! 

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad

Speaking about the potential expansion during an investor call, Disney Parks, Experiences and Products Chairman Josh D’Amaro stated that Disney has “a wealth of untapped stories to bring to life across our business,” including Frozen (which he said “could have a presence at Disneyland Resort), The Black Panther, and Coco. Specifically, D’Amaro said, “The world of Coco is just waiting to be explored. There’s a lot of storytelling opportunity.”

Cinderella Castle

So, while this is all mostly speculation for now, we do have a lot of clues thanks to what Disney has shared with us already. And, as we continue to learn more, we’ll be sure to share it with you!

Stay tuned to DFB as we continue to bring you more updates on what might be on the horizon in the Disney World parks!

7 Disney World Projects That Are Shrouded in Secrecy

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