It’s HERE! The biggest weekend for Disney fans everywhere has finally arrived.

Destination d23 is the ultimate Disney fan weekend, and it’s gonna be HUGE. This exciting weekend event is where the biggest Disney fans tune in each year in person and online to hear exciting announcements about upcoming projects, get behind-the-scenes info about upcoming Disney projects, hear from special guest speakers, and more. Last year’s Destination D23 was an outpouring of news and updates, and this year’s lineup is looking just as jam-packed. We hope you’re ready, cause here we go!

We’ll be updating this post ALL WEEKEND LONG as we explore the Destination D23 event! Keep checking back here to catch each update as it’s announced.

Event Dates

This morning, August 29th, we’re starting off the first day of Destination D23: A Journey Around the Worlds of Disney! The entire event will run the whole weekend through August 31st at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort. This event is very popular and tickets SOLD OUT quickly when they went on sale earlier this year starting in April to select D23 members.

The entire weekend’s lineup has already been released, and you can always follow along with all of the updates here! For those who didn’t get tickets or just want to watch along, select panels from Destination D23 will also be live-streamed online and on D23 social media channels!

News & Announcements

We’ll be on the lookout through the entire weekend for any big news and announcements Disney makes, so be sure to keep checking back for updates. Disney dropped a lot of announcements during the Walt Disney Studios Showcase panel! First up, we got a lot of news regarding Toy Story, and we got to see a trailer for Toy Story 5, which will release in theaters on July 19th, 2026. The trailer shows a bit of story about the battle between toys versus tech. We’ll also be introduced to a new character, Multibuzz, a 50-piece special edition high-tech Buzz toy.

Disney also announced that Buzz Lightyear would be returning to this year’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. PLUS we found out that the original Toy Story will be returning to theaters on September 12th.

Disney also dropped a few more details about its upcoming Pixar movie Hoppers. This movie is sort of like an animal-themed Avatar, where humans can inhabit the body of a fake animal — what could possibly go wrong? Hoppers drops in theaters on March 6th, 2026.

Disney also announced a big change coming to TRON Lightcycle/ Run in Magic Kingdom and TRON Lightcycle Power Run in Shanghai Disneyland: both rides will be getting a Tron: Ares overlay. The Magic Kingdom ride will get a red overlay for a limited time on September 15th, while the Shanghai Disneyland ride will get its overlay on September 16th. Both rides will also get new soundtracks by Nine Inch Nails, just like in Tron: Ares.

Disney also announced an all-new original movie, Hexed. The movie “follows a teenage oddball and his mom, who discover his weirdness is actually hidden magic, transporting them to a world where magic can run free.” Hexed  is coming to theaters in 2026.

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We also got some more details about Zootopia 2. We got to see a clip from the new movie (which we’re not allowed to share), but it basically follows Judy as she’s hunting down a snake who has snuck into a gala to steal a book that could change how the world views snakes. In the end, Judy and Nick end up helping the snake, and, in the process become fugitives themselves. We also got to learn about some new characters in the movie including Zootopia’s new mayor, Brian Winddancer, who will be voiced by Patrick Warburton (of Soarin’ fame). Also, Yvette Nicole Brown will play EMT Otter and Bearoness Bear.

Although Destination D23 did not have a dedicated Disney Parks panel, we did get to attend a panel called “The Happiest Place on Earth,” which, of course, is about Disneyland. The panel looked at Disneyland history, but we, ironically, got a big Disney World announcement: a Walt Disney animatronic similar to the one in Disneyland will be added to the intro of Disney World’s Carousel of Progress in Magic Kingdom.

However, we didn’t get any big announcements about Disneyland.

On Sunday, Disney dropped some villain news, including a new Dr. Facilier experience coming to the Disney Cruise Line’s Destiny ship. He’ll invite guests to sit at his table and will show you a few card tricks mixed with storytelling. There will also be a Cruella de Vil fashion show, and Loki will interact with guests on the balcony in the Grand Hall.

One of the biggest announcements we got was that Cinderella Castle in Magic Kingdom is getting a makeover! It’s going back to its original colors of grays, blues, and gold, which is what it looked like before the 50th anniversary.

Other Panels

The Welcome Back with Michael Vargo panel gave us a real treat. We learned about some upcoming D23 events, as well as got the dates for NEXT year’s big D23 event, D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Experience, which will happen on August 14th to 16th, 2026, in Anaheim, California. It will take place at the Anaheim Convention Center and the Honda Center.

Also, Jodi Benson, the voice of Ariel in the animated The Little Mermaid was made an official D23 Fan-bassador. Of course, she had to sing THE SONG.

The Three Caballeros is getting a lot of extra love this weekend, with several panels devoted to the 1945 film. The first panel was called The Three Caballeros: From El Grupo to Goodwill Classics (Part 1). Walt Disney Archives spoke about Walt Disney’s trip to Latin America for a Goodwill tour. Funny story: they didn’t get enough photos during the tour, so they faked the photos we have from that tour in Burbank.

The X Atencio: The Untold Story of a Disney Legend was dedicated to a Disney Legend, animator, and Imagineer. He’s best known for writing scripts and songs for Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion. We also learned that he did the final design for Figment! Legend AND Legendary!

During the Disney Around The Globe: India panel, presenters talked about The Jungle Book. However, the crowd gave its biggest reception for a mention of The Cheetah Girls One World.

During Be Our Guest with Disney on Broadway, we got to see some bonafide Broadway celebrities perform, including Susan Egan, Michael James Scott, and more! We also approve of Egan requesting that Disney do a Broadway production of Tangled so she could play Mother Gothel — yes, PLEASE!

In the What’Cha’ Doin’ with Phineas and Ferb’s Dan Povenmire and Swampy Marsh, we talked about…well, what else? Phineas and Ferb! Also, Povenmire told us that his favorite Disney ride is Rise of the Resistance.

In the Disney Around the Globe: Japan, we learned more about Disney’s relationship and history with Japan, including Disney’s relationship with Studio Ghibli and Big Hero 6.

The D2K Animated Classics brought up some — in our opinion — underrated movies like Treasure Planet, Fantasia 2000, Brother Bear, Atlantis, and Tarzan.

So maybe our FAVORITE panel of the day was What’s Cooking with Disney Eats? because, well, it was ALL about food, and that’s our favorite thing! Disney even shared some new concept art of Napa Rose, which is getting a big remodel over at the Grand Californian Hotel in Disneyland. We’d previously seen concept art of the restaurant’s new interior, but this is the first concept art we’ve seen of the new patio.

Of course, you can’t have a Disney Eats panel without a first look at some upcoming popcorn buckets and other souvenirs, including a holiday Trader Sam’s tiki mug, a Holiday Christmas Tree popcorn bucket, a CHARMING Winnie the Pooh and Piglet spring popcorn bucket, and more.

We also got a sneak peek at some upcoming holiday treats…excuse us while we drool, okay? We even got a sneak peek at some treats coming to the EPCOT Festival of the Holidays this year…We don’t know about you, but this panel left us feeling HUNGRY.

The final panel of Saturday was Boom, Baby! 25 Years of The Emperor’s New Groove and we got to learn more about the making of the film and even got to see a video of Patrick Warburton recording his voice work for Kronk (and he was there watching it looking embarrassed — RELATABLE)! We also got to see the restored dinner scene from the movie.

D23 is hosting Kuzoctopia at Typhoon Lagoon, and yes, you will get to meet characters from The Emperor’s New Groove at the party.

The special event will also include a special tribute to Disney’s Water Parks throughout the years.

On Sunday, we were given an inside look at the research trip for the new Villains Land coming to Magic Kingdom at Disney World. While we didn’t receive any major updates, it’s nice to see the details that are being added to the land and how much care Disney is taking with it.

Exhibits

Walt Disney Archives Exhibit

We got to check out the Walt Disney Archives Exhibit and it was AMAZING. This was literally like a walk through Disney history. The exhibit features things like movie costumes and props, like the costume and props from the live-action Mulan.

There was even a model of EPCOT’s Germany pavilion!

Speaking of movies, we really loved seeing the model of Sao Feng’s floating Singapore village model from Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End.

Not a lot of folks will remember Little Red from the original version of Kilimanjaro Safaris in Disney’s Animal Kingdom, but the animatronic is still around!

We also stopped to pay tribute to the great Joe Rohde’s boots, along with some sketches he took when he was traveling to get inspiration for Animal Kingdom.

If you’re visiting Destination D23, this is one exhibit you don’t want to miss!

Shopping

Mickey’s of Glendale

Destination D23 is also our first look at some of the upcoming park styles and trends for merchandise. One of our favorites in the Mickey’s of Glendale pop-up shop — let’s take a look at what you’ll find here.

Here, you’ll find some Walt Disney Imagineering apparel, accessories, souvenirs, and more.

There’s a section that’s nothing but books, including special Disney Little Golden Books.

You can even get Disney Cruise Line Haunted Mansion Parlor merch!

There are some new Muppets Studio collections available.

Disney Studio Store Hollywood

For the first time, Disney Studio Store Hollywood is in Florida with new apparel, accessories, drinkware, and pins.

This is definitely a spot pin collectors want to visit.

Ink & Paint Marketplace

The Ink & Paint Marketplace features a variety of souvenirs from brands like Lug, Ravensburger, Pandora, and more. The collection of Lug bags alone is very impressive!

It’s also a great spot to grab some Disney art.

We also checked out some board games here.

The Walt Disney Company Store

If you’re looking for official Destination D23 merchandise, this is were you’ll find it, as well as collections including The Walt Disney Company, the Walt Disney Studios, and new D23 Member-exclusives.

There are a ton of EXCLUSIVES you can get here, too.

You’ll also find D23 merchandise here.

Don’t forget to check back in with us at this post for ALL the updates from Destination d23 this weekend! We’ll be bringing you all of the cool exhibits and maybe even some BIG news, so stay tuned!

Disney Just Dropped 3 HUGE Announcements…and They Will Make You GASP

What news and updates are you hoping to get during this year’s Destination D23 weekend? Tell us in the comments!

Disclosure: In nearly all circumstances, Disney Food Blog writers and photographers pay full price for their own travel, hotel, food, beverage, and event tickets. We do this because it’s important to us as journalists to ensure not only that we give you unbiased opinions, but also that you can trust us to do so since we’re paying our own way. On rare occasions, when we are invited by a company to attend a preview as media, and when we choose to accept that invitation, we will always make you, our readers, aware of that situation. Today, we were invited by Disney World to attend Destination D23. Note that when we attend events as media we are 1) Not required to review that event/food on any of our channels, and 2) Not required to review that event/food favorably. You can always count on DFB to give you a 100% unbiased and honest review of any event that we attend, food that we eat, or beverage that we drink. You can see more in our Disclosure Policy. Thank you for reading. — AJ