We’ve seen some new things happening for Disney recently abroad. The new Disney Adventure World in Paris, the new Disney Adventure cruise ship in Singapore. But do not let that fool you into thinking Disney is ready to take a little lie-down and a nap. The company is still pushing a roughly $60 billion investment plan across parks and cruise capacity over about 10 years, which is why the project list still looks like it drank three cold brews and stole a construction crane.

The next big checkpoint is D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event, happening August 14 through 16, 2026, in Anaheim. Disney has already scheduled its Disney Experiences Showcase for August 15, which is basically a neon sign flashing “park people, get in here.” And because Josh D’Amaro officially became Disney’s CEO on March 18, 2026, there’s even more reason to think this summer’s presentation could bring fresh timelines, new concept art, and maybe the first wave of projects that feel a little more like his personal stamp on the future of the company.

Disney has not promised some giant avalanche of new project announcements, but it is completely fair to assume that park fans will be watching this year’s D23 like hawks with annual passes, waiting for new timelines, new details, and maybe the first real hints of what a D’Amaro-era expansion slate could look like.

Disney World

Magic Kingdom Expansion

Magic Kingdom is where Disney is swinging for spectacle. The park already opened Tiana’s Bayou Adventure on June 28, 2024, but the much bigger story is the huge expansion beyond Big Thunder Mountain. This is the largest expansion in the park’s history. First up, we have a Cars-themed expansion in part of Frontierland, called Piston Peak.

Disney has only officially confirmed the broad strokes so far, but even those broad strokes are juicy: this will be a multi-acre Villains land beyond Big Thunder Mountain with two major attractions, plus dining and shopping, and it is part of the largest expansion in Magic Kingdom history. Imagineering says the land is being designed with a dark, mysterious look and feel, pulling heavily from Art Nouveau architecture in Paris and Barcelona, with swirling lines, jewel tones, stained glass, painted metal, and what the team is calling “Conjured Architecture,” which is honestly a deliciously dramatic phrase if there ever was one.

Legendary animator Andreas Deja is consulting on the project, which is a pretty big clue that the land’s visual identity will lean hard into the bold silhouettes, theatrical personalities, and rich color palettes of classic animated villains. While Disney has not confirmed a final character lineup for the attractions yet, Imagineering has specifically pointed to Deja’s work on villains like Gaston, Jafar, and Scar as key source material, so those are absolutely the kinds of larger-than-life bad guys shaping the mood, style, and overall wicked energy of this expansion.

In other words, this does not sound like a land built around one single villain franchise. It sounds like Disney is cooking up a full-blown rogues’ gallery with gothic flair, cursed-beautiful architecture, and just enough menace to make “happily ever after” feel very, very far away.

This NEW Look at Magic Kingdom’s Villains Land Makes Us Think Disney Has a Long Way To Go

Hollywood Studios Additions

Hollywood Studios is still very much in its next-act era, and at this point the park is basically collecting expansion announcements like infinity stones. It already got The Little Mermaid – A Musical Adventure and Disney Villains: Unfairly Ever After on May 27, 2025, but Disney is also reworking Animation Courtyard into The Walt Disney Studios, an outdoor area inspired by the real Burbank studio lot, opening May 26, 2026. The refreshed space will include the courtyard makeover itself, the new Disney Jr. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Live! show, shady hangout space for families, and Off the Page!, where guests can meet Disney Animation characters in photo-ready areas themed to different parts of the animation process.

Then, in late summer 2026, Disney will open The Magic of Disney Animation inside the former Star Wars: Launch Bay building, and this one sounds like catnip for animation fans, small kids, and honestly anybody who enjoys air-conditioning with a side of whimsy. Disney says the experience will include Drawn to Wonderland, an indoor Alice in Wonderland-inspired playground based on Mary Blair concept art, Olaf Draws! with an Audio-Animatronics Olaf hosting drawing lessons, an enchanted art gallery, a screening space for Once Upon A Studio, and interactive studio-themed areas where characters seem to pop right off the walls. Basically, Disney looked at the old animation space and said, “What if we made this more charming, more interactive, and way harder to walk past?”

And then there’s the bigger long-range flex: Monsters, Inc.  Monstropolis is coming to the south side of the park, and it will include the suspended door coaster people have been begging for since the first time they watched that movie, plus dining, shopping, and a brand-new theater show. Disney has also confirmed that the coaster will feature the first-ever suspended coaster and first-ever vertical lift at a Disney park, which is a very dramatic way of saying Hollywood Studios is not done showing off.

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Animal Kingdom Additions

Animal Kingdom is in a fascinating little in-between phase right now, where some of the shiny new additions have already arrived, but the really massive glow-up is still under construction behind the scenes. Zootopia: Better Zoogether! officially opened in the Tree of Life Theater on November 7, 2025, bringing a brand-new 4D show to the park, and starting May 26, 2026, Bluey’s Wild World at Conservation Station, where guests can play games, dance with Bluey and Bingo, snap photos with them, and explore Australia-inspired animal activities at Jumping Junction. So yes, Animal Kingdom is somehow finding room for both Judy Hopps and Bluey in the same era, which feels a little chaotic, but in a fun way.

 

But the biggest long-range transformation is still Pueblo Esperanza in Tropical Americas, the 11-acre replacement for DinoLand U.S.A. Disney says construction is already underway, the land is set to open in 2027, and it will include the first-ever Encanto ride-through attraction, a new Indiana Jones attraction, a carousel, and one of the largest quick-service restaurants at Disney World inside a sprawling hacienda.

In other words, the old roadside dino chaos is getting traded in for lush village vibes, casita magic, adventure-serial swagger, and a whole new reason for Animal Kingdom fans to start emotionally preparing now.

PHOTOS: NEW Look at the Animal Kingdom Expansion

Disney Resort Hotel Additions

On the hotel side, Disney World’s most recent major addition was the Island Tower at Disney’s Polynesian Villas & Bungalows, which debuted on December 17, 2024, and Disney keeps layering in resort refreshes, including the updated rooms and lobby at Pop Century revealed on March 16, 2026.

The next major resort expansion still underway is Disney Lakeshore Lodge, which Disney projects will open in 2027. Even outside the parks, the construction hard hat is still very much part of the dress code.

DisneylandForward

In 2021, Disney announced its DisneylandForward initiative, which is a project where Disneyland will work with the City of Anaheim to re-zone specific parts of Disneyland property to be used for new lands. There are still a lot of hoops that Disneyland has to jump through to make this happen, but some ideas for those new lands have already been suggested.

This is the less glamorous but wildly important part of expansion: getting people into the resort without traffic turning into a full villain origin story. Plans are underway for a new east-side parking structure and transportation hub with about 6,000 spaces, plus shuttle, rideshare, and security areas, along with a pedestrian bridge over Harbor Boulevard and a new arrival experience. It is not the sexy part of expansion, but it is the part that makes the sexy part possible.

Disneyland Park

At Disneyland Park itself, the biggest recent additions are already open, not hypothetical. Tiana’s Bayou Adventure opened on November 15, 2024, and “Walt Disney – A Magical Life” debuted on July 17, 2025, at the Main Street Opera House, along with new exhibits honoring Walt and Disneyland’s evolution. So if you are looking for the next really massive resort expansion story, Disneyland Park is not where the current crane drama is centered.

Disney California Adventure

Disney California Adventure is where the real expansion fireworks are happening. Avengers Campus expansion is already underway, and the plan is for two new attractions that will double the size of that land. On top of that, construction is expected to begin in 2026 in Disney California Adventure and the Esplanade for the first-ever Coco attraction and the future Avatar destination. DCA is not casually adding a thing or two. It is very much in its “let’s knock some walls down and get ambitious” phase.

MAP Shows Layout of Disneyland’s $1.9 Billion Resort Expansion

Tokyo Disney

Toyko Disneyland

Tokyo Disneyland’s major current project is a full Space Mountain and Tomorrowland-area overhaul. The renovated Space Mountain and surrounding plaza are expected to open in 2027, which means this is not some tiny tune-up with a fresh coat of space glitter. It is a major rebuild of one of the resort’s most iconic attractions and the land around it.

Tokyo DisneySea

Tokyo DisneySea already crossed its biggest recent expansion off the list when Fantasy Springs opened on June 6, 2024, bringing Frozen Kingdom, Rapunzel’s Forest, Peter Pan’s Never Land, and the new Tokyo DisneySea Fantasy Springs Hotel with it. Right now, DisneySea’s expansion story is less about what is next and more about the fact that its giant new port is already open and reshaping how people tour the park.

This was the biggest expansion at Tokyo DisneySea since it first opened in 2001.

DFB Video: Everything I Wish I Knew Before Tokyo Disney’s Fantasy Springs

Shanghai Disney Resort

Shanghai Disneyland

Shanghai already got a huge recent addition when Zootopia opened on December 20, 2023. The active work-in-progress story now is what comes next. Shanghai Disney Resort says a new Spider-Man-themed land is underway at Shanghai Disneyland, with the first major Marvel attraction for the park, and the resort has also said a major expansion of Soaring Over the Horizon is part of the current pipeline. Shanghai is basically behaving like one expansion project at a time is for amateurs.

Shanghai Disney Resort Hotels and District Expansion

And the resort itself is growing right alongside the park. Shanghai’s third themed hotel hit a major construction milestone in January 2025, while a fourth themed hotel and an expanded retail, dining, and entertainment district were announced in November 2025. Those projects sit on top of the resort’s ninth themed land and other active work already underway. In other words, Shanghai is not just expanding a park. It is building a longer-stay vacation ecosystem.

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Hong Kong Disneyland Resort

Hong Kong Disneyland

Hong Kong Disneyland already opened World of Frozen on November 20, 2023, so that one is firmly out of future tense. The future-tense item here is Marvel. Disney has said the resort has more Marvel-themed experiences and additional guest offerings in development, which means Hong Kong is still very much on the global expansion board even after Arendelle officially opened its gates.

Something NEW Is Coming to Hong Kong Disneyland – And We’ve Got Details!

Disneyland Paris

Disneyland Park

At Disneyland Paris, Disneyland Park is not really the crane capital of the resort right now. The heavy-lift transformation is happening at the second gate, which means Disneyland Park gets to keep being the polished older sibling while the other park is in full makeover mode.

Disney Adventure World

That second gate officially became Disney Adventure World on March 29, 2026, with World of Frozen, Adventure Way, Raiponce Tangled Spin, Adventure Bay, and a whole pile of new dining rolling out as part of the reimagining. Before that, World Premiere opened on May 15, 2025, as an earlier milestone in the transformation.

And Disney is not done. Lion King construction began in fall 2025, and Disneyland Paris says an Up-themed family attraction also started construction by the end of 2025. So yes, Paris has already opened major pieces of this glow-up, and yes, it is still very much mid-glow-up.

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Disney in Abu Dhabi

Then there is Disney in Abu Dhabi, which remains one of the boldest long-range items on the board. Disney and Miral announced the Yas Island resort on May 7, 2025, and Disney describes it as the company’s seventh theme park resort destination.

This one is still early enough that concept art is doing a lot of the emotional heavy lifting, but it is absolutely real and absolutely part of Disney’s global expansion story now.

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Disney Cruise Line

Fleet Expansion

Disney Cruise Line absolutely belongs in this conversation too, because Disney’s growth story is not just about castles and construction walls anymore. The Disney Treasure joined the fleet in November 2024, Disney Destiny launched on November 20, 2025, and Disney Adventure sailed its maiden voyage from Singapore on March 10, 2026, becoming Disney’s first ship in Asia.

Disney says five more ships are planned by 2031, bringing the fleet to 13, and the newly announced Disney Believe is expected to debut in late 2027. Apparently, Disney looked at “a growing cruise line” and said, “Cool, but what if more?”

FULL Tour of All 7 Areas on the NEW Disney Adventure Cruise Ship

Disney’s project board is now big enough to confuse even the people who voluntarily memorize park maps and refurb calendars for fun. And with D23 landing in Anaheim August 14 through 16, plus Josh D’Amaro now officially in the CEO chair, there is every reason to think this list will keep shifting. Disney is still building, still teasing, still expanding, and still very much in its “please excuse our construction walls, something expensive is happening” era.

We’ll be sure to keep an eye out for more updates, though, so stay tuned to DFB for more.

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What new lands would you like to see in the theme parks? Let us know in the comments!