*fumbles for the pull string of the one ancient light bulb hanging on a wire from the ceiling*
Oh man, it's dusty in here.
Anyway, it’s been a while, hasn’t it? Especially for me. A lot has happened in the years since I posted a blog or participated in a podcast for good old Parkscope. I had kids, moved, got a dog, got a new job adjacent to the theme park sphere, and even bought into Disney Vacation Club.
Yea, I know, a lot has changed hasn’t it?
But this isn’t a post about me. Well, not really. It’s a post about what’s happened in the past few years of theme parks, mostly Disney ones. Yes, Epic Universe has opened and I have conflicting feelings on what we’ve actually got with that park, but that’s for another time. Epic continues a two-decade-long trend in Universal building cool, and oftentimes frustrating, stuff. What has happened with Disney in the past 2-ish years feels like something I never really experienced in my time in the theme park fandom.
I used to think that time started around the announcement and construction of Expedition Everest. It’s the first thing I remember following religiously as it went from a hole in the ground to what was, for a time while the Yeti was working, my favorite operating Disney attraction. I say operating, because my favorite attraction had been unceremoniously butchered some 8 years earlier.
That last sentence is why I’ve realized my true fandom origin story was the day I rode Journey Into YOUR Imagination. Seeing how they absolutely destroyed a work of art and replaced it with what I still consider to be the worst Disney attraction ever built was the first time young Sean realized Disney could not only disappoint him, but they could make him mad. Dreamfinder and Figment were my guys as a kid, and we probably rode Journey Into Imagination a good 5 times minimum whenever we went to EPCOT. Knowing I’d never ride it again, and that they replaced it with whatever they thought JIYI was, devastated young me.
Little did I know it would be a trend for a good decade plus. Disney under the late Eisner regime and early Iger regime really had lost its way with theme parks. Not that the parks were bad, mind you (well, okay California Adventure and Studios Paris were), but they seemed lost and directionless. Horizons was replaced by an incredibly intense simulator. Spaceship Earth turned into a Jib Jab cartoon for ½ its ride. Dino-Rama was built. Stitch's Great Escape existed.
In the Iger years, quality improved, but Disney, especially Disney World, felt like it was playing catch up with Universal and failing to really grasp the more modern audience. New Fantasyland was okay, but had to wait 2 years before the ride that really made it pop opened. Avatar: The World of Pandora opened with a great ride, but the rest of the land feels empty and lifeless. Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge was huge, has possibly the best ride in the world, and yet still felt lackluster compared to something like the wizard land down the road. California was getting some long overdue love, with DCA becoming one of the best parks around. Still, Avengers Campus was pretty lackluster at opening, especially considering it was (and probably still is) Disney’s biggest property going.
Post pandemic, things began shifting slowly, for me. Disney’s projects felt more inline with what people were actually looking for and I enjoyed what they were putting out much more. Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind and Ratatouille really added a lot to Epcot, even if the rest of the Epcot “redo” was a pretty disappointing product from a redevelopment standpoint. TRON Lightcycle/Run absolutely rips. I don’t care how short it is, it’s better than Guardians. Yea, I said it. Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway is a stone cold classic, in my opinion.
But even with all of the more recent things, the parks lacked a coherent long term strategy when it came to creative endeavors. There were vague promises of new lands for Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom, more Avengers for DCA, and the nebulous Disneyland Forward floating in the ether. Nothing felt real, however.
Enter D23 2024. I have vivid memories of staying up late watching the news trickle out from that parks panel. The Monsters Door Coaster was real. Encanto was getting an E-ticket and Dinosaur was getting changed to Indiana Jones. Magic Kingdom was getting 2 new lands with 4 attractions total. Avengers Infinity Defense was announced. It was all so overwhelming and exciting.
Still, we had seen announcements fall by the wayside and never happen before. The Play Pavilion at Epcot, Mary Poppins in World Showcase, most of the Epcot redevelopment plan, and Magic Kingdom’s Main Street theater were all announced and never built. So in the last 2 years, actually seeing the work being done to bring these to life had me believing maybe Disney parks finally had leadership that understood its value.
Well…most of its value.
Because as great and as exciting as these were, there was still a part of the equation missing. An understanding between the long-time fans and management. Bringing it back to the Dreamfinder and Figment, the parks had been raking in cash from Figment merch, but continued to let the ride be one of the most disliked in all of the parks. They were ripping out MuppetVision for Monsters Inc. They were ripping out the Rivers of America for the Cars and Villains lands. Red Car Trolley was getting ripped out for Avengers. That’s not even considering things like park reservations, Genie+ debacle, and ever increasing prices.
I don’t think many of these are huge deals, but I understand why they were worrying for most long-term fans. It opened up old wounds of replacing what was classic with IP.
In the years since, however, any fears I had have been quashed. MuppetVision closing sucked, but then Disney did what I’ve been saying they should do for a decade+ and rethemed Rockin Roller Coaster with Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem. And they knocked it out of the park! Then they also announced the return of an animation experience to the old Animation Building in Hollywood Studios. They announced new parades and improved nighttime entertainment.
Most importantly they started to give real TLC to classics. Big Thunder Mountain was completely retracked. Carousel of Progress was announced to get a complete redo. Country Bear Jamboree got a whole new show. Autopia in Disneyland is receiving electric cars.
This new trend had me comfortable believing Disney was not only attempting to reassert dominance with new attraction development, but was not going to wholly forsake the past to do so.
Then D23 2026 happened and blew my mind, even if it took me a few days to realize it. The Horizons Parks and Experiences Panel was, in my opinion, awfully presented. There were way too many song breaks and grating bits that really got in the way and tainted what was a bunch of really great and exciting parks info. Maybe I brought it on myself for actually watching instead of following along with social media. But there were rumors of a Dreamfinder return and I wasn’t going to miss seeing that live.
So it took me a few days to really thing about what was announced, divorced from cringe comedy and TWO CHERYL CROW SONGS. And what I realized is this was the most exciting Parks and Experiences panel we’ve ever had. Yes, even more than 2024.
Piston Peak at the Magic Kingdom looks better than anyone would have ever expected. At this point anyone complaining about it is simply ungettable. Villains Land, especially that coaster, is going to absolutely slap. Tropical Americas will really give DAK a shot in the arm. The Avengers and Coco rides for DCA look great. And Tomorrowland in Disneyland is finally getting the attention it desperately needs.
But it was two smaller announcements and the biggest announcement in the history of the Walt Disney Company that really have me realizing we are in an era we may have never seen before.
First, let’s talk about them fixing the Yeti. This is something I truly never thought would happen. Expedition Everest is one of the most popular attractions in Disney World without a functioning animatronic finale, and has been for almost 2 decades at this point. I just assumed the coaster would live out its life without one of the most jaw-dropping special effects I had ever seen. It’s not. The fact that after Tropical Americas opens they will willingly close one of their most popular rides to fix something is a *huge* step forward. Some will scoff that it’s long overdue or you shouldn’t celebrate something that should have been done long ago. Those people are wreckers. You should absolutely celebrate this. Any time Disney spends money they do not have to spend should be celebrated.
Next, let’s look at Epcot. The Spaceship Earth refurb announcement was frustratingly light on details, but that it is happening shows that the continued love for fixing the classics is enduring. Also, considering Epcot’s “redo” was recently “finished”, I kind of expected Epcot to be fully on the back burner for a while. That it has 2 projects that will be starting soon(?) is incredibly heartening. I think DAK post Tropical Americas needs another project with 2+ rides in it, and this makes me feel like that might be possible.
The biggest announcement of all time, of course, is that Dreamfinder and Figment really are going to be reunited and get a brand new ride of their own. Like the Yeti, I never expected this to happen. I thought Figment would get a new ride at some point, but I truly thought Dreamfinder was gone for good. The fact that he is not, and that parks chairman Thomas Mazloum made it clear the fans were the reason this was happening has me over the moon. Because I actually believe him. The company has no incentive to bring Dreamfinder back for any other reason. He is not popular with the general park goers like Figment is. No one except us weirdos care about him. He could have sat on the shelf until the heat death of the universe. Instead they’re bringing him back. It’s an insane thought, and one that should excite every Disney fan.
There are still years between us and seeing all these projects finished. Something here or there might fall by the wayside (cough Avatar DCA cough), but I think I’m comfortable in saying we are in a brave new world of Disney theme parks, one where new mega additions will be complimented by love and care for the classics fans truly care about.
I for one could not be more excited by what the future holds.
And that is a very new and exciting era for my Disney Parks fandom.
