Top 10 Disney World Rumors We’d Bet Against

It’s an exciting time to be a Walt Disney World fan. During the latest D23 Expo, the company announced plans for the next 5 years, through 2030 or so. Rumors and wishful thinking are still swirling for the back half of the decade, with speculation of new lands and attractions, plus ride reimaginings and other expansion. (Updated December 1, 2024.)

Along with fresh and exciting new buzz, some age-old rumors won’t die, popping up again and again over the years with a stubborn persistence. So it should come as no surprise that certain possibilities are making a resurgence once again, given that a few of these projects were pitched during the last development cycle that came to a premature end.

This should come as no surprise. The company has $17 billion investment plans for Walt Disney World in the next decade. Theme parks being an area of strength and stability for the company, with the past decade of investments fueling massive growth. On top of all that, the elephant in the room for Walt Disney World is Epic Universe, the third theme park at Universal Orlando. That will renew the theme park wars in the decade to come, motivating Disney to come up with a better “answer” to Epic Universe than it’s current “nothing.”

With all of that said, not all “rumors” for the future of Walt Disney World are of equal quality or likelihood. Those are air quotes around rumor, as so many of the proposals are WDW diehard’s daydreams. Things we as a fan community would collectively love to see, but are nevertheless unlikely. If this wishful thinking is repeated often enough and with a certain confidence, it takes on quasi-rumor status–like a bad game of telephone. That’s some of the list below.

There are also entries that have more credibility to them, and a greater likelihood of coming to fruition down the road. These are real rumors, or were at one point. If the above category is like a bad game of telephone, this is akin to “where there’s smoke, there’s fire.” Rumors that have lingered because they’re good ideas–and those never die in Imagineering. However, being a good idea doesn’t alone guarantee a project being greenlit, meaning we might have to wait a while longer for these concepts to come to life.

Suffice to say, we’d bet against hearing any of the following announcements during the 2025 Destination D23 or even the 2026 D23 Expo. Maybe in 2030 or beyond, but the chances of anything on this list becoming official in the near-term is exceedingly unlikely…

Skyliner Expansion – This one keeps coming up, and I’m not really sure from where. Every time I hear rumors of a supposed Skyliner expansion, the routes are different. Sometimes there’s a connection for Coronado Springs, Animal Kingdom Lodge, and the All Stars to Animal Kingdom. Then there was Coronado Springs to Blizzard Beach and Disney’s Hollywood Studios. And so forth.

I have a hard time believing that any of these or other routes happen. The first Skyliner fulfilled a goal of getting buses off the roads, upgrading accommodations to create two “Value Plus” and one “Moderate Plus” resort, while giving a new Disney Vacation Club tower in no man’s land a distinct selling point.

Before daydreaming about Skyliner expansion, you have to answer a critical question: what does this do for Disney? Coronado Springs already does reasonably well as the convention hotel, the All Stars serve a role as budget-friendly accommodations, and there’s little incentive to spend a lot to make access easier to a shopping center filled with third parties. About the only possibility, I guess, is further reducing labor and other costs of buses, but I don’t see that alone as sufficiently compelling for Skyliner expansion.

De-Disco-ified Yeti – Joe Rohde “promised” to fix the infamous Disco Yeti that hasn’t worked for most of Expedition Everest’s existence. The legendary Imagineer couldn’t get that done when he was around, and now he’s gone. C’mon, does anyone really believe that Disney is going to spend the money necessary to fix this? When even the park’s biggest advocate–and one with internal influence–couldn’t get it done?

Honestly, I’m fine with it. The Yeti Audio Animatronics was a colossal waste of money for something that can only be seen for a fraction of a second. In a park that has plenty of problems and is in urgent need of a lot of help, the yeti should not be fixed anytime in at least the next decade. Budgets are finite and that’s a poor use of both (down)time and money. Sorry not sorry.

If you still think Disco Yeti should be fixed, which project do you think the ~$50 million should come from? Tropical Americas, Villains Land…maybe Magic Kingdom doesn’t actually need a night parade? Fans complain about Walt Disney World not getting enough attention, but it does–the bigger problem is that the company doesn’t spend money smarter when it comes to WDW.

5th Gate – I’m not even going to dignify this one with a lengthy explanation. We’ve been over this time and time again, but it keeps coming up due to Universal’s Epic Universe.

Many fans expect an equivalent “answer” to Epic Universe, and the only thing that can really compete with a new theme park is a new theme park. That absolutely will not happen. There is a 0% chance Disney announces a 5th theme park for Walt Disney World at the 2025 Destination D23 and like 2% that one is announced by the 2034 D23 Expo.

Read more about the ‘why’ of this: Here’s Why a 5th Theme Park Will NOT Be Built at Walt Disney World in the Next Decade.

Wonders of Wakanda – Back when the first Black Panther movie was a smash success at the box office, there were credible rumors that Disney was evaluating it for the parks. One of the leading contends was it replacing Wonders of Life. Obviously, it did not win out as Play Pavilion was announced instead.

In the last year, both Disney CEO Bob Iger and Parks Chairman Josh D’Amaro have discussed Wakanda as a leading candidate for expansion at Walt Disney World or Disneyland. It’s right up there with Frozen and Encanto as the IPs mentioned most.

Repurposing the Wonders of Life pavilion into Wakanda would create a de facto Marvel miniland in World Discovery, and it could be the second ‘Other World Showcase’ pavilion. From Walt Disney World’s perspective, and as a matter of marketability, that probably makes a lot of sense.

Personally, I don’t love the idea of more Marvel in EPCOT, but I suspect that Wakandan technology could be the jumping off point for this to be shoehorned into EPCOT. It wouldn’t make any less sense than the Wonders of Xandar, which works decently well as a framing device.

Still, I don’t think this happens. I do think more Marvel is likely down the road at Walt Disney World if the films start performing better at the box office, and I also think that sooner or later, Universal actually is going to give up the Marvel rights, but I don’t think Wonders of Wakanda is what comes to fruition in Florida.

The Simpsons – There are highly credible rumors that when Universal’s license on the Simpsons expires in 2028, those lands will close. There are myriad reasons for this, from the ride system being in poor shape and approaching the end of its life to Universal wanting dedicated Nintendo presences in each of its existing gates in addition to Epic Universe. Those explanations pass the smell test for me.

What does not pass the smell test is the assumption that once the theme park license reverts to Disney, they will take advantage of that by building their own land, attraction–whatever. This is not a credible rumor, it’s an assumption. And, in my view, it’s not a good one. The Simpsons is valuable to the Hulu back catalog because it has a ton of episodes. I’m highly skeptical that it’s valuable as a theme park property in the 2030s, when the franchise’s peak popularity is over 30 years in the past.

Monsters, Inc. Doors Coaster – Thankfully, I’m not a gambling man–as I would’ve lost money betting against this since Monstropolis was announced during the 2024 D23 Expo and subsequently confirmed as replacing Muppet Courtyard and MuppetVision 3D. Nevertheless, not being one to re-write history, I’m preserving my original (incorrect) prediction for posterity:

Since I’ve been active in the fan community as an adult, there have been rumors of a Monsters Inc. Doors Coaster. At one point, it was a “done deal” for the spot next door to Toy Story Mania in Pixar Place. At some point, the location moved to Animation Courtyard. Other versions place it in Sunset Showcase or area that is currently backstage but could be repurposed to connect dead ends of the park.

For the record, I think the Monsters Inc. Doors Coaster is a brilliant idea for a family-friendly “story” coaster. I also think that there’s truth to the notion that good ideas never really die in Imagineering and that applies to this concept. So I still think there are decent odds this gets built somewhere, someday. I’m just not confident it’ll be at DHS or greenlit until there’s another Monsters movie that does well at the box office.

Liberty Square Removal & Replacement – If I were playing the betting markets, I’d only wager $1 on this. Walt Disney World’s official announcement of Cars Land Replacing Rivers of America, once unthinkable, has opened the floodgates on rumors about large parts of Magic Kingdom being redeveloped.

Topping that list is Liberty Square. It makes complete sense. Liberty Square is adjacent to Rivers of America, contains one of the least popular and most controversial attractions at Walt Disney World (that requires regular updates!), and isn’t as fully-fledged of a land as Magic Kingdom’s others.

The world, both the real one and Walt Disney World, has also changed a lot since 1971. EPCOT Center opened with an American Adventure pavilion, arguably making Liberty Square redundant. Walt Disney World is now an international tourist attraction, calling into question its heavy-handed Americana.

I’m skeptical of all this. While it wouldn’t surprise me if Frontierland and Fantasyland eventually absorb the land, I don’t think there’s any urgent desire to remove Liberty Square from Magic Kingdom. Americana certainly isn’t an issue and the land is not problematic. The international parks (minus Shanghai) all lean heavily into Americana. Heck, Tokyo has more of it than the U.S. parks!

Not only that, but Disney is increasingly sensitive of perceptions, and retheming Liberty Square is likely politically unpalatable for leadership for at least the next decade as the company tries to dig out of assorted controversies. Eventually, Hall of Presidents will go, but the Liberty Square name will likely outlast it. For how long? I’m not willing to bet on that.

Mickey Avenue – Speaking of the international parks, there have been rumors that Main Street USA would be reimagined into Mickey Avenue ever since Shanghai Disneyland opened with the latter. These have been concurrent with claims that the company wants to excise Walt Disney from the parks.

I’d bet much, much more than $1 that this doesn’t happen anytime soon–or ever. For one thing, the contention about Walt is pure rubbish. It’s an outgrowth of (more credible) claims that the contemporary company doesn’t respect his legacy as reflected in the parks as historic areas are reimagined or replaced.

Misguided as they might be, the underlying motivations for that are wholly unrelated to Walt Disney. They’re about replacing “underutilized” capacity, reducing costs, or modernizing infrastructure. Relationship to Walt is coincidental, usually by virtue of these areas being older.

Even giving this a modicum of thought reveals it doesn’t hold up to scrutiny. The company wants to excise Walt Disney from the parks at the same time that it adds countless statues of the man, is creating an advanced Audio Animatronics of him and stage show revolving around his life, and has done numerous other things to honor his legacy. Again, some might be misguided (see the Walt Disney hologram), but those would nevertheless be weird moves for a company keen on forgetting its founder.

Main Street USA likely isn’t going anywhere. At least, not in Magic Kingdom or Disneyland. But I can’t imagine any desire to invest in a replacement in Hong Kong or Paris, either. It would be controversial, costly, and wouldn’t generate any revenue. A perfect storm of reasons for it not to happen.

Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge Expansion – Disney will never admit it, but Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge has underperformed relative to expectations. Look no further than Disney cancelling plans for the Paris version of the land and never cloning the expansion anywhere else. (Not to mention the unmitigated failure of Galactic Starcruiser, but that’s a somewhat separate topic.)

Had Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge been a success, it had plenty of room for expansion at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. And it still seemingly could take over Grand Avenue or more backstage real estate, adding another ride and more in the process. It won’t. At least, not anytime in the foreseeable future.

The best case scenario–and one that I strongly believe should happen–is a soft reboot of the land that ditches the strict “story” and timeline rules to make the land more fun. That could yield more entertainment and the previously-planned restaurant, and it would give Galaxy’s Edge a shot in the arm in the process.

This has now been announced, sort of, thanks to the Mandalorian and Baby Yoda coming to Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run. If popular, that could result in further expansion of the land down the road, but no time soon.

Jungle Book Ride – Back before there were credible rumors of a Lion King ride heading to Animal Kingdom, there were reports of a Jungle Book attraction heading to EPCOT as part of an India pavilion. Like Lion King, part of the rumor was that the Jungle Book attraction would utilize the same ride system as Shanghai Disneyland’s Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for the Sunken Treasure.

This ride system for an underwater-controlled boat was patented by Disney several years ago, but has yet to resurface in other attractions aside from Shanghai. Previously, the ride system was also rumored for Peter Pan’s Never Land Adventure in Fantasy Springs at Tokyo DisneySea and a new Pandora attraction in Animal Kingdom. Now it’s rumored for Pandora at Disney California Adventure.

It doesn’t appear that Jungle Book ride rumors are totally dead. I wouldn’t bet on them coming to fruition anytime soon, but I also wouldn’t bet against them. Jungle Book is one of the few animated classics that doesn’t have an attraction (the live action remake also did really well). That alone adds an element of plausibility to this possibility.

Ice Age Mountain – Ever since Disney acquired the rights to Ice Age via the Fox transaction, ideas have floated around about the franchise finding a home at Animal Kingdom. Fans assumed that since Ice Age was popular (was it really, though?), it’d end up in the parks. The latest iteration of this is an overlay of Expedition Everest.

I don’t think that’ll happen, and I also don’t think any Ice Age attractions or a land will ever happen at Walt Disney World. The company simoly does not view Ice Age as one of its top-tier franchises. There has never been any signal whatsoever that Disney plans on incorporating these movies into the parks.

It should be telling that not even characters have appeared in the parks at this point. If they’re not willing to spend the minimum on entertainment or temporary offerings, what reasonable basis is there for believing they might build a full land or ride?

World Showcase Expansion – Walt Disney World has a long and rich history of unbuilt World Showcase pavilions that came so close to happening. Most notable are Equatorial Africa, Spain, and Israel, all of which were actually announced by Disney. If you’re not familiar with these concepts, there’s a lot about them in Walt Disney’s Epcot Center: Creating the New World of Tomorrow.

Fast-forward to the 2010s, and the big rumor was Brazil. This gained momentum from 2017 to 2019, to the point that an announcement during the latter year’s D23 Expo was believed to be a done deal. In fact, a scheduled tweet from Disney partners “leaked” the news…that never was. While we don’t know for sure what happened, more rumors afterwards suggested it was a timing issue and Disney not wanting to announce during the 2019 Amazon rainforest fires. Then, of course, 2020 happened.

Fast forward again to this year, when Disney announced D23 Brazil: The Ultimate Fan Event to be held in Sao Paulo. Crickets. It does not seem like there’s any appetite for further expansion in World Showcase. Even if there should be. My bet is that Brazil does come to World Showcase eventually, but not before the 2030s.

Disney’s Magical Express Returns – It’s unlikely that Disney’s Magical Express is ever coming back. However, if ever there was a time to bring back the airport transportation that gave Walt Disney World a quasi-captive audience and helped increase occupancy, it’s when the competitor across town is opening a new theme park and has a glut of hotel inventory.

Ending Disney’s Magical Express makes little sense even from a long-term business perspective. This is because, unlike other on-site guest perks, the “free” service was incredibly valuable to Walt Disney World. It made tourists a captive audience who were less likely to go and spend money elsewhere.

Long ago, Walt Disney World determined that the increase in average per guest spending with Disney’s Magical Express plus the perceived convenience and goodwill obtained from the shuttle outweighs the average per guest cost of offering the service. That calculus might’ve changed during the era of pent-up demand, especially as rideshare services became more common and easier to burst the Disney bubble, so to speak.

The opening of Epic Universe might be occasion for revisiting the decision. The biggest threat Universal poses to Disney comes via hotel occupancy numbers. If Epic Universe can peel away even ~10% of on-site guests from Walt Disney World, that’s a big problem.

Disney’s Magical Express could help address that, while also keeping a subset of guests entirely on-site. So while I’d still bet against a return of Disney’s Magical Express, there’s a non-zero chance of it happening…and the likelihood increases if Walt Disney World feels pressure from Universal Orlando.

BONUS: 3rd Gate at Disneyland – DisneylandForward has broken the brains of Disney fans. What was once thought impossible–a third gate at Disneyland–now feels like a foregone conclusion to some. The possibilities of DisneylandForward are really exciting, but a 3rd gate simply is not one of them.

Moreover, DisneylandForward is not a substantive plan or construction project, it’s more like a zoning proposal. DisneylandForward is really all about paving the way for future developments of an uncertain nature by giving Disney more autonomy over land use by relaxing the DRSP.

Its approval does require Disney to invest at least $2 billion into the parks over the next decade, but it doesn’t need to be spent on actual expansion beyond the berms. Disney could spend double that amount on the existing parks without growing the footprint of the resort at all and that would still satisfy the conditions of the DisneylandForward approval. In fact, that’s almost exactly what I think will happen (with the possible exception of what’s currently the Hollywood Backlot being built out into the bus loop).

To end this on an optimistic note, I actually do think I’ll see a third park at Disneyland in my lifetime, possibly before I’m as old as Disneyland is now. Unlike Walt Disney World, there are a lot of reasons why it actually makes sense. Whenever the 3rd gate does come to fruition, it’ll be a direct result of DisneylandForward laying the foundation for it. I just don’t think that it’s in the cards for the medium-term. There’s plenty of room for growth within the existing gates, so that’s what we’ll see first.

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YOUR THOUGHTS

What rumors would you bet against being confirmed at the 2025 Destination D23–or ever? Which of these do you think are fan daydreaming? Which do you view as ‘good ideas that never die’ within the halls of Imagineering? Any other persistent rumors for Walt Disney World that you’d bet against? Are you excited/optimistic about what will be revealed during the Horizons Park Panel, or taking an “I’ll believe it when I see it” stance given all of the cancelled projects of the last ~5 years? Any surprise announcements you think might be possible?