The Walt Disney Company has stated it’s turbocharging its parks and resorts around the world with nearly $60 billion in capital expenditures over the next decade. At Destination D23 at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, a sister event to the larger expo-style event, D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event in Anaheim, California, Disney executives and creatives revealed more updates to attractions and land openings around the world. While some of the updates are minor, others will have a large impact on the company and the guests who enter Disney theme parks.
This year, theme park news was spread over two days of panel discussions covering a variety of topics from Disney villains and castles to food and entertainment in front of a sold-out crowd of 4,000 people. Here are all the announcements that were made during the two days of panels at Destination D23.
Destination D23 announcements for Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom
As guests walk into Magic Kingdom, all eyes are fixed on Cinderella Castle at the end of Main Street, U.S.A. The castle, which is currently painted in light pink and blue hues, will soon return to its original color scheme of gray, cream, and blue. There is currently no timeline of when the castle will get its new look.
Tomorrowland at Magic Kingdom
TRON Lightcycle / Run continues to be very popular at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom. With the release of Tron: Ares on October 10, 2025, the ride at Magic Kingdom will get a bit of a makeover. The ride will replace the traditional blue and orange light trails with red and orange hues. Both versions of the attraction will also get a new soundscape from Nine Inch Nails, who also provide the soundtrack for the upcoming movie.
The limited-time version of the attraction will also be available at Shanghai Disney Resort, where the ride is called TRON Lightcycle Power Run. The overlay will begin at Magic Kingdom on September 15 and at Shanghai Disneyland on September 16.
Just down the sidewalk from TRON Lightcycle / Run is Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress, an original attraction from the 1964 World’s Fair in New York City. The show hasn’t changed much in the past few decades, but Walt Disney Imagineering is about to fix that. In the near future, the attraction will be getting a much-needed refurbishment, including a new introductory scene featuring an Audio-Animatronics figure of Walt Disney.
A similar figure debuted over the summer at Disneyland Park’s newest attraction, Walt Disney – A Magical Life. The Disneyland show portrays Disney in his office, sharing a bit about his life and stories from the past. His speech is all recreated with real audio clips of Disney speaking on the TV or radio.
The artist rendering for the updated intro scene at Magic Kingdom’s Carousel of Progress shows Walt Disney in an office surrounded by mock-ups for Disneyland’s Tomorrowland, monorails, a tiki bird statue, and even a picture of Abraham Lincoln. Walt Disney Imagineering did not share when these updates would commence.
Villains Land at Magic Kingdom
Additionally, Imagineers are working on creating a Villains-themed land at Magic Kingdom. The new land will be behind the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad attraction in Frontierland. Work has already begun on the Magic Kingdom expansion, though not much is known about what’s going to be included in the final version of the land just yet.
During the Disney Villains: Icons of Evil panel, images from Imagineering’s research trips to Paris, France, and Barcelona, Spain, were shown. It was shared that the new land will feature an architectural style called “Conjured Architecture,” which is a blend of Art Nouveau and historical components with make-believe worlds.
Destination D23 announcements for Disneyland Paris
Disneyland Paris is on its way to relaunching its second park, Walt Disney Studios Park, with all-new lands, experiences, and even a new name. In 2026, the park will be renamed Disney Adventure World. The first big milestone to the park’s revitalization is the opening of World of Frozen, a land inspired by the Walt Disney Animation franchise, Frozen.
World of Frozen will officially open in Spring 2026 and will mark the official transition from Walt Disney Studios Park to Disney Adventure World. The land will feature dining, character experiences, and a Frozen Ever After attraction, similar to the World of Frozen at Hong Kong Disneyland.
Looking Forward To The Next D23 Event
Even though the announcements at Destination D23 were smaller than the normal big attraction or new land announcements at D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event, this year’s slate of updates and news should be exciting for theme park fans, especially those who frequent Walt Disney World.
Next year, D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event will return to Anaheim, California, from August 14 through August 16, 2026. It will take place at both the Anaheim Convention Center and the Honda Center, where Disney fans can hear news about what’s coming to the parks, movie studios and more. Leading up to the event, Jodi Benson, a Disney Legend who most Disney fans will know as the voice of Ariel in the animated classic The Little Mermaid, will serve as D23’s first Fan-bassador. In the role, Benson will make appearances at D23-sponsored events throughout the next year, culminating in the D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event next August.