Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom's Biggest Expansion Ever Teased

Magic Kingdom's next expansion will be similar in scope to Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge.

By Christian Hoffer

Disney Parks is teasing the future of its most popular park. Today, Bruce Vaughn, chief creative officer of Walt Disney Imagineering, provided some updates about a planned expansion of Magic Kingdom, which was first teased last year at D23. During Destination D23, Vaughn said that the expansion would be the be the largest ever for the park. No concrete details were provided about the expansion, although Vaughn noted that Imagineers were looking to tell stories "Beyond Big Thunder Mountain." The expansion will be similar in scale to Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge at Disney's Hollywood Studios and Pandora – The World of Avatar at Animal Kingdom. 

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Disney first announced plans to add a new area to Magic Kingdom last year, noting that it was a "Blue Sky" project, or one that was still in the conceptual phase. At the time, concept art hinted at three distinct areas – one focused on Encanto, one focused on Coco, and one more generally focused on Disney Villains. Since the initial announcement, it appears that the Encanto attraction is being moved to Animal Kingdom as part of a new "tropical Americas" area that will replace Dinoland USA. 

Walt Disney World's Future Revealed

Disney Parks has been pursuing expansions and new attractions in three of its four Walt Disney World parks in recent years, with EPCOT receiving a major revamp that has taken several years to complete. Magic Kingdom's newest ride Tron: Lightcycle Run opened earlier in 2023, with the Tiana's Bayou Adventure set to be the next ride to open in 2024. Meanwhile, EPCOT's next attraction will be a new Journey of Water area inspired by Moana, followed by a revamp of Test Track. As previously noted, Animal Kingdom is looking to replace the controversial Dinoland USA with a new area that will feature Encanto and Indiana Jones attractions along with animals and restaurants from central and South America. 

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