Disney has put out a behind-the-scenes look at several Walt Disney World expansion projects at once. Most of it is progress rather than announcement — but one item has a date you can plan around in three weeks, and one detail circulating elsewhere is worth correcting.
The Walt Disney Studios — the only near-term date
The Magic of Disney Animation opens 14 September 2026 at Disney's Hollywood Studios. It sits in The Walt Disney Studios, the reimagined area that was Animation Courtyard, taking over the former Star Wars: Launch Bay space.
Disney describes a building modelled on the Roy E. Disney Animation Building in Burbank, with an Audio-Animatronics Olaf drawing class, character meet-and-greets, and a theatre built around the Emmy-winning short Once Upon A Studio.
Of everything in this update, it is the only piece that affects a trip booked this year.
Piston Peak National Park — Magic Kingdom
The Cars-themed land going into Frontierland has two announced attractions. Cars Ridge Run Rally runs through national-park scenery and climbs Piston Peak itself to a snow-covered summit, on an entirely new off-road ride vehicle with tyres and suspension built to react to terrain. Miss Fritter's Daredevil Spin-Along puts a school-bus-sized Miss Fritter animatronic at the centre of a demolition derby.
Villains Land — Magic Kingdom
Guests race through Maleficent's briars on a coaster and enter the Magic Mirror's realm. Worth being precise about, because it gets reported loosely: Imagineers are using the classic characters as inspiration, but Disney has said the overarching story is an original one rather than a retelling of the films.
Monstropolis — Hollywood Studios
Steel is up behind the walls. Disney has said parts of Monstropolis open in 2027, ahead of the door coaster. One of those parts is a new show at the Glob Theater, Welcome to Monstropolis, hosted by Mike and Sulley.
Tropical Americas — Animal Kingdom
Now for the correction. Several outlets are reporting Pueblo Esperanza as a rename of Tropical Americas. It isn't. Tropical Americas is the land replacing DinoLand U.S.A.; Pueblo Esperanza — Village of Hope — is the town square at the heart of it, announced back at D23 in 2024.
The land is targeted for 2027 and will hold the first-ever Encanto attraction, an Indiana Jones ride, and a carousel of Disney animals. If you have seen the two names used interchangeably this week, that is where it came from.