Welcome back to another Disney Top 5.
Another D23 has come and gone…and once again, I didn’t make the trek to Anaheim for the only official Disney fan convention. Next time…I promise myself I’m going! Every other year, come D23 time, I wait for posts, listen to news, watch the live stream, and, like all of you out there, wait for the revelations from the big show: the Disney Experiences Showcase. This is the night for Disney park fans hoping to get an inside look at what’s coming up in parks and resorts around the globe.
Two years ago, at the 2024 D23, they dropped a litany of park bombshells on us. That was the night that we got confirmation of Villains Land and Cars taking over “beyond Big Thunder.” Monstropolis was revealed at Hollywood Studios and Tropical Americas at Animal Kingdom! I can remember watching the live stream and texting with my cast member sons about each new announcement. It was a pretty huge night.
It would be hard to top the revelation list from two years ago, so this time Disney mostly focused on updating us on the progress of those older announcements. We did learn some new things. But if you thought you were getting yet another “land” in one of the parks, or a new country in Epcot’s World Showcase, or the long-rumored 5th gate at Walt Disney World? Well…you were sorely disappointed. Me? Given the huge list of additions from 2024, I wasn’t expecting any tremendous news out of this year. But we did get some very cool news, so let’s take a look at my Top 5 takeaways from the 2026 D23 Horizons showcase.
5 – Tomorrowland Redo In Disneyland
I know this is a Walt Disney World-themed column and I still haven’t even been to Disneyland – that’s a whole other article – but this could have positive implications for Tomorrowland in Orlando. If Anaheim gets a whole new Tomorrowland and Tokyo is getting a huge Space Mountain redo, then maybe, and I’m being the ever-optimistic Disney fan here, maybe we could see a big change in Florida down the pike in our land of the future.
Does WDW’s Tomorrowland need a complete overhaul? Not completely. In my opinion, Stitch could turn into something else, The Laugh Floor could move to Monstropolis, and we could open something more fitting in its place. I know this might be a sore spot for some of you, but the Speedway could be bulldozed over, and I wouldn’t lose a minute’s sleep. So, yeah, maybe not a total redo, but Tomorrowland in the Magic Kingdom could use some love. If they do an awesome job out on the West Coast, maybe we’d be next.
4 – So long to Disco Yeti!
I first rode Expedition Everest at Animal Kingdom in the summer of 2006. The attraction opened in April of the same year. So, I definitely experienced the full-blown Yeti in all its glory. The so-called “Disco Yeti” era began in 2007, when the imagineers realized that the tremendous animatronic’s movements were literally affecting the structure of the attraction. Strobe lights were added to the ride in the Yeti room to make it appear that he was, in fact, moving, but as we all know, he has been still ever since. Here’s the thing. Do I specifically remember the Yeti lunging at me from the one or two rides I took that summer?
Expedition Everest’s Yeti will finally be getting fixed and brought back to it’s original glory. ©Disney.
Maybe I do, but probably not. I loved the coaster so much that the Yeti was icing on the awesome ride’s cake. Do I remember being horrified the following December of 2007 when we returned, or the following Summer of 2008, when the movement had been shut off, and Disco Yeti was the norm? No, definitely not. Maybe I saw him in action once, maybe twice. But the fact is, I’ve never missed him. That said, I am thrilled they’re finally going to fix him. It’s one of those Disney mistakes that we all know about, that we all assumed would never be fixed, but now they are going to fix it. And I can’t wait to see him in his restored glory.
3 – Villains Land – Catacomb Attraction
So many rumors have been swirling around Villains Land ever since it was announced two years ago. The latest I heard was that there was going to be a Yzma and Kronk coaster! Not gonna lie, I was pretty excited about that possibility, even though I didn’t believe it for one second. And I was right to be skeptical. At the Horizons event, Bruce Vaughn and Caroline May of Walt Disney Imagineering announced that the first of the two major attractions in Villains Land will be a Maleficent coaster. That seemed to fit most of the concept art that had been floating around for the past couple of years. And believe me, I’m always excited for a new Disney coaster. But the second attraction intrigued me even more.
Concept Art for the upcoming Villains Land Magic Mirror dark ride.©Disney.
They described an attraction that will take guests deep beneath the Evil Queen’s castle, down into the catacombs. There, the Magic Mirror will guide us on what Vaughn stated would be a “mix of special effects and incredible physical set pieces” featuring an army of Disney’s legendary villains. That sounds like what I’m looking forward to the most.
2 – Dreamfinder Returns
I have loved Figment since the first time I experienced Journey into Imagination back in 2003 when my wife and I first took our daughter to Walt Disney World. That was also my first trip. Samantha loved Figment, and my wife and I did as well. None of us had ever been on the original or the second iteration, so this was the ride we knew. Was it the most amazing ride in Epcot? Of course not. But it had a charm and a quirkiness that we instantly loved. So I don’t have this nostalgic yearning for the Dreamfinder to be put back into the attraction.
Host Neil Patrick Harris donned the Dreamfinder costume for the big finale, flanked by Disney’s stable of performers as well as Disney Experiences Chairman Thomas Mazloum and Imagineering’s Bruce Vaughn. ©Disney.
That’s not why I was excited to hear this announcement. I’m excited because after the last 23 years of journeying into imagination with Figment, I think he’s owed some love and attention. I think the ride deserves it. I think Tony Baxter, the legendary Imagineer responsible for Figment, deserves it. I couldn’t imagine Epcot or Walt Disney World without Figment, so I’m beyond ecstatic that they are not shuttering the attraction and getting rid of the wacky purple dragon. Instead, I’m hopeful they will “plus” the whole thing up, bring back beloved elements like Dreamfinder, and reinvent Figment for the next generation to adore. This one is going to have the Disney fan magnifying glass sharply focused on it, so I so dearly hope they do the right thing! And that aspect leads me into the next slot on this list.
1 – Is Someone Listening?
The big takeaway from the whole night seemed to be this: someone in charge is listening to Disney fans. I hope that’s true. If you look at the type of announcements that were made—the return of Dreamfinder, the repair of the Yeti, a Tomorrowland redo, Harryhausen’s coming to Monstropolis, and Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress getting a much-needed reboot—these seem like things that Disney fans have been crowing about for a long, long time now. Is it possible that we have been heard? It was recently announced that airport luggage service was being expanded to Caribbean Beach Resort, something that I’m quite sure guests have missed tremendously since its disappearance. And how about those dining platforms attached to the railings in Epcot just in time for the upcoming Food and Wine Festival? That’s a small one, but it made a big splash on social media because it’s a park thing that people have wanted for years, and one of two things happened: either someone has started listening more to us, or maybe, just maybe, one of us has ascended the ranks and is now making decisions like a Disney parks patron instead of like a disconnected executive.
Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro takes the stage for opening remarks at D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event 2026. ©Disney.
Let’s hope that’s true, because after writing online about Disney for the past 20 years, I’d say that’s long been one of the most vocal criticisms of Disney management, and I hope it is showing signs of changing. The buzz online after the 2026 D23 was that recently appointed CEO Josh D’Amaro is a “parks person” just like us. Only time will tell but there are some positive signs so stay tuned.
Was this the year of huge announcements at the D23 parks panel? Not really, but let’s remember something: the event was named Horizons: A Carousel of Progress. And I think that’s exactly what its purpose was: a show of progress. The last D23 brought with it an epic list of additions to the parks. For 2026, it was time to put aside some rumors, make some confirmations, give us some names, and honestly, to right a few wrongs like Dreamfinder and the Yeti. I was pretty satisfied with what I learned, and I can’t wait for all of these new things to really start taking shape in the parks. But yeah…I’ll be there in person for sure in 2028!
That’s all for this time. Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you next time with another Disney Top 5.
