With the dust finally settled on this year’s D23 Expo, I wanted to circle back on what the lack of any concrete information at the recent D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event says about the Avatar project announced for Disney California Adventure at the Disneyland Resort. Is it good news, bad news, or simply no news at all? That may, of course, depend on how you feel about Avatar…or Monsters, Inc.
The history of this project goes back to 2023 when then CEO Bob Iger announced on an earnings call that an Avatar experience would be coming to the Disneyland Resort. Just a month later, Iger clarified his announcement by saying that the “experience” would be a complete land…a second Pandora.
Flash forward to the 2024 D23 event, where we finally learned that the new land would be built in Disney California Adventure and would be inspired by Avatar: The Way of Water, Avatar: Fire and Ash, and future Avatar films.
The land appeared to be locked into the Hollywood Land area of the park, with Monsters, Inc.: Mike & Sulley to the Rescue set to close early in 2026. However, an announcement in February put that timeline in question when Disneyland shared that the Monsters, Inc. attraction would be open into 2027.
The model inside this year’s Imagineering pavilion hinted that plans are still in place for an “Avatar Destination” to be added to California Adventure. As expected, the location appeared to be Hollywood Land, but with much of the experience placed backstage and in an area that is currently used as bus loading for the Toy Story Parking Lot.
However, during Horizons: A Carousel of Progress, the presentation focusing on Disney Experiences, the only information shared was by Imagineering Senior Vice President Ali Rubinstein who mentioned that “we have Avatar coming in the future.”
In a two-hour presentation filled with information about the theme parks and cruise ships, that’s the only mention of Avatar.
In a press conference that followed the Expo, we received a bit more information and it was even less promising for the future of Avatar, with Disneyland President Jill Estorino sharing that the timeline for the Avatar experience had been bumped behind the Tomorrowland update for Disneyland Park.
So, what truly caused the shuffling? Was it really the realization that Tomorrowland needed some love or was it fans’ tepid response to the Avatar experience. We will probably never know , but I’m guessing the answer is probably a combination of both.
Are you still excited about the (now distant) future of Avatar at the Disneyland Resort? Do you think Disney should stick with the Hollywood Land site? It would appear that Disney management listens, so speculate away!
Be sure to check out all our coverage from D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event!
