Does anyone remember watching the 2024 D23 Parks Panel? Unless you were lucky enough to be standing in that arena in Anaheim, squinting at a grainy YouTube livestream from some stranger’s phone, or somehow stumbled across it buried inside Fortnite of all places, you almost certainly missed it. Not because you didn’t care. Not because you weren’t excited. But because Disney, one of the most powerful entertainment companies on the planet, simply did not stream it live on any official platform.
Let that sink in for a second.
Just put it on Disney+. Seriously. The D23 Parks Panel (now called the Disney Experiences Showcase) is, at its core, a really exciting and highly produced commercial for what is coming to Disney parks over the next few years. Disney is not giving away trade secrets. They are announcing things they want people to know about, things they want people to get hyped for, things they want people to start saving their vacation dollars to experience. So why would you limit the audience?
If Disney wants to monetize it, fine. Put it on Disney+. Charge a $10 one-night access fee if you have to. Is that a little annoying for subscribers already paying a monthly fee? Sure. But I would pay it without blinking, and I think most park fans would too.
The D23 Parks Panel is supposed to be the ultimate celebration of Disney park fandom, the peek behind the curtain, the moment the imagineers say, “here is what we have been building for you.” But when you gate that experience behind a ticket to an event that is expensive, limited in capacity, and logistically impossible for most fans around the world to attend, you are telling a huge portion of your most loyal audience that their excitement does not matter unless they can afford to be in the room. That feels off-brand for a company that has spent decades telling stories about belonging and making magic accessible to everyone.
Think about what was revealed at the last D23 Parks Panel. A Villains Land coming to Magic Kingdom. Piston Peak coming to life as an entire themed land. Tropical Americas heading to Animal Kingdom. A Monsters, Inc. Land at Hollywood Studios. Just to name a few. These were massive, park-changing announcements that fans had been dreaming about for years. They should have had people screaming at their screens and losing their minds in group chats.
Instead, most people caught a tweet or a screenshot someone shared on Instagram. No crowd reaction, no shared moment, just a second-hand summary floating around social media stripped of all the joy and spectacle that makes these reveals so special.
People are going to stream it anyway. The moment that panel starts, a dozen shaky vertical-phone livestreams will pop up on YouTube and TikTok. Disney can either accept that and let fans experience it in the worst possible way, or they can take control and give people a beautiful, officially produced version of the same event. One option makes Disney look out of touch. The other shows they actually appreciate their fanbase.
D23 2026 is coming up, and there is still time to get this right. Stream the Parks Panel. Make it official. Let the fans who love these parks more than almost anything be part of the moment in real time. That is not a big ask. That is just good sense.
