Disney has announced some big additions to its theme parks on both coasts, as it looks for new ways to draw people in.
As part of its D23 fan conference, the company unveiled plans for a new Moana attraction at Epcot and provided more clarity for its Avengers-themed area at Disneyland California Adventures and Disneyland Paris.
Both announcements were teasers, of sorts, lacking key details, such as opening dates. More information is expected as the weekend-long event takes place. Here’s a quick look at what we know about the parks so far.
Journey of Water, Inspired by Moana
The hit film gets its first Disney park attraction, though it was thoroughly integrated into the Polynesian Resort at Walt Disney World years ago. Disney said in a blog post that guests will be able to “interact with magical, living water in a beautiful and inspiring setting.”
The Moana attraction is part of an ongoing reinvention of Epcot at Disney, the beginnings of which can be seen in the installation of Frozen Ever After, a log flume ride that replaced the Maelstrom ride in the Norway section of the park.
Disney also announced plans to open an area that will show park guests what it’s planning for the revised Epcot. “Walt Disney Imagineering presents the Epcot Experience” is an interactive exhibit that the company says will reveal “some never-before-revealed details driving the future of Epcot all throughout this unprecedented period of transformation.”
Avengers Campus
Disney has made no secret of its plans to incorporate The Avengers into its California theme park. It first announced plans last year. Those combined areas will now officially be called “Avengers Campus”. The company describes the land as a place where guests can become “part of an interconnected, global story that spans from California to Paris to Hong Kong with the Avengers recruiting new extraordinary people to join them.”
Don’t expect Avengers Campus to become a part of Walt Disney World in Orlando, though, thanks to an old and complicated licensing agreement Disney inherited when it bought the Marvel brand. That deal prohibits Disney from using certain Marvel characters (as well as using the word Marvel in any theme park land) in any of its holdings east of the Mississippi River.
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