Disney recently announced that its three biggest expansions that will take place throughout all of 2026 will come in different theme parks around the world. The Disney parks seem to grow bigger every year in multiple ways. On one hand, the company opens new attractions, restaurants, and character meets each year, and on the other, it seems as though record attendance numbers are set, and more people visit the parks worldwide than ever before. To keep up with the high demand and to fulfill Walt Disney's own belief that Disney parks will never be completed since they will always be growing and changing, the House of Mouse is taking major steps to expand three of its most popular parks.
During The Walt Disney Company's Q2 earnings conference call earlier this month, Disney announced that there are major plans for three of the Disney parks to receive expansions in the near future, and that the company would be allocating a lot of time and resources into those expansions throughout the rest of 2026. Specifically, new Disney CEO Josh D'Amaro was asked about Disney's capital expenditures (CapEx) in 2026, and what those funds would mainly be going toward throughout the remainder of the year.
D'Amaro particularly noted Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, Disneyland in Anaheim, California, and the Shanghai Disney Resort in China as the parks with the biggest planned expansions. This makes perfect sense, as those three parks are three of Disney's top four resorts in terms of attendance (Tokyo Disney is also in that mix):
"In '26, most of our forecasted CapEx and experiences includes the new ship and the ramp of major new expansions at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Disneyland in Anaheim, and at our Shanghai Disney Resort."
For reference, when D'Amaro is talking about CapEx, he is essentially referring to new places within the theme parks that will directly lead to an increase in attendance. For example, Disney is currently overseeing the construction of a new Cars-themed land in Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World in Florida, and, theoretically, once that land opens, it will cause more people to visit Magic Kingdom and the entire resort so that they can experience the brand new land and attractions.
Simultaneously, the expansions D'Amaro is referencing will also increase total space within the parks, which allows for a capacity increase. A higher capacity is a win/win for Disney and park guests, as it should make the park feel less crowded since more acreage will help space guests out.
Disney has already confirmed some major expansions coming to all three resorts D'Amaro mentioned in the earnings call. That doesn't necessarily mean they are going to be opening in 2026, because they simply won't be built in time, but he is more so assuring investors that Disney's top priorities when it comes to the Experiences branch are to continue funding the expansions so that construction can be completed as soon as possible.
What Expansions Are Coming to Disney World, Disneyland, and Shanghai Disneyland?
To say that Disney has some major plans in store for Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, is a severe understatement. The Sunshine State's Disney resort has multiple massive expansions currently in the works that will change the entire nature of multiple theme parks.
At Magic Kingdom (Disney World's flagship theme park), the House of Mouse is currently working on a huge expansion in Frontierland that will be named Piston Peak National Park. This is the Cars-themed land previously mentioned, and it is expected to take up a huge section of the park where Tom Sawyer's Island and Rivers of America used to be. There will be a more thrilling signature attraction inside the land similar to Disneyland's Radiator Springs Racers, and a smaller attraction geared more toward kids and families.
Magic Kingdom will also house a new Disney Villains land in the coming years. The plans for this particular land have gone through some changes, so no one knows exactly what to expect yet, but rumors suggest that there will be a Rise of the Resistance-level attraction themed around Maleficent.
In Hollywood Studios, Disney is in the process of creating a Monsters Inc.-themed section of the park where The Muppets used to be represented. All of Muppets Courtyard and the building MuppetVision 3D played in are being transformed to showcase Monsters Inc., but Disney is actually building an indoor rollercoaster in the back of the land. To make room for it, the company had to expand the border of Hollywood Studios into the cast member parking lot.
Disney World's final major expansion is happening in Animal Kingdom. Many fans were heartbroken at the permanent closure of the Dinosaur attraction and the Dinoland U.S.A. section of Animal Kingdom. However, it is being replaced by an area Disney is calling Tropical Americas.
Inside Tropical Americas, fans will get to witness attractions, theming, and restaurants dedicated to Encanto, as well as a massive ride inspired by Indiana Jones.
It is important to note that none of these lands in Disney World will be opening in 2026. They are all still relatively far away from being complete, as the earliest opening will likely be Tropical Americas sometime in 2026. However, D'Amaro made those comments in the earnings call to announce that these expansions are one of Disney's top priorities, and that work will continue on all of them around the clock.
Disneyland has two theme parks: Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure. Three major expansions are currently ongoing at the resort, and they are all inside Disney's California Adventure.
The first and biggest expansion taking place is centered entirely around the Avatar films. Disney World's Pandora section of Animal Kingdom is one of the most popular lands in the entire resort, so it is no surprise that Disney wants to bring Avatar to its California resort. The Avatar expansion in Disneyland is huge, to say the least, and it will wildly expand the park as a whole.
Another huge expansion happening at Disney's California Adventure is going on in Avengers Campus. The Marvel-themed land is getting two additional attractions titled Avengers Infinity Defense and Stark Flight Lab. Both are expected to bring a lot of fans to the park and further build out Avengers Campus.
The final contruction being done at Disneyland is in the Pixar Pier area of Disney's California Adventure. Specifically, Pixar Pier is being expanded to bring a Coco attraction to the park. To make room for the expansion, Disney had to get rid of one of its biggest Hidden Mickeys in the world.
Like Disney World's expansions, none of Disneyland's are expected to open in 2026. However, time and resources are being poured into their construction so that they can be completed as soon as possible.
Shanghai Disney has two major expansions coming in the near future. The first is a full land dedicated to everyone's favorite web-slinger, Spider-Man. This land will include a thrill coaster, which will be the park's first major superhero-themed attraction.
Shanghai Disney is also busy working on an expansion centered around its Soaring Over the Horizon. The ride is extremely similar to Disney World's Soarin' Around the World and Disneyland's Soarin' Over California.
Disney already announced that the main goal for this expansion is to increase the ride's total capacity.
