WALT Disney World have filed plans to add a fifth theme park to their Florida resort – which is major news for families heading to Orlando.
Disney is already big business in Florida, heavily contributing to the 75 million tourists who arrived in Orlando last year, so as a Disney expert, I took a look at what to expect from the new park.
Helen is a Disney expert and content creator at @passportstampsuk who has been to Orlando over 50 times[/caption]
The iconic Disney castle has been the icon of Walt Disney World since 1971, but live-action films and computer games could dominate the new park[/caption]
As someone who has visited the theme parks in Florida more than 50 times, this is exciting news and could potentially change everything when it comes to theme park holidays – especially for Brits.
Heading to Florida is not a cheap trip, with many families I speak to through my website passportstamps.uk saying they save up for ten years or more for a chance to visit.
For some, a potential new theme park opening is brilliant news, as once you’ve booked and paid to get to the US, you’ll be getting even more for your money.
But, in reality, this means your Disney holiday will cost you even more, as a new theme park will likely mean a longer trip is necessary and even more cash needed for food, drinks and hotels.
Ultimately, this is what Disney really wants – to welcome guests and keep them exclusively on their expansive resort, which already has four theme parks, two water parks, restaurants, a sports facility, a campsite and over 30 hotels.
Walt Disney World is already Florida’s unofficial city, bigger in size than Miami.
So first-timers to the resort often have no idea what to expect and it can feel overwhelming.
A whole new world
As someone who first went to Walt Disney World at the age of eight and has returned almost every year since, I have seen every change made to the parks over 30 years, so I’m excited.
With Disney acquiring franchises like Pixar, Lucasfilm, The Chronicles of Narnia and National Geographic, the potential for this new theme park is endless.
With Universal Orlando Resort opening the new Epic Universe earlier this year, pressure has been on Disney to double down on the magic and make its next move.
However, it’s unlikely that we’ll see the impact of that change for another ten years or more.
Some reports are suggesting the ‘fifth gate’, an insider name for a completely new theme park, won’t open until 2045!
Helen’s children, pictured with partner, Simon, will be almost grown up by the time the new Disney park opens in Florida[/caption]
Disney has made an application, pictured, to build a whole new theme park in Orlando[/caption]
My children are now five and eight, meaning they could be in their mid-twenties by the time it opens. I will be 60!
However, I think things will move a lot faster.
Epic Universe, which opened in May 2025, is now the biggest theme park in the US, becoming a villain in Disney’s long-running fairy tale.
However, Disney still have some magic up their sleeve, with the announcement of the new Villains Land at Magic Kingdom.
This land, based on Disney baddies such as Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty and Hades from Hercules, will add a new dynamic to the existing park and change the pace from cute characters and pretty princesses to a darker, more mischievous vibe.
After first being announced in 2019, Universal Orlando officially opened Epic Universe in only seven years, which is fast for the creation and construction of a theme park and three themed hotels. Especially since work was halted during the pandemic.
Using this as a guide, realistically, we won’t see the gates open to the new Disney park until at least 2035.
Disney fans can, however, look forward to a new area of the Magic Kingdom Park themed on Disney’s Cars, called Piston Peak National Park and a re-themed Tropical Americas area at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, inspired by the movies Encanto and Indiana Jones.
This will happen much sooner, rumoured to be opening in 2027.
This expansion itself will be the largest in Magic Kingdom’s history, so there is plenty to get excited about in the short term.
Like many other theme park enthusiasts and Disney fans, I have some ideas on what the new Disney park will feature.
From cutting-edge tech and immersive, live-action encounters, these are my predictions on what we might get to experience at Walt Disney World in the next 10 years:
Live-Action Land
The original Disneyland Park in California opened in 1955 and back then, attractions and lands were themed on classic animated movies, such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and The Wind in the Willows.
Fast forward 70 years, and both the movies and the theme parks have come a very long way.
Disney’s live-action movies have made over $7bn at the box office since 2010, and franchises like Pirates of the Caribbean are only growing in popularity, with a new movie rumoured to already be in the making.
So, it makes sense that Disney will want to have a modern, high-tech theme park, based on the most popular live-action Disney films, such as The Chronicles of Narnia, The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast.
Attractions are likely to be similar in style to the new, jaw-dropping Harry Potter and Battle at the Ministry at Epic Universe.
I expect the attractions to be fully immersive, featuring state-of-the-art video projections that use the original actors, an animated queue line and a physical ride.
Fortnite and Interactive Gaming
One entertainment space that Disney Parks have not yet fully explored is the concept of immersive gaming.
This is a dedicated theme park land, based on a video game, or games, that incorporates a gaming element into the lands, projections and rides.
Think Super Nintendo World at Epic Universe or the Illuminations attraction, Villain Con Minions Blast at Universal Studios Florida, which lets guests play a larger-than-life physical game as they move through the attraction and compete with other guests in the park via the Universal app.
In 2024, Disney announced they were collaborating with Epic Games, who own the worldwide phenomenon, Fortnite.
At the time, Robert A. Iger, Chief Executive of The Walt Disney Company, said: “This marks Disney’s biggest entry ever into the world of games and offers significant opportunities for growth and expansion.
“We can’t wait for fans to experience the worlds they love in groundbreaking new ways.”
Epic Games already works with Unreal Engine, a software developer, and Disney has hinted they will collaborate on an all-new games and entertainment universe.
Unreal Engine was used in the creation of more than 15 Disney Parks attractions, including Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. So watch this space.
Moana Water Park
In the new development plans, Disney have requested space for the new theme park as well as two ‘small’ theme park spaces, which could very well be used for a new water park.
Disney currently has two water parks, Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon, but neither is heavily themed on a particular Disney movie.
Moana is the most-streamed Disney movie on Disney+, surpassing 1.4 billion hours.
The film, which is set on a fictional Polynesian island, would be ideal to create a water park around, but incorporating modern elements like a water coaster, as seen on The Disney Cruise Line, as well as pools and classic water slides.
DisneySEA Florida
One of the most unique Disney parks in the world is Japan’s Tokyo DisneySEA.
This is an entire theme park, which sits alongside Japan’s other Disney park, Tokyo Disneyland, and is themed solely on Disney movies that have a water element.
This would be ideal after the success of Disney’s live-action The Little Mermaid, Finding Nemo, Finding Dora and Moana.
Plus, Florida DisneySEA would be a totally unique addition to the existing Walt Disney World parks: Animal Kingdom Theme Park, Magic Kingdom Park, Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
None of the existing parks have a specially-themed water area, so this would be a perfect addition.
Plus, the plans include requests for an underground basement level. Could this be to build a lake and river that would need to be below ground, for visual effect and purification?
Marvel Cinematic Universe
Marvel is a hotly debated topic in the realm of Florida theme parks, with Disney’s biggest rival in Orlando currently holding the rights to original comic book brands, such as Spider-man and Hulk in Florida.
Universal Orlando Resort already has a world called Marvel Superhero Island, at their second theme park, Universal’s Islands of Adventure.
While Disney now own Marvel and can create commercial properties with the brand in Europe, Asia and on the US’s West Coast, they are not permitted to use the Marvel brand in the east of the US, where Walt Disney World is located.
However, since Disney’s acquisition with Marvel in 2009, there are some loopholes to the rule.
Marvel movies and characters that didn’t exist when the intellectual rights were drawn up, are free to be utilised by Disney.
That led to the opening of Guardians of the Galaxy : Cosmic Rewind in 2022.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is the highest-grossing film franchise of all time.
There is no doubt Disney will want to create a modern theme park with this theme, which lends itself perfectly to the modern lands and attractions we have come to expect in the digital age.
Rumours have been circulating for years that Universal will sell the Marvel brand back to Disney and re-brand their space at Islands of Adventure into something entirely new.
This could lead to an entire Marvel Cinematic Universe theme park in the next 20 years, and that would thrill fans the world over.
Animation World Showcase
Finally, the size of the proposed theme park at Walt Disney World could make way for a new version of EPCOT’s World Showcase.
This classic area of Disney’s EPCOT park features pavilions themed on 11 different countries around the world.
With diversity at the forefront of Disney’s movie projects, this could lead to an animated Disney World Showcase at the new park, made from the fictional worlds of Disney’s most popular films.
The most obvious franchise would be Frozen.
Hong Kong Disneyland opened Arendelle: World of Frozen in 2024, with a smaller version coming to Disneyland Paris next year.
The picturesque, snow-covered fictional kingdom would be perfect if set around an Epcot-sized lake.
Other animated film pavilions could include a Mexican-themed Encanto, Italian-inspired Luca, Machu Picchu from The Emperor’s New Groove and San Francisco from Inside-Out – another huge, yet under represented Disney movie across the parks.
Disney has yet to comment on the new plans but, like fans around the world, we can dream!
