As I am sure you all know, Disney’s D23 Expo wrapped up this weekend and we enjoyed lots of cool news. If you’re not up to date on everything that was announced, check out my roundup post here. For this post, however, I’d like to talk about the things that were not announced that I wish had been in relation to the parks, particularly Disneyland and Walt Disney World.

First, let’s talk about the easy stuff. The things that most of us were expecting but still didn’t get:

  • Disney was light on details in many cases, and especially light on opening dates. For example, we still don’t have open dates for…
    • Pandora – the world of AVATAR, which is (still) being built at Animal Kingdom.
    • Star Wars Land for either park.
    • Jungle Cruise Cantina
    • Toy Story Playland at Hollywood Studios
  • Speaking of details, we really didn’t get that many on Star Wars Land. I think everyone was so excited on the announcement itself, that they forgot we didn’t actually learn a lot.
  • Still no new name for Hollywood Studios, and while Star Wars Land and Toy Story Playland are going to be great additions to this struggling park, what, if anything, will happen in the meantime? What else is in store for it?

Next, let’s talk about the things that I wasn’t sure they’d cover or not, and ultimately didn’t:

  • Virtually no news on EPCOT. In my opinion, EPCOT isn’t too far behind Hollywood Studios in terms of needing some critical TLC (tender loving care). It’s got some stuff that’s basically abandoned, a small handful of decent attractions, and nothing new (and exciting) since Test Track. I would have loved some positive news for EPCOT.
  • Outside of Star Wars Land in Disneyland, we didn’t hear anything else about possibly upgrading Tomorrowland, which I think is in need of some love, too. I didn’t expect to hear much about California Adventure since Carsland is still new and a great success. But, Disneyland itself could probably use some upgrades between now and when Star Wars Land launches (in my projection of 2022).
  • They also didn’t really detail where in Hollywood Studios our new Star Wars Land would be placed. Will it include removing Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular? Lights, Motors, Action Stunt Show? I am curious where they’re going to put Star Wars Land.
  • Paradise Pier, it would appear at least for now, is going to stick around as is. That may seem weird to mention that, but I have always suspected they may try and do something drastically new/different with the Paradise Pier hotel at Disneyland. Either supremely refurbish it, or demolish it in lieu of a California Adventure extension or something else.

Lastly, the things I didn’t expect them to announce because most of it would be too good to be true, but this was my wish list:

  • No announcements to build an Indiana Jones Land, as I outlined here.
  • One of the biggest barriers to me visiting foreign parks (much as I’d like to) is probably the airfare. It’s too bad Disney cannot come up with a way to bundle affordable airfare into Disney packages for parks that aren’t nearby. If they had affordable airfare + easy transport from airport baked into a Disneyland Paris bundle, I’d be all over that!
  • Shockingly light news on Marvel, at least at Disneyland where they have the rights to use those characters. Star Wars Land is sparing Toontown… maybe Marvel Land will be slotted for Toontown (one day) instead.

Did I miss anything that you thought for sure they’d announce? Anything you really wanted to be announced but wasn’t? Let me know in the comments or via social media.

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