Author: waltdisneynews

It’s Destination D23 time! For 2025, the festivities have moved over to Coronado Springs at the Walt Disney World Resort for a weekend full of exciting news, announcements, and, of course, shopping! And don’t worry, you can’t be there in person, following along with the Disney Parks Blog is the next best thing Throughout the weekend, be sure to check in on the latest details coming from the fan-favorite event, because with a little pixie dust, you never know what might happen. Walt Disney Studios Showcase New Tron: Ares Ride Overlay Announced for TRON Attractions The next time you step into the digital frontier with TRON Lightcycle / Run, you’ll launch into a Tron: Ares version of the high-speed, adrenaline-pumping ride that bends reality into the video game world. Replacing the blue and orange hues of the ride, you’ll weave through twisting tunnels of vibrant red and orange light trails, feeling the rush of wind and the surge of acceleration as you compete in a dazzling Lightcycle race. Creating the Happiest Place on Earth Disneyland Handcrafted: Trailer Revealed for New Documentary Coming This Winter Oscar and Emmy nominated filmmaker (with deep Disney roots!) Leslie Iwerks announced on stage at the panel that her new documentary film Disneyland Handcrafted, is coming this winter to Disney+ and Disney YouTube.  Walt Disney Audio-Animatronics Figure Coming to the Carousel of Progress Walt Disney Imagineer Chris Beatty revealed that you

Think you know Disney castles? Think again because during “Beyond the Spires: An Insider Look at Disney Castles,” Imagineers shared some knowledge that other Imagineers didn’t even know. Hosted by Michelle Khare, creator of “Challenge Accepted,” Imagineers Wyatt Winter, Jason Grandt, and Katie Gibbs were joined by Former Imagineering Creative Executive Tom Morris and James Silson, Show Director with Disney Live Entertainment, to share their most in-spire-ing moments in the history of building Disney Castles.  Here’s the highlights:  World of Frozen, Opening Spring 2026  What’s a panel about castles without a look at one of the newest castles, and a palace, coming to Disneyland Paris? Michel Den Dulk, Portfolio Executive Creative Director, joined Destination D23 from the World of Frozen project site to share a look at Arendelle Castle and Elsa’s Ice Palace along the North Mountain.  Palette Fit for a Princess  Cinderella Castle at Magic Kingdom is getting a new color palette, inspired by the classic and original look of the castle. The updated paint will feature grays, creams, blues, and touches of gold aiming to enhance the castle’s architecture. Crafting Castles  Michelle kicked off the panel with a question that really gets to the heart of the discussion: How do Imagineers even build castles? The short answer

For more than 50 years, Cinderella Castle has welcomed guests down Main Street, U.S.A. at Magic Kingdom. During the “Beyond the Spires: An Insider Look at Disney Castles” panel at Destination D23, Imagineers looked back at the various overlays and color schemes for Cinderella Castle over the years. Imagineers also shared a rendering for the new Cinderella Castle color palette, which is inspired by the classic and original look of the castle.   The updated paint will feature grays, creams, blues, and touches of gold aiming to enhance the castle’s architecture. While the project team is still putting the finishing touches on the paint design process, we wanted to share the incredible amount of research and care that goes into this project.  A Royal Palette  Around the globe, there are six Disney “Castle parks,” where the castles serve as the heart of the parks —the landmarks that draw guests in, the backdrop of cherished family photos, and the

Today at Destination D23, the “Disney Villains: Icons of Evil” panel was every bit as wonderfully wicked as its name promised. The presentation, hosted by YouTube mega-creator Michelle Khare, was packed with plenty of frightfully fun moments and announcements.   Featuring a mischievous musical medley provided by Disney Concert Group, along with stage and screen stars Michael James Scott and Jodi Benson, this presentation gave a sneak peek into some upcoming villains-focused projects and products – including the new villains-themed land at Walt Disney World, showing that these devilish divas never go out of style.   Let’s recap everything Michelle and the team revealed, if we dare…  Villains Take the Stage at Walt Disney World  The most anticipated news of the panel came out of Walt Disney World, where the new show “Disney Villains: Unfairly Ever After” recently premiered and construction for the previously revealed villains-themed land is on the horizon.  To kick off the presentation, Executive Creative Director Caroline May and Executive Producer Wyatt Winter from Walt Disney Imagineering shared some eagerly awaited updates about the villains-themed land coming to Magic Kingdom. Since it was first announced last year at D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event, our Imagineers have been busy working to bring this villainous vision to life, and the panel provided some incredible insights into the extensive research that went into the land before construction even began. It was a treat for the audience to hear

Destination D23 wraps up today at Walt Disney World Resort, and one of the final events of the action and announcement-packed weekend was the “Disney Villains: Icons of Evil” panel. Michelle Khare, host of the YouTube Series Challenge Accepted, led the devious discussion, which explored the many ways our favorite Disney Villains will soon be materializing across Disney Parks, cruise ships, and products.  For the fans that are passionate about collectible novelties, the reveal of Mattel Creations’ Disney Collector Ursula Doll, which will be swimming onto MattelCreations.com this September, was certainly a highlight of the panel.   Mattel’s Darkness Descends Series  Disney’s Ursula is the newest addition to the Darkness Descends Series, which began with Maleficent in 2023 and continued with Cruella de Vil in 2024. These dazzling divas are displayed in intricately designed boxes and made with premium materials – a true celebration of iconic Disney Villains in their most evil, high-fashion forms.   The bold craftsmanship and rich storytelling showcased in the first two dolls can again be seen in Ursula, with a dramatic twist that feels perfectly in-tune with the essence of this feared, but still fan-favorite, character.