878 · D23 Disney Parks Announcements: Sightlines Into Yesterday, Tomorrow, and Fantasy

WDW Radio: Your Guide to Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise and More Disney Magic!

WDW Radio Episode 878 explores the D23 Disney Parks Announcements through a unique lens of 'sightlines' connecting past, present, and future

Key takeaways

• Disney's D23 announcements emphasized restoration and acknowledgment of past experiences over just new attractions.
• The presentation marked a shift in Disney's relationship with fans, showing tangible progress rather than vague promises.

Main topics

• D23 2026 Disney Parks Announcements
• Restoration of classic attractions (e.g., Villains Land, Dreamfinder)

Notable quotes

"The loudest cheers at D23 weren't necessarily for what Disney was building next. They were for what Disney was willing to bring back, repair, and finally acknowledge."

Conclusion

The D23 announcements signaled a more mature, fan-focused Disney strategy—delivering

Transcript preview

Speaker 1 (0:00) If you're standing, please hold on to the handrails and stay clear of the automatic doors. They will be closing in a moment. Thank you. There's a great big beautiful tomorrow, and tomorrow is just a dream away. Speaker 1 (0:23) Hello again. We're just about ready to hit the track, so please make sure your safety belts are securely fastened, as they always should be in your vehicle. Speaker 3 (0:30) Test sequence is downloading, and we're clear for dispatch. Speaker 1 (0:33) Okay, let's move them ahead for test one. Speaker 2 (0:35) Yes, folks, we only Speaker 1 (0:37) have high-class stuff on this show. And now, here's a special treat out of Tampa. A little bit of ever-loving, cuddlesome fluff. Our own... W.E. Speaker 2 (0:53) One of Speaker 3 (0:58) the biggest stories from D23 wasn't what Disney announced, but what those announcements reveal about where Disney's going. I was inside the Honda Center for Horizons, a carousel of progress, and instead of running through a checklist, we're going to look at 10 sight lines that connect Villainsland, Piston Peak, Dreamfinder, the Yeti, Tomorrowland, and much more. Because Disney didn't just make more promises this year. It showed progress. priorities and a different relationship with the fans who care most. And once you connect those dots, the future of the Disney parks and probably your next Disney vacation starts to look very different. Hello, my friend, and welcome to WDW Radio, your guide to the Disney parks and experiences around the world. I am Lou Mangiello, and this is show number 878. And whether this is your first time here or you've been with the WDW Radio family for years, thank you for choosing to spend some of your time with me. Don't forget to join me live every Wednesday night at 7.30 p.m. Eastern on Facebook and YouTube and anytime in the Clubhouse at www.radio.com slash clubhouse. You can also visit www.radio.com and subscribe to my free weekly email newsletter. Find out ways you can work with me over at lumangelo.com and connect with me on social. I am Lumangelo on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn. And if and when all these announcements start you thinking about your next Disney vacation, My friends over at mousefantravel.com can help you figure out what makes the most sense for you and your family, and their expert planning services are always completely fee-free. But for now, sit back, relax, and enjoy this week's episode of the WDW Radio Show. Speaker 3 (2:42) Before anything else, let me tell you what this episode is and what this episode isn't. Because D23 is genuinely ginormous. I call it wonderfully overwhelming because that's exactly what it is. And there's no possible way that I could cover all of it well. So instead, I want to do something a little bit different. Because D23 isn't one thing. Speaker 3 (3:11) four days. It is a show floor that is the size of a small city. It is multiple panels running all day in a dozen rooms at once. It's the Imagineering Pavilion. It's Mouse Parade. It's the Legend Ceremony. It's the merchandise, archives, announcements that happen on the convention floor that have nothing to do with the ones happening in the panels in the arena. And honestly, it is really about the people. It's running into somebody on the floor that maybe you've only talked to online. It's the friends you only see every couple of years. It is the feeling of being in that building, which is what I love about D23 and this event specifically, with thousands of people who love this thing just as much as you do. Like, that's what D23 is. And I can, maybe one day I will, do an entire episode on that. But today we're talking about one thing, and hopefully doing it correctly and a little bit in a different way, because on Saturday night at the Honda Center, Disney put on a two-hour, I can't even call it a presentation. It is a production called Horizons, a Carousel of Progress, the Disney Experiences Showcase. It was hosted by Neil Patrick Harris, who I, you, we love, streamed live on Disney+. which I also love, and it's where the future of the Disney parks and the resorts and cruise line all got laid out. And that presentation alone contained more news, and I think exciting news, than most conventions and even D23s might produce in total. So that's going to be our scope. It's going to be our focus is on Saturday night because everything that we're going to talk about in this episode came out of that room. and maybe out of some conversations that I had in the days leading up to it. And at the very end, we'll also talk about what was and what was not in that presentation, because a couple of things maybe we're waiting to hear about weren't there. But there's one presentation, two hours, and the way we're going to frame it is 10 sight lines. And look, before we talk about a single attraction, a single announcement, I want to set the table a little bit, because I think context... matters more this year than it usually does. This was the first D23 of the Josh DiMara era. He became CEO of the Walt Disney Company back in March. It was Thomas Maslum's first D23 as chairman of Disney Experiences. It was Jill Estorino's first as president of Disneyland Resort. She's only been in that job a few months. And then the very next day, in that same arena, Bob Iger was inducted as a Disney legend. So in the space of 24 hours, the leadership of the entire company sort of... parenthetically changed hands in public, and I think formally closed the previous chapter with that award. So I think everything that's announced and we're going to talk about on Saturday has to be sort of read through that lens, because it wasn't just a presentation about attractions. It was a new group of people standing up in front of us for the first time and telling us what they're doing, what their vision is, and what they care about. And it wasn't just tonight about new products. It was about... filling in blanks. It was about surprises. It was about... announcements that garnered some of the biggest reactions that I've ever heard in that arena. And I'm obviously cannot and should not and will not talk about this by myself. And I am very happy to have the person who was not just with me on the show floor and in the arena, but has been with me as not just a partner, but as a friend, as a frequent guest, really sort of, she likes to call herself a sidekick on the show. who also, I think, brings something to this conversation that I genuinely can't. She has no idea what I'm referring to. She is, of course, Becky Menken, the founder and CEO, CFO, CEO, CFO, CEO, whatever she calls herself, of Mouse Fan Travel. And I think you have a vantage point that most of us don't have. So, Becky, welcome back. Hopefully, you have gotten a little bit of sleep and your brains are not as scrambled eggs as might have been. Before, during, and after T23? Speaker 2 (7:37) No, they may not be as scrambled as, but my feet still hurt. I'll put that one forward. And yeah, I'll take sidekick, by the way. So that kind of, that works for me. Yeah. This is kind of how I feel about the entire thing. There was so much information, but yet. From two years ago, obviously, we had that same feeling. We were so overwhelmed with the information we had from that evening. But I think my overall takeaway was that we got a lot of those big announcements back then. But this was more about filling in the blanks of what we heard two years ago. But as you said, we got a couple of little fan service, too, to make us all happy and made the whole place erupt in cheering. It was a great night for sure. Speaker 3 (8:29) Philly and Blanks, and we'll talk about this a lot, I think more importantly, it's delivering on promises, right? It's delivering on the promises that they made two years ago. And we're going to talk about attractions and ride systems. And again, I'm sort of, I want to frame this in the context of sight lines. We'll explain a little bit more. But I think when I said that you bring a unique vantage point. He looked at me quizzically like, where is he going with this? Because when, because you're the person that when the phone rings, when a family is actually trying to figure out whether to book for 2027 or wait for 2028, you are hearing what guests are excited about, what they're confused about, what they are asking questions about, sort of at scale, you know, every single day. So as we go through today, like I'm... I want to talk more not just about, oh, this is really cool. This is what I'm excited about. But what does this change for the person who is Speaker 2 (9:32) planning a trip? That's really a fair point because a lot of people do that postponement. It's like, oh, this stuff is coming in 2028. So maybe I'll save my money and wait and go then. And my answer. to that as always. It's exciting that things are coming in 2028, but there's so much to be excited for now. So that is definitely a valid point of the conversation that we have to have every day. Speaker 3 (9:57) Yeah. And, you know, I was thinking about this. I've been thinking about this a lot. And I'm happy that we sort of had a week to let this settle in our brains. And even over this past weekend, as I was preparing to record. I've changed my perspective on how I wanted to address this. But one of the things that I kept coming back to as I was looking at all the announcements, not just granularly, but sort of from an overarching perspective, and it's part of the reason why I wanted to sort of think about this in terms of, it's not just an engineering term, but really it's sort of an engineering term of sight lines, because I think... Maybe sort of just touch on this here. I think this D23, this Horizons presentation felt like a genuine change in Disney's relationship with its most invested fans. This was not just a very well-constructed presentation. I think it's sort of why I was led with pointing out about this sort of metaphorical changing of the guard and the handing off of the baton. Because I do. I think when you look at this from a 30,000 foot view, when you look down on this as sort of the parenthetical model, I think they are very much indicating a different type of relationship that they are forming, creating, or really sort of reinvesting in. I Speaker 2 (11:24) do like the way that you are putting that in a frame because how the presentation unfolded. was, like you said earlier, it was living up to the promises that they made, too, and how that relationship is changing, where there's still... Back up a second. Two years ago, for the very first time, remember when they brought out Deadpool and they were kind of doing the wink, wink, nod, nod to, yeah, we hear you. We're not perfect. These are the things we got wrong. I think that that tone has remained. And what I saw that night still had that, we get you, we're talking to you, we're not talking above you or through you, we're actually... trying to create a conversation where the fans and the company can kind of be in harmony and have more of a harmonious relationship in this thing that we all love, which is really unique when it comes to companies across the U.S. and across the globe as they relate to... their fans and their clients and their guests. So I love the way that this is kind of coming together. The big production was also a change because, you know, we did get production, obviously, production quality. But to bring out Neil Patrick Harris and do the Broadway type skits and the big, huge musical numbers was something we hadn't seen before. Speaker 3 (12:57) Yeah. And they sort of, when you walked into that building above the stage or like almost like a proscenium, it said late night. Like they were sort of going for this late night variety show type of vibe. And then they really kind of turned it up to 11. And I think there's a lot of, I think having Neil Patrick Harris, who is a fan first, he is like a man of the people. Speaker 3 (13:24) it's like having your best friend on stage because you know he gets it. And we heard that he got it because of the delivery of some of the lines and some of the little minor gaffes, the way he handled it. And I think having that marriage of him and Thomas Maslow, who was really sort of the first time, was sort of the head of this, as Disney experiences, chairman, this presentation that brought us through. Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, the international resorts, the attraction updates, physical models, artwork, opening windows, entertainment. Like there was so much here. And that's why I wanted to also frame this too, because there was a lot. Those of you on the internet naysayers who said you did not get enough. I don't know where, if you were at the same presentation I was, but I decided that I didn't want to sort of recreate the presentation in order. We're not going to go. park by park. We're not going to assign the same amount of time to, you know, a returning parade to a completely new land. Like I called this, I sort of framed this in my mind as sight lines and imagining a sight line is sort of how imaginary, and again, this is not just an imaginary term, but how... Speaker 3 (14:38) They control what a guest can see, what remains hidden, and how somebody, how a view sort of relates to the larger piece. I think it's the right framework for this conversation because, and I want to sort of give a little bit of context and a little bit of disclaimer and almost housekeeping. A few months ago, I was invited to an imaginary facility for a behind-the-scenes look at the creative process on some of these projects. And at the time, it was an off-the-record visit. Disney has since lifted that embargo with certain limitations on what I can and can't share, and I'm going to respect those limits exactly. So there may be a couple of moments... Today, like where I might reference something and then maybe not be able to describe it. And that's not me being coy. That's keeping my word and being respectful for the opportunity. I respect that. Darn it. And also, separate from that, I was also invited to a very small, very intimate conversation at Disneyland prior to D23 and obviously prior to the Saturday announcements with a number of. executives, and Imagineers, including some of those who are leading the work on some of these projects, including Villain's Land, and including, which now we can talk about, the Tomorrowland project, which was on the record. And I'm going to talk a little about that because I think some of what was said in that room helps bring more context and details to some of the things that were made onto the arena stage. That's my recovering attorney. somewhat disclaimer. So this is how it's going to hopefully work, Becky. This idea came to me like in the middle of Speaker 2 (16:29) the Speaker 3 (16:29) night last night. So we'll see if it actually plays out. I'm Speaker 2 (16:31) just Speaker 3 (16:31) here for Speaker 2 (16:31) the ride. So it's all good. We're sort of looking at in 10 sight lines, right? Speaker 3 (16:38) 10 sort of conversations about where this company, where the parks and experiences are going. And yes, along the way, we're going to stop specifically at a lot of the individual things that were talked about. And I think we have to start with, and everybody, I think, has their own favorite announcement, their own objective, sorry, subjective, quote unquote, biggest announcement. But I think Villain's Land is where we need to start. And look, we're going to do a lot of this from 30,000 feet, right? Sort of looking down on the metaphorical models that they are, and the physical models that they're talking about. But this one, I think, We're going to do sort of from the ground perspective, right? The sight lines are going to be from the ground because this is, I feel, the single biggest thing Disney announced. And I think it's also one of the clearest examples of something that the company has gotten so very, like, they've always been good at it, but like exceptional at. They're taking these characters that we all know, that we all love, and building a place. around them that has never existed in any movie. And this is, of course, Villain's Land. This 14-acre, so think around the size of Galaxy's Edge. Fully immersive land with two headline attractions, dining, shopping. We don't know what opening date. I think this is possibly one of the farthest out of the Magic Kingdom properties. But I think this is the one that we got some additional artwork, some incredible details about. And before we sort of get into the details, Becky, I think this is the one that... Again, we were privileged to be in that Honda Center, which I think has a very different experience than watching it on Disney+. I understand not everybody could be there. I love the fact that they streamed it. But when you're in that room and there's that energy and you hear the gasps and the cheers when they announce details or people come out on stage or they show that concept art, I think Villains Land certainly is one of the ones that, just sort of judging by the energy in the room, people are very, very excited for. Speaker 2 (18:52) Yeah. And that's so true. When you're sitting there and you start seeing the information and the graphics go up and the oxygen comes out of the room and when they say, and we have a new name for Villain's Land, it's Villain's Land. I absolutely loved that. Kind of saw that coming in a way. But one thing I was really happy about. is that they did give us enough detail to put all the stupid internet rumors to rest. There was so many stories and things flying around and clickbait and just nonsense going on. So at least we got the detail that said, you're wrong. This is actually what we're doing. Look over here because this is the real stuff. And I think that that really helped us have a better understanding of where they were trying to go. Speaker 3 (19:45) And I think we have to sort of quickly put a pin in the name because there was that sort of moment like Villain's Land is Villain's Land. And it got laughs and it got all these different reactions. But I think it's really important. And imagine Carolyn May explained to us, you know, why it is. And look, it all makes sense to me. Like we have Adventureland, Fantasyland, Tomorrowland. Villain's land makes sense. And look, it's what people were going to call it anyway. It's not Star Wars land, but everybody kept on calling it Star Wars land. Like, you know, the nomenclature is important. And they're like, look, we get it. This is what guests are probably going to be calling it. And I try to avoid the internet as a whole. But I've seen and I've heard, right? When I was sitting there, I was very much listening to the conversations and the reactions around me. Speaker 3 (20:44) Hearing people talk about that name as a failure of imagination, I wholeheartedly disagree. I think it's the opposite. I think it is very much confidence, right? Like, you can invent this super creative name. Look, I sort of pushed my chips in thinking it was going to be called Forbidden Mountain. Clearly, I'm an idiot because it's, you can create a name like that, but people are still going to call it Villain's Land. Anyway, and I think, look, I think there's also a, I think there's a strong structural argument underneath it as well. Magic Kingdom, specifically, names their lands. for sort of the way we feel, right? Not about places. It's adventure, frontier, fantasy, tomorrow. Villainy is a mode of feeling. And I think that name does fit the sort of the park's grammar and nomenclature better than anything that's more elaborate that they would have tried to construct and almost force people to start saying. And I think once you hear... The story too, it also makes sense, right? You leave this safe path in Magic Kingdom into this dark forest and you find this shattered wishing well. And someone made a wish that wasn't like, oh, I wish I got a puppy. No, a wish that is so evil. How evil was it? It corrupted the stone, it breaks open the well, and it spreads all this poison magic throughout the forest. And the villains are come together to claim what is left of that power. And I think the villain, the wishing well, solves what could have been a very difficult problem in the concept as a whole. Because look, villains don't cooperate. They are, you know, you don't see a lot of villains getting together and having magic moments together. They Speaker 2 (22:43) don't play well on the playground together. So Speaker 3 (22:45) how does Disney sort of pull them together? Like they don't build a clubhouse. They build this resource, right? They are all drawn to the same seam of gold in this wishing well. And that sort of corrupts everything. It is very much in alignment with each of the villains individually and for villains really as a whole. Speaker 2 (23:10) I love the way they pulled this story together, too, because it allows all of these villains to live in one place. And like you said, that conflict is kind of sitting there, but they're there trying to get their own piece of this little puzzle that we're going to call Villains Land. And I'm fine with this name. I think that it's perfect because, like you said, we call it Star Wars Land anyway. If you come up with something else, it's not going to really fit. And that's the nomenclature of the park itself. I'm all good. I love how this story is being weaved and it allows for all of our favorite villains to... to be there, to be present in this land so we can meet them, greet them, be mad at them, laugh at them, have a good time in this place that's, you know, nice and dark and twisty, as I like to say. Which is perfect for you. I Speaker 3 (24:09) can't wait. And look, what we know is we know that we have this Maleficent outdoor coaster, which I love, right? Instead of putting it... inside of a black box that takes us through this enchanted briar and around the mountaintop fortress. And Disney said in the presentation that they're using elements that have not been used before in a Disney coaster. That excites me. That sort of bit of unknowing excites me. We also know that we have this dark ride that's going to take place in the Mirror Realm, which are these catacombs. underneath the Evil Queen's palace hosted by the Magic Mirror. And if you look at the concept art, you see Cruella and Jafar, Facilier, Scar, Ursula all in there. There was, I know, some speculation that night that it was a boat ride. I think it has been officially confirmed that it is not a boat ride. One of the things that I really dig, and I'm a huge Princess and the Frog, and I love the fact... Dr. Facilier is in there because he's one of the ones that I keep coming back to. You know, all these other, if you think about it, Becky, all these other villains have their sort of innate powers, right? Maleficent has it and the evil queen has the mirror. Facilier has no powers. He's the guy that makes his deals and borrows other people's powers. So building a land where he sort of... Built on a borrowed power source is very cool and very much in alignment with who he is. I think if you were a fan of the early classic films, you can really sort of get that Ivan Earl tone here with the perspective and those gothic thorns and the jewel tones, etc. You have this sense of this evil place that is still going to be welcoming to families. Again, I sort of go back to this idea of the coaster being built outdoors. Now becomes this skyline element, whether you ride it, whether you see it in the day, where I can only imagine what this place is going to look like at night. Speaker 3 (26:27) I think we have a lot of reasons why we should be very excited about this. And again, the scale for this is going to be huge. I think there was also a moment too, when Glenn Close came out rocking her full leg Cruella. And I think there was some confusion because she was talking about, you know, her ride and her attraction. And I am 92.7 % sure. that this was sort of the joke, right? It was a bit. It wasn't a tease. She's not getting a ride. She might get a lair. Like, we keep sort of hearing references to some of these characters getting a lair. I don't know exactly what that means, like Cruella and the Queen and Dr. Facilier, but I do not think that there is a secret third Cruella ride that is coming in. Speaker 2 (27:17) Yeah, I don't think so either. I saw a lot of that speculation pop up. Oh, what's she going to get? What are they going to do? It's like, I think that was the inside joke. One of the things I really do appreciate about the Mirror Realm especially is that they're doing a good job of balancing nostalgia with the current stories. So it's kind of like all of these stories are being woven together in one place. So you can find your favorite villain. and things that your parents loved and things your grandparents loved and things your kids love. So I'm kind of turned on by this whole thing because you get all of those stories coming from all different directions through the mirror realm. Speaker 3 (27:59) Yeah, and again, I think there's, you know, we saw some of the Imagineers who are going to be working, who are already working on this project. I imagine Carolyn May and Wyatt Winter, who worked on, I think, sort of oversaw Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind. I think that gives you a lot of excitement and hope for what is to come. I think it's going to be really interesting once this is built, because obviously Magic Kingdom, I think, skews. the youngest of the four parks in terms of guests. But this land appears to be very deliberately adult. And I don't mean adult in terms of kids camp, but it's a little bit darker. And I think that is going to be an attractor. I think it's going to be something that families can enjoy together, but there is going to be a little bit of, and it has to be for a villain's land. You know, it can't be squash and stretch. It's got to be. very much who these characters are, what these environments are, sort of coming off the screen and coming to life in Magic Kingdom. And Speaker 2 (29:02) to your point for that, we do get a lot of families that think, well, Magic Kingdom is for the younger families. When my kids were six and seven and eight, what do I do now that my kids are 14, 15, 16? And I think this is that perfect answer to that, to bring in those teens and tweens and something a little bit edgier. Speaker 3 (29:22) Right. You're Speaker 2 (29:23) going Speaker 3 (29:23) from having the conversation like, yeah, Magic Kingdom is for kids. Now the question you're going to be answering, is this right for adults? Right. Yes. Now you have this big attractor for adults. I don't think Magic Kingdom is just for kids. It still remains my favorite part. But again, going back to your point about the story, I love the fact that Disney did not just build a land where villains happen to be. They built a land that explains why the villains are there. And I think. That single decision is the difference between a themed area, like an area that just sort of has an overlay on it, and an actual place, an actual place that we get to step through the metaphorical screen and stand into. And I think as Walt always wanted us to be able to actually live in, which was his whole idea, I think, for creating Disneyland and I think specifically even like Fantasyland. Speaker 2 (30:17) Yeah. And the way that they've told stories recently between, not recently, but when they started that walk into the world of Cars Land, where the first time we walked in there went, oh my gosh, we just stepped into the movie. I can just imagine what this will be like with all of that theming and at night. I just can't imagine what this will look like at night. And the coaster itself. I'm wondering, obviously, if it's going to be on par with the Seven Dwarfs type coaster. Are we going to, is this going to be popped up a little bit in terms of e-ticket? What kind of an attraction are we getting here? And this is the perfect opportunity to kind of level it up a little bit if they so desire. Speaker 3 (31:01) And this actually leads me into the next sort of sight line. And the sort of note that I wrote to myself is they said the quiet part out loud because I think, and we saw a little bit of this at D23 2024, but I think Saturday night. I saw something that I've never really seen the company do, certainly not at this scale and in front of this audience. For as long as I've been covering Disney, which is 20 plus years, the corporate posture, for lack of a better word, appropriately towards its own problems and maybe things that aren't perfect, has always been this very sort of serene and quiet. Like not acknowledging it almost now. You don't talk about the broken thing because when you do, you make it real. So you sort of ignore Twitter as much as you possibly can. Saturday night, they didn't just name one. They named six of them on stage, on purpose, with a live band. And that's why we're sort of talking about these things together. Like the Yeti gets fixed after 19 years. DreamFinders returning after 28. Paris is stripping off the Star Wars Space Mountain. The original world of color is coming back. Tomorrowland finally gets committed to. And they do it in a way that is not just like they poke fun at themselves. And I like wanted to stand up and applaud because of how much I appreciate how Disney made fun of Disney. Repeatedly, Joe Rohde comes on stage to fix a broken animatronic. The viral Olaf fall is recreated. The fan complaint that the hatbox ghost appears before Madame Leota, it's all acknowledged. It's all acknowledged out loud. And then Gloria Gaynor comes out. I will survive. These are not nine individual moments. This is one posture that has expressed nine different... And I think, like, Becky, think about what that has to take. Like, institutionally, somebody or some people have to approve a gag whose premise is, yes, our animatronics break. Somebody greenlit a Haunted Mansion sequencing complaint that 0.02 % of guests around the world noticed. That's self-deprecation. that is what confidence looks like. Like you can only laugh about your failures in public if you believe and promise you are going to fix them. And I think like, I think that's it. And even in the Tomorrowland thing that I went to, there was a similar moment. And so I sort of want to bring it up here. Jill Estorino, the new president of Disneyland, took out note cards and read. the internet criticisms back to the people who made them in that room. Like, standing in Tomorrowland, she's like, it's painful to read, but it's true. And you're right, and you're right. Like, executives are trained to never do this. Like, if you repeat criticism, you're giving it a longer life, and it's an official... She did it anyway, in a room with people who have and are going to quote her. And then, you know, I think Thomas Maslum, like... Specifically, it was like, we know, like, we want you to know that we hear you. Like, the chairman of the parks and resorts is saying, like... We are making decisions for you, the most loyal fans, because we hear you. And it's, you know, it's not one and done. Like, this is going to be who we are and what we do. I've said for years, Disney is always listening. And Disney is paying that off in spades at D23. Speaker 2 (35:10) And this is the shift that I so appreciate because, okay. It was a long time ago, but remember when they demolished the garden wing at Contemporary and there was a crane building something and you asked somebody, what are they building? What's going on? I don't know what you're talking about. It was kind of the response that we got. I love the fact that they're letting us in the room, that they're opening the door and saying, OK, well, here's what we got right. This is what we got wrong. Give us the feedback. OK, we may not. make the decision that you need us or want us to make right now, but we might make it later, who knows? But having those open conversations makes me feel like I'm part of it. Like I really belong in that room behind the rope and we're having a one-on-one conversation when they start saying, yeah, the Yeti's broken. And yes, the poor Olaf is, you know, face down, face plant in front of 150 cameras. But it's... really does make me want to be more involved in this company when they talk to me in that manner. So I appreciated it for sure. Speaker 3 (36:21) Right. They're listening and they're very much pay attention. Look, if you look at it, you know. I think there were a lot of incredible moments and crowd reactions in that room. But I think two of the three biggest ones were about things that Disney is fixing, not building. Like the restoration projects may have outranked some of the other new projects. I think that's a huge part of the story. Like, look, look at Journey into Imagination, which was that one more thing might drop moment at the end, right? Mazem's like, we're taking a new Journey into Imagination Epcot with Dream Finder. and figment. And he said, he's like, we know how important this is to you. Like, we hear you. You don't have to give a title, a ride system, a scope, a closing date, opening date. Like, that's it. Like, that is the moment. And I wanted, if I could have run up on stage, security let me go, and given Thomas a hug, like, that's what we all wanted to do. Like, Dream Finder left in 1998. That's nearly 30 years. There's no film. No series, no merchandise machine behind him, although there was the Figma comic book series with a reimagined Dream Finder in it, which I totally dig. But... He exists really more so as a memory that this community, this Disney, you know, global community refused to let go of. And somebody in that building, somebody in a meeting was like, that goodwill is worth more than the certainty. And I think that's a rare thing. Speaker 3 (38:00) And Speaker 2 (38:01) what I liked about that is how they presented it. Because remember when we talked about what we were looking forward to most before we came into D23? And for me, I had said, I want a moment that I'm not expecting. I want a moment that takes the oxygen out of my lungs for a second and I have to kind of get my bearings. And little did I know that it was going to be the moment that they said the Yeti's being fixed. Speaker 1 (38:26) But Speaker 2 (38:27) it did. And it was such a surprise and such a wonderful delight because it had been on the tip of everybody's tongue and things that we'd knocked the company for that it sat there forever, not really caring about their challenges about it, just wanting it back. And for them to announce that right then, and it did, it gave me that little bit of a what type feeling that I was looking forward to. And then at the end, when he came out and they were like, and the final thing. wasn't the thing I thought it was going to be because I thought it was going to be, and we're bringing feedback back. But that's not what they did. They did something else. And then they did it as that last little drip that we needed at the very end, which made us all, those of us who have loved that little monster for so long, walked out feeling very euphoric. and very positive about what we had just heard. And I just, like you said. Speaker 3 (39:19) Becky just called Figment a monster. Speaker 2 (39:21) Yes! You can just email her, Becky at, I mean. He's a cute little dragon-y monster. I love him. My Speaker 3 (39:30) son is crying inside his car. Speaker 2 (39:32) But for me, like you said, they didn't give us detail. They didn't give us dates. They didn't give us anything. They just said, yeah, it's coming back. And Speaker 3 (39:39) we were thrilled with that. So that's just right. I think the same thing too for, Spaceship Earth, which years ago had been rumored and almost sort of confirmed that there was this massive update coming. We've heard about things like Project Gemini. But this is going to be the first major update in nearly two decades. And I love how they gave us a little bit of detail, how the theme is widening from human communication to human connection. And it carries that story beyond. Again. No closing date, no narrator, no scene list. But when you think about what this might possibly be and what it is now and what it could potentially become with opening that sort of definition more broadly, right now, if you look at this... current spaceship Earth. It's this chain of tools, right? You've got the alphabet, the papyrus, the printing press, the telegraph, the computer. It is this story about things people made where I think the idea of connection is a story about people and the tools are going to be sort of incidental to that, right? Speaker 3 (40:55) It's not going to be this showcase of emerging and possible new technology. You can't build a show scene of like the cloud. You know what I mean? I think communication is something that's very concrete,