Disneyland’s 70th party is over. At D23, the park looks to the future

Disneyland’s yearlong, nostalgia-filled 70th anniversary celebration has come to an end. Attention now turns to preserving the resort’s legacy for the next 70 years.

We’re two years removed from the passage of DisneylandForward by the Anaheim City Council, the ambitious multibillion-dollar plan to reimagine and expand the world’s most famous theme park, and questions are now swirling on what’s to come.

Hints can likely be found by looking at what’s already been built, at least at Disney’s international parks. Documentarian Leslie Iwerks did just that with her new film “Disney Worldbuilders,” which will have its premiere this weekend at the all-things-Disney convention D23 at the Anaheim Convention Center and then stream on Disney+ starting Aug. 20.

Iwerks, the director of the recent, and terrific, “Disneyland Handcrafted,” comes from Disney royalty. Her grandfather, Ub Iwerks, was a legendary animator instrumental in the development of Mickey Mouse. Her father, Don, was a cinematic and special effects wizard who worked on numerous Disney attractions, including the Michael Jackson-starring film “Captain EO.” As a documentarian, Iwerks has explored Disney before as the director of “The Imagineering Story” and has a long career of films that touch on not just Hollywood but also politics and environmental issues.

If I had any concerns about the future of Disneyland, watching ‘Worldbuilders” helped ease them. That’s in part because the film makes it clear that the Disneyland template was pretty firmly set in place 70 years ago by park patriarch Walt Disney.

While it’s entirely possible for theme park spaces to jump the shark, so to speak, especially when they focus too much on marketing or re-creating familiar film and television moments (see, say, San Fransokyo Square at Disney California Adventure), “Worldbuilders” zeroes in on the parks’ enduring mission of being places of play. The film features interviews with the likes of Pixar chief Pete Docter, “Frozen” mastermind Jennifer Lee, Marvel maestro Kevin Feige and “Avatar” creator James Cameron, who collaborated with Walt Disney Imagineering to turn their cinematic universes into physical spaces for fans to interact with.

“I’m always blown away at the audacity of Walt saying, ‘I’m going to create the happiest place on Earth,’ and thinking that could actually be a business model,” Iwerks tells me.

“And what I learned about these filmmakers is that they were all inspired by the Disney parks,” she continues. “Unbeknownst to me, they had a spark going to a Disney theme park. It excited their imagination.”

“Frozen” co-director Jennifer Lee poses with a robotic Olaf at Disneyland Paris in a scene from Leslie Iwerks’ new film “Worldbuilders.”

(Roger Do Minh / Disney+ / Iwerks & Co.)

You see it in Shanghai’s “Zootopia”-inspired land, with its oversize benches that hide parking spaces for critter vehicles beneath. It’s an area full of movement, with puppets and animatronics gracing nearly every structure, aiming to capture wonder and silliness as much as it is the world of the film, which Iwerks notes was unexpectedly inspired by the original Disneyland. It’s present, too, in the “Frozen” area of Disneyland Paris, which seeks to reference and modernize the Disney fairy tale, using imagery of castles and magic not to symbolize happily ever after but familial and friendship bonds.

“All these lands allow you to explore, and allow yourself to be free, to play, to be whimsical,” Iwerks says. “They allow yourself to get out of your own ‘daily frets,’ as Walt called them. There are a lot of technologies vying for attention today, such as cellphones and gaming and lots of things, but there is something tangible about walking through a Disney park that is irreplaceable. That is that tangible sense of play that you can see, you can touch and you can smell. These are visceral memories that stay with us as human beings throughout our entire lifetime.”

Could either “Zootopia” or “Frozen” make its way to Disneyland? Neither, I believe, would be out of place, but there’s a special delicacy when adding to Walt’s original park. Even with the passage of DisneylandForward, land isn’t limitless. Expansion should be thought about not just for the next decade, but the next 50, leaving space for new stories yet untold. To place “Avatar” in Disney California Adventure is a definitive statement that the audiences of 2060 will want to hang with the Na’vi as much as those of 2030.

Thus, a wide-angle approach is best. When Pandora — the World of Avatar was built in Animal Kingdom at Florida’s Walt Disney World, it was done so with a thesis on themes of conservation and environmentalism more so than a focus on any of the film’s characters. Disney California Adventure’s own Cars Land is a love letter to Route 66 and roadside Americana as it much as it is an ode to the Disney/Pixar films.

At D23 in 2024, Disney released concept art of an “Avatar”-inspired attraction said to be coming to Disney California Adventure.

(20th Century / Disneyland Resort)

“Worldbuilders” makes it clear that as much as Disney’s parks have stayed the same, how we build themed lands has changed. Gone, for instance, are the big tent ideas of Frontierland, Adventureland and Fantasyland. Theme park designers today take a more targeted approach, bringing to life fully realized cinematic worlds such as Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge or the aforementioned Cars Land. That’s not necessarily a negative. Galaxy’s Edge, for instance, succeeds because it’s a not a point-by-point re-creation of any locale seen in the films. Instead, it’s a place we can visit, and create our own tales.

It’s a reminder, for instance, that Disneyland, despite the prices, the crowds, the marketing or whatever hang-up one may find, endures because it allows us to, well, play. To be a little silly. And that was the lesson of Iwerks’ “Worldbuilders.”

“It’s about original thinking,” Iwerks says, when asked whether she believes it’s important to continually document the Disney theme parks. “So much of Imagineering is focused on original thinking. People can be really smart, but it doesn’t mean they’re an original thinker. One of the greatest things in the world is to create something out of nothing.”

We may arrive at a “Frozen” land wanting to see Anna, Elsa or, especially, the robotic Olaf, but we remember it because it gave us permission to imagine an alternate, more fanciful reality. Thus, it’s a treatise that it is not the intellectual property that makes Disneyland unique; it’s the belief in a more communal, playful world.

Speaking of D23 …

Theme park fans should get ready for some news this weekend.

Expect updates and details on previously announced — and well into development projects — such as Disney California Adventure’s “Coco” boat ride and two Marvel attractions, which will effectively double that park’s Avengers Campus. The centerpiece of the latter is a ride featuring many of the Avengers in battle across the multiverse with King Thanos.

The attraction, first announced in 2019, was given a name at 2024’s D23, Avengers Infinity Defense, and it will feature locations such as the Black Panther nation of Wakanda, Asgard and New York City. Early looks have it leaning heavily on visual effects interspersed with physical sets, but expect a deeper unveiling this weekend.

A recent photo of construction at Disney California Adventure’s Avengers Campus, where two attractions are under development.

(Todd Martens / Los Angeles Times)

Longer-term, fans are eager for word on what’s planned with the “Avatar” franchise, previously announced to take over part of the Hollywood-themed section of the park currently home to a “Monsters, Inc.” family dark ride. That attraction, Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue!, is slated to close in 2027 to make way for the Cameron-created franchise. There’s been some chatter, most of it online-driven and unsubstantiated, that Disney would pivot from “Avatar” to instead center “Zootopia,” but I’m not convinced. Clarity will arrive in the coming days.

I’ll refrain from diving too heavily into rumors, but expect at least one longer-term hint at a bigger swing, hopefully, for instance, the reimagined plans for what is currently the Toy Story Lot, as well as nearer-term updates on Disneyland’s post-70th entertainment. Fans, of course, will forever be hoping for Walt Disney Imagineering, the division of the company responsible for theme park experiences, to unveil that it is remaking Tomorrowland, which, while home to many a popular attraction, is also stuck with a number of underutilized buildings. While I encourage optimism and dreaming as much as any Disney parks fan, I’ll believe it when I see it.

Disneyland fans, however, may have to come to grips with the fact that some of the most exciting updates will be centered on Florida’s Walt Disney World. Imagineering is expected to at long last detail the attractions coming to the Magic Kingdom’s hotly-anticipated Villain’s Land. Also of note, a reveal of the “Encanto” attraction plotted soon for Animal Kingdom.

This week in SoCal theme parks

Key issues remain in union contract talks between the Walt Disney Co. and its parade, show and costumed characters.

(Jae C. Hong / Associated Press)

• A dispute in contract talks. Disneyland employees behind its parade, show and costumed characters have been negotiating their first union contract with the Walt Disney Co. since October 2024. The two sides remain apart on a number of key issues. Disney’s proposal to the roughly 1,700 workers represented by Actors’ Equity omits paid parental leave and cuts paid holidays from 12 to 11, according to an April 6 email reviewed by The Times. Disney says no benefits are being cut because the unit organized in 2024 and the talks are setting first-contract terms rather than modifying an existing agreement. Times Business writers Wendy Lee and Samantha Masunaga have more on the negotiations.
• New sound barriers coming to Hollywood Drift, says councilmember. Universal Studios Hollywood appears to be taking steps to address noise complaints regarding its new high-speed, outdoor roller coaster. The office of L.A. City Councilmember Adrin Nazarian stated the theme park will install two additional sound barriers to mitigate the sound of rider screams on its new ride Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift, which have been described by nearby residents as “disturbing” and “untenable.” Nazarian’s office made the announcement Monday evening on social media. A Universal Studios Hollywood spokesperson has not yet responded to a request for comment.
• Montezooma’s is now open! Knott’s Berry Farm’s four-year overhaul of Montezooma’s Revenge into Montezooma: The Forbidden Fortress has reached its conclusion. The historic ride began welcoming guests late last week. Look for a report on the remodeled attraction here soon.
• Attendance at Disney parks is up. The Walt Disney Co. noted in its recent earnings call that attendance at its domestic parks for the three-month period that ended June 27 is up 3% over the comparable period last year. International visits remain a challenge, but the company noted that summer promotions helped fuel the increase, especially at Florida’s Walt Disney World.
• Cheap! A full year of Knott’s! At a time when it seems like everything is getting more expensive, Knott’s Berry Farm is currently running a heavy sale on 2027 season passes. Through Sept. 7, a base level pass is just $99, down from its non-sale price of $215. A “gold pass,” which also includes admission to Six Flags Magic Mountain, is currently $129, down from $240. while a “prestige pass,” which includes parking and a number of other perks, is $329, down from $399.
• Slash is back at Halloween Horror Nights. Guns ‘N Roses guitar slinger Slash is a staple at Universal Studios Hollywood’s Halloween Horror Nights, and is returning to create a soundtrack for a haunted house this year. Slash is providing music for a house titled ‘“Killceañera: Music by Slash,” an original maze that flips the script on a teenage rite of passage. Here, a 15-year-old girl seeks revenge on those who have wronged her. Halloween Horror Nights begins Sept. 3.

The best thing I ate at the parks this week

The fish and chips from Gordon Ramsay at the Carnaby at Downtown Disney.

(Todd Martens / Los Angeles Times)

I admit, Downtown Disney’s Gordon Ramsay at the Carnaby is growing on me, especially if one can get seated on the outdoor bar patio, which is far more welcoming than the pub’s indoor bar. I found the latter a little cold and unwelcoming, but the back patio is more lively, especially with pennant race baseball on its big screen TV. I finished a recent Disneyland day with the Carnaby’s fish and chips, which is essentially one giant piece of cod with fries and “mushy peas.” It’s pricey, at $33, but it’s also incredibly hefty and filling. It’s certainly the strongest fish and chips on Disneyland property, and sea salt-infused batter was so crisp and rich that it almost felt wrong to slather the fish in tartar sauce. I couldn’t quite place my finger on the flavor — I’ve read that Ramsay’s fish and chips recipe includes custard powder — but there was a burnt buttery tone that was far from dry. I’ll be back.

Tell us your stories. Ask us your questions.

Have a theme park tale to share? Whether it was a good day or less-than-perfect day, I would love to hear about it. Have a question? A tip? A fun photo from the parks to share? Email me at todd.martens@latimes.com. I may feature your note in an upcoming newsletter.

Ride on,

Todd Martens

P.S.

Stay tuned to Mr. Todd’s Wild Ride this week for all the big Disney parks news from D23. Saturday evening Disney will be hosting a panel at the Honda Center to reveal new details on attractions coming to its theme parks around the world, and I’ll be there delivering breaking coverage straight to your inbox.

Also, say hi if you see me wandering the Anaheim Convention Center. I’ll have Mr. Todd’s Wild Ride stickers to share.