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Guide2WDW is the go-to resource for Disney World beginners and experts alike. With tips on how to save money, advice on when to go, and info on all the attractions and restaurants, we hope to help you make the most of you Walt Disney World vacation. http://guide2wdw.com
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09/04/2026

🏠👀 Disney just revealed a future illusion in the Encanto ride, and it hasn’t even opened yet.
Spoiler warning in case you don’t want to know what magic will be in store at Casita.

Disney World just shared new concept art of Antonio’s Fiesta de Encanto inside Casita, with Abuela above you, butterflies in the air, and the ride vehicles climbing up the staircase to make it to Antonio’s room.

Except your ride vehicle won’t actually be doing that, because this whole scene is very likely an optical illusion.
How do I know? This concept art has an uncanny resemblance to artwork in a patent Disney filed last year called “Elevation Change Illusion Through Set Design.”

The ride vehicle doesn’t move up the stairs. It stays on level ground. The floor is flat, but the set is tilted by about 15 degrees. This creates a new vanishing point that visually tells you the horizon is below you. And Abuela’s placement helps with that: the patent calls this window a focal point. So as you look up at her, and everything around you is angled, your brain says I am climbing up.

And here’s the trick inside the trick: at the top, the walls straighten out and the ride just keeps going on the “second floor.” And you can reverse the angle if you ever need to come “back down.”

But the weird thing is Disney rides have changed elevations before without illusions. So why go to all this trouble? The patent is actually pretty honest: keeping everything on one level simplifies building and maintaining an attraction. And if you can trick everyone into thinking there’s a second level, why go to the expense of building one?

And Casita is an impossible building with giant spaces on the inside, so keeping everything on one level probably helps Disney use more of that gigantic show building for the ride’s sets.

What other secrets will this ride have in its drawers, floors, and doors? Follow Guide2WDW, because I’ll be covering them here. 🦋

09/01/2026

🐙🍣 I saw Disney’s NEW Monsters, Inc animatronics up close and in person at Imagineering, and I can finally talk about them.

At least three scary good monster animatronics will be part of Monstropolis when it opens next year at Disney World, and Disney hasn’t shown two of them publicly.

First, the octopus Sushi Chef, who will be the focal point at Harryhausen’s, the signature restaurant coming to the land. This animatronic is so delightful, straight out of the movie, fluid and expressive and so big he towered over the counter. And that counter in front of him will show gags as he’s preparing caterpillar rolls and the like.

The next animatronics will be at the Welcome to Monstropolis show. Variety reports that Imagineering is working with ILM and Pixar for a show that combines innovative tech with theatrical illusions and “physical elements that truly are there.” I can confirm two of the monsters in the concept art will be physically there as animatronics: the camera operator with multiple eyes, and the shaggy one-monster band with multiple arms playing different instruments.

Seeing these monsters in person and how playful and inventive they are has me extremely excited for how Disney is going to make Monstropolis feel like a lived in monster city, and nervous for how hard it’s going to be to get a reservation to see the Sushi Chef at work at Harryhausen’s.

Which of these animatronics are you most excited to see when phase one of Monstropolis opens next year at Hollywood Studios? Let me know. 🤖

08/28/2026

🌴 The tiny palm trees in Imagineering’s newest video has me way too excited. But for a good reason.

The latest episode of We Call It Imagineering from Walt Disney Imagineering & Disney Live Entertainment shows how Disney’s building Piston Peak, Villains Land, Tropical Americas, and more — and it gets into the nitty gritty details I live for.

First, Imagineers have already conducted balloon tests for both the Cars land and Villains Land at Magic Kingdom.

They float massive balloons high in the sky to see how the height of the Piston Peak mountain tops and Maleficent’s fortress relate to each other and the sightlines throughout the rest of the park. They even lowered the height of Piston Peak to make everything the right scale.

And speaking of scale, back to that tiny palm tree.

For Encanto at Animal Kingdom, Disney is using forced perspective. The basic concept is smaller objects look like they’re further away, and that can make things look bigger than they actually are. Disney uses this all the time in buildings and rockwork, but they’re even using the palm trees for forced perspective, placing different sized trees to make sure Casita looks big like it does in the movie.

And the tiny palm trees up on the mountains are not only smaller to make them look further away, but also paler. Because of atmospheric perspective, objects further away from you look less saturated, have less contrast, and have a cooler color temperature.

So these palm trees help the mountains feel bigger and further away.

That big scale plus the detail work they’re doing on the ground level looks like it will create immersion and texture in Tropical Americas that fits in with the rest of Animal Kingdom in a way that really was not there before with Dinoland USA.

And it’s why I love that Disney makes We Call It Imagineering. It really shows how the smallest details can do huge work for creating these new lands.

You can watch the new episode on the Walt Disney Imagineering YouTube channel.

What detail from Disney’s future lands are you most excited about? Let me know. 🌴🏰

08/26/2026

🤖🤠 Wait, Disneyland’s Indiana Jones animatronic is NOT Harrison Ford?

Here’s why everyone thinks it is Ford.

Disney just made a big deal at D23 that Harrison Ford will appear as an animatronic for the first time ever in Animal Kingdom’s upcoming Indiana Jones ride: Indiana Jones and the Myth of the Jade Serpent.

And a lot of people said: that can’t be right… then who’s that guy in Disneyland’s Indiana Jones Adventure?

That’s actually Kirkland Signature Harrison Ford.

Back in the early 90s, Disney licensed the character of Indiana Jones from Lucasfilm for the Disneyland ride, but that agreement didn’t include Harrison Ford’s likeness. So the animatronics do not feature Ford’s face.

Except you actually DO see Harrison Ford’s face in two different places at Disneyland. 

In the preshow, there’s an image of Ford as Dr. Jones — best I can tell, Imagineers reused a publicity photo from The Last Crusade. I believe this means Disney could use existing promotional materials as part of the agreement with Lucasfilm. They just couldn’t make new imagery with Ford as Indy.

But then, what about the poster? That’s definitely a new image with Harrison Ford’s face. What gives?

To create the poster, Disney hired legendary artist Drew Struzan, who painted the posters for the Indiana Jones and Star Wars movies. The likeness rights posed a big problem for Struzan. If he painted Indiana Jones without Harrison’s likeness, he’d look like he couldn’t do it. So according to the book Poster Art of the Disney Parks, Struzan called up Harrison Ford, who told him “If you’re painting it then you go right ahead” — as a personal favor.

Because guests have seen Ford’s face in the poster and the preshow, I think Disney gets away with legally-not-Harrison-Ford animatronics being close enough. Like every good Kirkland Signature product, it does the job.

But in Animal Kingdom, we’ll see Ford in the preshow and as an Indy animatronic when Myth of the Jade Serpent opens.
Do you think Disneyland will ever update their ride with the real thing? Let me know. 👀

08/24/2026

🪞The “Disney Villains boat ride” is not a boat ride.

Disney World just announced a Magic Mirror Villains crossover ride coming to Villains Land, and I’ve seen so many people calling it the Villains boat ride. But there’s a lot of evidence that this isn’t a boat.

Yes, there were those rumors about a Maleficent boat ride at Villains Land, the concept art shows a boat, and the ride vehicle is moving through a river of mist.

But I think this vehicle is just styled to look like a boat, like how Runaway Railway has trackless ride vehicles that look like train cars.

And this Villains ride vehicle has a lot of clues for what kind of ride this could be:

First, it has 15 seats. The Shanghai Pirates ride system the rumors were pointing to has 30 seats, so this isn’t that.

But more importantly, look at the high walls on each side and the lap bars. No Disney boat ride has ever had high walls on the sides like this. You know what two rides have vehicles that look very similar with high walls? Avengers Infinity Defense at California Adventure and Peter Pan’s Never Land Adventure at Tokyo DisneySea.

So what kind of ride is that? In Peter Pan, the ride vehicle has a motion base with 6 degrees of freedom that pitches and tilts as it moves through the physical space, and can even do motion simulation sequences. Avengers is rumored to be a similar ride. And if you’ve ever been on Spider-Man at Islands of Adventure, it’s a similar concept.

Interestingly, the riders in this concept art aren’t wearing 3D glasses, and Disney talked up physical sets and a theatrical experience for the Magic Mirror ride. So this says to me: Peter Pan’s ride system, without the 3D screens.

And the last piece of evidence is the most convincing. Disney hasn’t officially said what the ride system is, but they’ve been consistently calling this a dark ride, not a boat ride. Compare that to Coco, which they do call a boat ride. And at D23, Disney even told Attractions Magazine the Magic Mirror dark ride is not a boat ride.

So, are you convinced this isn’t a boat ride? Let me know. 👀

08/19/2026

🚨 Disney just admitted the big problem with Tomorrowland.

I attended a media briefing where Jill Estorino, President of Disneyland Resort, and Imagineer Emo O’Brien laid out the vision for Disneyland’s reimagined Tomorrowland, just announced at D23. Four big takeaways:

First, the team leading this has a stellar track record. Estorino and O’Brien last collaborated on Fantasy Springs at Tokyo DisneySea. O’Brien said that’s “the level of storytelling we like to dive into.” O’Brien is also overseeing Tokyo Disneyland’s own reimagined Tomorrowland Plaza opening next year.

Second, the creative direction. The concept art Disney released at D23 says “A Vista into a world of wondrous ideas,” a direct quote from Walt’s opening day dedication speech. Disney says Walt’s original vision for Tomorrowland is their north star, making sure that Walt’s optimism for the future is at the core of Tomorrowland.

But this won’t just be a recreation of 1955. Disney says they’ll honor that legacy while evolving it for new and future generations. Going back to Tomorrowland’s origins should help it feel more timeless.

Third, expect new attractions plus real open space for people to gather. Open and inviting does not describe today’s Tomorrowland, so this signals significant change. This won’t just be an updated paint job.

Fourth, and this is the one that has me most excited: Estorino directly quoted fan criticism of the current Tomorrowland, like that there’s “very little tomorrow in Tomorrowland,” that the classic land “feels a bit tired,” and that the construction wall “will soon be of legal drinking age in some territories.” (That last gem is from Disney Tourist Blog.)

Estorino admitted it’s all true.

The fact that Disney sees the problems and admits it to the media goes a long way in telling me they’ll be able to deliver the Tomorrowland fans have been wanting for decades. One that I personally hope will move people, if you catch my drift. (Disney didn’t mention any specifics on what the new attractions will be, but a man can dream).

What do you want to see from this new Tomorrowland? Let me know. 🚀

08/18/2026

🏰🔮 Disney revealed the opening order for its 4 new Disneyland expansions.

During a media briefing Jill Estorino, the new President of Disneyland, laid out the order of the four big upcoming projects.
First up: the Avengers Campus expansion in California Adventure, with Infinity Defense and Stark Flight Lab. Construction is already well underway, and it opens in 2028.

Second: Disney said the Coco boat ride opens next. Earliest that would be is also 2028, but — and this is my speculation — there might be natural synergy with the Coco 2 movie coming out in late 2029.

That’s a lot for California Adventure. After Coco, Disney said the next project to open is the new Tomorrowland at Disneyland. Details are very scarce right now, but on stage at D23, Thomas Mazloum did mention the 75th anniversary of Disneyland as part of the lead-up to this announcement. That’s July 17, 2030 — less than 4 years from now.

To be clear, Disney didn’t give an opening date or say anything about an opening timeline for Tomorrowland, but the 75th makes sense to me as a natural target.

And after Tomorrowland at Disneyland, there’s Avatar at California Adventure. It’s not cancelled. It’s still very much happening, and they showed the model of the land at D23. But we’re still a long way from visiting Pandora in California. Avatar movies and lands always take a long time to come out, but so far they’ve all been worth the wait.

Which new addition to Disneyland are you most excited about? Let me know! 🎢

Just added today to the Imagineering: Horizons pavilion: a model of the Jade Serpent from Indiana Jones and the Myth of ...
08/16/2026

Just added today to the Imagineering: Horizons pavilion: a model of the Jade Serpent from Indiana Jones and the Myth of the Jade Serpent. This thing is MASSIVE. You will encounter this mythical serpent on your journey through the Mayan underworld in the new ride.

There’s also new concept art for the queue added today. They’ve been showing the model of the temple all show, but I’m including it because it’s stunning.
The level of detail and research here is incredible. I am very excited to see how this attraction comes together.

I just got to briefly talk Figment and the Yeti with Josh D’Amaro. He’s as excited about them as anyone else I’ve talked...
08/16/2026

I just got to briefly talk Figment and the Yeti with Josh D’Amaro. He’s as excited about them as anyone else I’ve talked to at D23. His genuine enthusiasm and optimism about the parks and the company is a big reason to be excited about the future of the company.

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