Avengers Campus Is Expanding at Disney California Adventure
Avengers Campus is set to grow at Disney California Adventure. Here is what has been announced and where the expansion stands today.
Todd Ruffner-Schoenfeld
Editor in chief. A knack for the fine print, and likes it.
Behind Cars Land at Disney California Adventure, a steel box the size of a small arena has been climbing skyward for the better part of a year. In February 2026, Disneyland President Thomas Mazloum posted photos of cast members signing one of its beams, a ceremony held backstage behind Radiator Springs Racers. That beam is inside the show building now, part of the biggest thing Disney has put up on this coast in years.
This is the Avengers Campus expansion. Disney announced it at D23 in August 2024, when Josh D’Amaro, chairman of Disney Experiences, walked onstage during the Horizons showcase and said the land would double in size with two new attractions. Construction started the following year. It has since gone vertical, reaching that milestone ahead of the company’s Tropical Americas project in Florida.
The rides
The headliner is Avengers Infinity Defense. Disney’s own description has you assembling the Avengers to battle King Thanos, a multiverse variant of the villain, as he wreaks havoc across worlds. You travel to Asgard, Wakanda, and New York City alongside Black Panther, Ant-Man, and the Hulk, with Tony Stark voiced again by Robert Downey Jr. Kevin Feige, president of Marvel Studios, called it “by far the largest collection of heroes we’ve ever put into an attraction.” The ride vehicle borrows from Stark’s time suits, Xandarian jump points, and Wakandan technology, and Imagineering describes the whole thing as a blend of large-scale built sets and immersive media.
It’s an E-ticket, Disney’s term for its most ambitious rides. In August 2026, filmmaker Leslie Iwerks previewed the ride system in an upcoming Disney+ documentary called Disney Worldbuilders and said it uses screens that shift with a guest’s point of view, built to “redefine what a themed experience can be.” There is a lot here to look forward to.
The second attraction is Stark Flight Lab. You board a two-person pod inside Tony’s workshop, a robotic arm reaches down, grabs the pod, and lifts it off the track to fling you through a flight simulation. It’s smaller in scope than Infinity Defense and gives the expansion a family-friendly counterweight to the big group ride.
Where things stand
As of summer 2026, the main show building is largely enclosed. Its final exterior paneling is still to come, and much of the upper structure currently sits under black tarps. Steel frames are up on the roof for themed elements. The entrance canopy is in with its white beams, and signage installation has started. Over at Stark Flight Lab, crews have been working the roof and the interior systems. Disney is even adding a new restroom building on the walkway between Avengers Campus and Cars Land, a detail that speaks to the crowds the expansion is preparing to welcome.
There’s an exciting behind-the-scenes milestone too. A test-and-adjust team is already assembled, the group that figures out queue layouts, works out how to load and unload ride vehicles safely, and trains the people who will run the place. Teams like that come together when opening day is a real target on the horizon.
Disney has not announced an opening year yet. Every date attached to this land so far is an estimate, and the most prominent ones come from analysts tracking construction pace against similar projects. Disney Tourist Blog’s Tom Bricker has estimated late 2027, floating a window that stretches from late 2027 into spring or summer 2028. Those are educated guesses based on how fast the steel is going up.
The next big moment to watch is D23 2026, happening this month, where an opening year could be revealed. Fans will be watching closely.
The latest
This story is tracked live and will update if D23 2026 moves it.
This is part of our live tracker of every new land and ride Disney announced at D23 2024. See where all eleven stand: D23 2026, live: every Disney parks reveal, and the latest on what is coming.
- Marvel.com – all the Avengers Campus news from D23 2024
- Disney Experiences – the Avengers Campus expansion, official
- Disney Tourist Blog – Disney’s massive Marvel expansion hits a major milestone
- WDW News Today, July 2026 – aerial look at Avengers Campus construction
- Disney Tourist Blog – 12 things Disney will and won’t announce at the 2026 D23 expo
Reported and edited to HeadLines Decoded newsroom standards. E.G. v4.16 · I.R.G. v1.13 · L.R.G. v1.9 · P.L.G. v1.10 · SEO G. v1.5 · AI Detection Gate v1.0. Part of our live tracker of Disney’s newest announcements from D23 and where each one stands today.
Live updates
[Aug 16, 2:30 p.m. PT] A casting note worth pausing on: Disney confirmed Robert Downey Jr. reprises Iron Man in both new Avengers Campus rides, Avengers Infinity Defense and Stark Flight Lab. It is a striking split for the actor, who gets to play the hero Tony Stark in the parks at the very moment he is playing the villain Doctor Doom in Avengers: Doomsday on screen.
[Aug 15, 10:14 p.m. PT] Disney confirmed which stars are reprising their roles. Iman Vellani gives the Infinity Defense briefing as Ms. Marvel, with Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Anthony Mackie, and Jeremy Renner back as Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, and Hawkeye, and Brie Larson’s Captain Marvel joins the crew at Stark Flight Lab.
[Aug 15, 9:45 p.m. PT] Disney went deep on both rides, and both open in 2028. Avengers Infinity Defense casts guests as new recruits, briefed by Ms. Marvel, on a mission to reassemble the Avengers against King Thanos. Riders travel to Asgard, Wakanda, and New York City alongside Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, Captain Marvel, and Hawkeye, moving through massive physical sets blended with large media scenes. Stark Flight Lab is a gyro-kinetic ride whose two-person pods roll along a track to a giant robot arm for a flight-training run.
[Aug 15, 9:15 p.m. PT] Disney detailed both rides. Avengers Infinity Defense is a multi-world battle against King Thanos alongside Black Panther, Ant-Man, and the Hulk. Stark Flight Lab features Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark and a giant robot arm that grabs a guest’s pod and lifts it off the track. Construction has begun.
[Aug 15, 8:20 p.m. PT] Disney said Avengers Campus at Disney California Adventure will roughly double in size, adding two attractions named Avengers Infinity Defense and Stark Flight Lab.
[Aug 14, 4:13 p.m. PT] At the Imagineering: Horizons pavilion, Disney displayed a model of the Avengers Campus expansion at Disney California Adventure, along with a maquette of the Stark Flight Lab ride vehicle.
