D23 2026, Decoded: The 10 Biggest Reveals, the 10 Quietest, and the 10 No One Saw Coming

Three days, three showcases, and dozens of announcements. Some will reshape the parks for a decade. Some were over the moment they were read off the card. And a handful genuinely stopped the room. We sorted every confirmed D23 2026 reveal into three lists: the ten that matter most, the ten that landed softest, and the ten that caught even devoted fans off guard.

The 10 most interesting

1. Avengers: Doomsday gets its first look. The Russo brothers’ film arrives December 18, 2026, with Robert Downey Jr. now playing Doctor Doom and a cast that pulls heroes from three different universes onto one collision course. See our Doomsday breakdown.
2. The X-Men officially join the MCU. Jake Schreier’s film (May 5, 2028) named its team, led by Sadie Sink as Jean Grey and Kit Connor as Cyclops.
3. Villains Land is real. Magic Kingdom is building an entire land around a corrupted wishing well, anchored by a Maleficent coaster and the Magic Mirror-hosted Mirror Realm dark ride. More in our Villains Land story.
4. Piston Peak becomes the biggest expansion in Magic Kingdom history. The Cars land drops the Cars Ridge Run Rally and Miss Fritter’s Daredevil Spin-Along into Frontierland.
5. Frozen 3 has a date and new music. It opens November 24, 2027, with two new Lopez songs and a villainess said to rival Elsa. See the Frozen 3 details.
6. Indiana Jones and the Myth of the Jade Serpent. Animal Kingdom’s Tropical Americas will feature the first Harrison Ford Audio-Animatronic likeness ever built for a Disney ride.
7. Antonio’s Fiesta de Encanto. The first Encanto ride reunites the film’s voices, Stephanie Beatriz, Jessica Darrow and Diane Guerrero, on a family attraction with no height requirement.
8. Star Wars: Starfighter. Shawn Levy puts Ryan Gosling in the cockpit for a May 28, 2027 release.
9. Coco 2 sets a course for 2029. A teenage Miguel returns to the Land of the Dead, and the same world anchors the new Kingdom Hearts IV. See our Coco 2 story.
10. Avengers Campus doubles down. Disney California Adventure’s 2028 expansion adds Avengers: Infinity Defense and the Stark Flight Lab.

The 10 that landed quietest

1. Zootopia 3 is only “in early development.” A tease with returning voices but no release window.
2. Camp Rock 3 landed the same weekend. It is already streaming, so the reveal was really just a release.
3. The Formula 1 “Fuel the Magic” deal was extended. A marketing partnership stretched through 2028.
4. Mundo Pixar starts a U.S. tour. A traveling immersive exhibit rather than a park addition.
5. The Imagineering Story returns for a second season. A documentary about the very projects announced elsewhere in the room.
6. Test Track’s reopening. Welcome, but largely known and already rolling by showtime.
7. The anniversary slate. Milestone panels for Bedknobs and Broomsticks, Alice in Wonderland and more, warm but expected.
8. Marvel’s Wolverine got a date. Big for PlayStation owners, a footnote for everyone else.
9. The Bluey Movie. Beloved, and dated for August 6, 2027, but revealed with little drama.
10. The show-floor entertainment. Mousequerade and the Disney Rewind concert are a good time, but they are the weekend’s side dishes.

The 10 we were not ready for

1. Dreamfinder is coming back. Twenty-eight years after he was written out of EPCOT, a stubborn fan campaign finally won. Read why this one lands so hard.
2. Walt Disney will open the Carousel of Progress. A new Audio-Animatronic of Walt himself introduces the show he built for the 1964 World’s Fair, with Jamie Lee Curtis and Bryan Cranston as the family. See the Carousel refresh.
3. The Disco Yeti gets fixed. Expedition Everest’s famous frozen animatronic, dormant for most of the ride’s life, is being restored to full motion.
4. Gatto. A surprise Pixar film about a black cat indebted to a Venetian mob boss, with Mark Ruffalo and Laurence Fishburne, dated March 5, 2027.
5. Ghost Market. A second surprise Pixar film, set on O‘ahu’s North Shore, arriving March 2028.
6. Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion 2. The 1997 cult comedy gets a Hulu sequel with Lisa Kudrow and Mira Sorvino. See our Romy and Michele sequel breakdown.
7. The Greatest Showman becomes a stage musical. The 2017 film hits London’s West End in spring 2027.
8. Ultron returns. Marvel’s VisionQuest brings back James Spader’s Ultron to close the trilogy that began with WandaVision.
9. Spaceship Earth is finally being reimagined. After years of fan pleas, EPCOT’s sphere shifts from communication to human connection. See the Spaceship Earth story.
10. A Kingdom Hearts anime. Disney is making an original series with franchise creator Tetsuya Nomura, alongside the Kingdom Hearts IV game.

That last list is the real story of the weekend. Disney spent years learning that fans remember the surprises, and in 2026 it answered a few wishes people had almost stopped making out loud.

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Every reveal in one place: our Disney Parks at D23 2026 hub and Disney Film at D23 2026 hub.