4. Australia or South America for Disney’s Animal Kingdom

Disney’s Animal Kingdom has long been the subject to a similar series of rumors to Epcot: when will Imagineers add another animal-focused land?

The two most likely candidates have been Australia and South America. Imagineer Joe Rodhe has shut down the Australia idea before based on the idea that the lands at Disney’s Animal Kingdom are more focused on animal biomes than specific continents. While that’s the standard argument, there are some significant holes in it—both Australia and South America host a range of biomes with noteworthy differences from Africa and Asia, and both are home to some of the world’s most unique animals. Either continent would be a worthwhile addition to Walt Disney World.

While we would love to see either Australia or South America added to Disney’s Animal Kingdom, there is something of an elephant in the room that could keep such an idea from moving forward—controversy. We live in a quite different world from the time when Disney’s Animal Kingdom opened, and while animal rescue and breeding programs can be commended, Disney would need to be extremely mindful of where any new animals added to Disney’s Animal Kingdom would come from. Without a strong conservation plan in place, they could earn more bad press than they can afford. The nuances of adding new animals to the park are complex enough that it seems unlikely Disney will move on such an addition any time soon.

5. The long-overdue Tomorrowland overhaul

It’s one of the oldest problems in Disney’s history—keeping Tomorrowland ahead of the curb. The problem with a land themed after the world of tomorrow is that tomorrow eventually becomes today…

Disney has tried multiple strategies to accomplish deal with this problem, and it isn’t necessarily something we’ve never seen happen. Magic Kingdom’s Tomorrowland did get an excellent overhaul in the 90’s, complete with an entertaining backstory reminiscent of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

The problem is that yet again, Tomorrowland has yet again become OldSciFi-land.

The difficulty of maintaining a science fiction land is that eventually science fiction becomes science fact. It’s a genre that continuously changes. Though they bought themselves a few decades, Tomorrowland has once again reached that point where it has started to feel dated.

The smartest move many have suggested would be to lean into the model used by Disneyland Paris and Tokyo Disneyland—give up on the “Tomorrow” part of things (Epcot has that covered) and lean into a celebration of classic discovery science fiction like the works of Jules Verne. This would help instill a timelessness to Tomorrowland, celebrating discovery literature and science fiction as a whole.

The only problem is Disney has leaned hard into focusing on popular intellectual properties, and they are nearing completion on the construction of a long-awaited and distinctly futuristic attraction that wouldn’t match the Jules Verne idea at all: TRON Lightcycle/Run.

We aren’t certain what Disney might cook up, but an update of some sort for Tomorrowland does seem inevitable eventually.

6. The Fifth Gate

It’s one the oldest rumors of them all—when will Disney finally move forward on a fifth theme park for Walt Disney World? Many possibilities have been considered: a villains park, a full Star Wars park, a classic-characters park, or a retry on the Beastly Kingdom concept. Every time Disney expands their property or files for a fresh permit, the rumor reappears on blogs across the internet.

There are certainly plenty of reasons Disney could benefit from another park at Walt Disney World—foremost of which is that Universal Orlando Resort is quickly closing the gap with the development of their fourth gate, Epic Universe. Along with regaining Disney’s edge, a fifth park could help disperse crowds more evenly and allow Disney to try new ideas.

Of all on the rumors on this list, however, this one remains the least likely to happen anytime soon.

Disney is having to do a lot in the current season to keep guests invested in their current parks and regain revenue lost during the pandemic. They haven’t maxed out the possibilities at Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Until some major changes take place, we don’t expect Disney to pull the trigger on another gate unless they have an incredibly unique concept in mind that could only be achieved with such a bold move.

What other rumored Disney attractions have you been waiting years for? Let us know in the comments or on Facebook! Thanks for reading!