News

2022 D23 Expo Announcement: Magic Kingdom Additions and Opening Seasons

Neon lights and speeding lightcycles will fill Tomorrowland as your chance to enter the grid with TRON Lightcycle / Run arrives in spring 2023. You’ll climb aboard your very own Lightcycle and race through a dark, computerized world alongside your family and friends. As you swoop and swerve throughout the course, your team will compete to be the first to race through eight Energy Gates and claim victory.

The Hatbox Ghost

Another addition to Magic Kingdom comes in the way of a fan-favorite attraction character. The Hatbox Ghost will be added to Magic Kingdom’s edition of the ride in 2023!

Tiana’s Bayou Adventure

Tiana’s Bayou Adventure will take you along with Princess Tiana, Prince Naveen and their friends as they host a party at Tiana’s Place for the people of New Orleans. It’s up to you to help find the missing ingredient when this exciting new attraction opens in late 2024.

Commentary

We’ll start with the opening dates, as there’s not much to add about them at this point and very little new information about the attractions in regards to plot points or design. They are both a little later than I expected to be honest. Tiana’s Bayou Adventure makes sense because the company will give Splash Mountain a bit of a sendoff and then they have to get to work on the redesigned attraction.

Tron, on the other hand, has been under construction for an incredible amount of time. Yes, the pandemic played a role in how slow it has been to open. With test rides going on, I thought there was a chance that they’d rush the attraction to the end of the year. Instead, Tron will come in the spring of next year. Plan accordingly!

Tron billboard construction MK

Adding the Hatbox Ghost to Magic Kingdom’s Haunted Mansion is an easy win for Imagineering. This is a move for Parks fans, as the Hatbox Ghost is one of the most beloved characters created specifically for a Disney theme park. There weren’t details given but I would guess they’d put the character close to where he is in Disneyland’s version, right before the descent down into the graveyard.

The Hatbox Ghost addition before the Haunted Mansion film comes out also makes sense as he seems to have a prominent role in the film. Jared Leto was cast as the character, a big name for the movie. Regardless of what happens with that film, we’re excited to see the Hatbox Ghost coming to Disney World!

What do you think of these announcements? Let us know your thoughts, along with any questions you might have, in the comments below! Planning a trip to Walt Disney World? Check out our Disney World Trip Planning Guide to help you out. If you enjoy what you are reading here on Wandering in Disney please share this post with your friends, as well as like our social media pages. You can also subscribe to the blog via WordPress or email. All of those links are on the right side of this page. Thank you for reading, we really appreciate it!

2 replies »

Leave a Reply