Josh D’Amaro used a D23 media briefing on Sunday, Aug. 16, to put Disneyland’s next phase on the table, pairing new project announcements with a reminder that Disney still sees its California flagship as a place where old and new have to work together. Speaking at the Anaheim Convention Center with Ginnifer Goodwin, he said the company is pushing forward on major additions while keeping the resort’s core identity intact.
The timing mattered because Disney spent the three-day D23 fan expo over the weekend revealing fresh details on an Avengers Campus expansion, a Coco boat ride, an Avatar themed land at Disney California Adventure and an ambitious Tomorrowland makeover at Disneyland. That gave fans a clearer look at what is moving from idea to reality, and why D’Amaro, who took over as Disney CEO from Bob Iger in March after previously running Disney Experiences and serving as Disneyland Resort President, is now putting the spotlight on the parks business.
For D’Amaro, the pitch was rooted in memory as much as planning. He recalled his first meeting at Disneyland after joining Disney in 1998, when the discussion was about where to place the trash cans during construction on Main Street USA. He said he sat there thinking, “Are you kidding me?” But what stayed with him was not the debate itself. It was the standard behind it. He said he was struck by the detail, the excellence and the concern for fan experience that shaped even the smallest choices.
That same approach now appears to guide the next wave of work at Disneyland resort. D’Amaro said there is more happening at Disney right now than at any time in the company’s history, and he said there is dirt moving and steel being bent. But he also drew a line between what is announced and what survives. A lot of ideas, he said, are scrapped in Walt Disney Imagineering’s design process. If they are not good enough, they are put on the floor and started over. The standard, he said, has to be perfect.
That friction is what gives the briefing its weight. Disney is advertising one of its busiest creative stretches while also acknowledging that most concepts never make it past the drawing stage. The company wants to keep the classic feel of Disneyland while taking bold steps into the future, and D’Amaro said that balance will always be part of the job. He said Disney will respect the legacy and what is meaningful to people around the world while still moving ahead with audacious new ideas.
He tied that thinking to the next generation of fans as well, saying Disney wants them to connect with Disney, Pixar, Marvel and Star Wars storytelling through video games and then take the next step back to Disneyland, the place built in 1955 where it all began. That is the real measure of the projects unveiled over the weekend. The question is no longer whether Disney is investing in Disneyland resort. It is how many of these plans survive the filter, and which ones become the attractions that define the park’s next era.
