When the Disney Parks were forced to shut down during the pandemic a lot that was planned to happen inside them changed. New attractions that were under construction were significantly delayed and others that had not yet been started were postponed. But it’s now been so long that many fully expected these attractions to be completely cancelled, but an update from Disney CEO Bob Chapek implies we could still see them eventually.
Today was the Annual Shareholders Meeting for the Walt Disney Company and during the event’s Q&A session a shareholder asked about the status of some of the projects with nebulous futures. The planned Mary Poppins attraction and the E-ticket Quinjet ride at Disney California Adventure’s Avengers Campus were specifically referenced.
Disney CEO Bob Chapek responded by saying that the company was currently “in a holding pattern” regarding these attractions. He cited the company’s liquidity as the major factor in the delay. TWDC simply doesn’t have the cash it once did due to the pandemic’s financial toll. He also said, however, the company hoped to return the funding for those attractions in the future.
This is the first time that anybody has spoken about these attractions in quite some time, which is the main reason that most people thought these things weren’t so much delayed as completely cancelled. If we take the CEO at his word, there is still a chance we could see them.
To be sure, these things won’t be happening anytime soon. Epcot’s massive construction efforts have been underway since before the pandemic and there’s a lot still left to be done. The Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind roller coaster will open later this year. A new Moana attraction is also planned in the park, and these things will almost certainly be completed before anything new is begun.
The same is true at Disneyland Resort. Efforts in the California resort are already focused on a major renovation of Mickey’s Toontown at Disneyland and a significant overhaul to the Downtown Disney district, so seeing work on the Avengers Campus E-ticket will certainly take time. Having said that, since the newest land at Disneyland Resort only has one attraction, something is certainly needed in that space.
And it’s always possible these rides will still never happen. By the time Disney is in a place to actually build them there may be so many more other ideas that they simply get left behind. Or even if these attractions do happen, they could end up being significantly reimagined to the point where they have little in common with the original concepts. This wouldn’t be the first time that happened, to be sure. But there is still hope for fans that these attractions can still happen, and that’s something.
