This year in 2023, the Walt Disney Company celebrates 100 years of existence and operation. In October of 1923, Walt and Roy joined forces officially and opened their own studio together. Prior to that, Walt and his partner Ub Iwerks, had a studio called Laugh-o-gram Films Inc. from 1921 to 1922. Walt and Ub met during their time working at Gray Advertising Company, a company in which Roy introduced to Walt. The studio went bankrupt, and instead of giving up on his dream, Walt moved to Los Angeles in August 1923 to pitch his new series, The Alice Comedies. Winkler Pictures gave him a contract for 12 Alice cartoons, and it was time for Walt and Roy to make a name for themselves. Walt handled the creative side, while Roy handled the business side. Who would have thought that 2 brothers, a best friend, and a team of talented artists would create the giant that is the Walt Disney Company today, 100 years later. Many incredible feats were accomplished over the last century, so let’s have a look at some of the biggest accomplishments and major pivotal points that the company has had over each decade.

“I came to Hollywood and arrived here in August 1923 with forty dollars in my pocket and a coat and a pair of trousers that didn’t match. And one half of my suitcase had my shirts and underwear and things and the other half had my drawing materials.”

— Walt Disney

1920

Through their first decade, the animation studio saw 4 major shifts in content: from Alice, to Oswald, to Mickey, to Silly Symphonies.

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The Alice Comedies

The very first Alice picture was done while Walt was still at Laugh-o-gram Films, titled Alice’s Wonderland. It would be a low budget silent film just as a way to portray their creative idea to various distributors. After seeing a Warneke Bread commercial on TV, Walt spotted little Virginia Davis, who he soon after contacted to play the title role of Alice. The brothers moved to Hollywood, as well as Virginia and her family, and began shooting the new Alice shorts. From March 1924 to February 1925, she would work for Disney once or twice a week shooting, earning about $100 a month in the beginning. She starred in 13 Alice Comedies pictures. After number 13, she pulled out as her contract had ended, and the terms of the new contract stated that she wasn’t allowed to work on anything else. Though Virginia departed, Walt continued on to make 57 total Alice Comedies features.

Oswald the lucky rabbit

Charles Mintz, the film producer and distributor for Winkler Pictures (as well as Margaret J. Winkler’s husband), showed favorability over cartoons than humans being featured in the films. He also tasked the Disney team to come up with an all-new animal character to sell to Universal Studios, who was just starting up. Oswald the Lucky Rabbit was born, who was a cross between Felix the Cat and Disney’s own Julius the Cat, who starred in the Alice pictures. Oswald would be Universal’s brand new hit, with his first official release in September 1927 with Trolley Troubles. Walt and Roy’s salary increased exponentially, and a renewal contract was signed by Winkler in 1928 for 3 more years of Oswald cartoons. Walt was unsure about his professional relationship with Winkler at this point and if he was truly being paid fairly, and after several meetings, Walt decided to leave Winkler during the early parts of 1928. Because that distributor held the copyrights to the Oswald character, Walt could no longer use him in his own cartoons.

Mickey Mouse

With this loss in mind, Walt and Ub began dreaming up a new character who would be the face of their new cartoons. Walt sketched out a little mouse and Ub brought him to life, and with a little help from his wife Lillian, the name Mickey Mouse came to fruition. Just a few months after losing Oswald and his distributor, it was looking up for the company as they released the very first Mickey cartoon, Plane Crazy in May 1928. On November 18th, 1928, the short titled Steamboat Willie was the first animated short with synchronized sound. On May 28th, 1929, we heard Mickey say his first words in Karnival Kid, which are “hot dog!”

silly symphonies

To expand on their content and test new animation styles and storylines, the company began producing the Silly Symphony cartoons. The very first Silly Symphony was The Skeleton Dance in August 1929. Synchronized sound became a major part of storytelling after Mickey Mouse introduced it. Composer Carl Stalling began working with Disney as one of his earliest jobs after Walt spotted him directing an orchestra. He is credited for writing scores for the Mickey Mouse cartoons. In 1929, Stalling met with Ub and pitched the idea of The Skeleton Dance, using music to tell the story of these skeleton who come to life. The Silly Symphonies continued for another 10 years, promptly ending in 1939 as Disney began their venture into feature-length films. The Disney studio created 75 unique cartoons introducing so many important characters to their lore. These shorts carry the legacy of the important music plays in telling a story.

“The Silly Symphonies were started as an experiment. We used them to test and perfect the color and animation techniques employed later in full-length feature pictures like Cinderella, Snow White, and Fantasia.”

— Walt Disney

1930

The 1930s was a time of experimentation, introducing new characters, trying out different styles, and finally attempting to breakthrough into feature-length films with animation.

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flowers and trees

Flowers and Trees was a part of the Silly Symphony series, and was number 29, to be released on July 23, 1932. This was the first ever 3-strip technicolor short they had ever put out. After that, Disney decided to use the technicolor technology for all of his future films beginning in 1935. Flowers and Trees won the first ever Best Cartoon Short Subject at the 5th Academy Awards in 1932. It was also the first of the series to be distributed by United Artists when Disney made the switch from Columbia Pictures.

pluto, goofy, and donald duck

Now that Mickey and Minnie were frontrunners of the company, it was time to bring in some friends for them: Pluto, Goofy, and Donald Duck. The first was Pluto, who was originally introduced as Rover, and he wasn’t Mickey’s dog; he was actually Minnie’s dog. Rover’s first appearance was in The Chain Gang on September 5th, 1930. The plot was that Mickey was in jail and escapes, but is hunted down by blood hounds, one of which is Rover. Rover appears again in The Picnic in October 1930, and he is Minnie’s pet dog. He officially becomes Pluto during The Moose Hunt in May 1931.

Donald Duck’s inspiration came from his voice actor, Clarence Nash, who auditioned for the studio while they were experimenting with different types of animals in the Silly Symphony cartoons. His voice was perfect for a new duck character, and so Donald Duck made his first appearance in The Wise Little Hen on June 9th, 1934. He had more of a realistic look to him, with a longer bill and neck than we’re used to. Disney animator Fred Spencer was responsible for the conception of the duck, and was the expert on him in the character’s early years. Donald appeared in 10 more shorts from 1934 to 1936 before his appearance changed to the anthropomorphic duck in the short Moving Day.

Goofy was first introduced as Dippy Dawg in Mickey’s Revue on May 27th, 1932. Dippy Dawg was first shown as an older anthropomorphic canine with a beard and glasses. Though he didn’t look exactly like what Goofy’s later iteration looked like, it was clear they were meant to be the same character through the similarities in the laugh, provided by Pinto Colvig. His name was officially changed in the short Orphan’s Benefit on August 11th, 1934. This is when he became a staple character in the shorts along with Donald Duck and Pluto.

snow white and the seven dwarfs

1937 is notoriously linked with the release of the world’s very first animated feature-length film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. It premiered on December 21, 1937 at the Carthay Circle Theatre in Los Angeles, California. It not only was a major milestone due to its animation, but it also hit other big accomplishments as well, including winning 8 honourary Academy Awards in 1938, landing in #19 on the American Film Institutes top 100 songs with “Someday My Prince Will Come”, and is the highest grossing animated film at the domestic box office ever. It set the tone for what was to come for the company, and there couldn’t have been a better story or character to do so.

1940

the animator’s strike

The 1940s was one of the most difficult periods for the company despite riding off of the high of Snow White for a short amount of time. It was also one of the most challenging parts of Walt’s entire life. Not only was the company facing losses of staff who were being drafted for WWII, but the company endured a 3-month long employee strike for a variety of reasons, from underpayment to working conditions. The strike kicked off after Art Babbitt and Walt Disney’s relationship was strained due to Babbitt’s agreement to have a union set in place for the employees falling through. A Ferderal mediator was brought in after 5 weeks and agreed that a union would solve many of its problems. Ever since this 1941 strike, Disney has been part of a union.

wartime propoganda films

With Walt’s involvement in WWI as an ambulance driver, he wanted to contribute to the war efforts when the second World War came around. The night after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the physical studio lot in Burbank became a military base for up to 700 military personnel and equipment, and its the only time in history that a Hollywood studio would participate in the war this way. They would operate like this for the next 8 months, while contributing in several other ways to help their country. They produced propaganda films featuring popular Disney characters, educational videos, training videos, and more. These ranged from Why We Fight, catered to soldiers, Victory Through Air Power, an educational film for a broader audience, and Der Fuehrer’s Face, a way to paint the enemy in a distasteful manner. They also created official emblems, or insignias, that brought tremendous hope and unity to soldiers who fought. These efforts brought more notoriety to the studio moving forward.

anthology films

We look back on Pinocchio, Fantasia, Bambi and Dumbo as classics, ones that Disney wouldn’t be Disney without. However at the time, they were all box office disappointments when they were released in theatres. In order to save money and consider the fact that the studio was without many of its artists, they decided to release anthology films, which were shorter films all put together under one title. These films were Saludos Amigos (1942), The Three Caballeros (1944), Make Mine Music (1946), Fun and Fancy Free (1947), Melody Time (1948), and The Adventures of Ichabod and Mister Toad (1949).

1950

cinderella and the silver age

1950 marked the first year of the Silver Age, or the Restoration Era of Disney. It began with a return to the fairytale princess format that had done so well with Snow White, and they decided to retell the story of Cinderella. The studio produced Alice in Wonderland and Cinderella at the same time, and whichever progressed faster would be the one to be released first. They acquired singer Ilene Woods to play the title role, and it was a massive success, and launched Disney into a period of growth and innovation. Many of the films in this era, including Sleeping Beauty, The Sword in the Stone, and The Jungle Book, used recycled animation to save money and time.

wed enterprises

Walter Elias Disney Enterprises, or WED Enterprises, was founded by Walt in December 1952. It was a new branch of the company that would be dedicated to the early production of his newest venture, Disneyland. A team of talented designers, beginning with Harriet Burns, Fred Joerger, and Wathel Rogers, began laying out the plans for the theme park in a warehouse at the Burbank Studio. In 1961, WED Enterprises got its own property in Glendale, where it still stands today. It was renamed to Walt Disney Imagineering in 1986 and is the center of the creative minds who continue to add to and improve Disney parks.

disneyland

Disneyland opened on July 17th, 1955 in Anaheim, California. The race to opening day was a tight one, with rides being unfinished, pavement still wet, and hundreds of people lined up to come and explore this new entity. Opening day was nicknamed “Black Sunday” due to its poor performance and extreme hot weather. Things started to look up for the park after that though, and many new additions have been added over the decades. This was the original park, so it acted as the trailblazer for the other Disneyland parks that were to come later on, including Tokyo Disneyland, Disneyland Paris, Disneyland Shanghai, and Disneyland Hong Kong.

1960

audio-animatronics

Despite Walt’s fascination and experimentation with audio-animatronics beginning in the early 1950s, it wasn’t until the 1960s that Imagineers really began to build incredible machines and progress in the technology. Some of the oldest animatronics live on today in some of the attractions introduced in the 1960s, including the Enchanted Tiki Room (1963), Greatest Moments with Mr. Lincoln (1964), it’s a small world (1964), and Pirates of the Caribbean (1967).

mary poppins

Mary Poppins was one of Walt’s biggest personal and professional accomplishments in his lifetime. He fell in love with the P.L Travers books when he read them to his daughters each night, and wanted desperately to find a way to tell the story of the magical nanny and the Banks children on the big screen. He fought for years for the rights to the story, and Travers finally agreed to sign them over and be a consultant on the film. The mix of live action and animation was something Walt originally started out with through The Alice Comedies, so it was natural to include it in such a whimsical yet grounded film. At its release in 1964, it was a huge success. At the 1965 Oscars, the film cleaned up, with Julie Andrews winning Best Actress in a Leading Role, Cotton Warburton winning Best Film Editing, Peter Ellenshaw, Hamilton Luske and Eustace Lycett taking home Best Special Visual Effects, and the Sherman Brothers winning Best Music Original Song for “Chim Chim Cheree”. The film has won 13 other awards since then, many recognizing Julie Andrews as a top up and coming lead film star. Mary Poppins remains a true classic, joining the National Film Registry in 2013.

the jungle book

The Jungle Book would be the very last film Walt was ever personally involved with, as during the production of it, Walt was diagnosed with lung cancer. In October of 1966, he scheduled a doctor’s appointment for some neck pain he was in. During the x-ray, doctors noticed the spot on his lung. He went in a month later on November 7th, 1966 to get surgery done to remove it. However, the tumor had gotten so big that he was only given another 6 months to 2 years. He passed away 1 month later on December 15th, 1966. After his passing, some of the animators and other staff who worked on the film liked to think that the very last scene of The Jungle Book, when Baloo and Bagheera are dancing off into the sunset, was Walt’s final scene of his life too. The Jungle Book was finally released on October 18th, 1967.

1970

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the walt disney archives

In 1970 when the 50th anniversary of the company was approaching, it was decided that the Walt Disney Archives should be set in place to begin collecting and properly preserving many historical artifacts from the previous years, from original animations cels, to photos, and much more. The archives were founded by Dave Smith, who took the lead in curating items, and now it is a fully involved operation that has exhibits all the time. Walt Disney’s personal office was even restored to what it looked like when Walt last left it.

walt disney world

One of Walt’s last projects in terms of the parks was explaining to his older brother Roy what he envisioned Walt Disney World in Florida to be. He used the tiles above his head on the ceiling in the hospital room he was in to map out where he wanted everything to be, down to the last detail. Roy would use this information moving forward and the plans already set in motion for the newest park to lead the team to the opening of Walt Disney World on October 1, 1971. 10,000 people gathered to experience the Magic Kingdom and its 19 opening day attractions, some of which were the Skyway, the Country Bear Jamboree, and Grand Prix Raceway. 3 more parks would be added over the next 2 decades, including EPCOT, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Roy O. Disney would pass away in December of 1971 after leading the charge of this massive project.

big thunder mountain and space mountain

In the early 1970s, Bear Country was the main focus of Disneyland park, wanting to draw from the fascination of the West and the explorers period. But just a few years after the openings of the Country Bear Jamboree and America Sings, the demand for thrilling attractions started to dominate the conversation. One ride that was in need of an update was Mine Train Through Nature’s Wonderland in Frontierland, which had been previously converted from the Rainbow Caverns Mine Train in 1960. Tony Baxter began development on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad as its replacement. His inspiration was Marc Davis’s work on Western River Expedition, a ride that didn’t come to fruition at the Magic Kingdom due to costs and the opening of Pirates of the Caribbean. Big Thunder Mountain was shelved temporarily though, as shift focused to Space Mountain for Disneyland after the success of the version in Walt Disney World. Space Mountain would open in May 1977, and Big Thunder Mountain opened in September 1979. Both rides marked the beginning of the popularity of the mountain rides.

1980

walt disney home video

Disney began their venture into home video releases with Laserdisc, but in 1980, they decided to test out what the VHS tape market would do for the company. The studio offered them as rentals to Fotomat, a kiosk people could drive to to rent VHS cassettes. Fotomat was one of the first companies ever to do this and Disney hopped on board. They didn’t go all in and release all of their classic movies at once, but rather did a test in different states with a batch of carefully selected films to see how successful it would be. Some of the first films to be released in Walt Disney Home Video were Pete’s Dragon, The Black Hole, The Love Bug, and Escape to Witch Mountain. They expanded the program by adding rentals and releasing Black Diamond editions of their films.

epcot and hollywood studios

As an expansion of Walt Disney World, EPCOT Center opened on October 1, 1982. This was one of Walt’s biggest personal dreams, something he wanted to invest in with the profits made from his theme parks. He was extremely fascinated by the idea of the future and the progression of technologies. He wanted EPCOT to act as its own city, one dedicated to futurism, but it did not end up that way. It stands today as World Showcase, a place to celebrate different cultures and locations around the world. This was also one of his passions, but not the main purpose he had intended for EPCOT. Disney’s Hollywood Studios, originally called Disney-MGM studios due to a marketing contract Disney had with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, would open on May 1, 1989. The only attractions it would have at its opening were the Studio Backlot Tour and The Great Movie Ride, both of which are now extinct. It would be a land dedicated to the behind the scenes magic of movie-making, as well as the glamour of the movies and characters themselves. It has had many makeovers over the years, including to its name in 2008.

new fantasyland

Disneyland’s Fantasyland began with a Renaissance Fair theme, with rides that are still operating today like the Mad Tea Party, King Arthur’s Carousel, and Peter Pan’s Flight. There were many problems that arose with the land over the first several years of its opening, including the congestion of guests in the middle of the park, the non-progressive medieval theming, and it feeling overall outdated compared to the other lands. Fantasyland closed for construction and was reopened in 1983 as New Fantasyland, with a new layout, new European storybook theming and architecture, and the opening of Pinocchio’s Daring Journey. It is reflective of what Fantasyland still remains to be today.

1990

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pixar

Ed Catmull, a computer scientist, was involved in the beginning of the creation of computer graphics. He worked with Lucasfilm Ltd., and a team of other computer scientists from the New York Institute of Technology to create a computer that could develop and deliver high-resolution 3D images, which they would name Pixar. In 1982, The Adventures of Andre & Wally B. is shown at a conference, and it is the first short film to be created by the Pixar department. Following shortly after, they produced Luxo Jr. and Knick Knack. In 1989, they signed on for a 3-movie deal with Disney, which commenced in 1990. In 1995, Toy Story was released and was the first ever computer animated feature length film. Disney then signed off on a 10-year, 5 movie deal, which included A Bug’s Life (1998), Toy Story 2 (1999), and Monsters Inc. (2001).

disney’s animal kingdom

The final and most recent theme park to be built for the Walt Disney World Resort was Disney’s Animal Kingdom, opening on Earth Day in 1998. It followed the dream that Walt once had for the Jungle Cruise in Disneyland, which was to feature live animals that would be the center focus of the attraction, as opposed to animatronics. This idea was scrapped initially as the skippers were meant to have a very repeatable guided tour, and they would have no control over what the animals would be doing. However, with this new park in mind, Disney went all in on showcasing several different live animal species and combining the experience with ride attractions. The design of the park was inspired by the jungles in Africa and Asia. Disney began acquiring over 300 species of animals the year prior to the park’s opening, and they hired professional zookeepers and trainers to look after them all. Disney’s Animal Kingdom remains one of the most beloved parks to Disney fans alike.

walt disney dvd

Disney began releasing DVDs of some of their live action movies in 1998, and created a plan for some of their animated features for the year after. They chose a selection of just a few of their classic animated films for their first release, including Pinocchio, Peter Pan, The Little Mermaid, and more. These films were placed as limited editions, so if you missed buying it in the store, you were out of luck. For their next release of films, they lowered the price and allowed people to buy them at anytime, which increased their DVD sales greatly. They had several special editions with some exclusive material, including the Gold Classic Collection and Collector’s Edition.

2000

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california adventure and tokyo disneysea

Construction for the all-new sister park in Anaheim for Disneyland began in January 1998 in the former Disneyland parking lot, and California Adventure was officially opened on February 8th, 2001. There were 5 million guests who attended the grand opening, less than what Disneyland experienced 46 years earlier. The beginning stages of the park included 22 attractions, 15 restaurants, and 4 “lands” or “districts”. A few months after opening, they included the Main Street Electrical Parade as a part of their nighttime entertainment, and in 2010, World of Color opened and is still operational today.

During the same year of Disneyland California sister park’s opening, Tokyo Disneyland also had their sister park opening, on September 4, 2001. Tokyo DisneySea broke records during the first few years of its opening, including being the most expensive theme park ever made at $4 billion, hitting record high attendance rates, and is the second Disney theme park that is not actually owned by The Walt Disney Company, but rather licenses the theming from Disney. The park began development over 2 decades prior to its opening, as the inspiration for it came from a cancelled DisneySea project that was meant for California. The oceanic theming was paired with more thrilling rides to appeal to the larger adult audience, giving families more to experience.

the muppets, Pixar, and MArvel

By 2004, nearing the end of Michael Eisner’s reign as CEO of the Walt Disney Company, the momentum of acquiring other entertainment companies was picking up. The franchise The Muppets, originally founded by Jim Henson in 1955, was officially trademarked and owned by Disney in 2004. Prior to that, they were in conversations to own it earlier when Jim Henson was still alive, but following his death in 1990, the deal became that Disney could produce and distribute Muppets material such as Muppet*Vision 3D, Muppet Treasure Island, and The Muppet Christmas Carol. After 2004, Disney continued to create new television specials and feature films inspired by the work of Henson, and his vision lived on.

In 2006 with the transition from Eisner to Iger, Iger was able to repair relationships that had been broken during the Eisner era, specifically with Steve Jobs at Pixar. Iger made a point to meet with Jobs to discuss the potential of Disney purchasing Pixar, and after Jobs convinced Pixar’s board of directors, Disney acquired Pixar in January 2006 for $7.4 billion.

Despite Marvel Comics popularity through the mid-1900s, it began to tank in the 1990s. In 1996, the Marvel Entertainment Group filed for bankruptcy. In order to preserve it, they had to sell off the movie rights to some of their most popular characters, like Spider-Man. Marvel opened up their own studio, Marvel Studios, in 1996 to create films based on their characters too. The first film was Blade in 1998. The first film to launch the MCU was Iron Man in 2008. After just a few short years as CEO, Bob Iger then made the remarkable decision to purchase Marvel Entertainment with cash and stocks. In August 2009, Disney purchased Marvel for $4 billion.

hong kong disneyland

Hong Kong Disneyland opened on September 12, 2005. It is the second most recent Disney theme park to ever open. It is one of the smaller parks in comparison to those in North America, but has seen many expansions of the years with plans to expand even further. One of the primary goals with opening this park in Hong Kong was to drive tourism up after the SARS epidemic in 2003. It only took them 2 years to build Hong Kong Disneyland from the ground up, opening with 4 lands that were already familiar: Main Street USA, Fantasyland, Adventureland, and Tomorrowland. As a part of one of its many expansions, they opened new lands in 2009, including Toy Story Land, Grizzly Gulch, and Mystic Point.

2010

avatar and pandora

In 2011, Bob Iger and Tom Staggs approached James Cameron, the world-famous filmmaker and mind behind The Terminator, Titanic, and Avatar. After the major success of Titanic, Cameron began work on Avatar, a sci-fi filmed based in the fictional land of Pandora. It would be another decade until the film could be released as they adapted the film to new technologies. Avatar took $237 million to make, which was nothing in comparison to what it made in the box office, $2.923 billion. It reached the $1 billion mark after just 19 days of being released worldwide.

It’s not difficult to see why Iger would become interested in expanding upon this majorly successful film with overwhelming cultural impact. After their 2011 meeting, a licensing agreement was signed between the 2 studios stating that 20th Century Fox (owned by Disney) would have the theme parks rights to the franchise. Instead of simply building an attraction based on Avatar, Disney created the world of Pandora, set in Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Pandora - The World of Avatar, officially opened on May 27, 2017.

disney junior

From 1997 to 2011, Playhouse Disney on the official Disney Channel was a targeted programming block for young children that had live action television shows, cartoons, original animated series and third-party series, as well as foreign programming. Some of the original shows that aired in the late 1990s was Bear and the Big Blue House, The Book of Pooh, and JoJo’s Circus. Eventually, new programs were made such as Imagination Movers, Little Einsteins, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and Handy Manny.

Playhouse Disney was phased out in 2011 to make way for a brand new channel, moving away from the children’s programming from being only a block on the regular Disney Channel. It would now be called Disney Junior, and would replace Disney’s Soapnet network that formerly played soap operas. The first program to be created and aired for the new channel was Jake and the Neverland Pirates. Other Playhouse Disney programs were brought back as reruns, like Special Agent Oso.

frozen

Disney’s animated movie department has had many major successes of the years and many failures. The Disney Renaissance Era really pulled the studio out of commercial collapse. Disney once again started to relapse in the early 2000s with some of their films such as Fantasia 2000, Dinosaur, Treasure Planet, Brother Bear, and Home on the Range. In 2010, the Revival Era began for the studio, seeing more wins than ever. The Revival Era began with Princess and the Frog, followed by Tangled, Wreck-It-Ralph, and Frozen.

At the time of its release in 2013, Frozen quickly became the highest grossing animated film of all time, earning $1.2 billion in the worldwide box office. It currently sits at #19 on the list of highest grossing films of all time. From the eye-capturing animation, to the music, to the refreshing story of a love between two sisters, it satisfied the hearts of millions of people all around the world. It has since received two Academy Awards, a bafta, a Golden Globe, and has been turned into a Broadway musical. It’s sequel, Frozen II, has surpassed its successes and is the #1 highest grossing animated film of all time.

shanghai disneyland

The most recent Disney theme park that has been built is Shanghai Disneyland, opened on June 16, 2016. It has some of the largest differences in comparison to other Disney parks, including the exclusion of Main Street USA, a railroad attraction, The Jungle Cruise, it’s a small world, and Space Mountain. It was also meant to follow a closer format to the Walt Disney World Resort, and would be much larger but not overpower Hong Kong Disneyland. Some of its featured lands are Mickey Avenue, Gardens of Imagination, Treasure Cove, and Adventure Isle, which were unique to this park.

2020

avengers campus

In California Adventure, Pixar Pier opened in June 2018, replacing Paradise Pier and turning California Adventure into an homage to Pixar films. This seems like it would’ve been good news for A Bug’s Land, even though attendance into that part of the park had lessened over the years. Bigger, more thrilling attractions were being built, and the appeal to a kid’s area was stunted. However, before Pixar Pier could open, Disney announced in March 2018 that A Bug’s Land would officially close on September 4th, 2018. Alongside this announcement of closure, they also announced they would be opening a new Marvel-themed land in its place.

Avengers Campus was scheduled to open in July 2020, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was delayed until June 4th, 2021. This new land has attractions, shows, and meet and greet opportunities. Hop on Web Slingers: A Spider-Man Adventure or Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout! Or, meet Doctor Strange in the Ancient Sanctum and watch the Avengers fight their enemies at the Avengers Headquarters. Grab a bite at Pym’s Test Kitchen or at the infamous Shawarma Palace. Avengers Campus is one of the most progressive and immersive experiences Anaheim has to offer so far, and it is exciting to witness yet another stepping stone into the incredible progression of technology and Imagineering.