Disney has confirmed plans for “probably the largest expansion ever” at Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World in Florida.
Dubbed ‘Beyond Big Thunder’, the project was discussed during a media event previewing new Disney experiences and technology at the Walt Disney Imagineering facility in California.
“It’s probably the largest expansion ever at Magic Kingdom,” said Michael Hundgen, Walt Disney World’s site portfolio executive, according to a report by CNN.
‘Beyond Big Thunder’ at Disney World
The project is named ‘Beyond Big Thunder’ because it will expand Magic Kingdom into a wooded area behind the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad attraction.
The expansion, Hundgen said, would be a similar size to the 14-acre Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. A team from Disney is currently going on research trips and exploring concept designs for the expansion area.
The Magic Kingdom development is one part of Disney’s planned $60 billion investment in its parks and experiences over the next decade.
During the media event, Disney also confirmed that work is now underway on a new land with Indiana Jones experiences at Animal Kingdom. This has been teased in a new Imagineering video, which can be seen below.
Disney’s latest news came one day after CEO Bob Iger was asked why the company hasn’t “prepared anything, or placed more than just a handful of attractions to be ready for [Universal Epic Universe] in 2025 at Walt Disney World”.
Iger replied during the annual shareholder meeting: “That just couldn’t be further from the truth. We’ve been aware of Universal’s plans for a new park for more than a decade.
“And we have a sophisticated approach to analyzing the needs of all of our businesses and strategically deploying capital.”
On the company’s recent additions to Walt Disney World, Iger added: “By staggering these major launches, we’ve been able to commercially and operationally optimize our new offerings over time, rather than having to do it all at once.”
Images courtesy of Disney
