Disney executives shared details on Saturday about upcoming projects at the theme parks of Magic Kingdom and Disney’s Hollywood Studios, including the dramatic start of the “Monster, Inc.”-based roller coaster.
The announcement was incorporated into a presentation on “The Future of World Construction at Disney” at the South by Southwest Conference in Austin, Texas. It was led by Disney Experience Chairman Josh Damaro and Disney Entertainment co-chair Alan Bergman, but featured several Imagineers, film studio executives, knee hydroids and actor Robert Downey Jr.
The coaster announced in August will be part of “Monsters, Inc.” Land designed for Hollywood studios. The theme is spin-off from the elaborate door factory scene of the 2001 Pixar animated film.
“We can’t use traditional lift hills where you click and stuff in tilts. Michael Haggen, Walt Disney World Portfolio Executive Producer at Walt Disney Imaginerling, said before showing animations for the attraction’s loading area on Saturday.
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“Our coasters are paused coasters, they actually hang under the truck, and like the doors in the movie, the train lifts straight into the air before zooming off into its iconic safe,” he said.
“It’s Disney’s first interruption coaster. It’s our first vertical lift. And we’re designing the experience to be as fun and fun as the film itself,” Haggen said.
Executives also discussed the update of the Millennium Falcon: Smugglers run the attraction at the edge of Star: Wars: Hollywood Studios’ Galaxy. The visuals include stops in Tatooine, Cloud City and the wreckage of the second Death Star.
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“Using this workflow, you can enter an astonishing library of assets that help ILM create for films and TV shows, rent characters, rent ships, rent environment landscapes, and create truly authentic experiences.”
The SXSW session also included a video of a dessert test run of one of the two “car” attractions planned for Magic Kingdom Frontierland.
“We took everything we learned in Arizona. We worked with the motocross company to build a custom dirt track with similar geometry to what we saw on the trail,” Haggen said.
“It helps you think about the combination of elements you are considering appealing: bumps, turns, dips, everything you need to create a real off-road rally racetrack,” he said.
Another factor in the “car” experience is the endurance of the car, Hudgen said.
“They have to run 12 hours a day, seven days a week for decades,” he said. “Therefore, if your car is around 13,000 miles per year, we can reach up to 65,000 miles per year, depending on the appeal.”
Authorities did not release information regarding the time frame or name of the “car” or “Monsters, Inc.” Attraction. It was announced that the Walkaround BDX droid, who appeared on stage on Saturday, will be coming to Disneyland Paris and Tokyo Disneyland later this year, as well as Walt Disney World.
Saturday’s session was concluded with Downey’s appearance, who plays Iron Man in multiple films and is involved with Imagineer in creating a new attraction that will come to the Avengers campus in California’s Disneyland.
“What I didn’t know was that Walt Disney Imagineering HQ was stealth and exclusive,” Downey said. “It’s Area 51 of fun.”
dbevil@orlandosentinel.com
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Original issue: March 8, 2025, 3:37pm EST
