Some MAJOR changes could be coming to Disney World soon.

During the D23 Expo in 2022, Disney hinted at a potential expansion in Magic Kingdom that could house lands themed to Coco, Encanto, and even the Disney Villains. But Disney also teased the idea of retheming DinoLand U.S.A. at Disney’s Animal Kingdom park into a space all about Moana or Zootopia. We’ve since broken down Disney’s concept art in detail and looked at how likely it would be for them to actually be built. Now we’re taking another look at these teased spaces to see what technology could be pointing toward their eventual creation!

Important Disclaimer

It’s important to note that while Disney has teased these expansions/rethemes for Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom, nothing is set in stone. These are “Blue Sky” ideas. That means they’re still in the early stages of development and have only been teased (not fully confirmed).

In the past, Disney has described these as “early concept explorations for Dinoland U.S.A.,” “potential expansion opportunities…at Magic Kingdom Park,” and “creative ‘what if’ ideas.”

Disney Parks, Experiences, and Products Chairman Josh D’Amaro has said that they’re not just daydreaming though. He indicated that the ideas are “very real” and that Disney is having “very serious discussions” about them. Still, Disney really hasn’t expanded upon these ideas much since their original announcements at the D23 Expo and they may never see the light of day or may come to life in a very different form. So those are important things to keep in mind!

Still, we have found some interesting patents and technology that could indicate where these ideas might be heading. So let’s take a look at them!

1 — An Interesting Patent

One of the things that appeared in the concept art for the overhaul of DinoLand U.S.A. in Animal Kingdom appeared to be a Moana-inspired boat ride. In the image below, you can see what might be a platform leading from the walkway toward the giant sail with Moana’s symbol on it.

It looks like there is a boat coming in to potentially unload guests near the platform, and another boat heading off toward a break in the waterfall in the distance. And is that a drop we see on the left-hand side?!

Well, one patent might point to a greater possibility of this boat ride happening. Disney filed a patent for a “Boat Motion Simulator” in July 2021 (patent #US 11,478,718), with the official date of the patent being October 25th, 2022. The patent describes a system that is designed specifically to “impart boat-type motions (e.g., roll, sway, heave, pitch, surge, and yaw) to a passenger boat.”

It talks about how the boat “floats naturally in a volume of water,” and Disney would be able to use the technology from the patent to “display imagery and a soundtrack that are synchronized with the motions imparted upon the boat.” It could all be used to create a “realistic boat simulator or boat ride experience for passengers in the boat.”

So why does this point to a potential Moana attraction? Well, one of the images included in the patent appears to feature a dome-like screen for projected images, and who is depicted there?! Why it’s Moana and Maui on a separate boat!

In the patent, Disney mentioned how this technology could be used in a water ride with simulated battles, and the boat could be “pitching and rolling the waves, shuttering with the cannon fire, and listing to one side when it starts sinking.”

We’re getting some Kakamora battle vibes here!

Disney suggested within the patent that there could be an active experience or a passive experience for rides that use this technology. The passive experience would have restrained guests more focused on watching the action, while the active experience would have unrestrained guests actually performing tasks.

There could be more than one ride vehicle sharing the same space, and guests might even be able to decide what side to join (like a pirate or a traveler).

Just because this patent features an image showing Moana and Maui doesn’t necessarily mean it would be used for a Moana-themed ride. The technology could be implemented for a whole bunch of different rides in the future with different themes, but it is still interesting to see Moana and Maui featured specifically in the image especially when seen in the light of the later tease of a Moana-themed space at DinoLand U.S.A.

Click here to see more about the Moana boat patent!

2 — A Judy Hopps ROBOT

Another thing Disney has teased is a potential Zootopia-themed area taking over DinoLand U.S.A. in Animal Kingdom. The concept art seemed to show part of the Zootopia downtown skyline in the distance. The concept art makes it seem like there could be a central path that connects the Moana space to the Zootopia one, with a building (the train station?) in the center.

It also looks like there are some massive trees to the sides of the downtown, potentially representing the rainforest district? We’re not sure if it’s just our eyes playing tricks on us, but we sort of see a giant green creature or structure in the central pathway leading to Zootopia too.

If a Zootopia land gets built in Animal Kingdom, it seems like that could bring a meet-and-greet to the space. And while we’ve already seen Judy Hopps in a more human-sized form…what if we could see or meet her in more of her true, smaller size? There are some interesting things that Disney has filed or showcased recently that could point to that!

First, we’ve got a patent that we saw filed several years ago for a “Legged High-dexterity Self-balancing Capable Robot Actor.” The technology is for a robot that’s capable of standing on its own and moving in a similar fashion to a human without any help from support structures. The movements of the robot could be programmed by an animator and the robot could reproduce them in a way that looks fluid and realistic. The patent even noted this could be done with non-humanoid creatures like this rabbit silhouette.

Who does that rabbit look like? Sure looks like Zootopia‘s Judy Hopps to us! The patent notes that “The robot can provide characters with an illusion of life and, in many cases, in correct proportion and scale.” Another image in the patent showed a more square-headed creature.

We later saw what could be this technology come to life with Project Kiwi!

If you haven’t heard of this, it’s basically a WALKING true-to-size Baby Groot ROBOT that Disney has showcased in the past and yes, it is as incredible as it sounds. The robot they showcased was only attached by a thin cable for live programming but was generally able to walk around freely. The goal of Project Kiwi as a whole is to move characters into spaces with guests while keeping them at a proper scale so they still are genuine. Robot Baby Groot has expressive eyes and more that make him TOTALLY believable, all while still being kid-sized!

Now, keep in mind that from what we’ve heard Project Kiwi is still a work in progress, and in 2021 it was reported that Imagineering didn’t yet have immediate plans to put in the park. But that could change… Could we one day see a Judy Hopps version of this robot brought into a Zootopia land in Animal Kingdom where she could interact with guests but still be a more true-to-character size? It’s possible!

See more about this amazing robot here!

We later saw another piece of technology that could point to a different type of Judy Hopps robot — one that does some serious STUNTS! At the SXSW conference in 2023, Disney showcased a robot that sure looked like Judy Hopps!

This is a “dynamic” robot. While showing off the robot onstage, one of the Disney Imagineers said, “This is the chance to try some of the crazy stuff that the characters in our films do.”

The tiny robot can climb out of a box, fall down, get back up, and move around on roller skates.

Check out the video below to see one of her big tricks!

Her big trick! pic.twitter.com/SUBCWDJF64

— Disney Food Blog (@DisneyFoodBlog) March 10, 2023

Again, there’s no guarantee that this technology will ever actually appear in the parks or that it’ll appear in a Judy Hopps form, but it is another thing that’s interesting to see in light of the patent filed for that Legged High-dexterity Self-balancing Capable Robot Actor and Disney’s talk of a potential Zootopia makeover in part Animal Kingdom.

Click here to check out some of the SECRET projects Disney has been working on

3 — Tech That’ll Change Meet-and-Greets Forever

Finally, we’ve also seen Disney talking quite a bit about special technology that is part of something called Project EXO. This is something we’ve seen showcased since around 2021. Basically, Disney has been working on some technology that could bring oversized characters to life.

There is pneumatic assist at key joint areas, and the weight of the exoskeleton goes to the legs so the performer doesn’t have to bear all of the weight on their own shoulders or backs. Disney has even noted how they’ve been working on 3D printing muscles to make for some really realistic character encounters.

We’ve already seen Disney bring some HUGE characters to life — like the Hulk! But could something like this be used for some of the future expansions/rethemes Disney has teased for Disney World?

Would there be a potential to use this for a Maui meet-and-greet in a way that would really make him seem like a larger-than-life demigod? That could be great for the Moana area teased for Animal Kingdom. What about a meet-and-greet with some of the bigger characters from Zootopia also in the teased rethemed area in Animal Kingdom?

Could there be a HUGE Disney villain brought to life with this technology, like Chernabog? That might fit right in with the villains-themed land teased for Magic Kingdom.

There are a LOT of possibilities!

Click here to learn more about Project EXO

And that’s a look at 3 clues that could point to some major changes coming to Disney World in the future — if those “Blue Sky” ideas really do come true. What do you think? How would YOU want to see Disney use this technology in future expansions? Tell us in the comments!

Destination D23 — Disney’s largest fan event of 2023 — is coming soon so we could learn more about the teased Disney World expansions/rethemes there. It’s scheduled to take place from September 8th-10th, 2023, with a livestream available on September 9th.

One of the big panels at the event is called “A Celebration of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.” It’ll be hosted by Josh D’Amaro and special guests and will give a look into “the future of Disney parks, featuring updates from around the world and some fun surprises along the way.”

This panel could give us some updates about the technology mentioned above, the Blue Sky ideas teased for Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom, or a number of other things. We will be bringing you updates all throughout that event with the latest news so be sure to follow us on social media to get all the big info.

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What would you want to see in a Moana or Zootopia-themed land in Disney World? Tell us in the comments!

The post 3 CLUES That Could Point to a Major Disney World Overhaul first appeared on the disney food blog.