Ever since Disney announced its $60 billion investment into the parks and cruises, fans have been speculating as to what exactly that might mean (it’s us, we’re “fans”.)

One expert even went so far as to predict that an announcement about a fifth theme park would be coming soon, saying, “You’re going to see a big announcement. … They’re going to add a fifth park.” While Disney hasn’t made any official announcements about another theme park in Orlando, we do know that there are plans for one — sort of. 

Universal turned the theme park world upside-down after dropping a whole slew of announcements recently. The new park will feature five NEW themed lands, with five new restaurants, plus two new hotels nearby. This has left many Disney fans wondering what Disney plans on doing in response.

We know that a $60 billion investment into the parks has been announced by Disney, but no concrete plans for that investment have been revealed just yet. We’re already seeing the addition of at least one new attraction — Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, an update for a classic attraction — The Country Bear Jamboree, a re-theming of an entire land — Dinoland USA is going away, plus an expansion at Magic Kingdom. 

These facts, coupled with Disney’s earlier confirmation that a fifth theme park is at least on the table, could mean that it’s more possible than we originally thought.

In early 2023, the Reedy Creek Improvement District (now called the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District, which governs most of Disney World), released its comprehensive land-use plan that outlines the next 10 years’ worth of future developments within the district. And, within that land-use plan is the idea that Disney could build a “major” new theme park in the future.

Not only that, but Disney has also included two more “minor” theme parks in those plans, along with plenty of new hotel rooms. Keep in mind that just because Disney has approved these plans for potential future development doesn’t mean they’re set in stone. In fact, Disney has noted that although the numbers allow “for development of one major and two minor theme parks, there are no plans under review.” 

The first step of approving the plan for potential future development was already done some time ago. A resolution was passed to consider changing the land-use regulations so that this plan could actually move forward, and while nothing has been done yet, it’s possible Disney’s battle with the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District could complicate things.

So, while there are no official development plans yet, the door is still open for Disney to do so in the future. Animal Kingdom was the last Disney World park built back in 1998, and we’ve been wondering what might come next since.

Instead of announcing a fifth gate, Disney has made massive expansions and transformations in its existing parks including the “New Fantasyland” Magic Kingdom expansion that opened in 2012, the addition of the Pandora land in Animal Kingdom in 2017,  the opening of Toy Story Land and Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge in Hollywood Studios in 2018, and the EPCOT transformation of many areas of EPCOT that should be complete this year.

As far as what fans would want to see from a fifth park, well, we don’t need to speculate there. We asked our readers who said Disney needs to build a park with more thrill rides that can compete with Universal — and we don’t disagree. Or, something like Tokyo DisneySea with more themed lands and different versions of iconic rides.

A Disney Villains Park was quite possibly the most overwhelming response our readers gave, though. Folks have been speculating about a potential “Dark Kingdom” theme park based on unrelated parks projects, rumors, and more, and it seems like fans really want it to come true.

Of course, we can’t predict the future (no matter how hard we try) but one thing is for sure — we’ll be on the lookout for any potential updates about a new theme park or current expansions underway at Disney World.

For the latest news from Disney World and more, stay tuned to DFB!

Expert Predicts Disney World Could Announce 5th Park

Do you think Disney World will add a fifth park? Tell us in the comments.

The post Disney Has a Plan to Open a 5th Park. But Will They? first appeared on the disney food blog.