At the Anaheim Convention Center in California, gray-haired visitors wearing Mickey ear hats and shirts printed with Disney characters could be seen almost everywhere, lining up alongside younger fans to view theme park models and buy limited-edition pins.

Disneyland in California has been open for 71 years. Some visitors first entered the park as children. Decades later, with their hair turned white, Mickey Mouse remains a character they are happy to wear.

From Aug. 14 to 16, D23, Disney’s global fan event, returned to Anaheim with the largest show floor in its history.（ The “D” stands for Disney, while “23” refers to 1923, the year the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, a predecessor of The Walt Disney Company, was founded.）

National Business Daily observed at the event that new theme park projects were unveiled for Disney destinations in Orlando, California, Paris and Shanghai. The Shanghai update focused on the construction progress and creative details of a new Spider-Man-themed land.

Once completed, the new area will bring the number of planned themed lands at Shanghai Disneyland to nine. Two of them will be world firsts: the world’s first Zootopia-themed land and Disney’s first full themed land centered on Spider-Man.

Andrew Bolstein, President and General Manager of Shanghai Disney Resort, told National Business Daily that murals depicting different Marvel characters would be installed throughout the future Spider-Man-themed land. Scott Trowbridge, Portfolio Creative Executive at Walt Disney Imagineering, said the project would also feature elements created specifically for Shanghai.

Why has Disney chosen Shanghai for two of its world-first themed lands?

Visitors stop in front of a display for Shanghai Disney Resort’s Spider-Man-themed land at D23 in Anaheim. Photo courtesy of the organizer.

Why Shanghai Secured Two Disney World Firsts

Before the new park projects were formally presented at D23, Disney Experiences Chairman Thomas Mazloum and four business leaders met with reporters from 25 countries on the morning of Aug. 15. The discussion focused on changing visitor behavior and the localization of Disney’s international parks.

Joe Schott, President of Walt Disney World Resort, quoted Walt Disney during the roundtable.“Walt said that Disneyland will never be complete as long as there’s imagination left in the world,” Schott said. He then added: “We’ve got lots of imagination.”

On March 18, Josh D’Amaro succeeded Robert Iger as CEO of The Walt Disney Company. This was his first D23 as the head of the company.

Back in September 2023, when D’Amaro was still Chairman of Disney Experiences, he and Iger announced plans to nearly double capital expenditure on theme parks, cruise ships and other Experiences businesses to approximately $60 billion over the following decade.

Iger has visited Shanghai several times during the development and operation of Shanghai Disney Resort. At the resort’s groundbreaking ceremony in 2011, he introduced the guiding idea of making it “authentically Disney and distinctly Chinese.” In June this year, he made a surprise appearance in Shanghai as the resort celebrated its 10th anniversary.

Schott, who was involved in the development and opening preparations for Shanghai Disney Resort, recalled one of the discussions held during the project’s early years.

“We’re not trying to build Disneyland in China. We’re trying to build China’s Disneyland,” he said. “There’s a very distinct difference.”The team, he added, needed to understand how Chinese visitors celebrate holidays, how they travel with their families and what they expect to eat inside a theme park.

Tasia Filippatos, President of Disney Parks International, said Iger often described “authentically Disney and distinctly Chinese” as the “North Star” for the Shanghai project.

After entering a new market, Disney teams typically listen to visitors and observe how they use the park before deciding what to create next. In 2016, Zootopia grossed approximately RMB1.53 billion in the Chinese mainland. Shanghai Disney Resort subsequently spent several years developing the world’s first Zootopia-themed land. When the land opened in 2023, the film’s streets, restaurants and shops were brought into the physical world. Its giant doughnuts, paw-shaped popsicles and detailed settings also began appearing frequently in photographs shared by visitors.

Nearly two years after the land opened, Zootopia 2 was released in the Chinese mainland in November 2025. It eventually earned RMB4.594 billion, roughly three times the box office of its predecessor, becoming the highest-grossing imported film in Chinese history.

A single themed land cannot account for nearly RMB4.6 billion in ticket sales. Yet through character merchandise, park events and promotional activities ahead of the sequel’s release, Shanghai Disney kept Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde visible to Chinese audiences throughout the nine-year interval between the two films.

During Disney’s earnings call in February, Iger said the Zootopia land in Shanghai was “enormous in terms of both its size and its value.”“The percentage of people that go to Shanghai Disneyland just to go to Zootopia Land is very, very high,” he said.Disney formally announced Zootopia 3 at this year’s D23. 

The event also brought new information about Shanghai Disneyland’s Spider-Man-themed land.The project will become the park’s ninth themed land and its third major expansion since opening. Track installation for its centerpiece roller coaster has been completed, with ride-vehicle testing expected to begin soon. The land will also include dining, retail and entertainment experiences.

Speaking to National Business Daily in front of a giant Spider-Man mural at D23, Bolstein said the artwork had been created especially for the event by mural artists. Similar pieces will appear throughout the future land and feature a range of Marvel superheroes.

Trowbridge said street art, street fashion and street music would be introduced at Shanghai Disney Resort for the first time.“These elements are cool and current, and they are very popular with young people,” he said. “They are exactly the kind of style that a young college student like Peter Parker would love.”The mural displayed at D23 was created by artists from Shanghai and other parts of China.

Trowbridge said the project would strengthen the science, technology, engineering and mathematics themes represented by W.E.B., the Worldwide Engineering Brigade. Its cast of characters would also be selected with Shanghai visitors in mind.

“I can’t reveal all the secrets yet, but there will be more surprises designed specifically for Shanghai,” he said.Trowbridge hopes visitors will feel the energy and excitement of Marvel superhero films while spending time with friends and family.“I want them to have a great time and feel like a kid again,” he said.

Beyond the Spider-Man-themed land, Bolstein outlined several other expansion projects. They include a new hotel scheduled to open toward the end of this winter, another hotel still in the planning stage, and an expansion of Soaring Over the Horizon, one of Shanghai Disneyland’s most popular attractions.“The first 10 years have been amazing, but there is so much more excitement ahead of us,” Bolstein said.

Guest Behavior Is Changing What Disney Builds

The street art, fashion and music planned for Shanghai’s Spider-Man-themed land are aimed partly at younger visitors who enjoy filming and sharing their experiences. During the roundtable discussion about changing international audiences, Filippatos also spoke about the growing influence of the smartphone.Visitors now record the food arriving at their tables, their encounters with Disney characters and details they discover while waiting in line. These images and videos are then shared with friends, relatives and online followers.

“Guests want to create content to share with their fans, friends and family,” Filippatos said.This has changed how Disney designs an experience. The appeal of an attraction is no longer determined solely by the few minutes a visitor spends on the ride itself. The appearance of a meal, the presentation of merchandise, the decoration of a hotel room and even details in a queue may all end up in visitors’ photographs.

Jill Estorino, President of Disneyland Resort, said travelers increasingly value experiences that feel authentic. Those expectations are even higher for Disney, she added. As audiences from Europe to Asia become more familiar with Disney’s stories and parks, their expectations continue to rise.

Schott offered a more specific example. Walt Disney World has added Spanish-language services to its mobile application, while attractions that have operated for years are also being refreshed.“We have to grow with our guests and evolve as they evolve,” he said.

D23 also provided updates on several major theme park projects. A Cars-themed project at Walt Disney World has entered construction, World of Frozen opened at Disneyland Paris in March, and a new model of the planned Avatar-themed land at Disney California Adventure Park was displayed.At the evening presentation, National Business Daily saw screens repeatedly showing roller-coaster tracks, construction sites and Imagineers testing ride equipment.

Project staff work beside ride vehicles for the centerpiece roller coaster in Shanghai Disneyland’s Spider-Man-themed land. The project is the park’s third major expansion since opening. Photo courtesy of the organizer.

Filippatos used the term “flywheel” to describe the logic behind these investments. Stories and characters can move between films, streaming platforms, games and consumer products, while theme parks allow visitors to “touch it, feel it and really live the story.”

She pointed to Duffy as an example. The character did not first become popular through a film. Instead, Duffy grew out of Disney’s Asian theme parks, while the character family expanded from one member to seven.Duffy-related merchandise now generates approximately $500 million in annual retail sales. Filippatos said the character’s development had been driven largely by Asian fans, whose responses also influence what Disney creates next.

Disney Plans $60 Billion in Experiences Investment

As Shanghai prepares for its Spider-Man-themed land, multiple projects in Orlando, California and Paris are also under construction or development.

For the third quarter of fiscal 2026, which ended June 27, Disney reported total revenue of $25.248 billion, up 7% year on year. Segment operating income rose 21% to $5.555 billion.The Experiences segment, which includes theme parks, cruise ships and consumer products, generated $9.968 billion in revenue and $3.017 billion in operating income, representing year-on-year increases of 10% and 20%, respectively.

Disney’s “global guests” metric, which combines theme park attendance with cruise passenger days, increased 4% during the quarter.The results nevertheless showed clear regional differences. Disney’s domestic parks and Disneyland Paris performed strongly, while its Asian theme parks experienced softer demand. The company expects pressure on its Asian parks to continue into the fourth quarter, although it does not disclose financial results for each Asian resort separately.

Most of the projects presented at this year’s D23 can be traced to the investment plan announced in September 2023. Iger, then CEO, and D’Amaro, then Chairman of Disney Experiences, said the company intended to invest approximately $60 billion in its domestic and international parks, cruise business and other Experiences operations over about 10 years. That was close to twice the amount invested during the preceding decade.Disney Chief Financial Officer Hugh Johnston said at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecom Conference in March that roughly $30 billion of the total represented capital spending above the company’s previous investment level.

Johnston said theme parks and cruise ships achieve high capacity utilization during peak periods, with demand at times exceeding the capacity available.“I know we can fill the capacity if we build it, so to speak,” he said.Disney expects a series of new projects to begin operating between 2027 and 2029. The company is looking to a combination of higher attendance and increased spending per visitor to support the growth of its Experiences business.

On Aug. 5, during his first full quarterly earnings call as CEO, D’Amaro said Disney was “proud” of the Experiences segment’s growth during the fiscal year and would continue investing to sustain it.He also outlined a “One Disney” approach under which films, streaming platforms, retail operations and physical experiences would share intellectual property, data and consumer relationships.

D’Amaro used Toy Story to illustrate the model. The franchise’s five films have generated more than $4 billion at the global box office, while related content has accumulated over 2 billion viewing hours on Disney+. Toy Story merchandise generates more than $1 billion in annual retail sales.Disney has also built four immersive themed lands, 19 attractions and two hotels around the franchise worldwide.