Walt Disney (DIS) has been busy in the past few years launching new lands and attractions inside its theme parks, adding to guest favorites to answer the competition it faces from Comcast's (CMCSA) Universal Studios theme parks.
The Mouse House opened its Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge lands at Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif., in May 2019 and at Walt Disney World's Hollywood Studios in Orlando in August 2019. The huge Galaxy's Edge openings were an answer to Universal Studios theme parks' openings of Wizarding World of Harry Potter at its various parks.
Universal Studios introduced the Wizarding World land at its Islands of Adventure park in Orlando in 2010, then added the Wizarding World attraction to Universal Studios Orlando in 2014. Universal Studios Hollywood in California joined the party by adding Wizarding World in 2016.
Disney also added Toy Story Land to Hollywood Studios in June 2018 and Pandora - The World of Avatar at Animal Kingdom in Orlando in May 2017, replacing Camp Minnie-Mickey.
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Disney Not Finished Adding Rides and Attractions
As for adding new rides and attractions, Disney followed up the openings of Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge by adding the hugely popular Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance ride to the lands at Disney Hollywood Studios in December 2019 and at Disneyland in January 2020. Disney's Epcot in Orlando opened Remy's Ratatouille Adventure in October 2021, followed by Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind rollercoaster ride on May 27.
Disney is also testing its Tron Lightcycle Run coaster ride at Disney World's Magic Kingdom, but no opening date has been determined yet.
Universal in the meantime opened its Jurassic World VelociCoaster at its Islands of Adventure park in June 2021 and announced plans to open Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios Hollywood in 2023. Recent rumors say that Universal Hollywood is planning to add a new Fast & Furious Drifting Coaster.
But Universal won't be finished with all of these additions by any means, since it has announced that it will add a new theme park in Orlando, Epic Universe, which is expected to include rollercoasters and will open in 2025.
Disney
Mouse House's New Campus is a Marvel
Disney's most recent campus opening was the debut of the Avengers Campus at California Adventure in Anaheim on June 4, 2021, the first Marvel cinematic universe-themed land in Disney parks, replacing A Bug's Land that opened in 2002, a year after the park swung open its gates. Because of Marvel's contractual rights with Universal Studios, Disney is prohibited from using Marvel in the name of the campus.
Disney's newest land arrival among all of its parks worldwide is the July 20 opening of the Marvel Avengers Campus at Disneyland Paris. The Avengers Campus storyline is that Iron Man alias Tony Stark created the land to discover, recruit and train the next generation of Super Heroes, according to a Disney statement.
Guests, or recruits, will be empowered to take an active role alongside Earth's mightiest heroes in two attractions, including Spider-Man W.E.B. Adventure, where they will learn to sling webs and team up with Spider-Man to capture out-of-control Spider-Bots.
Recruits can also join Iron Man and Captain Marvel on Avengers Assemble: Flight Force on a mission to space to lure a threat away from Earth.
