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First Looks at Disneyland Expansion and Disney World’s ‘Piston Peak’ Cars Land

Disney this week unveiled a sneak peek of what its flagship theme park’s expansion will look like. Plus, everything you need to know about Disneyland’s 70th anniversary.

It’s been 70 years since Disneyland opened its gates, and the original Disney park is now celebrating its anniversary. As Walt Disney himself predicted, Disneyland will “never be completed,” as long as imagination remains in the world — and it’s continuing to grow with new rides, experiences and entertainment planned for 2025 and beyond. 

This week, Disney announced new details for its big expansion, including a new esplanade entry experience, where the Coco ride will be, and what old attraction will be closing down so the Avatar attraction can open.

And over in the 53-year-old Walt Disney World in Florida, new lands are being built right now (not to mention the brand-new Disney theme park announced for Abu Dhabi). Disney Parks has revealed how its new Cars Land at Magic Kingdom will look — check out the map below.

We’ve got all the details on the park expansions and the Disneyland 70th anniversary celebration. Here’s everything coming to the Disney Parks and the Disney Cruise Line in 2025 and beyond.

Disneyland expansion

This week, Disney Parks unveiled concept art and details of what its expansion will look like. The first phase of the project is a new parking structure to the east of Disneyland, along with a pedestrian bridge over Harbor Boulevard. A new esplanade entry “experience” will replace the current walkway entry. Construction is planned to begin in fall 2026.

New Coco attraction at Disney’s California Adventure

Disney’s California Adventure is also getting more Pixar rides, with a Coco attraction being built in the area near Pixar Pier and Parade Gardens, in what is currently mostly backstage areas for cast members. Construction is set to begin this fall, Disney announced in June.

We don’t have many details yet, but it sounds like it’ll be a dark ride like Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean, populated by audio-animatronics. 

“The attraction will be filled with the characters — and music! — you know and love from the beloved movie, as you join Miguel on a trip to the land of the dead,” Disney says.

Avatar area to replace Monsters, Inc. ride at California Adventure

The world of Pandora is expanding from Disney World’s Animal Kingdom in Orlando to California Adventure in Anaheim. The area in California will take its design inspiration from the second Avatar film, The Way of Water, as well as the upcoming Avatar sequels.

This is part of the enormous Disneyland expansion coming to the theme parks, which will push the boundaries past Downtown Disney and into the nearby parking lots. Disney said in June that it is “transforming a portion of the current Hollywood Backlot area into our Avatar destination in Disney California Adventure.” This will include removing the Monsters Inc. attraction, which will close permanently in early 2026.

Disney says the project is still in early development, so it’s still short on details and dates. However, it has previously said the Avatar experience will be “dynamic, intense and emotional,” with a dark boat ride much like Pirates of the Caribbean “taking guests all the way to the wide-open seas of Pandora.”

Disney World Cars Land: First look at Piston Peak

The Rivers of America and Tom Sawyer Island at Disney World’s Magic Kingdom are being repurposed to add an area themed around Pixar’s Cars movies. This expansion of Frontierland, which currently encompasses Tiana’s Bayou Adventure and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, will get a Route 66 companion, whose look is inspired by the Rocky Mountain area and the “American Frontier and its national parks.”

“Imagine an awe-inspiring wilderness filled with towering trees, snowcapped mountains, breathtaking waterfalls, roaring rivers and impressive geysers,” Disney Parks Blog wrote on June 3.

Disney says Imagineers are “using a style of architecture called ‘Parkitecture,’ which was developed by the National Park Service to create structures that harmonize with the natural environment.”

On the map, you can see a running river surrounding the Piston Peak area, with geysers spitting water. “Trees will provide a natural barrier between the off-road rally and other parts of Frontierland and Liberty Square. Rugged mountains with dramatic peaks will be nestled along a calming waterway,” Disney Parks said. You can see Tiana’s Bayou Adventure and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad at the top of the map (though those rides are farther east in the park, so this map of Cars Land is rotated 90 degrees).

There will be a visitor’s lodge, a Ranger HQ and walking trails in the Piston Peak area, so don’t fear that all exploration is being removed with the loss of Tom Sawyer Island. 

During SXSW in March, Pixar Chief Creative Officer Pete Docter and Imagineer Michel Hundgen spoke about the new ride vehicle for the Cars attraction. You can watch a TikTok video of Disney Imagineers testing out off-road vehicles in the Arizona desert to create what the ride will feel like.

“These are all things Lightning McQueen and Mater haven’t experienced before, like racing over rocky terrain, ascending to mountain peaks, and dodging around geysers — how do you take these real-world elements and put a Cars spin on it?” Disney Parks said in another blog post. Docter added that each rally car will have its own personality, name and racing number. 

Disney last year said there would be a second Cars-themed attraction, too. Cars Land, which was added to Disney’s California Adventure back in 2012, remains popular in the west, so it was only a matter of time before it was added to the eastern outpost. 

Work is set to begin this year, and the Rivers of America, Tom Sawyer Island and the Liberty Square Riverboat will close on July 7.

What to know about Disneyland’s 70th celebration

Disneyland’s 70th anniversary celebration kicked off on May 16. (The original Disney park opened on July 17, 1955, but the celebration began two months early.) You have plenty of time to get there, though — the celebration will continue for more than a year, running through summer 2026.

“Celebrate happy” is the theme of the anniversary celebration, and Disneyland has an entirely new theme song, performed by the Jonas Brothers.

New events include a Mickey and Friends cavalcade (including Duffy and ShellieMay), a projection show at It’s a Small World called Tapestry of Happiness (as well as Miguel and Dante being added to the ride), a projection show at Carthay Circle, 70 new food and drink items and new outfits for Mickey and friends. 

The new World of Color show is hosted by Joy from Inside Out. The other Emotions manifest movie moments from Pixar and Disney films, including The Incredibles, Turning Red, A Goofy Movie, Encanto and Tangled. It also has a new preshow starring The Muppets.

The esplanade between Disneyland and California Adventure now has a 50-foot sculpture of Sleeping Beauty Castle, with more decorations sprinkled throughout Downtown Disney and Main Street USA, as well as inside Disney’s hotels. There’s even 70th anniversary decor inside the Toy Story Midway Mania ride.

The Paint the Night parade, Pixar Pals parade and the Wondrous Journeys fireworks show have also returned for the celebration.

On the official anniversary day of July 17, Disneyland will debut a new verse for It’s A Small World, as well as a 3-minute film called The Last Verse in the Main Street Cinema. The movie celebrates the Sherman Brothers, who wrote the music for the ride. There will also be a new gallery exhibition in the Opera House on Main Street USA, featuring never-before-seen images, art and artifacts from the development, opening and evolution of Disneyland. These include the original rocking chair, lamp and table from Walt Disney’s private apartment above the Fire Station on Main Street, Walt’s 1955 Emmy award and the Presidential Medal of Freedom he received in 1964. There will be a second exhibit on the history of animatronics. 

The first-ever audio-animatronic figure of Walt Disney himself will also debut on July 17 as a part of the Walt Disney: A Magical Life show inside the Main Street Opera House.

Ticket pricing for Disneyland’s 70th anniversary celebration

Another big drawing card for the 70th anniversary celebrations: ticket pricing deals that make it slightly cheaper than usual to visit (as long as you go for at least three days).

If you’re visiting Disneyland between May 16 and Aug. 14, 2025, you can buy tickets that are part of the Disneyland Anniversary Ticket Offer. These cost $360 for a three-day, one-park-per-day ticket, or $400 for a four-day, one-park-per-day ticket.

Avengers Campus is getting two more rides at California Adventure

Looking beyond 2025, Disney’s California Adventure, which is already home to the Spider-Man Web Slingers and Guardians of the Galaxy attractions in the Avengers Campus area of the park, will be getting two more Marvel attractions. 

During SXSW, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige, Imagineering Chief Creative Officer Bruce Vaughn and Iron Man himself, Robert Downey Jr., revealed more details about these two new rides. Avengers Infinity Defense will see you assemble alongside the Avengers battling King Thanos, featuring appearances by Black Panther, Ant-Man and Hulk. Stark Flight Lab, the second ride, will see you help test Tony Stark’s latest tech.

“In Stark Flight Lab, guests will sit in ‘gyro-kinetic pods’ and roll along a track before stopping in front of a giant robot arm,” Disney explains on its Parks Blog. “This robot arm will hoist you into the air where you’ll make several high-speed maneuvers inspired by Iron Man and some other Avengers.”

Construction begins this year on the Avengers Campus additions. 

Updates to Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin

Over in Disney World’s Magic Kingdom park, Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin will close in August for a total overhaul. Announced on March 26, the Tomorrowland attraction will get new ride vehicles with video monitors. 

It’s also getting a new scene at the start starring a new character, Buddy the friendly robot. Each star cruiser will have two handheld blasters with always-on lasers that come in two different colors so you can see which laser is yours. The static Z targets will also now “react and light up when hit.”

Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin will reopen sometime in 2026.

Disney’s Hollywood Studios: Monsters, Inc. land

If you’re going to miss the Monsters, Inc. ride at Disneyland, you’ll be relieved to know that a new addition coming to Disney World’s Hollywood Studios theme park is a Monsters, Inc.-themed area, to replace the current Muppets area (with the Muppets to replace Aerosmith theming in the Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster).

Revealed by the voice of Mike Wazowski (Billy Crystal), the land will let you stroll through Monstropolis from the Pixar movies and shorts. A new ride will also take you through the Monsters Inc. laugh factory aboard one of the doors to the human world — aka a suspended roller coaster. 

“The first time I saw Monsters, Inc., all I wanted to do was ride on one of those doors like Mike and Sulley,” Disney Experiences Chair Josh D’Amaro said at D23 last August. “You’ll go into the factory and experience the first suspended coaster ever in a Disney park. Remember in the movie how those claws grab the doors and hoist them up into the air to take them away? We’re doing that too. And you’re going along for the ride.”

Docter and Hundgen were also on-hand to talk about the new Monsters, Inc. ride during SXSW. Here’s the TikTok showing the design concept for the Monsters Inc. ride.

Your last day to enjoy MuppetVision 3D is June 7, as it’ll close permanently on June 8. Work on the Monsters, Inc. land will then begin later in 2025. There’s no closing date yet for the Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster.

Disney World and Disneyland get Bluey meet and greets

Meet and greets with Bluey and her family will be coming to Disneyland and Disney World, as well as to Disney cruises, starting at an unspecified time in 2025. Disney announced this news after revealing that a Bluey movie will hit screens in 2027.

“Bluey has become a household name for families around the world, and we are thrilled to bring her story to life in new ways,” said D’Amaro. “We can’t wait to watch our youngest guests and their families make memories with Bluey in our parks and on our cruises.”

The hugely popular Australian TV series about a family of dogs is a worldwide hit, and Disney will release the movie in two years. (In the meantime, you can watch Bluey episodes and minisodes on Disney Plus.)

Disney World’s Magic Kingdom: New Villains Land

Villains Land, which will celebrate all the classic baddies from Disney films, is coming to the Magic Kingdom at Disney World in Florida, and it will be “dark and thorny,” according to the Horizons Disney Experiences Showcase (part of Disney’s D23 expo in August) and info that Disney has released since. 

Villains Land was first teased during D23 2022. It’ll be positioned on the other side of Big Thunder Mountain — aka, the top left edge of the current Magic Kingdom map — and will stretch around to where the Haunted Mansion is.

Two major attractions will be built in Villains Land, as well as dining and shopping “on an incredibly twisted, grand scale.” The land is already being constructed, but no word yet on when it’ll open.

A chilling trailer for the chaotic land on Instagram hints at elements in the land representing Maleficent, Dr. Facilier, Ursula, Gaston, Yzma, Queen of Hearts, Hades, the Evil Queen, Lady Tremaine, Captain Hook, Jafar, Kaa, Madam Mim, Cruella, Scar, King Magnifico and Mother Gothel.

Tropical Americas land at Animal Kingdom 

Disney’s Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World is replacing its DinoLand USA area with Tropical Americas. Though this had been previously announced, Disney confirmed a few more details in August: Pueblo Esperanza will feel like you’re walking through a real village and will have a huge quick-service dining location, a fountain and a carousel.

Tropical Americas will also have a new Indiana Jones ride through a Maya temple and an Encanto-themed attraction where you’ll explore Antonio’s rainforest room inside the Casita.

Construction began in fall 2024, but DinoLand USA is closing down in stages. The Dinosaur ride (which will become the Indiana Jones ride) remains open, but TriceraTop Spin and the midway area closed down on Jan. 13.

Tropical Americas is planned to open in 2027.

Disney Cruise Line: Four more ships

In addition to the Disney Wish, which launched in July 2022, the Disney Treasure, which set sail in December 2024, and the Disney Destiny, which is set to embark later this year, Disney is adding four more cruise ships to its ocean vacation lineup.

The ship names and destinations have yet to be revealed, but the ships will set sail between 2027 and 2031.

Everything else coming to Disneyland and Disney World

Here’s what else is new and coming soon to the theme parks:

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Technologies

Microsoft’s Nadella says AI needs an ‘emergency brake’ that humans control

Nadella joined other tech moguls and researchers in calling for stronger safeguards and, in some cases, for the pacing of frontier development.

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– Use limited data to select content 181 partners can use this purpose Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).

These Cookies and SDKs are used to collect data about your browsing habits, use of the Services, your preferences, and your interaction with advertisements across platforms and devices for the purpose of delivering targeted advertising content, both on our Services and on third party sites.

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Technologies

Kremlin Confirms Putin Transmitted Iran’s War Resolution Plan to Trump

The Kremlin says Putin relayed Iran’s proposal for ending the war to Trump, while Trump announced a Russian diesel supply deal that drew sharp criticism from Zelenskyy.

Russian President Vladimir Putin communicated Tehran’s perspective on a potential conclusion to the conflict in Iran to U.S. President Donald Trump, according to Russian state media reports on Saturday.

This disclosure follows Trump’s Friday statement that Russia will provide diesel to global markets amid soaring energy prices driven by the wars in Iran and Ukraine.

Russia’s Interfax news agency cited Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stating that Putin conveyed the message to Trump “in agreement with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian,” per a Google translation.

Additional Russian media accounts indicate Putin spoke with Trump by phone after meeting Pezeshkian on the margins of a summit in Turkmenistan.

Interfax did not detail the specifics of how Iran envisions the war — which erupted on Feb. 28 with U.S. and Israeli airstrikes on Iranian targets — reaching an end.

The White House did not immediately respond to Verum’s emailed request to confirm the reported conversation between Putin and Trump.

Russia supply deal

Trump announced Friday that Russia will deliver more than 4 million tons of diesel to the global market under an arrangement he said he agreed with Putin during a phone call.

Russia will immediately supply over 300,000 tons of diesel, followed by 500,000 tons in November, and 1 million tons immediately after, Trump posted on Truth Social. Moscow will then provide another 3 million tons of diesel contingent on the condition of Russia’s refineries, Trump added.

The Treasury Department temporarily waived sanctions on Russian diesel through April 2027 under a general license issued Friday.

Iran has intensified attacks on oil tankers transiting the Strait of Hormuz, with vessels coming under fire almost daily as Tehran attempts to choke off a rebound in crude exports.

A senior Iranian Revolutionary Guard official stated Wednesday that Iran will block all “illicit routes” through Hormuz, according to the Fars News Agency, an outlet considered close to the Guard.

The surge in tanker attacks coincides with crude oil exports from the Middle East rebounding in September to prewar levels, largely because the U.S. military escorted ships through Hormuz along Oman’s coast.

An interim agreement signed in June between the U.S. and Iran to pause hostilities to allow for negotiations quickly collapsed.

‘Gifts to Putin’

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy immediately denounced Trump’s diesel deal with Putin. Ukraine’s leader warned that easing sanctions without a commitment from Russia to de-escalate the war will only prolong it.

“Gifts to Putin will not bring peace or any benefit to the civilized world,” Zelenskyy said in a social media post. “Russia will ‘repay’ the diesel with further terror and perfidy. Allowing Russia to sell petroleum products is an investment in a war that must be ended, not prolonged.”

Diesel prices have surged worldwide as Ukraine has pounded Russian refineries, forcing Moscow to ban diesel exports to global markets. Iran and its Houthi allies have also attacked refineries in the Middle East, further constraining fuel supplies.

Trump faces mounting political pressure to lower fuel prices ahead of the November midterm elections. Republicans confront competitive races in conservative strongholds like Iowa, where farmers feel the pinch of high diesel prices.

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Technologies

AI is Changing How Lawyers Work — and Putting the Billable Hour Under Pressure

AI is reshaping the legal industry by reducing the time needed for routine tasks, challenging the traditional billable hour model, and changing how lawyers learn and practice.

Artificial intelligence is now used by almost 90% of legal professionals in the U.K. and Ireland, and it’s putting one of the profession’s oldest conventions — the billable hour — under the microscope. That’s according to legal software company Clio’s U.K. & Ireland Legal Insights Report 2026.

It found that among firms using AI, almost 80% said they can handle more work without increasing resources, while over 70% said it cut costs by absorbing administrative work once done by support staff.

As a result, AI is challenging some of the assumptions on which the legal profession was built, forcing firms to reevaluate how their lawyers spend their time, how they charge for it and how new lawyers learn the ropes. You can’t charge 16 hours for something that takes 16 secondsNick Rowles-DaviesLexolent Some of the U.K.’s biggest firms are already putting this into practice.

A&O Shearman has worked with legal AI company Harvey to develop artificial intelligence agents for tasks, including reviewing loan agreements and analyzing regulatory filings, which it says can complete in minutes work that previously took several hours. Slaughter and May, meanwhile, has rolled out Harvey across all practice areas this year, including for regulatory research and document analysis.

Billable hour pressure The billable hour is central to the business model of many law firms, but when AI significantly reduces the time lawyers spend sifting through and drafting documents, the economics are no longer so straightforward. “You can’t charge 16 hours for something that takes 16 seconds,” Nick Rowles-Davies, founder and CEO of legal finance fund Lexolent, based in London and Dubai, told CNBC.

About one in five firms that have widely adopted AI report difficulty meeting billable-hour targets, according to Clio’s report. Globally, senior legal leaders expect the share of work charged by the hour to fall from 72% to 44% over the next two to three years, according to a Deloitte survey.

Routine work is the most exposed, Rowles-Davies said. “If you’ve got standard documents and you’re just putting in detail, then clearly that’s an automatic process.” But complex legal work still requires human judgment, he added, particularly when interpreting AI output and determining the right strategy for a client.

Lawyers [are] telling us that their day is getting betterJoshua LenonClio

AI and workloads

Whether AI efficiencies ultimately make lawyers’ working lives better may depend on what firms do with the time they get back. Clio’s report found that 51% of legal professionals work evenings, but only 32% want to, while 22% work weekends compared with 11% who would choose to.

Joshua Lenon, Clio’s New York-based lawyer-in-residence, believes some lawyers are already seeing the benefits. “Lawyers [are] telling us that their day is getting better,” Lenon told CNBC, as AI becomes more commonplace.

“People are really looking at these tools and saying, ‘This is making work better.’”

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