Experts ‘Can’t Imagine’ Disney World Adding a Fifth Gate

It’s been just over 10 days since Disney CEO Bob Iger announced that Disney could build seven new parks. Disney fans were immediately buzzing with the possibilities that could be coming to Walt Disney World, including the allusive fifth gate.

With Universal Studios Orlando opening Epic Universe in 2025, Disney fans and pundits firmly believed that Disney World would announce its fifth gate to take some of the shine away from its biggest Central Florida rival.

Related: Sorry Disney Fans, A Day After Iger Announced Disney ‘Could Build Seven New Theme Parks,’ Disney Walks it Back

But no sooner did Iger make his announcement than Disney was walking back some of what Iger said. Disney clarified that Iger meant the Walt Disney Company “could” build seven new theme parks, not that they were going to. Iger referenced a 2023 statement that said Disney Parks worldwide have 1,000 acres available for future development, the equivalent of seven Disneyland theme parks.

So, where does that leave future Walt Disney World expansion projects? Disney has already announced its plans to spend $60 billion on expanding its global theme parks, and while there are rumors and confirmed plans for other parks, Disney World seems to be out in the cold.

According to experts the Orlando Sentinel spoke with, Disney fans shouldn’t expect a fifth park anytime soon. Instead, Disney World will see expansion projects in their existing parks.

Brian Morrow, the owner of Kissimmee-based B Morrow Productions, an attractions-design studio, told the Orlando Sentinel: 

Personally, I couldn’t imagine a reality where another full park gets constructed in Orlando. There’s a lot of infrastructure cost and high capital expenditure cost in developing new properties. But we have plenty of parks in Orlando that just could be bigger or have more things to do or be expanded. I definitely don’t see – particularly in the Disney and Universal category – any change by building lesser lands or less grandiose environments. That’s really how [guests] are making some of their decisions. … ‘How amazing is it? How new is it?’

Despite this bad news, these same experts believe that there is a silver lining. We already know that there will be dramatic changes coming to Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Len Testa, who runs Touring Plans, believes that this will include an additional thrill ride to go along with a dark ride and the retheming of Dinosaur to an Indiana Jones ride.

But Testa also believes that a major expansion coming to the Magic Kingdom would include the long-awaited Villian’s Land.

Related: Disney Announces ‘Largest’ Expansion of Magic Kingdom Ever

Testa said:

Attractions that are most popular, the highest-rated, are super-headliner rides based on beloved multipart movie franchises. Those are the kinds of rides that bring people to Central Florida. People love the villains, and the villains can do things. They can interact with guests in a way that regular characters can’t. Like they can be sassy in a way that other characters can’t. That would sell a lot, so I think that has some legs.

So, while experts agree that a new theme park may not be coming to Walt Disney World, these new attractions at existing parks could be enough to hold us over, for now.

But with Universal Studios having something new, a fifth park is hopefully coming soon.

What do you think about the experts’ thoughts on Disney’s fifth gate? Let us know in the comments.