D23 2026 Is Already Delivering Huge Disney News

Disney fans, this is the weekend we’ve been waiting for.

D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event has taken over Anaheim, California, and somehow we have already reached Saturday with enough announcements to fill a Disney fan’s wish list for years.

And yet, arguably the biggest night for Disney Parks fans hasn’t even happened yet.

Tonight, August 15, Disney Experiences takes over the Honda Center for Horizons: A Carousel of Progress, the major presentation expected to look toward the future of Disney Parks and experiences around the world. Before we get there, however, it is worth appreciating just how much Disney has already revealed.

Between Thursday’s D23 Day at Disneyland Resort, Friday’s enormous Disney Entertainment Showcase, and the Imagineering previews already appearing on the convention floor, D23 2026 is shaping up to be one of those weekends Disney fans will be talking about for a long time.

Anaheim Became the Center of the Disney Universe

The official D23 event runs August 14 through August 16, but the celebration effectively started a day early.

Thursday, August 13, brought D23 Day at Disneyland Resort, complete with special entertainment, a Disney Legends Cavalcade, collectible Mickey Mouse ear hats for guests while supplies lasted, and a special Disney Princess concert as Anaheim began welcoming Disney fans from around the world.

Then Friday morning, the doors opened on D23 itself.

Disney describes this year’s Anaheim Convention Center experience as its largest D23 show floor yet, bringing together Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, National Geographic, Disney+, Hulu, ESPN, Disney Experiences and much more under one enormous roof. The convention also features more than 50 panels and presentations spread across the weekend.

But Friday night was when things went into overdrive.

Marvel Finally Reveals Its New X-Men

For Marvel fans, this was easily one of D23’s biggest moments.

Marvel Studios officially introduced several members of its new X-Men lineup, with Sadie Sink as Jean Grey, Kit Connor as Scott Summers/Cyclops, Christopher Abbott as Professor Charles Xavier, Samara Weaving as Emma Frost, Inde Navarrette as Rogue and Maya Boyd as Storm.

Adam Driver also announced via video that he will portray Nathaniel Milbury, better known to comic fans as Mister Sinister.

The new X-Men movie is scheduled to reach theaters on May 5, 2028, with Jake Schreier directing.

That would have been a substantial Marvel reveal on its own.

Marvel had other plans.

Avengers: Doomsday received a new special look and poster, with Robert Downey Jr. appearing as Doctor Doom alongside Chris Evans and Hayley Atwell during the presentation. Disney currently has the movie scheduled for December 18, 2026.

Marvel Television also debuted a look at VisionQuest, arriving on Disney+ October 14, 2026. Paul Bettany returns as Vision, while James Spader returns as Ultron. The series is positioned as the conclusion to the television trilogy that began with WandaVision and continued through Agatha All Along.

And gamers weren’t forgotten: a new trailer for Insomniac’s Marvel’s Wolverine also debuted.

Star Wars Heads Back Into the Unknown

A galaxy far, far away had a pretty good night too.

Dave Filoni joined Rosario Dawson, Hayden Christensen and Eman Esfandi to reveal the teaser for Ahsoka Season 2, which officially arrives on Disney+ on January 20, 2027.

The story continues with Ahsoka and Sabine trying to find their way home while Grand Admiral Thrawn threatens to drag the New Republic into war.

Then came Star Wars: Starfighter.

Director Shawn Levy and Ryan Gosling presented an exclusive look at the new theatrical adventure. Gosling stars as a cynical rogue whose mysterious past sends him into a dangerous journey across the galaxy, joined by a cast that includes Matt Smith, Mia Goth, Aaron Pierre and Amy Adams.

Star Wars: Starfighter arrives in theaters May 28, 2027.

That means 2027 is already looking like an unusually busy year for Star Wars fans.

Frozen 3, Zootopia 3 and a Major Animation Future

Disney Animation saved some enormous news for the end of Friday night.

First: Zootopia 3 is officially happening.

Jared Bush joined Ginnifer Goodwin and Ke Huy Quan to confirm that the third movie is now in early development. Disney has not yet announced a release date.

Then came Arendelle.

Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel and Josh Gad appeared for Frozen 3, including musical performances and new animation featuring Anna, Elsa, Kristoff, Olaf and Sven.

Perhaps most intriguing was the glimpse of a mysterious new villainess whose powers appear capable of rivaling Elsa’s.

Frozen 3 is scheduled for November 24, 2027.

Disney also confirmed that Lilo & Stitch 2 will begin production in Hawaiʻi later this year, with Angel joining Stitch and the sequel scheduled for May 26, 2028. A new teaser for The Bluey Movie debuted ahead of its August 6, 2027 release, while Disney’s live-action Tangled will arrive March 31, 2028.

And in a particularly wonderful bit of Disney history meeting Disney’s future, Jon Favreau revealed Oswald, a live-action/animation hybrid Disney+ series centered on Walt Disney’s Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. It premieres February 17, 2027.

Pixar Brought Sequels — But Also Something New

Pixar had plenty for fans of familiar worlds.

Incredibles 3 received its first look and a release date of June 16, 2028.

Coco 2 will feature an older, teenage Miguel and the return of Ernesto de la Cruz, sending Miguel back to the Land of the Dead. That sequel is currently planned for November 2029.

That Coco news stretched into gaming too. Kingdom Hearts IV will include a world inspired by Coco, with the long-awaited game now targeting late 2027.

Even more surprisingly, Disney also greenlit a new Kingdom Hearts anime series for Disney Channel and Disney+, developed in partnership with Square Enix and Tetsuya Nomura.

But Pixar wasn’t relying only on sequels.

A completely original film called Ghost Market was announced for March 2028. Set around a hidden plate-lunch shop on Oʻahu’s North Shore that serves spirits caught between life and death, the supernatural adventure follows a living boy who unexpectedly stumbles into their world.

Pixar also showed more of Gatto, its Venice-set adventure about a black cat named Nero, arriving March 5, 2027.

For anyone worried that Disney’s future consists exclusively of familiar franchises, Ghost Market may be one of the more interesting announcements to watch.

But Park Fans Have Already Found Treasure on the D23 Floor

And now we get to the part of D23 that may be most interesting today.

The Disney Experiences Showcase doesn’t begin until tonight, but Walt Disney Imagineering has already given fans an impressive physical look at projects under development around the world through the massive Imagineering: Horizonspavilion.

This is not simply walls of concept art.

There are models, maquettes, attraction components and design studies showing that many of the projects Disney announced previously are moving deeper into development.

And some of what Imagineering brought to Anaheim is fascinating.

Disneyland Has Coco, Avatar and More Avengers on the Way

Disneyland Resort’s future is also well represented.

For Disney California Adventure’s upcoming Coco attraction, Imagineering has displayed a new queue rendering and sculpture of Héctor. There is even a beautiful real-world storytelling detail connected to the exhibit: guests can record memories with loved ones on cards that Disney says will eventually be transformed into soil and incorporated into planters near the attraction’s queue.

The future Avatar destination at Disney California Adventure has a rockwork model and ride-vehicle model on display, offering another tangible glimpse at one of Disneyland Resort’s largest projects on the horizon.

Meanwhile, the Avengers Campus expansion is represented with a model and a ride vehicle maquette for Stark Flight Lab.

And that is only California.

Tonight Is the Big One for Disney Parks Fans

At 7:00 p.m. Pacific Time on Saturday, August 15, the Honda Center hosts Horizons: A Carousel of Progress, this year’s Disney Experiences Showcase.

Neil Patrick Harris will host as Imagineers, artists and Disney creative leaders discuss the projects shaping Disney Experiences around the globe. Disney has specifically promised behind-the-scenes looks, performances, announcements and surprises. For the first time, fans outside Anaheim will also be able to watch this particular D23 showcase live on Disney+.

And that last part is important.

Disney has already placed an enormous amount of evidence on the convention floor showing where its parks are headed: Piston Peak. Tropical Americas. Villains. Monstropolis. Coco. Avatar. Avengers. The Lion King. New Space Mountain. New Marvel experiences around the world.

Tonight is when we may finally learn considerably more about how—and when—some of those ideas become reality.

After what Disney revealed Friday night, expectations are going to be high.

Very high.

D23 2026 Is Only Halfway Over

That may be the strangest thing about this weekend.

We already have a new X-Men cast. A new Frozen villain. Zootopia 3. Incredibles 3. Coco 2. Lilo & Stitch 2. A Kingdom Hearts anime. A Coco world in Kingdom Hearts IV. More Ahsoka. A new Star Wars movie. An Oswald series. An original Pixar supernatural adventure. And physical previews of major theme-park expansions being built across the globe.

And Disney still hasn’t held its big parks presentation.

That changes tonight.

For Disney Parks fans in particular, Saturday may ultimately become the defining day of D23 2026. Whether you are watching for Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disneyland Paris, Tokyo Disney Resort, Shanghai Disneyland, Hong Kong Disneyland or the broader Disney Experiences portfolio, all eyes now turn toward the Honda Center.

There’s a great big, beautiful tomorrow waiting on the horizon.

Tonight, we may finally get to see a little more of it.