What Would Walt Disney World's Fifth Theme Park Look Like?

Walt Disney World near Orlando, FL draws tens of millions of guests to its gates every year. It's four theme parks (Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney's Hollywood Studios, and Disney's Animal Kingdom) are one-of-a-kind destinations that entice people to visit from all over the globe. It's often said that "The saddest part of any Disney vacation is leaving." This expression is very true: people just cannot get enough Disney. This causes many people to wonder "What's Next?"

It would behoove to clarify that The Walt Disney Company has not announced any plans to build a fifth theme park at the time of this writing. However, with the entire Walt Disney World Resort covering an area of over 40 square miles, expansion is inevitable. After all, Walt Disney himself said "Disneyland (in California) will never be complete as long as there is imagination left in the world." Imagineers have plenty of imagination with plenty of land to show that imagination to the world.

The above graph shows the opening dates of every theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort.  Based on the table, a new park opened roughly every ten years.  At the time of this writing, the newest park, Disney's Animal Kingdom, is just over 13 years old.  Based on this calculation alone, it is a fairly safe assumption that Disney is currently working on Walt Disney World's fifth gate.  It takes roughly 5-10 years to plan a modern theme park, and thus it is fair to speculate on what another Disney park in Florida may look like.

Of course, also at the time of this writing, Magic Kingdom's Fantasyland Expansion is well under construction.  While it will certainly be a fantastic addition to the park, the price tag is nowhere near that of a new theme park.  It's a major addition, but that should not distract from the possibility of a completely new park. 

Above is a table of every Disney park, including Shanghai Disneyland, which just broke ground two months ago. An important part of spectulating what Disney will do is to have a firm understanding of what Disney has already done.

There are twelve theme parks (current and upcoming) at six different resorts. Each of these resorts has one Disneyland-style park. These include the original Disneyland, Magic Kingdom, Disneyland Paris, Tokyo Disneyland, Hong Kong Disneyland, and Shanghai Disneyland. Obviously, the fifth Walt Disney World park would not be another Disneyland-style park, since the resort already has Magic Kingdom. Furthermore, it would not recreate any of the other parks currently at the resort. Eliminating the six Disneyland-style parks as well as the other three parks at Walt Disney World leaves just three other possibilities. Of those possibilities, Walt Disney Studios Paris may also be eliminated, since it is essentially the Paris version of Disney's Hollywood Studios.

These eliminations leave only two parks that Walt Disney World's fifth gate may use as inspiration; Disney California Adventure in Anaheim, and Tokyo DisneySea in Tokyo.

Essentially, Disney California Adventure is a celebration of the great state of California. California is one of the most diverse states in the country. It's famous for Hollywood, beaches, wineries, beautiful redwood forests, the gold rush; California has so much to offer. Disney California Adventure is a culmination of all these things.

Tokyo DisneySea, however, is arguably Disney's most unique park. It celebrates the sea and all the cultures that have been based upon the sea. From Lost River Delta to the American Waterfront, from Mermaid Lagoon to the Mediterranean Harbor, Tokyo DisneySea is diverse in its lands with one unified theme, the sea.

Either of these parks would make a great addition to Walt Disney World. Both parks are very unique and have a diverse and fantastic set of attractions. "Disney Florida Adventure" could celebrate the fantastic beaches, the Everglades, the Keys, the lush greenery of the forests, orange groves; the list goes on. "DisneySea" could celebrate the sea in the same fashion as Tokyo DisneySea, though it would need to differentiate itself from the likes of both SeaWorld Orlando and Universal's Islands of Adventure. This could easily be done though, as SeaWorld mostly deals with aquatic animals, and Islands of Adventure has a broad range of themes with diverse franchises.

Some might say Disney is pretty talented at coming up with unique ideas, and I would have to agree. Disney tends to make what they put into Walt Disney World different from the other Disney parks, even if what is added does draw inspiration from another Disney park. It's a very good possibility that Walt Disney World's fifth gate is like something we've never seen before.

At this point, it's important to ask what has Walt Disney World already done theme-wise. This is not to say what stories or franchises Disney has already based an attraction upon, but what feelings or emotions Disney has driven into the parks they've already developed. Magic Kingdom is spectacular, with the wonder and fantasy that has made Disney famous. Epcot is all about exploration, whether it's traveling to another country or to Mars. Disney's Hollywood Studios is about splendor and magic, but not necessarily fairytale magic, but the magic of Hollywood. Finally, Disney's Animal Kingdom is all about discovery, whether it's discovering an Iguanadon or a Yeti, or discovering the courageous youngster within.

There are several possible themes for Walt DIsney World's next park. A strong candidate is a park based on adventure. Some might say that this theme is too similar to Universal's Islands of Adventure, but adventure is a broad theme. Besides, both SeaWorld and Busch Gardens and even Disney's Animal Kingdom have adventure-like themes. It would be easy to prevent the parks from conflicting.

Adventure would be a great choice because it really unites all generations, unlike fairytale magic which tends to single out children, or movies which tend to have a specific age group of fans. Adventure opens numerous possibilities, including the previously mentioned two parks that may be used for inspiration. Maybe even a hybrid of the two ideas, since Florida has the Gulf of Mexico, the Atlantic Oceans, rivers, swamps, lakes, and lagoons. Disney could even invent their own realm completely from scratch. Maybe a land that celebrates all of the traditional elements; a city built under the sea, a city inside a volcano, a city in the sky, and a city underground. It could be a park based on myths and legends of all kinds; lands with thousand of different journeys, where guests feel like true adventuers.

Disney could try for something whimsical. Much of Disney is bright and colorful, but little of it is particularly off-kilter and odd. It's possible Disney could tie this into a darker or serious park with a slight horror theme. Even though they try to limit these types of attractions (remember Alien Encounter?), it's clear the Imagineers love creating attractions like this, like The Haunted Mansion and The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. The designers would need to be very careful, but it could certainly be done.

Whatever the fifth gate might be, it will be made for the whole family. That's why these parks exist. The park will take guests places they have never been, and likely places they've never even dreamed. Theme parks are meant to tell compelling stories and transport guests into new worlds.

That is the most important part of any of Disney's attractions: the story. Disney's attractions are treated just like books or movies or stage productions. The difference is that park guests jump into roles and experience a story firsthand.

The fifth gate will excite and intrigue all guests, and guests will come back for more. Disney invented this theme park business. If a fifth park at Walt Disney World is ever announced, it will be big news. Watch for it!