Avengers Infinity Defense Ride Coming to Disney California Adventure

A few years ago at the D23 Expo, we learned more details about the new Avengers Campus initiative that’s being rolled out to Disney Parks worldwide including California, Hong Kong, and Paris. Now we also have confirmation of a brand-new big E-Ticket Avengers attraction coming to California as part of its Phase 2 called: “Avengers Infinity Defense.”

(UPDATE 8/12/24) – Disney shared some new details about the new Avengers E-Ticket attraction at this year’s D23 Expo event including more about the story, the attraction name and new concept art. They built on the info they shared at the most recent Destination D23 where they shared a first look at the ride vehicle.

We weren’t expecting that, and we ended up with a lot more info than we originally thought.

In this post, we’ll go over everything we know about the new Avengers Infinity Defense attraction with King Thanos including the location, ride system, opening date, included characters, and any news and updates about this new ride.

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Avengers Infinity Defense Attraction Overview

• Location: Avengers Campus in Disney California Adventure (Disneyland Resort)
• Status: In Development
• Opening Date: (TBD – 2026?)
• Ride Type: TBD – Enhanced Motion Vehicles?
• Thrill Level: Medium to High
• Lightning Lane: Likely a Lightning Lane Single Pass selection
• Ride Length: TBD
• Height Requirement: TBD
• Capacity: TBD

The Marvel Lands called Avengers Campus are being rolled out in two phases in Disney California Adventure. Phase 1 included a Spider-Man attraction, a Doctor Strange experience, and a Pym Technology quick-service restaurant. Phase one of Avengers Campus opened in 2021.

Phase 2 on the other hand includes 2 new attractions: the aforementioned E-Ticket ride “Avengers Infinity Defense” that we just got a whole bunch of new information about, as well as the Stark Flight Lab.

To begin, we can’t say how excited we are that an Avengers E-Ticket attraction is actually still coming to Avengers Campus and that it will be the focal point of the land’s expansion project.

During the “Horizons: Disney Experiences Showcase” during the D23 Expo at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, Disney Experiences Chairman Josh D’Amaro confirmed that Avengers Campus is expanding and adding a third and fourth attraction to its lineup.

Even though we don’t have all the details yet, we have a lot more to go on than we did before the event.

For example, this new Avengers attraction is going to be based on the multiverse. Disney described the attraction as having a brand-new story that brings guests into battle alongside their favorite Marvel super heroes and villains from anywhere.

At the Disney Parks & Experiences presentation, Marvel head Kevin Feige and Disney Parks Chairman Josh D’Amaro gave us even more info about the attraction and explained that guests will battle alongside all characters against King Thanos. This isn’t the Thanos from Endgame that lost, but instead a Thanos that won!

“Get ready for a multi-world adventure experience with Avengers Infinity Defense. Technology that allows the Avengers to jump between worlds has gone missing, and King Thanos is using it to wreak havoc everywhere.

Recruits will travel to iconic locations like Asgard, Wakanda, and New York City alongside the likes of big, and small, heroes. You also just might find yourself face-to-face with King Thanos, too.”

The idea of Marvel using the Multiverse has been woven through the latest set of films and series in the MCU, but now it’s also heading into the parks and offers a ton of new possibilities and versions of characters we have never seen yet on the big screen.

At Destination D23, Brent Strong from Disney Imagineering explained more of the story. The Avengers have developed a new technology that allows Avengers Campus to become a hub for the Multiverse and that it includes a new transport vehicle that lets guests travel on a “multi-world mission” in a matter of seconds.

This new Avengers ride will feature “physical worlds” that will be brought to life “with a blend of large-scale built environments and immersive media.” In this day and age of attractions that utilize screen technology almost 100% of the time, we are happy to hear that some nice physical sets will also be incorperated.

How about a King Thanos audio-animatronic??

We’re also happy that the Avengers attraction finally has an official name. We can call it Avengers Infinity Defense instead of just “the Avengers attraction/ride,” or “the King Thanos attraction.”

It’s also pretty clear at this time that this new Avengers attraction will no longer be based on the same ride concept featuring the Quinjet that was going to be used 3 years ago when the original announcement was made, and this is going to be something altogether different. (More on that later.)

Which Parks is the Avengers E-Ticket Ride Coming to?

As of right now, the new Avengers Infinity Defense E-Ticket ride is coming exclusively to Disney California Adventure at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California.

Already if you visit Avengers Campus at Disney California Adventure, you can see the facade of the attraction building that will house this ride, and you might even spot some Avengers hanging out on the rooftops. You will definitely notice the Quinjet which is sitting there (look at the concept art above and photos below), and that will be instrumental in the ride later on.

There have been some rumors that this Avengers ride will eventually make it to other parks around the world, perhaps in the other Avengers Campuses in Disneyland Paris or Hong Kong Disneyland, but at this time it’s only coming to California Adventure.

If it becomes a success, it’s possible we could see it in those other locations, especially since Disney likes to recycle the same attractions and use them in multiple parks to save money on development.

As far as we can tell, the Avengers Infinity Defense ride will be located behind the building that currently holds the Quinjet perched upon its roof. In fact, if we look at the latest concept art for Avengers Campus, you can see the building behind where the Quinjet is located.

A look at the land behind that area confirms there is plenty of space to build a new attraction with a pretty extensive show building.

You can also see the space designated for the Stark Flight Lab where the purple lights are in the concept art.

Ride System

One of the highlights of the latest presentation and from the new concept art is that we can get a good feel for what type of ride system and vehicle the Avengers and King Thanos attraction is going to use.

Here is a look at the most recent concept art for the Avengers Campus attraction ride vehicle:

Brent Strong, executive creative director at Walt Disney Imagineering, shared an early look at the NEW ride vehicle at Destination D23 and said it will feature “a design that combines elements of Tony Stark’s time-suits with Xandarian jump points and Wakandan technology,” according to Disney.

This goes along with what Disney had previously revealed about the ride vehicle combining portal technology and flight capabilities to navigate through the skies.

When we really look at this latest concept art with the concept art from the top of this article, it gives us some useful insight.

From what we can tell the ride vehicle holds 12 guests and it could be some kind of enhanced motion vehicle. Honestly, it makes me think of the new ride vehicle for the Jurassic Park attraction at Universal Beijing.

It also could be something similar to the car from the Zootopia E-Ticket attraction that is coming to Shanghai Disneyland.

It could always be a trackless vehicle too, something similar to the one used in Rise of the Resistance, only with an extra row.

When the original announcement was made, guests were supposed to be riding in a Quinjet during the attraction, and now it doesn’t look like that will come to fruition.

Even before 2019, this ride was rumored to be some kind of Avengers coaster, but I’m actually really glad we aren’t getting that type of ride and we get something more innovative and different. After all, we already have a new TRON coaster and Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind open in Walt Disney World so it’s way better if Imagineers come up with something new.

As has been the trend with Disney rides of late, expect there to be a lot of screen technology in use. Like it or not, they are cheaper and easier to run than the more complicated and problematic audio-animatronics, though I really do hope we get a few of those in here too.

What Characters are in the Avengers Attraction?

This Avengers attraction is going to have dozens of your favorite MCU super heroes, and also some of its best villains. The biggest news is that King Thanos is going to be the main villain of the ride.

This isn’t the same Thanos from Infinity War or Endgame, but it’s an even more powerful version of him, one that won the battle against the Avengers.

That’s where you come in as you must team up with the Avengers to stop him.

The fact that they are incorporating the Multiverse now into the ride, means that it could include almost any character that has ever been in the Marvel comics. During the presentation, Kevin Feige said that there will be a lot of characters that we are already familiar with from the MCU, but many we have not met yet either.

From looking at the concept art for the ride, here is a list of characters that we have been able to confirm so far:

• King Thanos
• Iron Man
• Spider-Man
• Thor
• Mighty Thor (Jane Foster)
• Black Panther
• The Hulk
• The Hulk (version from Ragnarok)
• She Hulk
• Captain America (with Mjölnir)
• Captain Britain
• Captain America (Sam Wilson version)
• Ant-Man
• Ms. Marvel
• Dr. Strange
• Warewolf by Night
• Daredevil
• Moon Knight
• Steve Rogers (in The Hydra Stomper armor)
• The Dora Milaje
• Man-Thing

That is not a final list of the characters that will be in the attraction and it is just a sample of who we can expect to see.

When is the Avengers Attraction Opening?

Right now of course, the big question is “When is the Avengers ride opening?”

At this time Disney has not commented on when we can expect to see the new attraction open or when this expansion to Avengers Campus will actually get started.

Just the fact that Disney is talking about it however, is a really good sign.

This latest announcement goes along with the comments that  Disney Experiences Chairman Josh D’Amaro made at the D23 Expo. There D’Amaro talked about some of the announced Marvel projects that are coming to Disney parks around the world such as Shanghai Disneyland, Hong Kong Disneyland, besides the ones scheduled for Disney California Adventure.

Since the parks closed in 2020, many of the projects under construction either got delayed or some even were outright canceled. Many feared that the ground-breaking Avengers attraction would never see the light of day. Thankfully, we have known now for a few years that they are indeed coming.

In fact, it was former Disney CEO Bob Chapek that initially confirmed that Disney still has plans to build the Avengers ride at California Adventure, though at that time it wasn’t a high priority for the company.

After the news at the D23 Expo and Destination D23 though, it looks like Disney is really going to prioritize bringing these 3rd and 4th attractions to Avengers Campus.

This is reassuring as it sounds like it is one of the most ambitious attractions Disney has ever attempted to build and it would be a shame if guests didn’t experience it.

We still don’t have an opening date for the Avengers Infinity Defense E-Ticket ride, but we do know construction will begin in 2025.

Taking into consideration how long it takes Disney to finish a new attraction once they actually get started, I don’t expect this Avengers ride to open before 2026 or 2027 at the earliest.

Even a ride like TRON Lightcycle Run at the Magic Kingdom was under construction for 5 years, and that is a clone of an already existing ride where all of the hard work has already been done.

If this Avengers attraction is as ambitious as Disney is making it seem, a full 5 years is not out of the realm of possibility from start to finish. That means, even if (and that’s a big if) construction on the attraction started at the beginning of next year, 2030 will be 5 years.

2030 seems a bit extreme, so we will likely see Avengers Infinity Defense before then, and I think about 3 years is a more realistic timeline. We’ll keep you updated as soon as construction starts and we have a better idea of how long things will take.

Is this the Same as the Original Quinjet Attraction?

One of the biggest questions we had before this latest announcement is whether or not this new Avengers attraction with King Thanos is the same as the Quinjet Avengers attraction that was announced back in 2019.

While there are definitely a lot of similarities between the two, it looks like they are in fact, different attractions with different ride systems.

The most obvious proof is the concept art for the two rides. In the original Avengers attraction, you were supposed to go into a Quinjet and fly alongside the Avengers, using an all-new ride system that Disney Imagineering is currently working on.

The small details that were given at the D23 Expo sounded amazing. You and the other guests fly onboard the Quinjet to Wakanda and you have to team up with the Avengers in order to save the world from one of the most powerful villains they’ve ever come across.

Guests would have to use their superpowers in order to defeat this enemy and save the day. They also mentioned working alongside your fellow Avengers, so it sounds like some teamwork was going to be involved in order to complete the mission.

The concept art for the latest version announced at the D23 Expo looks totally different than the original. Riders in the old one had what looked like some kind of jet packs on that enabled them to fly around the action and participate in the battle.

The current version looks a lot tamer and is more of a passive attraction with guests viewing the action rather than having to do something and being active participants in the chaos. In that respect, it reminds us more of Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance so far in that you are thrown into the middle of a battle, but just to observe what’s going on.

The Quinjet was going to be a big part of the original attraction, but no mention was made of it this time at the D23 Expo or Destination D23, so at least it won’t be the main ride vehicle for the attraction.

The only way we see it happening now is if it’s similar to Rise of the Resistance where the attraction is broken up into multiple parts with more than one type of ride system (which could very well be what Disney is planning).

From what I’ve heard behind the scenes, Disney has had a hard time developing this system and hadn’t been able to finalize what the ride system is. That’s the reason why phase 2 was needed in the first place and they weren’t able to get it done earlier.

The villains in the two attractions are also different. In the original announcement, they didn’t say who that villain was going to be, while in this latest announcement we know that King Thanos is going to be the main villain, but it also sounds like you will fight against other MCU villains too.

I also don’t see those weird insects flying around, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing as Thanos is a way cooler bad guy than some scary bugs.

Now it could be that they had always planned on Thanos being the main villain in this ride, but they hadn’t quite worked out all the details at that time.

What has remained the same is that judging by the concept art it still looks like an Infinity War or Endgame-level battle with all sorts of superheroes involved!

This ride is not a small attraction, but it’s supposed to be on the same size and scale as Rise of the Resistance, and with the same level of ambition. Due to the size and scope of this new project, I don’t think we’ll see Phase 2 before 2027, but that’s just a guess on my part.

A lot still remains to be seen.

For now, it doesn’t seem like this ride is going to either Hong Kong Disneyland or Disneyland Paris. Paris has got its own Iron Man roller coaster which has been put in the old Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster building.

Josh D’Amaro did however say that we will be finding out more info on the Avengers E-Ticket attraction very soon, so stay tuned as it sounds like it’s we are in for quite a ride!

FAQs

As soon as we know any more info on this story we will update you so keep tuned for more…

This was only one of the exciting announcements made today at the D23 Expo. To hear what else is coming, please visit our D23 Expo News and Announcements page and our post on all the New Attractions Coming to Disney World to see what you will soon find in the Disney Parks!

Your Thoughts

I want to know what you think about an Avengers-based ride coming to Disney California Adventure…

• Do you like the way it looks so far?
• What type of ride should it be?

Let us know in the comments section below!

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