Grab your guitar because things are about to get un poco loco at Disney California Adventure!
Disney just pulled back the curtain on its first-ever attraction inspired by Disney and Pixar’s Coco, and we finally know a LOT more about the adventure waiting for us.
During Horizons: A Carousel of Progress at D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event, Walt Disney Imagineers revealed major new details about the upcoming Coco attraction at Disneyland — including where the experience begins, when its story takes place, how we’ll travel through the Land of the Dead, and how Disney plans to bring some of the movie’s most memorable skeletal characters to life.
And this isn’t simply going to recreate the movie.
The attraction will tell a new story set one year after the events of the original Coco.
Disney’s First-Ever ‘Coco’ Ride Is Coming to California Adventure
Disney originally announced the attraction at D23 in 2024, but the 2026 Horizons presentation gave us a much clearer idea of what we’ll actually experience.
Walt Disney Imagineers Ali Rubinstein and Emily O’Brien joined host Neil Patrick Harris onstage following a live performance of “La Llorona” by Grammy-winning artists Los Lobos to reveal the latest details.
The attraction is being built at Disney California Adventure, with construction currently underway near Paradise Gardens Park and Pixar Pier.
And when it opens, we’ll be joining some pretty familiar faces.
Disney confirms that Miguel, Dante, Héctor, and more characters from Coco will appear as guests revisit Miguel’s unforgettable journey through the Land of the Dead.
The Story Takes Place AFTER ‘Coco’
This is probably one of the most interesting details Disney revealed.Rather than simply putting riders into the events we’ve already seen on screen, the attraction takes place one year after the original film.
Disney says the experience will celebrate the characters, music, Mexican culture, and themes of family that made Coco such an emotional story in the first place. And the adventure actually begins before we ever board our boat.
The Queue Begins With a Museum Dedicated to Héctor
Guests will enter the attraction from Pixar Pier next to Inside Out Emotional Whirlwind.
From there, we’ll enter a “casa museo” dedicated to the music of Miguel’s great-great-grandfather, Héctor Rivera. That’s an especially fitting continuation of the original movie.
By the end of Coco, Héctor’s music and legacy have finally been restored to the Rivera family, and the new attraction takes place one year later. Now, guests will apparently get to see how his musical legacy is being remembered and celebrated.
But the museum is only the beginning. Because then we’re getting into a boat.
Yes, the ‘Coco’ Attraction Is a Boat Ride!
Disney has officially confirmed that the upcoming Coco attraction will be a boat ride.
Guests will join Miguel and travel through his memories of the Land of the Dead, experiencing an adventure filled with music, emotion, characters, and plenty of surprises along the way.
That immediately puts this attraction into a pretty special category of Disney rides. And Imagineering isn’t exactly hiding where some of its inspiration is coming from.
Disney Is Taking Inspiration From ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ AND ‘Haunted Mansion’
Here’s where things get really interesting.
Walt Disney Imagineering says it is continuing to draw inspiration from two of Disney’s most iconic attractions while developing the new Coco ride:
Pirates of the Caribbean and Haunted Mansion.
That doesn’t mean Coco will simply copy either attraction. Instead, Imagineers are looking toward those classics as they determine how to tell Miguel’s story physically through immersive environments and characters.
And those characters could be particularly impressive. Disney says it will use the latest Audio-Animatronics technology to bring the attraction’s skeletal cast to life.
Considering how expressive Héctor, Miguel’s ancestors, and the other residents of the Land of the Dead are in the movie, we’re VERY curious to see how Disney translates them into physical figures.
The Ride Will Also Connect to ‘Coco 2’
There’s another interesting wrinkle here. The attraction isn’t being developed in isolation from what’s happening at Pixar.
Disney confirmed during D23 that Coco 2 is currently in development, and Imagineers are working closely with Pixar so the attraction can include nods to both the original Coco and its upcoming sequel.
Disney hasn’t revealed exactly what those Coco 2 connections will be. But it means the attraction is being designed with the franchise’s future in mind rather than functioning exclusively as a recreation of the 2017 movie.
That could also give Imagineers opportunities to update or expand certain elements as we learn more about Miguel’s next adventure.
There Will Be NO Height Requirement
Families, this one’s for everybody.
Disney confirmed the new Coco attraction will have no height requirement, meaning even the youngest Disneyland Resort visitors will be able to experience the adventure with their families.
That makes perfect sense considering the attraction’s emphasis on family is directly tied to the themes of the movie itself.
It’s also another clue about the overall experience Disney is creating.
This is being designed as an immersive, family-friendly boat ride, not a thrill attraction — putting the focus on environments, music, storytelling, characters, and those new Audio-Animatronics.
Construction Is Already Underway
And this isn’t simply concept art sitting on an Imagineer’s desk. Construction is currently underway in the area near Paradise Gardens Park and Pixar Pier at Disney California Adventure.
Disney hasn’t announced an official opening date for the attraction yet, so there’s still an important piece of this puzzle missing. But after D23, we finally have a much clearer picture of what’s being built. A Coco boat ride.
Suddenly, we’re feeling a little un poco loco about this one.
Keep checking back with Theme Park Scope for the latest D23 announcements, Coco attraction updates, Disneyland Resort construction news, Disney California Adventure updates, and everything new coming from Walt Disney Imagineering.
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