The time of the villains has come.

Disney’s Classic villains get their own theme park at the Magic Kingdom in Orlando, Florida.

The company first hinted at the possibility of a malicious takeover at the last D23 Expo in 2022, as part of a series of “blue sky” projects it was considering but was unsure whether they would come to fruition.

While the prospect of exploring what lies beyond Big Thunder Mountain excited fans, the lack of tangibility left many wondering what exactly Disney was doing to prepare for the upcoming opening of Universals Epic universe.

The answer came Saturday night during the company’s experiential presentation at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.

“As we sit here at the Honda Center, Imagineers are hard at work,” Josh D’Amaro told a roaring crowd. “Everything we have to share with you is in active development… That means there’s earth moving. This is not a rosy sky.”

The revelation sent the crowd into a frenzy.

Disney’s theme parks, part of the larger Experiences division, have long been a top-performing segment for the company, especially during a time of change in linear TV networks and slumps in cable advertising revenue. The parks have provided stability in recent quarters as Disney adapts its entertainment business to changing consumer habits after the pandemic.

However, last quarter, Disney’s domestic parks in California and Florida experienced lower consumer demand and higher inflation, and the company expects these stagnant attendance figures to continue in the coming quarters.

Still, Disney is bullish on its experiences division, which includes theme parks, cruises and hotels. The company has pledged to invest $60 billion in experiences over the next decade – a key part of its strategy to keep the parks fresh and relevant in a competitive segment.

About 70 percent of this money will go towards new experiences in national and international parks and cruise ships. The other 30 percent will go towards technology and infrastructure, including the maintenance of existing attractions.

On Saturday, Disney fans got a glimpse into where those investments were made, with the help of some big names.

Rita Ora graced the stage with a rendition of “Trust in Me” from The Jungle Book to announce the new Villain Land at Magic Kingdom. This new area of ​​the park will include two main attractions as well as shopping and dining options.

“So be prepared, you poor, unfortunate souls,” D’Amaro teased.

Shaboozey rocked the Honda Center with a rendition of “Life Is a Highway” as part of the announcement that parts of Frontier Land in Florida will be redesigned with elements from the movie “Cars.”

This area will be different from the one at Disney California Adventure, D’Amaro told the audience, and will be set in the wilderness. There will be an E-ticket attraction, an exciting off-road rally race and a second attraction that is more geared towards families. Construction is scheduled to begin in early 2025.

D’Amaro noted that these expansions at Magic Kingdom are the largest ever at the park.

Disney wants to build a land around “Monsters, Inc.” in the Hollywood Studios. Billy Crystal, the voice of the one-eyed green monster Mike Wazowski, appeared on stage to introduce the audience to the new area.

Crystal sang a rendition of “If I Didn’t Have You” and received a standing ovation.

This site will feature a major attraction that will take guests on a thrilling tour of the Laugh Factory on a suspended roller coaster. Audiences cheered for the new attraction. Construction will begin next year, D’Amaro said.

Animal Kingdom’s Tropical America’s Land is scheduled to open in 2027 and will include an Indiana Jones attraction set in a Mayan temple. Ke Huy Quan appeared on stage with D’Amaro to introduce the new attraction and recall his very first acting role in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.

“Josh, I have to ask you, will there be snakes?” Quan joked.

D’Amaro said construction will begin in the fall and guests will have to wait and see what the Orlando attraction’s new story holds.

As part of the tropical Americas, Disney is creating Puebla Esperanza, which means Village of Hope. Here, the company is building the Casita Madrigal from “Encanto” and will have an attraction centered around the character Antonio, who has the magical ability to talk to animals. The Casita has animated furniture so guests can take a tour of the house and enter Antonio’s jungle room.

This area also includes a brand new carousel with wood carved animals from classic Disney stories.

The world of “Avatar” will find its way into Disney’s California Adventure, D’Amaro announced on Saturday. The area will be inspired by the second film, “The Way of Water,” and will feature a new attraction.

“For our new destination, we took inspiration from the second film ‘The Way of Water,’ as well as the upcoming ‘Fire and Ash’ and future Avatar films,” said Ali Rubinstein, executive global management of creative development at Walt Disney Imagineering, during Saturday’s presentation. “And it will have a scale and a level worthy of those epic stories.”

The park is also set to open a “Coco” attraction that follows Miguel through the Land of the Dead, using state-of-the-art audio-animatronics like those seen in the recently renovated Tiana’s Bayou Adventure and inspired by iconic attractions Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean. The company will begin construction in 2026.

Deadpool appeared on stage to make fun of the parks, including the animatronic dragon that caught fire at Disneyland last year, and of D’Amaro.

The company then announced that Avengers Campus will nearly double in size with the addition of two new attractions. The first is called Avengers Infinity Defense and will take guests on an adventure where they must stop King Thanos from using stolen portal technology. Riders will help defend famous locations like Asgard, Wakanda and New York City.

The second attraction is the Stark Flight Lab, where guests can learn to fly like a superhero. Construction will begin next year.

The company also announced that Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, the reimagined Splash Mountain, will open on November 15. The Walt Disney World Resort version of the attraction opened in June.

The Adventure World theme park at Disneyland Paris will be getting a new Lion King-themed area with a log flume based on the Pride Lands. The previously announced Frozen-themed area is scheduled to open in 2026.

Shanghai is getting a new exciting roller coaster attraction featuring Spider-Man.

“It’s going to be a high-thrill, high-energy roller coaster,” said Scott Trowbridge, chief creative officer at Walt Disney Imagineering.

The Hong Kong park will also be expanding to include an exciting Spider-Man attraction in the Stark Expo area.

A new nighttime spectacular called “Reach for the Stars” will take place in Tokyo in September, featuring characters from “Baymax: Giant Hero,” “Up” and Marvel superheroes.

Disney’s cruise line is undergoing a massive expansion. In addition to the five ships already sailing around the world and the four ships in production, Disney will add four more ships to the fleet between 2027 and 2031.

D’Amaro brought out All-4-One to sing “This I Swear” and announce the four new ships. Disney will soon have 13 different destinations for its cruise ships.

“Disney Cruise Line is consistently the highest-rated line for families because it offers something for everyone,” said D’Amaro. “Expanding our fleet gives more people – in more parts of the world – the opportunity to enjoy an at-sea experience that only Disney can provide.”

Disney also used Saturday’s presentation to inform fans and shareholders about its $1.5 billion investment in Epic Games.

Joining D’Amaro on stage were leading creatives from across the company, including Walt Disney Animation’s Jennifer Lee, Pixar’s Pete Doctor, Marvel’s Kevin Feige and Lucasfilm’s Dave Filoni, to discuss several upcoming collaborations with Epic Games and Fortnite.

Disney streamed that portion of the show on Fortnite and more than a million people watched the live stream, D’Amaro said.

Disney animated characters will appear in the game this fall, including Cruella, Hook and Maleficent, Lee announced. They will be joined by Pixar’s The Incredibles, including Frozone, ElastaGirl and Mr. Incredible, Doctor added.

For Lucasfilm, Filoni said new Star Wars characters will be appearing next week, including IG-11 and a Grogu back bling. Filoni also teased that he and Jon Favreau are working on a Mandalorian and Grogu story for the Star Wars Smugglers Run ride at Galaxy’s Edge.

Marvel has been a partner with Epic since 2018, and more are planned. Feige said many fans discover Marvel characters through Fortnite and then read the comics and watch content from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Next week, there’s a new event in the game themed around Doctor Doom. The crowd at D23 saw a sneak peek at a number of new special weapons on Saturday night, including Captain America’s shield and a Peely version of Wolverine.

Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal and CNBC.