Disneyland had a press conference last week that brought us lots of interesting news including an announcement of the expansion of the park, and the news that Avengers Campus is opening this June at California Adventure. Another cool piece of information revealed involves the new technology that is being brought to the parks, as well as the integration of the Disney+ properties into the park experience.

Disney Parks Chairman Josh D’Amaro talked about the success of the Disney+ streaming service, and how it is helping to establish itself in the Disney universe, saying:

“Disney+ has been phenomenally successful at the Disney company. We have the benefit of having these unbelievably powerful assets in the ground and the combination of a company that’s got such a strong and growing digital footprint, with the physical footprint, I think gives us opportunity to fuse those two things together like no other company can. I think that as the Disney company continues to see such huge success with Disney+, and as you see new intellectual properties start to materialize -— whether that be in the world of Marvel or the Imagineers creating something incredibly new and interesting — that is the Disney difference. We will bring those things together to take to the world in a different way.”

He went on to talk about how the idea of a “metaverse” is being created within Disney theme parks. This is meant to be a whole digital experience on top of the physical park structures and attractions. D’Amaro explained:

“It provides us with unending opportunities at these theme parks. It can bring Main Street alive in ways that you’ve never seen it before, never thought about it before. You can have the whole theme park participate in a game that culminates in a celebration at the hub at the top of Main Street. The possibilities are endless and I think that’s where we’re incredibly unique at the Disney company. This combination of a very forward-looking digital footprint with our legacy assets that we have in place, and making them incredibly relevant today.”

This will be achieved through interaction on the Disney Parks app on your phone. There will be virtual games and puzzles that allow you to interact with the physical park in unique ways. If you’ve been to Galaxy’s Edge, this is tech you can currently use on your phone to access the Star Wars Datapad to hack into various pieces of tech, translate alien languages, or play minigames that give you digital rewards. Disney Parks hopes to expand that to the other lands and parks in the coming years.

Another awesome bit of tech coming to the park is the working light sabers, but that’s worthy of an entire post all by itself. Check out Joey’s article all about those. Are you excited for all these interesting changes?