Pixar dropped a big hint about when the world’s first Coco attraction will take riders on a musical journey to the Land of the Dead at Disney California Adventure — and then just as quickly tried to hide the accidental clue.
Pixar announced “Coco 2” will be coming to theaters in 2029 as part of Disney’s annual shareholders meeting on Thursday, March 20 — and then almost immediately walked back the opening date for the animated film sequel.
Disneyland has announced work will start on a new Coco attraction in 2026 at Disney California Adventure — without setting an opening date for the ride.
The expectation was the Coco boat ride would debut in 2027, 2028 or 2029 at Disney California Adventure or west of the park within the DisneylandForward expansion zone.
A Coco themed land was teased as a potential DisneylandForward expansion project — suggesting the new Coco attraction could be built in the parking lot south of the Pixar Place Hotel.
RELATED: Look inside Disneyland’s new Incredibles suite with spy gadgets and secret entrances
Pixar likes to launch its tentpole animated films in June — making a June 2029 opening date likely for “Coco 2” if the initial announcement proves accurate.
That puts a ticking clock on Disneyland’s construction of the Coco ride that almost certainly would need to be completed before the movie sequel hits theaters in summer 2029.
The new Coco ride sits behind two new Marvel attractions on the Disneyland construction calendar.
Construction is already underway on Avengers Infinity Defense and Stark Flight Lab in DCA’s Avengers Campus — with no opening dates set for either ride.
One of the new Marvel rides is expected to open in 2026 with the second expected to follow in 2027 or 2028. But which comes first remains a mystery.
Disneyland has not yet announced if Avengers Infinity Defense and Stark Flight Lab will open at the same time, but that’s unlikely. Separating the opening dates by a year or two would give Disneyland the opportunity to market each of the rides individually — and get more bang for its buck.
Also on the horizon: An Avatar themed land coming to Disney California Adventure based on “Avatar: The Way of Water” and other upcoming films in the franchise.
A full-scale Avatar themed land that still remains in the planning stages would likely take as long to build as Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge — which took four years.
That would likely put the DCA Avatar land on the calendar in 2028 at the earliest — and 2029 if the second Marvel ride gets slotted in before Pandora. A single Avatar attraction without a complete land could be finished sooner.
Which brings us back to the Coco ride and that new Ssummer 2029 deadline.
A major new Coco attraction built by Walt Disney Imagineering could take a year or two to open. A full-scale themed land would take longer, if Disneyland eventually decides to expand the ride into a land.
That means riders could be sailing on a musical journey to the Land of the Dead with Miguel in 2027 or 2028 — leaving plenty of time for a DCA celebration ahead of the release of “Coco 2.”