Announced during D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event, the new season will once again be directed by acclaimed documentary filmmaker Leslie Iwerks and is expected to arrive on Disney+ in early 2028.
But this time, the cameras won’t simply be looking back at Disney history. They’ll be following Imagineers as some of the company’s biggest new attractions, lands and cruise experiences are designed and brought to life.
A different kind of Imagineering story
The original Imagineering Story debuted alongside Disney+ in 2019. Across six episodes, the documentary traced the history of Walt Disney Imagineering from the creation of Disneyland through to projects including Shanghai Disneyland, Pandora – The World of Avatar and Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.
It remains one of the best programmes Disney+ has produced for theme park fans. It was detailed, surprisingly candid and never afraid to acknowledge that creating Disney magic involves difficult decisions, failed ideas and a considerable amount of mud, sweat and uncertainty.
Season two will take a different approach.
Rather than recounting Imagineering’s history after the event, Leslie Iwerks and her team have been documenting projects while they are still being designed and constructed. That should give viewers a much closer look at the conversations, compromises and creative challenges behind Disney’s next generation of experiences.
Leslie Iwerks’ remarkable Disney family history
Leslie Iwerks isn’t simply a filmmaker who has been granted access to Disney’s archives and Imagineering workshops. Her own family history is closely connected to the story of The Walt Disney Company.
Her grandfather, Disney Legend Ub Iwerks was one of Walt Disney’s earliest and most important creative collaborators. He is credited with producing the first sketches of Mickey Mouse and animated Plane Crazy, the first Mickey cartoon to enter production, almost entirely by himself.
Ub later became one of Disney’s great technical innovators. After returning to the studio in 1940, he developed groundbreaking photographic and optical systems that helped combine animation with live-action filmmaking. His work contributed to Disney productions including Mary Poppins, and he later helped develop theme park attractions such as it’s a small world, Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln and The Hall of Presidents.
Leslie’s father, Disney Legend Don Iwerks, continued that tradition of technical innovation. Don joined Disney in 1950 and went on to develop cameras, projectors and specialist filmmaking systems for the company’s films and theme parks.
His work included helping to develop Disney’s 360-degree Circle-Vision camera, creating film equipment for the 1964–65 New York World’s Fair and contributing to the technology behind EPCOT’s enormous multi-screen presentations. He was also involved with the projection systems used for attractions including Captain EO and Star Tours.
That heritage gives Leslie a particularly meaningful connection to Imagineering. Her documentaries are not simply examinations of Disney history from the outside; they explore a creative culture that her own grandfather and father helped to establish.
Which projects will feature?
The new season is expected to revisit the development of several recently completed projects, including:
- Tiana’s Bayou Adventure at Disneyland and Walt Disney World
- Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind at EPCOT
- Fantasy Springs at Tokyo DisneySea
- The Disney Destiny cruise ship
The cameras are also following attractions and lands that remain in development. These reportedly include:
- The Avengers Campus expansion at Disney California Adventure
- Piston Peak National Park at Magic Kingdom
- Villains Land at Magic Kingdom
- Tropical Americas at Disney’s Animal Kingdom
- The Lion King attraction at Disney Adventure World
That is an extraordinary collection of projects to document. Together, they cover almost every part of modern Imagineering: roller coasters, dark rides, large-scale themed lands, water attractions and even an entire cruise ship.
It also means the series could capture major creative decisions long before guests see the finished results.
Why this series matters
Disney has become more willing to share glimpses of its creative process in recent years. Programmes such as Behind the Attraction, Imagineer That! and We Call It Imagineering have all offered entertaining looks behind the magic.
However, The Imagineering Story always felt different.
The original series had the time and access required to explain not only how attractions were created, but why certain decisions were made. It explored the people, internal debates and changing leadership behind the parks rather than simply presenting a polished tour of the finished product.
Following active projects could make the second season even more revealing.
What happens when an ambitious concept meets a construction budget? How does an Imagineer translate an animated location into a physical space? Which ideas survive from the first model, and which disappear before opening day?
Those are the parts of Imagineering that fans rarely get to see.
What hasn’t been confirmed?
Disney has not yet announced an exact Disney+ release date, episode count or whether Angela Bassett will return as narrator.
With the series not expected until 2028, some of the featured projects could also change considerably before the documentary reaches our screens. That uncertainty may actually become part of the story, particularly as Imagineering continues to develop several enormous projects across the global Disney Parks portfolio.
In the meantime, Leslie Iwerks’ latest documentary, Disney Worldbuilders, arrived on Disney+ on 20 August 2026. The feature-length film explores how Disney’s filmmakers, artists and Imagineers transform stories created for the screen into physical worlds that guests can enter.
Final thoughts
For theme park fans, this could be one of the most exciting Disney+ announcements in years.
Concept artwork and scale models can show us what Disney intends to build. A documentary filmed throughout the creative process can show us how those ideas evolve and just how much work is required before the gates finally open.
There is also something fitting about Leslie Iwerks continuing this story. From Ub’s earliest drawings of Mickey Mouse to Don’s revolutionary theme park filmmaking systems, the Iwerks family has been helping Disney turn imagination into reality for almost a century.
The wait until 2028 may be a long one, but if season two retains the depth and honesty of the original, The Imagineering Story will be well worth it.
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