After the announcement at the D23 Expo, Disney Parks fans and themed entertainment professionals immediately took to social media to express their delight at Disney's creative direction for the new expansion to Disneyland Park. In the age of IP-driven themed areas (owing to the earlier success of Universal Creative's Wizarding World of Harry Potter), the move by Disney was seen as a pleasant surprise. While going for an IP-based land seemed to be the new industry standard, it seemed that Disney will be sticking to its bread and butter for quite some time.
After the public opening of the land, guests and themed entertainment critics alike gave positive reviews of the land, praising the original storytelling, creativity, and attention to detail, thus proving that a multi-million dollar project could stand on its own without the help of corporate IP.
With the success of The Lost Kingdom at Disneyland Park, Walt Disney Imagineering was then directed to greenlit creative think tanks to brainstorm original story ideas that could be brought to life in the parks. While IP-based lands remained in development, their respective teams were directed to infuse them with new stories and ideas that will compliment the original story.