News 'Beyond Big Thunder Mountain' Blue Sky concept revealed for Magic Kingdom

[Advisable Joseph]

It's kind of crazy that they got a positive, first hand, in person reaction from their own customers to the idea of a Villain's land in MK and then decided "no, maybe we should build Zootopia instead?"

Everyone's misreading the insiders' comments.

Zootopia is one new thing possibly going there, not the thing, and I think there is more flexibility on where "beyond Big Thunder Mountain" actually would be, given D'Amaro's comments about having more space than guests realize and building outside the berm.

 

[mickEblu]

Apart from "Villains" and Toontown, I hate the idea of single IP lands in castle parks. Galaxy's Edge looks like a growth on top of an otherwise perfect Disneyland park.

Agree with sentiment but Toontown or Villains land aren’t single IP lands.

 

[FigmentFan82]

It's always a shame when the skimp on the big ideas, or shelve them completely for something lesser. I know it's all still up in the air as to what they will actually do, but I sure hope Zootopia is not what gets approved for beyond big thunder. And I am a big Zootopia fan and would love to see more Zootopia around, but not at the expense of better ideas for the beyond location.

 

[Haymarket2008]

Agree with sentiment but Toontown or Villains land aren’t single IP lands.

For sure, I mainly was referencing them as "extra/non-traditional" lands that exist alongside the classic roster.

 

[capsshield]

Done right you could walk down a path through a forest of scary trees, and come to an opening that leads to the villains village. Cruelly coaster, Oggie boogies roulette spin, a snuggly duckling restaurant, a permanent night before Christmas dark ride, villain stage show, maleficients castle, hooks hangout, skull rock an upgraded version of pan.
Then rework pan ride to something like tangled

 

[Advisable Joseph]

but I sure hope Zootopia is not what gets approved for beyond big thunder.

Again, people here are misreading the insiders.

Expect to see a second Zootopia in the Magic Kingdom at WDW as part of their expansion along the Rivers of America.

(Emphasis mine)


Again, D'Amaro has explained that they have more land to work with than you would think.

It's not stopping Villians Land.

 

[JoeCamel]

Done right you could walk down a path through a forest of scary trees, and come to an opening that leads to the villains village. Cruelly coaster, Oggie boogies roulette spin, a snuggly duckling restaurant, a permanent night before Christmas dark ride, villain stage show, maleficients castle, hooks hangout, skull rock an upgraded version of pan.
Then rework pan ride to something like tangled

Don't forget to include murder Mickey....

 

[Brer Panther]

I still don't really like the idea of a Villains Land, for a couple reasons... it's too gimmicky, and you'd be kind of limited with which villains you could use since most of them are already represented elsewhere in the parks (Captain Hook in Peter Pan's Flight, Ursula in the Little Mermaid ride, Gaston in... well, Gaston's Tavern) or don't really lend themselves well to solo attractions (Hans, Bellwether, Frollo). It'd be like doing a "Superhero Land" or a "Princess Land"... I dunno, just feels like a weak premise for a land to me.

Not a fan of having a Zootopia Land in Magic Kingdom either.

 

[Fox&Hound]

I love cars land, one of the best lands on any US park imo, but I'd like to keep it west coast exclusive.

I would love a Carsland over here but not at the expense of a villains land.

 

[britain]

I still don't really like the idea of a Villains Land, for a couple reasons... it's too gimmicky, and you'd be kind of limited with which villains you could use since most of them are already represented elsewhere in the parks (Captain Hook in Peter Pan's Flight, Ursula in the Little Mermaid ride, Gaston in... well, Gaston's Tavern) or don't really lend themselves well to solo attractions (Hans, Bellwether, Frollo). It'd be like doing a "Superhero Land" or a "Princess Land"... I dunno, just feels like a weak premise for a land to me.

Not a fan of having a Zootopia Land in Magic Kingdom either.

Agreed. Anyone who likes villains land isn’t thinking about it deeply enough. It would NOT be a satisfying immersive experience to see Captain Hook pal around with Ursula, and Cruella DeVille. That would EMPHASIZE the fact that they are not actually villains but they are copyrighted characters that just happened to be owned by the same company.

Their stories have nothing to do with each other, their “homes” should be nowhere near each other.

They are sociopaths that don’t get along, much less form an alliance with one another, and live in the same neighborhood with one another.

They are an important ingredient in a satisfying story. That’s why they are important parts of the “heroes” attractions. But you wouldn’t make a stew out of nothing but salt, and you shouldn’t make attractions out of nothing but villains.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

The Cinderella Castle Mystery Tour is proof that you can do a successful villain attraction if you create a cohesive experience first [scary castle tour] and punctuate it with properties that fit the aesthetic.

Cruella de Vil, Scar and Hades in the same land doesn't work, but maybe a scary woods and the Forbidden Mountain that reference Snow White, Sleeping Beauty etc would.

 

[LittleBuford]

Anyone who likes villains land isn’t thinking about it deeply enough.

I just thought about it some more and still love the idea.

 

[Touchdown]

Agreed. Anyone who likes villains land isn’t thinking about it deeply enough. It would NOT be a satisfying immersive experience to see Captain Hook pal around with Ursula, and Cruella DeVille. That would EMPHASIZE the fact that they are not actually villains but they are copyrighted characters that just happened to be owned by the same company.
.

I agree I mean can you imagine if they tried to pull this off as a nighttime spectacular, it would never work…

Fantasyland is the home to all the good characters, Villain land can be its dark reflection, and the villains wouldn’t be palling around, they would be teaming up to conquer the Magic Kingdom.

 

[TheIceBaron]

I’d rather they just do a villains 5th park instead of a land. A galaxy’s edge or Toy Story land sized area would only have maybe 3 rides and maybe a sit down restaurant. To me it makes more sense to have a villains 5th park as you could have an entire park dedicated to all the villains Disney owns like Darth Vader, thanos, etc. so they could have more cohesive lands and areas instead of just a Disney villain version of fantasyland.

 

[Sorcerer Mickey]

Agreed. Anyone who likes villains land isn’t thinking about it deeply enough. It would NOT be a satisfying immersive experience to see Captain Hook pal around with Ursula, and Cruella DeVille. That would EMPHASIZE the fact that they are not actually villains but they are copyrighted characters that just happened to be owned by the same company.

Their stories have nothing to do with each other, their “homes” should be nowhere near each other.

They are sociopaths that don’t get along, much less form an alliance with one another, and live in the same neighborhood with one another.

They are an important ingredient in a satisfying story. That’s why they are important parts of the “heroes” attractions. But you wouldn’t make a stew out of nothing but salt, and you shouldn’t make attractions out of nothing but villains.

Fantasmic! music intensifies.

 

[MagicHappens1971]

Agreed. Anyone who likes villains land isn’t thinking about it deeply enough. It would NOT be a satisfying immersive experience to see Captain Hook pal around with Ursula, and Cruella DeVille.

I disagree.

A well executed Villains land could be incredible. Set it in a dark, mysterious, cavern and that one of the Villains has invited all of the others to set up "shop" there. I don't think the villains would interact together as much as you think, outside of a character dining experience. Build one E-ticket centered around one of the "big" villains, and then 1-3 B,C,D tickets around other villains, build a few shops, a bar (ala Oga's), and a restaurant. Perfect.

 

[ToTBellHop]

Agreed. Anyone who likes villains land isn’t thinking about it deeply enough. It would NOT be a satisfying immersive experience to see Captain Hook pal around with Ursula, and Cruella DeVille. That would EMPHASIZE the fact that they are not actually villains but they are copyrighted characters that just happened to be owned by the same company.

Their stories have nothing to do with each other, their “homes” should be nowhere near each other.

They are sociopaths that don’t get along, much less form an alliance with one another, and live in the same neighborhood with one another.

They are an important ingredient in a satisfying story. That’s why they are important parts of the “heroes” attractions. But you wouldn’t make a stew out of nothing but salt, and you shouldn’t make attractions out of nothing but villains.

Have you seen Fantasmic? Did you play Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom? Seen Villains Spelltacular? Any number of MK fireworks spectaculars?

Somehow the villains have worked together elsewhere in the parks. That doesn’t have to mean they share an apartment though.

 

[mickEblu]

Agreed. Anyone who likes villains land isn’t thinking about it deeply enough. It would NOT be a satisfying immersive experience to see Captain Hook pal around with Ursula, and Cruella DeVille. That would EMPHASIZE the fact that they are not actually villains but they are copyrighted characters that just happened to be owned by the same company.

Their stories have nothing to do with each other, their “homes” should be nowhere near each other.

They are sociopaths that don’t get along, much less form an alliance with one another, and live in the same neighborhood with one another.

They are an important ingredient in a satisfying story. That’s why they are important parts of the “heroes” attractions. But you wouldn’t make a stew out of nothing but salt, and you shouldn’t make attractions out of nothing but villains.

Great points. The opportunity to botch a villains land is high but it can be great if executed well. It shouldn’t be a home for ALL the villains. I’m picturing Maleficent’s castle as the centerpiece surrounded by a dark forest. Included would be villains like Maleficent, Chernabog, the Wicked Witch, the Headless Horseman and the Horned King. In other words, the villains that would feel right in that setting and (by looking at this list) also happen to be the darkest of all the villains. Gaston or Scar wouldn’t fit in. Neither would Jafar but he should be saved for a proper Aladdin attraction dark ride anyway. Ursula is in the sea and has enough representation. The Queen of Hearts, Mad Madam Mim, Cruella or Captain Hook wouldn’t fit the tone of what I’m picturing either.

This would work very much how Fantasyland at Disneyland works. All the IP fits with the setting of the land. With all of that said I could see room for some of the villains I excluded in a well thought out E ticket. Just not out and about or having their own attractions.

Zootopia on the other hand just doesn’t work at MK. Especially anywhere near the ROA. Not matter how well it’s executed.

 

[EPCOTCenterLover]

I disagree.

A well executed Villains land could be incredible. Set it in a dark, mysterious, cavern and that one of the Villains has invited all of the others to set up "shop" there. I don't think the villains would interact together as much as you think, outside of a character dining experience. Build one E-ticket centered around one of the "big" villains, and then 1-3 B,C,D tickets around other villains, build a few shops, a bar (ala Oga's), and a restaurant. Perfect.

I’m picturing an Avengers Campus for Villains.

 

[Fox&Hound]

I just wish this would actually happen. The D23 event was all “we have thought about this” but it does not seem set in stone. I know we heard rumors Dis was moving forward on this but is that still true?