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

[Fantasmicguy2]

Disney didn't think The Princess and the Frog was successful either, and look what we got in Frontierland.

True, but you also have to think about how much Princess and the Frog has made back in merch sales in comparison to Meet the Robinsons.
It wouldn't even be close. I feel like even if they had made more Meet the Robinson's merch it would have been a harder sell than Tiana's dolls and dresses.

 

[RSoxNo1]

THEY WERE THERE ALL ALONG!!!

There was a parade at MGM back in the day. I've got photos somewhere.

 

[RSoxNo1]

Monsters Inc. is adorable, but in the wrong location...adding this show to DHS near Midway Mania is absolutely ideal. Maybe revisit the whole Timekeeper Idea...but with 21st century tchnology and lots of in-theater pracital effects....

Coaster, Show and Ride and Go Seek would be a nice addition to DHS.

 

[Suspirian]

I am saddened that if Disney ever finally pulls the trigger on villains land they will just be accused of copying Universal when they had plenty of time to do this and get the competitive edge.

I'm not! Serves them right

 

[CoasterFan27]

I am saddened that if Disney ever finally pulls the trigger on villains land they will just be accused of copying Universal when they had plenty of time to do this and get the competitive edge.

Wouldn't that still be under construction if they'd started the day after the D23 it was pictured? If anything it's possible they heard what Universal were doing and threw a similar idea into that D23 concept art to gauge how fans would respond even if they had no plans to start work on the area for a few years.

That's how I read the shifting plans from D23 anyway, that they announce things speculatively to get a sense of which idea has the most interest (or lack thereof). I do hope they start to become a little more concrete now they'll have real competition next year though.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Wouldn't that still be under construction if they'd started the day after the D23 it was pictured? If anything it's possible they heard what Universal were doing and threw a similar idea into that D23 concept art to gauge how fans would respond even if they had no plans to start work on the area for a few years.

That's how I read the shifting plans from D23 anyway, that they announce things speculatively to get a sense of which idea has the most interest (or lack thereof). I do hope they start to become a little more concrete now they'll have real competition next year though.

Disney tends to announce projects shortly after the Feasibility stage of design which is when the green light is officially given to proceed with a project. If Villains Land was a true announcement construction we would likely be seeing site work but not much vertical construction as the project would have still required a lot of design work.

Disney knew about Dark Universe before the pandemic.

 

[Chef idea Mickey`=]

I wonder if they tease villains in any way shape or form this d23? Or do they just try to brush it aside?

Has anyone ever thought if the whole Villains D23 announcement hype had anything to do with them knowing behind that one of Universal’s upcoming lands was...

Part of me thinks they regret announcing it in hype well they don't regret it because they tend to want to be the first to propose or first to hype.. Imagine if this D23 was the 1st time they hyped about Beyond Big Thunder and the Villains would everyone be ecstatic however, everyone would then brag and assume this was an immediate response to Universal Epic Universe!

If they only did it for the Hype and now don't even have the creational thought of something beyond scale then maybe they should've zipped. Any D23 with nothing on Villains now would be triggered because no one wants something spit at them that they aren't doing and this is not an Epcot budget cut scenerio situation.

 

[PREMiERdrum]

Just to set expectations a bit.

Everything that's been sketched "with intention to produce" for Dark Kingdom is very, very different from what's coming to Dark Universe.

It's not been positioned, hypothetically speaking, as a spooky, scary place. Rather, a kind of off-kilter, bizarro Fantasyland where the personalities of the more known villains can be explored.

I'm still not confident on any sort of approval on the concept as planned, but it's not an apples-to-apples with EU.

 

[Stripes]

WDI have already hired a number of people from Universal Creative that worked on Dark Universe.

I’m sure they know all about it.

As for Dark Universe, I think it’ll be wicked cool. Although I think it may feel somewhat small. The town part of the land is approximately half the size of the town of Radiator Springs (DCA Cars Land minus all the attractions.)

 

[SilentWindODoom]

If anything my hope is Dark Universe is a hit that it caused Disney to finally green lit and go all out on Villains. I also think Disney Villains and Universal Monsters are different enough to where I don't think people will care. The consistent rumor is that they want to do villains, it's just a matter of what park (HS or MK, how much the budget, and how big). I know rumors are rumors but I do have confidence given that Imagineers said they noted how big the applause was.

Well, I can't argue with that line of reasoning. After all, The Lost Continent being built really cemented that we were getting Beastly Kingdom.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Has anyone ever thought if the whole Villains D23 announcement hype had anything to do with them knowing behind that one of Universal’s upcoming lands was...

No. Disney knew about Dark Universe years ago back even before the pandemic.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

I'd honestly prefer they scrap Villains land at this point (which they prob have) and come up with something better.

One of the few merits of Tropical Americas is that it is not a single IP land. If Disney won't get over their IP mandate, they can at least move away from "big area based on one movie with one ride".

 

[James Alucobond]

I'd honestly prefer they scrap Villains land at this point (which they prob have) and come up with something better.

It's the only non-IP option that has been floated at all. I'd rather that than Carsland or Zootopia or whatever.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

It's the only non-IP option that has been floated at all.

???

"Disney Villains" is very much an IP/brand, even if it represents more than one movie.

I'd rather that than Carsland or Zootopia or whatever.

"Carsland or Zootopia or whatever" is exactly what you're going to get from Disney these days, whether it's in MK, Disneyland Forward, Disney Adventure World or wherever else they chose to build.

It's what they do now. Unless a third party like GM pays for it and shares input.

 

[Starship824]

I think what's most likely to happen is that we get ideas that are completely different from what we've been shown before. Similar to what happened with DAK I don't think anyone was expecting Encanto and Indy to going into DAK. I would love villains land and coco but I think we're going to get something completely different.

 

[James Alucobond]

???

"Disney Villains" is very much an IP/brand, even if it represents more than one movie.

It is the only one where the possibility of a more "generic" land exists with different IP capable of being swapped in and out, which is generally more consistent with how the other lands of Magic Kingdom are. All other concepts floating around in the ether at the moment would be facsimiles of locales from their source films with very little wiggle room as the park evolves. They'd ultimately have to be leveled or lazily papered over in some way if the IP ever falls out of favor, whereas villains would be a perpetual thing that they could renew.

 

[easyrowrdw]

It is the only one where the possibility of a more "generic" land exists with different IP capable of being swapped in and out, which is generally more consistent with how the other lands of Magic Kingdom are. All other concepts floating around in the ether at the moment would be facsimiles of locales from their source films with very little wiggle room as the park evolves. They'd ultimately have to be leveled or lazily papered over in some way if the IP ever falls out of favor, whereas villains would be a perpetual thing that they could renew.

Good point. It’s definitely broader than something like Cars or Zootopia. But it still feels too focused to me compared to the other lands at MK. Dark Forest or Mystical Land or something that’s not just about bad guys would be my preference.

 

[SilentWindODoom]

"Disney Villains" is very much an IP/brand, even if it represents more than one movie.

While you are technically correct, which is indeed the best kind of correct, when we speak of basing things on an IP, we're talking about a single franchise. Villains is an umbrella franchise that covers different franchises. It's a brand. In actual practice, it's like suggesting Pixar Pier is a single-IP land because it's the Pixar brand, or in a closer example the non-circus area of New Fantasyland being a single-IP land because it can all be covered under the Disney Princess brand. Heck, the whole thing is a single-IP Disney Animated Films land.

Although there is the question of whether things featured will be a mixture of villain fixtures themed to different things or a House-of-Mouse-style mix-up across the board. I'm still curious as to how much this may tie into the Descendants brand if the new movie is a hit. They're still running dance shows under that brand for Halloween, aren't they?

 

[Ichabod Crane]

I'd honestly prefer they scrap Villains land at this point (which they prob have)

Nope, not scrapped at the moment.

 

[Disgruntled Walt]

Mystical Land or something that’s not just about bad guys

Something like, say, Beastly Kingdom?!