MK Villains Land Announced for Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom

[Jedi14]

Also super surprised there’s no oogie boogie rep in villains

The Villains seems to be from only Walt Disney Animation.

 

[Ayla]

I guess we will see how they pull it off at Hollywood Studios in just a few weeks.

Did you see “Once Upon a Studio”? It’s not the first time they brought characters and villains from different films together. Wreck it Ralph franchise also demonstrated how they can integrate all the Disney princesses in a story. (Note-Really surprised they didn’t do anything next with that story beat, that was mega popular).

A 15 minute stage show is not the least bit comparable to an entire land.

 

[ToTBellHop]

A 15 minute stage show is not the least bit comparable to an entire land.

Sure but they are using it to test some things out.

 

[DCLcruiser]

Sure but they are using it to test some things out.

Yup.

I think the Villians shop down the road was the first test.

 

[ToTBellHop]

They said at D23 Brazil that there are no heroes to save the day in the land. Side note, did you really just call Hercules obscure?

Do you remember the Michael Bolton music video for “Go the Distance” with hoodlums breaking into a museum with Ancient Greek sculptures?

Good times…

 

[eddie104]

I can’t wait till we get an actual model of this land to see how everything comes together.

I’m still hoping for a “dark fantasyland” type of feel which would fit would really into the existing MK fabric.

 

[Disstevefan1]

I can’t wait till we get an actual model of this land to see how everything comes together.

I am sure we will see a model in the next D23 and the one after that and the one after that

 

[UNCgolf]

I think of it more like the Disney Princess line. Logically it doesn’t hold to scrutiny, the princesses are not besties. But the Disney princesses are.

It’s almost the same type of meta that the fab 5 have to adhere to. Which doesn’t make much sense if you want to hold it to any type of canonical standard.

Not an excuse. Just the bad explanation. Like trying to make sense of a parade.

Right, but I don't think Disney Princesses would be a good organizing idea for a land either.

 

[Agent H]

I still don't see how Cruella, Gaston, the Wicked Stepmother, or Hook fit even a little with the rest of those magical villains -- honestly, Gaston would probably want to kill most of the others as monsters. It's one of the reasons I don't expect this land to actually work very well. It's really not a good organizing concept.

They don’t have to like each other. They just have to work together temporarily to take over the magic kingdom. It’s a lot more fun this way.

 

[Agent H]

Right, but I don't think Disney Princesses would be a good organizing idea for a land either.

I mean you basically just described fantasyland.

 

[UNCgolf]

They don’t have to like each other. They just have to work together temporarily to take over the magic kingdom. It’s a lot more fun this way.

See, that sounds like a terrible concept to me. I'm on board with something like a dark Fantasyland, but just framing it as "Villains" and using a grab bag of Disney Villains sounds like something off a Disney Channel cartoon and an awful theme park concept.

I mean you basically just described fantasyland.

Not at all. Fantasyland is definitely not Disney Princess land.

 

[Jedi14]

They don’t have to like each other. They just have to work together temporarily to take over the magic kingdom. It’s a lot more fun this way.

Kingdom Hearts, Kingdom Keepers, Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom, it’s clear that these are temporary alliances.

 

[Agent H]

See, that sounds like a terrible concept to me. I'm on board with something like a dark Fantasyland, but just framing it as "Villains" and using a grab bag of Disney Villains sounds like something off a Disney Channel cartoon and an awful theme park concept.

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I guess that’s the difference between you and me. I would totally watch that.

Not at all. Fantasyland is definitely not Disney Princess land.

The comparison isn’t a 100 percent but it’s pretty close in terms of overall vibe.

 

[HauntedPirate]

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I guess that’s the difference between you and me. I would totally watch that.

The comparison isn’t a 100 percent but it’s pretty close in terms of overall vibe.

Pooh; Mickey; IASW; Peter Pan; Carousel; 7DMT

vs.

Ariel; Belle (if we're stretching the definition of "attraction"); a Frozen M&G

Yep. Total Princess vibe there.

 

[BrianLo]

Right, but I don't think Disney Princesses would be a good organizing idea for a land either.

I would have preferred ‘spooky’land (maybe a better verbiage). It would hold more to a genre to house Disney villains (Ursula, hades, Maleficent), haunted mansion and maybe even nightmare before Christmas.

More FantasyLand than PrincessLand. But there are also worse ideas for Magic kingdom. Villains I’ll roll with.

Edit - I see you already said the same thing.

 

[James Alucobond]

They don’t have to like each other. They just have to work together temporarily to take over the magic kingdom. It’s a lot more fun this way.

It's not really about liking each other. The non-magical and non-supernatural villains would simply have to perform a fairly pathetic role in a team-up relative to their powerful (and sometimes virtually omnipotent) counterparts. The intimidation level and stakes are completely mismatched. There's also the fact that certain characters like Cruella just do not visually mesh well with the others since she's so rooted in modernity.

The comparison isn’t a 100 percent but it’s pretty close in terms of overall vibe.

That's not what Fantasyland is. The princesses don't team up. Their rides and attractions are independent, and the area is laid out like a compact town. You have the castle square (Cinderella Castle, Sir Mickey's, the Boutique, Village Haus, Fairytale Hall, Friar's Nook, carousel), the medieval tourney to the west (PhilharMagic, Small World, Pan), the forest beyond the city walls to the east (Maurice's cottage, the dwarves' cottage, the mines, Hundred Acre Woods), the port and tavern (Gaston's, Under the Sea, Eric's market), and the adjacent traveling circus (Storybook). New Fantasyland definitely pushed the boundaries of how a land should be designed in Magic Kingdom with the two extra facsimile castles, but it's still mostly envisioned as a castle town that conceals or otherwise makes cohesive visual sense of the attractions rather than a place we're supposed to believe all members of Disney royalty live and work together.

 

[marni1971]

The comparison isn’t a 100 percent but it’s pretty close in terms of overall vibe.

The dwarfs and Philhar occupants would like a word. And Pan. And Pooh. And small world. And Dumbo…

 

[Andrew C]

The dwarfs and Philhar occupants would like a word. And Pan. And Pooh. And small world. And Dumbo…

You forgot teacups...10 points taken from Slytherin.

 

[UNCgolf]

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I guess that’s the difference between you and me. I would totally watch that.

I wasn't suggesting it would necessarily be a bad cartoon -- just that I don't think it makes sense as a major theme park attraction. I also think it would require too much silliness and characters that look like the Disney villain but don't actually act like the Disney villain.

I think (and maybe I'm wrong) that when people say they want Disney villains, they want to see/experience the villains as they exist in their films. Not some completely different version of them that just looks the same. That's another reason I don't really like it is a concept; many (if not most) of the Disney villains are going to feel weirdly out of place when taken out of the context of their film.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Kingdom Hearts, Kingdom Keepers, Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom, it’s clear that these are temporary alliances.

Batman the Movie!