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

[Bocabear]

There is also the "suicide squad" route. Maybe one of the villains is getting out of control and stealing the others powers to the villains must team team to defeat one of the other villains.

Does there even have to be a plot line to the land? Or just a mystical place where the defeated Villains have all been sent to....Like a village of the damned... All living in buildings that are architecturally congruent with the story and setting of each villain, gathered into a village of sorts......where the midset is more looking back on their lives and remembering how good it was when they were in control... rather than actually actively plotting a return... Now the dark ride could have a plot....but the existence of the land should be fairly simple....a Purgatory of sorts....

 

[Purduevian]

Does there even have to be a plot line to the land? Or just a mystical place where the defeated Villains have all been sent to....Like a village of the damned... All living in buildings that are architecturally congruent with the story and setting of each villain, gathered into a village of sorts......where the midset is more looking back on their lives and remembering how good it was when they were in control... rather than actually actively plotting a return... Now the dark ride could have a plot....but the existence of the land should be fairly simple....a Purgatory of sorts....

I was thinking for a ride not the land. The land can have a very loose storyline, but I think the rides will need a strong one.

 

[UNCgolf]

Disney Fans: PLEEEASE!! We really want a Villains Land!!!

Disney: OK, fine. We're gonna build one!​

Disney Fans: Great! But here is a lengthy list of things that, if you do them, we'll hate. And here's a much shorter list of things we want in a Villains Land, but, we all disagree with one another about those things.

Hence why I was always opposed to a villains land!

It's never been a good idea; it doesn't really make sense as an organizing principle and everybody wants different things from it.

 

[Splash4eva]

A

Disney Fans: PLEEEASE!! We really want a Villains Land!!!

Disney: OK, fine. We're gonna build one!​

Disney Fans: Great! But here is a lengthy list of things that, if you do them, we'll hate. And here's a much shorter list of things we want in a Villains Land, but, we all disagree with one another about those things.

Accurate lol

 

[MisterPenguin]

Does there even have to be a plot line to the land? Or just a mystical place where the defeated Villains have all been sent to....Like a village of the damned...

This is literally the plot line of "Descendants"!!

 

[DrStarlander]

Why do we care again that TWDC spends thousands of dollars for research for a billion dollar project?

Are we jealous someone is taking a fun business trip?

I'm not bothered by the fact that they are taking research trips, in and of itself. What bothers me is that they are spending money flying around the world taking photos, coining fancy new impressive terms, etc., acting super committed to excellence, and then not spending $15 to buy a 1800s-looking forged blackened iron eyebolt from Etsy instead of the cheap zinc eyebolt at Home Depot or Ace Hardware (this is the Madame Leota gift shop at DLR).

I pulled these up on Etsy in less than 1 minute.

If they don't have the resourcefulness and standards of quality and attention to detail to execute better then why go all the way to Europe? It's the discrepancy between the "effort to get the details right" as conveyed in social media vs. the effort as conveyed in the actual results that's the problem.

 

[Jedi14]

You can go scary/dramatic or light hearted/funny. Either way the main through line of the land should be the villains can’t really work together and are constantly back stabbing/betraying each other. You have one of the non mystical, magical, over powered villains (I personally prefer the stepmom in this role) being ridiculously Machiavellian and playing off everyone against each other. Also, a restaurant where various minions and sidekicks are either rude to the patrons or begging for help/escape/release.

In some of the more in additional things with the villains teaming up, Kingdom Keepers, Kingdom Hearts, and Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom, they tend to have at least one villain go rogue and attempt betray the others.

 

[ppete1975]

IF Disney really wanted to usher this in the right way they could make a year long story before opening it.....
Remember stitchs castle....
You could deface the castle.
Take over a few rides with just changing the music to more of a scary tone then have a person in a villain costume at the end laughing at you or saying things... maybe some kind of graffiti in areas....

Think peter pan with hook at the end.... or someone taking over its a small world... heck id love hook to take over pirates.

Have a villain as your jungle cruise pilot after they take over the ride.

Don't ruin or massively change the rides just plus them. Even as simply as at the end of its a small world have an audio of a villain saying, hello this is XXXXXX I have taken over your ride... then have the costumed character standing at the end (out of reach for them though so you get away)

Basically have the villains slowly over a year take over the park... like for one day overlays (or a month) (done cheaply of course) more villains walking around... make a big media show of it.
Maybe a disney+ show, use your youtube, really make it a story. BREAKING NEWS VILLAINS TAKING OVER Make it your ad campaign for the year.

Then the opening of the park have sorcerer mickey and friends vanquish the villains to their own land....

Take advantage of the opening. Have a huge opening, tell a story, make people come just for the overlays, and now you have a reason for villains land to exist as well.

 

[BrianLo]

I'm not bothered by the fact that they are taking research trips, in and of itself. What bothers me is that they are spending money flying around the world taking photos, coining fancy new impressive terms, etc., acting super committed to excellence, and then not spending $15 to buy a 1800s-looking forged blackened iron eyebolt from Etsy instead of the cheap zinc eyebolt at Home Depot or Ace Hardware (this is the Madame Leota gift shop at DLR).
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I pulled these up on Etsy in less than 1 minute.
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If they don't have the resourcefulness and standards of quality and attention to detail to execute better then why go all the way to Europe? It's the discrepancy between the "effort to get the details right" as conveyed in social media vs. the effort as conveyed in the actual results that's the problem.

It's important to remember WDI is not a monolith. The solution is not to take away tools. It's to have better quality control and mentorship over the teams that are clearly missing the mark.

Basically the Rhode's of the world should not be prevented from being their indulgent selves because some millennials in California were too green to know the installation site crews needed themed eyebolts.

Absolutely - this shop was executed terribly. By a clearly inexperienced team who ironically probably didn't go on a research trip.

 

[JD80]

Every failure is a lesson.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Hence why I was always opposed to a villains land!

It's never been a good idea; it doesn't really make sense as an organizing principle and everybody wants different things from it.

It's why they need to pick a strong central idea or setting first and then find the villains to support it, vs making a list of villains they want to have and then working backwards to squeeze them all in.

It sounds like the "conjured architecture" is their conceit.

 

[lazyboy97o]

It's why they need to pick a strong central idea or setting first and then find the villains to support it, vs making a list of villains they want to have and then working backwards to squeeze them all in.

It sounds like the "conjured architecture" is their conceit.

You’d basically end up with New Fantasyland. Most of the villains are vain and selfish, and they live in/adjacent to rather opulent settings. The Evil Queen, Lady Tremaine, Queen of Hearts, Captain Hook, Cruella De Vil (to an extent), Edgar, Prince John, Jafar, Yzma, Prince Hans all live in some pretty nice places and are motivated by a level of greed for more. Some have lairs and dungeons, but that isn’t the main space or larger aesthetic. Edgar is the low man on the social totem pole and still gets to live in Paris. Hell Hall is the De Vil’s abandoned country estate, not Cruella’s primary residence in London. Captain Hook is pampered in his captain’s quarter’s not sleeping in a bunk. Jafar and Yzma are high level officials essentially acting as regents who live in the respective palaces. Everyone else is royalty. Even Ursula and Scar live in caves that are just somewhere off the side of the kingdom. Hades also lives in the caves of the underworld and most assume Chernabog lives in a similar environment. It’s really Maleficent who is the popular (sorry Horned King) villain who loves in an environment that comprehensively would be viewed as thoroughly villainous and even then not a whole lot is shown in terms of architecture.

In theory, the conjured architecture is the neutral language that can allow for flexibility. It can provide an aesthetic that is generally understood as villainous the way that the storybook nature of Fantasyland at Disneyland and Disneyland Paris generally doesn’t pull directly from any of the movies but is understood as having shared sensibilities.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

You’d basically end up with New Fantasyland.

Speaking of New Fantasyland, that the Villains now have to be quarantined into their own area when Old Fantasyland had Mr. Toad's Hell, the nonstop horrors of Snow White's Adventures and a giant squid that could crush a submarine "like an eggshell" shows how much gentler the land now is in comparison. A shame that the scares and baddies of those stories can't coexist with their beauties and humor, as they do in their respective movies.

 

[wedenterprises]

I never thought a Villains Land was a good idea. The only saving grace for this is we might get a good roller coaster and/or dragon animatronic and/or second coming of some Beastly Kingdom designs.

And risk a Disco Dragon? I doubt they go the AA route.

 

[James Alucobond]

Speaking of New Fantasyland, that the Villains now have to be quarantined into their own area when Old Fantasyland had Mr. Toad's Hell, the nonstop horrors of Snow White's Adventures and a giant squid that could crush a submarine "like an eggshell" shows how much gentler the land now is in comparison. A shame that the scares and baddies of those stories can't coexist with their beauties and humor, as they do in their respective movies.

Honestly, it doesn’t make much sense to move the mundane villains over. You already have Gaston’s Tavern and almost had Tremaine’s manor in New Fantasyland.

 

[AdventureHasAName]

It's why they need to pick a strong central idea or setting first and then find the villains to support it, vs making a list of villains they want to have and then working backwards to squeeze them all in.

It sounds like the "conjured architecture" is their conceit.

There are tools available to reasonably squeeze in villains/locations that don't seem like a natural fit. For example, off the top of my head, you could have guests view Scar's lair or Cruella De Vil's home through the Magic Mirror, while in an attraction focused on the Evil Queen and/or a dark castle-type location.

 

[drkarcher22]

Anyone wanna guess what the rides will be like?

Obviously one is a coaster, curious if it’ll be one with loops or more of a family thriller ride like Guardians or Hagrids Motorbike coaster where thrilling but also something the entire family can do.

Guessing 2nd one will be an indoor dark ride featuring many of disneys villains

Multi launch family coaster with a few show scenes, and the boat ride system that Pirates: Battle of the sunken treasure uses. We know they are bringing it to Anaheim with Avatar so I can see them using it here too.

 

[drkarcher22]

Multi launch family coaster with a few show scenes, and the boat ride system that Pirates: Battle of the sunken treasure uses. We know they are bringing it to Anaheim with Avatar so I can see them using it here too.

Oh and as an aside, I don’t see them having any flat rides as well but I could see them adding a train station stop in the village section of the land. Which would help with foot traffic flow, also in like a decade when they decide to use the Liberty Belle dry dock as an expansion they might have to get rid of the Frontierland station to make an entrance for whatever goes there. I just don’t see where they could put an entrance for it that doesn’t involve walking completely around Big Thunder instead. So it would be good to get another station in beforehand.

 

[Ayla]

I think a Villain's Lair/ Dark Kingdom concept is pretty solid... People love to be a little scared....Hence the neverending popularity of The Haunted Mansion.... Epic Universe's most anticipated thing was Darkmoor and the Monsters Unchained ride... The Harry Potter lands are always extremely popular because I think it edges on being wonderful and a little scary...
If they don't value-engineer it to death and really do a good job with it, Villain's Land will be extremely popular....

The concept can be good. It is the execution and details that may be a problem.

 

[mattpeto]

It's almost like maybe doing a Villains' Land isn't such a good idea after all?

I said in the past it would be challenging, but it’s not impossible.

I'd look to Unfairly After Ever and past animated features, like Mickey's House of Villains on how they can make the villains all be together in a single story for inspiration.

The land and the attractions have to win over the common guests. It's probably why Tiana's Bayou Adventure and Splash Mountain have simliar GSAT scores - some people here are just overthinking what the typical guest wants.

Whatever direction they end up doing will be critically mocked and cheered by some here. This forum is not a great example of the pulse of the common guest.