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

[Andrew C]

And for the Yzma Coaster, I LOVE Yzma and Kronk, so I am extremely biased towards that idea.

I would prefer that coaster to be closer to Hagrid's or even Hiccup's Wing Gliders (to get to a lower height requirement if concerned about that) than Slinkly Dog.

 

[Casper Gutman]

What the heck is with people wanting “edgy?” The Magic Kingdom isn’t “edgy.” Frankly, Disney villains aren’t “edgy.” They’re flamboyant and a bit spooky. Stop trying to make the Disney parks adult-oriented thrill parks!

I’m skeptical of this lineup, but if it’s real, it makes me more excited for the land. A ride based on a great movie with a unique tone that Disney barely acknowledges? Great! My only trepidation is that I expected several villains in the headliner and, if it’s going to focus on just one, Maleficent isn’t particularly interesting or amusing compared to Ursula, Hades, Hook, or several other villains.

 

[neo999955]

I always imagined that this would be a bit more family friendly than Monsters, but I fear they'll remove the vibe and lose the atmosphere required for the land to really sing. It needs to be a bit creepy and dark and if they want a ton of merch sales they need to really capture the Diagon Alley vibe, IMO. Universal does a great job of going dark, but not too dark with that within Hogsmeade. I think they need both.

I cannot imagine using Emperor's New Groove as the anchor for the roller coaster. Feels like too niche of an IP compared to the wealth of insanely popular villains Disney has - but if it's a great coaster, OK. I would prefer the coaster to be the most teen/adult-targeted Disney has - or at least in line with Tron (but a much better ride). The target should be Hagrid and Guardians in speed/excitement instead of VelociCoaster, but if it's something in line with Snow White or Slinky Dog I will be so disappointed.

A Hades restaurant sounds like a slam dunk and the dark ride seems like the proper scope. I'd also prefer more of a mix of villains, but am OK with Maleficent if it's creepy and well made.

 

[Touchdown]

This will be our 4th (technically 5th) spinner in this park. How much different can you make it?

I agree that MK needs filler attractions, but they don’t all have to be glorified carny rides. How about a classic busbar dark ride? Disney used to make a bunch of these and they were fantastic. Now MK has only one.

I don’t think it would be a dumbo spinner. I would hope it’s a different flat like a load flat octopus:


Or a parachute ride:


Or something else a little more thrilling.

 

[Andrew C]

Stop trying to make the Disney parks adult-oriented thrill parks!

I don't see anyone asking for that here at the moment. I think it is more about not aiming it to only young children. I think the term "dumbing down" was used. "Family friendly" can mean a lot of things...it seems people are looking for balance to be maintained.

 

[Splash4eva]

I like Emperor's New Groove the movie...but....sigh

This is what you choose as the IP for an anchor?!? Give me a themed coaster around a bunch of IP’s.

 

[Casper Gutman]

What the heck is going on here… why am I more positive than most of the posters in this thread? That’s not how this is supposed to work!

This land should ABSOLUTELY NOT be a “horror” land. What Disney films have people been watching?

 

[Movielover]

This will be our 4th (technically 5th) spinner in this park. How much different can you make it?

But you see, this one will spin...

*pause for dramatic effect

in the opposite direction!

 

[FigmentFan82]

I definitely dubious that everything in that article is exactly what they’re planning. I think a good healthy amount of reading between the lines is in order. For me it doesn’t test that the wrap would have the exact details of what they’re planning, but perhaps these are loose, indicated to the direction more or less, with some ideas of certain IP and themes that are still being talked about. Again, I find it odd that Disney would let this information go in an article like this so casually, but I understand that they’re still working out the details of what a true Walt Disney World villains land should look like to maximize the enjoyment for all guests. I agree that the land was probably never going to be a dark universe or nocturne alley type of experience, but hopefully they’ll be certain degrees of edgy fun at there and if the coaster isn’t incredibly short and is thrilling as slinky Dash, I’m definitely fine with that. And very excited at the opportunity of a Shanghai pirate type of attraction going in there as well. Something like a spinner doesn’t bother me at all either. But I definitely hope they have plenty of characters to fill the land as well as fun, dining and shopping experience so very excited to see what ultimately shakes out, but for now I’m gonna take most of what’s in that article with a nice grain of salt.

 

[Timothy_Q]

An Yzma coaster would be great in a Villains land that has 5+ rides and there's a variety of villains represented

But in a land where only 2 villains get a big ride, I don't think Maleficent and Yzma makes any sense, either as a cohesive place, but also as what people expect when they think Villains (Hook, Cruella, Gaston, Jafar, Facilier, Evil Queen, etc)

 

[Casper Gutman]

I don't see anyone asking for that here at the moment. I think it is more about not aiming it to only young children. I think the term "dumbing down" was used. "Family friendly" can mean a lot of things...it seems people are looking for balance to be maintained.

How is this “dumbing down?” What level of sophistication were people expecting here? We’re talking about a land based on Captain Hook, not Hannibal Lecter!

And yes, attractions at the Magic Kingdom should be accessible to most young children.

 

[DrStarlander]

I guess I do want (and have been envisioning this whole time) Fantasmic the ride, or Monsters Unchained but with Disney Villains. I get that maybe it makes no sense.

It makes perfect sense. An "epic" battle of good and evil involving almost all the villains was the potential this land promised. Being tugged in this direction by this narcissistic villain, then that way by another, as they jockey for our loyalty, is perfect use of the Shanghai Pirates boat system.

If we're just getting an attraction based on a single character, why not just put it on the edge of Fantasyland? "Bringing the villains together" was the inherent benefit/promise of the land, and therefore should be the benefit/promise of the attraction.

I think a spinner is fine in MK.

I don't think it's fine in this new billion-dollar land. Or at least it should be contextualized and concealed within an indoor lair like Mermaid Lagoon at Tokyo DisneySea...a kind of Pleasure Island of highly art-directed mechanical rides offered up to us mortals by the villains who are trying to lure us into their sphere.

In the abstract, an Emperor's New Groove coaster makes intuitive sense in precisely the same way that the Monsters Inc Door Coaster does - you see that sequence in the movie and you want to ride it yourself.

But how much are people seeing that movie in the 2030s? I find it hard to believe they'll base a $300 million plus coaster on the familiarity of that movie.

I agree that the land was probably never going to be a dark universe or nocturne alley type of experience

Regardless of everything else they do, yes it needs a Knockturn Alley of sorts or I think it will be viewed by many as a total disappointment.

 

[Bartattack]

Wrong lever.... with a drop like Hagrids... I would be in for that.

 

[neo999955]

An Yzma coaster would be great in a Villains land that has 5+ rides and there's a variety of villains represented

But in a land where only 2 villains get a big ride, I don't think Maleficent and Yzma makes any sense, either as a cohesive place, but also as what people expect when they think Villains (Hook, Cruella, Gaston, Jafar, Facilier, Evil Queen, etc)

I agree. We know they plan to represent a ton of villains within the land as a whole, but if only two villains get a proper full ride - it is wild to me for one of those picks to be Yzma.

PS if they are thinking Emperor because of that sequence in the movie, they could build something incredible with the multiple sequences on the magic carpet and Aladdin. Both with the Genie going a bit dark, the crumbling cave and Jafar himself who turns into giant snake at the end. That's a Hagrid's style coaster I would DIE to go on.

 

[Andrew C]

What level of sophistication were people expecting here?

Cool and exciting rather than cheesy? That is all. As I said, family friendly can mean a lot of things, which is where I am hesitant. I am good if they are increasing the scale and wow factor.

 

[lazyboy97o]

So what do we think about this being a case of testing the waters for which way they should go?

That would be catastrophically bad. Every bit of reporting on this is just throwing up more and more red flags. They should have known which way to go over two years ago.

 

[Disney Analyst]

Add in a couple fantasyland style dark rides featuring a different villain in each… and I’d feel set.

Boat ride makes sense for Hades over Maleficent, but they can make it work.

I need the coaster to be substantial, even if family friendly. It needs to be Big Thunder or Space Mountain length. If you’re gonna build us that moment from that film, do it right. It’s gonna be mostly appealing to Millennials …

 

[doctornick]

Okay, but quick take…

Love the ideal of the “main ride” using the Shanghai POTC tech and being a large immersive dark ride. Think Maleficent as the host is solid but others would work too. Obviously specifics are important here.

Think Yzma is perfectly fine for a roller coaster. Would hope it’s more BTMRR level of “family friendly” than either Slinky or SDMT that are too short. They could actually do a bunch of nice gags with that IP.

Love the idea of a Hades show. Hate having it behind a paywall of food. This is Starcruiser again (though more affordable). Have a great food place but the show should be separate and available to all. If they want to go with a food + show setup, something more like how they used to do Diamond Horseshoe in the early MK days would be good.

Glad to hear about a third ride but would much prefer a small scale dark ride than a flat ride. If they do end up with a flat ride they need to make it more immersive and do not do a Dumbo spinner - the park already has too many of that style ride.

I don’t expect the land to be too “dark” but I do think losing the Maleficent coaster with all the thorns is a downgrade. I thought that ambiance was a decent concept to make it creepy without it being overly scary.

 

[The Leader of the Club]

I think it’s hilarious that people argued tooth and nail that Princess and the Frog shouldn’t be the theme of a thrill ride, but also want a VelociCoaster level coaster themed to a character from Sleeping Beauty.

 

[bmr1591]

It's not going to happen, but I really was imagining a roller coaster like Hagrids, but a little more intense. Intentional slows for show scenes and such. It could have been a story of the villains coming together with a plan to invade Fantasyland and take control of the Magic Kingdom. You could have had an assortment of villains in tow, each attempting to carry out their part of the plan (with all the silly hijinks that includes). You could have had the drop with 'WRONG LEVER!', while also rushing through an enclosed tunnels "underwater" with screens showing Ursula enacting her plan all around you. And as you reached the climax of the ride, the massive Maleficent Dragon animatronic arises and it seems they're going to be successful. Then Mickey saves the day or something. But that would let you showcase a ton of different villains in a somewhat cohesive story on a thrill ride.

I don't understand why some on here are so adverse to thrill rides in Magic Kingdom. I get that MK appeals to families with young kids, but they've got 95% of the rides already appealing to them. It's not a sin to have something that appeals more toward an older market.


Also, if you're going to make an Emperor's New Groove Coaster, put it in Tropical Americas. It makes way more sense there.