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

[tissandtully]

It’s not idolizing. It’s you live to hate them.

I've definitely seen it both ways haha

 

[FigmentFan82]

That Disney is spending hundreds of millions of dollars on two lands that have been pitched by every two-bit Armchair Imagineer is itself a big red flag..

Well, if one idea is a good idea, it’s not without reason that more than one person could come up with it.

 

[JD80]

Berk is a well-themed land but it lacks a headliner attraction and that’s a major problem. The designers expected the show to serve that purpose but that’s not something a theme park show can do.

I agree. Which is why a coaster + dark ride + something-else-for-kids-that-also-creates-kinetic-energy-for-the-land type of ride would be a big hit.

Add in the Hades dining and then something like "Tales with Belle" or another interactive M&G would be a home run.

 

[The Leader of the Club]

I’m kind of surprised by the reaction here to a potential Yzma coaster. That always seems to be ride pitched when people are giving their concept of a Villain Land/Park.

People always want something until Disney actually announces it.

See also:
Door Coaster
Dino retheme to Indiana Jones
Replacing Dinoland

 

[Jack Torrence]

I find it weird that people want a scary, ramshackle environment like Darkmoor when most of the Disney villains wouldn’t be caught dead in one. They’re most frequently nobles, dandies, divas, or court magicians, with some obvious exceptions.

I don't think anyone expects it to be scary. Again, I don't believe Darkmoor is even remotely scary, but that's just me. I'm just nervous about it turning from a land geared towards those 10 and up, to those 5-10 years old. Seeing that they're featuring Hades and Yzma as two big featured characters says a lot about which direction they're heading.

 

[DarkRideGuy]

Let me preface this by saying I haven't been to EPIC yet.

The Island of Berk land at EPIC is nearly a perfect land when it comes to the components:

• Live show
• Coaster
• Spinny Ride (Dragon's racers)
• Boat Ride/Play Area
• Dining Options
• M&G Options/Animatronics

Compare that to SWGE and it's a massive difference. If they want to use Berk a target - then I don't think you can pick a better one.

I have no issue with a family coaster. I love Slinky - I just hope it's more than just a naked steel coaster. And longer. MK does not need a VelociCoaster or anything like that in MK.

The land doesn't also need to be scary. It needs to be menacing and spooky if that makes sense. Horror Night vs. Not-So-Scary.

Let me preface this by saying I haven't been to EPIC yet.

The Island of Berk land at EPIC is nearly a perfect land when it comes to the components:

• Live show
• Coaster
• Spinny Ride (Dragon's racers)
• Boat Ride/Play Area
• Dining Options
• M&G Options/Animatronics

Compare that to SWGE and it's a massive difference. If they want to use Berk a target - then I don't think you can pick a better one.

I have no issue with a family coaster. I love Slinky - I just hope it's more than just a naked steel coaster. And longer. MK does not need a VelociCoaster or anything like that in MK.

The land doesn't also need to be scary. It needs to be menacing and spooky if that makes sense. Horror Night vs. Not-So-Scary.

Yeah I’m hoping the coaster weaves indoors and outdoors instead of just being exposed steel. Would also love it to be built into the rock work.

 

[Mike S]

Hades dining and not part of a ride. There goes the biggest interesting thing they could’ve done in a ride out the window for me outside the Maleficent Dragon.

Disney really doesn’t want my money anymore.

 

[DarkMetroid567]

I don't think anyone expects it to be scary. Again, I don't believe Darkmoor is even remotely scary, but that's just me. I'm just nervous about it turning from a land geared towards those 10 and up, to those 5-10 years old. Seeing that they're featuring Hades and Yzma as two big featured characters says a lot about which direction they're heading.

Yeah idk what people were expecting when even Universal couldn’t commit to anything scary. Dark Universe is really really hokey and there’s nothing particularly frightening or unsettling on Monsters Unchained

 

[Captain Neo]

Just saw the news about them toning down villains land.

Things just have to get worse and worse at Disney don’t they? It never ends

 

[disney fan 13]

By pretty much every metric, the on paper, in the moment, best thing any amusement park could do is add a roller coaster. Actually doing that too much becomes a problem.

The question becomes what is “too much.” In the context of Hollywood Studios or Universal Parks, I could definitely see an argument there. Still, before Tron (Ignoring 7 dwarves because I don't think we are talking about that kind of coaster), Disney hadn't added one to MK since the 80s.

 

[James Alucobond]

I'm just nervous about it turning from a land geared towards those 10 and up, to those 5-10 years old. Seeing that they're featuring Hades and Yzma as two big featured characters says a lot about which direction they're heading.

The focus would be all ages instead of older only. That’s not the same as “targeting” five-year-olds and is in keeping with the rest of the park.

 

[Mike S]

Yeah idk what people were expecting when even Universal couldn’t commit to anything scary. Dark Universe is really really hokey and there’s nothing particularly frightening or unsettling on Monsters Unchained

Which is why it makes absolutely no sense why Disney feels like they don’t want to match even THAT tone with the villains.

Nah, Berk is definitely the way to go.

 

[denyuntilcaught]

If this is true, how do they keep making the wrong decisions?

Another Slinky Dog Dash is the most disappointing thing I've heard in a long time. Personally, that's one of the worst roller coasters in all of Disney Parks.

 

[Surferboy567]

Can we just do Fantasmic as the boat ride?

 

[GoPatriots19]

Maybe the spinner could be something more similar to the Inside Out attraction at DCA or Blowfish Balloon Race in Mermaid Lagoon at Disney Sea.

 

[DarkMetroid567]

Which is why it makes absolutely no sense why Disney feels like they don’t want to match even THAT tone with the villains.

Nah, Berk is definitely the way to go.

Which is why I’m not really worried until we see the final product. Words mean nothing. We get tons of points of comparison that end up making zero sense in hindsight.

The mention of Berk in the article doesn’t even really make sense.

 

[Casper Gutman]

The fact that the reaction to this seems more negative then the reaction to the removal of RoA is mad.

The biggest red flag to this whole project is that, just like the door coaster, it’s pandering to fans by building a popular fan-conceived attraction or land. The problem is that fans are absolutely terrible at designing rides or knowing what a park or IP needs. Given all that, maybe the fan grumbling is a sign the project is moving in the right direction.

 

[Mike S]

The fact that the reaction to this seems more negative then the reaction to the removal of RoA is mad.

The biggest red flag to this whole project is that, just like the door coaster, it’s pandering to fans by building a popular fan-conceived attraction or land. The problem is that fans are absolutely terrible at designing rides or knowing what a park or IP needs. Given all that, maybe the fan grumbling is a sign the project is moving in the right direction.

More like I thought somewhere down the line Villains might be something cool but now it’s being toned down plus we lost the Rivers for it. I was mad about the Rivers too. They should’ve actually done “Beyond Big Thunder.”

 

[britain]

A little scary or perilous is the sweet spot, or at least should be for this land IMO. The concern is Disney will avoid that entirely.

Nothing in MK should be scarier than Haunted Mansion (or Snow White’s Scary Adventures was).

(EDIT: I wrote the following before reading about the new direction!)

I have a feeling this land is gonna celebrate “EEEEVIL!” more than actually be scary. Which is sort of concerning to me, as a parent. Soapbox preaching here: Evil is not a functional, self sustaining culture that just happens to be in an amusing land you can visit from time to time. Evil is a broken element within an otherwise functional society. You can say Monsters have a functioning society like Monstropolis because hey, it turns out that scaring people is just their job, one based on their own incorrect biases about children and because they hadn’t discovered laughter power yet. How are you going to explain what binds all these villains together? An affection for goth color schemes or twisty art nouveau architecture? But there isn’t anything actually evil about that! Just like there isn’t actually anything evil about hooks for hands, black capes, or pipe organs. It’s just the “trappings” associated with bad guys. And we risk telling our children (and adults) that if you think this stuff is cool, you like evil. It’s all wrong. Keep the villains as antagonists in the heroes’ rides, not as protagonists in their own. Ok, stepping off soapbox now.

 

[mattpeto]

I don’t buy it.