MK Piston Peak and Villains Land Construction Thread

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James Alucobond

Well-Known Member
EricsBiscuit said:
Contrast the lethargic pace on this project with Uni’s replacement for RRR.
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RRR is just being torn down, and not at a pace any quicker than demolition occurs at Disney. They’ve already cleared tons of land for this project, cleared the courtyard for Monstropolis, and cleared Dinorama for Encanto. None of that demo took very long; it’s the land prep that has been “slow”, though only from a visibility perspective.
 
truecoat

truecoat

Well-Known Member
James Alucobond said:
RRR is just being torn down, and not at a pace any quicker than demolition occurs at Disney. They’ve already cleared tons of land for this project, cleared the courtyard for Monstropolis, and cleared Dinorama for Encanto. None of that demo took very long; it’s the land prep that has been “slow”, though only from a visibility perspective.
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They’ve cleared land for the new project at Uni as well.
 
A

AidenRodriguez731

Well-Known Member
DrStarlander said:
The Disneyland railroad, with four stations, has a station on average every 500 meters of track. At Magic Kingdom, which has three stations, it's on average every 800 meters. And Disneyland is already a smaller park to cross on foot. It seems like a no-brainer to put a station in Villains Land and bring that average length to 600 feet and give tired guests an option to get from the far back of the park to the front, so they can leave without clogging walkways.

Disneyland also has two incredible dioramas back-to-back, and a diorama would be a great addition to MK's railroad in Villains Land. Not only would it be a cool, unexpected "plussing up" and provide some parity between MK and several other castle parks, but I think it offers a chance to introduce the thematic concept and backstory of Villains Land.

That is, Villains Land will undoubtedly be cool, but it's still a tough concept creatively to bring all the villains together in one realm and rationalize it story-wise. Sure, they can just lean on tropes and motifs and aesthetic design and hand-wave away any need to explain what the place is supposed to be and why it exists, but it will be stronger -- and it's in Imagineering's tradition -- to have a backstory.

But often these backstories, which serve to inspire the Imagineers, can go unknown by guests, leaving them confused by the creative choices in the land. Avenger's Campus is a perfect example: that weird mix of old industrial brick buildings and a modern sleek office park is meaningless and doesn't resonate (i.e., trigger warmth of recognition by guests)...unless you know the backstory that the site was once the location of Stark Industries, and by the way, you have to even know what that is, like Marvel fans do. Other than putting "Stark Industries" logos all over the land, they didn't leave much other evidence of that history (old 1950s rockets or flying cars or anything Howard Stark may have built back then that may be left over).

All that may be a bit of an aside, but the point is backstories are helpful, but Disney can get a better reaction from guests when they actually convey them, and not just use them as a design-process tool.

So, a train diorama leading into Villains Land (and hopefully leading up to a station) is a perfect chance for a diorama to give guests a rich taste of the land's concept and flavor. A narrator could say something like:

"As we venture into this shadowy realm of the Magic Kingdom, we drift off to a land of our fantastical fears and wild imagination. What if the scoundrels, villains, and rogues of enchanting tales had a place to call their own, where they could hatch their dark and devious plans together, shrouded away from the light of goodness and fairness. Do you dare disembark and explore these dark dreams? If so, try to keep your eyes wide for dangers, and don't fall too deep into the sinister slumber of Villain's Land that you don't wake it out."

This, for example, spins the land as a "what-if dream" and not compromising the story cannon of any individual IP. But it's a conceptual backstory and difficult to express through the physical design of the land. That is, it's not easy to come up with architectural, rockwork, or landscaping cues that say "this is all a dream."

A diorama, with special projection effects, along with narration allows that story to be told easier. Using similar techniques to the slightly psychedelic Heffalumps and Woozles scene in the Pooh attraction, the idea that we are falling asleep and having a scary dream could be created in this diorama. We could roll from Frontierland into a forest and in the diorama what initially look like a continuation of forest trees could start to transform into spooky trees right before our eyes...suggesting our "nightmare" is taking over. This would all have to be done at an all-ages level, but enough can be done to tell the story.
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Or you could just explain the general backstory with a Hades River Styx E-Ticket Attraction.

Muses appear in the beginning just to tell you they are about to tell you a story of how the Villians rose again.

Boom boom Hades is shown making a plan to rescue the villians from the Underworld in a final bid to get revenge and take over the Magic Kingdom.

The boat enters each of the major villians "realms" in the Underworld as they agree to come together and take over the world, starting by defeating their respective heroes (which is why they are set up in MK).

Yada yada, they notice you there and a small fight/chase scene occurs where you barely make it out.


We could then make a new firework location about the Villian's big battle. Could either end with the Villians winning and claiming this area for them permanently with a new updated lighting package around the area for the last hour or the Villians losing (defeated by their inability to work as a team) and swearing revenge that they'll be back another day.
 
michmousefan

michmousefan

Well-Known Member
DrStarlander said:
A diorama, with special projection effects, along with narration allows that story to be told easier. Using similar techniques to the slightly psychedelic Heffalumps and Woozles scene in the Pooh attraction, the idea that we are falling asleep and having a scary dream could be created in this diorama. We could roll from Frontierland into a forest and in the diorama what initially look like a continuation of forest trees could start to transform into spooky trees right before our eyes...suggesting our "nightmare" is taking over. This would all have to be done at an all-ages level, but enough can be done to tell the story.
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A tunnel/diorama setting also allows them to have the trains for a coaster pass over such a tunnel, and extend out over the boundary of the railroad if they need/want to do that. Could be fun to pass over a rocky outcropping and out into a forbidden forest, of sorts...
 
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DrStarlander

Well-Known Member
michmousefan said:
A tunnel/diorama setting also allows them to have the trains for a coaster pass over such a tunnel, and extend out over the boundary of the railroad if they need/want to do that. Could be fun to pass over a rocky outcropping and out into a forbidden forest, of sorts...
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Yes this is true. Overall, as I see it, there's four established ways for Disney to lay out the land, including the "village" of shops, restaurants, general placemaking), the large show buildings (perhaps two), and the railroad passing through.

1. "TUNNELS UNDER RAILROAD INTO LAND": Essentially the Disneyland SWGE, Hong Kong Toys Story and Frozen Land approach, where in this case the train runs to the south of, and outside Villains Land (separated by a rock berm/boundary) and guests enter VL by going through tunnels under the track. (In this approach VL is unlikely to have a station, but the project could have a diorama if this segment is through a tunnel.) The village would back up to a rockwork mountain, which would hide the show buildings. I don't think this approach is likely only because I don't think they can turn the train tight enough after BTM to cut across south enough. It would likely push all of VL too far north.

2. "RAILROAD AS CREASE BETWEEN VILLAGE AND SHOWBUILDING": This approach, used in places like Disneyland's Haunted Mansion and it's a small world (also at DLP) puts placemaking in front of the railroad tracks, and locates the tracks at the seam between the placemaking and show buildings, sometimes exposed (it's a small world), sometimes not (Haunted Mansion).

3. "RAILROAD BISECTS SHOWBUILDING": Exemplified by PotC and Splash Mt./Tiana's at both Disneyland and Magic Kingdom, and PotC at DLP. This is where placemaking and an initial amount of the attraction is on one side of the tracks, and the tracks bisect the show building.

4. "RAILROAD PASSES THROUGH AND ABOVE ON TRESTLE": This is the Bear/Critter/Bayou Country at Disneyland, and Tokyo Disneyland approach, where the train passes through the land, visibly, above guests such as on a trestle bridge (or a bridge of whatever aesthetic makes sense).

As mentioned, I doubt they can pull off #1 due to train radius limits. I think #4 could be amazing (I love the kinetics and things happening at different levels) but I suspect it's less likely as it imposes a big element into the land that may detract from the vibe (a little too festive/lively) and other placemaking landmarks and views they want to create. I think #2 and #3 are most likely, with my bet's on #2 (given the choice I think they'd avoid bisecting a show building, makes refurbs more difficult). They both make a diorama easy (part of or connected to the show building) and both make a tunnel station easy, and I think thematically that's such a great way to say "Villains Land is different (tonally) than all other castle park lands."
 

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