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

[ManicMillennial]

Oh how I’ve missed posts of yours like this!

 

[ULPO46]

I have chosen to believe they’ve decided to make Villains a 5th gate instead.

Years ago when I first started, there was a project to make a fifth gate that was going to be a darker more adult themed park with bigger attractions, villains, dragons, and mythical themes. Long and behold it wasn’t put past a presentation. But it would have been amazing and slightly larger than DHS but smaller than Magic. Instead the land that was earmarked for the project became Flamingo Crossings.

A fifth gate is possible, but the capital investment for now at least is something the board nor shareholders want to approve.

 

[HMF]

Years ago when I first started, there was a project to make a fifth gate that was going to be a darker more adult themed park with bigger attractions, villains, dragons, and mythical themes. Long and behold it wasn’t put past a presentation. But it would have been amazing and slightly larger than DHS but smaller than Magic. Instead the land that was earmarked for the project became Flamingo Crossings.

A fifth gate is possible, but the capital investment for now at least is something the board nor shareholders want to approve.

I would not want a fifth gate. They can't even maintain the themes of the gates they already have.

 

[AidenRodriguez731]

I would not want a fifth gate. They can't even maintain the themes of the gates they already have.

Agreed on the first part (atleast for now), disagree on the second

 

[Casper Gutman]

I’m inclined to be hopeful here given what trusted insiders are saying on these boards, but I can’t stop thinking that these rumors are the kind a savvy new CEO would circulate to buy favor from fans whether or not they intended to make many positive changes to the plans.

 

[ToTBellHop]

Well I’m glad they want bigger here. We want something similar in quality to SWGE, not TSL.

 

[Professortango1]

I would not want a fifth gate. They can't even maintain the themes of the gates they already have.

Right? They need to make Magic Kingdom, DHS, and AK full day parks before they can add a 5th gate.

As much as I hate Cars in Frontierland, at least these two additional areas get MK closer to feeling like a full day.

 

[flyerjab]

Well I’m glad they want bigger here. We want something similar in quality to SWGE, not TSL.

I will add though that it can’t have that large but empty feeling that SWGE has. One area where they need to be willing to spend money on are roaming characters, or “streetmosphere”. When Chapek had the SWGE roaming characters and droids axed, it ruined a land that could have been spectacular. I was really expecting something transformative with SWGE, but that move really killed that possibility, along with no sit down or signature dining location and the missing 3rd ride (I blame Jeff Vahle for that one). Even with how impressive the two rides are and of course the theming, you can’t build a land of this scope while simultaneously removing the very heart beat from it. Villians Land MUST have character presence, all day long. That is non negotiable. They always talk about how great Disney is at story telling. Well, this land should have stories happening all around the guests all day.

 

[_caleb]

Yeah, I expect streetmosphere, too. The entire Avengers Campus land is basically backgrounds for character interactions. Meet-and-greets are much cheaper than actual attractions, and seem to please guests. I'm thinking this will also be a factor in Villain's Land.

Not to mention the influence of Halloween season fright night scare zones from other parks.

 

[Fox&Hound]

I will add though that it can’t have that large but empty feeling that SWGE has. One area where they need to be willing to spend money on are roaming characters, or “streetmosphere”. When Chapek had the SWGE roaming characters and droids axed, it ruined a land that could have been spectacular. I was really expecting something transformative with SWGE, but that move really killed that possibility, along with no sit down or signature dining location and the missing 3rd ride (I blame Jeff Vahle for that one). Even with how impressive the two rides are and of course the theming, you can’t build a land of this scope while simultaneously removing the very heart beat from it. Villians Land MUST have character presence, all day long. That is non negotiable. They always talk about how great Disney is at story telling. Well, this land should have stories happening all around the guests all day.

I agree. I also want side alleys to explore and little nooks and crannies to get lost in. Something like Sorcerer's of the MK interactive game or the wands in HP Lands would be a huge boost.

I think at least visually this land will be more interesting than SGE and its drab color palette. The land feels dead and lifeless. I don’t want to explore a war-torn planet. But Villains lairs and magic shops and bubbling cauldrons could be phenomenal!

 

[Disstevefan1]

I think at least visually this land will be more interesting than SGE and its drab color palette.

I hope you are right but at this point we have no idea what we are getting..

 

[ToTBellHop]

I will add though that it can’t have that large but empty feeling that SWGE has. One area where they need to be willing to spend money on are roaming characters, or “streetmosphere”. When Chapek had the SWGE roaming characters and droids axed, it ruined a land that could have been spectacular. I was really expecting something transformative with SWGE, but that move really killed that possibility, along with no sit down or signature dining location and the missing 3rd ride (I blame Jeff Vahle for that one). Even with how impressive the two rides are and of course the theming, you can’t build a land of this scope while simultaneously removing the very heart beat from it. Villians Land MUST have character presence, all day long. That is non negotiable. They always talk about how great Disney is at story telling. Well, this land should have stories happening all around the guests all day.

Agreed. One of the few strengths of TSL over SWGE is that the Toy Story characters seem to actually live in TSL.

 

[DisneyHead123]

I will add though that it can’t have that large but empty feeling that SWGE has. One area where they need to be willing to spend money on are roaming characters, or “streetmosphere”. When Chapek had the SWGE roaming characters and droids axed, it ruined a land that could have been spectacular. I was really expecting something transformative with SWGE, but that move really killed that possibility, along with no sit down or signature dining location and the missing 3rd ride (I blame Jeff Vahle for that one). Even with how impressive the two rides are and of course the theming, you can’t build a land of this scope while simultaneously removing the very heart beat from it. Villians Land MUST have character presence, all day long. That is non negotiable. They always talk about how great Disney is at story telling. Well, this land should have stories happening all around the guests all day.

I kind of take the opposite perspective for strictly pragmatic reasons - that being that performers can always be cut (and probably will be, at some point,) but a company is not going to go back in and dig up fixtures to save money. To my mind I want to see a land that can stand alone if the economy goes south and live performances get cut. If it needs to have performers to look complete, odds are it won't look complete much of the time.

 

[Br0ckford]

Right? They need to make Magic Kingdom, DHS, and AK full day parks before they can add a 5th gate.

As much as I hate Cars in Frontierland, at least these two additional areas get MK closer to feeling like a full day.

I totally understand this sentiment. However, if not in a big hurry every park can be a full day

 

[Centauri Space Station]

Right? They need to make Magic Kingdom, DHS, and AK full day parks before they can add a 5th gate.

As much as I hate Cars in Frontierland, at least these two additional areas get MK closer to feeling like a full day.

I don’t see how you can possibly consider MK anything less than a full day park. It’s more like a 2 park.

 

[Touchdown]

I don’t see how you can possibly consider MK anything less than a full day park. It’s more like a 2 park.

Ditto Epcot. The other two I agree with

 

[James Alucobond]

Ditto Epcot. The other two I agree with

From only an attraction perspective, EPCOT might rank a bit lower, but certainly not if you actually want to explore World Showcase.

 

[ChewbaccaYourMum]

I don’t see how you can possibly consider MK anything less than a full day park. It’s more like a 2 park.

I'm not trying to speak for this person you're responding to (I'm sure they have their own reasons), but in my personal experience-- When people I know say the Disney Parks are not full day parks it's because they skip a bunch of stuff because it's not what they like and they blame Disney for not having things like Space Mountain for every single ride lol.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

From only an attraction perspective, EPCOT might rank a bit lower, but certainly not if you actually want to explore World Showcase.

From only an attraction perspective most regional parks are more “full day” parks.

Epcot is a 2 day park if you want to experience Epcot.

 

[gorillaball]

I’m inclined to be hopeful here given what trusted insiders are saying on these boards, but I can’t stop thinking that these rumors are the kind a savvy new CEO would circulate to buy favor from fans whether or not they intended to make many positive changes to the plans.

A truly savvy CEO would not want to build favor from fans if you don’t intend to back it up, you’d be setting yourself up for certain failure.

I’m not saying this will be great and Josh says so, because as of now the enhancement/ from the initial announcement is just unofficial/rumor/chatter.