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

[JD80]

If it has a railroad station it's not a dead end.

 

[mattpeto]

If it has a railroad station it's not a dead end.

Every land at Epic is a dead-end I guess.

 

[MK-fan]

Actual WDI Concept art for the Villains Land we truly deserve.

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Ooooooohhhhhhhh I wanna go to Wall Street USA and go on “Not So Great Moments with Mr. Chapek” and “Bob Iger’s Runaway Stock”

 

[AidenRodriguez731]

Every land at Epic is a dead-end I guess.

I mean they actually are. Horrible design right guys. No more dead ends! Horrible park design, I don’t know what yahoo decided on making a whole park of deadends

 

[gorillaball]

In other news, are we all thinking:
Tropical Americas - 2027
Monsters - 2028
Cars - 2029
Villains - now more late 2030/early 2031? Or is 2029 still on the table, which would coincide with Josh's line at D23 2024 of "everything announced will be open in 5 years"?

Early 2031 is literally 5 more years. Let’s not give up on 2029 or at least 2030 yet.

 

[mickEblu]

The Madame Medusa restaurant would have been a terrible idea. “We know you miss your riverboat but here, take this dilapidated one.”

 

[Lord Fozzinator]

The Madame Medusa restaurant would have been a terrible idea. “We know you miss your riverboat but here, take this dilapidated one.”

I honestly wouldn't have minded a Medusa restaurant but I digress.

 

[Lord Fozzinator]

I honestly would prefer a high-capacity show rather than a flat ride. I'm also hoping that there's gonna be a counter-service restaurant but I get why they wouldn't cause Columbia Harbor House, Peco's Bill, and Pinocchio are nearby.

 

[mickEblu]

I honestly wouldn't have minded a Medusa restaurant but I digress.

I think it’s kind of cool too and wouldn’t have been opposed to it Pre ROA/ Liberty Bell removal

 

[lazyboy97o]

Looking at the plans, it strikes me that Disney is building yet another dead end. Monster Land, Animation Courtyard, and here - it’s just unappealing, impractical design.

A significantly longer dead end than the one they’re supposedly fixing too.

If it has a railroad station it's not a dead end.

Then this project isn’t fixing a dead end because Frontierland Station has long been right there next to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.

 

[lazyboy97o]

What if it's not a dead end, what if there's a small gate there? Like the epcot international gateway. I noticed that building and had a strange thought, it could be a skyliner station. There's a line coming out of it that's dead straight and not aligned with the tracks, like a cable. There could be room for tapstyles, perhaps gondolas to lakeshore resort.

That same line also turns to head northwest but the building doesn’t have a corresponding angle. It also appears in the second water management permit suggesting it is an artifact in the existing conditions underlay.

 

[easyrowrdw]

Exactly.

Based on the reactions I’ve seen a lot of people were under the assumption that this was Disney’s answer to Dark Universe.

Which I feel didn’t really make sense because their audiences are not the same and we know super scary elements have been avoided by this company for many years now.

At the MK this “new” direction makes more sense for the crowd that frequents that park.

I agree that it doesn’t make sense. But I also think Villains as a design principle doesn’t make sense either, yet they still announced they would do it. Either way, I think the expectation was influenced by Disney.

I don’t remember everything they said, but the visuals they provided looked to me like they would be taking a dark approach. I think a broader approach to the land is better but it does feel a bit like whiplash IMO.

 

[_caleb]

My theory:

1. Josh announces Villains Land with very few details (because they don't have many details to offer).
2. Many fans are excited, the social media machine buzzes (free publicity!).
3. Much of the excitement is based on fan speculation ("Disney's answer to Dark Universe!," "Adult scary!" etc.) and doesn't align with their actual (unsettled) plans.
4. Disney leaks the "scrapped" plans rumor (I believe @lentesta), which is based on a real pivot ("Bigger! More immersive! Family-friendly!" "Isle of Berk!" and probably "More trees!"), but this from a while back, when plans were shared with suppliers and contractors.
5. The post grows into a rumor grows into a report (that some are treating like an announcement), which then fuels parknerd outrage, but also lowers expectations ("It's basically gonna be Fanstasyland with bad guys.").
6. Disney moves forward by finalizing their plans (largely unchanged), but now with lower expectations, increased fan input, free publicity, and a manufactured opportunity for Josh to be a hero for saving Villains Land.

 

[Lord Fozzinator]

I already gave my ideal version of Villain's Land but I just got some new ideas for how the land will be imagined and it combines both possible versions of the land. The land would be separated into 2 sublands, the Village and the Bayou.

The Village will be your typical dark medieval village with the conjured architecture inspiration. It's grand in a twisted kind of way. The thorny plants surround the entire area.

• Emperor's New Groove Coaster: This coaster would take guests through the iconic part of the film. The coaster would be entirely indoors. The inside would be incredibly well-themed with a similar intensity to Thunder Mountain.
• Villains Boat Ride: Guests would be taken on a journey where several villains vie for guest's favor. Guests will first enter Maleficent's Castle before entering their vehicles. The ride is filled with expansive show scenes filled with animatronics.
• Less Represented Villain Busbar Ride: This will be a ride similar to the style of the old Fantasyland dark rides but on a larger scale (and budget). This attraction would be dedicated to a less-represented villain such as Ratigan, Queen of Hearts, Prince John, etc.
• Oogie Boogie Flat Ride: The Nightmare Before Christmas is criminally underrepresented and Oogie Boogie is one of the most popular villains. I'm not sure on the flat ride type but I would like it to be a more obscure ride system that can be made extremely ambitious.
• Hades Dinner Show: Guests will dine on truly devilish food as Hades attempts to orchestrate this dinner performance. Several other villains will make small cameos in the show as guests eat.

The Bayou will be placed somewhat close to Tiana as to provide a clear transition between the areas. The area would be surrounded by water with the walkways being on stilts. Fog is floating around the area.

• Madame Mim Restaurant: The Riverboat will be repurposed and turned into a counter-service location. The Riverboat will be refitted to look identical to the one in the movie.
• Dr. Facilier's Magic Show: This would be a high-capacity indoor show. Dr. Facilier would show guests Voodoo magic and projections would bring his friends on the other side to life.

Shops would be spread around both lands. Villains would walk around the land and interact with guests. Enough trees would be placed around the land to somewhat simulate the land being cloaked in darkness.

 

[EPCOTCenterLover]

Whatever they build, it certainly should have a very different feel than Fantasyland proper.

 

[lentesta]

Large attractions also usually also have their own break rooms with a small kitchenette. There’s also drinking fountains (for guests and Cast) and fire sprinklers. It could be an error but it seems like a big error. It’s just such a large facility to not have any sort of water connection.

What do you make of that? Inadvertent omission? Something else?

 

[SirLink]

What do you make of that? Inadvertent omission? Something else?

GlaDOS is at it again

 

[AidenRodriguez731]

After giving it some more thought, I think the current rumors would be a very fun way to go for the Villians Land. Slinky Dog would make much more sense than a Rock N'/Everest/etc. I do hope it's a bit more thrilling than Slinky. Not crazy more but a decent enough. I would personally really like a little more than Slinky Dog but not as intense as Tron/Everest.
ENG is an amazing property and for them to even consider doing a whole ride based on it would be amazing! Really would feel like they are listening to the fans at that point.

Maleficient by herself for the boat ride would be fun but I hope they do a bit of an ensemble with Maleficient being the leader of the group.

 

[lazyboy97o]

What do you make of that? Inadvertent omission? Something else?

I have absolutely no idea.

 

[BrianLo]

I understand people want the land family friendly. I don’t disagree. But you can have one actual thrill attraction in a land based on villains, who are supposed to be at least a bit scary. If they don’t, it’s gonna be a colossal financial mistake. Not because I say so, but because they’d be failing to actually market this new, groundbreaking land to anyone.

A Slinky Dog Dash (even if it’s short and has a bunch of strewn props on a field, which I don’t think is the implication) and Shanghai Pirates would not be financial failures. They’d both be 2 of the 10 most popular rides on property.

Yeah, that's always the case for things like this, but it is filled with the most dedicated fans and that's a very important demographic as well.

I’m struck by how there’s more like 10 subgroups of dedicated online fans and they can sometimes feel like entirely different worlds. I never venture into the trip reports or chit chat threads and there are posters there I’ve never interacted with. There are different communities like the blogger followers, the vloggers, Disboards, Twitter, Facebook, DVC groups, DCL groups etc etc.

It’s hard for me to say something like DVC Fan’s community are not hardcore fans (they have 5 figure stakes in the product) and their reaction to things can be night and day. By far the most controversial thing walking out of D23 I heard discussed by a mile was the Walt Figure. Nothing about all the WDW things everyone here has hyper focused on for years.

All of these groups do matter to Disney and feedback matters (see shade for the new seating area), but the voices and feedback can be discordant. That’s before you throw in the casuals to the mix.