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

[phillip9698]

Sorry, to most people I know, Darth Vader and Kylo Ren are just the bad guys in Star Wars movies. One was the villain the trilogy from 40-some years ago and one is the villain from the new trilogy about 10 years ago. One is a winy middle-manager black knight with a deep voice and the other is a winy nepo hire black knight with a raspier voice.

It's like Daisy vs Minnie. I'm sure people have their favourites, but they are both thinly drawn female versions of their male counterpart.

I have never had to "have the talk" with a friend about "hey buddy, just so you know, there's no Darth Vader in this land. I know ...I know...We have a similar guy, but I get that you're going to be feeling some big feelings. Maybe you want to scream 'nooooooooooooo" dramatically. I'm so sorry."

Kylo with the stormtroopers IS interchangable with Vader with the stormtroopers. It's a lateral move for most people. It won't change the experience.

Just not true. He’s the most popular character in one of the largest IPs ever created.

There won’t be multiple tv series and movies showing the life of a young Kylo Ren and how he came to be. If there are then I must have missed them, can you point them out?

Your Daisy and Minnie comparison is not apt. The comparison would need to involve Mickey. Is Mickey replaceable with any of the other characters where his absence would not be noticed? The answer to that is no.

Saying Darth Vader is just a bad guy is like saying The Joker is just the bad guy in this Batman movie, he really doesn’t mean much. Heck, even that doesn’t really capture it because the Joker isn’t more popular than Batman. Darth Vader is more popular than anyone else in Star Wars by far.

You wouldn’t create an Avengers land without Iron Man. You wouldn’t create a Harry Potter land without Harry Potter. You wouldn’t create a Nintendo land without Mario. You shouldn’t create a Star Wars Wars land without Darth Vader!

 

[AidenRodriguez731]

Just not true. He’s the most popular character in one of the largest IPs ever created.

There won’t be multiple tv series and movies showing the life of a young Kylo Ren and how he came to be. If there are then I just have missed them, can you point them out?

Saying Darth Vader is just a bad guy is like saying The Joker is just the bad guy in this Batman movie, he really doesn’t mean much. Heck, even that doesn’t really capture it because the Joker isn’t more popular than Batman. Darth Vader is more popular than anyone else in Star Wars by far.

Uh don't count out my boy Jar Jar.

 

[ManicMillennial]

Sorry, to most people I know, Darth Vader and Kylo Ren are just the bad guys in Star Wars movies. One was the villain the trilogy from 40-some years ago and one is the villain from the new trilogy about 10 years ago. One is a winy middle-manager black knight with a deep voice and the other is a winy nepo hire black knight with a raspier voice.

It's like Daisy vs Minnie. I'm sure people have their favourites, but they are both thinly drawn female versions of their male counterpart.

I have never had to "have the talk" with a friend about "hey buddy, just so you know, there's no Darth Vader in this land. I know ...I know...We have a similar guy, but I get that you're going to be feeling some big feelings. Maybe you want to scream 'nooooooooooooo" dramatically. I'm so sorry."

Kylo with the stormtroopers IS interchangable with Vader with the stormtroopers. It's a lateral move for most people. It won't change the experience.

I definitely prefer the movies with Vader but this is absolutely where I’m at with Galaxy’s Edge. It’s Star Wars enough for me to enjoy my time there and I think the rides are fun and then I move on to Toy Story land.

 

[DrStarlander]

Darth Vader is arguably the most well known and iconic narrative villain created by human culture since B.C.

EDIT: And I'd say Dracula would be the arguable challenger

 

[AidenRodriguez731]

Darth Vader is arguably the most well known and iconic narrative villain created by human culture since B.C.

I would put a few of the horror movie villians up with him but I tend to agree.

 

[Professortango1]

Just not true. He’s the most popular character in one of the largest IPs ever created.

There won’t be multiple series and movies showing the life of a young Kylo Ren and how he came to be.

Saying Darth Vader is just a bad guy is like saying The Joker is just the bad guy in this Batman movie, he really doesn’t mean much. Heck, even that doesn’t really capture it because the Joker isn’t more popular than Batman. Darth Vader is more popular than anyone else in Star Wars by far.

I'd agree that Vader may be the most recognizable character, but luckily Kylo modeled himself after Vader in a more modern character. Hence why most guests won't care about the difference

To Star Wars fans, the joy of the franchise is the wide array of characters. Porkins, Ackbar, Ahsoka, Maul, Obi Wan, Jaba, Greedo, Boba Fett. Star Wars has always been about quantity over quality. It's a universe and that's what fans like.

I bet fans would freak out more getting to meet some side niche character from Clone Wars than seeing another Vader in the park.

For a guest at a theme park, "Guy in black armor with stormtroopers who walks around with prerecorded sayings swapped with different guy in black armor with stormtroopers who walks around with prerecorded sayings" is not a headline which leads me to believe that my guest experience is changing.

Maybe you can articulate it in a way I can understand. As a random person at a Disney park, what is the difference between Kylo walking around and interacting vs Vader? Not which character you like more. but what changes in the actual experience for the guest? I know the costume is slightly different but similar and the recordings are slightly different but similar, but what is so different, at a guest interaction level?

Does Vader's costume do some cool trick that Kylo's doesn't? Do wings pop out? Does he remove his mask and reveal the skinned sausage head? Does he do and act any different than Kylo?

 

[CoasterCowboy67]

We rarely think about the fact that tinker bell who is from Neverland flying from atop a French castle tied to Cinderella and have it make sense during the fireworks shows do we, never mind why does the Beast appear as a walk-around character when he is turned back into a prince at the end of the movie?

I get the point, but consider these two groups

Group A (existing Fantasyland)

• London / British Countryside (Peter Pan, Pooh)
• French countryside / castles (Cinderella, BatB)
• German countryside (Dwarves)
• Mediterranean seaside castle (Mermaid)

Group B (proposed / rumored Villains land)

• Medieval French castle (Maleficient dark ride)
• Incan Empire / Andes Mountains (Yzma coaster)
• Ancient Greece (Hades restaurant)

Does one group not strike you as a bit more visually coherent vs. another that is a bit…random? I thought Villains land made sense if all they did is explain why Villains have convened at some new or existing location from one of their worlds. But if Yzma is in the Andes in her lair, Maleficient is in her castle, and Hades is in the Underwold, I’m worried this is going to be mini-lands rather than a more unified and cohesive concept

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

There’s very little controversy over which villains to feature and the newer IPs rarely even have villains.

True - when was the last really good Disney villain?

it’s obvious this land should highlight the classic Villians - Maleficent Captain Hook Cuella Ursula Scar etc.

 

[drkarcher22]

True - when was the last really good Disney villain?

it’s obvious this land should highlight the classic Villians - Maleficent Captain Hook Cuella Ursula Scar etc.

King candy is I’d argue really good and one of the few twist villains in that era that worked. Or Mother Gothel. The issue is both of those movies are nearly or over 15 years old

 

[DisneyHead123]

True - when was the last really good Disney villain?

it’s obvious this land should highlight the classic Villians - Maleficent Captain Hook Cuella Ursula Scar etc.

Wish was supposed to be a response to requests for a classic villain, but since that was a box office disappointment doubt Magnifico will feature prominently (tried Googling the spelling of his name and had trouble even getting it to come up, the top results were for a Magnifico movie). I guess Moana 2 had Nalo but again, had to stop to Google the name and Nalo appears more as a force of nature than a personality. Hans was trying to pass as a nice guy so didn’t seem particularly villainous for most of the movie. Many other movies (Encanto, Luca, Soul, Turning Red, Inside Out, Elemental) didn’t have a true villain.

Thinking Mother Gothel and Ernesto de la Cruz were the last classic villains with a well defined villainous personality. (Although they aren’t as well known and agree villains land should focus on the classics.)

 

[ManicMillennial]

Multilevel Shanghai DL style boat ride?

The building can be multilevel without the ride being Multilevel.

Also, if you’re going to have a villain’s land with a ride centered around Maleficent it seems a waste to not have Maleficent‘a castle. We’ve seen plenty of castles with different things happening on each level. Many of the castles also have restaurants.

 

[CoasterCowboy67]

I wish the Shanghai Pirates tech had come to any park other than Magic Kingdom.

Villains Land is still bittersweet for me, because I love the idea of doing it, but am bummed it’s coming to a park that is already so impossible to experience in a day. DHS would have been so much better because it sorely needs the attractions, has the Fantasmic tie-in, and would have made a slightly darker and edgier theme a better fit for the target age of the park as a whole.

 

[Brer Panther]

The villains team up all the time.

Now that I think about it, Fantasmic is kind of strange too. Frollo doesn't revel in being evil, he thinks he's in the right, and he's terrified of witchcraft and the devil, isn't he? But he teams up with Hades and Maleficent and CHERNABOG?

King candy is I’d argue really good and one of the few twist villains in that era that worked. Or Mother Gothel.

Mother Gothel wasn't a twist villain, but King Candy was great too - it's the role that put Alan Tudyk on the map as a Disney Legend.

Wish was supposed to be a response to requests for a classic villain, but since that was a box office disappointment doubt Magnifico will feature prominently (tried Googling the spelling of his name and had trouble even getting it to come up, the top results were for a Magnifico movie).

I wouldn't be so sure. Wish got a float in Disney's Starlight and is referenced in the queue of Better Zoogether. I wouldn't be surprised if Maginifico pops up somewhere.

And Magnifico's apparently not a very well-written video. I'm still not quite sure what their intent with the character was.

 

[HMF]

Now that I think about it, Fantasmic is kind of strange too. Frollo doesn't revel in being evil, he thinks he's in the right, and he's terrified of witchcraft and the devil, isn't he? But he teams up with Hades and Maleficent and CHERNABOG?

Again, Disney was largely very loose with continuity and how different ideas relate to each other prior to Galaxy's Edge.

 

[Haymarket2008]

Hot take?: a coaster weaving through the land is tacky and beneath WDI. Villains needs to be grand and beautifully done.

Curse of the Werewolf in Dark Universe is a blight.

It needs to be Fantasy Springs level offerings.

 

[AidenRodriguez731]

Hot take?: a coaster weaving through the land is tacky and beneath WDI. Villains needs to be grand and beautifully done.

Curse of the Werewolf in Dark Universe is a blight.

It needs to be Fantasy Springs level offerings.

Eh I kinda like when coasters weave through lands depending on how, through the entire land nah but through a decent section if it LOOKS good, sure. Curse of the werewolf's main problems is that there is netting everywhere, it blocks a major weenie, and its just not a good ride. It screams cheap and gaudy

 

[eddie104]

Hot take?: a coaster weaving through the land is tacky and beneath WDI. Villains needs to be grand and beautifully done.

Curse of the Werewolf in Dark Universe is a blight.

It needs to be Fantasy Springs level offerings.

Honestly I don’t even think that’s gonna be an issue.

Galaxy’s Edge despite its flaws is an incredibly themed land. My biggest concern would be the coaster receiving a decent budget for show scenes and such.

Unfortunately the states haven’t had as many ground up new build areas as the overseas parks until recently. So we don’t have many recent things to judge by on that scale.

 

[Brer Panther]

A Pain and Panic dark ride in the style of Runaway Railway does not sound like fun to me. Can't wait to be parked in front of a screen again...

you're going into a world that's wholy Disney, you're seeing Disney environments, both recognizable and original throughout the four parks.

To be fair, AVATAR wasn't a Disney IP when they built it (but I still think the land is cool).

 

[lentesta]

Why would you build a train station so close to the neighbouring one in Frontierland? Would only make sense if they were demolishing the nearby one, and why would they do that unless they have alternate plans for the ride it’s connected to?

If I've done the math correctly, here's what the approximate distances would be between stations:

• Main Street, USA (MSUSA) to Frontierland: 2,050 feet
• Frontierland to Villains Land: 1,420 feet
• Villains Land to Storybook Circus: 1,825 feet
• Storybook Circus to MSUSA: 2,460 feet

So a Villains station would cut the distance between stops. I'm confident one of the things balancing that out is the need to get guests from the back of the park to the front at the end of the day, without making all of them walk.

 

[mattpeto]

Hot take?: a coaster weaving through the land is tacky and beneath WDI. Villains needs to be grand and beautifully done.

Curse of the Werewolf in Dark Universe is a blight.

It needs to be Fantasy Springs level offerings.

That attraction was incredibly underwhelming.