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

[Timothy_Q]

Armchair ideas! The two dudes on the podcast came up with their ideas for what they’d change/add to Magic Kingdom and I drew it out. Also did a bunch of rough concept art for individual attractions. I’d link the article, but, y’know.
View attachment 909734
Honestly, as much as I loved making this map, ParkLore’s Magic Kingdom buildout is still my all time favorite MK redo. But this one is a close second, if not for how much fun I had making it!

Shoutout to the amazing work you've been doing for them

 

[BrianLo]

DL has stations at 6, 9, 12, and 3 o’clock.
MK has stations at 6, 9, and 2 o’clock.

Putting a villains station at 10 or 11 would make for pretty short trips between Frontierland and V, and between V and Fantasyland.

BUT I admit, because MK is so much bigger than DL, the “short” trip from Frontierland to V at MK is about as long as the “long” trip from NOS to Fantasyland.

@lentesta ran some measurements a few pages ago. The distance from Villains to Storybook would be fairly similar to MSUSA to Frontierland, only about 12% shorter than what exists now. So I don’t think that segment would matter too much.

The Frontier to Villains segment would be shorter, but I’d theoretically posit the train would slow down for these new show scenes.

I think there’s a lot of benefit to a fourth train, but also as a transit option, that corner is quite far back in the park.

 

[Centauri Space Station]

Is there any confirmation of show scenes or hints from insiders?

 

[MouseEarsMom33]

Why? Why keep running it in shuttle mode right now then?

Because it's only temporary and enough people still use it to justify keeping it open during the work.

 

[Professortango1]

DL has stations at 6, 9, 12, and 3 o’clock.
MK has stations at 6, 9, and 2 o’clock.

I wouldn't call NOS 9. I'd say 9 would be if they replaced Hungry Bear with a station to mirror MK.

NOS is about 7:30. The two best stretches are between NOS and Toon Town and between TL and MS USA.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

The two best stretches are between NOS and Toon Town and between TL and MS USA.

Yes! And the stretch from NOS to Toontown is the best for railfans as you can hear the locomotives work a little bit in that area. While Disneyland trains never go “fast” - they have a little room to move on that section.

 

[Professortango1]

If we can get another BTMRR level of thrill and total, I'm happy. Even a little more thrilling but not sacrificing total impact, even better. Just don't build another Slinky Dog or SDMT PLEASE!

 

[HMF]

It seems @TrainsOfDisney theory of the grand circle tour never returning could be a possibility!

Everything is speculation at this point and Disney could change their mind at any time since this project is still a long way off.

I think when they made the announcement at D23 ( in 2024 was it?) they had no idea what they were going to do and I think they are still thinking this project over.

They have plenty of time to figure it out.

To be fair there is not much to see on the MK version of the railroad. if they were smart, they could have created a tunnel diorama and put the old dinosaurs from UOE like Disneyland did with the dinosaurs from the Magic Skyway there but that is too much to ask apparently.

 

[𝐌𝖆𝖓 𝖎𝖓 𝐖𝖊𝖇]

Is there any confirmation of show scenes or hints from insiders?

Nothing yet... they're still figuring out the attraction lineup.

 

[GSP Guy]

I think people were responding to the concept art fairly in terms of their expectations of tone.


Perhaps at Disney there's not an obvious precedent beyond Fantasmic or other shows. But Monsters Unchained at Epic successfully amalgamates characters/IPs as an example. But I also I think The Great Movie Ride is another example which amalgamated IPs in order to successfully serve as a thesis-statement ride for the DIsney-MGM Studios theme park. I think with the conceptual nature of Villains Land, a thesis-statement E-ticket dark ride is what a lot of people are expecting. They want Disney to "tell the story they have in mind."


Yes, which is why if they pursue a keep-IPs-separated approach, they should just expand Fantasyland, as these IPs are already related. And save the VL acreage for something else.


When Universal built Stardust Racers they built two coasters sharing acreage and loading infrastructure. Disney could do that in Villains Land, creating a more thrilling coaster and a lite coaster, intertwined, sharing a theme and loading. Kids could ride the lite coaster and aspire to graduate up to the more thrilling coaster.

I love this dual coaster idea!

 

[Pizza Moon]

I don’t really understand why people seem to assume there are only two extremes this land could take: mature and frightening or campy and family friendly.

It could be gothic and dark without being "scary" (which Disney was never going to pursue anyway). That’s what I was expecting and hoping for. This report now has me worried that we’re just getting a villian-featured Fantasyland.

Totally, it was always going to be a really nice combo. I imagine a mix between Diagon Alley and Dark Universe in tone with Disney whimsy like the Adventureland Treehouse at Disneyland recently.

 

[easyrowrdw]

Armchair ideas! The two dudes on the podcast came up with their ideas for what they’d change/add to Magic Kingdom and I drew it out. Also did a bunch of rough concept art for individual attractions. I’d link the article, but, y’know.
View attachment 909734
Honestly, as much as I loved making this map, ParkLore’s Magic Kingdom buildout is still my all time favorite MK redo. But this one is a close second, if not for how much fun I had making it!

That sounds cool!

Image search helped me find an article. Did you create all the maps and artwork in the article about reimagining MK? It's really impressive

 

[Disstevefan1]

I personally think it’s nonsensical to think Disney isn’t going to bring the train back to full circle once construction is complete.

Today agree it is nonsensical and that is why I think it’s a possibility.

 

[Pizza Moon]

Armchair ideas! The two dudes on the podcast came up with their ideas for what they’d change/add to Magic Kingdom and I drew it out. Also did a bunch of rough concept art for individual attractions. I’d link the article, but, y’know.
View attachment 909734
Honestly, as much as I loved making this map, ParkLore’s Magic Kingdom buildout is still my all time favorite MK redo. But this one is a close second, if not for how much fun I had making it!

Really cool, but leaving the restrooms here and the ugly concrete jungle while making some really ambitious changes doesn't make sense.

 

[DoTheImpossible]

If I recall correctly, didn’t Josh say he wants to bring more classic experiences back to the Disney parks? To me, that would indicate ride style from more of a forgone time in the company’s history. I would expect longer, more themed with more AAs over the use of screens.

If this is truly the case, I would not expect a white knuckle roller coaster experience. How is that classic Disney? And maybe SDD is a more modern example for comparison. Maybe a more apt comparison could be BTMRR instead; a classic Disney coaster that has a decent ride time and modicum of intensity, is also highly themed and is still a family coaster with a high capacity.

If it’s that type of coaster, coupled with a mega E ticket indoor boat ride, a ride for smaller children and a new train station, this is a good mix.

If anyone could find where Josh said the "classic" line - I would like to know. When this circulated on socials I looked everywhere for the original source online because people repeated it as truth, but there is nothing I saw except an unreliable news site that posted it.

 

[MisterPenguin]

If anyone could find where Josh said the "classic" line - I would like to know. When this circulated on socials I looked everywhere for the original source online because people repeated it as truth, but there is nothing I saw except an unreliable news site that posted it.

Perplexity couldn't find any quote of his from this past year that includes

classic rides​

classic attractions​

classic experiences​

disney classics​

 

[𝐌𝖆𝖓 𝖎𝖓 𝐖𝖊𝖇]

A plea to the Disney spies crawling the forum... you know who you are!

Two Words: Vekoma Madhouse

Pardon the sales pitch, but this would be an ideal ride type for Villains land. Now hang on... bear with me, please!

Imagine the appeal of a Frollo-themed Madhouse (Gothic architecture, What's not to like?) The ride’s physical disorientation mirrors the character’s psychological collapse. Unlike a coaster that relies on speed for thrill the Madhouse uses a rotating drum to create a slow, eerie sense of vertigo, mimicking Frollo’s own loss of control as his moral code twists into obsession. The attraction would naturally play the hauntingly iconic "Hellfire" song. A rare opportunity to use a ride system as a metaphor instead of just copying a concept lifted straight from a movie :cough: Catacombs Coaster :cough: Oh, excuse me!

From a design standpoint, this hypothetical attraction would ground the Villains Land with a layer of sophistication, something that would deftly counterbalances the high thrills chaos, or whimsical aspects of the other classic Villains.

Because the Madhouse is a static illusion, it would allows the Imagineers the ability to create incredibly rich detail in the set design. I mean, the "Hunchback of Notre Dame" movie has it in spades! It would be foolish to overlook the darker, more mature side of the Disney canon. An attraction that feels theatrical rather than "scary". And best of all, it feels right. It feels like it could exist, alongside The Haunted Mansion. (benchmark)

It perfectly bridges the gap between a walk-through attraction and a thrill ride, providing a haunting experience (without actually being spooky) while bringing back some of needed "chill" through pure, atmospheric dread. Of course... the biggest selling feature... no height requirement!

A perfect C-ticket for a land needing a well-rounded collection of attractions. Now, if you'll please... just mention this. Thanks.

 

[Pizza Moon]

 

[EricsBiscuit]

I don’t think people here are appreciating just how good of a ride system the Shanghai Pirates boat ride has. For one, it has a massive capacity. That means that the magic Kingdom, if this ride system is used, will have a brand new mega E ticket with an operational capacity of over 3000 guests per hour. Each one of those boats in Shanghai carries 30 guests!

 

[Andrew25]

View attachment 910022

Weird seeing my concept map like this, but it works

+ one point to add is that the two show buildings are angled in a way to make the train station appear like the land's main street... with the firework launch site immediately behind it in view. So it does appear they intend on doing a mirror version of HEA