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

[Mike S]

Your memory is slightly failing you. I don’t know what informed the final decision, but perhaps it wasn’t to release more concepts that do not represent the final product entirely. We received Villains concept last year and SW:GE concepts in 2015.


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This version would’ve been so much nicer.

 

[eddie104]

Nope it’s not. That was done on the West Coast. This group is based out of Florida as are most projects being worked on at DW now.

You don’t have to explain.

Let the negative Nancie’s be negative and the naysayers be naysayers.

We shouldn’t have to defend an unfinished project from unwarranted attacks because certain users hold grudges and are miserable.

 

[monothingie]

Have the in ground lights at Epcot been fixed yet?

 

[Bleed0range]

Your memory is slightly failing you. I don’t know what informed the final decision, but perhaps it wasn’t to release more concepts that do not represent the final product entirely. We received Villains concept last year and SW:GE concepts in 2015.


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I actually had to consult my making of Galaxy’s Edge book because you made me doubt my memory. And you’re right. Initial blue sky phase started in April 2014, project was codenamed Delos.

The research trips, have a design document dated Oct/Sep 2015, the year they announced the project. Going into early 2016.

It seems in these years they were developing the style/architecture and what buildings/poi would be in the land. That’s likely where they are now with Villains.

Which still likely puts it at 2030 opening.

Sad face.

 

[BrianLo]

I actually had to consult my making of Galaxy’s Edge book because you made me doubt my memory. And you’re right. Initial blue sky phase started in April 2014, project was codenamed Delos.

The research trips, have a design document dated Oct/Sep 2015, the year they announced the project. Going into early 2016.

It seems in these years they were developing the style/architecture and what buildings/poi would be in the land. That’s likely where they are now with Villains.

Which still likely puts it at 2030 opening.

Sad face.

Galaxies Edge opened in 2019 though. I agree they seem to be on the same general decade on decade timeline, but I still think the year before. Largely we’ll know if it’s under construction formerly by next Spring.

 

[Mickeytb357]

The Disney coasters with inversions all opened around 1995-2005

They have since moved away from inversions, so it's safe to assume the potential Villains coaster won't have any either

I was curious given the concept art pictures but as we all know concept art and what actually happens is very different with Disney lol

 

[FerretAfros]

Much of the expansion at Disney Adventure World is also art nouveau in style

No Villains stuff, though

Disney has made several attempts at art nouveau in recent years, from the Shanghai Disneyland Hotel, to the Fantasy Springs Hotel, to Adventure Way in Paris. While some are better than others, they all leave something to be desired.

For whatever reason, thus far, they’ve all looked a little cheap and not terribly convincing of the style. While using it for a villains area has the potential to infuse some whimsy in it that may help disguise its pitfalls, I’m not convinced of WDI’s ability to truly pull off art nouveau.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Everything you love about Disney has been informed by research trips. This is deeply ingrained in the creative culture of the company.

The research trips are also key to the development of the animated features too. Obvious example is Rescuers Down Under

In think the difference now is that there's less of an understanding of how the research trips pay off in the final product

With Animal Kingdom, there was a clear connection to the value of those trips and how that transformed the experience

Now, that's not always the case

 

[BrianLo]

The research trips are also key to the development of the animated features too. Obvious example is Rescuers Down Under

In think the difference now is that there's less of an understanding of how the research trips pay off in the final product

With Animal Kingdom, there was a clear connection to the value of those trips and how that transformed the experience

Now, that's not always the case

Indeed. This weekend we saw archival footage of research trips for 3 Caballeros, Euro Disneyland, B&TB, Lion King and funnily brother bear. The exhibit charting the course was about research trips over the years.

It’s not really causative whether it is or isn’t worth it… it’s just always part of their creative process. Suggesting they stop is a misattribution of the problem.

 

[Bocabear]

I kind of loved the image from Park Guell in Barcelona....and seeing how that structure could be used as a Hades inspiration.... If the whole Villains Land architecture had a serious Gaudi inspiration it could be so amazing.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Disney has made several attempts at art nouveau in recent years, from the Shanghai Disneyland Hotel, to the Fantasy Springs Hotel, to Adventure Way in Paris. While some are better than others, they all leave something to be desired.

For whatever reason, thus far, they’ve all looked a little cheap and not terribly convincing of the style. While using it for a villains area has the potential to infuse some whimsy in it that may help disguise its pitfalls, I’m not convinced of WDI’s ability to truly pull off art nouveau.

The big question is if they’ve figured out that Art Nouveau is distinct from Beaux Arts and Art Deco.

 

[James Alucobond]

The big question is if they’ve figured out that Art Nouveau is distinct from Beaux Arts and Art Deco.

I also see Modernisme as a pretty specific branch of Art Nouveau that doesn't always mix well with the others. I guess we'll see. I'll honestly be satisfied if they pull off something that looks consistent and believable. The talk of interest in villains interacting with one another had me a bit worried that they were going to try to puzzle together a bunch of architecturally distinct locations ripped from across the film catalog. If it's a cohesive dark fantasy magical village nestled amongst the thorns under a single castle (Maleficent?), I'll be halfway to happy.

 

[BrianLo]

The big question is if they’ve figured out that Art Nouveau is distinct from Beaux Arts and Art Deco.

How’d they do? Asking earnestly, this is not my field.

They did highlight Gaudi was modernism and that they were looking for inspiration from both.

 

[monothingie]

Remember when the Imagineering Legends who designed WDW and DLR took trips to Europe and other places to get inspiration?

 

[BrianLo]

Remember when the Imagineering Legends who designed WDW and DLR took trips to Europe and other places to get inspiration?

Disney's Grand Tour: Walt and Roy's European Vacation, Summer 1935|Paperback

DISCOVER A FORGOTTEN CHAPTER IN DISNEY HISTORYIn 1935, as the artists and animators at the Disney Studio toiled mightily on the animated feature film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Walt and Roy Disney traveled with their wives to New York and boarded the luxury liner Normandie to begin...

www.barnesandnoble.com

"Walt's brother Roy suggested a trip to Europe with their wives. The trip would take the Disneys from England to France, Germany, and Italy, and then back home. While the couples intended to relax and enjoy the comforts of Old World Europe, Walt also had business in mind: his grand tour was not just about taking in the sights but about building the Disney brand in Europe and bringing back to America ideas and source material for new films, new cartoons, and far down the road, a new theme park."

 

[DisneyHead123]

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How’d they do? Asking earnestly, this is not my field.

They did highlight Gaudi was modernism and that they were looking for inspiration from both.

This is not my area either, but I feel I can still say it’s an absolute win that they are looking at intricate architectural styles at all. Not giant character statues, not boxy buildings with screens inside, but architecture that indicates the presence of real, interesting buildings with nooks and crannies. That alone makes me hopeful.

 

[James Alucobond]

This is not my area either, but I feel I can still say it’s an absolute win that they are looking at intricate architectural styles at all. Not giant character statues, not boxy buildings with screens inside, but architecture that indicates the presence of real, interesting buildings with nooks and crannies. That alone makes me hopeful.

Unfortunately, the problem with some of their past Art Nouveau inspirations is that the style has often been used as little more than an appliqué atop otherwise boxy structures. Again, hopefully that is not the case here, but it's a style that can easily run the risk of being relegated to the themed "objects" (bits of ironwork, embellishment, signage, glasswork, etc.) rather than a fully-realized space.

 

[Bleed0range]

This is not my area either, but I feel I can still say it’s an absolute win that they are looking at intricate architectural styles at all. Not giant character statues, not boxy buildings with screens inside, but architecture that indicates the presence of real, interesting buildings with nooks and crannies. That alone makes me hopeful.

I believe they’ll put as much effort into this design as Galaxy’s Edge. Which is exciting because it’ll be for classic Disney animated characters - which has a much more magical feel to me.

 

[Rinx]

"This is our own land. I worked with some of the guys at Imagineering. We're going to amplify the way we see them - dramatic, with amazing lighting."

Oh dear...not Imagineering's forte lately......

 

[WaltsTreasureChest]

Remember when the Imagineering Legends who designed WDW and DLR took trips to Europe and other places to get inspiration?

Well good news as current Imagineers went on a research trip to Paris, France, and Barcelona, Spain, for inspiration. As the Disney Parks Blog puts it:
“Imagineers went on research trips to Paris and Barcelona to study architecture that would help them bring the villains’ world to life.”