You may be right on what the MGM project was, the Great Movie Ride makeover sounds about right for that time. I think Mysterious Island was later, because at the time of planning, they didn't know how much of Lost Continent was based on Beastly Kingdom.
Mysterious Island was later, one of the "Potter swatters." Tokyo DisneySEA did not open until 2001.
Mid Nineties sounds right for Copperfield, I believe it was announced alongside Fantasmic.
They clearly didn't think they needed to.
There is no way with the current snowflake mentality that a Villains land will ever see the dark of night.
Maybe not so amazing when you consider that Project Gemini was really about splitting Epcot into two separate gates. A sort of addition by subtraction way to get to the mythical fifth gate. And not too different from current management's shell game mindset of trying to convince people that there's something new without really building anything.
I find the villains the most interesting part of their respective films. They are also often the characters with the most "life" to them. And we wouldn't exactly have the Disney movies if they didn't exist. No, they don't win, but that doesn't mean I don't like seeing them. And I'm not sure a mash up of them would cause a weaker experience. I don't see that with Fantasmic for certain. (Yes, that show has problems, but I consider the "story" pretty solid). I don't see why having them all in one attraction in that Villain Mountain type concept with one of our favorite heros battling them couldn't be great.
)
One of our favorite heroes being involved and triumphing makes it a celebration of the hero, not the villain. They've tried to push the villain angle of Fantasmic! in Florida, and even with all that time they get, it's about Mickey Mouse. The villains would need to triumph, or be left alone like with Gaston's Tavern.
I don't think that's necessarily true at all. Yes, it's about Mickey but again, can't exactly have Mickey be the hero if the villains aren't there to oppose him. I haven't exactly seen anyone say they need to "celebrate" the villains. But a bigger presence in the park wouldn't be bad. And rides with them in more prominence would be fun, even if they lose in the end. Heck, if Mr Toad could feature him being sent to hell, maybe you could even get away with a villain winning on one ride.
