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

[Jambo Dad]

Thought I would add my thoughts to the mix.

Cars - if they can recreate the magic of the American west and Route 66 evident in the original movie and the amazing Cal Adventure effort - it plays as a nice transition from BTMRR.

Villains land is a home run if done right, and works well if you get to it from Haunted Mansion. I would make sure there is plenty of room to expand too.

I hate losing the river and Tom Sawyer. You can keep the top of the river and park the boat in front of Liberty Tree - but it would lose all kinetic energy. Tom Sawyer I get it’s underutilized but it was kind of the point to keep it this way. My son and I have many great memories there when he was young.

The main issue with this and the other proposed park enhancements at WDW require a significant sustained effort from a lot of quality imagineers. Can current Disney even do it? The mere presence of funding doesn’t automatically create a magical experience.

Looking forward to the details.

 

[Streetway]

I’m so happy cooler heads prevailed with this, and villains is going in MK. we truly did win with this. It’s going to be a very fun few years for WDW Fans

 

[Ichabod Crane]

Looked like it will have inversions? Disneyland Park in Paris has two looping coasters in their Magic Kingdom Park.

I wouldn’t get your hopes up on inversions.

 

[Disney Analyst]

What are we thinking for land? I’m thinking this yellow area is Car / Villains? Shortened river, kept just for the vibes, but not used for much?

 

[Charlie The Chatbox Ghost]

I don't think either of these are a good fit for Magic Kingdom, but if they remove the river they can easily run the cars under the train bridge, and would have a lot of space for both Cars Land and Villains Land
View attachment 808133

Roughly blocked out what this could look like. Alternatively to this, you could move the Cars Thrill Ride to take over the exact footprint of Tom Sawyer's Island and then have villains that the space I marked for it, but that's a lot of space that Villains really doesn't need right now, unless they wanna add another D Ticket. I hope Villains has some flat rides to balance out capacity, even if it's a goofy Ursula spinner or something. Anything to eat crowds away from the coaster and E ticket.

I could also see a pathway from Fantasyland to Villains being made- iirc there's a possible location for it that doesn't tear anything down except some parking and behind the scenes roads. It would fit together thematically, you could theme that pathway to the scary forest from Snow White- being more peaceful with animals closer to fantasyland and then slowly turning into wicked trees with faces and arms as you get closer.
Over by Haunted Mansion, you could add a pathway themed to Sleepy Hollow- perhaps have guests walk through the covered bridge to help get them by the Haunted Mansion's show building?

 

[easyrowrdw]

"villains don't belong at magic kingdom" is such a funny statement

lol. Yeah. It’s like the one thing they have been talking about that genuinely works.

Yeah sorry but saying the villains of Disney’s animated film catalog don’t belong at the castle park that has significant ties to and is often viewed as the park for Walt Disney animation is actually an insane take.

I’m critical of the idea because I think it’s undercooked. Of course villains (lower case) fit in MK, so do princesses. But I think a Princess land would be just as lacking as a land theme as Villains is.

I said in another comment that lands in MK are about something bigger. The rides and characters that inhabit the lands fit within that larger theme. Villains or Princesses (or Star Wars or Pixar) aren’t about anything except themselves. I think a land at MK should be about more than its inhabitants and rides.

We’ll see what they actually come up with. My hope is that it’s bigger than what we’ve seen so far.

 

[Charlie The Chatbox Ghost]

I was surprised and thrilled when this artwork popped up last night.

The trajectory, as it was explained to me, was that these projects were a bit volatile because of the ballooning cost of building the as-envisioned BBTM project. When the leading proposal was the Mesa Village of Coco transitioning immediately past BTMRR which then brought you to a dark woodline as the path continued into a Dark Kingdom concept, the cost projections to achieve suitability were skyrocketing. A direction explored here was a treatment of Villains that created a bizzaro village where they'd set up camp. This is when I started warning about expectations. Showing the OG concept art last night and promising 2 major attractions, the right proposal for the property was chosen.

I'm concerned that the Cars projects got the nod because they could fit on the remains of TSI/ROA, allowing them to do a less-expensive and smaller single-phase BBTM with Villains. Reading the tea leaves from last night, this seems to fit.

Or, if Cars and Villains are both going in the "big loop" BBTM original vision, the ballooning costs of that project could have been enough to kill the was-ready-to-go-months-ago Moana project.

I really hope that Moana ride comes to the Fire Mountain plot- or heck, ANYTHING.

 

[Charlie The Chatbox Ghost]

As someone with young grandkids, color me "not thrilled" on this. A villains land sounds great but not at the MK. I would have preferred to see it at HS (not sure where within its foot print) because that park needs more attractions and it's already more appealing to older kids. But given how slowly Disney builds, my 3 yo and 10-month old grands will probably be in college by the time this comes close to completion.

Disney reps have told media that all park announcements are planned to be finished and opened within the next five years.

 

[Charlie The Chatbox Ghost]

On a related note, if they do a Villains Land, wonder if they’ll start putting villains back in the movies or mostly stick with classic villains.

If they're thinking smart, they'll start making classic villains (that aren't poorly written like Magnifico) so they have potential properties to swap in and out of the land to keep it fresh.

 

[CoasterCowboy67]

I’m critical of the idea because I think it’s undercooked. Of course villains (lower case) fit in MK, so do princesses. But I think a Princess land would be just as lacking as a land theme as Villains is.

I said in another comment that lands in MK are about something bigger. The rides and characters that inhabit the lands fit within that larger theme. Villains or Princesses (or Star Wars or Pixar) aren’t about anything except themselves. I think a land at MK should be about more than its inhabitants and rides.

We’ll see what they actually come up with. My hope is that it’s bigger than what we’ve seen so far.

This land would be analogous to Fantasyland’s “greater meaning” just a dark version of it where we see where the Villains reside. I get what you mean if they literally call it Villain Land. But I think that’s just what they’re referring to

I hope they name it consistent with the other lands in the park. Shadowland could be cool

 

[Charlie The Chatbox Ghost]

How is the entry into Villains Land going to work? So many questions lol

By Haunted Mansion: Sleepy Hollow themed transition, complete with a covered bridge to walk through
By Fantasyland: Starting in Fantasyland, a forest path with flowers and cute animals, slowly getting darker and more twisted before you're in the evil forest from Snow White
By Frontierland: Old western graveyard (with homages to the Shootin' Arcade?) that transitions into a dead forest and then villains.

 

[Charlie The Chatbox Ghost]

I wonder if Black Cauldron will get any recognition. They could reuse the Horned King animatronic and elements from the Tokyo castle tour.

They've gotta at least have a Black Cauldron popcorn bucket lmao

 

[Charlie The Chatbox Ghost]

-Parks original character.

Something we need more of! I feel like Disney underestimates the average guests ability to love NEW things. Pirates, Mansion, and the Country Bears are all beloved for a reason!

 

[RobbinsDad]

View attachment 808339
Roughly blocked out what this could look like. Alternatively to this, you could move the Cars Thrill Ride to take over the exact footprint of Tom Sawyer's Island and then have villains that the space I marked for it, but that's a lot of space that Villains really doesn't need right now, unless they wanna add another D Ticket. I hope Villains has some flat rides to balance out capacity, even if it's a goofy Ursula spinner or something. Anything to eat crowds away from the coaster and E ticket.

I could also see a pathway from Fantasyland to Villains being made- iirc there's a possible location for it that doesn't tear anything down except some parking and behind the scenes roads. It would fit together thematically, you could theme that pathway to the scary forest from Snow White- being more peaceful with animals closer to fantasyland and then slowly turning into wicked trees with faces and arms as you get closer.
Over by Haunted Mansion, you could add a pathway themed to Sleepy Hollow- perhaps have guests walk through the covered bridge to help get them by the Haunted Mansion's show building?

For a long time I thought the natural entrance to VL would be to the right of HM, but now I’m leaning toward the area left of enchanted tales. Disney will like the idea better of a transition from FL to villains rather than LS. As far as attractions, a simple villains show multiple times a day to eat crowds could even be great. Oogie Boogies Revue.

 

[Charlie The Chatbox Ghost]

For a long time I thought the natural entrance to VL would be to the right of HM, but now I’m leaning toward the area left of enchanted tales. Disney will like the idea better of a transition from FL to villains rather than LS. As far as attractions, a simple villains show multiple times a day to eat crowds could even be great. Oogie Boogies Revue.

They could do both! It would add more paths to get to different areas quickly. Instead of needing to go all the way to Pinocchio's from Liberty Sqaure, just cut by Haunted Mansion (and vice versa).

 

[LSLS]

My one worry is villains needs a lot more than 2 rides. This place is going to be mobbed and they need things to do. I think it needs at least one more attraction and a lot of interactive elements (meet and greets, street stuff, etc.). Ideally 2 more things.

 

[MagicHappens1971]

My one worry is villains needs a lot more than 2 rides. This place is going to be mobbed and they need things to do. I think it needs at least one more attraction and a lot of interactive elements (meet and greets, street stuff, etc.). Ideally 2 more things.

We don’t know that it won’t have secondary things, like meet & greets, streetmesophere, flat rides, etc.

They just announced “2 major rides”

 

[PREMiERdrum]

We don’t know that it won’t have secondary things, like meet & greets, streetmesophere, flat rides, etc.

They just announced “2 major rides”

I'm wondering if the "village" concept as described to me is still in play, as a transition between Belle's and the dark castle...

 

[LSLS]

We don’t know that it won’t have secondary things, like meet & greets, streetmesophere, flat rides, etc.

They just announced “2 major rides”

Fair, I wasn't trying to say it won't. But, we've seen them cut that stuff multiple times in the past, so I have reservations. But of all the stuff they announced, I honestly think this is the thing that could bring a lot more people.

 

[JKick95]

My one worry is villains needs a lot more than 2 rides. This place is going to be mobbed and they need things to do. I think it needs at least one more attraction and a lot of interactive elements (meet and greets, street stuff, etc.). Ideally 2 more things.

There could be an additional flat ride? Diagon Alley only opened with one ride. The original Hogwarts/Hogsmeade section at IOA opened with one original attraction and re-themed two other rides.