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

[James Alucobond]

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.

I’ve always seen the lands as being related to larger genres of fiction, with Tomorrowland for sci-fi, Fantasyland for fantasy and romance, Adventureland for adventure, and Liberty Square + Frontierland for historical fiction and westerns. If done properly, a villain land could lean into unrepresented mystery, thriller, horror, or dark/gothic fantasy themes.

 

[brb1006]

I'm sure this point was made sometime during the last 20+ years of the 'Villains land'/'Dark Kingdom' speculation, but I'll say it here: one of the things that routinely comes up on GSATs is that in the teenage boy demographic, MK is a snoozefest. This land, if the rides turn out well, can do wonders for that demographic, and can lead to greater appeal for the park overall to families with teenagers, who more and more, are foregoing MK for a(nother) day at Universal.

Hong Kong Disneyland is the only Disney Park that comes the closest to actually embracing the scarier aspects of Halloween while being family friendly as possible. Unlike MNSSHP, their Halloween events are actually Villain focused with Disneyland doing a similar approach with Oogie Boogie Bash at DCA.

The former Nightmare Experiment attraction is the closest Disney can get to a scare attraction in the levels as Universal's Halloween Horror Nights (minus gore).

Meanwhile, WDW's been running MNSSHP for over 20 years now. It's time for a fresh new Halloween party for WDW that puts emphasis on Disney Villains like Disneyland Resort did with Oogie Boogie Bash a few years back.

 

[BrianLo]

I think this project is very analogous to Galaxies Edge circa D23’s 2015 announcement. Though maybe even slightly more formed.

The lack of details doesn’t really make me worried - it’s just still going to clearly appear at two more mainline D23’s for details to be fleshed out further.

 

[rtmachine]

If they still care about sight lines I'm not sure how they can put this into the Tom Sawyer and boat area , Villains land in that spot would be hard to conceal

 

[KDM31091]

If they still care about sight lines I'm not sure how they can put this into the Tom Sawyer and boat area , Villains land in that spot would be hard to conceal

I don't think they care about sightlines anymore, unfortunately. Tron is plainly visible from Fantasyland/ Storybook Circus with little to no attempt to hide it.

 

[Jrb1979]

I don't think they care about sightlines anymore, unfortunately. Tron is plainly visible from Fantasyland/ Storybook Circus with little to no attempt to hide it.

Agreed they care as much about sightlines as they do keeping the parks theme.

 

[James Alucobond]

I don't think they care about sightlines anymore, unfortunately. Tron is plainly visible from Fantasyland/ Storybook Circus with little to no attempt to hide it.

To be fair, you’ve always been able to see lands from one another to some extent, and some of the transitions (like Fantasyland to Tomorrowland) have been inelegant for ages. There was just a more consistent look to the entire park that helped blend things together a bit more since everything was purpose-built rather than an attempt at reproducing IP-based structures 1:1. That said, hopefully they’ll arrange things here such that whatever happens to TSI helps obscure the villain area.

 

[tl77]

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?

The concept art they released is just that "a rough concept" kind of the look and "feeling they were going for, it's not like real thought out blueprints

I had a similar idea that there could be a "path" near the Pinocchio Village Haus, but this is what "I wish" they would do... there's so much unused land in MK, I rather see a big enclosed building run behind the current Fantasyland, something like the Little Mermaid area in Tokyo Disney Sea. I drew it in pink here as a mash up of Mary Blair's art for Neverland and Wonderland, and the roof of that huge building could also be a staging area for a drone show.

I vote for as much "Classic Disney Animation" at Magic Kingdom as possible, and I'd rather see a lot of little dark rides then 2 giant thrill rides

 

[DisneyHead123]

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.

My hunch is that there is going to be an area that can host festivals. A space for food stands at least. I don’t know why, I just feel like they would want another festival area. Also guessing we will see non table service cocktails. $20 for a purple concoction with a big vapor bubble on the top, that type of thing.

I think a MagiQuest or Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom with the Magic Mirror is a no brainer. He was like the OG screen based entertainment, lol!

I think the stores in Villains could actually be really fun. I say that as someone who is not a big shopper except for maybe a couple toys for my son. But they could really make the stores unique enough to be semi-attractions on their own.

I think Villains comes out of the gate with a huge head start because there is a ton of very differentiated, little used, interesting IP there. I think that will help make the land seem more multifaceted, with more to explore. (If it’s good, though, don’t know if anything will help with crowds, at least initially.)

 

[Indy_UK]

Fine if they want to open the land with 2 attractions but they need to put it on a plot where they can add more later on. Villains are worth more than 2 rides.

 

[James Alucobond]

Fine if they want to open the land with 2 attractions but they need to put it on a plot where they can add more later on. Villains are worth more than 2 rides.

They said 2 “signature” attractions. I imagine that excludes flat rides, stage shows, etc.

 

[doctornick]

My hunch is that there is going to be an area that can host festivals. A space for food stands at least. I don’t know why, I just feel like they would want another festival area. Also guessing we will see non table service cocktails. $20 for a purple concoction with a big vapor bubble on the top, that type of thing.

I think a MagiQuest or Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom with the Magic Mirror is a no brainer. He was like the OG screen based entertainment, lol!

I think the stores in Villains could actually be really fun. I say that as someone who is not a big shopper except for maybe a couple toys for my son. But they could really make the stores unique enough to be semi-attractions on their own.

I think Villains comes out of the gate with a huge head start because there is a ton of very differentiated, little used, interesting IP there. I think that will help make the land seem more multifaceted, with more to explore. (If it’s good, though, don’t know if anything will help with crowds, at least initially.)

I really hope that it is oriented in a way to have a “different” fireworks show using the regular fireworks but having music and projections appropriate for a villains area.

 

[Moth]

Villains being at MK completely blindsided me, especially with the last I heard about it was it going to DHS in a reduced manner. This announcement blew me away last night. Very excited to see what ends up here.

 

[Brer Panther]

FL = SW/PP/Dumbo (ok 3, plus Casey area).

Fantasyland has more than three rides.

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.

Why do all the recent lands built by Disney only have two attractions? Is Disney just that cheap?

 

[JKick95]

Fantasyland has more than three rides.

Why do all the recent lands built by Disney only have two attractions? Is Disney just that cheap?

It’s super expensive. Universal does this also. 2-3 rides is the norm. Some lands open with one ride - Harry Potter at Studios and Epic Universe both have one.

 

[easyrowrdw]

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

I like the name! I hope they have something like that in mind.

 

[RETLAW]

As excited as I am for something/ anything Villains, I am also disappointed that it is going to MK and not a stand alone park.

MK is already one of the busiest parks in the world, and a huge pain to get in and out of. This is just going to make things worse for getting in and out of MK. I understand that it is cheaper to add on to an existing park than build a new one. But at what point have you maxed out the infrustructure of the park and its support system.

With that said, I am hoping that we are going to get more boats to help get people in and out of the park, and new monorail rail system that can transport more passengers at one time (and more reliable).

Just my .02

 

[Jrb1979]

Villains being at MK completely blindsided me, especially with the last I heard about it was it going to DHS in a reduced manner. This announcement blew me away last night. Very excited to see what ends up here.

Is it possible we finally see WDW first major thrill coaster at the same level of a Velocicoaster

 

[Captain Neo]

i can tell you right now the villains land will be the most popular of the new lands and probably more popular than some of the existing ones including Star Wars land. They need room for expansion and I recommend they rip out some of the “new fantasyland‘ crap from the early 2010s including the rainforest cafe caliber beast castle and the lame little mermaid ride and build on that land which is where this project was originally supposed to start anyway

 

[Johnny D]

I wish they had a physical model of this like they do with most of the other lands/attractions they announced.