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

[Ichabod Crane]

No, the insane take is that a park dedicated to the life and legacy of Walt Disney would feature a land that celebrates evil and hideousness.

Good thing a lot of these villains are part of Walt’s life and legacy then!

 

[doombuggy999]

Good thing a lot of these villains are part of Walt’s life and legacy then!

Life is composed of lights and shadows, and we would be untruthful, insincere, and saccharine if we tried to pretend there were no shadows. Most things are good, and they are the strongest things; but there are evil things too, and you are not doing a child a favor by trying to shield him from reality. The important thing is to teach a child that good can always triumph over evil, and that is what our pictures attempt to do. - Walt Disney, 1963

 

[Timothy_Q]

No dead end - there will be 2 points of entry for Villains. Just not at all what was initially laid out.

Where is the 2nd connection happening?

 

[peter11435]

Magic Kingdom (and the resort as a whole) dedication, 1971

That’s not what that means but ok

Not to mention many of the best Disney villains were created under Walt.

 

[Schmidt]

I wonder if Disney would ever dare go with a Velocicoaster scale ride in Magic Kingdom.

I HOPE NOT. Universal is becoming a coaster destination. Let them have it. That will come home to bite them in the butt at some point.

 

[Mike S]

That’s not what that means but ok

Not to mention many of the best Disney villains were created under Walt.

I wasn’t defending that. Just countering the idea that the park (and resort) isn’t dedicated to the life and legacy of Walt Disney. Pretty much exactly the first thing his brother Roy says in that video.

 

[doctornick]

Where is the 2nd connection happening?

I would presume one from around BTMRR and one from around Haunted Mansion

 

[ThePhoenicians]

I would love it if the expansion extended all the way around to where Gaston's Pub is. That area would be perfect for a naturally themed connection point between Fantasyland and Villain's Land. Going through a haunted forest of sorts.

 

[Rhinocerous]

Meh to the crowds who are saying this won’t get built. I think the epic universe threat is real. Universal obtaining the Nintendo and Pokémon ip is no joke. Those characters are equally iconic as Mickey, Minnie and Google.

Do you... Do you think Disney can get the theme park rights for Google?

Would all the DisParks YouTubers become canon Disney characters?

 

[Rhinocerous]

So in this Villians land, do they plan on including audio animatronics of Bob Iger, Bob Chapek, and Josh D’Amaro and any of the imagineers that came up with some of the plans for these new attractions?

They will be at the land's entrance, shoveling dirt into the river.

 

[HairyLegPirate]

No, the insane take is that a park dedicated to the life and legacy of Walt Disney would feature a land that celebrates evil and hideousness.

Find my pearls, I need to clutch them.

 

[PizzaPlanet]

It’s great that MK will finally have a big draw that’s unique to the park. Most everything there is a variation of stuff you can find elsewhere, aside from smaller attractions like Peoplemover

 

[DisneyNeighbor]

I prefer not to get this land if it means destroying the Rivers of America, Mark Twain, Tom Sawyer, and Huck Finn. Disney is taking the heart and soul out of their parks! Something that they will never get back!

 

[WoundedDreamer]

I wasn’t defending that. Just countering the idea that the park (and resort) isn’t dedicated to the life and legacy of Walt Disney. Pretty exactly the first thing his brother Roy says in that video.

I’m glad someone else read the plaque!

Even if we disagree on villains land, I can respect that!
Cheers!

Find my pearls, I need to clutch them.

Dissenting on a creative decision is pearl clutching?

Do you think I enjoy going into a thread with a view that will earn me scorn from hundreds of commentators? I don’t get a kick from being ridiculed. I do it because I care about the Magic Kingdom deeply.

Life is composed of lights and shadows, and we would be untruthful, insincere, and saccharine if we tried to pretend there were no shadows. Most things are good, and they are the strongest things; but there are evil things too, and you are not doing a child a favor by trying to shield him from reality. The important thing is to teach a child that good can always triumph over evil, and that is what our pictures attempt to do. - Walt Disney, 1963

Evil Witch presumably killing Walt Disney's first animated Princess...
Drunk driver being killed and going to hell
Land with a dragon coaster WHAT IS THIS? RUINING WALTS LEGACY???

Again, we’re back to context. Villains do exist. Letting people encounter them is important. But a villains land is a celebration of villainy. Villains exist to be vanquished. Not to be celebrated. A land of villains is a land devoid of hope, beauty, and order.

John Hench described Disney Parks as the “architecture of reassurance”. The environments in Disney Parks exist to communicate feelings of peace, calm, and order. What is a villains land other than ugly, tumultuous, and disorderly?

This is exactly the same mistake as adding Galaxy’s Edge to Disneyland. Galaxy’s Edge can be described as ugly, messy, and disorderly. Its reception amongst Disneyland fans was negative. They liked the rides, but found the land lacking harmony with the rest of the park. I expect that the same fate will befall this land.

This strikes at the heart of what the Magic Kingdom is.

 

[bwr827]

Do we think the coaster will be like Hagrid in terms of intensity, or will they make a Velocicoaster like ride?

My money would be on Hagrid’s level. I can’t see Magic Kingdom having something as intense as Velocicoaster.

 

[bwr827]

I was really going by the art which looks pretty crazy at the back and how it travels through that canyon at the front of the art. It just reminded me of Velocicoaster but maybe it would be closer to Taron at Phantasialand.

The art is just a vibe.

 

[Erdago]

I’m glad someone else read the plaque!

Even if we disagree on villains land, I can respect that!
Cheers!


Dissenting on a creative decision is pearl clutching?

Do you think I enjoy going into a thread with a view that will earn me scorn from hundreds of commentators? I don’t get a kick from being ridiculed. I do it because I care about the Magic Kingdom deeply.






Again, we’re back to context. Villains do exist. Letting people encounter them is important. But a villains land is a celebration of villainy. Villains exist to be vanquished. Not to be celebrated. A land of villains is a land devoid of hope, beauty, and order.

John Hench described Disney Parks as the “architecture of reassurance”. The environments in Disney Parks exist to communicate feelings of peace, calm, and order. What is a villains land other than ugly, tumultuous, and disorderly?

This is exactly the same mistake as adding Galaxy’s Edge to Disneyland. Galaxy’s Edge can be described as ugly, messy, and disorderly. Its reception amongst Disneyland fans was negative. They liked the rides, but found the land lacking harmony with the rest of the park. I expect that the same fate will befall this land.

This strikes at the heart of what the Magic Kingdom is.

While I can see your perspective, I have a very hard time seeing it being one most Disney fans will share. I think most people will see Villains as a normal Disney property and that it would feel no less oddly fit than a Fantasyland.

 

[DisneyHead123]

Again, we’re back to context. Villains do exist. Letting people encounter them is important. But a villains land is a celebration of villainy. Villains exist to be vanquished. Not to be celebrated. A land of villains is a land devoid of hope, beauty, and order.

John Hench described Disney Parks as the “architecture of reassurance”. The environments in Disney Parks exist to communicate feelings of peace, calm, and order. What is a villains land other than ugly, tumultuous, and disorderly?

This is exactly the same mistake as adding Galaxy’s Edge to Disneyland. Galaxy’s Edge can be described as ugly, messy, and disorderly. Its reception amongst Disneyland fans was negative. They liked the rides, but found the land lacking harmony with the rest of the park. I expect that the same fate will befall this land.

This strikes at the heart of what the Magic Kingdom is.

I don't disagree with your overall logic, but I do agree with the thresholds. I would of course be horrified if they put "Saw" land in the Magic Kingdom. For all the reasons you stated. To my mind the villains are not truly horrifying, though. They range in emotional intensity from a toddler having a meltdown to a teenager having a rebellion. They were a child's archetypal representation of "big feelings" before society came up with terms like that for mothers to coo at their shrieking progeny.

Again, subjective, just my take. But I don't find a Villain's Land any more objectionable than having ghosts or witches at the Halloween parties. (I do, however, think they could really scare the toddlers and preschoolers who are a big audience at MK, and for that reason think they should have their own mini land.)

 

[RosR9]

I prefer not to get this land if it means destroying the Rivers of America, Mark Twain, Tom Sawyer, and Huck Finn. Disney is taking the heart and soul out of their parks! Something that they will never get back!

I’m sad about RoA but I think TSI would have needed to be rethemed or renamed if it stayed, the book literally has the super racist character of “Injun Joe”, and I imagine Disney would want to distance themselves from that like they did with Song of the South

 

[Timothy_Q]

Again, we’re back to context. Villains do exist. Letting people encounter them is important. But a villains land is a celebration of villainy. Villains exist to be vanquished. Not to be celebrated. A land of villains is a land devoid of hope, beauty, and order.

Neither Haunted Mansion or Pirates is about "defeating" the villainy
Both are a celebration of the "bad" characters doing some really terrible things