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

[UNCgolf]

Star Wars doesn’t have very engaging, iconic locations that you can turn into a theme park land.

Yeah, I've pointed this out before. Tatooine is probably the most iconic setting from the films, and it would make for a pretty bland theme park land. Naboo and Coruscant are the two film locations that would really make for something interesting visually (while also having room for shops, restaurants, etc. unlike Endor), but Coruscant would be essentially impossible to pull off, and Naboo would A. be pretty hard to pull off too and B. doesn't feature in one of the most popular films. And Disney wasn't going to base a land on something from the prequels anyways.

 

[UNCgolf]

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Just under 7 miles, driving.

Over two hours by train.

How are you defining a market? Nashville TN is 7 hours from Orlando. Atlanta slightly longer. Would that mean that the Eastern US above Georgia doesn't have a world class theme park in its market? Well, then Disney and Universal should be peppering the rest of the US north of Georgia with full world-class theme parks to take advantage of that untapped market.

I assume you meant to type 7 hours instead of 7 miles... unless the Chunnel is some kind of magic warp!

 

[Ichabod Crane]

Personally I would consider the UK and France two different markets. They’re relatively close by yes but they’re still two very distinct counties with distinct cultures and public preferences and are different enough that they don’t even have the same official language.

 

[Ichabod Crane]

These aren’t local parks. It’s not a stretch to see people from Europe, or America travel to both parks.

Isn’t that a layer of irony??? Duh…

“These aren’t local parks” except in several ways they absolutely are. The park is still designed and presented with France in mind, to the point where Disney themselves dropped the “euro” from the parks title entirely. There’s a whole language barrier between the two countries. A park in the UK is catering to an entirely different set of clientele than a park in France is, “local” or not.

 

[BrianLo]

Personally I would consider the UK and France two different markets. They’re relatively close by yes but they’re still two very distinct counties with distinct cultures and public preferences and are different enough that they don’t even have the same official language.

We're very much losing the plot of the original point I was making.

Yes, by that criteria Osaka was the first park with very little visitor overlap. It is much less than people imagine, despite being accessible in a few hours by Shinkansen. Certainly by any criteria Singapore is a different market, it is nowhere close to Hong Kong.

So, I probably should have said region rather than market. UK is merely Comcast following Disney into the same Western European region they've already been for 3 decades. Or if you want to argue they've tried to keep a wider berth around Disney for their last 4 resorts, sure. But UK is by no means a dramatic shift from where they typically pick to build.


It's just one of the way too picky pedantic ways I have not really seen Comcast stepping up into the leader role. Texas being a bit of the first divergence into a regional amusement park that Disney doesn't seem to want to get into.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

Personally I would consider the UK and France two different markets.

They are not. They are the same market.

 

[Ichabod Crane]

We're very much losing the plot of the original point I was making.

Yes, by that criteria Osaka was the first park with very little visitor overlap. It is much less than people imagine, despite being accessible in a few hours by Shinkansen. Certainly by any criteria Singapore is a different market, it is nowhere close to Hong Kong.

So, I probably should have said region rather than market. UK is merely Comcast following Disney into the same Western European region they've already been for 3 decades. Or if you want to argue they've tried to keep a wider berth around Disney for their last 4 resorts, sure. But UK is by no means a dramatic shift from where they typically pick to build.

Yeah region, that’s a much better word for this haha.

They are not. They are the same market.

Market, no, region, yes

 

[Moth]

Even within EU, the HTTYD land feels like a potential mistake to me.

It's not remotely on the level of the other IPs in terms of popularity, and it really doesn't look very interesting if you're not a fan of the IP.

I'm a huge HTTYD fan so I'm all for the land, even beyond the IP there remains two timeless concepts: dragons and vikings. Kids will always love dragons, and kids will always think Vikings are awesome. Like Pandora, which has the hook of an alien world, HTTYD can work without the IP attached, it has a good hook, which is living amongst dragons and vikings.

As Gen Z (the audience that grew up with these films) starts to exert more buying power, I can see why Uni sprung for this IP to get a whole land versus Shrek or Kung Fu Panda.

The only questionable part of EU is a fourth HP land which can age to be a critical mistake as the owner of the IP goes hogwild.

 

[Mike S]

I think you guys have forgotten what has actually been built in the last ten years by both Orlando operators… and how many are on a short list for Comcast to replace.

Diagon is over ten years old. It’s frankly a lost decade for Universal, they’ve somehow lost ground to WDW and yet supposedly the WDW investment cycle was poor.

Maybe I’m just grumpier / harsher because I’ve been waiting so long for Epic and it really just stole and deferred all of Universals momentum they had in the early 2010s. My Universal fandom peaked in 2013 and I’ve been feeling impatient ever since. Which yes, is on me.

Kong (before they removed the 3D), Hagrid, and Velocicoaster say hello?

The additions to USF have been lackluster since Diagon though outside of Bourne.

 

[BrianLo]

Even within EU, the HTTYD land feels like a potential mistake to me.

It's not remotely on the level of the other IPs in terms of popularity, and it really doesn't look very interesting if you're not a fan of the IP.

I think this one is being very undervalued. It has a rather unique attraction mix that really compliments the park and even the resort in general. Including the show. To the point I'd actually change things about the other four lands first (the Bellagio Hotel, Monsters is small, Nintendo isn't custom designed, Potter is a one ride land).

Don't let the goofy character designs and stupid name mislead you. The source material was rather strong and has a lot of heart. If they actually bring together these flying dragons, it could really over-index.

Plus I'm just thanking my lucky stars we didn't get a Dreamworks Land or Illumination Land!

 

[BrianLo]

Kong (before they removed the 3D), Hagrid, and Velocicoaster say hello?

The additions to USF have been lackluster since Diagon though outside of Bourne.

Volcano Bay and the hotel expansion!

But - I meant the full breadth of everything they have done. The good and the bad. Not cherry picking the 4-5 good moves Universal made and ignoring the 10 bad ones. Or vice versa.

I think IOA is a better park than it was ten years ago and I think USF distinctly isn't. But we also need to talk about the elephant in the room that IOA has no entertainment now, questionable food, questionable operating standards, zero night entertainment, literally a dead attraction-less land and two other lands people are speculating are also on a short list to be replaced. We're also missing two coasters. So when you start to parse it out a little bit more, we forget where the needle was and now is.

I'm very impressed with Epic... but I'm on my own perhaps wishing all that investment had instead first gone towards fixing the existing resort and we had a new park in 2030 or so.

 

[Ichabod Crane]

I think this one is being very undervalued. It has a rather unique attraction mix that really compliments the park and even the resort in general. Including the show. To the point I'd actually change things about the other four lands first (the Bellagio Hotel, Monsters is small, Nintendo isn't custom designed, Potter is a one ride land).

Don't let the goofy character designs and stupid name mislead you. The source material was rather strong and has a lot of heart. If they actually bring together these flying dragons, it could really over-index.

Plus I'm just thanking my lucky stars we didn't get a Dreamworks Land or Illumination Land!

It also looks extremely kinetic, to a wildly impressive degree.

I think the one thing I would’ve given it is a C ticket dark ride, because I do think Epic as a whole needs more indoor attractions (Islands does too for that matter) and a nice smaller scale people eating dark ride is one of the holes it has in its initial lineup imo.

 

[rd805]

It also looks extremely kinetic, to a wildly impressive degree.

I think the one thing I would’ve given it is a C ticket dark ride, because I do think Epic as a whole needs more indoor attractions (Islands does too for that matter) and a nice smaller scale people eating dark ride is one of the holes it has in its initial lineup imo.

Luigi's Mansion interactive shooter, and Creature from the Black Lagoon indoor boat ride cross of two massive misses. Lets hope the smoke leads to fire and these rumors start flying out too haha.

 

[Moth]

I think this one is being very undervalued. It has a rather unique attraction mix that really compliments the park and even the resort in general. Including the show. To the point I'd actually change things about the other four lands first (the Bellagio Hotel, Monsters is small, Nintendo isn't custom designed, Potter is a one ride land).

Don't let the goofy character designs and stupid name mislead you. The source material was rather strong and has a lot of heart. If they actually bring together these flying dragons, it could really over-index.

Plus I'm just thanking my lucky stars we didn't get a Dreamworks Land or Illumination Land!

I mean technically we DO have a DreamWorks land in Studios that basically gave Uni the excuse to give HTTYD a full land....


I am VERY happy EU didn't spring for a composite DW land or a lesser DW IP (Trolls). The only series DW has that can POSSIBLY support a whole land is Shrek and MAYBE Kung Fu Panda.

Dragons was chosen due to it resonating with an audience DW wants (those who recently became adults), it having... well dragons, and having an iconic locale with distinguishable aesthetics that differentiate itself from other lands. There's no other land in Universal or Disney that will look like Berk, Shrek would resemble Fantasyland and KFP would also have a unique aesthetic but would be too close to Real-World architecture. Dragons has those iconic statues at the entrance of the land, houses cobbled on top of houses, the dragon woodwork, the only issue I can see at a glance for the land is that there is no Flight of Passage equivalent for it, and that's the biggest miss throughout the whole park.

I hope down the line Dragons gets the flight simulator it desperately deserves and ties the whole land together, because if they maintain those flying dragons post opening, this could be the ultimate sleeper hit, not just for EU, but for this current investment wave of FL theme parks.


I'm biased because I love this series, I can acknowledge that, but I believe this was the most important land to get right in EU and will blow people away once it's open.

 

[Stripes]

Tiana's Brokendown Adventure, Moana's Sprinkle Tinkle Fountains, and Epcot's Communicore (what the) Hall vs an entire new theme park with amazing AA's that some people thought were CGI they look so good


it's tough to compare I know, the popcorn buckets and specialty cupcakes reel us in

For many of us, that is exactly what is happening...many of us Disney fans like the way Universal continues to head, but feel the opposite about Disney. It is unfortunate.

I would rather have the list on the right vs the list on the left. And it’s not very close.

Major attractions that have opened at each resort since 2010.

 

[Andrew C]

I would rather have the list on the right vs the list on the left. And it’s not very close.

Major attractions that have opened at each resort since 2010.
View attachment 823312

Ok.

 

[GhostHost1000]

I would rather have the list on the right vs the list on the left. And it’s not very close.

Major attractions that have opened at each resort since 2010.
View attachment 823312

now include a new theme park and all its new attractions on the left

 

[Starship824]

I think the most important takeaway is this:

Where's my Disneyland New Jersey??!!?

I would very much like this.

 

[Stripes]

now include a new theme park and all its new attractions on the left

Yeah, I still like the right side more.

 

[Andrew C]

I think the most important takeaway is this:

Where's my Disneyland New Jersey??!!?