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

[Gusey]

I know there's been a lot of these "renderings," but IF they cancelled the Cars area, this is a 14 acre Villains land, with a slightly-shortened river:
View attachment 844521

Seriously, they should just do this. Who says no?

I'd rather them not close the train or make us pass that close to the Haunted Mansion queue. If they were to build a path directly next to the HM queue and keep the Liberty Belle open, that is going to be an extreme pinch point for crowds

 

[JD80]

Flow-wise, this would actually work very well. Use the 14-acre plot for the Frontierland updates and Villains phase 1 with some of the heavy-hitter attractions. Use the 13-acre plot for the rumored super deluxe resort and the 11-acre plot for the second gate/alternate Main Street with some phase 2 Villains attractions. Eventually, the 19-acre plot could be used for another land that could connect to Adventureland via the Fire Mountain plot, Frontierland via the plot behind Big Thunder, and the adjacent second gate. Or they could just use that area for something completely different.

Imo, any hotel would need two of the laydown yards - Hotel + Parking + Utilities

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

I'd rather them not close the train or make us pass that close to the Haunted Mansion queue. If they were to build a path directly next to the HM queue and keep the Liberty Belle open, that is going to be an extreme pinch point for crowds

I think those are both going to happen no matter what they do.

 

[TheDisneyParksfanC8]

Remember: Josh said that Cars+Villains is as big as SWL.

SWL is 14 acres.

RoA and the swamp up to the railroad tracks is 14 acres.

So either:

Cars+Villains have to share that 14 acres, OR...​

​

Villains will be crossing the train tracks / berm... somehow if Villains by itself is 14 acres.​

If they go the latter, I'm guessing both lands would be in the 7 acre ballpark.

 

[TheCoasterNerd]

Ummm... the train and train tracks? Watchya gonna do with those?

I was thinking walking under a train trestle like DLR has with Bayou Country could be cool

 

[ToTBellHop]

If they go the latter, I'm guessing both lands would be in the 7 acre ballpark.

Villain Land is bigger than the Cars area.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

If they go the latter, I'm guessing both lands would be in the 7 acre ballpark.

I think Cars Land is just going to be the lower part of the River and TSI and be more like 4 acres or so and then Villains Land is around 10

Pandora is 12 acres so can still do some good stuff with 10 acres if designed well but hopefully there could be ways to expand it in the future

 

[Jrb1979]

I think Cars Land is just going to be the lower part of the River and TSI and be more like 4 acres or so and then Villains Land is around 10

Pandora is 12 acres so can still do some good stuff with 10 acres if designed well but hopefully there could be ways to expand it in the future

Pandora with all that land is still only 2 attractions. The same problem every new land has. For Villains I would like to see 4-5 attractions, one shop and one restaurant

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Pandora with all that land is still only 2 attractions. The same problem every new land has. For Villains I would like to see 4-5 attractions, one shop and one restaurant

Me too, not holding my breath though. Thinking 2 main attractions plus a show element or two and probably several quick service dining and snack areas. Then the TS and a 3rd attraction comes with a phase 2 or the TS is at the hotel that is the phase 2

 

[danlb_2000]

The video showed that this project was "recreational" so I assume that this is not the water ways they are building out west of the park?

I wouldn't read to much into that, it's in support of a theme park so "recreational" would make sense.

 

[Stripes]

I just put this together and tossed it out on to social media. I was curious about how big some of these areas are for this project.

@Stripes Just for reference, Riviera + parking is roughly 25-28 acres (includes retention ponds etc). Wilderness Lodge is like 46. Coronado Springs with just Tower and parking, no lobby is 12.

View attachment 844513

edit: Corrected Tom Sawyer Island area.

If they maximize the space, I think they could reasonably fit a resort in the triangle plot that is marked “13 acres.” If you maximize the space, it’s closer to 18 acres.

 

[WowFactor]

Lil late to wish Pete a happy 100th birthday?

Hope they don't forget his villainy

 

[lazyboy97o]

As suggested by danlb_2000, I will post this here for those that are interested... The below is a screenshot from a well know development/realtor in Orlando discussing something he found on a website where projects are put out to bid. Looks like Villians Land has some kind of plans far enough along for a contractor to bid on. Job worth up to 50 million just for the construction company and work to start 60 days after bid accepted. I would say things are moving along. Just hope it gets to dirt moving.

View attachment 844414

This is not necessarily evidence that plans are all that far along. While design-bid-build is the post well known project delivery method, where most everything is design and then contractors bid on that work, is the most well known, it is not the only project delivery method and not one Disney typically uses for large projects such as this since there’s too many changes and too much unique custom work for a bid to be of much value.

This in particular lists Design/Build which is one of those project delivery methods where design work is not completed when the contractor is hired. Design-Build involves hiring one entity to do both the design work and the construction. Typically this involves the architect and contractor creating a joint venture for the project, but there are also some contractors who are legally able to provide the design services themselves. This isn’t actually used by Disney all that often, and in general tends to be used for more prototypical work.

Disney often makes use of fast-track project delivery (which has nothing to do with anyone’s opinions on timelines). This method involves overlapping the design and construction phases. It’s a big cause for complaint amongst fans because construction starts early but because most people think of design-bid-build they incorrectly assumed all design work is done too.

What Disney often uses is construction management and integrated project delivery (IDP). Generally speaking, these are versions of the same idea with IDP being the more suped up version. You bring on a contractor early in the design process to work with the design team to identify potential challenges and shortcomings earlier in the project when everything is still on paper instead of out in the field. The general idea is to get everyone who will be involved in the project working together and doing so early.

 

[Drew the Disney Dude]

Does anyone know who’s leading this land?
Scott’s busy with Marvel I’m guessing.

Chris Beatty and Michael Hundgen are heavily involved from the top, but we won't know more about the individual lead Imagineers until an official announcement is made.

 

[Drew the Disney Dude]

Many people that worked on Monsters at UC have been hired away and are working on Villains at WDI now. Pete Carsillo, the executive in charge of Monsters at UC, is still at UC though. Prior to UC he worked at WDI on some smaller projects like being Creative lead on the interactive Haunted Mansion queue project at MK.

Pete working on Villains Land would be the best news we could get! He is a genius and a class act.

 

[Agent H]

Anyone mind sharing more details about these two when it comes to modern imagineers I don’t know nearly as much about them as I do the old ones

Chris Beatty and Michael Hundgen are heavily involved from the top, but we won't know more about the individual lead Imagineers until an official announcement is made.

 

[Drew the Disney Dude]

Anyone mind sharing more details about these two when it comes to modern imagineers I don’t know nearly as much about them as I do the old ones

I have an 18-minute video about Chris Beatty on my YouTube channel. It's my most recent upload. Michael and Chris are currently working together overseeing all of the new projects at WDW. Chris is the Creative Director, and Michael is the Creative Producer.

 

[Stripes]

It is curious that they didn’t include the 2 Cars attractions coming to Frontierland in the structural details as well.

I will also note that Disney does seem to be planning for an expansion beyond the train tracks to connect with what I suspect will be a new resort with direct access to Villains land. The Floridian Way project under construction right now would also line up with this. In the SFWMD permit, two of the three laydown yards are proposed to be developed.

See the blue striped area below.
View attachment 844507

Following up on this, I remember there was some discussion about Villains land having a lot of elevation changes. Maybe some of those elevation changes are necessary in order to build over the railroad? Just a thought.

 

[Timothy_Q]

Following up on this, I remember there was some discussion about Villains land having a lot of elevation changes. Maybe some of those elevation changes are necessary in order to build over the railroad? Just a thought.

Most likely because it's being built over parts of ROA and they can use the current topography to their advantage

 

[bmr1591]

It would be cool (IMO) if Maleficent’s mountain or Bald Mountain was built over the railroad with the train passing through it. That could create a new, exciting show scene for the railroad.