Beyond Big Thunder Speculation

[Cup_Of_Coffee]

With Disney constantly using this wording, I figured maybe this deserved its own thread! This would be a place to discuss speculation, your own ideas, ride themes, IP’s, dining, etc.

Disney has hinted this expansion would be similiar to the size of Galaxy’s Edge.

I’m curious to hear what IU forum members want the most, I suspect it’s Villains land, but what that entails to me could be endless. Post your thoughts here!

 

[Mad Dog]

Villains Land want for sure.....But I'm always in the 'doubtful in the near future' mode whenever I hear real early stuff from Disney.

 

[belloq87]

Honestly, I'd really rather they were going with a "Beyond Adventureland" concept for the expansion plot adjacent to Jungle Cruise and Pirates.

But in the spirit of this thread's intent, I'd be happy with a Villains Land that incorporated a riff on the old Bald Mountain concept. Hopefully with a very large Chernabog animatronic!

 

[TheUniC6]

I am going to hedge a bet that this will be the Villains only as from what I believe I read is that Josh announced Coco, Encanto, and the Villains lands and judged ti based on the applause they got from the audience, Villains got the loudest hands down. Encanto now appears to be headed to AK.

As for the rides I could see them going one of two ways. If they want to go all out, they could use this patent I will post below. Or another albeit more conservative option would be to use the PAN TDS/ Avengers Multiverse ride system.

Check out Disney's wild new idea for a thrill ride system

www.themeparkinsider.com

 

[PerceptiveCoot]

My main worry is that the concept of a Villains land is so broad that I'm not sure Disney understands what the audience wants. I'm not even sure the Disney World audience understands what they want besides something that emulates the vibe of the last 20 minutes of Sleeping Beauty. Worst case scenario is that they create some storyline where you're a generic villain recruit doing devious but generally harmless things. The perfect vibe for Despicable Me, maybe, but not for a Disney villains land.

 

[Cup_Of_Coffee]

I do worry Villains is almost “too big” a concept for them a la Galaxy’s Edge. To me they very much over thought GE as a concept rather than delivering the hits. This is all Rise aside though.

There’s so much to do with Villains that I hope Imagineering has one of the most interesting lands in Orlando for it!

 

[PerceptiveCoot]

They should execute on the Maleficent ride they clearly have in mind (which makes the most sense of the Villains land exists deeper into the forests explored behind Fantasyland) and then determine whether the land warrants something more from there.

 

[Cup_Of_Coffee]

They should execute on the Maleficent ride they clearly have in mind (which makes the most sense of the Villains land exists deeper into the forests explored behind Fantasyland) and then determine whether the land warrants something more from there.

Maleficent makes the most sense to me too.

 

[TheCodeMan95]

One thing about this that intrigues me the most is how exactly we will get to this apparent future expansion. I imagine they will need to construct a bridge or 2 of some kind?

 

[tielo]

How well does Villain merch sell? Not what it could sell (probably a decent amount) but what it does sell. As the creative depth of Disney goes where the statistics of merch sales takes them.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

One thing about this that intrigues me the most is how exactly we will get to this apparent future expansion. I imagine they will need to construct a bridge or 2 of some kind?

It'll have to be a pretty large undertaking, similar to SWGE at DL.

Bridges, a rework of the area/graveyard by Haunted Mansion, railroad rerouted, a complete redo of the Big Thunder area by the river... lots of work that I can't see happening anytime soon. Disney can't get the Epcot hub, which is a pretty simple concrete/gardening job finished...

 

[jarmor]

With so and I mean soooo many villains from soo man different environments, How does one pull off a "land" where they all intertwine? I think the Villain concept is better suited for a full fleshed park because it encompasses just so much to reduce it to a land. It's not like universal where they have a handful classic monsters where the story was focused on them vs them being the villain/antagonist.

 

[Cup_Of_Coffee]

With so and I mean soooo many villains from soo man different environments, How does one pull off a "land" where they all intertwine? I think the Villain concept is better suited for a full fleshed park because it encompasses just so much to reduce it to a land. It's not like universal where they have a handful classic monsters where the story was focused on them vs them being the villain/antagonist.

I don’t really disagree. Execution would have to be some sort of Galaxy’s Edge place where all the villains somehow gather. Or a fantasy springs type addition where it’s just an excuse to have a few different areas.

 

[TheCodeMan95]

The Universal Monsters land is going to open at EU and we'll all be saying "yeah, this is kinda what I want for a villains land.", lol

 

[PerceptiveCoot]

With so and I mean soooo many villains from soo man different environments, How does one pull off a "land" where they all intertwine? I think the Villain concept is better suited for a full fleshed park because it encompasses just so much to reduce it to a land. It's not like universal where they have a handful classic monsters where the story was focused on them vs them being the villain/antagonist.

I think the better solution is to devote spaces to Villains where they thematically make sense (like Ursula near Ariel or Gaston near Belle). If you're going to make a land, make it a thematically coherent space with Villains that fit a theme. As popular as they all are, I'm not sure, but would be interested to see, how they would fit Maleficent, Jafar, and Dr. Facilier in a single land. The easiest way to do it would be to only include Villains from European fantasy.

 

[jarmor]

And honestly, I don't want to experience gaston the ride , scars cliff drop or Gov Ratcliffe fresh hot BBQ. Alone, most of the disney villains have no depth other than hating the disney princess in their story.

 

[Henny]

I wonder if this expansion will be akin to Tokyo's Fantasy Springs, where it's a large land comprising of various distinct areas.

 

[Cup_Of_Coffee]

I wonder if this expansion will be akin to Tokyo's Fantasy Springs, where it's a large land comprising of various distinct areas.

I’m starting to think this makes a ton of sense and should be the direction they go.

 

[PerceptiveCoot]

I’m starting to think this makes a ton of sense and should be the direction they go.

Even Fantasy Springs has some general thematic bleed-over between lands though.

 

[Cup_Of_Coffee]

Even Fantasy Springs has some general thematic bleed-over between lands though.

I mean… so would Villains? I don’t see the difference. One is Fantasy, the other is Villains.