A new report from The Wrap continues the story of “bigger and bolder” plans for Magic Kingdom’s Villains Land. We first reported that plans were recently “scrapped” last week. Now, The Wrap has more details that align with whispers that are growing louder. Here’s the latest on the Villains Land plans, which currently call for a roller coaster, a high-tech boat ride, and much more!
New Villains Land Plans Revealed
While there has been some talk about Villains Land not going through changes, The Wrap paints a much different story. According to their sources, Imagineers were first told to start thinking bigger and bolder late last year. Since then, there has been a lot of work to reimagine a land that was first revealed as a single piece of concept art back in Summer 2024.
Here’s a look at the only piece of concept art released for the land so far.
When Disney Experiences Chairman Josh D’Amaro first announced some details of Villains Land at the 2024 D23 Expo, he was intentionally vague. He said that there would be two major attractions, dining, and shopping on an incredibly twisted grand scale. That’s it!
Since then, there have been trickles of details such as a list of Villains that Disney is exploring to include in the land, backstory for the land, and “Conjured Architecture” – a phrase that describes the aesthetics for the land.
Ok, so what has The Wrap unwrapped about the land? Beyond being another report that original Villains Land plans were scrapped and recently reimagined, they have details on the current themes for the rides within the land. Here’s a rundown!
The Emperor’s New Groove Roller Coaster
While the initial concept art called for a thorny, Maleficent-themed roller coaster, the reimagined plans call for a more family-friendly roller coaster themed to The Emperor’s New Groove.
The new coaster is said to be more like Slinky Dog Dash instead of a high-thrill coaster themed to Maleficent.
In our original report about the “scrapped plans”, we said that there were certain elements from the concept art that are still present in today’s plans. That was a roller coaster. We just didn’t know the theme.
Maleficent Boat Ride
The big E-ticket for the land is planned to be a dark ride. With no dark ride immediately visible in the concept art, fans were left in the dark. I had heard a number of concepts for the dark ride, but The Wrap says that the ride is currently planned to be a high-tech boat ride.
The indoor boat ride “could emulate the Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for the Sunken Treasure attraction at Shanghai Disneyland”. I have separately been told that Imagineering has some time to build upon that tech, perhaps taking it to another level.
The theme of the high-tech boat ride is said to be themed to Maleficent, according to The Wrap. I have not independently heard of any themes for the attractions.
Hades Dinner Show
In addition to the two rides detailed above, there are also plans for a dinner show that will see Hades play host. There will be other villains filtering in throughout the dining experience.
The restaurant will be a full-service, prix-fixe offering.
The report said that the theme of the restaurant took a page out of The Rescuers, themed to Madam Medusa.
Third Ride
The report continues, saying that there are plans for a third, unannounced ride for Villains Land. The Wrap says that the ride will be a “flat ride”, perhaps a spinner like Dumbo The Flying Elephant in Fantasyland. The report suggests that the attraction could be themed to Ursula.
So, where are we at with the project? As of right now, The Wrap report says that the plans are not finalized, but they could be shortly.
The finalized plans are reportedly due in a couple of weeks, with D’Amaro set to get final approval from the Board after that.
As we said in our initial report, I’m still skeptical that the plans were “scrapped”, but I do think that executives have issued the “bigger and bolder” initiative. In fact, we wouldn’t be surprised at all to find that the layout of Villains Land retains much of what we outlined in the water management plans below.
Regardless, I think there is plenty of smoke here, so there likely is a fire. While some in the community have said that there have been no substantial changes to the plans, we have heard the exact opposite.
In terms of when we might hear more about the plans for Villains Land, we would circle and underline the D23 Expo this August.
As always, keep checking back with us here at BlogMickey.com as we continue to bring you the latest news, photos, and info from around the Disney Parks!
