Speculation on Villains Land: Possibilities for the Attractions, Shopping and Dining Being Developed for this Land.

 Speculation on Villains Land: Possibilities for the Attractions, Shopping and Dining Being Developed for this Land.

In a recent article I discussed the possibilities and my personal wants for The Beyond Big Thunder Villains Land, based on the concept art that was displayed at the D23 Expo. In that concept article I mentioned my predictions for this land. 

However since writing that article I have thought of a couple ways this can go, while my thoughts remain the same on both the thoughts i already described in that previous article, I wanted to say there are multiple ways these concepts could go, and in this article I wish to discuss the different ways this can go. As mentioned Disney has already announced which  

The Dark Ride Attraction

As announced Villains Land will be home to two attractions one will be a Dark Ride and the other A coaster. These are my pitches for concepts for these Dark Rides as well as Criticisms on why I think they are likely or unlikely.

Least Likely: Yzma’s Lab Dark Ride

Summary: Guests board the cart into Yzma’s lab and follow her and Kronk through the jungle as they hunt down Kuzco through scenes from The Emperor’s New Groove.

Reasons I say it’s least likely: the Emperor’s New Groove is Dated, we would prefer it in Roller Coaster form,Yzma is a C Tier villain compared to the others on the list described. 

Unlikely:A Wild Ride With Cruella De Vil

Summary:Guests step through the halls of Hell Hall, through the iconic home of Cruella De Vil and board her Chevy De Vil Car as they chase after the escaping puppies in the scene from the climax of 101 Dalmatians.

Reasons I say it’s unlikely:Cruella should be better utilized elsewhere. This concept borrows to much from Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride and classical Dark Ride components.

A Possibility:Alice in Wonderland: A Queen of Hearts Attraction

Summary: an updated version of the Alice in Wonderland Dark Ride in Disneyland, that is Trackless as guests Escape Wonderland with Alice in the Climax of the Alice in Wonderland film.

Reasons it’s a possibility: it’s a timeless series, that aesthetic could fit Villains land easily.However across the park is the Mad Tea Party which is also an Alice in Wonderland attraction, and Magic Kingdom seems to not like doubling down on any IP in this Park in Particular. 

Most Likely: A Tangled Dark Ride Featuring Mother Gothel

Summary: Guests Follow Mother Gothel and the Stabbington brothers as they attempt to capture Repunzel and Flinn on this trackless dark ride. This ride will take guests through countless scenes from Tangled, and end with a drop out of Repunzel’s tower(similar to Rise of the Resistance)

Reasons it’s most likely: Tangled is still Current.It’s IP isn’t used anywhere in the park outside of Bathrooms near Smallworld. It’s trackless because Disney seems to like Trackless these days. 

The Coaster Attraction

Unlikely: the Cave of wonders Coaster: A Jafar attraction

Summary: Guests ride on the tail of the Snake as they journey through the Cave of wonders to bring Jafar the lamp.

Reasons it's’ Unlikely:as much as I’d love to see Jafar having a roller coaster set in the cave of Wonders, Jafar never actually set foot in the cave and judging by the concept art it seems very unlikely.

Unlikely: The Yzma’s Lab Coaster

Summary: Guests enter Yzma’s lab and ride high paced thrill ride in the dark down to Yzma’s lab

Reasons it’s Unlikely: while this is something most adult fans would agree is something they dreamed of, it’s unlikely due to the fact that the Emperor’s New Groove is dated,and isn’t as popular as other villains.

A Possibility: A Night on Bald Mountain Coaster: Chernabog

Summary: the fifth mountain of Disney world(space,Splash,Thunder, Everest), guests will journey through Bald mountain, witnessing Chernabog and his Demons, to the song from Disney’s Fantasia in this highspeed Coaster. 

Reasons it's a possibility:Chernabog is a Demon, the most terrifying villain Disney has and the grimness of the concept art can point to Chernabog playing a large part in this lands’ creation, however this ride may pose to intense or Scary for children

A possibility:Sleeping Beauty Coaster: Maleficent

Summary: guests board a coaster at Maleficent’s Castle, playing the role of the Dragon during it’s fight with Prince Philip during the climax of Sleeping Beauty, encountering the forces of Darkness and Maleficent herself in Dragon form. 

Reasons it’s a possibility: the concept art for this land points to Maleficent and the coaster being connected,as well as pointing to Maleficent’s Castle being part of the art of this land.

Most Likely:Multiple Villain Coaster

Summary: the concept is the Villains are unleashed on this new land, guests riding in Yzma’s vehicle must collect all of the villains: Jafar, Hades, Ursula, Maleficent, The Evil Queen and Chernabog to cast a spell to take over the kingdom. 

Reasons it’s most likely: there is no way Disney can fit the amount of Villains into Villains land (especially villains like Hades and Chernabog) into this land without combining multiple villains into this ride. I’d argue its the best way to include the most powerful villains and to create a ride that is original to the land not just to the IP’s that they are representative of. This will also bring a return to the concept of all Disney characters existing in this shared world of the Magic Kingdom, which Disney has separated from since the 2000’s.

The Shops

Undesirable:Captain Hook’s Treasure Chest

Reasons this is undesirable: name one time in the movie peter pan when Captain hook is obsessed or mentions treasure, it doesn’t go with his character and frankly disney can do better.

A Possibility:Treasures from the Cave of Wonders: Jafar Themed Shop

Reasons this is a possibility: Jafar despite not entering the Cave of Wonders, he did amass lots of treasures being the royal vizier of agrabah. Jafar could be running a Jewlery/ treasure shop in this new land but who knows.

A Possibility:The Poison Apple/Candy Cauldron: An Evil Queen Themed Confectionary

Reasons it’s a possibility: they already released all of the villain candy for Candy Cauldron in Disney Springs perhaps this shop will be a more highly themed version of Candy Cauldron, with more Villain themed candies and sweets, plus the confectionary is overcrowded as it is this will make more space and increase Candy Sales in the park.

Most Likely:Boutique De Vil: Cruella De Vil’s Version of Bippity Boppity Boutique

Reasons this is most likely: we all love Disney villains young and old, and some kids just aren’t the princessy type. An experience needs to be made for guests to dress up as their favorite villains and should feature such a variety that it has appeal not only to the princessy type individuals. 

The Restaurant

The Least Likely:Gaston's Tavern 2.0

Reasons this is least likely: Disney already has a Gaston’s Tavern, and they wouldn’t build something like this twice, however they might create a quick service beverage stand for Lefou's brew in some capacity in this land.

It's Complicated:Chef Kronk/Yzma’s Lab

Reasons this is complicated: while having a restaurant dedicated to Kronk’s cooking is a great idea, the emperor's new groove as I mentioned isn’t a timeless as other Disney films, I would suggest that Disney use Kronk’s culinary talents elsewhere creating a Spinach puffs stand that also sold water flavoring Potions rather than dedicating a full restaurant to Kronk and Yzma.

Likely:The Snuggly Duckling

Reasons this is Likely: tangled is current, however if they do the tangled attraction, they shouldn’t do the snuggly duckling as this isn’t Tangled Land this is Villains land. While this dastardly hive of henchmen and mercenaries is a great concept on paper, this should be given to a better villain.

A Possibility: The Villain Royal Table: a Lady Tremaine Restaurant

Reasons this is a possibility: Currently Disney offers a character Dining with Cinderella and all the Princesses, why not have Lady Tremaine do the same with Grisela and Anastasia and the other villains. Lady Tremaine does have a high standards that she would upkeep the restaurant to, and perhaps Cinderella is in the kitchen cooking for the guests can be a running joke for this restaurant.

A Possibility:The Jolly Roger Restaurant

Reasons this is a possibility: the Jolly Roger(Captain Hook's pirate ship) is an Iconic location that wasn’t exactly explored much in the Peter Pan films, being the most popular Disney film and one that everyone has seen demand is present for guests to board this iconic vessel and enjoy a meal fit for a pirate. Not only is Captain Hook the perfect profiteer to a restaurant but compared to other villains he has a bit more class, and before he makes them walk the plank in peter pan he does offer them to join his crew. The question however is what kind of food to serve, Seafood? English Cuisine? Or something a bit more exciting developed based on Neverland?

Conclusion

No matter what we get I’ll be excited with 13 villains such as: Captain Hook, Cruella De Vil, Maleficent, Chernabog, The Queen of Hearts, Ursula, Jafar, Hades, Yzma, Mother Gothel, The Evil Queen and Gaston all set to be included in this new land the sky's the limit for imagineers and they most certainly have their work cut out for them. Perhaps some of these concepts will see the light of day when Villains land does eventually open beyond Big Thunder in the coming years.