Villains finally have a home at Disney World. Plans for a Villains Land at Walt Disney World were unveiled Saturday at the D23 Expo, where Disney Experiences chairman Josh D’Amaro promised the expansion would be “a fearless new vision of what a Disney experience can be.” It seems like you’d want a Villains Land to inspire a lot of fear, but oh well.
Hardcore Disney fans love the villains, which has led to nearly three decades of rumors that the Disney parks experience would one day abandon the dark obsession with a land dedicated to evildoers. The idea for Villain Land actually began in 1991 when Disney opened a villain-themed store in FantasylandSince then, park visitors have been clamoring for a temple built for figures such as Maleficent, Ursula, and the Chernabog Fantasy.
Disney has responded with lots of park merchandise and the occasional show (see: the Friday the 13th special Unleash the villains), but left most of the villainy to the other arms of the company. And it worked: the Descendents movies are a huge hit for Disney Channel/Disney Plus and villain-focused thrillers are a mini-empire within Disney Publishing. It was only a matter of time before Disney Parks would do well.
D’Amaro didn’t give a timetable for when the villainous land might open at Disney World, but said construction was underway. “The plans are drawn,” he said. “There’s dirt moving.” Oddly enough, Disney World will have some competition in the gothic entertainment realm next year: In another corner of Orlando, Universal Studios is at work on Epic Universe, and its “Dark Universe” country dedicated to monsters like Dracula and Wolfman. Tom Cruise knows which one he’s visiting!