Walt Disney World has announced big expansion plans for Magic Kingdom, officially confirming Villains Land is being built ‘Beyond Big Thunder.’ This post shares details, concept art, and everything we know about the plan–plus comprehensive commentary about why this is happening and whether we think these are potentially good or bad additions for the park.
This news was announced during the “Horizons: Disney Experiences Showcase” or Parks Panel presentation during the 2024 D23 Expo at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. Disney Parks Chairman Josh D’Amaro offered a sneak peek at concept art for the future in addition and teased what was to come in a few years.
The all-new Villains Land located ‘Beyond Big Thunder’ was just one of several blockbuster announcements for Parks & Resorts at Horizons, during which D’Amaro revealed several ‘shovel to soil’ projects that will come online in the next 5 years, including over a half-dozen additions that will debut before the end of 2025. He and head Imagineer Bruce Vaughn followed through on their promise to deliver concrete details and not just tease more ‘Blue Sky’ possibilities.
Disney shared that Villains Land is a place where poison apples are aplenty and magic potions can ruin your whole day; where once upon a dream is actually once upon a nightmare. For all those things hiding in the shadows, it’s time to join them as we lift the veil on a forthcoming Villains Land at Magic Kingdom Park in Walt Disney World Resort.
This new land will be home to the Disney Villains we know and loathe from fan-favorite Walt Disney Animation Studios classic films. As Josh D’Amaro shared, it’s a place where “happily ever after may feel like just a distant dream.”
The evil ambition of all these Villains means that the possibilities are endless for the stories that can be told — and visitors to the dark and thorny land should be prepared for whatever chaos might come their way. The new land will encompass all your dreams- er, nightmares.
Villains Land at Magic Kingdom will be home to two major attractions, dining, and shopping on an incredibly twisted grand scale.
“Be prepared, you poor unfortunate souls,” Josh teased. “It’s going to be a fearless new vision for what a Disney experience can be.”
Before you get dismissive about Villains Land being a distant dream nightmare, it’s worth pointing out that Josh emphasized in his opening remarks to the Parks Panel at the 2024 D23 Expo, “Everything we’re going to share with you is in active development. Plans are drawn. Dirt is moving. I just want to be clear about this: We are doing everything you’re going to hear tonight. This isn’t Blue Sky—we’re going to do all of this.”
Josh brought this point full circle when concluding the presentation with Villains Land, sharing that preparation is already underway at Magic Kingdom for this new land. We’ve actually been expecting permits for a while on this expansion (albeit not knowing that Villains Land was one of the concepts that “won”). Here’s hoping that those permits are filed soon now that the cat’s out of the bag!
If you zoom in on the concept art, you can actually see a tremendous amount of detail. There are thorn-covered roller coaster tracks, a dark village, Maleficent the Dragon, and much more. It has obvious Sleeping Beauty vibes, but it also reminds me a lot of Epic Mickey!
Turning to commentary, Villains Land was–without a doubt–the announcement that got the biggest and most enthusiastic response out of the Honda Center audience. Despite it being Walt Disney World news and this being a Disneyland home crowd, fans absolutely erupted. Far and away the most loudest and most energetic reaction of the entire evening. Just as it was two years ago when Villains Land was teased during the Blue Sky session.
It’s my understanding that Disney was uncertain how Villains Land would be received, and wanted to gauge the response. Both with the in-person and at-home audiences. Obviously, it was and is overwhelming positive…among fans. This has been clear for a couple of years now.
Despite that, it also was my understanding–until tonight–that there were still internal apprehensions about moving forward with Villains Land. That it would be “too dark” or “not sufficiently mainstream” for Magic Kingdom. (Yes, the same park that just gave us a TRON ride. Ironic.)
This may seem absurd, but the thinking was that even though fans feel one way, they aren’t necessarily representative of the general public. There’s also the fact that Magic Kingdom has a reputation as being the park for families with kids of all ages.
Extreme as this might sound, Disney actually has cause for concern–Alien Encounter is an infamous example of an attraction that was too dark for Magic Kingdom and was prematurely shuttered despite being reasonably well-received by its target audience. It would’ve been perfectly fine for the park now known as Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
More recently, Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser is another niche project that may have given certain leaders cold feet about creating something that lacks widespread appeal. That is a terrible example for reasons that are probably obvious to anyone reading this.
To be clear, this is not my perspective at all. I was and am fully on board with Villains Land in Magic Kingdom. To the contrary, I’ve actually been concerned by Disney seemingly shying away from villains and conflict in certain attractions, and am both excited and relieved that Villains Land won out.
In my view, Villains Land fits the mold for a perfect Magic Kingdom themed land. Even though it’s become a franchise or brand, at its heart, this is a more open concept like the existing lands, rather than a single intellectual property, movie or character. As much as I enjoy Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, I still think it feels odd and disconnected from the rest of Disneyland. So I’m glad to see Villains Land as opposed to Encanto or Coco lands.
It’s inevitable that fans will compare this to Dark Universe at Universal’s Epic Universe, perhaps claiming that’s the reason why Walt Disney World is creating a Villains Land–as their “answer” to that. It isn’t, but the comparison is perfectly fine. A good thing, actually. Dark Universe looks incredible–like the early #1 area of Epic Universe.
That plus the fan excitement for Dark Universe plus the fan enthusiasm for Villains Land means the Imagineers are going to bring their a-game. More importantly, it means that instead of proceeding with apprehension, Walt Disney World will go all-in on Villains Land, giving it the budget and space needed to create something truly…well, magical feels like the wrong word.
Beyond that, it’s not really a huge surprise that expansion is happening in Magic Kingdom. Josh D’Amaro first got up on stage to talk about ‘Beyond Big Thunder’ at the last D23 Expo, when he was joined by Imagineer Chris Beatty and Jennifer Lee, the Chief Creative Officer of Walt Disney Animation Studios.
They didn’t provide any substantive details or even an official announcement, instead being careful to use language crouching the presentation, indicating that this is an “early concept exploration” and one of the “potential expansion opportunities” (but also more concrete than a blue sky brainstorming session).
Since then, both CEO Bob Iger and D’Amaro have done interviews or presentations and repeatedly doubled-down on their intentions to expand Walt Disney World. Both have indicated that Imagineers are already at work on improving the guest experience at Walt Disney World and adding capacity in several ways.
At last year’s Destination D23 event, Josh D’Amaro was joined on stage by Bruce Vaughn, who had recently returned to the helm at Walt Disney Imagineering. Vaughn first expressed surprise that D’Amaro would pull back the curtain on the creative process, as normally WDI doesn’t like to do that. Vaughn further indicated that he’s been blown away by the concepts being explored for Magic Kingdom.
The Beyond Big Thunder project scope and scale are supposedly on par with Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge or Pandora – World of Avatar. Last year, Vaughn also indicated that the project would likely exceed New Fantasyland over a decade ago.
During the 2024 D23 Expo, Josh D’Amaro indicated that Villains Land would be the biggest expansion in Magic Kingdom history. That means that, at minimum, this is larger than New Fantasyland–which is actually fairly sizable.
In the medium or long-term, expanding Magic Kingdom outside the berm makes a ton of sense. We’ve been bullish on the Magic Kingdom Expansion Possibilities “Beyond Big Thunder” since last D23 Expo, even as other fans expressed (completely understandable and valid) skepticism. That’s totally fair, especially in light of Disney’s not-so-stellar track record in building things that were announced at past D23 Expos.
However, we think this time is different. (Famous last words.) This is one of those rare occasions where the stars align and what’s good for investors is good for guests. Parks & Resorts has proven a financial powerhouse for the company–strong and stable even as other business units have faltered. Expanding Magic Kingdom improves capacity, gives the park more drawing power, and is just plain fun for fans. (All lessons learned back in 2009, proving yet again that history repeats itself!)
One of the more valid criticisms of the ‘Beyond Big Thunder’ plan is that it arguably is an expansion of the one park at Walt Disney World that’s least in need of it. Magic Kingdom is already a solid full day park, with a wide variety of rides, shows, entertainment, and more. There’s a reason it’s the best park for Lightning Lane availability–because it has the deepest attraction roster.
By contrast, there’s clear room for improvement at Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, and EPCOT. While more is on the way for the first two parks on that list, EPCOT’s overhaul is now largely considered done. Regardless, all of those parks could have further expansions and still wouldn’t be on par with Magic Kingdom.
Realistically, that will always be the case. Magic Kingdom is the oldest park, so it has a headstart on the rest. More importantly, it’s the most iconic park. There’s nothing more “Disney” than a castle at the end of Main Street, and even as the international parks have deviated from the tried and true playbook, they all have that in common. There’s a reason for that.
No matter what Walt Disney World adds to the other three gates, Cinderella Castle will beckon guests from around the world. Because of that and its 50+ year legacy, it just makes sense to expand Magic Kingdom. The practical reality is that it’s the park that will always need more capacity, and that’s the easiest to “sell” from a marketing perspective.
Not only will Villains Land and the rest of the ‘Beyond Big Thunder’ project add that needed capacity, but it’ll improve crowd flow and further enhance the crown jewel of Walt Disney World. It’s easy to nitpick decisions from the fan perspective and wanting better balance among the existing gates. But at the same time, it makes a tremendous amount of sense to meet guests where they are, and build out the park that guests are most likely to visit.
(I have a hard time imagining that many fans will complain about this given that we’re getting a Villains Land out of this, but just felt it needed to be preemptively addressed for the old school EPCOT Center enthusiasts who feel spurned. Even as someone perpetually hoping for the next version of Journey into Imagination, I have zero complaints about this!)
Ultimately, I’m excited for the future of Magic Kingdom and how this new Villains Land located ‘Beyond Big Thunder’ comes to fruition. The concept art and the animating ideas show a tremendous amount of potential, and I’m really curious as to how the other adjacent lands–Frontierland and Liberty Square–also evolve to support this historic transformation. Speaking of other lands, I hope those aren’t forgotten in the process, as Tomorrowland could still use some help.
It shouldn’t be a problem to do both invest in new additions and enhance or maintain what’s already there. If all goes well, the decade to come at Walt Disney World could be bigger than the prior one. The current plan to invest $17 billion amounts to more than was spent on New Fantasyland, Pandora, Toy Story Land, Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, the EPCOT overhaul, new resorts, and a significant amount of infrastructure. (As previously discussed, a lot of money was wasted on things that didn’t come to fruition or were short lived.) If even more money is invested without the misallocations of resources, it could be a blockbuster decade for Walt Disney World. We can’t wait.
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YOUR THOUGHTS
What is your reaction to Villains Land being officially announced for Walt Disney World? Happy about this concept? Pleased with park expansion in the existing footprint of the park and beyond the berm at Magic Kingdom? Are you more excited for this plan knowing that work is already in progress at Magic Kingdom, or still in ‘wait and see’ mode? Do you agree or disagree with our assessments? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
