Poor, unfortunate souls waiting for major Disney parks developments just hit the jackpot, as the company finally confirmed that a long-rumored Villains Land is coming to Disney World’s Magic Kingdom park.
Pop star and Descendants: The Rise of Red actress Rita Ora helped kick off the reveal on Saturday night at Disney’s D23 convention in Anaheim, Calif. She sang a haunting version of Trust in Me
from The Jungle Book, before Disney Experiences Chairman Josh D’Amaro detailed the highly anticipated addition.
D’Amaro Shares Exciting Details
We love our Disney villains, right? Their evil ambition gives us endless possibilities to tell brand new stories,
D’Amaro said on stage at the Honda Center arena. The audience erupted with applause when a giant screen flashed concept art for the planned land behind him.
This land will be home to the villains that you know and those that you loathe, which means happily-ever-after might feel like a distant dream,
he continued. It will have two major new attractions, dining, shopping, and so much more fiendish fun for you to explore. This is storytelling on a grand scale that only Disney can deliver, so, be prepared, you poor unfortunate souls. It’s going to be a fearless new vision for what a Disney experience can be.
New Expansion Marks First-of-its-Kind
The Villains Land expansion marks the first-ever Disney parks land themed entirely to the studio’s villains. Although D’Amaro didn’t explicitly name any of the anchor characters who will appear in the new park, concept art reveals a rendition of Sleeping Beauty’s fire-breathing Maleficent in dragon form. Roller coaster tracks can be seen twisting around dark cliffs in the background and through waterfalls in the foreground.
This major addition aligns with long-standing fan hopes for a land—or even an entire theme park—dedicated to Disney villains.
Disney’s History with Villain-Themed Concepts
For years, fans have speculated about or even requested a villains-themed area. Disney has previously teased this concept, showing concept art for a hypothetical Magic Kingdom expansion at the 2022 D23 convention. In 2023, Imagineer Chris Beatty referenced this potential expansion during discussions about Magic Kingdom’s new Tron Lightcycle Run roller coaster.
We’re dreaming every day about what could be next at Walt Disney World. We just wanted to give you a peek at some of the amazing things that could be coming. It’s changing every day. It’s exciting. I think Josh was really trying to get across that spirit of creativity, of what could be next, of innovation, of the possibility of what could be is still alive and well at Disney and Imagineering,
Beatty said at the time of his colleague’s D23 presentation.
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