Disneyland abandoned plans for Disney Villains land, report says
Walt Disney Imagineering drew up plans a decade ago for a Disney Villains themed land at Disney California Adventure with a Jafar roller coaster and Ursula spinning ride that were ultimately abandoned in favor of a Pixar Pier makeover, according to a new published report.
The Wrap reports Imagineering developed plans for a Villains Land at the Anaheim theme park during the reimagining of Paradise Pier before ultimately pivoting to a Pixar Pier makeover that was announced in 2017 and debuted in 2018.
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A Disney Villains-themed makeover of California Screamin’ would have turned the scream tunnels on the coaster into a giant Jafar snake from Disney’s 1992 “Aladdin” and transformed the ride’s inverted loop into Captain Hook’s hook, according to The Wrap.
A Dumbo-style spinner ride themed to Ursula from Disney’s 1989 “The Little Mermaid” would have been built on Paradise Pier in the western helix of the California Screamin’ coaster where the Inside Out: Emotional Whirlwind ride sits today, according to The Wrap.
Disneyland and Imagineering ultimately opted for a Pixar Pier makeover rather than a Disney Villains takeover of the former Paradise Pier area of the park.
The Pixar Pier facelift of Paradise Pier built on the Toy Story Midway Mania interactive dark ride that opened in 2008 as the first major addition in the massive $1.1 billion reimagining of Disney California Adventure.
The fast-moving Pixar Pier project introduced light makeovers that transformed California Screamin’ into the Incredicoaster, King Triton’s Carousel into Jessie’s Critter Carousel and Mickey’s Fun Wheel into Pixar Pal-A-Round.
Imagineering rethemed Flik’s Flyers into Inside Out Emotional Whirlwind and moved the spinning ride to Pixar Pier after DCA’s A Bug’s Land closed in 2018 to make way for the new Marvel-themed Avengers Campus.
The abandoned DCA Villains Land project was mentioned in a story by The Wrap about Imagineering being sent back to the drawing board to reimagine a new Villains Land planned for Florida’s Magic Kingdom with “bolder, bigger ideas.”
Initial plans for the Magic Kingdom’s Villains Land included a Maleficent-themed thrill coaster and a Madam Medusa-themed restaurant based on the 1971 Disney animated film “The Rescuers,” according to The Wrap.
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The revised plans for the Magic Kingdom’s reimagined Villains Land include a Maleficent-themed indoor water ride, a family-friendly coaster themed to the antagonists Yzma and Kronk from the 2000 Disney animated film “The Emperor’s New Groove,” a Hades-themed dinner show restaurant and the Ursula spinning ride once planned for DCA, according to The Wrap.
“As the saying goes, no good idea at Walt Disney Imagineering ever goes away,” according to The Wrap.
A Disney Parks representative declined to comment when reached by TheWrap.