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With all of the major intellectual property acquisitions over of the last few decades, the Walt Disney company has positioned itself perfectly to continue its current strategy of elevating the synergy between their IP and theme parks. During the early years of the Disney parks most of the ride concepts were built around unique IP, such as Jungle Cruise or Pirates of the Caribbean. Instead of incorporating IP from the movies, Disney imagineers would create their own stories, characters, and immersive settings that you could only see in theme parks and not in any movie theater.
Now in 2024, Disney’s current strategy is to use their original movie IP across all of their platforms: theme parks, toys, video games, dining, etc. allowing for easy cross promotion while making sure the properties always stay fresh in consumers minds. Fair enough. As it stands, the parks are still only beginning to integrate all of the newly acquired properties with additions such as Pandora in Animal Kingdom, Galaxies Edge in both Hollywood Studios and Disneyland, or Pixar Pier in Disney’s California Adventure. We also have Avengers Campus firmly placed in Disney’s California Adventure with a new Spider-Man themed ride, a Guardians of the Galaxy drop tower, and two more recently announced attractions on the horizon. All of this begs the question: When will we be getting Avengers Campus in Florida? Short answer: Never, unfortunately. At least not in the foreseeable future.
“But wait”, you might ask, “why can’t Disney use their own properties in their own parks? We already have Guardians of the Galaxy with Cosmic Rewind in Epcot.” Well the issues with Disney using these characters in their Florida theme parks run deeper than who has the movie rights to a character. They do not own all of the rights to use every characters in any of their parks. Disney did not create Marvel, but they acquired the Marvel Studios film division of the company. Prior to Marvel’s sonic boom in popularity with Iron Man and the first Avengers movie, the comic book company was not a very hot commodity and especially in the 90s the vast majority of comic book properties were not not considered mainstream culture.
Universal Studios was Disney’s only real competition in the theme park department, and they opened a second park (Islands of Adventure) as a result. The problem with the Universal parks in the 90s was that they didn’t have their own IP to pull from like Disney did, but had to purchase the license to use other people’s IP in their parks. So, Marvel took advantage and sold the rights to use a majority of their characters to Universal for dirt cheap pricing to what Disney would have to pay today to take over those rights. Marvel land still thrives over in Islands of Adventure to this day with the characters that Disney is putting on the big screen walking around at their competitor’s parks.
“But wait again,” you might understandably ask. “If Disney does not have rights to the Marvel characters in their parks, how can they do Avengers Campus?” Well if this isn’t all complicated enough, let’s make it even more confusing. Let’s write a contract that gives Universal the right to only use the Marvel characters on the east coast. And that’s exactly what happened. As it currently stands, Universal has the rights to a majority of the Marvel characters in any park east of the Mississippi. Disney has the rights to use the Marvel characters in any of their parks west of the Mississippi. Guardians of the Galaxy can be allowed in Epcot because when Marvel was sold to Universal, they didn’t buy EVERY character and prior to the 2015 film the team was a relatively unknown property to anyone outside the print comic realm. You won’t see Captain America or Spider-Man in Epcot, but Squirrel Girl or Man-Thing? Sure why not!
Okay, so I’m not being serious about the above examples, but the point stands. Universal most likely won’t own these rights forever and I think that over the next ten or so years we see them transition back to Disney. That’s not based on anything but gut instinct but it almost seems inevitable. If that happens, what will then be considered Marvel’s homebase? Also, how will they handle the transition if it really does take another decade to acquire the rights?
Epcot: Home Sweet Home for Marvel
Everything else in this article is just fun discussion and not based on anything official. The ideas I suggest are based on characters that I have read Disney does in fact have rights to use right now, although I cannot confirm. If you’ve ever been to Epcot, the Marvel vibes there are overwhelming. Once upon a time, Epcot was broken into two sections: Future World and World Showcase (now divided into the four neighborhoods). One glaring inconsistency with the theming behind Epcot is that the half of the park that used to be future world has now been divided into three distinct sections: World Celebration, World Discovery, and World Nature, yet the aesthetics are still all very clearly retro future world. The “Epcot overhaul” that happened a few years back closed the park for a number of years to just reopen to minimal changes to anything besides the World Celebration center section of the park. This solves two problems – Epcot desperately needs a modern identity and Marvel needs a place to go in the parks because it will make Disney money a lot of money and Disney likes money.
I’m not saying we turn Epcot into a giant Marvel World, but I do think that the Marvel properties exemplify the themes of World Discovery and World Nature and work perfectly with Disney’s already established strategy of theme and property synergy. If Disney were to eventually overhaul each of the Epcot pavilions, I think making a few of them Marvel themed while allowing the other pavilions to be from other properties or original creations (like Test Track for example), that would be exactly the right move to lock in the parks theming synergy. Right now, we have Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind already in the park and the Wonders of Life right next door which has not had an attraction in it for decades just asking for new life. You have the Imagination pavilion that needs a massive overhaul, and if we’re being very honest Mission to Mars, Finding Nemo, and Soarin’ all could probably need some upgrading in the next decade (they touch Livin’ with the Land and I riot).
Wonders of Life Pavilion is Basically Already Wakanda
This pavilion is just screaming for a Marvel property, and can’t help but picture this being the perfect Wakanda. Not only does it work being right next to Cosmic Rewind, it also meshes perfectly with the World Discovery section it is set in. The pavilion is literally a giant dome, much the same way Wakanda is just a giant dome. I also believe that Black Panther is one of the characters that Disney can already use in their parks since he wasn’t nearly as popular in the 90s – I could be wrong about this though. InsideTheMagic even reported that Disney parks president Josh D’Amaro was quoted as saying in a 2023 earnings call:
“Imagine bringing Wakanda to life. In terms of bringing the latest Disney-Marvel-Pixar intellectual property to the parks, we haven’t come close to scratching the surface. And we have learned that incorporating Disney I.P. increases the return on investment significantly.”
He did not mention specifically where or when he would be coming to the parks but if they don’t jump on this opportunity I’d be surprised. The pavilion is pushed back, so just imagine they make the front area all jungle and then a rock facade behind it with a giant panther statue coming out of it before walking into a cavern that takes you into the city within the dome. I get chills just thinking about it.
I have read elsewhere that some fans want Black Panther in Animal Kingdom, and while I see the merit behind this idea I don’t think it’s the best fit for two reasons: Marvel already had a presence in Epcot with Cosmic Rewind, and Animal Kingdom is another park that struggles to find a theme. I know it’s themed to animals, but Pandora and dinosaurs and a yeti and eventually Indiana Jones all kind of already throw that idea off quite a bit, and Black Panther would just make it worse. Also, Black Panther doesn’t really showcase animals besides a few in the large battle sequences and what they base their tribes after. It could fit in Animal Kingdom, but it would really be forcing a puzzle piece into a picture that just doesn’t quit fit right. I think it would be right at home in the Wonders of Life Pavilion.
Replace Soarin’ with an Iron Man (Iron Heart? War Machine? You get the idea) Flight Simulator
This one may spark home hate but let’s face it, Soarin’ was much cooler about twenty years ago when the technology was new and big screen attractions were still basically in their infancy. Now, it’s still fun to ride but the aged considerably and it’s plagued with the issue of orientation problems, if you don’t sit in a certain area everything is all distorted. Yes we still all jump when the plane or the kite fly right at us, but it still just isn’t nearly as novel of an attraction as it was years ago. It’s deceiving however, because it still carries longer lines than your typical attraction giving it the illusion that it’s still a major e-ticket attraction when in reality it only has those long lines because most of the other rides around it need an overhaul even worse.
So, how do we solve this? My thought it to continue utilizing the theater aspect but upgrade everything else. Instead of having it be a hang glider flight simulator, let’s put on an Iron Suit and discover nature around the world that way. Evolve it while keep it a spiritual successor to the original Soarin’ ride. Heck, call it “Soarin’: Iron Man Edition” or something. Instead of a glider, I’m thinking of seats that make you feel like you’re flying. Like a roller coaster seat where you lay down forwards, but instead of being on a track a metal arm lifts it up and preforms motion simulation that way. I don’t know, I’m not the imagineer, but you get the idea. If they could somehow recreate the feeling of Soarin’ like Iron Man it would turn that ride back into a home run again.
Now I know Iron Man cannot be used in the parks but maybe Disney could circumvent it somehow. Use Iron Heart if the show proves to be successful, or possibly make it a Stark Tech simulator without actually including Iron Man or Tony Stark if somehow the property rights allow for that. Heck, they could even upgrade Livin’ with the Land with new “Stark Nanotechnology” or something to go along with the entire pavilion theming. I’m assuming Disney has a team of lawyers that could figure out a loophole to make it work.
Replace Mission: SPACE with a Fantastic Four Dark Ride
Okay, here me out with this one: go listen to the new theme for Fantastic Four: First Steps by Michael Giacchino and tell me that shouldn’t be the new theme for the entirety of Epcot. Not only do they encompass space travel, they also perfectly encompass the vibe of the original theme of Epcot’s Future World and that’s something I think imagineers could really have a lot of fun with. But where would they go in Epcot? Well, that’s easy: Mission SPACE. But unlike the Soarin’ suggestion, I don’t think Mission SPACE needs to be rethemed, I think it needs to be gutted. Full stop. It’s just not that great of a ride. It has the least amount of redeeming value of any of the rides (except maybe Journey into Imagination), and regularly makes guests sick to the point they include barf bags like being on an airplane. And if you’re even somewhat claustrophobic and don’t know what you’re in for with that ride, I warn you to do your research before even considering riding. Let’s just say it, the ride needs to be gutted. It’s okay to say, not every ride is a piece of theme park history that must be preserved. Especially this.
Now, we can’t just replace the pavilion because the restaurant Space 220 just recently opened and from what I can tell it has been successful so far. They probably wouldn’t want to go replacing that right away. However, prior to Mission SPACE that ride was actually home to Horizons, a ride beloved by Epcot purists. Horizons was a classic dark ride, so we know that there is some room for expansion in that pavilion. I think the best bet is to gut the attraction portion of the pavilion while maintaining Space 220, then re-theming the front to Fantastic Four and giving us a new Fantastic Four themed dark ride. Epcot needs better modern dark rides (they already have some in World Showcase but the other half of the park is in dire need) and since a dark ride isn’t necessarily the most expensive attraction option they would be able to pour more money into the overall retheme as well. They could even somehow incorporate story elements of the original Horizons into the ride if they’re going for maximum synergy.
Now this is one that I am also aware they wouldn’t be able to do for a while due to character rights – but I think this is what they strive for and should be the bow on the package of any Marvel upgrades they do. Not only will this encompass the Marvel property, but it blends the ideas of Epcot and Marvel together perfectly. This is the one they shoot to open as a celebration of Disney finally acquiring the rights to the characters in the parks or something along those lines.
Replace Journey Into Your Imagination With A What If…? Dark Ride
Okay, one more dark ride idea: I just got off a binge of Marvel’s What If…? season one and it made me think… this could make a cool dark ride with the idea of replaceable overlays and upgrades built right in. And where better to put something like this than the Journey Into Your Imagination pavilion? It even has a theater attached that can premier new What If…? shorts if they choose to continue doing anything with the concept after the upcoming season 3.
What If…? is already a show that lends itself perfectly to the idea of imagination. All the episodes are stories that involve alternate versions of the established characters that do not carry into the main timeline, so they are in terms of creativity quite literally already imagery stories. The shows are all self contained with some crossover between plots, which kind of jives well with the idea of dark rides in general. I think the aforementioned Fantastic Four ride should be a dark ride the utilizes the old school track technology, but if they ever do a What If…? ride (or any kind of new dark ride in this pavilion) it needs to be of the trackless variety. Every scene in the ride can be from a different episode of the show, with the trackless vehicles taking you back and forth between character animatronics, screens, set pieces, etc to make you feel like you’re in the episodes. As a kicker, I don’t know if it’s possible but somehow make the scenes easily interchangeable so when a new season comes out (if they ever choose to expand the show past season 3) they could add new scenes to the ride to go along with the new storylines, much like they do with Star Tours in Hollywood Studios. I know upgrading an entire trackless ride scene is much more difficult, but just imagine how cool of an overall concept that would be in a pavilion themed to imagination.
Well, there you have it – four ideas that could potentially give Marvel a real footprint in the Florida Disney parks. These are all just fun speculation and based on concepts that I think could work in the parks. There is a very strong possibility none of this will happen (see: fun speculation), but should any of this play out in any way, shape, or form I will be very excited as both a Marvel and Epcot fanboy.
Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind already shows what Disney is willing to give us in terms of Marvel attraction quality, so if that is any indication of what the future holds for those characters I think it’s safe to say the idea should be to get them into the parks asap. Epcot is a park whose past identity helped to form the foundation for some of the futuristic concepts that the movies are now based on, so what better way to respect that idea than tossing it back to the parks to incorporate those ideas in a new, more modern way? Not only would that honor the park’s past, but it also honors the company at present, while bringing the ideas of future world to a new generation. Led by future technology showcased in Marvel properties, Epcot really could come full circle as a theme park.