Last week, permits filed by the Walt Disney Company were revealed to the public to reroute a drainage canal behind the Universe of Energy Pavilion. Many rumors surfaced that a Guardians of the Galaxy attraction would take the place of the UoE Pavilion and the area behind it. This attraction is rumored to be some type of indoor dark-coaster.
I personally don’t see the Guardians “landing” in Epcot. I feel like if there were to be a Guardians attraction at WDW, there would need to be a good amount of land around it for a future marvel expansion (if Disney ever makes a deal with Universal).
A good question to bring up is if the Guardians are even allowed to be in a WDW park. From what I see, Disney CAN use Marvel characters as long as Universal doesn’t have them in their park or the Marvel logo isn’t used anywhere on promotion and the ride itself.
So if Disney CAN use the Guardians, where will they go? What about Disney’s Hollywood Studios? DHS is currently in a overhaul with Star Wars Land and Toy Story Land coming to the park by 2019, but what land will they add next? I have a grand idea on how to use the Marvel Characters at DHS. What if Disney made their own “Superhero Island” but with characters used in the MCU, and aren’t used at Islands of Adventure. This would allow Disney to create their own “Marvel Land” but with characters that are in their movies and aren’t used at Universal (as long as they don’t use the word “MARVEL”). Universal won’t put money towards a Guardians of the Galaxy or Doctor Strange attraction because it would just benefit Disney in the long run.
So how would you create a “Superhero Island” at DHS? Its simple, just overlay current attractions. Now here is where some people may get mad. I think Rock ’n’ Roller Coaster should get a Guardians of the Galaxy re-theme if this were to happen. The story can be that you’re helping the Guardians fly their ship through space or something like that while jamming to tunes from the “mixtape” of both movies. It works!
A Doctor Strange attraction could take over the Tower of Terror, but I wont get into that today (if you want to know more about this idea, here’s a video by Robs Plays that is really good).
If Disney doesn’t want to work with an idea like that and just want to have a Guardians of the Galaxy attraction then this next idea may seem possible.
What if the Guardians come to Tomorrowland in the Magic Kingdom? The roller coaster idea could take over the area that the Tomorrowland Speedway currently is. If Disney wants a cheaper alternative, how about a Guardians show-attraction that replaces Stitch’s Great Escape? It would mostly be the same concept and idea but themed to the Guardians of the Galaxy instead of Stitch (I personally think anything is OK for that building as long as Stitch leaves).
Also another thing to consider is that would two coasters (Guardians and Space Mountain) sitting next to each other work or would it be too much?
Continuing the idea that Disney just wants a Guardians attraction with no land, Mission:Space at Epcot could be a good fit. The attraction is going under maintenance this summer and is rumored to have a new “mission”, but what if they re-themed it to the Guardians of the Galaxy during that refurbishment? The attraction isn’t very popular among guests and always has a short wait time but a Guardians re-theme would change that for sure.
Will we ever see these characters at Walt Disney World? Only time can tell.
Steven Harris is a Columnist for the Boardwalk Times.
