‘Percy Jackson’ in the Disney Parks: What Could Imagineering Do?
‘Percy Jackson and the Olympians’ concluded an epic first season on Disney+. Now it’s time to speculate on how Disney’s rising franchise could translate into the Disney Parks.
Percy Jackson and The Olympians concluded its first season on Disney+. The series mesmerized fans from the start. The series also boasted viewership on the same level as some Marvel Studios Disney+ series. Season 1 has generated more than 110 million hours streamed on the day of its Season 2 renewal. Before this series premiered, fans were speculating on Percy Jackson being a prominent Disney intellectual property. It’s always fun to speculate!
It also helps that a Percy Jackson exhibit exists in the Disney Parks. Sure, it’s a small costume and artifact exhibit but you never know there could be potential for more. The series is widely popular with fans online and it seems like the series is capturing a younger audience. This matters because that young audience will be a key audience for the Disney Parks in the coming years.
Karey Burke, president of Disney’s 20th Television, has also gone on record saying there is support for Percy across the company. Burke’s most telling quote was, “But Percy Jackson World at Disney World! I want the Imagineers on that right now.” It’s rare for Disney execs to share their dream ideas for the Disney Parks (unless you’re Disney Experiences Chairman Josh D’Amaro but that’s another article for another time).
Percy Jackson also fits the mold for Disney. It’s an IP that has plenty of source material. Some have said it could be Disney’s version of Harry Potter, and I would tend to agree. Disney is just scratching the surface of all the projects they could do based on Rick Riordan’s work. For the parks, it gives them another IP that has more mystical and fantasy elements while being different. There isn’t any Greek god rep at the Disney Parks. Percy would be a unique IP for them and could work especially at Walt Disney World where the resort can’t fully utilize Marvel.
Camp Half-Blood
Longtime Boardwalk Times supporter & follower Samuel Blank suggested turning Tom Sawyer Island at Magic Kingdom into Camp Half-Blood. Percy and his friends can just let us mortals experience a mortal-friendly version of the camp. I liked Sam’s idea, and sure some guests would mourn the loss of Tom Sawyer Island but I could only imagine how that area could be reimagined. Although I would have to wonder if it would almost be too small to fit everything. Maybe the Percy Jackson space could take up the island and some area behind Big Thunder? Could be a more disconnected layout but who knows? Sam also suggested special nighttime lighting and effects that would make the island very cool at night.
Boardwalk Store designer Abby Szatmary suggested another idea for a Percy Jackson attraction which would be a Pegasus simulator similar to Flight of Passage. Which I absolutely love that idea. I think the Flight of Passage ride system — which I refer to as Soarin’ on steroids — is too good not to be used again and again. I could see a Pegasus attraction just fitting into a Camp Half-Blood area or even at Hollywood Studios?
As someone new to the Percy Jackson fandom, I think Camp Half-Blood would be a no-brainer. Although I think Walt Disney Imagineering would have to plus the camp a bit from the depiction in the series just to make it more theme park friendly and immersive. A more woodsy land in a Disney Park would be cool as well. Something that feels like its own world.
Food Side Note: I’ll say this right now I think Percy Jackson could nail the food category at theme parks. I think Blue Pancakes would rock and instantly become a theme park fan-favorite.
Thrill Ride O’Love
When watching season one of Percy Jackson I realized the Thrill Ride O’Love would work as an attraction. It was easily the most theme park-friendly sequence from the series. A boat ride that features projections, stories, sudden drops, turns, and a whole lot of excitement would fit anywhere at the Disney Parks. Maybe this attraction would fit a Percy Jackson presence at Hollywood Studios.
Also, Disney could just work off the name it could be part romantic and part thrilling all at the same time.
Greece to EPCOT
Although the story of Percy Jackson and the Olympians takes place in America. I’m making an exception. We’re dealing with Greek gods here, let’s do Greece at EPCOT and incorporate Percy.
Let’s not overthink this.
Tharin White of EYNTK, told me that a Greece pavilion in EPCOT would be awesome because you could include Percy.
I’m going to take this idea one step further. Disney could add another property alongside Percy that fans love.
If I were Disney I’d at least explore this.
A new World Showcase pavilion is an instant draw but add in the potential to utilize both Percy Jackson and Hercules… That would be stellar. You’d have limitless options and you would have not one, but two strong Disney properties in the pavilion. I’m not even mentioning all the dining options that would become instant draws as well.
I think Percy Jackson in EPCOT would probably be an elaborate boat ride, but a bit more intense than the park’s current offering. I think Percy Jackson utilizing the ride system from Shanghai Disneyland’s Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for the Sunken Treasure would be insane.
For Hercules, I’d just opt for a classic dark ride because it would be a blast and it would feature fan-favorite characters and catchy tunes. Plus it would add capacity.
Percy Jackson and the Beastly Kingdom
This is the most ambitious idea I have in this piece.
Modern-era Imagineering has a knack for making original stories out of storied IP. Batuu (Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge) and Avengers Campus come to mind.
So what if we made Percy Jackson combine with a never-built fairytale land concept that was scheduled to be built at Animal Kingdom?
Percy Jackson and the Beastly Kingdom.
Before I continue describing my Percy Jackson and the Beastly Kingdom idea, I just want to shout out Gillian Blum of The Direct who suggested Dinoland USA as a potential area where Disney could build Percy Jackson. She also highlighted how the franchise has its fair share of animals and mythological creatures, hence inspiring this Percy Jackson and the Beastly Kingdom idea.
Beastly Kingdom was a never built land at Disney’s Animal Kingdom that focused on mythological creatures such as dragons, unicorns, and sea monsters.
I’m not going to get into the full origins of Beastly Kingdom because, at Boardwalk Times, we have four separate and excellent articles on that.
Percy Jackson could build off of this land in different ways. But I love the idea of a creature maze similar to the planned Fantasia Gardens experience at Beastly Kingdom. Imagine Journey of Water at EPCOT but this walkthrough features audio-animatronics and digital projections. Maybe it would be partially outdoors and indoors? I think there is a lot of potential there.
I think another exciting attraction idea for Percy Jackson and the Beastly Kingdom would be a Hagrid’s-style attraction. Maybe you tweak the ride system but you get the general idea. Percy, Annabeth, Grover, and whoever else are in a high-speed attraction that showcases animals and creatures from across the Percy Jackson franchise.
I’m also just a huge fan of Hagrid’s so I’ve been hoping to see more roller coasters like that be built. I also think it would work well in this land for numerous reasons.
I’m a Percy Jackson rookie and I’m new to the fandom but I believe a boat ride with sea monsters would do well in Beastly Kingdom! After all Season 2 of Percy Jackson and the Olympians will be an adaptation of The Sea of Monsters.
I also think it would be fun to see if Walt Disney Imagineering, Rick Riordan, and the entire Percy Jackson team could come up with their own unique spin on Beastly Kingdom. Maybe years after the books or the TV series, Percy and the gang are sent on a quest to a new mythological realm that encompasses what we know as the Beastly Kingdom. I’d just love to see it happen and see what they come up with.
Possible Percy Jackson Parks locations round-up:
- Magic Kingdom: Tom Sawyer Island or Beyond Big Thunder expansion area.
- Animal Kingdom: Dinoland USA replacement or it could go somewhere else with a larger amount of land for a Beastly Kingdom-like expansion.
- Hollywood Studios: Although we didn’t give it a specific location in this article. A Percy Jackson attraction could go anywhere with space. Even a boat ride (Thrill Ride O’Love) would work at Hollywood Studios. I think Hollywood Studios would just have to find the right area but there is a bit of dead space in that park to work with. Abby’s Pegasus attraction would also work at Hollywood Studios.
- EPCOT: Greece Pavilion.
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Zach Perilstein is the Editor-in-Chief of the Boardwalk Times
