Rumors about the future of Walt Disney World come in two varieties. The first (and our favorite at Theme Park Tourist), is the credible rumor,which comes from more than one reliable source and backs up what others with knowledge of the situation have previously said or hinted at. Most of the first type of rumor ends up as front-page news weeks or months after it was originally reported.
However, the following four rumors fall into a second category: wishful thinking. These rumors don’t come from credible sources, are typically reported by over-enthusiastic fans, and don’t generally make a lot of sense. Even though these stories are almost always proven to be false, fans believe them anyway. There are dozens of false rumors out there, but here are the ones we keep hearing that just won’t die (no matter how much we wish they would!):
1. Marvel is coming to Walt Disney World
It’s no secret that Universal Orlando Resort owns the theme park rights to (almost) all of the Marvel characters on the east coast (characters from Big Hero 6 and the Guardians of the Galaxy are not part of the deal). However, knowing full well about this pre-existing deal, there is a persistent rumor that Walt Disney World is secretly trying to buy back the theme park rights to these characters, and Universal Orlando Florida is working on a backup plan of its own to re-theme their Marvel Super Hero Island area once these rights are transferred back to Disney.
Though Walt Disney World fans would certainly relish such a development, the fact is that no such back-room dealings are taking place. Universal Orlando Resort’s Super Hero Island shows no signs of going anywhere any time soon (in fact The Incredible Hulk coaster is going down for an extensive refurbishment in fall 2015) and considering Universal’s current financial situation (Harry Potter is essentially printing money for the resort), they don’t have much motivation to sell the rights back to Disney.
On the flip side, Disney doesn’t have much motivation to try and fight for the theme park rights to Marvel characters in Orlando either. With Star Wars, Toy Story and Avatar projects underway at the moment, Walt Disney World has quite a lot in their attraction pipeline, and simply doesn’t have the resources to put together a Marvel land for at least the next decade.
However, even though we’re confident that Marvel isn’t coming to Walt Disney World anytime soon, there is some evidence that Marvel characters and attractions are coming to Disneyland resort. If these characters find success in California, Disney may revisit the idea of bringing Marvel to Walt Disney World, but we’re talking about events that will happen more than a decade from now. Who knows if these characters will even be popular by that time?
2. Disney is secretly building a fifth park
Every few years, rumors of a fifth gate pop up. Whether it’s an all-villains park, an adults-only park, or something completely different, we’ve seen some interesting ideas for a new park over the years. While Walt Disney World certainly has the space to build a new park, the aforementioned list of projects will keep them from pursuing this mythical fifth gate for at least another ten years.
Though Disney does have a few far-flung construction projects happening around the resort (Flamingo Crossings immediately springs to mind), they are not secretly building an unannounced fifth park, and probably won’t be looking to build a brand new park any time soon at Walt Disney World, especially since park construction efforts are currently engaged creating Shanghai Disneyland (which is still set to open in 2016). While it’s nice to think about the possibilities surrounding a fifth gate, Disney has been focusing all its recent park-building efforts overseas, and we’d expect that trend to continue for the foreseeable future.
3. Epcot is building new rides around the World Showcase
It’s true that the World Showcase is changing. Putting Frozen in the middle of Norway seemed like a weird choice for many, and there’s no denying that putting a fictional ride in the middle of the staunchly non-fictional World Showcase is going to feel a little jarring. However, even though Norway is getting a new ride, don’t expect similar transformations at other pavilions.
Rumors have swirled that Japan could be getting a Studio Ghibli ride, France might see a cloned version of Ratatouille from Disneyland Paris and even the UK could get an Alice in Wonderland attraction. However, though these ideas do have merit, there’s one big problem with all of them: Disney would have to build (and invest) significantly to create these attractions from the ground up. And that just doesn’t seem to be something that is much of a priority, currently.
One of the big reasons Frozen landed at the World Showcase in the first place is because Disney saw an aging attraction in need for refurbishment (sorry Maelstrom fans), and took their opportunity to quickly gut the ride building, stuff some Frozen animatronics in, and call it a ride. This “new” attraction even uses the same boat ride system as Maelstrom! Because this “new experience” came with a low pricetag and has been fairly quick to turn around thanks to its pre-existing building, it got the greenlight from Disney
Unfortunately, no other large ride buildings exist in the World Showcase, and even if they did, there’s no properties right now that are as popular as Frozen. Considering the volume of projects Disney is currently managing, they’re likely not looking to spend additional money bringing new rides to the World Showcase. Though it might be nice to think about more rides at Epcot, this is one dream that simply won’t come true.
4. Standard purple MagicBands
Though reviews for My Disney Experience and MyMagic+ have been mixed over the past two years, there’s no denying that MagicBands are just inherently cool. Being able to skip the old-fashioned turnstiles is pretty amazing, and having the ability to use your wrist to gain entry into FastPass+ queues, pay for lunch and more is so convenient its hard to remember a time before this system.
However, even though most agree that MagicBands are pretty nifty, there’s been one persistent problem that guests have been very vocal in complaining about: the lack of purple. Though you might have heard someone you know say that they heard something about a new round of purple MagicBands, this couldn’t be further from the truth, as Disney is not seriously looking into creating a purple standard MagicBand for guests. Sorry, lavender lovers!
Of course, there are plenty more myths beyond these that have been circulating about Walt Disney World in recent years. What’s the craziest rumor you’ve ever heard?
