It probably hasn’t escaped your attention that today is April Fool’s Day. News websites all over the world are offering up fake stories designed to raise a laugh – but we’ve decided not to follow suit. Instead, we thought it would be fun to look at a “what if?” scenario. Disney has begun to develop theme park attractions based on Marvel comic books (it bought the firm in 2009), with the first true ride – the Iron Man Experience – due to open at Hong Kong Disneyland in 2016.
But what if Disney built a FULL theme park based on Marvel’s superheroes and villains? What types of ride might it include – and how would they compare to the existing rides in Marvel Super Hero Island at Universal Orlando’s Islands of Adventure?
Well, to take a look into the future, let’s take a dip into the past. A Marvel Superheroes theme park was originally proposed for Dubailand, the mega-project that was to set overtake Walt Disney World as the largest theme park resort in the world. It was not to be designed or operated by Disney, but was instead due to be a joint venture between the United Arab Empire-based Al Ahli Group and Marvel Entertainment (it was announced in 2007, before Marvel was acquired by Disney).
The 2008 financial crisis put paid to those plans, although a different ambitious, indoor Marvel theme park dubbed IMG Worlds of Adventure is currently undergoing construction.
We’re not sure what rides will appear in Dubai’s new park, or in any potential future Disney-Marvel parks. But we do know which rides were to feature in the original Dubailand project. And some of them look AMAZING. Let’s take a look!
Concept #1: The Layout
Here’s the proposed layout of Dubai’s original Marvel park, which offers a glimpse at the types of lands we might see in any future Disney park. The three Marvel lands are “City of Superheroes”, “Oasis of Magic” and “Marvel’s Mythical Mountain” (and we know how much Disney loves putting faux mountains into its parks). There’s a fourth land based on Nickelodeon properties dubbed “Nick Neighborhood” that we can safely assume wouldn’t make it into a Disney park. All of the lands are based around Crater Lake.
Overall, this looks like a more thrill-heavy theme park than a typical Disney park (in fact, it bears more than a passing resemblance to Islands of Adventure) – but would that be appropriate for Marvel in any case?
Concept #2: City of Superheroes
It’s hard to imagine a Marvel theme park without some sort of sprawling Metropolis in it, waiting to be terrorized by villains and rescued by heroes. In the artwork below, it appears that Dr. Octopus is on the rampage.
Concept 3: Fantastic Four dark ride
The Dubai park was to feature a mystery attraction themed around the Fantastic Four, located at the entrance to the City of Superheroes. This appears likely to have been some kind of dark ride – an area that Disney specializes in, of course.
Concept 4: Marvel Superheroes 4-D
A 4-D attraction based around Marvel’s characters would be a simple but perhaps unambitious addition to a Disney park – particularly given that a similar attraction already exists at Madame Tussauds London. Perhaps a Soarin’-style flying ride might be more appropriate?
Concept 5: Spider-Man dark ride
Hmm. This one looks a little familiar, doesn’t it? Evidently, the designers of the Marvel park in Dubai had seen The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man at Islands of Adventure and decided to build something similar. Is that a real freefall drop element at the end, though? Could we see Disney employ some Tower of Terror-esque technology here, using two types of ride vehicle to make real a drop experience that Universal’s ride merely simulates?
Concept 6: The Oasis of Magic
The Oasis of Magic would have been a very “organic”-looking area, which looks similar in concept to the under-construction Pandora – The World of Avatar at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
Concept 7: Planet Hulk
We’re not completely sure on this one, but the artwork below appears to show an amphitheater based on Planet Hulk, where Bruce Banner was sold into slavery and fought as a gladiator. Perhaps a live, stunt-driven show could be housed here?
Concept 8: Stark Laboratories
We’ve already seen Disney bring to life Tony Stark (aka Iron Man’s) inventions at Disneyland’s Innoventions. But a larger-scale version of Stark Laboratories would be a fitting addition to any Marvel park.
Concept 9: The Iron Man RoboCoaster
Take a closer look at the top of that Stark Laboratories concept art. What’s this? It looks like a RoboCoaster ride, similar in style to Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, but located outside.
Concept 10: The “underwater” coaster
Crater Lake was to be more than just a visually-appealing lagoon. Instead, it was to host an incredible roller coaster (which resembles a Maurer Sรถhne X-Car) that would plummet directly into an underwater tunnel, seemingly disappearing into the lake itself. Too thrilling for Disney? Possibly – but it does look stunning.
What do you think?
Would you like to see Disney build a Marvel theme park (probably outside of Florida, given that Universal Orlando holds exclusivity on the characters there)? And what sort of rides and attractions would you like to see in the park? Let us know in the comments section below!