From Hogsmeade to Radiator Springs, it’s no surprise to fans of Imagineering that the era of “living the movies” is alive and well. Today, it can sometimes feel that no project can get the greenlight at Disney or Universal unless backed by a tried-and-true blockbuster intellectual property; that everything we see in parks today is directly drawn from the screen.
But pulling places from the screen isn’t always as straightforward as you think… Sometimes, attraction designers need to expand on the worlds we’ve seen in movies by taking a physical place and adding to it for logistical or narrative reasons; other times, they need instead to contract, distilling massive and incalculable worlds into smaller, concrete, “real” places guests can inhabit and connect with. Either way, some of the most spectacular theme parks lands on Earth today take the essence of source materials and expand them with “original worlds” born of the minds of designers! Here are some of our favorites…
1. Carkitt Market
Image: Universal Orlando
Location: Universal Studios Florida
When the first half of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter opened at Universal’s Islands of Adventure in 2010, it jump-started a new era in theme park design. Hogsmeade was a surprisingly (and intentionally) direct and authentic recreation of the snow-capped Scottish village from the Harry Potter books and films, down to exclusively offering in-universe food and drink, selling only the “real” wares of the world (no LEGO sets or action figures in sight!), omitting character meet-and-greets, and purposefully keeping shops small and cramped rather than building them for theme park crowds.
The natural follow-up was 2014’s Diagon Alley at the neighboring Universal Studios Florida park. And while that fabled London shopping thoroughfare was created to cinematic specifications, it wasn’t alone. The simple (and relatively small and narrow) set-up of Diagon Alley wouldn’t leave much more for entertainment (or for guests sure to pack the land), so J.K. Rowling personally approved an “expansion” of the area not seen in the books or films. Carkitt Market is a glass-canopy-covered arcade-style shopping district connected to Gringotts via Horizont Alley.
Image: Universal
Carkitt Market not only serves to expand the land’s footprint to accommodate more guests; it also hosts the Gringotts Money Exchange, the Hopping Pot, and Celistina Warbeck’s legendary jazzy street performances, but also as a logistical necessity: a covered escape from Florida’s daily afternoon thunderstorms. Designers did such a great job creating a believable expansion of Diagon Alley that Carkitt Market is often “ret-conned” into Potter canon now!
2. Treasure Cove
Image: Disney
Location: Shanghai Disneyland
When Disney’s newest resort was announced for Shanghai, one of the stipulations allegedly put in place by the government of China (who’s part owner of the resort) was that Shanghai Disneyland feature only original headlining attractions, leaving classic E-Tickets out entirely. Luckily, that gave Disney the chance to revisit favorites for a new generation, like replacing Space Mountain with the Modern Marvel: TRON Lightcycle Power Run.
Given the chance to start fresh with a new version of Pirates of the Caribbean, it’s no surprise that Shanghai’s version has the high-earning film series as its basis. Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for Sunken Treasure is arguably one of Imagineering’s most impressive attractions ever, with a scale and scope reserved for very few mega-E-Tickets. It’s also part of an entirely new Pirates film land not seen elsewhere, Treasure Cove.
Image: Disney
Treasure Cove looks and feels like a port city plucked from the Pirates films. Naturally, an elaborate backstory concocted by Imagineering explains the land’s central mansion (built by Spanish nobleman Don Diego Sevilla Portillo) in the 1690s before falling under British Royal Navy rule… until plundering pirates sacked the town, with Jack Sparrow decreeing it a haven for pirates. That makes it fit nicely into the expanded Pirates universe of new islands and ports seen in the films. Fittingly, the land also includes a pirate stunt show (in Sevilla Portillo’s mansion), an impressive interactive aquatic playground, and the Siren’s Revenge ship, open to explore.
3. The Green Planet
Attraction: E.T. Adventure
Location: Universal Studios Florida
When it comes to theme parks “expanding” on the worlds established in film, one unforgettable example is the Green Planet seen aboard the E.T. Adventure. Steven Spielberg – director and producer of the 1982 film – appeared in the original preshow explaining that guests had been recruited as extras in a new sequel film in production. Though the sequel-making motivation was dropped in 2010, the plot remained the same: a mission to return E.T. to his home world, the Green Planet, which was dying without his healing touch.
Image: Universal
On board “bikes” suspended from overhead track, guests take off in a police-evading chase through the redwood forests of California before lifting off for a Peter-Pan’s-Flight-esque flight over town. Then, the ride takes an unexpected turn. Instead of arriving at a lush planet of alien life, the cavernous Green Planet is a desolate, rocky world of steaming geothermal vents and sickly green light diffuse through toxic clouds.
Naturally, E.T.’s return triggers the planets revival. In a swirl of magical light emanating from his glowing finger, the Green Planet begins to live up to its name. Lights begin to pulse through the planet like veins, reviving E.T.’s (somewhat eerie) alien friends as water jets dance and alien plants glow. The Green Planet still isn’t somewhere we’d be particularly interested in buying real estate, but the “glimpse” into E.T.’s never-before-seen home planet is kind of a cool experience for ‘80s kids who grew up with the friendly extraterrestrial.
4. The Valley of Mo’ara
Image: Disney
Location: Disney’s Animal Kingdom
When Disney announced that it had acquired the worldwide international rights to build attractions based on James Cameron’s AVATAR, fans were quick to deride their decision as a desperate attempt to get something – anything! – Potter-sized in the lead-up to the Wizarding World. And while Avatar had broken box office records upon its 2009 release, the film became infamous for its lack of interest soon after, essentially disappearing from pop culture without so much as a quote, character, or care left behind.
Fans debated for years how Disney would turn the PG-13 film about humanity’s ruthless attack on an alien moon into a place people wanted to visit. In fact, during its long and allegedly tumultuous development, there were even rumors that the full Avatar land at Disney’s Animal Kingdom might be abandoned just as the Possibilityland: Beastly Kingdom once planned for that real estate had been. But when Pandora – The World of Avatar debuted in 2017, most complaints were quickly silenced.
Image: Disney
First, Imagineers made Pandora incarnate in an original region – the Valley of Mo’ara – which gives the expansive (and artificial, CGI-produced) moon a sense of place. It’s a way of making the immense (and frankly, impossible to reproduce) world of Avatar into a concrete comprehensible space that encourages exploration, but still feels real and navigable.
Second, they severed the land from the film’s plot entirely. Rather than being observers (or worse, participants) in humans’ greedy mining of the moon’s resources at the expense of its alien life, Pandora is sent decades – maybe centuries – after the film, with the leftover ruins of Earth’s military assault being reclaimed by the planet’s bioluminescent plant life.
Image: Disney
Our role as guests is that of eco-tourists, traveling lightyears (via the Alpha Centauri Expeditions company) to this moon to respectfully connect with its plant and animal life, to share in the traditions, foods, and culture of the native Na’vi people, and to laugh at some anonymous ancestors of ours who foolishly tried to mine the moon out of existence. Pandora is a brilliant example of Disney Imagineers creating an entirely new place (and story) to support an existing world.
5. Batuu – Black Spire Outpost
Image: Disney
Location: Disneyland and Disney’s Hollywood Studios
After Disney’s acquisition of Lucasfilm in 2012, there was no question that Star Wars would feature prominently into the future of Disney Parks. But when, where, and how? Initially, rumors suggested a full-on Force takeover of Tomorrowland was in the cards, but that pesky Wizarding World struck again, necessitating Imagineers and executives think bigger.
Image: Disney
When we first covered the announcement of Star Wars lands, we particularly complimented Disney’s decision to avoid simply bringing to life one of the numerous alien cities or planets seen on screen. First, choosing a single destination to appease all fans would be impossible; second, many of Star Wars’ most recognizable locales aren’t really fitting for theme park lands anyway – from the desolate desert of Tatooine to the floating Cloud City, most intergalactic locales just don’t translate to the scale and scope a land needs.
Ultimately, Imagineers decided to create their own. Batuu is a remote planet on the edge of wild space; before the invention of lightspeed travel, the planet was a bustling intergalactic trading port (sound familiar?)… but now, its impoverished towns – like the land’s setting, Black Spire Outpost – are villages of traders, merchants, and smugglers… It’s also a town we’ve stumbled into just as a face-off between the nefarious First Order and the Resistance comes to a head…
Image: Disney
On one hand, creating an original world that feels like Star Wars was a tall order, and probably the only realistic path forward for a Star Wars land, and admittedly, the unique world with its own mythos to explore encourages guests to “live their own Star Wars adventure” rather than just touring a town seen on screen. On the other hand, true adherence to the “Wizarding World” formula more or less requires that a place guests already know and care about comes to life. That leaves some fans not sold on Batuu, even as Disney increasingly integrates the planet into the ever-expanding Star Wars universe of stories.
6. Springfield
Image: Universal / Fox
Location: Universal Studios Florida
When Universal Studios Florida opened, its World Expo area played host to the starring Lost Legend: Back to the Future – The Ride, with the enormous Institute of Future Technology stylized as a World’s Fair pavilion. That area’s theme was reinforced with the 2000 addition of Men in Black: Alien Attack, explicitly borrowing the iconic architecture of the New York State pavilion from the 1964-65 New York World’s Fair. But when Back to the Future was controversially replaced in 2007 with The Simpsons Ride, the revised Krustyland exterior didn’t make much sense in “World Expo,” throwing the Simpsons out of sync with the area and the international fare food court next door.
Image: Universal
But after the “Wizarding World” model became standard, it wasn’t just Disney who raced to incorporate more cinematic worlds into their parks. In fact, Universal looked for opportunities to revise their own studio park with lessons learned from Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley. The bulk of “World Expo” outside of The Simpsons Ride was transformed in 2013 into Springfield – Home of the Simpsons. Guests can now dine on Krustyburgers, drink Flaming Moes at Moe’s Tavern, and even enjoy custom-brewed Duff Beer at the Duff Gardens Brewery. The land cleverly adapts classic characters and locales into a living space packed with Easter egg details for fans, with Krustyland reigning over it all!
Image: Universal
Though the popularity of The Simpsons has ebbed and flowed throughout the years, the animated classic is well past its 30th season (making it the longest-running primetime sitcom in history – animated or otherwise), definitely earning its major pop culture presence… and a theme park land, to boot. In fact, a follow-up Springfield area at Universal Studios Hollywood is even more robust!
Thanks to Disney’s $71.3 billion purchase of Fox, it also makes Springfield the second land at Universal Orlando based on a Disney intellectual property… Oops! Given Disney’s whole-hearted welcoming of The Simpsons brand (including a coveted spot on Disney+), its likely that Universal will actually benefit from Disney’s reinvestment in the IP.
7. Temple of the Forbidden Eye
Image: Disney
Attraction: Indiana Jones Adventure
Location: Disneyland
Deep in the misty rainforests of Southeast Asia, time and the elements have covered what must have taken centuries to construct: the ancient riverside temple to the lost god Mara. Within, faded frescos and cracked murals echo local legends that Mara was said to grant any who ventured to the heart of the temple with one of three supernatural gifts: timeless youth, glittering gold, or future sight… but with a catch. Anyone who looked into the god’s dark eyes would be cursed forever to the Gates of Doom!
Image: Disney
When Indiana Jones Adventure opened in Disneyland in 1995, its magnetic mythology was enough to draw the rest of the park’s Adventureland into its timeline and continuity. A 1940s lost expedition theme swept through the land, aging the park’s Jungle Cruise to rusted and tattered tramp steamers and turning Adventureland’s shops and restaurants into a tourist trap bazaar catered to nouveau riche European tourists drawn to the river delta by promises of the temple’s wealth.
The ride is so spectacular, it earned its own in-depth Modern Marvels: Indiana Jones Adventure feature diving deep into the story and technology that make it possible. It’s no surprise given that it was a product of Michael Eisner’s “Ride the Movies” era in the early ‘90s – all about big-budget, larger-than-life, cinematic attractions. But it’s not just that the story and setting of Indiana Jones Adventure fit right in with Indy’s cinematic adventures; the myth of Mara, the Three Gifts, the Chamber of Destiny, and the Forbidden Eye actually feel big-screen-ready; like one of the most captivating original worlds in any Disney Park!
8. Mickey’s Toontown
Image: Disney
Location: Disneyland
One of the reasons Disneyland exists at all is that, from the 1930s on, children would write into Disney’s studios asking Walt if they could come to Los Angeles to meet Mickey and his friends! And while Mickey was present at Disneyland since its 1955 opening, it was never made quite clear where, exactly, he lived. That changed in 1993 when Mickey’s Toontown opened, ushering guests into the previously hidden cartoon world (and indeed, the land is at least partially based on the seedy ‘Toontown’ seen in 1988’s Who Framed Roger Rabbit?).
Image: Disney
Aside from the land’s signature dark ride, Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin, Toontown is home to Mickey’s House and Minnie’s House – each a walkthrough attraction (and neither offering a bathroom…). For better or worse, the land has a distinct style that’s a fusion of Roger Rabbit, 1930s Max Fleischer cartoons, and 1990s family entertainment center. The result is a “Toontown” that doesn’t quite jive with today’s Mickey Mouse, much less the streetwise scrappy hero of the Mickey Mouse shorts…
That’s one reason many had expected that Toontown’s time was drawing short, with its valuable real estate likely set aside for a Fantasyland expansion – a straightforward way for Disney to double-dip on Frozen, Tangled, and Beauty and the Beast rides (and lucrative shops!) developed for Hong Kong, Paris, and Tokyo.
Image: Disney
But in 2019, Disney announced that Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway (an upcoming E-Ticket at Disney’s Hollywood Studios) would make its way West, opening in Toontown in 2022. Since the ride features the modern Mickey character from Disney Channel’s critically acclaimed shorts, maybe the ride’s arrival would trigger a creative facelift and redesign for the whole land? It seemed likely… until the concept art released (above) shows the same “inflated” ’90s-tinged architecture the land currently sports.
Still, the idea of “expanding” the Mickey Mouse universe to allow guests to step into the world he returns to each night is novel, and Toontown’s downtown district and residential neighborhood are both fun to explore. Magic Kingdom used to offer another extension of the universe with the Lost Legend: Mickey’s Toontown Fair, a (much less permanent) county fair with Mickey and Minnie’s Country Houses. Toontown Fair closed in 2011 to make way for the park’s New Fantasyland.
9. Stark Expo and Avengers Campus
Image: Disney / Marvel
Location: Disney California Adventure
An astounding 23 films make up the “Infinity Saga” of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Over the course of the assembling the Avengers for their ultimate battle against Thanos, those films (released from 2008 to 2019) introduced Iron Man, Captain America, Black Panther, Hulk, Thor, Captain Marvel, Black Widow, Ant-Man, the Guardians of the Galaxy, Spider-Man, and more into a massive shared universe of crossover stories… and unimaginable worlds.
From the technological African nation of Wakanda to the superhero streets of New York; the glistening mythological Kingdom of Asgard to the mid-century World’s Fair-style retro-futuristic showcase of Stark Expo, Marvel Studios films have produced a dozen locations that could leap from the screen into theme parks without missing a beat…
Image: Disney
And given that those 23 films earned an estimated $22.7 billion (yes, an average of nearly a billion each), there was never any question whether or not the Avengers would make their way to Disney Parks. There was, however, a question of how thanks to a binding, perpetual agreement between Marvel and Disney’s biggest competition, Universal, signed prior to Disney’s purchase of the company. Essentially, any Avengers heroes are verboten at Walt Disney World, meaning Pandora-sized Wakanda or Asgard lands were never on the table (even if both are more than deserved by the franchise)! But heroes were built into plans for Hong Kong Disneyland, Disney California Adventure, and Walt Disney Studios Park in Paris.
At the former, it takes the shape of a “Stark Expo” mini-land annexed from Tomorrowland, featuring the Iron Man Experience E-Ticket simulator and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Nano Battle! shooting dark ride (shrinking guests to dust particle size).
Image: Disney
At the latter two, Avengers Campus lands will take shape. Utilizing the (increasingly overplayed) “adaptive re-use” style, the lands will be set-up as if Tony Stark and company have overtaken old factories and warehouses and outfitted them with Avengers training experiences meant to empower the next generation of heroes (that’s us).
Both California and Paris’s versions of the land will feature a Spider-Man interactive dark ride (closely resembling Toy Story Midway Mania) and Ant-Man themed brewery. Exclusive to Paris is an Iron Man-themed overlay of the existing Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, while California alone features the Guardians of the Galaxy overlay of Tower of Terror, plus a full Avengers E-Ticket coming in Phase II.
Image: Disney / Marvel
Neither Hong Kong’s Stark Expo nor the Avengers Campus style land will be the scale that Marvel has proven worthy of… an odd swing of the pendulum from Disney’s hyper-immersive and massively-scaled lands for Avatar and Star Wars… However, it’s interesting that – even if it’s mostly for budget-saving purposes – Disney has again opted out of recreating a place seen on screen and instead decided to expand a movie mythology by creating a new place that fits into an existing world.
Perhaps, like in Galaxy’s Edge, their hope is that you and I will live our own hero adventure in an Avengers Campus, whereas recreating Asgard or Wakanda would force us to live someone else’s. Whether they’re right or wrong is probably highly subjective!
However, the Marvel-themed lands across the globe prove without a doubt that although we often say that Disney is chasing the “Wizarding World” formula, that’s not entirely true… It’s not been since 2012’s Cars Land that Disney recreated a world seen on screen the way Hogsmeade did. In every immersive, cinematic land since, they’ve created a new place that expands on the existing story rather than recreating it… an M.O. that appears poised to continue…!
