The largest hurdle Disney World has had to overcome in bringing more Marvel attractions to its parks, other than those based on franchises like “Guardians of the Galaxy“, is the fact that Universal Studios owns the east coast rights to most of the Marvel lineup. Well in a shocking turn of events, Disney CEO Bob Iger announced at the most recent shareholders meeting that Disney has negotiated a deal to bring the rights home to Disney and they will officially be adding a Marvel Land to Hollywood Studios.
“We think this will be a good thing. Marvel belongs home with Disney and we now have the opportunity to tell the stories of these characters in way like only Disney can.” Iger said. The audience laughed as he joked, “It’s always a little odd when you have to rent back your own property from someone who is renting it from you.” The deal is quite intricate he explained and there are no details on how exactly it was worked out. This comes on the heels of a recent announcement that Disneyland Parks around the globe are already getting Marvel themed lands and now Disney World wont be left out on the super hero action!
He was tight-lipped about some of the upcoming changes, but he did drop some bombs on what the future of Hollywood Studios will look like with the addition of Marvel Land. First and what will probably be most up setting for fans is that the area will be located around the Tower of Terror area where just like in California, the attraction will be converted to Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: BREAKOUT! Iger made the announcement as he unveiled the only piece of concept art that he used during his speech as you can see in the photo below:
The ride is expected to be operational by late 2020, well before construction for Marvel Land is complete. “The new attraction will anchor a broader universe of Super Heroes that will grow over time at Hollywood Studios”, Iger said.
There will be a Marvel themed restaurant, of course multiple retail locations, and other attractions, but the only other attraction change Iger mentioned during the meeting was Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith. The contract with Aerosmith was renewed not too long ago and it’s always a question of if they will continue renewing. Well I guess we have our answer, because in a statement that Iger let Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Chairman Bob Chapek deliver, he said, “Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster will be transformed into an Ironman themed coaster that will immerse guests in a fantastic new thrilling adventure like never before.”
Iger said that the project can be expected to be fully completed by 2022 and those rides that will be getting overhauls will remain open for as long as possible to minimize the impact on guests during construction of new addition of Marvel Land. Work will begin on Tower of Terror first and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster will close temporarily while construction on the entire new land begins.
Fans have already been lighting up the internet as they are upset about the changing of more classic rides and it didn’t take long for the petitions to begin either. Change is hard and if you have loved Hollywood Studios since the day it opened in 1989 as Disney-MGM Studios, then this might be a hard one for you, but this is a change that is necessary for “Disney’s vision of the park’s future” Iger said in his final words at the meeting.
Walt Disney himself knew that his parks would continue to change and evolve. “As long as there is imagination left in the world”, said Walt. He also believed in a good laugh and a good joke so we hope you enjoyed this one. Happy April Fools Day… Oh yeah and Happy Easter. If anyone happens to be upset that the news isn’t true, don’t worry, there are Marvel Lands that are going to be popping up at nearly every other Disney Park on the Planet. And if you can’t make it out of Florida, we actually have our own Marvel Land right here… at Universal Studios. 🙂