Assemble your teams and grab your shields, your arc reactors and your quivers of trick arrows because Disney just teased plans for its Marvel-themed land, and the Avengers are coming to the California Adventure Park.
In 2016 when we poured some out for the Tower of Terror free-fall ride, we paid special attention to Disney Imagineer Joe Rohde’s mention that Mission: BREAKOUT!—the Guardians of the Galaxy-themed ride that usurped the Tower—would be the first of multiple superhero-themed attractions to come. It looks like the time for those new rides is soon—more specifically, it’s in 2020.
To make way for Cap, Iron Man, Black Widow and the rest of the team, Disney is doing away with its A Bug’s Life-themed land—which is called, you guessed it, A Bug’s Land. That land’s 3-D movie “It’s Tough to be a Bug” already shut down last weekend; the rest of the area will follow suit toward the end of this summer. Then, with the help of Marvel Studios and Marvel Themed Entertainment, there’ll be some destruction (though nothing like the Avengers caused in Sokovia), and in 2020, a yet-unnamed land will open with what’s promised to be “a completely immersive super hero universe.”
The details are fuzzy, but we know that the Avengers and Spider-Man will play a large role in the development, which sits, by design, next to the Guardians ride (heads up: Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 3 is also set for a 2020 release). Black Panther features prominently in the teaser art, so we can only hope Wakanda factors into the new land, or at the very least a 3-D trip there via some sort of tour led by Shuri, the real star of the film (you know it, we know it, everyone knows it so don’t @ us).
Disney’s also launching a superhero-themed attraction in its Paris park, where guests can hop on a “hyper-kinetic adventure” ride featuring Iron Man and others, as well as a new themed ride in its Hong Kong location, which will involve Ant-Man and the Wasp.
This news arrives shortly before the June 23 unveiling of California Adventure’s Pixar Pier, which is revamping the iconic boardwalk area and introducing Pixar characters such as the Incredibles. Just next door, Disneyland Park’s Star Wars Land is still set to open in 2019, and there’s a new Adventureland restaurant and market currently in the works. OK, fine, with all of this on the way, maybe it’s time we finally give in and buy an annual pass.