For years, one Disney franchise has lurked in the shadows without a land of its own within the theme parks: Disney Villains. The popularity of these iconic characters has grown over the years, but fans have mostly had to settle for seeing them featured during Halloween events.
Now, this will no longer be the case. A new Villains Land is coming to Disney World, featuring permanent rides and attractions based on the antagonists of classic Disney animated movies. Keep reading to learn everything we know about this highly anticipated theme park expansion. Mickey Visit brings you the latest Disney news and planning resources, including opening dates for new Disney World attractions and Disney World resort refurbishments coming in 2026 and 2027.
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A New Land Dedicated to Disney Villains
Villains Land is coming to Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World in Florida! It will be a major new area and the park’s seventh themed land, joining Main Street, U.S.A., Adventureland, Frontierland, Liberty Square, Fantasyland, and Tomorrowland.
Disney first officially announced Villains Land in August 2024 after teasing it for two prior years, revealing the concept artwork above. The ominous, mysterious mood of this image stands in contrast to the cheery, happily-ever-after aesthetic of the rest of Magic Kingdom, particularly Fantasyland, with its classic Disney fairy tales.
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Note that “Villains Land” may not be the formal name of the area. Initially, Disney used this term officially to describe the project. Later, the company began referring to it as a “Villains-themed land,” simply as a description rather than an actual name. As a shorthand, we’ll keep using Villains Land until Disney specifies further. We like the clarity of the name and hope they go with that one instead of a highly branded name filled with punctuation like Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.
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Location of Villains Land and Ongoing Construction
In 2025, Tom Sawyer Island and the Rivers of America in Magic Kingdom’s Frontierland both closed permanently to make way for two huge construction projects: Villains Land and Piston Peak National Park, an upcoming area with rides themed to Pixar’s Cars.
Villains Land will be located in the northern half of this parcel of land, as well as occupying previously undeveloped/forested property, beyond the former railroad track perimeter.
Once it’s all finished, we expect guests to enter Villains Land in new pathways near Big Thunder Mountain Railroad on one side and Haunted Mansion on the other.
Construction is still in very early stages, but Tom Sawyer Island and the Rivers of America have already been demolished.
Possible Villains Land Roller Coaster
Villains Land will contain “two major attractions,” according to Disney. The company hasn’t revealed specifics so far, but a roller coaster seems to be part of the plans when looking closely at the one piece of concept art available so far.
One portion of the concept art, cropped above, seems to show a roller coaster train zooming through a turquoise cavern.
In the distance, some of the thorny brambles also appear to resemble a roller coaster track.
These types of thorns appear in the climactic battle between Prince Phillip and Maleficent in 1959’s Sleeping Beauty. With the concept art also clearly showing Maleficent in dragon form, could a Maleficent roller coaster be a main attraction in Villains Land? If the artwork is to be believed, that answer is yes, but concept art is always subject to change, and again, Disney hasn’t officially announced any specific attractions for Villains Land yet.
Villains Land Opening Date
From everything Disney has said so far, the company plans to open the aforementioned Piston Peak National Park at Magic Kingdom first, and Villains Land will follow later.
Based on the level of unknowns about this expansion and the sheer volume of new Walt Disney World rides in the pipeline that need to open before it, we expect Villains Land to be at least four years away.
Disney has not announced an opening timeframe for Villains Land, but Mickey Visit predicts it will open in 2030 at the soonest. See the other predicted opening timelines for upcoming Disney World rides here.
Which Disney Villains to Expect in Magic Kingdom Expansion
Disney has been tight-lipped about which specific antagonists Villains Land will focus on. The only one shown in the singular piece of concept art revealed is Maleficent in dragon form.
Disney has hinted at a few other villains’ involvement indirectly, but hasn’t confirmed anyone specifically.
A TikTok video Disney posted when the project was first announced showed movie clips of many, many villains, including the Horned King from The Black Cauldron, Yzma from The Emperor’s New Groove, and King Magnifico from Wish, among others.
During a presentation at Destination D23 in 2025, Imagineers shared a mood board for inspiration for Villains Land, which we’ll talk more about in a moment. That image composite featured movie stills of Chernabog from Fantasia, Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty, Ursula from The Little Mermaid, Hades from Hercules, and Dr. Facilier from The Princess and the Frog.
It’s our understanding that none of these materials were official reveals of a locked-in roster, but rather possibilities of what could be on the table.
We do know, though, that Villains Land will highlight multiple villains, not just one, and the featured characters will only come from the library of Walt Disney Animation Studios films. Villains Land will not include antagonists from other parts of Disney, such as Pixar, Lucasfilm, Marvel, or any other department of The Walt Disney Company other than Walt Disney Animation Studios.
This rules out a few biggies: Oogie Boogie from Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas, the Sanderson Sisters from Hocus Pocus, Ernesto de la Cruz from Coco, and Thanos from the Avengers films, to name a few, are all assumedly disqualified for consideration in Villains Land attractions.
Conversely, some of the headlining bad guys from Walt Disney Animation Studios films include the Evil Queen from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Captain Hook from Peter Pan, and Cruella de Vil from One Hundred and One Dalmatians, again among many others.
Imagineers’ Inspirations for Villains Land
Walt Disney Imagineers have shared briefly about their artistic inspirations for Villains Land’s aesthetic. Imagineers are taking inspiration from Art Nouveau architecture they observed during research trips to Paris and Barcelona.
Professors and historians partnered with Imagineers to dive deeper into the form and significance behind the unique shapes of these cities’ buildings and the way sculpture is integrated as a design principle.
Going forward in developing Villains Land, Imagineers are dubbing this design inspiration “conjured architecture.” The collage above shows how the Imagineers matched the architecture they saw in Paris and Barcelona with familiar imagery associated with Disney Villains.
A Villains Pro is Consulting on the Project
It’s clear Imagineers want to get this project right. They want to rise to the occasion and deliver attraction experiences worthy of both the Villain characters’ legacies and fans’ extremely high expectations.
In that spirit, Imagineering recruited a veteran Disney artist as a consultant for Villains Land: Andreas Deja, former animator at Walt Disney Animation Studios.
Deja, who was named a Disney Legend in 2015, was the supervising animator of Gaston in Beauty and the Beast, Jafar in Aladdin, and Scar in The Lion King. That’s a lot of experience working with Villains!
Andreas not only contributed to Disney’s legacy in his own right but is an avid scholar of early Disney animation and is an excellent choice to provide insight to the Imagineers as they build Villains Land.
Villains Land Details Still in Secrecy
For all the hype about Villains Land going on for almost two years now, Disney has said very little in terms of specifics about the project.
We still don’t know the names of any attractions, or even what type of attractions will be included, beyond educated guesses from the one piece of concept art released.
Rumors have circulated online about internal conversations concerning Villains Land and which attractions might be planned, but Disney has not announced Villains Land details beyond the information we’ve shared in this article.
Even from Disney itself, communication has sometimes been confusing on this project. For example, at D23 Brazil in November 2024, Disney shared artwork that many interpreted to be created for Villains Land, but it was actually recycled imagery from the Disney Lorcana trading card game.
Disney’s Previous Attempts at Villain Attractions and Experiences
While waiting for Villains Land to open, fans of Disney Villains can see many of the characters in the following shows now open:
- Fantasmic! at Disney’s Hollywood Studios
- Hocus Pocus Villain Spelltacular during Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party at Magic Kingdom
- Disney Villains: Unfairly Ever After at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, pictured above
Disney has tested out several Villain-focused events at Walt Disney World in the past, but none of them stuck around very long. These included:
- Unleash the Villains, a one-day event at Disney’s Hollywood Studios as part of Disney’s Limited-Time Magic celebration in 2013
- Villains Unleashed, a one-time-only, separately ticked, after-hours party at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in 2014
- Villains’ Sinister Soiree, a character dinner at Cinderella’s Royal Table, only during Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party in 2014
- Club Villain, a dinner show at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in 2016
- Disney Villains After Hours, a separately ticketed party at Magic Kingdom in 2019 and 2020
Major Construction Projects at Disney World Right Now
Despite the massive scale of Magic Kingdom’s Piston Peak National Park and Villains Land, there are several other huge attractions under construction elsewhere in Walt Disney World.
Opening in 2027 at Disney’s Animal Kingdom is a new Tropical Americas land. This area replaces the former DinoLand, U.S.A., with new rides based on Encanto and Indiana Jones. See construction photos of Tropical Americas, plus our commentary on its progress in our separate coverage.
Monsters, Inc. is coming to Disney’s Hollywood Studios with a new land called Monstropolis, complete with a roller coaster themed after the climactic door chase from the movie. You can see Monstropolis construction photos, including changes at the former Muppet*Vision 3D theater, in our separate coverage.
Right next door to the future site of Villains Land at Magic Kingdom, Disney is currently also building Piston Peak National Park. This area, themed to Pixar’s Cars, will feature rugged terrain and two new rides.
It’s going to be a busy few years at Walt Disney World, and we look forward to bringing you all the latest updates right here on Mickey Visit.
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