Disney California Adventure’s Marvel land is getting a brand new reward store. Construction partitions are actually up on the aspect of Avengers Headquarters, which is the longer term dwelling of the King Thanos Multiverse attraction. However, this building shouldn’t be for a brand new experience, in accordance with Disneyland Resort.
From my perspective, there are just a few believable explanations for this. Applying Occam’s Razor, the most probably motive why Disneyland Resort is constructing this reward store in Avengers Campus is to extend Marvel merchandise gross sales. The land is small, and the prevailing retail areas in Avengers Campus are as nicely.
That’s exactly why Disneyland Resort opened Super Store that includes Avengers Campus in close by Hollywood Land within the first place. This was a logical transfer again when Avengers Campus debuted a few years in the past, as Stage 17 had already been transformed to retail area. The prior yr, it served as an “extension” of the Downtown Disney District and was remodeled into the Disneyland Resort Backlot Premiere Shop when the state of California was not permitting theme parks to function.
Prior to that, Stage 17 was used as a flex area for particular occasions. For those that are Walt Disney World-centric, consider it as DCA’s model of World ShowPlace at EPCOT. Stage 17 typically hosted non-public occasions, however has additionally served as an area for character meet & greets and extra.
It’s additionally been an area for points of interest, corresponding to “Who Wants to be a Millionaire – Play It!” More just lately, Stage 17 was the house base of “Frozen Fun” in 2015, when it turned the venue for Olaf’s Snow Fest, which featured actual snow, sledding, and different winter actions. We skilled Olaf’s Snow Fest a number of occasions, however truthfully, it feels kinda like a fever dream (or regardless of the chilly model is of a fever dream). It’s virtually onerous to consider that really occurred. But I digress.
Stage 17 is tucked away within the Backlot space of Hollywood Land, proper subsequent to Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue. Unless you’re going again there for that experience, dwell music, or beer, you’re most likely not heading to that nook of Hollywood Land. And even if you’re, there’s an excellent probability you received’t see Super Store that includes Avengers Campus. Or notice it’s an enormous merchandise store even should you do see it.
To that time, the final time I had ventured inside Stage 17 (previous to taking photographs particularly for this text) was about 2 years in the past when Avengers Campus first opened. It’s most likely the spot at Disneyland Resort I go to the least, edging out the Disney Junior Dance Party and Alien Pizza Planet–two venues I make each effort to keep away from, however each of which I’ve executed (regrettably) extra just lately.
It’s not simply me. When I heading into Stage 17 for the sake of capturing these photographs, it was a pleasant reprieve from the spring break crowds that had descended upon each different nook of Disneyland Resort. It was additionally a stark distinction to the congestion and chaos of Avengers Campus mere minutes later.
So it must be fairly apparent that relocating this retail to Avengers Campus correct will enhance foot site visitors and, by extension, merchandise gross sales. I don’t suppose that’s even up for debate. Disneyland Resort will promote extra tremendous hero stuff because of changing Stage 17 with a correct store in Avengers Campus. Even if it’s a fraction of the scale, that’ll be true.
The second risk–and neither of the following two eventualities are mutually unique with the primary and even each other; “all of the above” may be very a lot on the desk as a viable clarification–is that they’re constructing a present store within the Avengers HQ constructing now as a result of there are not any concrete plans within the near-term to construct the King Thanos attraction itself.
There’s an necessary piece of context that’s price discussing right here, and it’s how the information of this Avengers Campus reward store broke. This wasn’t found through permits or by a random vlogger working right into a wall whereas recording themselves in DCA. It was given to pick media and revealed earlier than DCA even opened for the day, previous to the partitions being “discovered.”
There’s a motive for that. Disneyland Resort didn’t need followers to search out it on their very own, attain the inaccurate conclusion that its for the E-Ticket attraction, and publish 1,955 YouTube movies titled “YOU’LL NEVER GUESS WHAT MARVELOUS RIDE IS BEING BUILT AT DCA: KING THANOS CONSTRUCTION CONFIRMED” earlier than Disney had the possibility to situation a clarification.
Disney getting forward of that story means that the reverse is true: experience building shouldn’t be commencing any time quickly. If it had been slated to start out this summer time or fall, there’d be no motive to not let the hype practice roll on. Fans would get excited now, and that sentiment would solely construct because the reward store opened and correct building started on the attraction itself. The retail location on the exit might open early as a ‘preview center’ of kinds; a option to construct pleasure for the upcoming attraction and promote merchandise within the course of.
Regardless, many followers are getting excited for precisely this motive. Their logic is that if the exit reward store is being constructed, meaning the attraction is subsequent up. Obviously, that’s not the conclusion I’m drawing. I don’t suppose constructing and opening the store now makes the experience any extra possible. (Remember, this was formally introduced final fall. All else being equal, the experience must be “100% likely” because of this.)
If something, I feel constructing this reward store makes the experience much less possible. That’s partially as a result of you possibly can’t go over 100% in probability, and partially as a result of I can’t logistically sq. how opening a present store earlier than the attraction itself is smart. It requires an assumption that Disney will function a present store inside a constructing that’s in any other case an energetic building web site, as an alternative of walling off the complete factor, as would usually be the case.
The third risk as to why Disneyland Resort is relocating its tremendous hero stuff to a retailer in Avengers Campus is the area it frees up. Remember that non-sequitur about Olaf’s Snow Fest and “Who Wants to be a Millionaire – Play It!” in Stage 17? You most likely didn’t suppose something of it because it match with my regular rambling, however it was truly purposeful.
Point being, Stage 17 is colossal. It’s an enormous venue with much more area backstage in a quiet nook of Disney California Adventure. It’s a main enlargement pad at Disneyland Resort, and may be rapidly transformed into one thing else. Equally as necessary, it’s in an underutilized space, which means that it might be transformed into one thing else that expands park capability at DCA.
Enter Avatar. During the newest earnings name, CEO Bob Iger revealed that an Avatar Experience Is Coming to Disneyland. He has since made a number of media appearances and talked about this, whereas declining to offer extra particulars in regards to the substance and nature of this.
At this level, what that “experience” will entail or the place it’ll be situated is anybody’s guess. Maybe it’ll be a brand new Meta Quest VR sport in Downtown Disney’s former ESPN Zone. It might be as unambitious as an overlay of the Boudin Bakery Tour, walkaround mech go well with dude in Pixar Pier, or build-a-banshee store. Something as daring as a whole Pandora land added as half of an entire new gate can also be potential–perhaps that is DisneylandForward lastly coming to fruition?
Or it might be one thing extra center of the street, an adaptation of an current providing, corresponding to an interactive and immersive environmental exploration, like Avatar: The Experience in Singapore. Disney has been exploring experiential displays, and in search of the suitable automobile for its personal approach of coming into that area of interest. An adaptation of that will be excellent and definitely match the invoice as an “Avatar experience” (expertise is true there within the title!).
There are a bunch of how to place these items collectively, and the way you align them relies upon upon your degree of craziness. The most simple interpretation of every thing, in totality, is that Disneyland is clearing out Stage 17 for an Avatar expertise walkthrough just like the one in Singapore, and constructing the reward store in Avengers Campus with the purpose to open it earlier than the attraction. That places the entire puzzle items collectively in a approach the place they match neatly collectively.
I’m a bit extra chaotic and conspiratorial than that. Bob Iger and Disney Parks Chairman Josh D’Amaro have held a lot of interviews just lately, throughout which each have mentioned plans for the longer term, bullishness on parks, and want for capacity-expanding additions. We mentioned all of this in nice size in Bob Iger Wants Big Expansions at Walt Disney World & Disneyland.
I’ve listened to or learn all of these, and never as soon as has the King Thanos Marvel Multiverse attraction been talked about. By distinction, Avatar has come up repeatedly. I don’t suppose that is merely coincidental, and it definitely wouldn’t come as a shock if the plans (or lack thereof) for part 2 of Avengers Campus have modified now that Bob Iger is again.
(If you recall, Bob Chapek personally teased the King Thanos attraction throughout his D23 opening remarks, earlier than D’Amaro made the announcement a pair days later. It’s solely potential this was a Chapek pet mission that has been killed by Iger, identical to the metaverse and Prime plans.)
My extra far-fetched prediction is that the Avengers Campus reward store is being constructed partially as a result of that King Thanos attraction was cancelled and partially as a result of Disneyland needs to filter out Stage 17. That area will probably be dwelling to an Avatar providing, however my low-confidence twist right here is that it’s not the Avatar expertise that Iger has teased.
Instead, the Avatar expertise will probably be a separately-ticketed expertise (a la Singapore) opening subsequent yr alongside the newly reimagined stretch of Downtown Disney. That will probably be a short lived addition to bolster the burgeoning procuring, eating, and leisure district. The expertise will supply a stopgap for the following ~5 years whereas an precise Avatar attraction is constructed within the area occupied by Stage 17 and different parts of the Hollywood Land Backlot.
As to how that’ll match thematically into the land or park, I’ve no clue. Thematic shoehorning of points of interest and lands into second gates has not been an enormous obstacle for Disney in recent times. The Avatar franchise is a product of Hollywood (land), California (park)–that’s most likely adequate within the eyes of executives.
Ultimately, as must be clear from all of this hypothesis, there’s a variety of outcomes for what’s taking place in Disney California Adventure. It might begin and cease with a brand new reward store in Avengers Campus. That’s definitely the secure wager, and the one one that’s formally confirmed or, for that matter, even rumored. (Now looks like a superb time of reiterating that every one of that is purely speculative and never inside data of any type in anyway.)
The most pessimistic prediction could be that it’s a present store and nothing else in any respect, not even the King Thanos attraction. The most optimistic prediction would most likely be that it’s a present store and King Thanos attraction, plus Pandora – World of Avatar and (someway) DisneylandForward. I’m skeptical of it being both excessive; DisneylandForward shouldn’t be an actual factor of substance, however there are different concrete enlargement plans.
For me, it’s a matter of listening to what Iger and D’Amaro have stated just lately, plus what they haven’t talked about, and letting my creativeness run wild from there. That plus the Way of Water’s field workplace outcomes plus the truth that management modifications all the time have penalties for early-stage initiatives plus the probability that any pet initiatives of Chapek are particularly susceptible leads me to consider Avatar is a high precedence for Disneyland Resort, and extra Marvel shouldn’t be. Phew. That was quite a lot of (over)evaluation for just a few partitions and a present store!
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YOUR THOUGHTS
What are your ideas on the reward store coming to Avengers Campus at Disney California Adventure? Have any wild hypothesis and supposition of your individual, or suppose that is only a #*$&@ reward store and we’re studying WAAAAY an excessive amount of into it?! Think this implies the King Thanos Marvel Multiverse experience is shifting ahead or has been shelved? Are you a fan of the Marvel land because it presently exists, or do you agree that this E-Ticket is what’s wanted to make the land really feel full and top-tier? Any questions? Hearing your suggestions–even while you disagree with us–is each attention-grabbing to us and useful to different readers, so please share your ideas under within the feedback!