It looks like Marvel is aiming to officially land in the Marvel parks. There’s been much rumor and speculation around just how, when, and which parks the Marvel characters would finally make their Disney debut, and now it looks as if we have our answer. Unfortunately, for the Disney fans in North America, it doesn’t look like it’s our time just yet to swing with Spider-Man, smash with the Hulk, or battle the Sentinels with the X-Men, because the heroes are headed to Hong Kong Disneyland.
In a speech yesterday about the 2013-2014 budget, Hong Kong Financial Secretary John Tsang said,
“In the coming few years, Hong Kong Disneyland will launch a new night-time parade and put in place a themed area featuring ‘Marvel heroes’, the first of its kind in the world.”
This is hugely exciting news, seeing as this will be the first of many introductions of the Marvel heroes in Disney parks worldwide. While we don’t have much information on exactly how they’ll play a part, we can at least have fun speculating exactly how the characters will be used in the park. This is just part of the major expansion that Hong Kong Disneyland has been undergoing recently, with the addition of their Toy Story Playland, Grizzly Gulch, and be followed by the opening of Mystic Point. It seems that Hong Kong Disneyland is doing very well for itself, and I really can’t wait to see how this will play out.
But where does that leave the North American Disney parks? Well, unfortunately for the parks in Orlando, Florida, we won’t see Marvel in the parks any time soon. Due to prior contracts that Universal Studios Florida has, Disney can not use the Marvel characters in any of their parks there. That leaves Disneyland and Disney’s California Adventure, and that’s where the real possibilities are. We’ve being hearing rumors circulating for quite some time now about the possible inclusion of characters and rides based on some of the most famous Marvel characters, namely Iron Man, possibly debuting in Disneyland. As of yet, Disney hasn’t announced anything, so all it is, for now, is rumor and speculation.
I know that many are worried about the inclusion of Marvel in the Disney parks, but I’m not. Disney managed to blend both Star Wars and Indiana Jones seamlessly into the parks years ago, before the Disney and Lucasfilm merger, without hurting the parks. Adding Marvel is the obvious next step in this evolution for the parks, and done well, it’s going to be very, very cool. It’s hard not to get excited by the idea of meeting some of your favorite superheroes, such as Spider-Man, Iron Man, and Captain America, or getting to go on a new attraction with them. Only time will tell just how it’ll all work out.
It’s hard to believe many won’t feel the same way, with ‘The Avengers’ being the highest grossing film of last year, as well as all the previous Marvel Studios films performing quite well. People love the Marvel characters, and it’s going to be quite interesting seeing them integrated into the parks like Star Wars and Indiana Jones were before. Are you excited to see Marvel finally making a bow in the Disney parks? Let me know in the comments below, only here at Chip and Company, and keep an eye out here for news on this as we learn it.
Related articles
- Marvel Animation Studios Announces ‘Iron Man and Hulk: Heroes United’ (chipandco.com)
- The Walt Disney Studios Release Schedule Update for 2014 and beyond (chipandco.com)
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