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Credit: DisneyAlthough die-hard Disney fans have known about it for years, a Disney villain Park for Walt Disney World was finally announced at this year’s D23. Easily one of the most prolific features from the expo, Imagineers have been sitting on this concept a lot longer than many might think.
It was only a matter of time before these designs came to fruition, but one of its main attractions has existed right under fans’ feet since 1998. Concept art hinted at a Maleficent-themed roller coaster, logically with her draconic form as the centerpiece, but this mythical attraction doesn’t just belong to the Magic Kingdom.
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The crumbling castle and garden of thorns might be reminiscent of Sleeping Beauty (1959), but this isn’t the first time Disney has attempted to make a dragon-themed ride at the Walt Disney World Resort. In fact, they’ve been hiding it from fans for decades.
Disney World Hides Dead Dragons
Before the conception of this dark land, Disney had a different concept in mind when building Disney’s Animal Kingdom. The park was designed to be home to creatures “real, ancient, and imaginary,” and that third element was meant to be represented by the Beastly Kingdom.
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For the non-obsessed Disney reader, Beastly Kingdom was a planned but unmade land for the Animal Kingdom park, where a noble unicorn and fearsome dragon battled for dominance of a magical realm. The main attraction was to be a dragon’s tower roller coaster where guests would have to escape the creature’s fiery wrath.
Of all the words of tongue and pen, the saddest are “it might have been.” As Yesterworld Entertainment pointed out, Disney Imagineers led by the legendary Joe Rohde had everything laid out in production after two years of development.
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Unfortunately, the Beastly Kingdom ultimately went belly up due to underestimations of cost and a questionable executive decision by CEO Michael Eisner. However, guests can still find bits and pieces of dragon iconography scattered throughout the property today.
Maleficent Takes Over
One thing that can certainly be said about the Disney parks is that they never truly throw anything away. A project this massive, with two years in development and a full-scale model of a giant dragon animatronic, doesn’t just disappear; it’s just been put away.
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We don’t know how you feel, but the concept art of the Magic Kingdom’s villainous expansion certainly feels familiar, given what was done about Beastly Kingdom. It might be that the idea was never truly scrapped, just saved for later.
Although guests will never truly know the wonders of what might have been, Beastly Kingdom hasn’t been 100% scrapped. Especially now that more cryptozoological phenomenon is popping up all around the park, just ask Indiana Jones.
Are we getting a fabled dragon coaster? Tell Inside the Magic what you think in the comments below!