Why D23’s Avengers Campus Announcements Are Both Needed & Welcome
by Tony Thornley
If you’re a fan of the many intellectual properties owned by the Walt Disney Company, you probably followed last weekend’s D23 fan event closely. A lot of the news was fun and exciting, but for the Venn diagram of Marvel fans and theme park fans, one announcement in particular was long overdue.
Disney’s California Adventure park has unofficially become Disney’s Marvel and Pixar park in the US. And as a Disney adult, that means the Marvel contingent has gravitated towards DCA quite a bit. Avengers Campus sits in the middle of DCA. The issue is that the area is somewhat lacking. There are two rides, a handful of shops, a quick service restaurant, and some food stands.
I talked over on ComicsXF.com about some of the deficiencies of the area after my most recent trip. What it really comes down to is that Avengers Campus just doesn’t have much. I mean, Pym’s Test Kitchen is one of the better quick service dining locations in the Disneyland Resort, but you can’t get by on absolutely massive pretzels. The gift shops are overpriced (even by Disney standards), one of the two rides is more of a cardio workout than a ride (Web Spinners: A Spider-Man Adventure), the other involves an hours-long wait every time (Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout), and the entertainment is lacking.
Where the resort’s other geek-themed land, Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, was still a must-see experience on the other end of the resort, Avengers Campus has gone from one of my favorite spots to visit to something that seriously needed a shot in the arm.
So when Saturday’s Horizons presentation included two huge new announcements for Disneyland’s Avengers Campus, I was thrilled. The expansion not only doubles the area of the land, but it’s giving fans two new attractions. (The announcement also included new rides in Disney’s Asian parks, both of which sound like a lot of fun, but I may never be able to visit myself.)
Stark Flight Lab seems like a pretty fun twist on the common ride of getting thrown around mid-air. Based on the concept art, it’s not an out of the box ride being given an Avengers paint job. Although it doesn’t look incredibly fancy in the experience, the ride mechanism can provide something new, plus it’s been confirmed to include the return of Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark.
The big draw is Avengers: Infinity Defense. Yes, the name is extremely bland, but this sounds like a blast. It frankly reminds me of Rise of the Resistance, the aforementioned Galaxy’s Edge’s “E-ticket” attraction. This is a story based experience, and while I don’t think it’s going to feature a three-stage immersion into the universe, joining favorite Avengers to stop a fan-favorite variant of Thanos will be incredibly exciting.
I mean, just look at the concept art:
Beyond that, adding capacity is only a good thing for the area. Infinity Defense will help split up the crowds currently hitting Web Spinners and Guardians, reducing the wait time on both rides. Stark Flight Lab adds some variety to the area. And hopefully both experiences mean we’ll see more of the Marvel Universe in Avengers Campus.
No opening date for either experience was announced, but construction begins in 2025.
