Villains took over Hollywood Studios Saturday night, but many thought the true evil was in the form of Disney decision-making.
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| © Steven Liebman
The Evil Queen at Villains Unleashed.
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In an attempt to put their villains in the spotlight, Disney created a ticketed event called Villains Unleashed. It was a second try at this theme in this park, after last year’s Unleash The Villains Limited Time Magic on Friday the 13th.
Last year, according to cast members an those in attendance, the event was a disaster. The park filled to capacity in a matter of hours, there were crowd-control issues and the lines for the meet and greets were out of control. Had Disney underestimate the popularity of the villains?
So this year, Disney created a ticketed event to bring a night of partying and meet-and-greets. That means the evening’s entertainment would cost you about $70. Once again, there were long lines everywhere — including a very long line of disgruntled guests at the Guest Service area, according to numerous bloggers who attended. The reason for the problem? Just like last year: Too many people.
There were lines everywhere — to meet the villains, to buy merchandise, to buy specialty foods and drinks, for all of the entertainment and even for the few rides that were open. The wait for Toy Story Mania was about 40 minutes all night.
By early in the evening, much of the merchandise was gone and people said they waited for two to three hours just to meet one villain, and in some cases still didn’t get a photo with them.
There were supposed to be 50 villains in attendance. If you’re paying $70 to get in, you should at least have the opportunity of spotting them, if not getting up close. In some cases the access to even see the villains was difficult. The best location was the Star Wars area of the park, maybe because it’s just routine for them with Star Wars Weekends? Grabbing a selfie with a Stormtrooper is exactly what this night should be about, and you could do that here.
Why not a parade? There was an attempt with a Villains kick-off roll call by Hades at the start of the night, but some of the biggest names — Captain Barbosa, Darth Vader, Boba Fett, Maleficent — weren’t on stage. Why not find a way to let you get at least a little closer?
Here’s a recap of some of the good and bad from the night:
Bad: The lines and the overcrowding. But we already touched on that, and that was the major problem with the evening.
Good and Bad: The Villains introduction. Hades kicked off the evening with an introduction of all 50 villains in attendance. While this is great, if you did not get close enough to the mosh pit feel of the big stage by the hat, your glimpse of these villains was left to the giant screens. If I wanted to watch the villains from a TV screen, I would have put in a DVD. They need to let everyone feel like they are closer to the characters.
Good: Club Evil. The Hollywood Brown Derby was transformed into a lounge complete with a torch singer belting out Disney tunes. We took a quick look and would have liked to spend a lot more time, but like everything else, it was packed.
Good: Oogie Boogie’s Freaky Funhouse Show. There has been a lot of talk about this cross between
Steampunk and old-fashioned carnival sideshow. Some people thought this show was a little odd, risqué and un-Disney. A few families left the showing we were at, however, we found it enjoyable and different. This is something we would like to see again.
Bad: Pre-show to Fantasmic. If you are going to announce there is a special Villain pre-show to Fantasmic, have some villains show up. Don’t just take your normal pre-show with jokes, audience participation and trivia, change the name of the presenters and call it a “Villains edition.” Have some villains show up. It was a complete waste of pre-show time.
Good and Bad: Villainy in the Sky Fireworks Spectacular. The idea of the night is that all of Disney’s villains were unleashed. Well, so were the fireworks. The grand finale seemed like more fireworks than we’ve ever seen thrown into the sky at one time. The music accompanying the fireworks was also good. The bad is that Disney has always gone to great lengths to make sure everything they do has a story, whether it is a store or an attraction, or fireworks. While the music was meant to guide you through the various villains it would have been nicer with a little bit of a narrative to tell a story of the unleashing of this evil. Otherwise, it’s fireworks set to music and we can see that anywhere.
