New Disney Villains Show to Replace Lightning McQueen's Racing Academy at Hollywood Studios in 2025

Sep 03, 2024 in "Magic Mirror Villains Show"

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Villains Show concept art

Posted: Tuesday September 3, 2024 3:08pm ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

Disney’s Hollywood Studios is set to introduce a new live entertainment experience centered around Disney Villains in the summer of 2025 at Walt Disney World.

Villains Show concept art

The new show will take place at the Sunset Showcase, located on Sunset Boulevard, and will feature dozens of iconic Disney villains .

According to Disney Live Entertainment, the production will be staged in the setting of the Magic Mirror’s mysterious realm, a reflective environment designed to bring guests closer to some of Disney’s most notorious villains. Characters such as Cruella de Vil, Captain Hook, and Maleficent are confirmed to make appearances as they break through the glass to take the stage in live production numbers

Villains Show concept art

Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy is scheduled to close on October 7, 2024, making way for the preparation and construction needed for the upcoming villains-themed production.

Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy is scheduled to close on October 7, 2024

Lightning McQueen's Racing Academy opened in March 2019, themed around the popular Pixar "Cars" franchise and features a life-sized, animatronic Lightning McQueen, voiced by Owen Wilson.

Lightning McQueen's Racing Academy show

In the show, guests are welcomed into a state-of-the-art racing simulator where Lightning McQueen appears on a 200-degree screen to share his racing expertise. The experience includes high-energy sequences and a narrative where McQueen is challenged to race against virtual competitors. Throughout the show, he is joined by characters like Mater and Cruz Ramirez, who offer support and advice.

Opened in 2015, Sunset Showcase was designed to serve as a flexible location for a variety of events and entertainment offerings at Disney's Hollywood Studios.

The venue was first introduced as the home for Club Disney, a dance party experience featuring Disney characters and interactive elements aimed at younger guests. Club Disney offered a colorful and lively atmosphere, complete with music, video projections, and activities, but it was short-lived and closed in 2016.

Club Disney Dance Party overview

After Club Disney, Sunset Showcase hosted a range of limited-time events before becoming Lightning LacQueens Racing Academy in 2019, including themed dance parties and special ticketed events, including the "Club Villain" event, which featured Disney villains in a cabaret-style show, along with themed food and drinks.

Club Villain overview

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danlb_200012 days ago

The character was also created well after the contract was signed, so it it likely that Disney could use him.

llewmmu12 days ago

Wiccan being usable depends on how you look at his involvement, his main association in the comics is the team The Young Avengers. Which is technically not part of the avengers itself as it was a new team formed for different characters and not The Avengers with swapped out members, but it does bare their branding. So would that count as Avengers Family, or unrelated group with a shared name? Lawyers probably have to work that out.

MagicHappens197112 days ago

He is the child of the Scarlet Witch so I'm not sure how complex that would get in the "families of" part of the contract, but I would think that he's probably safe.

Starship82413 days ago

Well at the very least I would assume Wiccan is probably fair game right? We know Doctor Strange is good.

MagicHappens197113 days ago

Generally off limits, I agree, but as I mentioned Agatha is on a billboard behind the Chinese Theatre which generally implies that the character is not off limits

doctornick13 days ago

The fantastic Four are their own thing, not really in the Avengers "family". But, alas, the FF are represented at Uni with their restaurant - and the Fantasticar! - plus the Dr Doom ride (who is clearly in their "family") so they and their associates are generally off limits for WDW.

MagicHappens197113 days ago

The rights only apply to their original Comic roots, but Agatha first appeared in a Fantastic 4 comic which then ties to the Avengers, so I would want to say no. Although she appears on a billboard in DHS which in previous cases has been indicative of them having the rights to use her.

djlaosc13 days ago

I know that it won't happen, but does anyone know if the rights to Agatha Harkness are available for WDW? I'm guessing not, as she will link to Scarlet Witch, which would link to Avengers/X-Men, but not sure. She would have a song available to perform, if they are going for a cabaret type of show...

Ice Gator14 days ago

You’d be surprised to find out where they manufacture a lot of their vehicles/animatronics- Roush Engineering in Michigan did a lot of work on Disney and Universal Studios attractions. When I was there I also got a glimpse of the Ratatouille vehicles for Epcot, Millennium Falcon pods for HWS, and Harry Potter Forbidden Journey ride vehicles for Tokyo. At the time they were also designing the Secret Life of Pets animatronics on Solidworks. This was early 2019, and I had to sign an NDA because certain attractions like SLOP hadn’t been announced at the time.

SplashJacket15 days ago

I think it’s biggest issue was it wasn’t grand/good enough to really market it, so I didn’t even really know it existed for most of its life and I spend my free time on an Internet Disney forum.

SilentWindODoom15 days ago

I... had... no idea this theatre existed. I always thought this replaced the Jack Sparrow show for some reason until I saw the name "Sunset Showcase" and was confused why it would have that name. What a weird, out-of-place place for this, creating an additional dead end in a park full of them. They actually built the car animatronic in Michigan? I've never heard of any other figures being made in the state famous for auto manufacturing. Is that a normal thing, or just special for obvious reasons? While you've stated extra reasons, at that age for me the latest bad guys were Jafar and Scar, so they were too delightful even at their wickedest to totally avoid. Although parks villains and film villains are different. One of my vivid memories from my first trip around that age was the Sheriff and Prince John walking through a group of children taking small trinkets off of them (scrunchies and the like). It was rather horrifying. Fortunately, my parents said "Let's get out of here." It was an out of character moment considering they absolutely horrified me by making me believe I was driving Mr. Toads and screaming at me not to drive down the train tunnel. They also had me convinced to reach out further to grab the gold ring during Magic Journeys! Muppet loses its featured spot?!?! What does that mean? Thanks… Muppets Haunted Tower, coming to a Studios near you!!! In a new casting call, Disney Live Entertainment is seeking Actors for the new Villains show: Wait. "Cannibal Cove"? No. Go back. "Cannibal Cove?" Is this an established thing?