Theme parks worldwide are all about giving guests an experience anchored in some of their favorite fictional worlds. From the unforgettable animatronic dinosaurs of Jurassic Park at Universal Studios theme parks to a galaxy far, far away in Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge at Disney's parks, these competitors are always finding innovative ways to make fiction a reality for fans.
While Disney has been at this for a while, the Comcast's (CMCSA) Universal Studios really threw its own hat into the ring with The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at its parks in Orlando, Fla., and Hollywood, a magical world where guests could try foods, buy merchandise, and enjoy activities themed after one of the biggest breakout fiction series of the 20th century.
The Walt Disney Company (DIS) has also been busy leveraging its own intellectual properties to create park experiences from Pixar with Toy Story Land and Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge at Disney World's Hollywood Studios. It also added Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge at Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif.
Last year, Disney's California Adventure in Anaheim and Disneyland Paris opened their highly anticipated Avengers Campus experiences, the first Marvel Cinematic Universe-themed land in Disney parks. Guests "enrolled" at the Avengers Campus will get to play along as Tony Stark, also known as Iron Man, sets out to recruit and train a new generation of heroes.
Disneyland Paris in particular is big on the Avengers rides. In 2019, the park replaced the Rockin' Rollercoaster featuring rock band Aerosmith and added an Avengers ride. Now, in celebration of the park's 30th anniversary, Disneyland Paris is assembling the Avengers for another marvelous event.
Disneyland Paris Presents 'Avengers: Power the Night' Show
In celebrating 30 years of delighting Disney fans, Disneyland Paris announced a new nighttime show that will join the festivities starting this month. The “Avengers: Power the Night” show will use almost 500 drones and special effect pyrotechnics to light up the sky in an Avengers-themed extravaganza.
The light show will feature superhero icons like Captain America, the Scarlet Witch, and Shang-Chi. Guests who attend will also enjoy breathtaking orchestral versions of music from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. These exclusive versions of Marvel movie soundtracks were performed by musicians from the iconic Abbey Road Studios in London.
The event will begin on Jan. 28 and run through May 8 exclusively at Disneyland Paris.
Disney & Universal Play Nice Over "Marvel"
The first Marvel park experience doesn't belong to Disney but instead found a home at Universal Orlando Islands of Adventure in Florida. This was back in 1999, 10 years before Disney would purchase Marvel and build what we now know as the Marvel Cinematic Universe (or MCU). The park was initially going to be themed after Marvel's main comic book competitor in an experience called "DC Land," but Universal could not agree to terms with Time Warner, which later acquired Six Flags, driving its DC park experiences in that direction instead, AllEars reports.
Thanks to this pre-existing deal between Marvel Comics and Universal Studios, Disney has to exclude Marvel experiences from its Florida park experiences. This deal may not be ideal for Disney Parks, but for visitors of Universal's Islands of Adventure, fans can enjoy a rare experience from before the creation of the MCU. Give it a few more multi-million dollar movie events and Universal's Marvel Super Hero Island will feel like the equivalent of a very fun, interactive museum.
