Black Panther has been a huge global success at the box office. In the US the film grossed over $200million in its first weekend and the film grossed over $400 million worldwide.
At Disneyland In Anaheim guests can now meet the Black Panther along with his royal guards, the Dora Milaje. For the time being, Black Panther is not at the Disney parks in Orlando. This could be due to legal issues between Disney and Universal involving the use of Marvel characters. The Black Panther is not a featured character in Marvel Superhero Island at Islands of Adventure.
Going along with the theory that Disney are ok to use Guardians of the Galaxy in their parks in Orlando due to the fact these characters are not featured at Islands of Adventure then Black Panther may well appear at Disney World sooner rather than later. However, the exact legal situation involving the rights to Black Panther between Disney and Universal is not exactly known.
For this article, we will go with the idea that the Black Panther can be used in Disney World.
The fact that Black Panther has been so successful makes you start to think that more than just a meet and greet could make its way into the parks over the coming years. The films setting, Wakanda, certainly has the elements to make for an incredible theme park land.
If a Wakanda themed land was to be built or a stand alone Black Panther attraction which Disney Park would it most likely be at?
A Black Panther area/attraction built in Anaheim would most likely be part of the proposed new Marvel land set to be built in California Adventure by Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout.
If a Black Panther attraction was to be built in Orlando then I can potentially see the ride being built at either Animal Kingdom or Epcot. The most logical idea would to be build a Wakanda themed land at Animal Kingdom. The Wakanda land could be part of an extension to the Africa section of the park or built as a stand-alone area in a separate area of the park.
Rumours continue to circulate online about Disney planning to change the Dinoland section of the park. Maybe this area could be converted to Wakanda with the Dinosaur attraction being rethemed to Black Panther.
Epcot is the other Disney park in Orlando in which I could see a Black Panther attraction being built. This is due to the fact that a Guardians of the Galaxy roller coaster is already being constructed at Epcot. A Black Panther attraction could then be built near this ride which would lead to this area being a completely new marvel themed section of the park.
In my opinion the Epcot option goes against the original idea of the park. However, I’m not sure how much the original concept of Epcot impacts Disney future plans for the park considering some of the recent announcement regarding Epcot’s future.
Overall, I still feel that Animal Kingdom would be the best park at Disney World for the addition of a Black Panther attraction/ land.
So far, this article has only focussed on the potential of the Black Panther being brought into the US parks. With the global success of the film, there is no reason why Disney would not look at adding the Black Panther into their other parks across the globe.
Out of the non US Disney parks, I think that the Walt Disney Studios Park in Paris would be the best suited to a Black Panther themed land/attraction. With the recent announcement that Rock’n’Rollercoaster will be rethemed to Spider-man, I feel that it’s likely that a larger Marvel land is planned for this section of the studios park. It would not be surprising to see a Black Panther attraction be constructed in this section of the park. This attraction would be part of a larger Marvel themed land.
With the films hugely successful box office during opening weekend and ever growing fan base I certainly think that Disney will be considering adding a Black Panther attraction.
Also check out our review of the new Star Wars VR based experience at Disney Springs.
