New Spider-Man ‘Tower of Terror’ Style Ride Coming to Hong Kong Disneyland’s Marvel Land!
Disney just released brand new concept art for the Spider-Man attraction coming to the Stark Expo area in Tomorrowland at Hong Kong Disneyland, revealing what appears to be a Tower of Terror style drop ride. This post covers everything we know about this Marvel Land expansion at our favorite hidden gem park, and how it appears to have morphed into an Avengers attraction.
Disney first revealed more details about these expansion plans during a presentation about HKDL’s business results for the last fiscal year. During that, Michael Moriarty, Managing Director of Hong Kong Disneyland Resort, elaborated on what was first announced during last year’s D23 Expo.
Moriarty shared that an extended Marvel-themed area featuring a new attraction at Hong Kong Disneyland Resort is part of its multi-year expansion. The premise is that the brightest minds from the Avengers are working together and bringing new pavilions to the Stark Expo to showcase their most recent inventions and technologies.
Peter Parker (a.k.a Spider-Man), the newest Stark Industries intern, is among one of them and will also be the host to demonstrate the latest breakthrough. Undoubtedly, the presence of Spider-Man will also attract one of the most formidable villains, who wreaks havoc at the scene. Peter will need all the help he can get to protect his brand-new technology while saving guests caught in the middle of the showdown.
While details up until now have been vague, Disney has pulled back the curtain a bit more with brand-new concept art for the Marvel expansion. Let’s take a look!
Here’s the latest announcement from Hong Kong Disneyland that accompanied the new concept art: “Team up with the Avengers for an unexpected adventure in the thrilling new Marvel-themed experience – only at Hong Kong Disneyland! From attractions to epic entertainment and shopping, Marvel fans won’t want to miss this!”
The tower depicted in the concept art looks like the Avengers HQ, and is like a more ‘vertical version’ of the attraction previously announced for this expansion nearly a decade ago (or the one at DCA). There’s an adjacent building (gift shop? interactive experience?) that’s labeled “Research Testing Labs” with a nearby satellite dish pointed to the sky.
This has been rumored to be a Tower of Terror-style drop ride since it was announced last year at the D23 Expo, so it’s not surprising to see this concept art showing that it is, in fact, a tower. I guess it could’ve been a Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry style attraction (same type of ride vehicle), but that’s not what anyone expected. This concept art featuring a ‘Tower of Terror’ style show building as the Avengers HQ pretty conclusively reveals what this is going to be.
The next piece of concept art is equally interesting. This one showcases Spider-Man joined by Thor, Black Panther, and Dr. Strange, who appears to be opening a portal into Asgard. This reveals what could be the premise of the attraction–Dr. Strange opening portals and guests dropping into new places from the Marvel multi-verse. My guess is that Spider-Man slings his webs to “catch” the falling guests.
What’s notable about all of this is that the Avengers E-Ticket morphed into a Spider-Man attraction, which has now morphed back into an Avengers attraction. It’ll still feature Spider-Man, but both pieces of concept art clearly indicate it’s going to have a wider-range of Avengers. That makes sense, and is probably a smart move–the one Spider-Man ride Imagineering built this decade doesn’t compete with the one Universal made back in the 1990s.
This concept art potentially deviates with what was released back at D23, showing Spider-Man battling Doc Ock. Based on that, I would’ve assumed the ride was a push-pull battle between Spider-Man and his foes. It’s possible this scene is still in the attraction, but what was just revealed seems almost more in line with the Avengers E-Ticket coming to Disney California Adventure. That makes me wonder whether Imagineering is planning some amount of overlap, even though they’re very different ride systems. It’s probably more about using a wider-range of Avengers to add to the appeal.
The upcoming new project marks the third major addition to the immersive Marvel-themed experience with an extended area in Tomorrowland at Hong Kong Disneyland, and will include all-new entertainment, shopping and dining offerings. It will further expand the epicenter of the Marvel Super Heroes at Hong Kong Disneyland, which began almost a decade ago.
The Marvel saga at Hong Kong Disneyland began with Tony Stark choosing Hong Kong as the Asia headquarters of Stark Industries. The park also became the home of the Stark Expo, showcasing the largest and latest high-tech creations of Stark Industries. That included the launch of the Iron Man Experience in 2017 and Ant-Man and The Wasp: Nano Battle in 2019.
It was slated to include an Avengers E-Ticket by now (technically, it was supposed to open 2 years ago), which was slated to be the Quinjet attraction concept that was also announced for Disney California Adventure. Pre-COVID, that attraction would be cloned and built at both HKDL and DCA to spread development costs.
A lot has changed since, and now the parks will each get unique Marvel attractions. DCA is actually getting two new Marvel rides now, and there’s another Spider-Man roller coaster coming to Shanghai Disneyland (perhaps differentiating the two is the real reason why this has morphed back into an Avengers attraction?) Almost a decade later, all of these Marvel rides are finally happening. And that’s not all.
Disney also pulled back the curtain on the upcoming Pixar stage show.
In revealing this concept art, here’s what Hong Kong Disneyland shared: “Coming soon to Hong Kong Disneyland is a brand-new immersive theatrical adventure with your favorite Pixar pal like never before! Cutting-edge theatrical technology that blends real and digital environments to connect generations of Pixar fans”
Although the concept art shows a scary good-looking Monsters, Inc. scene, it’s safe to say that this is a montage-style show featuring a variety of Pixar pals. No need to read too deeply into this one.
The map above confirms where both of these new attractions will be located, with the expanded Marvel area replacing Autopia.
The easily-developable portion of this expansion pad is large, probably big enough for two attractions as opposed to just the one Tower of Terror-style drop attraction themed to Spider-Man. It’s entirely possible that there could be another dark ride back here, or even a roller coaster.
As you can see from the 2016 development map below, there’s a ton of space back here. They could easily do an expansion a la TRON Lightcycle Run in Magic Kingdom. (Not necessarily that ride–just how that goes over the train tracks.) With the success that Hong Kong Disneyland has seen in the last couple of years, I fully expect something else to be greenlit for this space.
As for the all-new, exclusive Pixar entertainment experience, that’s expected to open at Hong Kong Disneyland after the ongoing 20th Anniversary ends. Disney previously suggested that this will open in the second half of 2026 or later.
This upcoming Pixar stage show is probably going to be similar to “Together: A Pixar Musical Adventure” in Paris. This stage show at Walt Disney Studios Park/Disney Adventure World takes you on a journey through the wonderful worlds of Toy Story, Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo and many other movies from Pixar. I wouldn’t expect a direct clone, but it should be a similar idea. All of these montage shows end up being similar ideas.
Personally, I don’t think Hong Kong Disneyland needs another stage show–and especially not another montage show–but guests there seem to love the existing shows, so it makes sense from that perspective. This is another reasonably sizable expansion pad, and could easily house Toy Story Mania or Slinky Dog Dash. But given what’s popular (and what isn’t) at HKDL, I suppose entertainment makes more sense. At the very least, I’d like to see them finally connect World of Frozen to Toy Story Land. That was the original plan (see above map), but there are currently restrooms preventing that.
At the risk of belaboring the point, we highly recommend visiting Hong Kong Disneyland. It’s the least-visited castle park in the world, with one-third the numbers of Magic Kingdom, Disneyland, or Tokyo Disneyland. It has lower attendance than every single Walt Disney World or Disneyland Resort park, ahead of only the abysmal Walt Disney Studios Park.
But not for good reason! Although WDSP is also getting an Arendelle area next year, that’s where the comparisons to HKDL begin and end. Otherwise, Hong Kong Disneyland is charming–similar to Disneyland in California from a bygone era.
For years, Hong Kong Disneyland was a bit of a paradox: home to a couple of the best attractions in the world, but otherwise having a weak ride roster by castle park standards. It was a park we cherished, even if we knew it couldn’t stand among the top tier castle parks.
That has changed. Hong Kong Disneyland is no longer the Casey Junior of Disney theme parks. It’s not the scrappy little park that “thinks it can.” It’s the park that can–and does.
This is precisely why we named Hong Kong Disneyland as our #1 Disney Destination for 2025. Hong Kong Disneyland still isn’t done, and Disney’s charming little park is going to continue blossoming into its own, and receiving significant investments and expansion in 2026 and beyond.
This park is already home to at least 2 world class attractions that are must-sees for Disney fans, both of which rank on Sarah & Tom Bricker’s 15 Favorite Disney Attractions in the World. There’s much more that we love about HKDL–those are just the 2 top-tier attractions that put HKDL on the map as a destination park. It also has the best World of Frozen and much more.
Suffice to say, we are really excited to return to Hong Kong Disneyland. It’s the park we are looking forward to visit for personal enjoyment more than any other–at least until TDR can get its act together and resume regular operations. Even though 95% of you will never visit, we’ll continue spreading the gospel of HKDL for the sake of the ~5% who eventually will heed our advice and go.
We absolutely adore this charming castle park, and think it’s the perfect add-on during a trip to Asia, perhaps for the new Disney Adventure cruise ship or visits to other theme parks in the region. One thing to note is that, from a practical planning perspective, we absolutely do not recommend visiting in the summer for the celebration kick-off (see Best & Worst Times to Visit HKDL). My hope is that there’s even more coming for Christmas, and it’ll be possible to double-dip on the 20th and those holiday festivities. Hong Kong Disneyland is a great place that deserves to turn into a destination park for international Disney fans.
For the rest of your planning needs, consult our Hong Kong Disneyland Trip Planning Guide. It covers everything you need to know for a visit to HKDL, including reviews, strategy, packing, and more. If you’re visiting the city as well, please consult our Hong Kong City Guide on TravelCaffeine, our non-Disney planning site.
Your Thoughts
What do you think of the expansion plans for the Stark Expo Marvel land at HKDL? Like the idea of a Tower of Terror style attraction featuring Spider-Man joined by other Avengers? Prefer a Marvel multi-verse ride or Spider-Man specific attraction? If you’ve been to any of the Disney Parks in Asia, how do you think HKDL stacks up? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment of this charming little castle park? Any questions? Hearing your feedback—even when you disagree with us—is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
I won’t go on another drop tower, so I’m glad they’re building this one as far away from where I live as possible! I do like the look of the building, though. I wish the one at DCA could look like that.
The Pixar show is a disappointment. I hoped the expansion pad would be for Toy Story Mania. I also wish Disney would go all in on Marvel and convert Tomorrowland into a full Avenger’s Campus.
Baffling that this park doesn’t have a proper cool down ride like a rapids or log flume attraction. Particularly with the humidity in that region.
I *personally* don’t need a Pixar show, but I will say that being there on June 1st and 2nd in the afternoon several years ago was enough to make me incredibly grateful for the fully enclosed, air conditioned shows they had, and I totally understand why some might want another one (I’ll never understand why they didn’t fully enclose the Moana theater).
Even more so because Hong Kong doesn’t really have any super long rides in the way that some of the older parks do. The shows are sort of the ONLY way to get out of the heat for a sustained period of time.
I thought people were overhyping Hong Kong’s humidity in summer…until the afternoon, at which point I realized I was very, very wrong and I suddenly became very, very enthusiastic about air conditioning and water bottle fillers! It was truly stunning to stand in line for Jungle Cruise, and watch about 20 fans going full blast above our heads, doing virtually nothing to make it more pleasant.
This is a very fair point and one that I didn’t fully consider since it’s been a while since we last did HKDL in the summer. (We’ve since sworn off June through September.)
Waiting for the daytime parade back in Summer 2016 was the closest I’ve ever come to passing out in a theme park. Didn’t happen, thankfully, but it was really rough.
My guess is the Avengers Tower ride will be patterned after Mission Breakout in DL, ie Tower of Terror in all but name. I’m imagining it being randomized so that you run into different Avengers each ride through, maybe with Spider-Man as a constant no matter what scenario you get. The Tower of Terror ride system is fantastic so I don’t have any problem with Imagineering just changing the window dressing on each version.
Re HKDL in general, the way the internet (not just Tom) has been talking about it post-Arendale reminds me a *lot* of how the Tokyo Parks were discussed 5-10 years ago. And now a common complaint I see from those same people is that TDR is crowded to the point it has lost some of its charm. I wonder if in a decade Hong Kong will find itself in a similar situation as the Tokyo parks re: crowding.
For what it’s worth, I had a blast during my first Tokyo visit earlier this year, crowds and all. But my favorite Disney trip ever was to WDW in Feb 2020 when crowds were widely recognized as bonkers so maybe my tolerance for such things is just higher than normal.
Not that I’m keeping score or anything (or maybe I am!), but we’ve been praising HKDL as destination-worthy since 2013! It’s really come into its own post-reopening, but the Grizzly Gulch and Mystic Point expansion is what first put it on the map as a unique park worth visiting.
I think part of the shift from TDR to HKDL is attributable to crowds, but cynically, I also think it’s influencers (etc) moving on to the next thing. Coverage of TDR has become oversaturated, so it’s hard for vloggers (etc) to frame it as something new and novel. And most of them never visited during the heyday of TDR in the first place, so they really have no frame of reference. (Colossal crowds were always a thing; the worst crowds we’ve ever encountered were all at TDR pre-2020. It’s other off-putting operational decisions that are the bigger issue.)
As for your theory about this using the Mission Breakout template, I’m inclined to agree. Having a randomizer element would be very welcome, and add to re-rideability.
Hong Kong just doesn’t have the local population base of Tokyo or Shanghai, so it’ll be some time before it gets to those numbers and crowd levels.
As for tourist, there will probably be some uptick in tourists over time, but I’ve found that many tourists’ concept of Hong Kong Disneyland is stuck in 2005. It’ll take a LOT of positive coverage and continuing new additions to change that IMO, even if the park itself is excellent and doesn’t deserve the reputation that has continued to linger for much of the world.
“It’ll take a LOT of positive coverage…”
So you’re saying I need to start blogging harder?! Challenge accepted.
I feel like HKDL has already started to turn a corner, and its last fiscal year reflects that. But you’re right, it’s an uphill battle, and there is no potentially (literally none) for HKDL to turn into the next TDR. It just doesn’t have the demographics on its side…even if it does suddenly have a lot of ex-TDR Annual Passholders (still, not nearly enough).
“…there is no potential (literally none) for HKDL to turn into the next TDR.”
Bookmarking this for the future when complaints about crowds and flagging operations for HKDL are talking points 😛 But your points about bloggers moving on from TDR is well taken and somewhat what I was trying to say initially, that TDR is not the hot “new” thing which makes people less forgiving of its flaws.
More seriously, I wouldn’t say there is *no* potential for HKDL to take off with Westerners. I do think it would involve opening a second gate to make it something to plan a trip AROUND rather than tacking on to an existing itinerary. There’s a reason your sales pitch for the last decade has been to add it on to a larger Asia trip (see, I have read the archives!). I have no idea if a second gate is feasible from a space perspective and suspect it is very much not feasible with their current financials. But in 20-30 years, who knows? 10 years ago I certainly wouldn’t have predicted a Disneyland Abu Dhabi would ever be on the table, let along officially announced.
I think each park having a unique Tower is cool. (except Paris, I guess). I’m in TDR right now and really enjoy their version, and the Guardians one in DL. Maybe next trip to Asia we’ll manage to fit in BK as well.
Paris does have its own unique tower now, by virtue of the Mission Breakout reimagining. It’s Shanghai that’s tower-less for now!
Enjoy the rest of your visit to Japan!