Heroic new adventures are just about to land at the Disneyland Resort. Superheroes assemble with new attractions, experiences, stunts, food, merchandise and more. The new Avengers Campus opened June 4th, 2021 at Disney California Adventure!
MiceChat has all the photos, videos, interviews, information, and a guide to EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT AVENGERS CAMPUS!
The new Marvel-themed land at Disney California Adventure is called “Avengers Campus” and contains a new ride, a new shop, a new restaurant with attached micro-brewery, plus character interactions, some stunt shows, and a few outdoor vending food and merchandise locations. The land is located on roughly the same footprint as the old A Bug’s Land, so it isn’t huge, but does pack quite a bit into a small space with some additional room to grow.
UPDATE: JUNE 4th, 2021 – OPENING DAY
We are updating this post with a bit of additional information from the VERY CHALLENGING opening day. Disney was not prepared for the crowds and there were many missteps in crowd control, access to the land, and line management.
We will update the post below with new information as Disney’s procedures for the land are updated in the days to come.
Here’s what is most important for you to know:
- Without a Virtual Queue (Boarding Pass) appointment for WEB SLINGERS, you will NOT be able to ride. Please see below for more info on getting a boarding pass for the ride.
- Mobile Order is the only way to eat at the PYM Test Kitchen. Shawarma Palace and Terran Treats outdoor vending carts do have walk-up availability. [Disney will be testing walk-up availability for PYM Test Kitchen in the near future.]
- A long line will form outside the land for entry into Avengers Campus. If you have a Boarding Pass for WEB SLINGERS, they will allow you into the land a few minutes before your boarding pass. The official word on Mobile Order is that a Mobile Order does not guarantee you entry into the land. However, they HAVE been allowing guests with Mobile Order into Avengers Campus a few minutes before their pick-up time. PLEASE CHECK with someone at the front entry to Avengers Campus to find out what the current policy is. If Mobile Order is being allowed into the land, you won’t need to wait in the long line outside the land for entry. If Mobile Order is not allowed, express entry into the land then you may wish to cancel your Mobile Order and get in the long line. It’s messy that we don’t have a firm answer and that’s Disney’s fault for being unclear and inconsistent.
The line to get into Avengers Campus on opening day time-lapse video:
- Inside the land, you may need to put your name on a waiting list to visit the WEB Suppliers store. It’s not worth it. This is a tiny store with very few items. Save your time and visit the STAGE 17 Avengers Campus store in the Hollywood Backlot land. Everything you need is there and will save you 2 hours or more of waiting for WEB Suppliers.
- TIP: Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout is part of the land. But because it’s tucked away in the back and not new, it didn’t have much of a line (if any) for most of opening day. If you find yourself in the land with nothing to do (a big problem with the new land) visit Guardians for a fun ride with a short wait!!!
- The land will be VERY crowded. While folks are waiting for their Boarding Pass for the ride, mobile order for the restaurant, and return time for the store, they all just stand around waiting for characters to show up. This can be a miserable experience but with moments of joy. Be prepared. Try to find shady spots to stand and wait. Make your own fun and bring things to distract your kids. We saw lots of kids in full meltdown on opening day.
Now, back to our coverage of Avengers Campus and everything you need to know. Keep in mind that most of the photos and video below were taken before the land opened to the public on June 4th (some at a press event and some at a preview):
Avengers Campus Pre-Opening Preview
Let’s get started with a live video walk-through of the new Avengers Campus:
Avengers Campus Map
Almost time to go on our adventure, let’s get oriented first. The new Avengers Campus fits on the plot of land that A Bug’s Land once occupied. It spans a narrow path from Guardians of the Galaxy to the Parade Route. There is an attraction on either end (Guardians on one side and WEB SLINGERS on the other). In the middle you’ll find one shop, one restaurant (with an attached bar), some outdoor vending carts (food and merchandise), and lots of character interaction. The Guardians of the Galaxy ride has a gift shop as well, but it’s sort of tucked away from the rest of the land and mostly accessible to folks exiting the ride.
Before we get going on the rides, shops, food, and entertainment, let’s chat with Imagineer John Mauro, the Producer of the new land:
Marvel Rides
Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout has some new company. A brand new Spider-Man themed family ride opens June 4th. WEB SLINGERS: A Spider-Man Adventure (long attraction names continue) is very similar to Midway Mania, but with an innovative new way of shooting targets. This attraction tracks your body movements to allow you to shoot webs from your own wrists to stop the mischievous “Spider-Bots.” No need to hold a blaster on this one, YOU are the web-slinger!
Let’s take an exclusive peek inside WEB SLINGERS, and learn the secrets from the Imagineers who built the ride. Meet Casey Ging, Sr. Concept Designer of the ride. I’ll also take you on a ride-through with me as well. Keep in mind I’ve never seen a Spider-Man film, so I don’t know how to sling a web. It’s embarrassing, I know, but in the interest of science, here it is:
The entry to the queue is unassuming.
The outdoor switchback queue is filled with props and signs.
The pre-show in the queue is highly detailed and frenetic. There’s a combination of physical props here and a Pepper’s Ghost projection effect that makes it feel like Peter Parker/Spider-Man is right there in the room. There’s nothing you need to know about the story other than one of Peter’s projects has run amok and you need to help get the situation under control.
Somehow I missed this sign in the queue the first time through. Perhaps if I’d seen it I wouldn’t have embraced myself so badly in that ride video above.
The vehicles are very similar to Midway Mania but much larger. They comfortably seat 4 guests on each side with a single lap bar for the entire row.
The back to back seating looks like this:
Shoot webs buy extending your arm. You’ll be wearing 3D glasses which make it appear that you are actually shooting webs from your own wrist. It’s impressive.
Guests can purchase upgrades to wear on their wrists that power up your adventure. Instead of shooting a single web, those wearing the new web-shooters will be able to shoot three at a time, shoot electric webs, or even fire energy blasts like Iron Man:
Disneyland News: Avengers Campus Spider-Man Ride Goes Pay-to-Play
Fans will be excited to hear that Spider-Man actor Tom Holland is the face of the web-slinger in the ride. You’ll see him as Peter Parker in the pre-show.
Here’s Tom Holland working on the new attraction:
Similar to the other massively popular attraction Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, the WEB SLINGERS will only be available to those with boarding passes. The virtual queue will operate in the same manner as Rise of the Resistance, meaning that it will open two times per day (7am and 12pm) and must be scheduled through the Disneyland app. You will not be able to hold boarding passes for both WEB SLINGERS and Rise of the Resistance at the same time, but it is possible to get a pass for one in the morning and the other in the afternoon if you have a park-hopper pass (and get very lucky). For more about boarding passes, take a look at our guide for getting a boarding pass for WEB SLINGERS: A SPIDER-MAN ADVENTURE:
How to Score a Boarding Group for WEB SLINGERS: A Spider-Man Adventure
For those wondering if the Spider-Man ride will get FastPass one day, it sure looks like it. Just to the side of the ride entrance is this FastPass sign (there’s also a sign for Single Rider that you can’t see in the image below – although neither Single Rider nor FastPass is currently in use):
The other big attraction in the new land was already there before the land even broke ground, Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout. Guardians no longer feels so alone in the universe.
A Shwarma cart and a Terran Treats stand have been added to the area, as well as new pavement which makes it appear that the tower has been magically transported to Avengers Campus.
The ride is otherwise exactly the same as it was before. They’ve made no attempt to do anything new with Guardians of the Galaxy. There have been no additions to the ride now that it’s part of Avengers Campus. As a result, while the rest of the land can be absolutely PACKED with guests, you’ll likely find the line for Guardians to be practically a walk-on all day.
A Phase Two attraction was promised for Avengers Campus by Bob Chapek at the last D23 Expo, which would feature an E-Ticket ride that puts guests aboard their own Quinjet in a battle over Wakanda. However, this project has been paused at the very least and possibly canceled (due to the extraordinary park closures of 2020). But they did build the Quinjet and place it atop the Avengers HQ.
Although it may look like a big building you can enter, this is just a facade. There’s nothing for you to see inside. But you will see a lot of characters here, as we share further below.
Concept art for the unbuilt E-Ticket were shared at the D23 Expo and shows guests in what appears to be their own personal vehicles (but early concept art is often misleading).
Marvel Experiences and Characters
As you might expect, guests will be able to interact with Super Heroes throughout Avengers Campus. You can expect to see: Spider-Man, Iron Man (in Mark 80 armor), Ant-Man, The Wasp, Captain Marvel, Black Widow, Doctor Strange, the Guardians of the Galaxy, Black Panther, the Dora Milaje, Thor, Loki, etc. . . .
. . . and new to the Disneyland Resort, Taskmaster (from the Black Widow film):
Dr. Strange has his own mysterious garden, called the “Ancient Sanctum,” where he’ll teach recruits how to cast spells. The area will glow at night with what Disney describes as “pulsating mystic energy.”
We an tell you from personal experience, that while area looks interesting during the day…
…it is STUNNING at night:
And, of course, that crazy Spider-Man stunt animatronic might be spotted tumbling through the air, high above the land.
The cast of characters is huge and really one of the main attractions of the land. You might see the characters engaged in battle with a villain on the rooftops of the land.
You might see Black Panther, Black Widow, Spider-Man and other characters rappelling down walls, hanging from ropes, and performing other stunts.
General Okoye leading a training encounter. And lots of opportunities to meet the characters up close.
Keep an eye out for strange happenings as well. I was almost sucked into a wormhole of some sort (a really neat pattern on the ground that makes it look like the ground is giving way in your photos):
Take a look at the awesome character interaction in Avengers Campus and see Spider-Man FLY above the land. You’ve GOT TO SEE THIS!!!:
Avenger’s Campus Food
Let’s be real here, Disney fans love food. At times, food and merchandise can steal attention from the main attractions. So it won’t be any surprise that Disney has cooked up some fanciful, and Instagrammable, items for Avengers Campus. There are 4 dining locations. One main restaurant with attached micro-brewery (PYM Test Kitchen and PYM Tasting Lab), two Shwarma Palace food carts, and one sweet stand (Terran Treats).
PYM Test Kitchen & PYM Tasting Lab
Ant Man’s PYM Test Kitchen and PYM Tasting Lab (a micro-brewery) have quite a few unique items that play with portion size, color, and texture.
Before you start reading, take a few moments to look at this video, where I get to taste and see a LOT of food with Disneyland’s culinary team:
Prepare yourself for lots of big and little items . . .
- Experiment No. EE90: Not So Little Chicken Sandwich features fried chicken breast with teriyaki and red chili sauces, pickled cabbage slaw and crispy potato tots.
- Experiment No. IP42: Quantum Pretzel features a pretzel that has been enlarged by a quantum tunnel and comes with mustard and beer cheese dipping sauce
- Experiment No. EE45: ImpossibleTM Spoonful, a pasta dish featuring plant-based Impossible large and micro meat-balls, served in a super-sized spoon with a tiny fork. As the PYM Test Kitchen is sponsored by Impossible Foods, it’s an interesting tie-in. I really enjoyed this dish, and that serving spoon is so clever.
- Experiment No. EE10: PYM-ini, a panini on toasted focaccia with salami, rosemary ham, provolone, sun-dried tomato mayonnaise and arugula with marinara dipping sauce, which can be served by the slice or as a long, multi-portion sandwich. Just be aware that the larger version will set you back $100! That’s got to be one of the most expensive sandwiches in the world.
- The PYM Test Kitchen is also open for breakfast. The PB³ Superb Sandwich features peanut butter, banana, smoked bacon and strawberry jelly with a banana smoothie shot and crispy potato tots. That’s not mold on the bread, it’s just superhero blue.
The Test Kitchen will be open for Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner!
And creative kids meals:
Here’s a closer look at the PYM Test Kitchen menu:
Pym Test Kitchen Lunch
Kids menu:
Pym Test Kitchen Breakfast
Pym Tasting Lab
The micro-brewery (get the pun) is located on the side of the Pym Test Kitchen and is located outdoors with a small seating patio.
Seating will be difficult to come by for a while due to a tiny outdoor seating patio.
- From left to right, alcoholic beverages: X-Periment, Molecular Meltdown, Honey Buzz and Particle Fizz can be found at Pym Tasting Lab (the microbrewery next door to PYM Test Kitchen)
- The Regulator, pictured here, features Patron Silver tequila, lime juice, habanero and mango syrup, Golden Road Mango Cart wheat ale and garnished with mango flavored popping pearls. You can also find this at the PYM Tasting Lab.
- Pictured below, the kid-friendly Proton PB&J Punch features Odwalla lemonade with flavors of strawberry and peanut butter, and Pingo Doce, the distinctly green beverage from Avengers lore.
- To complement your beverage selection, guests can also nosh on these Snack Molecules available at the PYM Tasting Lab featuring popped sorghum with mini pretzels and honey roasted peanuts.
Pym Tasting Lab menu:
Shawarma Palace
There is even a shawarma cart in the land (two fo them actually)! If you remember at the end of the Avengers movie, Tony Stark recommends grabbing some shawarma from the nearby Shawarma Palace. Apparently, the Avengers convinced Shawarma Palace to set up a second location at Avengers Campus.
There are both breakfast and regular items at the two Sharma Palace carts.
Terran Treats Outdoor Vending Cart
Located across from the Guardians of the Galaxy tower is this outdoor vending cart:
The cart specializes in sweets:
- Sweet Spiral Ration Churros with unique flavors will be available in a new food cart in front of Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout!
- Cosmic Cream Orb, a crispy cream puff with whipped raspberry cheesecake mousse.
Seating issues:
If you have trouble finding a spot to eat in the land, a giant dining patio has been created in the old exterior queue of the Hyperion Theater. UNFORTUNATELY, there are still far too few tables for the number of guests. You may end up having to sit on the ground as they can churn out the food quicker than the tables turn. It’s an unacceptable situation that you should be prepared for.
The photos below were taken at our preview before all the crowds arrived on opening day.
Mobile Order
This is an evolving situation. Prior to the land opening on June 4th, Disney said that Mobile Order would be available, but not to do so until after you entered the land as a Mobile Order would not grant you entry. Unfortunately, guests didn’t listen and snapped up all the available spots anyway first thing in the morning. As a result, the restaurant was empty since all those folks with the orders were still outside the land in a long queue. Disney panicked. Instead of canceling all the unclaimed Mobile Orders, Disney decided to let them all into the land. It was an unfair change in rule in the middle of opening day. That left those who followed the rules standing in line outside while those who cheated were let in.
We can’t tell you to follow the rules when Disney isn’t even following them. Do what you need to do to get out of that line! Book your mobile order as soon as it becomes available (could be as early as 3 or 5am on the day of your visit). You can always cancel your mobile order if Disney changes their policy again.
Marvel Merchandise
And it wouldn’t be Disney without gift shops . . . so you’ll find all sorts of things, including Spider-Bots for sale in the land. There’s one main shop called WEB Suppliers, and a merchandise cart called the Campus Supply Pod. If you find the shopping locations too busy, a GIANT shopping experience for Avengers Campus has been created inside the Stage 17 Hollywood Premiere Shop nearby. We highly recommend the Stage 17 location as it has everything in the land and then some, without the wait.
WEB Suppliers
I spoke with Traci, a senior manager in Disney Merchandise, to bring you this look at the inventive merchandise in Avenger’s Campus, take a look:
Located across from the Spider-Man ride, WEB Suppliers carries all the Spider-Bot accessories, as well as the WEB Power Bands (which help you score better on the ride). You’ll also find the Spider-Man goggles everyone is talking about.
Cuffs and glasses . . . yep . . .
The shop is tiny, but if you can make your way in, take a look at the props above. There are many Easter eggs placed there by the Imagineers, such as the potato gun and gumball machine filled with acorns. The cast members in the store know all the stories.
As an aside, there’s also a joke about the potato gun in the queue to WEB SLINGERS:
Campus Supply Pod
This is just a small cart with friendly staff. There’s some gear here, light-up water bottles and pins.
All of the items in Avengers Campus (as far as we can tell) are available at Stage 17 in Hollywood Land. They even have additional collectible items you can’t find in Avengers Campus. We have a full write-up for you of the store and the items you’ll find:
Avengers Campus Merchandise NOW AVAILABLE at Disney California Adventure!
Stage 17 – Hollywood Backlot Premiere Shop – Featuring Avengers Campus
Avengers gear for the whole family. . .
Costumes and character-wear.
Funko figures
Hats, pins, patches, mugs and more as well. . .
There are also some pieces of merchandise that are integrated into the WEB SLINGERS attraction. You can purchase WEB Shooters both inside the land and in Stage 17. They function in two modes: attraction mode (while riding on WEB SLINGERS) and home mode. The attraction mode will actually change how you play the game. For instance, there are WEB Shooters that use electrified webs or you can use Iron-Man’s energy blasts while on the attraction.
While in home mode, the WEB Shooters have limited functions like lights and sounds that play on activation. There are several models of WEB Shooters, Spider-Man and Ghost-Spider that fire electric webs, along with Iron-Man and Rescue repulsor blasters.
For more about the WEB Shooter upgrades, and whether it is fair to use them, be sure to check out the article below.
Disneyland News: Avengers Campus Spider-Man Ride Goes Pay-to-Play
Avengers Campus Tips & Tricks
As with all things Disney, there will be huge interest early on to see the land. And that means lines. However, Disney California Adventure is still limiting park attendance to 35% capacity, and the main attraction in the land requires a Virtual Queue boarding pass with no available standby line. With all that in mind, here are some things to be aware of and to take advantage of:
- Don’t forget the 7am and Noon Virtual Queue opportunities. Use your Disneyland App to get your virtual spot in line for WEB SLINGERS. You snooze, you lose. Spots will go almost instantly. Be prepared (see our guide to getting a boarding pass for WEB SLINGERS)
- Queue for the Avengers Campus. Once the new land reaches capacity, a queue will be set up to access the land. HOWEVER, anyone with a WEB SLINGERS boarding group will be allowed into the land before their ride. So, be sure to look for the alternate access to the land should it become necessary. Entry to the queue for the land is expected to be located off the main parade route across from the Golden Vine Winery. Guests will exit the land into either Cars Land or Hollywood Land.
- Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout WILL be part of the walled off Avengers Campus when (and if) a land queue is necessary. Since the attraction is stand-by only at this time (no FastPasses are currently available at the Disneyland Resort), this will give guests something else to do in the small land.
A barricade will be set up in front of the Hyperion Theater in Hollywood Land when necessary to wall-in Avengers Campus. Guests will then line up on the main entry side of the land (off the parade route by the winery) and would be able to exit from the Hollywood and Cast Land sides.
- Mobile Order your food (for both the Pym Test Kitchen and Shawarma Palace). A mobile order doesn’t guarantee you access to Avengers Campus when there is a queue to get into the land. HOWEVER, they WERE letting people with Mobile Order into Avengers Campus on opening day. So it might be worth the effort to stay out of that insane line to get into the land. If they aren’t letting folks into Avengers Campus with a Mobile Order on the day of your visit, just cancel your Mobile Order.
- Having trouble finding a seat? There’s a large overflow seating area next to the Hyperion Theater. However, there still isn’t enough room. You might just need to find a shady spot to sit on the ground. It’s an unacceptable situation.
- Take advantage of Stage 17. With all those guests waiting for the WEB SLINGERS and Pym Test Kitchen virtual queues and Mobile Orders, there will be a lot of folks just wandering around looking for things to do. That means the one indoor shop is likely to be swamped. You do NOT need to get in line for this shop if there are many people waiting. EVERYTHING from the land is also located inside Stage 17 nearby in Hollywood Land (and then some).
- Set Correct Expectations. With all the hype from Disney and fans, it’s easy to expect too much from new offerings. I think it’s important to know what this land is before stepping foot inside. The offerings are rather modest for a new land. What’s there is quite fun and well detailed. However, the ride isn’t an E-Ticket in my opinion, but rather along the lines of a D-Ticket like Midway Mania (which it is very similar to). There is just one indoor shop, and one restaurant with no indoor seating. The character interaction and stunt performances will be very interesting to some, but not others. The land will be overcrowded nearly all day, so if you don’t have a Virtual Queue for Spider-Man and don’t have a Mobile Order for the Test Kitchen, you are sort of out of luck as there isn’t much else to do. Know before you go and you’ll have a much better time.
Grand Opening Celebration Live Stream
Disney held a special opening live event on YouTube June 2nd at 8:15 PM Pacific Time. You can watch a recording of the broadcast below:
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Let’s Hear From You
Avengers Campus is now open after a delay of almost a year due to park closures. What’s your excitement level for this new land? Does Marvel resonate with you and your family? Are your little ones looking forward to web-slinging with Spider-Man? Like what you see of the new ride (and my HORRIBLE web-slinging)? Let us know your thoughts on all things Avenger’s Campus in the comments below.
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