Travel

Avengers Campus
California Adventure Park
2-3 September 2021

“Unlike the Black Spire Outpost, the Avengers Campus is a disjointed experience, a collection of disparate ideas that doesn’t quite gel into a seamless whole.”
Mattopia Jones

---

Avengers Disassembled

The Avengers Campus is the latest “world” of immersive experiences, one that opened only weeks before Mattopia Jones arrived.

So, maybe there’s room to explain away some of the discord. It’s new. There’s the pandemic. Pieces are still coming together. Yadda, yadda, yadda.

But, even so, there’s enough evidence to indicate the Avengers Campus is a stretch, something that recycles some things while also adding new attractions without putting in the investment to completely build a new environment that the Star Wars area. The result is a hodgepodge.

The recycling is most notable with the completely refurbished Hollywood Hotel. Previously a Twilight Zone-themed scare ride, it’s experientially the exact same sudden-drop thrill ride, but completely rethemed around the Guardians of the Galaxy. The lobby and the queue space are pretty cool. Everybody stops to take a picture of the Russian astro dog. The statue commemorating the Collector is kinda funny.

But, stepping back outside to the main entrance and the staged banter between Star Lord and Gamora? Pew. It’s a safe bet James Gunn didn’t write that lame dialogue.

From there, it’s a strange assembly of disparate attractions that don’t add up to a holistic “campus” vibe.

The biggest, most glaring miss is an attempt to recreate the Avengers’ headquarters and use it as a stage for live stunt shows. Given this is a Disney production, the question has to be asked: What the heck is up with those terrible sight lines?

While seated at the Pym Labs micro brewery, the show is still a fair distance across a wide walkway. The actors are on a higher level, on a balcony area that is partly blocked from view by the railing. More problematic, no matter where one is seated or standing, the angle offers at the very best only a partial view.

It’s a shame because the stunt show starts strong, with Black Widow scaling down the side of the building to land on the balcony. But after that, it’s embarrassingly old school stunt show nonsense that involves Black Widow, Black Panther and Taskmaster in a tussle.

One of the small details worth noting is the Avengers Campus borders Radiator Springs. As one walks from Radiator Springs and moves into the campus, there are a couple billboards promoting the latest (1955) Stark automotive offerings. On the flip side, going from the campus into Radiator Springs, the billboards promote the rustic town and its celebrity residents, Lightning McQueen and Tow Mater.

---