Extinct Land Gets Special Homage in Avengers Campus

There is only so much land inside of a Disney Theme Park, which means that the addition of a new ride or themed land that gets added almost always means the termination of another. A Magic Kingdom Park, for example, Mickey’s Toon Town Fair became New Fantasyland, and Storybook Circus, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea would eventually turn into Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh was originally Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride.

Disney has a way of paying homage to the ride and lands that came before the ones there today. One of the most iconic is Mr. Toad’s tombstone in the pet cemetery of Disney World’s Haunted Mansion, and there is also a picture in the Winnie the Pooh attraction showing Mr. Toad handing the Deed to Owl. And it appears that the same tradition is practiced at the Disneyland Resort in California.

When it was announced that Disney would create an Avengers Campus at Disney California Adventure, the first question that had to be answered was what it was going to replace. The answer ended up being “A Bug’s Land.” Themed after Pixar’s second feature film, A Bug’s Life, Walt Disney Imagineers shrunk Guests to the size of an Ant to experience a green area through Flick’s eyes and enjoy attractions like the 3-D movie experience “It’s Tough to be a Bug.”

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“A Bug’s Land” is gone, but it appears that Avengers Campus is littered with references to it. Rather than being destroyed, the area was shrunk using Pym’s Particle.

According to D23:

If you’ve visited Avengers Campus recently, you might have spotted Ant-Man or The Wasp showing off an example of the Pym Particles power: They shrunk what they call a theme park to the size of a bug! If you’re lucky enough to see it (contained in its small case for safe keeping), you might even spot the iconic hidden four-leaf clover that once towered over park guests in ‘a bug’s land.’ Our favorite shrinking Super Heroes don’t always have this case with them, however; it turns out their ant friends are as big of a fan of Heimlich’s Chew Chew Train as we were, so sometimes Ant-Man and The Wasp leave the land behind so the ants can have some fun. After all, don’t they deserve a nice day at Disneyland Resort, too?

Related: Ungranted Wishes: The Disney World Attractions That Never Were

In a way, one could argue that this means “A Bug’s Land” is written into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

It should be noted that there are other references to “A Bug’s Land” elsewhere, but Pym’s handiwork is arguably one of the simplest ways to let Guests take another look at the land they once knew.

We at Disney Fanatic will continue to update our readers on Disney Parks news and stories as more come to light.