AVENGERS ASSEMBLE! The world needs more heroes and Disney has built a land for just that! Avengers Campus at Disney California Adventure is its latest new immersive land built to resemble the Stark Industries base featured in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Here in our Avengers Campus Disney California Adventure Ultimate Guide, we break down the details of the Campus and take an in-depth look at the area. We look at what to expect at the Campus, some of Disney’s tough decisions and how they paid off, an in-depth look at the rides and attractions, the finding options, the shopping, characters, and how it feels to visit the Campus. This guide will give you all the information you need to visit the Avengers Campus during your next visit to Disney California Adventure.
Quick Note: We are big fans of the Marvel Universe Films and love watching the spin-offs and mini-series. However, neither of us are traditional die-hard MCU comic book fans. We didn’t read the comics growing up, so the only exposure of the MCU has been from Hollywood and Disney. As a result, this guide is written by relatively new Marvel fans so our opinions of the Avengers Campus may differ from that of a lifelong Marvel Super Fan.
Contents
- Overview
- Layout
- Timeline
- Overall Impressions
- Attractions
- Shows
- Dining
- Character Interactions
- Shopping
Overview
In 2009 the Walt Disney Company announced a deal to acquire Marvel Entertainment for $4 billion. From then on, Disney has brought the Marvel Universe to life through the big screen, small screen, toys, merchandise, comic books, and anything in between! The Marvel Acquisition has brought new life and a new fan base to the Disney company, creating a franchise that is possibly more successful than the Pixar and Lucas Film mergers.
On the back of this popularity, Disney had to give their Marvel Fans a chance to taste life as a real-life superhero so in 2017 Disney announced their new immersive superhero area of Disney California Adventure Park with the Guardians of the Galaxy ride being accompanied by Spider-Man and the Avengers. Initially, the opening date was set for July 2020 but was delayed until June 2021 due to the Global Pandemic. In 2022 Disney opened Avengers Campus at Disneyland Paris and another Campus is due to open in 2023 at Hong Kong Disneyland.
The Avengers Campus at Disney California Adventure is set around a Stark Industry Lab Building and includes PYM’s Test Lab and Doctor Strange’s Ancient Sanctum. Avengers Characters regularly roam around the campus and can be often seen from the Campus Building. It has 2 rides, several shows, themed dining, and merchandise shops to keep any super superhero fan happy!
Layout
Marvel Campus is located within Disney California Adventure Park in between Hollywood Land and Cars Land. There are 3 entrances; you can either enter the back of the Campus via Hollywood Land (the quickest way from Buena Vista Street to Guardians of the Galaxy Ride). Or you can enter from the main park walkthrough once you have Buena Vista Street, this entrance is the front of the Campus which you can walk through to get to Guardians of the Galaxy. The 3rd entrance to the Campus is from Cars Land, which is just next door.
When you enter the main entrance of the Campus, Web Slingers: A Spider-Man Adventure is on your left. Make sure you look up as you walk by as Spider-Man is often seen swinging from the roof! On your right, you will see WEB Suppliers, an Avengers merchandise shop.
Opposite the entrance to Web Slingers is the Ancient Sanctum. Here you can see Avengers Dr. Strange, Wong, and Agatha from Wandavision. Visit a night to see a truly magical and mythical show!
To the right of Web Slingers are PYM Test Kitchen and PYM Tasting lab, 2 Super Hero themed quick-service restaurants to satisfy even Hulk-sized appetites.
The main attraction in the center of Avenger’s Campus is Avengers Headquarters, with a life-sized Quinjet on the rooftop. Multiple Avengers regularly come out onto the Headquarters balcony to interact with fans down below.
Towards the end of the campus, at the back is Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout, located in the Collectors Warehouse aka the old Tower of Terror building. This is the Marvel Campus’ second ride which actually opened before the Campus was built.
Once you walk past Guardians of the Galaxy, you reach the end of the Marvel Campus where you will find Terran Treats where you can find weird and wonderful intergalactic treats inspired by The Collector including a sugared Cosmic Orb.
Timeline
As any true Avengers fan will know, Time is a tricky concept in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Thankfully, Disney has decided to keep time simple at the Marvel Campus; there is no set timeline at the Marvel headquarters. There has been no Thanos, no blip, Ironman nor Black Widow have not died and as a result, all Avengers are present in the Campus so fans can have character experiences with all their favorite superheroes.
This is a popular decision made by Disney Imagineers as Galaxy’s Edge at Disneyland has a lot of fan criticism due to the fact that Disney has kept the Star Wars timeline to the newest (Disney-made) films of the Star Wars saga. Therefore, eliminating many favorite Sar Wars Characters from Galaxy’s Edge, leaving it to feel ‘unreal’. Avengers Campus, however, feels alive, as if you are really within the Marvel Universe and truly immersing you in the experience.
As Disney continues with its Marvel Cinematic Universe, new superheroes and supervillains are created and Disney makes sure new characters are within the Marvel Campus for fans to meet (Agatha from Wandavision is one of the newest additions).
Overall Impressions of Marvel Campus
Whenever a new themed land is announced by Disney, there’s always the worry of the fans that it won’t be what they expect or the expectations will be too high. Avengers Campus also suffered a pandemic delay just like much of Galaxy’s Edge and as a result, both new lands were highly anticipated. Due to our visits being delayed, we were looking forward to visiting the new Avengers Campus and Galaxy’s Edge both at the same time. So we had some big expectations of that visit.
On a whole, Avengers Campus did not disappoint. Thanks to Disney doing away with a timeline, the Avengers Campus feels just like that; a campus full of Avengers. It’s interactive, feels alive and like you could bump into your favorite superhero at any point; because you do!
The 2 rides, WEB-SLINGERS and Guardians of the Galaxy are both fun-filled Avengers-themed rides but it’s thanks to the multiple character experiences available that make you think you are really at a Stark Industries compound turned Avengers headquarters. Our only negative thought is that it feels quite small, especially compared to the space they gave to Galaxy’s Edge over at Disneyland Park. But with a new ride announced at D23 hopefully, the campus will expand and get the space we think it deserves.
The Amazing Spiderman show is a real highlight, with Spidey swinging from the building every half an hour bringing theatre to the campus which is followed by the chance to meet Spiderman himself. We make sure we spend time in Avenger Campus every time we visit Disney California Adventure and walking into the iconic Avengers music still gives us goosebumps!
Attractions
WEB-SLINGERS: A Spider-Man Adventure
When the Ride was announced we really hoped for big things, the opening date for the ride was the same date as the opening of the new Marvel Campus and with Guardians of the Galaxy already being open for 4 years, expectations were high!
This ride basically uses motion tracking to register your movement to Fire Digital Webs at various targets. As The Ride moves around the set it stops at various doors along the way that open to reveal a Digital Screen. Your Targets which are rouge Spider-bots (this will make more sense later) appear on these Digital Sets and it is your job to destroy or ensnare them using your newfound web-slinging powers.
It’s good tech, but a near copy of Midway Mania. The fact there are no guns and that motion tracking is used to fire the webs is really neat, but overall it’s just nothing we haven’t seen before.
The Web-Slinging tech is really cool and younger audiences really love the ride, so there is little hope for parents to avoid the experience. But overall we found it to be a letdown. It’s not even as good as Midway Mania in our opinion so the fact it adds little to the Genre and is just a repeat attraction is pretty weak.
You can read our full review with video HERE
Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout
Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout was Disney California Adventures’ first taste of the Avengers Universe when it opened in 2017 after the refurbishment of Tower of Terror (RIP). As this ride opened several years before Avengers Campus was built, it is not a new ride but Marvel Campus was built around it.
Mission: Breakout is a Drop Tower Ride. That means it rises up to 186ft and then plunges back down leaving the riders’ stomachs floating somewhere above their heads. But the manner in which Mission: Breakout achieves that is anything but basic. The Automated Guided Ride Vehicles (basically robots) Drive themselves to the elevator shafts before entering, where you are propelled skyward, and dropped from great heights over and over. It is a remarkable system and one that really should be experienced.
This is tied in with an immersive and exciting theme taken from the Guardians of the Galaxy films and features all the favorite characters from the films, including a fantastic animatronic Rocket and digital versions of Starlord, Groot, Drax, Gamora involved in a daring escape from the collector. It is an impressive achievement from the moment you hit the queue right up to the staggering ride experience, it really is an incredible ride. The Theming is really good and naturally, as a Guardians of the Galaxy ride, there are a lot of laughs along the way. It is fair to say we really loved the ride!
Read our full review and video of the ride HERE
Shows
There are 2 regular shows within Avenger Campus at Disney California Adventure.
The Amazing Spider-Man!
- Duration: 4 Minutes
- Times: Every half Hour Daily
- Location: Avengers Campus, WEB Building
Spidey hangs, flips, and swings from the WEB building while interacting with Park Guests from the roof of the WEB Building (where the WEB SLINGERS ride is housed. This short show is ended with Spidey taking a flight high through the air of the Avengers campus with the spiderman stuntronic. Located just off the main walkway into Avenger Campus, arrive a few minutes early to get a good standing spot to view the show center stage. SpiderMan hangs around after the show for meets and greets so this is an absolute must-see for any Avenger fan.
Dr. Strange: Mysteries of the Mystic Arts
- Duration: 11 minutes
- Time: 2:30 pm, 3:50 pm, 5:05 pm, 6:55 pm, 7:50 pm, and 8:45 pm Daily
- Location: Avengers Campus, Ancient Sanctum
Here Dr. Strange attempts to explain the mysteries of the mystical world in a magical illusion show using breathtaking special effects. Dr. Strange invites recruits to discover the ancient ruins and enforces the sanctum against villain Dormammu.
The area of the Ancient Sanctum is quite small so we recommend arriving 15 minutes before the show time to get a good viewing spot for the show. The special effects really come alive at night so try and catch the show under the night sky for added magical effects.
Dining
There are several Superhero themed eateries and dining experiences to sample in Avengers Campus.
PYM Tasting Lab
- Cocktail/Beer Lounge
- Quick Service, Unique Themed
- Mobile Pick Up Available
- Menu
The PYM Tasting lab has superhero Themed Cocktails and Beers to enjoy during your visit to the Avengers Campus. The Drinks list is mostly made up of Alcoholic beverages, so while you do not need to be Over-21 to visit the PYM Tasting Lab, there is very little on offer for those younger than 21 years old. This is definitely a dining/ drinking experience for Adults!
PYM Testing Kitchen
- American/Healthy/Vegetarian Options available
- Quick Service
- Mobile Pick Up Available
- Menu
PYM Testing Kitchen is a Themed dining experience for all ages. Enjoy Ant-Man size-defying eats with phenomenal food at unusual scales. Grab your food from this old lab decorated with items from ongoing experiments and try the latest innovations in food science. Highlights include the Not So Little Chicken Sandwich and the PB3 Superb Sandwich but make sure you save room for the Choco-Smash Candy Bar!
Shawarma Palace
- Food Snack Cart
- Quick Service
- Mobile Pick up Not Available
- Menu
Every Avenger knows that after a busy time of Super-heroing, Shawarma is the best thing on the menu! After the Avengers beat Loki, they discovered their favorite food at Shawarma Palace in New York. The Shawarma Palace owners are big Avengers fans too and opened their 2nd location at Marvel Campus for superhero fans to successfully avenge their hunger! If that is not enough to entice you, the amazing smell from the Food cart will seal the deal!
Terran Treats
- Sweet Treats
- Snack Cart, Quick Service
- Mobile Pick Up Not Available
- Menu
If at the end of your visit to the Avengers Campus, you are still feeling hungry then grab a Raspberry Churro or a Cosmic Cream Orb from The Collectors Tarran Treat-themed cart.
Character Interactions
Avengers Headquarters
With the Quinjet proudly sitting on the top of the Avengers headquarters, the building is hardly subtle and attracts a lot of attention. This can mean unwanted attention… As such, different members of the Avengers regularly keep watch from the balcony above as they scan the horizon for unwanted threats. Our favorite superheroes are ready to defend the headquarters from the top of the building and all around the Campus. They take their job very seriously so keep an eye out for a member of the team as you walk around the campus as you may encounter one of the following:
- Iron Man
- Black Panther
- Captain Marvel
- Black Widow
- Thor
- Doctor Strange
- Ant-Man
- The Wasp
- The Guardians of the Galaxy
- Captain America
- Shang-Chi
Don’t forget to catch Spidey in his height-defying show The Amazing Spider-Man!
Ancient Sanctum
Dr. Strange has suspended the Ancient Sanctum’s cloaking spells and revealed them to the world. Discover the mystical secrets that have been hidden for centuries in his Mysteries of Mystic Arts show.
Shopping
Web Suppliers
- Mobile Checkout
- Apparel & Accessories, Pins, Gifts Toys & Plush
Suit Up like Earth’s mightiest heroes at this one-stop superhero shop where new recruits can find everything needed to accept an earth-saving mission at a moment’s notice. Purchase your very own Spider Bot prototype along with other Avenger-themed merchandise to take home from your mission with you.
Campus Supply Pod
- Apparel & Accessories, Pins, Gifts Toys & Plush
Check out an amazing array of Super Hero merchandise including Avengers Campus performance fleece hoodies, headwear, and T-Shirts. Look the part and dress heroically during your visit to the Campus.
The Collectors Warehouse
- Apparel, Toys, and Plush, Collectables
Conclude your tour of the Campus by visiting The Collectors Warehouse as you leave Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout. Here you will find cosmic keepsakes and superhero-worthy souvenirs including:
- Super Hero kids’ costumes
- Comic books
- The latest Marvel DVDs
- Super Hero costume-style and graphic T-shirts for kids and adults
- Action figures
- Toys for adventure play
- Collectibles, including vinyl figures, trading pins, artwork, and figurines
- Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: BREAKOUT!-themed apparel and souvenirs
Have Your Say
Been to the Marvel Campus at Disney California Adventure? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below. Was this all you ever dreamed of? Or just a nice place to explore? Did you find it immersive or just a themepark land? Let us know your thoughts on the Campus, whatever they may be. And if you have any questions just fire away in the comments.