Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom

Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom is an interactive game attraction for the Magic Kingdom that debuted on February 22, 2012. The game focuses on Merlin recruiting park guests as new apprentice sorcerers and sending them out to battle various Disney villains organized by Hades scattered throughout the park's themed lands using special spell cards.

Development
Word on the game was first leaked in interviews with Jonathan Freeman for the Aladdin musical, mentioning that he was reprising Jafar for a new attraction where guests battle the villains.

Installation of show elements in Adventureland and Liberty Square took place over the course of Summer 2011 and Fall with concept art for the game shows that Kaa, Maleficent, Jafar and Cruella De Vil will be among the game's enemies.

Testing for the game began in November, with characters such as Yzma, Kronk, Scar, Shenzi, Banzai and Ed being revealed as villains in Adventureland. It was later revealed that Doctor Facilier, Lawrence, Governor Ratcliffe, Ursula and Chernabog would all be featured villains as well.

Gameplay
When starting the game, guests are given a specialized park map pointing out various locations for the game, along with a Sorcerer Key card that activates the game screens and tracks the guests' progress and a set of Spell Cards. Locations included in the paper maps consist of every land except for Tomorrowland. The main play areas are Magic Portals, which Merlin opens up to allow you to interact with the characters and fight the villains. To activate a Magic Portal, tapping or scanning your Key card at a keyhole will activate the Magic Portal screen. The spell cards hold various attacks of differing strengths used to fight the villains.

As the screens are all functionally similar, a computer algorithm points guests to whichever nearby screen might be open at the moment upon completing a Magic Portal task. This is a means to prevent crowding at the Portals.

Story
Starting off at the Main Street Firehouse, Merlin welcomes park guests to his special hideout, teaches them the basics of the game with Portal activation and spell card usage and begins to tell the story. Hades, bored with the nothingness of the Underworld, is looking for a new summer home with the Magic Kingdom park looking like an ideal spot, though Merlin stands in his way. He sends Pain and Panic to Merlin's home to steal the Crystal of the Magic Kingdom--a powerful artifact that keeps evil forces in check at the park, but they end up awakening Merlin in the process. In a brief scuffle, the crystal is shattered into several pieces and scattered to different locations throughout the park. Annoyed, Hades decides to call upon a team of villains to help retrieve the crystal shards for him, including Yzma, Jafar, Scar, Maleficent, Ursula, Ratcliffe, Dr. Facilier and Cruella de Vil.

Main Street USA
Main Street only features Cruella de Vil as a villain, though it is also home to Sorcerer Training with Merlin at the Firehouse.

Cruella de Vil
Pongo serves as the guests' guide in this quest. Cruella has made a deal with Hades (disguised as a crime boss named Boss Teal) to have all the dalmatians in her possession in exchange for the legendary crystal of the Magic Kingdom. Cruella sends Horace &amp; Jasper to find it for her, but when they fail, she decides to search for it herself. The park guests, with the help of Pongo and Merlin, defeat Cruella, infuriating Hades once he finds out. Merlin then congratulates the guests and gives them a new assignment.

Adventureland
Three villains are located in Adventureland: Yzma, Jafar and Scar.

Yzma
Kuzco serves as the guests' guide in this mission. He tells of how Yzma has been recruited into helping Hades (in the guise of a local Underworld God named Lazuli) to retrieve the crystal in exchange for becoming "Empress of Adventureland". Looking to their old transformation potions, she and Kronk plot to turn the residents into alpacas and make comfortable sweaters using tainted goodies made by Kronk.

They first test the alpaca potions on a guard that battles the guests, who is sent flying back down the stairs into the laboratory. At the next portal, Kronk and his shoulder angel are considering whether or not the potions will mess with his kabob recipes, though Hades appears on his other shoulder to encourage him to stay the course. Using the Sorcerer's Crest (the symbol on the back of the spell cards), Kronk's stand is blown up and he retreats to his kitchen. There, the guests battle Kronk, knock him out and destroy his contaminated platters. Guests finally go to Yzma's lair to confront her, where she attacks with magic-draining potions. Woozy from battle, Yzma is finished off when she is hit with a sweater potion, leaving Hades angry with the results when he stops by to check in. Merlin and Kuzco appear in the Enchanted Tiki Room when they congratulate the guests before sending them onto another mission.

Jafar
Genie serves as the guests' guide in this mission. Here, Hades (under the name of Prince Azure) has acquired Jafar's lamp and uses him to capture Merlin and search for the crystal. However, Jafar has Iago helping him once more in an effort to try and break free of Hades' control and trap him in the Cave of Wonders. Iago battles the guests with the magic of the Sultan's ring. Defeating him, Jafar takes him out of there and heads to the Cave of Wonders. Hades is frustrated with Jafar's lack of progress in finding Merlin and tells him to assume his original form. Jafar spies the guests and sends in a copy of his giant snake form to battle them while he goes after Merlin. Genie heads off to deal with the guards while the guests free Merlin from entrapment inside a lamp with the Sorcerer's Crest. But even after breaking out, Merlin and Genie have difficulties with Jafar inside the Cave of Wonders and get captured. Iago flies in with Jafar's lamp during the chaos and Merlin manages to break free and fight Jafar, leaving the guests to retrieve the lamp from Iago's clutches and allowing Merlin to trap Jafar in his lamp again. Genie breaks free and leaves with Merlin before Hades arrives. Merlin and Genie then congratulate the guests and send them on another mission.

Scar
Rafiki is the guests' guide here. Hades has revived Scar to retrieve a crystal piece in exchange for immortality. This is enough for Scar to rally the Hyenas under his thumb again and they are gifted with dark magic as well. He plots to start a massive elephant stampede to create chaos in the Pride Lands. Guests battle Banzai and manage to discredit Scar in front of the Hyenas using the Sorcerer's Crest. Hades is frustrated with Scar's lack of progress and after battling the guests, requests Hades to give him power on par with his brother Mufasa. He then gets transformed into a massive red storm cloud that is ultimately dissapated by the guests, leading Hades to facepalm and question why Scar even wanted to be a giant cloud. Rafiki and Merlin congratulate the guests while riding in a Jungle Cruise boat and send them on their way to another mission.

Fantasyland
Two villains are featured in this land: Ursula and Maleficent.

Ursula
Sebastian serves as the guests' guide in this mission. He tells of how Ursula has made a comeback when Hades pulls her from the River Styx to help him out on his conquest. But instead of giving the crystal to Hades, she plots to use it for her own plans, and with the aid of Flotsam and Jetsam, intends to break down a sea wall to flood Fantasyland and Cinderella Castle. The guests, along with Sebastian and Ariel, manage to follow the sea witch to a shipwreck, only to run into Flotsam and Jetsam. After defeating them and moving to the next portal, Ursula sends Glut after the guests. After defeating the shark, the dark magic left behind allows guests to track the sea witch, only to find Ariel trapped in the flooding castle. Merlin arrives to help, only for him and Sebastian to realize she's an imposter, calling on the guests to use the Sorcerer's Crest to expose the charade. Ursula is revealed and heads out. While Merlin tries to handle the flood, guests are left to defeat Ursula. While searching for spells and ignoring Hades' calls in a crystal ball to drain the castle, Ursula battles the guests, dissappearing upon her defeat and leaving Merlin, Ariel and Sebastian to congratulate the guests from the castle moat before Merlin sends the guests onto another mission.

Maleficent
Merryweather serves as the guests' guide in this quest. Maleficent has returned and kidnapped Flora and Fauna, plotting to take over Fantasyland with the crystal piece that she has found instead of giving it to Hades. Merryweather and the guests travel into Maleficent's castle to free them. Beating one of Maleficent's Goons and breaking through a door with the Sorcerer's Crest, Flora and Fauna are freed. Continuing onward, Maleficent leaves the crystal with a goon to power a special device and battles the guests before retreating to continue her plans. Hades is summoned, having suspicions of Maleficent's treachery, which she manages to diffuse. Upon leaving, Maleficent promptly casts her spell and engulfs a village in thorns. The Three Fairies manage to break up the thorns by combining their magic with the Sorcerer's Crest. Finding Maleficent preparing another trap in her lair, she transforms into her dragon form to battle the guests. Upon her defeat, Hades comes in to find the trap and Maleficent's remains, dissapointed that he left her to her own devices. Merlin and the fairies congratulate the guests at the Mad Tea Party before Merlin sends them on their way to another mission.

Frontierland/Liberty Square
Two villains are featured in these areas: Ratcliffe and Dr. Facilier.

Governor Ratcliffe
Pocahontas serves as the guests' guide in this quest. Ratcliffe is freed from prison by Hades (in the guise of Lord Indigo of the East Underworld Trading Company) and makes a deal to gain control over Pocahontas' land in exchange for the crystal of the Magic Kingdom. Ratcliffe agrees, but soon enough, Ratcliffe begins to panic as the crystal is nowhere in sight. But being that Pocahontas knows the land, he kidnaps Meeko to try and force the indian princess into helping him find it. Fortunately, the guests defeat Ratcliffe onboard his ship by blasting him with magic, causing him to fall overboard. Merlin, Pocahontas and Meeko congratulate the guests while sailing on a Tom Sawyer Island raft, before Merlin assigns the guests their next mission.

Dr. Facilier
Mama Odie is the guests' guide in this mission, with Louis assissting. Facilier has been revived from the dead by Hades and is recruited to find the legendary crystal of the Magic Kingdom. Facilier also plans to extract revenge on Tiana for his demise and take over New Orleans. He assigns his shadows to find the crystal and frees Lawrence from prison to poison the food at Tiana's Palace and place the citizens of New Orleans under his control. Meanwhile, he kidnaps Tiana, but while he has a conversation with Hades, Tiana is freed by the guests. Facilier retrieves the crystal and plans on getting Tiana after he becomes the ruler of the city. Facilier battles the park guests after Lawrence and his shadows were defeated. Facilier himself is turned into a frog and taken back to "the other side" as a result of his failure. Merlin, Mama Odie, Tiana and Louis congratulate the guests while sailing on the Liberty Square Riverboat before Merlin gives the guests their next assignment.

Endgame
Once all the villains are defeated, Merlin congratulates the guests for their efforts in keeping the Crystal of the Magic Kingdom safe from harm. However, Pain & Panic (in their cute woodland critter forms) trick Merlin into giving them the crystal and they deliver it to Hades, who summons Chernabog to fight the guests. Fortunately, Merlin is able to help them defeat the demon and eventually seal away all the villains, including Hades, in a snowglobe. Merlin then gives the guests a medal of honor to reward them for helping him save the park.

Cards
Spell cards in the game are divided into nine different spell classes which includes: Toy, Machine, Animal, Fairy Hero, Princess, Warrior, Monster and Mystic. A card's rarity is classified by the sign in the bottom left corner, right above the number out of 70. Although Disney confirmed there are only 70, there seem to be more because of these symbols, as told by other sources. A planet means the card is common, A cresent moon means uncommon, a star is rare, a double star is double rare, and a lightning bolt means almost never seen.

Note that there are two versions of Woody's Cowboy Lasso. One that has Slinky Dog accompanying Woody, the other without him. This card had to be altered to remove Slinky, since they did not have permission to use him.

Voice Cast

 * Jeff Bennet: Merlin and Jasper
 * James Woods: Hades
 * Bobcat Goldthwait: Pain
 * Matt Frewer: Panic
 * Susan Blakeslee: Flora, Maleficent and Cruella de Vil
 * Russi Taylor: Fauna
 * Tress MacNeille: Merryweather
 * Jim Cummings: Maleficent's Goon Guard
 * Maurice LaMarche: Horace
 * Jodi Benson: Ariel
 * Kevin Michael Richardson: Sebastian and Rafiki
 * Pat Carroll: Ursula
 * Corey Burton: Flotsam and Jetsam
 * Robin Williams: Genie
 * Jonathan Freeman: Jafar
 * Gilbert Gottfried: Iago
 * Tom Kane: Scar
 * Jenifer Lewis: Shenzi and Mama Odie
 * Cheech Marin: Banzai
 * Irene Bedard: Pocahontas
 * John Kassir: Meeko
 * David Ogden Stiers: Governor Ratcliffe
 * J.P. Manoux: Kuzco
 * Patrick Warburton: Kronk
 * Candi Milo: Yzma
 * Anika Noni Rose: Tiana
 * Keith David: Dr. Facilier
 * Michael-Leon Wooley: Louis
 * Peter Bartlett: Lawrence

External link
Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom Wiki