Ancient Sanctum

June 2021 – present

LOCATION

Avengers Campus – The Ancient Sanctum is tucked into the only somewhat quiet corner in the campus. If you’re visiting from the land’s main entrance, you’ll see it on the right, just after WEB Suppliers. And if you’re visiting from the Cars Land or Hollywood Land entrances, head toward the open center esplanade. You’ll see it on your left, across the walkway from the Quinjet building.

BACKGROUND

According to official Avengers Campus lore, Tony Stark repurposed a Stark Industries campus into a recruiting site for future Avengers. Unbeknownst to him, the campus was located on the grounds of an ancient sanctum. Today, Dr. Strange and his fellow Avengers with mystic powers use the ruins as a refuge, practicing their craft alongside recruits.

EXPERIENCE

Details:

• Single Rider Line – no
• Lightning Lane – no
• Height Requirement – none
• Duration – n/a, walkthrough attraction

The Ancient Sanctum is a walkthrough space with periodic live entertainment. Throughout the day, Dr. Strange appears in the Sanctum, showing visitors his skill in the mystic arts. Between Dr. Strange shows, other Avengers periodically visit to meet and interact with potential recruits (you!).

And when there isn’t an activity of some kind, the Sanctum opens its doors for your own exploration. You can visit the Orb of Cagliostro, which illuminates with dark magic at night, walk through the ruins, and even experience an optical illusion.

MY RATING: ★★★★☆

The Ancient Sanctum is by far my favorite space in Avengers Campus. I love the attention to detail, and the space looks completely different during the day and at night, which makes it fun to visit. Compared to many of its towering neighbors, the Sanctum is a fairly small attraction. But if you’re like me and love a good walkthrough (the castle walkthrough being the gold standard!), I think you’ll enjoy this one.

VISITING TIPS

Since this is a walkthrough attraction for most of the day, there isn’t really a ton of advice I can offer. I will say, I think it’s most exciting to start through the ruined front door and end with the Orb (rather than the other way around), and you should definitely see it at night if you can.

The schedule for Dr. Strange’s shows and the meet & greets vary daily, so I’d check with an Avengers Campus cast member if that’s a must-do during your visit. Otherwise, keep your eyes peeled while in the area – you never know who you’ll run into!

TRIVIA

The Orb of Cagliostro is a tribute to the book of Cagliostro, an ancient book of spells in the Ancient One’s private collection.

The land’s official lore says that when Dr. Strange joined Tony Stark in recruiting future Avengers, he suspended the Sanctum’s cloaking spells, revealing the ruins to the world.