Revenge of "WDW Magic Kingdom Refurbishmet"

I've decided to revive an old favorite on the threads here: refurbishing Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom.

I know I created a thread similar to this: http://forums.wdwmagic.com/showthread.php?t=376972. But I decided that this would be primarily my own ideas. As always, comment on them if you wish. Or share your own ideas for improvements! This can be for anything you'd do regarding improvements for the Florida resort's first park.

For this format, I've actually taken a cue from this: http://www.visionsfantastic.com/forum/f60/how-would-you-improve-disneyland-resort-29556/.

Anyway, let the fun begin!

Looking forward to it!

Well, here's the first of the changes to the park, starting at Main Street USA. This is almost fine as it is, but nevertheless, there are some things that would be still be changed here.

First things first. Beautification. From the entry gates to the Partners statue, everything that can be considered a part of Main Street will be brightened, beautified, and all-together made nicer. All paint chips (applying to the entire park) and faded paint will be taken care of thanks to the help of stronger and more colorful paint that can better stand the Florida climate. All foliage will be freshened up and brightened as if to appeal more to the naked eye. They will also smell rather pleasant to boot. The lighting fixtures will continue to have fire in them (if they haven't been doing so already) to warm up the occasionally-cold night air, and will also receive a fresh coat of paint. Walt and Mickey will also be given a shine, as will Roy and Minnie. The land will receive new pavement and the vehicles will be cleaned up and given any necessary fixtures.

Next time, I will go into more specific detail on other things in the area, but until then, any ideas for Main Street here?

Continuing on with Main Street...

All the shops in the park will sell only certain items in them, rather than the same items in all of them. That's right, the shops will just sell items themed to what they are. A big hint would be the name of the establishment in question. The exception will be the Emporium, which will be to the Magic Kingdom what the World of Disney is to Downtown Disney. It will sell anything and everything a Disney park fanatic would hanker for: everything from clothing, plush toys and candy to books, park DVDs and expensive sculpture. It will also receive new carpeting and wallpaper. The window displays will also be replaced.

The rest of the shops will sell pretty much anything its name says it has. For instance, the Main Street Athletic Club will sell only sports-themed items.

The vehicles will be cleaned up and any parts that need to be fixed or replaced will be. The Town Square Exposition Hall will become the new home of Walt Disney: One Man's Dream, which will have been relocated here from its old home at Disney's Hollywood Studios. It's actually a new version of the old Walt Disney Story, so it's like going back to basics here. In the exit, there will be a new Blue Sky Hall, which displays all future projects for the Magic Kingdom. The WDW Railroad will probably receive a new train (name currently unknown) and a new spiel will be used.

Okay, that ought to do it for Main Street. It's pretty much fine how it is now. You probably have wondered why I never thought about entertainment. Well, all in good time...

Stay tuned!

I completely agree with the idea of shops selling items related to their name (aside from The Emporium). I think that it would lend greatly toward creating a Main Street USA atmosphere, while also doing away with the homogenized product line currently offered at WDW. It would be great if they hired someone with a hint of adventure and creativity to order their in-park sale products. I wouldn't mind at all if they placed interior walls between each shop to separate them completely and make them each seem like a small business shop with a front entrance.

PotC backwards.

rsoxguy said:

I completely agree with the idea of shops selling items related to their name (aside from The Emporium). I think that it would lend greatly toward creating a Main Street USA atmosphere, while also doing away with the homogenized product line currently offered at WDW. It would be great if they hired someone with a hint of adventure and creativity to order their in-park sale products. I wouldn't mind at all if they placed interior walls between each shop to separate them completely and make them each seem like a small business shop with a front entrance.

Click to expand...

Well, here's the thing: the items themselves will be the same generic items as before, they just won't be in every single shop, one to the next.

Anyway...

Up next is Adventureland.

First of all, the Magic Carpets of Aladdin will remain. I actually like that ride. Not every movie-themed ride has to be a dark ride, you know.

The Tiki Room will be drastically altered. To be specific, it will be reverted back to its original, Tropical Serenade, non-Iago-and-Zazu self. But after the show itself is back to normal, the changes don't stop there. There will be the freshening of the attraction itself, new colors, updated special effects and animatronics, plus an all-new sound system to make the show have a crystal clear quality to it. The waiting area will receive some updates, too, mainly to accommodate the revised version.

The two birds in the waiting area will now provide an overview of the show, putting it into context. One bird, colored orange, is named Clyde, who speaks a rural dialect. He is voiced by Bill Farmer. Clyde's partner is colored blue and named Claude, speaking with a British accent. I think he should be voiced by Malcolm McDowell.

Now, moving right along, the Swiss Family Treehouse will be altered to Tarzan's Treehouse. This is not so much because it should be done as for to balance things out in other theme parks of the world.

The Jungle Cruise queue will feature a fresh coat of paint as will the rest of the park's structures. The queue itself will be relatively unchanged, save for the addition of a simple thing: a dusty old gas lantern, to help light up the queue at night, yet often flickering because it's old and such.

Next time, another favorite will receive some much-deserved attention. Jungle Cruise will be done at a later date. I'm trying to work out things there and any help would be greatly appreciated.

Stay tuned!

mharrington said:

Well, here's the thing: the items themselves will be the same generic items as before, they just won't be in every single shop, one to the next.

Anyway...

Up next is Adventureland.

First of all, the Magic Carpets of Aladdin will remain. I actually like that ride. Not every movie-themed ride has to be a dark ride, you know.

The Tiki Room will be drastically altered. To be specific, it will be reverted back to its original, Tropical Serenade, non-Iago-and-Zazu self. But after the show itself is back to normal, the changes don't stop there. There will be the freshening of the attraction itself, new colors, updated special effects and animatronics, plus an all-new sound system to make the show have a crystal clear quality to it. The waiting area will receive some updates, too, mainly to accommodate the revised version.

The two birds in the waiting area will now provide an overview of the show, putting it into context. One bird, colored orange, is named Clyde, who speaks a rural dialect. He is voiced by Bill Farmer. Clyde's partner is colored blue and named Claude, speaking with a British accent. I think he should be voiced by Malcolm McDowell.

Now, moving right along, the Swiss Family Treehouse will be altered to Tarzan's Treehouse. This is not so much because it should be done as for to balance things out in other theme parks of the world.

The Jungle Cruise queue will feature a fresh coat of paint as will the rest of the park's structures. The queue itself will be relatively unchanged, save for the addition of a simple thing: a dusty old gas lantern, to help light up the queue at night, yet often flickering because it's old and such.

Next time, another favorite will receive some much-deserved attention. Jungle Cruise will be done at a later date. I'm trying to work out things there and any help would be greatly appreciated.

Stay tuned!

Click to expand...

If we're adding to Adventureland, there's a gigantic repository of attractions that could be tapped to add to it - DAK. Let's be honest, Animal Kingdom is really just Adventureland on steroids. Not that I'm complaining, I love DAK and the feel of it; it drips with atmosphere IMHO. I can honestly say that the only attraction I can think of that really wouldn't fit very well into Adventureland is Finding Nemo: The Musical. So having said that, if we're moving attractions into the Magic Kingdom to make MK the ultra-awesome park that it could be (ala Main Street USA and One Man's Dream), here are some overall suggestions:

Fantasyland - The Seas with Nemo and Friends, Turtle Talk with Crush, Finding Nemo: The Musical, Toy Story Mania
Liberty Square - The American Adventure
Frontierland - Kali River Rapids (re-themed as DCA's Grizzly River Run), Davy Crockett's Explorer Canoes
Adventureland - Expedition Everest, Dinosaur, Soarin', Festival of the Lion King
Tomorrowland - Mission: SPACE, Star Tours

That would be a freaking amazing Magic Kingdom - it would blow Disneyland out of the water.

redshoesrock said:

If we're adding to Adventureland, there's a gigantic repository of attractions that could be tapped to add to it - DAK. Let's be honest, Animal Kingdom is really just Adventureland on steroids. Not that I'm complaining, I love DAK and the feel of it; it drips with atmosphere IMHO. I can honestly say that the only attraction I can think of that really wouldn't fit very well into Adventureland is Finding Nemo: The Musical. So having said that, if we're moving attractions into the Magic Kingdom to make MK the ultra-awesome park that it could be (ala Main Street USA and One Man's Dream), here are some overall suggestions:

Fantasyland - The Seas with Nemo and Friends, Turtle Talk with Crush, Finding Nemo: The Musical, Toy Story Mania
Liberty Square - The American Adventure
Frontierland - Kali River Rapids (re-themed as DCA's Grizzly River Run), Davy Crockett's Explorer Canoes
Adventureland - Expedition Everest, Dinosaur, Soarin', Festival of the Lion King
Tomorrowland - Mission: SPACE, Star Tours

That would be a freaking amazing Magic Kingdom - it would blow Disneyland out of the water.

Click to expand...

I don't know, except for the canoes, I would like to keep those attractions in their respective parks, so as to maybe give the guests reason to visit them.

Anyway, moving right along, I need some help with improving the Jungle Cruise. I will put that on hold for the moment until someone can help me with it.

For now, I will move on to another classic, Pirates of the Caribbean. Now, obviously, while it would be nice to bulldoze the ride and rebuild it from scratch, I don't think it's really feasible, financially, logically or physically. So instead, I'll just work with what I've got. Once again, MEW, if you're reading this, please forgive me for any copying of your words on my part.

As with the ride in Disneyland, it will be a win-win for ride and movie fans. The ride changes begin even before you reach the entrance. The barker parrot will be returned, though maybe placed under the present black sail outside the entrance that bears the ride's name. Then the real changes start after you get into your bateau and cast off. The Davy Jones waterfall will be relocated to directly above the single waterfall.

Before you reach that, you will hear the "Dead Men Tell No Tales" line accompanied by Paul Frees' "No fear have ye of evil curses..." line, remastered and played by way of a special set of speakers that will be installed to make the voice float around to various points of the room. Meanwhile, before you go past the ghost ship in the storm, you will see a new treasure trove scene similar to other rides out, but in this case, the skeleton would be created by way of an old Pepper's Ghost effect thought of for the ride way back when: http://waltdatedworld.bravepages.com/395dda20.jpg.

Davy Jones and his waterfall will become more HD (Is that what you would call it?) and that's about it. This waterfall will be relocated directly above the actual waterfall you go down.

This, of course, lands you in the "bombarding the fort" scene. Here, the dialog is almost left alone - "almost" in the sense that any mentions of Jack Sparrow will be removed from Barbossa's dialogue. If edited correctly, there won't be any worry about having to have Geoffrey Rush re-record more lines.

The well scene will lose its current dialogue and return to the old dialogue respectively. Jack will still remain hiding behind the dress-wearing mannequins. The new assumption is that rather than looking for Jack, the pirates are simply looking for the town's treasure. Jack, of course, who obviously isn't a part of the crew (Barbossa is presumably their captain after all) is secretly searching for the treasure himself, thus why he appears to have found it at the end of the ride.

The chase scene will have a very controversial change: The pirates chasing ladies for love... again. That means that the Pooped Pirate will be back in action here, once again holding the frilly pink underskirt and bragging about the woman whom it belongs too. The terrified girl pokes her head out of the barrel and looks around, quickly lowering his head back down at the sight of the barking dog which grabs the Pooped Pirate's attention. The pirates and the ladies will chase each other around in circles.

What's that? Where's Jack, you say? Well, he's moved to the far left side of the scene. Here, a pirate has fallen asleep in a drunken stupor, the key to the town's treasure vault tightly gripped in one hand, and the map leading to it in his lap. On either side stands a horse and a goat, both in which walk a very sneaky Jack attempt to steal the map and key. Right as Jack is about to get it, the animals make noise, causing him to retract as the pirate makes some horrid noises in the form of snores. Jack goes back and, of course, the animals react. This never-ending sequence is guaranteed to garner a few laughs.

The burning town scene will now have a new sight: a rowboat with two very intoxicated pirates seated in it and filled to overflowing with rum bottles, including some in the water nearby. The fire effect will be made more realistic than ever, as not to allow the shadows of the flapping curtains to appear.

Finally, a brand-new scene will be added. After you go through the treasure room, with Jack seated in it, the old way of disembarking the boat and going up an escalator to leave is now gone for good. Instead, you end the ride the same as in Disneyland: by going up a waterfall! But in this case, the ride's up-ramp will resemble the cargo ramp-type thing used in Paris' version. It's also home to a new version of an old scene: the arsenal, where various intoxicated pirates take potshots at each other, at the guests in the boats and at barrels full of explosives. And instead of just being them singing the classic song, it will involve them speaking like how the pirates in the Disneyland ride speak, when the ride was shown on television:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uYdPjyfs64 (wait until 7:35).

Once at the top of the waterfall, you disembark from the boat, down a new exit path that still leads into the same POTC-themed shop as before. But more on that later...

So concludes the improved POTC at WDW's Magic Kingdom! Next time, I will go into the land's shops and restaurants before moving on...

For Adventureland's shops and restaurants, here's what will happen...

First, the restaurants: El Pirata Y El Perico will be renamed to "The Buccaneer Bar" and its menu will be altered to be more health-conscious. It will also be home to local Florida cuisine. Elsewhere, Aloha Isle will be left alone, but the Sunshine Tree Terrace's menu will be altered to include non-alcoholic tropical beverages, Hawaiian shaved ice and something brand-new: orange whips, based on a new sponsor I've thought of for this (and also the Tiki Room): Florida's Natural Growers, makers of Donald Duck orange juice (the park is in Florida and Donald is a Disney character, so why not put two and two together?). This will be the Magic Kingdom's equivalent of the Dole whips at Disneyland. Finally, the old Adventureland Veranda is back in business once again, but its theme will be altered. Say hello to "The Adventurer's Club", a new version of an old favorite from Pleasure Island. It will be pretty much the same thing as before, but scaled down to fit within the area of the old Veranda, but it's the same restaurant. It will be a sit-down restaurant.

Now the shops. Once again, the contents will be revised to be less homogenized than before. Island Supply will now feature all things Hawaiian, not just clothes, but also fresh fruit, perfect for eating on the go. Agrabah Bazaar will be renamed "Agrabah Marketplace" and now place more emphasis on all things Aladdin. Pirate's Bazaar will be renamed "Buccaneer Bazaar", though its selection of pirate-themed items will remain, but expanded to include all things pirate-related, such as swords, eye patches, hats, "hooks", gold doubloons and jewelry, and it will also remodeled to allow for the new exit path of Pirates of the Caribbean.

That's the end of the shops and restaurants in Adventureland. Next stop: Frontierland.

Now we come to Frontierland.

Splash Mountain will be receiving minor updates, mainly to relieve the animatronics of any water damage. But there will also be several cannons at the end of the ride as you go around the wide bend at the edge of the river near the ride. Here, the cannons are disguised as more briar twigs. You can use these guns to shoot guests with water at the logs below.

Now, on to Big Thunder Mountain. The track will be scrapped and replaced, the trains will be revised to be less likely to crash and they will also be given pouches to stow your belongings safely and there will also be new speakers installed in the trains. This is for to incorporate a new soundtrack into the ride. It'd be majestic Western-type music. I'm thinking something along the lines of the second half of the "Frontierland" scene of Remember Dreams Come True. Click here to see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPh-lbC4BOY (the music I'm thinking of starts at 0:47). Finally, all the animatronics on the ride will be altered to be more authentic in their appearance.

Meanwhile, Tom Sawyer Island will be left alone. There will also be a new landing dock for the return - that's right, return - of the Mike Fink Keelboats. Next, the Country Bear Jamboree will be altered to include all three versions of the show shown throughout the year. The Vacation Hoedown show will be seen from around late May through early September, the Christmas show from mid-November through early January, and the original show the rest of the year.

Finally, the Diamond Horseshoe Saloon will receive a new show, but more on that later.

Next time, I will do Frontierland's shops and restaurants.