News 'Beyond Big Thunder Mountain' Blue Sky concept revealed for Magic Kingdom

[lazyboy97o]

The only thing against this assessment is that Disney already did most of this for Galaxy's Edge at Disneyland and made relatively short work of it. Conditions are a little different in Florida, especially with regards to the River, but I can't imagine they're particularly concerned. If they want to get back there they'll just go for it.

It wouldn't be a 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea-level reclaimation, and that really only took a year anyway.

Rivers of America at Disneyland and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea are essentially pools. Rivers of America at Magic Kingdom is an actual canal that is part of the larger water management system. Losing water in the River means losing water management capacity. Building on the land north of the River means increasing the necessary water management capacity. Then there’s the issue of stabilizing any essentially reclaimed land in the area. Filling in a portion of the Rivers of America at Magic Kingdom is a significantly bigger undertaking than doing similar work at Disneyland.

 

[ToTBellHop]

I know a lot of people feel the same way but it always makes me sad when I see this.

AE was amazing and a very different approach for Disney at the time. It was inventive, corny enough to be fun without being over the top, unique and perfect for the younger crowd who liked to be a little scared and that is something that is hard to find anywhere on property. In the end, putting in the "kiddie" park killed it long term. So many people that just ignored all of the warnings plastered all over and then complained.

SGE on the other hand... flaming dumpster fire of a ride.

I thought getting blood spatter on me was a bit over the top for MK.

 

[MagicHappens1971]

It also allows them to determine staffing...EPCOT is low on attendance today, so move that staff to MK.

The reservation system may help control labor costs, but it does not do this.

 

[Brer Panther]

Am I the only one who doesn't think a Villains' land sounds all that exciting?

It just sounds gimmicky to me.

 

[SNS]

I know a lot of people feel the same way but it always makes me sad when I see this.

AE was amazing and a very different approach for Disney at the time. It was inventive, corny enough to be fun without being over the top, unique and perfect for the younger crowd who liked to be a little scared and that is something that is hard to find anywhere on property. In the end, putting in the "kiddie" park killed it long term. So many people that just ignored all of the warnings plastered all over and then complained.

SGE on the other hand... flaming dumpster fire of a ride.

I sometimes wonder if Disneyland had gotten an AE clone instead of having the building turned into a Pizza Planet if they would still have theirs.

 

[sullyinMT]

How cool would it be if they completely mirrored Fantasyland for the new villains land, copying all the rides but make them evil in a Dark Fantasyland. Like an upside-down Fantasyland. Buildings all dark and delipidated. Captain Hook’s Night, It‘s a Creepy-Crawly World, Disenchanted Tales with Beast, Seven Villains Mine Train, etc. That would help with capacity.

Instead of a mine train theme, maybe a coaster that goes up a cliff where two vultures await our fall, only to have us “slip” on the wet rocks and fall back down. Kinda like a more height accessible Everest.

 

[CastAStone]

MK desperately needs capacity. It sees the most guests and needs more space for them.

What they need is another MK. Somewhere besides Florida and Anaheim. That would actually draw people away.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

I thought getting blood spatter on me was a bit over the top for MK.

Though less graphic, Mr Toad had you run over by a train and Snow White used to have the Witch drop a giant diamond on you...

 

[Animaniac93-98]

I sometimes wonder if Disneyland had gotten an AE clone instead of having the building turned into a Pizza Planet if they would still have theirs.

It probably would have been changed to Stitch too to maximize the value of the retheme and help push merch.

 

[Dranth]

I thought getting blood spatter on me was a bit over the top for MK.

Eh… I minor detail. Besides, who doesn’t want an alien to explode all over them before getting on SM?

If only they had built it in MGM, it may have had a chance.

 

[_caleb]

They draw people to the other parks by limiting reservations at MK, which pushes people to EPCOT, etc. Apparently, even with that, normal ticket sales at MK leads to overcrowding. So, you need to disperse them more evenly. Reduce the Peter Pan line by sending them behind BTMRR to Encanto, etc.

Here's a random Monday. Only MK is sold out. Besides being my dog's birthday, I don't know why 9/26 is so popular.

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Sad you weren’t invited to your dog’s party at MK we’ll all be there

 

[GustoGummi]

D23 this year really made me realize that the current people running the show have absolutely no self awareness and no clue what they're doing...

 

[Superman68]

What they need is another MK. Somewhere besides Florida and Anaheim. That would actually draw people away.

As much as I would love to have them build one here in Missouri where we have the real Main Street USA, I don’t think we will ever see that happen. This past weekend definitely was telling about what is to be expected going forward with so little investment in the current parks, I don't see them making an investment like this.

 

[dman1373]

Can I say how odd it is for them to be considering this area for expansion when they have a big unused plot in Adventureland that could be used?

 

[JMcMahonEsq]

I think it's important to stress here that WDI/management do not care about land transitions, interconnectedness, or cohesion. At all.

You have it completely backwards. It’s the guests/customers that do not care about those things. WDW management care about making money, full stop. They wants guests in the park, spending. If transitions, interconnectedness or cohesion were the draw to people coming and spending, they would exploit it to the hilt. But it’s not. Those things matter to niche message board super fans. Not the general public who is filling up the park every day. This company has more analytics data for its customers based on viewing habits, surveys, magic band data, ect. If the market truly wanted those things, that’s what they would be providing, but it doesn’t.

 

[Jrb1979]

You have it completely backwards. It’s the guests/customers that do not care about those things. WDW management care about making money, full stop. They wants guests in the park, spending. If transitions, interconnectedness or cohesion were the draw to people coming and spending, they would exploit it to the hilt. But it’s not. Those things matter to niche message board super fans. Not the general public who is filling up the park every day. This company has more analytics data for its customers based on viewing habits, surveys, magic band data, ect. If the market truly wanted those things, that’s what they would be providing, but it doesn’t.

It's also a big reason they won't put in original attractions anymore. Your average guest wants IP every where.

 

[JMcMahonEsq]

What they need is another MK. Somewhere besides Florida and Anaheim. That would actually draw people away.

Why in the world would you open a third domestics park location, with all the insanely expensive land acquisition and infrastructure work that would entail, only to canibalize your domestic market siphoning off guests from CA and Fla?

That is in addition to all the difficulties in even finding a domestic third location if you could show you have any chance at a good ROI as opposed to just taking away guests from the other parks. The book Project Future goes into great detail in the backstory on how Orlando was eventually selected. Finding a location that has proper balance in place travel infrastructure, year round weather (there is a reason almost all the northern theme parks like six flags or Hershey park are seasonal) and large swaths of cheap available land AND is far enough aways from LA and FLA would be an almost impossible task.

 

[crazy4disney]

Though less graphic, Mr Toad had you run over by a train and Snow White used to have the Witch drop a giant diamond on you...

that train scared the crap out of me as a kid

 

[SteamboatJoe]

I could have sworn someone who knows what they are talking about has previously noted that there is some sort of issue with that Advenureland plot that makes it not ideal for construction.

 

[peter11435]

Can I say how odd it is for them to be considering this area for expansion when they have a big unused plot in Adventureland that could be used?

Because this is significantly more land and solves more problems