Replacement for Tomorrowland Speedway?

[Daveeeeed]

I think I followed most of that, but stupid me has to ask. what is WiR?

Wreck it Ralph
Don't worry, there are so many acronyms it is difficult sometimes

 

[marni1971]

The Stitch going away for a WiR ride was some of the initial talk of changes coming that ultimately has ended up with TL getting a significant refurb, including a likely (not definite) addition of an E-Ticket. Has the Stitch rumor from early on died off somewhat, or has it morphed into something other than that first rumor? Honestly, between DHS, Epcot and MK I am starting to lose track of everything anymore.

I would imagine with you being "in the know" with a lot of this your mind must be reeling, knowing how things might look 5 years from now.

Stitch is still on borrowed time. The replacement IP is at the moment stalling things. WiR is still possible but less likely. Had it happened, it wouldn't have meant major structural changes to the building. It would have been a lot of work yes, but would still have mostly kept the feel we've had since December 1971.

So far as I know Tomorrowland is still heading towards an overhaul, both thematic and plussing, plus new build. It should also be quite cohesive again. Purple rocks and a new blue CoP sign should give an indication towards the overall feel. Just don't expect the monoliths to return!

 

[flyerjab]

Aside yes.

The Stitch attraction (moon complex) is quite an intergrated building with the Peoplemover, itself, Cosmic Rays and the basement level. To do anything drastic with it would probably be more hassle and cost than it's worth.

@marni1971 , I know that you are getting beat up with requests right now, but are the facades of the buildings being changed at all as part of this? We were just in the parks last week and went into every part of MK. IMHO, TL looks the worst of all of the lands. It looks old, worn out, and just exhausted. The buildings to either side as you enter I think look terrible, especially when being viewed from in the hub. And a lot of it looks outdated from a design perspective.

 

[clemmo]

Will be interesting to see why becomes of stitch. I just hope they don't let it sit for another year or more without an announcement or sign of replacement. A new attraction in there plus a new build e ticket and overall thematic updates would go along way. Frontierland looks fine imo, though I'd love to see the theater built that was rumored in one of the other forums for that area.

 

[huwar18]

Stitch is still on borrowed time. The replacement IP is at the moment stalling things. WiR is still possible but less likely. Had it happened, it wouldn't have meant major structural changes to the building. It would have been a lot of work yes, but would still have mostly kept the feel we've had since December 1971.

So far as I know Tomorrowland is still heading towards an overhaul, both thematic and plussing, plus new build. It should also be quite cohesive again. Purple rocks and a new blue CoP sign should give an indication towards the overall feel. Just don't expect the monoliths to return!

Is it sad that I am happy that issues could cause Wreck-It Ralph to be sidelined? I like the movie. However, I do not want an attraction based on the film. I wish Disney would let Imagineers use their imaginations again. I know they still do amazing work. I would like some original work (even if it is based loosely on an IP).

 

[marni1971]

@marni1971 , I know that you are getting beat up with requests right now, but are the facades of the buildings being changed at all as part of this?.

That's the plan yes.

 

[flyerjab]

That's the plan yes.

That is good to know. I really like how the majority of the park looks at the moment from a show perspective, with the exception of TL. The fronts of those buildings from the hub have always bothered me. They are very unadorned, with this metal trim that looked dented in spots. The entire area beneath the central hub looks bad to me also. The metallic trees, the chairs and umbrella tables scattered about, etc. just needs to be redone. The best thing that happened to some of the refurb work from several years back was the new rockets they put on the AO and how the planets were fixed and added back in. Other than that, I never liked the red/orange paint scheme for the load/unload station of the people mover.

 

[DDLand]

In addition, Happy Ever After is going to make things a lot worse when the only really good way to see the fireworks is from the Hub. The Hub already is packed to capacity quite often. If you expand MK, you bring in more people... people who can't fit in the hub, or along the route of the one showing of the daily parade.



As pointed out right above you need to increase capacity at the choke points... the parts of the infrastructure that can't handle increased capacity. Additional pads at TL and FL will allow more people on the rides, but it won't allow more people to get past Rapunzel's restrooms, or fit into the Hub for HEA, or keep the tapstiles from being swamped on the way in. If you put in more ride capacity and that makes MK more attractive and the queues shorter, more people will show up for that, and then swamp the other choke points.

If you want to add to the MK, you have to add more restrooms, more bypass routes, a second night time show far from the Hub so that people have to chose between one or the other (like SW v. F!), OR, you learn how to re-set you fireworks show for two showings a night (like they did eventually with BAM and SW at DHS).

Or, you make the other parks more attractive to the point they're reaching the capacity of their choke points.

I'm all for thoughtful infrastructural improvements. Better utilization of old restaurant spaces makes sense too. Additions in bathrooms and services facilities sound awesome to me.

New attractions should lower stresses on walkways though. Magic Kingdom attendance is going to be hanging in around 20 Million a year regardless of a new addition. Are those people going to be out in walkway/restaurant/shop creating congestion or in a queue/ride where people ought to be in a theme park.

If Magic Kingdom attendance was tied purely to expansion, it's true that building might not be prudent, but because the park continues to grow unabated and should hit short term saturation at around 20 Million there needs to be more ride space. People have to go somewhere and either they're going to be inside or outside.

Might as well make more attractive offerings in order to bring people off the paths.

 

[RobotWolf]

The Stitch attraction (moon complex) is quite an intergrated building with the Peoplemover, itself, Cosmic Rays and the basement level.

To give some perspective on this, there is a room off the Tomorrowland tunnel where you can look up and literally see the bottoms of the seats in the MtM theaters. There's nothing but space between your seat bottom and the concrete floor about 1.5 floors down. It's safe. It just doesn't look safe from down there. Similar to the HM speed belts.

The point is, these structures don't sit on "the basement," they extend through and contain the basement.

 

[@DisneyBryan]

What if Alien Encounter just returned and took Stitch's place for the 50th. A little fanboy service a la Captain EO....I can dream right...

 

[willtravel]

What if Alien Encounter just returned and took Stitch's place for the 50th. A little fanboy service a la Captain EO....I can dream right...

I thought Alien Encounter was a great attraction. Scared the beejeezle out of me ever time I rode. But I often wondered if the attraction would get the same great response now as then. It was so new and I thought innovative but I wonder now with all the new technology if it would be dated. Just wondered. My wanting it back, is that just because of good memories?

 

[clemmo]

Just looked over on the site ending in nt... it appears as though DL and Honda are announcing something tomorrow regarding their speedway, Autopia. I'm sure it won't be anything too exciting but interesting nonetheless

 

[21stamps]

I would enjoy seeing some kind of Tron attraction added to WDW.

So...after spending awhile this morning reading this entire thread, I have to point out that when Eisner was in charge, he more or less built this 'MK is for families and kids and can't have thrill rides in it' mentality. This was NOT what MK was supposed to be. People tend to forget that Walt Disney himself had WED build the Matterhorn...the first tubular steel Coaster thrill ride in Disneyland....Space Mountain was supposed THE Thrilling ride when it debuted in 1975 for Magic Kingdom. Disneyland Paris built Space Mountain with inversions. Disneyland got Star Tours and Indy...both rides with height restrictions. Shanghai has added Tron. Thrills CAN and should be in the castle parks.

Alien Encounter being Deemed too scary really seemed to be the tone setter for the new 'Normal' thought process as to MK being an all ages everyone can do park. Parents complained, the attraction closed, and every more thrilling concept for MK got shot down.

Here we are well over a decade later and so many people think this is how it's supposed to be. How many of your were WDW visitors before 2000? Before 1990? Before 1980? The Disney I first visited in the mid 1980's is not the Disney of today. The guests aren't the same either.
Should a big E-ticket thrill ride be added to MK? Yes. But so should more all ages people eating attractions as well.

So...those of you worried about MK being too packed and the other parks being underutilized...this is true. What are the key problems with the other three parks?
#1.Not enough to do. The parks need much more to divert people away from the Magic Kingdom. What many people want are rides. Each of the other parks need a good 10-12 more rides that are memorable and fun.
#2. Not enough all ages attractions. Thanks to the MK getting coined as the 'kiddie park', Studios and Animal Kingdom appear to be the more 'thrilling parks' and Epcot is for the older crowd. Why? Why don't the other three parks have more family rides and lower height restrictions? If all you add are Towers of Terror and Expedition Everests, you're going to deter families with smaller kids from wanting to spend more time at the other parks. If the other parks appear to offer as much for the whole family as MK, things will change.
#3. The other three parks are not MK. All of Disney's advertising when showing the theme parks really focuses on the castle parks. While the castle parks seem to be the anchor for all of the resorts around the world, here at WDW it's done damage...it appears as if the other three parks are 'lesser'...MK is priority number one and after visiting it THEN go check out our other Parks. Why isn't the Tree of Life or Everest ever a main staple on a commercial? Or Tower of Terror? Or Spaceship Earth? Or World Showcase? It's just not how they market the parks and that's a problem. Almost every WDW vacation commercial I see shows the characters greeting people, shows families riding rides(normally most are MK related) and finishes with a shot of Cinderella Castle and fireworks. So as a visitor looking to book a vacation, seeing this commercial tells me my vacation must include MK.

So after my long rant, should Tron be added to MK? Sure why not. As a big E-ticket Coaster? Maybe...but if there's a better concept why not try that instead? Should the speedway get demoed? Idk...but it definitely needs to at LEAST be brought into the 21st century.

I think what that main misunderstanding between the "pro thrill ride" and "against thrill ride" is simple- is the modern classification of what a thrill ride is.
These days, amusement parks are building coasters-- thrill ones- where a 52-54" height requirement is the norm. At the very least, 48", for even wooden coasters. All of these are typically becuase of the design of the restraints, seats, etc.

Space Mountain is thrilling now, and it was back then. But is it as "thrilling" now that we've experienced so much else? imo it's still a great ride.
But it has always had a low height requirement, as has everything in MK.

I grew up in 80s Disney World, 1st visit was in '77, and for as long as I can remember it was always geared to enjoying attractions at (almost) all ages.

It's gotta be tough to design a ride that appeals to a 4 year old and a 40 year old.. but somehow they have always accomplished it. I would hope that any future ride would be able to accomplish it as well.
I don't want to see something completely boring, but Space Mountain shows us that not everything that a kid can go on will automatically mean that ride will be "boring".

 

[pixargal]

Stitch is still on borrowed time. The replacement IP is at the moment stalling things. WiR is still possible but less likely. Had it happened, it wouldn't have meant major structural changes to the building. It would have been a lot of work yes, but would still have mostly kept the feel we've had since December 1971.

So far as I know Tomorrowland is still heading towards an overhaul, both thematic and plussing, plus new build. It should also be quite cohesive again. Purple rocks and a new blue CoP sign should give an indication towards the overall feel. Just don't expect the monoliths to return!

Wouldn't Guardians of the Galaxy work here? It seems like Disney is looking for a place to put it, and the theme would seem to work well here.

 

[marni1971]

Wouldn't Guardians of the Galaxy work here? It seems like Disney is looking for a place to put it, and the theme would seem to work well here.

It seems like it would.

 

[Viget]

It seems like it would.

Perhaps as a new E ticket, maybe? Maybe???

Then maybe say something else in Epcot's Energy building (instead of GotG)... that would be nice!

 

[marni1971]

Perhaps as a new E ticket, maybe? Maybe???

Then maybe say something else in Epcot's Energy building (instead of GotG)... that would be nice!

It would be nice. But management aren't thinking like we are.

 

[cheezbat]

It would be nice. But management aren't thinking like we are.

As always...

Because management is stupid compared to us armchair imagineers!
(Maybe we need some kind of revolution where we overthrow management and place people in power who WE want running things!)

 

[yensidtlaw1969]

I love Song of the South. I love Nights with Uncle Remus. I love Splash Mountain. Is there a problem with that?

Nope, but I hope you recognize that the quality or popularity of a film doesn't necessarily relate to the quality of potential attractions based off of it.

The best thing about Tron has always been it's design. The sequel pushed that leagues beyond the original and added a killer score. Add in the interesting collection of vehicular transport in the film and you've got the makings of a knockout theme park experience. Characters and story happily left aside.

 

[SteamboatJoe]

Nope, but I hope you recognize that the quality or popularity of a film doesn't necessarily relate to the quality of potential attractions based off of it.

The best thing about Tron has always been it's design. The sequel pushed that leagues beyond the original and added a killer score. Add in the interesting collection of vehicular transport in the film and you've got the makings of a knockout theme park experience. Characters and story happily left aside.

A ride without a story does not strike me as being very Disney. I live north of the Mason-Dixon line in the Great Lakes region. If I want a thrill ride without a story, I can save a lot of money by staying local and going to any number of regional parks within a few hours drive owned by Cedar Fair and/or Six Flags.