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

ToTBellHop

ToTBellHop

Well-Known Member
DisneyDodo said:
I agree that they shouldn’t. Which is why Coco made sense as part of a greater Latin America land with Encanto.

With Encanto clearly out, I could kind of see Santa Cecilia as an extension to Frontierland (even though the U.S. obviously never expended into present-day Mexico), in which case the E-ticket could be lumped in as part of that area. They haven’t built single-IP lands in MK (though I wouldn’t put it past them), but they have done single-IP neighborhoods within lands (such as BatB in NFL, almost Tron in TL).

However, a ride where you fly over the Land of the Dead on the back of an alebrije as a standalone addition to Frontierland doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. You could make the outside work aesthetically, but what connection does the concept have to the land? At that point, why not put Aladdin in Frontierland since it wouldn’t look out of place from the outside?

I’m not the biggest theme stickler and I’m a huge Coco fan, so I certainly wouldn’t complain if they went this route. But I just have trouble accepting that they would decide to move the realistic half of the Coco plans out of Frontierland only to keep the fantasy half in.
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If Phantom Manor can work in Frontierland, a flight to the Land of the Dead can. It’s not much more fantastical than Splash/TBA.
 
J

James Alucobond

Well-Known Member
DisneyDodo said:
I agree that they shouldn’t. Which is why Coco made sense as part of a greater Latin America land with Encanto.

With Encanto clearly out, I could kind of see Santa Cecilia as an extension to Frontierland (even though the U.S. obviously never expended into present-day Mexico), in which case the E-ticket could be lumped in as part of that area. They haven’t built single-IP lands in MK (though I wouldn’t put it past them), but they have done single-IP neighborhoods within lands (such as BatB in NFL, almost Tron in TL).
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“Latin America land” also makes no sense within the context of the broadly conceptual lands that currently exist in Magic Kingdom. They are intended to call to mind the national vision of self (Frontierland, Liberty Square, Main Street), an idealization of where we and much of our culture/lore came from (Fantasyland), what remains untamed and undiscovered (Adventureland), and where we might go in the future (Tomorrowland). Something strictly geographic or IP-based doesn’t work, in my opinion.
 
ToTBellHop

ToTBellHop

Well-Known Member
James Alucobond said:
“Latin America land” also makes no sense within the context of the broadly conceptual lands that currently exist in Magic Kingdom. They are intended to call to mind the national vision of self (Frontierland, Liberty Square, Main Street), an idealization of where we and much of our culture/lore came from (Fantasyland), what remains untamed and undiscovered (Adventureland), and where we might go in the future (Tomorrowland). Something strictly geographic or IP-based doesn’t work, in my opinion.
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Funland!
 
Gusey

Gusey

Well-Known Member
I think Coco fitting into Frontierland is expected because they've already done it at DLP, with Casa de Coco replacing Fuente del Oro Reataurante and the Dios de los Muertos decorations at Halloween in Frontierland.
 
mattpeto

mattpeto

Well-Known Member
Bocabear said:
and COCO really is a perfect fit for World Showcase..... I know they would need to figure out something for crowd management, but that really is the perfect setting for it...rather than trying to shoehorn it into MK...
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Unless they smoke Royal Sommerhus or the Odyssey building, not sure else they would put Coco. It doesn't work at GFT.

Still I'd rather seem them keep the expansion pads for more countries.
 
DisneyDodo

DisneyDodo

Well-Known Member
James Alucobond said:
“Latin America land” also makes no sense within the context of the broadly conceptual lands that currently exist in Magic Kingdom. They are intended to call to mind the national vision of self (Frontierland, Liberty Square, Main Street), an idealization of where we and much of our culture/lore came from (Fantasyland), what remains untamed and undiscovered (Adventureland), and where we might go in the future (Tomorrowland). Something strictly geographic or IP-based doesn’t work, in my opinion.
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Sorry, I agree with that 100%, I should have been more precise. From what I was told about this project, it would not have been themed to Latin America, but rather set in Latin America. The idea was to use Latin American culture to explore the universal themes of family and community (which IMO would have fit MK quite well). Idk what the land would have been called, but I certainly hope not “Latin America land.” In the same vein that Adventureland is set in various tropical locales, but they didn’t call it “Tropical Island land,” because its theme is about adventure and exploration.

Though, of all the lands in MK, Frontierland is the one that is most geographical in nature, even if the theme transcends basic geography. The Land of the Dead fits neither the geography nor the theme.
 
Bocabear

Bocabear

Well-Known Member
Perhaps beyond Thunder Mountain...if they build a new more immersive Frontierland, perhaps it would have a plaza with an old Spanish mission church....which could be the section of the "town" that still has it's old Mexican roots....and if you travel through the old mission...perhaps there is the entrance to a nicely placed Coco attraction...but you sort of have to really double down on the old Western town to create the transition....
 
DisneyDodo

DisneyDodo

Well-Known Member
ToTBellHop said:
If Phantom Manor can work in Frontierland, a flight to the Land of the Dead can. It’s not much more fantastical than Splash/TBA.
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I regretted my last sentence (“…only to keep the fantasy half in”) as soon as I submitted it for this reason. An attraction portraying a fantastical adaptation of the American West certainly has a place in Frontierland. But one based on a fantastical Land of the Dead does not. Maybe I’m missing something, but it seems like the connection that this ride would have to Frontierland is simply that it would depict an afterlife specifically inspired by Mexican lore and Mexico is adjacent to the U.S.
 
Bocabear

Bocabear

Well-Known Member
seems like the space behind Royal Sommerhaus and between that and the current Mexico Pavilion could work... also the space within the pavilion that is currently the boat ride.
Saving the expansion pads for more countries seems ridiculous at this point... They have not added a country pavilion in 36 years and killed an expansion pad for a meet and greet...as well as a giant party tent. I would rather see them use what is left next to Mexico to create a really fantastic engaging attraction with Coco than reserve it for some "expansion" that never seems to happen.... and even if expansion does happen, there are better spots around World Showcase for it ....
 
Andrew25

Andrew25

Well-Known Member
Luigi said:
And if the rumors of the expansions are true, including a HS one, thats very ambitious too.

It seems that many want them to build a entire new park every 2 years.
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Yeah, sometimes fans can get a bit too excited and demand way too much... but at the very least there should always be a construction project taking place in one of the 4 WDW parks.

Having something open every year or so at WDW (whether significant E-ticket/land or a smaller attraction/refurb) is a viable target/expectation.

Gives the parks a 3-4 year cycle of something new. Which as long as that sounds... is more often than what we're currently used to.
 
JD80

JD80

Well-Known Member
There should always be a new attraction or a major refurb every 2 years. WDW, being the largest resort should be touting every D23 about projects that are just about to open, projects about to break ground, and some blue sky stuff that may break ground in 2-4 years.
 
Mike S

Mike S

Well-Known Member
JD80 said:
There should always be a new attraction or a major refurb every 2 years. WDW, being the largest resort should be touting every D23 about projects that are just about to open, projects about to break ground, and some blue sky stuff that may break ground in 2-4 years.
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Walt Disney World should be treated like how Universal Orlando is treated by Comcast. It’s their crown jewel and they treat it as such.
 
DisneyRoy

DisneyRoy

Well-Known Member
Andrew25 said:
Cheap theming lol

Easier to not theme and just make things pitch black than building an entire false mountain/facade.


While I'd love more dark rides as well, WDW only has 9 coasters spread across 4 parks. All major coasters at each park are highly popular, so I'd argue they need more coasters. Not extreme coasters, but family-friendly additions similar to Slinky Dog & Seven Dwarfs would benefit capacity woes at the parks.

Not saying WDW should go on a coaster building spree, but they certainly are lacking in that department.
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The issue with a lot of coasters is throughput. Even the coasters with fast loading and 4 trains still struggle to get 1200 riders per hour. I'd say they need more people eating highly themed omnimovers to spread people out more.
 
Bocabear

Bocabear

Well-Known Member
JD80 said:
There should always be a new attraction or a major refurb every 2 years. WDW, being the largest resort should be touting every D23 about projects that are just about to open, projects about to break ground, and some blue sky stuff that may break ground in 2-4 years.
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Oh they definitely do that... They just don't actually follow through with these announcements, and when they do, they are usually heavily value engineered...lol
 
Andrew25

Andrew25

Well-Known Member
DisneyRoy said:
The issue with a lot of coasters is throughput. Even the coasters with fast loading and 4 trains still struggle to get 1200 riders per hour. I'd say they need more people eating highly themed omnimovers to spread people out more.
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Depends on the coaster itself, but you'd be surprised to find how high-capacity some of Disney's/Universal's coasters are...
  • Expedition Everest - 2,040 (~60-sec dispatches)
  • Cosmic Rewind - 1,600 (~45-sec dispatches)
  • Revenge of the Mummy - 1,920 (~30-sec dispatches)
These are somewhat equivalent to Disney's recent dark ride additions and far more reliable than some of the trackless rides.
 

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