MK Cars-Themed Attractions at Magic Kingdom

[flynnibus]

I would argue the Disney experience is what helped elevate them above their competition…that in tandem with truly well built attractions. If thrill rides were all that people cared about, Universal would have way more market share then it currently has. To me, Disney is greater than the sum of its parts. You keep removing and replacing, and putting the current IP flavor of the day, E ticket dominant mentality for new “expansion” in the works; you run the risk of forgetting that it’s a thematic quality, consisting of A-E, experiences, visuals, shows etc that made Disney the best overall experience.

Sure, but you're again focusing on hindsight and trying to make it into design criteria.

Things like DL becoming part of the SoCal culture was not a design criteria. Things like the parties and bands were experiments that paid off, not them designing to become part of culture. Things like kids returning as parents and starting the next generation of loyalists are successful outcomes - not design inputs.

Yes, Disney of the 50s through the 80s designed differently with different inputs than they do today. They were also a very different company in scope and breadth. The consumers were also different. Disney doesn't live in a time capsule, they are constantly trying to understand now and the future, not just what worked in 1967.

I agree Disney is not just a park of rides together.. we can see that still today in the better parks. But success today is not necesarily just repeat what was done in 1955 or 1967. Mainstreet isn't filled with sponsors selling complete randomness.. people are not woo'd by the carnival aspects of a ride like Mr Toad.

Disney still needs to build big all in experiences.. but that doesn't mean it can only come in the form of something like an Adventureland model... or only in the form of original concepts only. Future success can come in forms different from what was done before.

 

[flynnibus]

Magic Kingdom is NOT suffering; it's the number one theme park in the world!

And ROA and TSI aren't trending the same... so congrats on pointless cites!

 

[Bocabear]

Sure, but you're again focusing on hindsight and trying to make it into design criteria.

Things like DL becoming part of the SoCal culture was not a design criteria. Things like the parties and bands were experiments that paid off, not them designing to become part of culture. Things like kids returning as parents and starting the next generation of loyalists are successful outcomes - not design inputs.

Yes, Disney of the 50s through the 80s designed differently with different inputs than they do today. They were also a very different company in scope and breadth. The consumers were also different. Disney doesn't live in a time capsule, they are constantly trying to understand now and the future, not just what worked in 1967.

I agree Disney is not just a park of rides together.. we can see that still today in the better parks. But success today is not necesarily just repeat what was done in 1955 or 1967. Mainstreet isn't filled with sponsors selling complete randomness.. people are not woo'd by the carnival aspects of a ride like Mr Toad.

Disney still needs to build big all in experiences.. but that doesn't mean it can only come in the form of something like an Adventureland model... or only in the form of original concepts only. Future success can come in forms different from what was done before.

It also doesn't mean that it can only come in IP concepts only as well. It should be a mix of things, and IP should not be the only deciding factor on what makes a great attraction..... It seems like this thinking is getting us some pretty mish-mashed parks these days....

 

[ToTBellHop]

And ROA and TSI aren't trending the same... so congrats on pointless cites!

Hopefully, Fantasyland will be less slammed once people actually visit all those acres on the western side of the park.

Of course, for me, the quiet of TSI was a wonderful respite from a bustling park but I understand why that isn’t desirable operationally.

 

[flynnibus]

It also doesn't mean that it can only come in IP concepts only as well. It should be a mix of things, and IP should not be the only deciding factor on what makes a great attraction..... It seems like this thinking is getting us some pretty mish-mashed parks these days....

When it doesn't work - I agree, critique. But more often than not we see people attacking the ideas out of pure definition... because it didn't match what they knew to be successful before. That's not imagineering - that's what got copy cat products that never were as good as the original.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

The destruction of live entertainment at the DLR is criminal.

What’s gotten cut recently!?

 

[Professortango1]

What’s gotten cut recently!?

Golden Horseshoe, Hyperion Theatre, Fantasyland Theatre, Dr Strange Magic Show. All of these venues sit empty. A little further back and we can remember when their TSI had a pirate stunt show on the front of the island, giving guests a visual reason to venture over and get closer views of the action. They had a great Disney Jr puppet show that has been replaced with a dance party. They used to have a Halloween magic show and other entertainment in BTR before GE came along. Tropical Hideaway replaced another entertainment venue to now be a small food court. Tomorrowland used to see nightly entertainment at the TL Terrance Stage.

I'm always surprised that Disney doesn't have long-running magic shows. As a magician, I'm obviously biased, but Knotts has been having magicians for years in their Calico venues. Such a show would fit easily into Golden Horseshoe or Princess Fantasy Faire. Many entertainers got their start at Disneyland and Knotts BECAUSE of their commitment to quality live entertainment. Now...its just face characters doing immersive meet and greets and very few actual shows and entertainers. The two shows at the Princess Fantasy Faire are phenomenal, but that's about all I can think of when I think of quality non street-mosphere shows at DLR.

 

[HMF]

It was supposed to be a joke about how Disney replaced Universe of Energy and scrapped all those dinosaur animatronics, and is now going to get rid of Dinoland and presumably scrap all THOSE dinosaur animatronics too.

They could have been re-used and actually give people to look at while on the WDW Railroad. But that would actually cost money and be well thought out which modern Disney is not capable or willing to do.

 

[Disgruntled Walt]

And ROA and TSI aren't trending the same... so congrats on pointless cites!

How is that pointless? You said the park could do nothing and continue suffering the loss of teenaged business. They don't need it. What they ought to do, as I'm now saying for the tenth time, is EXPAND the footprint of the park. If this new Cars ride brings as many people in as some think it will, they will need more places to put people. TSI and the Riverboat could have served that purpose if they expanded the footprint of the park.

 

[HMF]

It does make me sad to see the parks all kind of become the same hodgepodge of IPs with a very weak attempt to tie them together.

That's basically Igers' core philosophy.

 

[HMF]

Seems a shame to dedicate all that space for a single IP anyway but Disney's gonna Dis here.

Tell that to the existing Cars Land In DCA, Toy Story Land , Star Wars Galaxy's Edge and Pandora, The World of Avatar and that's just the American parks.

 

[HMF]

You hear nothing like that these days. The last gasp of candor was when Lasseter publicly told the story of telling the accountants that they will have to be at the exit of a ride apologizing for its lameness.

Yeah, but Lasseter was supposedly sexually harassing female employees so he must be a bad guy whose ideas are automatically bad and should be ignored.

 

[ᗩLᘿᑕ ֊ᗩζᗩᗰ]

Tell that to the existing Cars Land In DCA, Toy Story Land , Star Wars Galaxy's Edge and Pandora, The World of Avatar and that's just the American parks.

We've been told on here countless times it isn't a "land" so I'm not seeing the point.

Are you in favor of an IP-specific land in MK?

 

[HMF]

Only took six years for them to forget this….

How ironic.

In 2019, Disney is proudly stating this on social media.

In 2025, that sentiment has been suddenly forgotten.

Makes you wonder….what changed that mentality.


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Well, this is the same company that replaced a very popular attraction with nothing explicitly offensive about it but is based on a movie that the company has been hiding for years so people can't see it because of it's very questionable live-action content that was not adapted into said attraction because they were afraid someone might supposedly make the connection and make them look bad because of it. So it's guilt by association Never mind the fact that it's replacement is not that popular and in my opinion Disney's first African-American Princess deserves a better namesake attraction than being forced to build on top of the existing infrastructure of the old Attraction. Also consider that Tom Sawyer Island is based on a book which has a companion book that liberally uses a certain six letter word which is very offensive. again, guilt by association which is convincing enough for Disney to change it.

 

[HMF]

Having a gigantic bomb-crater in the HEART of your most prized park WILL hurt attendance for 5+ years.

It worked pretty well for EPCOT didn't it?

 

[Professortango1]

How is that pointless? You said the park could do nothing and continue suffering the loss of teenaged business. They don't need it. What they ought to do, as I'm now saying for the tenth time, is EXPAND the footprint of the park. If this new Cars ride brings as many people in as some think it will, they will need more places to put people. TSI and the Riverboat could have served that purpose if they expanded the footprint of the park.

Because the one thing people say about MK constantly is; its too small.

They are taking out things that the majority of guests avoid experiencing directly and replacing it with something that a majority of the guests will want to experience and might even plan their trip to do so.

The other option would be Disney investing into TSI and the ROA to make them more attractive experiences, and we know that Disney isn't going to do that. We got a half-donkeyed commitment in Disneyland with Pirates Lair, and even that feels left behind and a shadow of what it was.

 

[HMF]

Are you in favor of an IP-specific land in MK?

All the lands in the MK right now are based on concepts which hypothetically put lots of different themes in. Having a land only based on one movie or series of movies seems pretty creatively constraining, Doesn't it?

 

[Bocabear]

Because the one thing people say about MK constantly is; its too small.

They are taking out things that the majority of guests avoid experiencing directly and replacing it with something that a majority of the guests will want to experience and might even plan their trip to do so.

The other option would be Disney investing into TSI and the ROA to make them more attractive experiences, and we know that Disney isn't going to do that. We got a half-donkeyed commitment in Disneyland with Pirates Lair, and even that feels left behind and a shadow of what it was.

but even the half-donkeyed lair was fresher and newer than anyth8ng they have done with TSI at MK since it first opened...there have been almost no changes...Disneyland's version always had more things to see and do...Cascade Peak, tree house etc...

 

[flynnibus]

How is that pointless? You said the park could do nothing and continue suffering the loss of teenaged business. They don't need it. What they ought to do, as I'm now saying for the tenth time, is EXPAND the footprint of the park.

So you say they don't need business... sorry to break the new to you, they want the growth.

If you have attractions that are underutilized.. why would you expand and increase your overhead to sit and watch portions you already have go unused or under utilized due to lack of demand?

The reason parks don't just keep expanding all the time is the same reason your don't add another room to your house every time you tire of the paint or furniture in a room. Expanding permanent expands your operating costs 365 a year and is on top of what you are already spending. If you have stuff that isn't working, it's a better solution to fix it or replace it instead of ignore it and spend money to expand and keep spending money on the stuff that isn't working for you.

Expanding your footprint makes everyday ops more expensive without really being able to directly recoup costs. It's part of why Disney added additional parks instead of just adding more lands to the same parks... new gate = new draw and new admissions you can monetize. Adding an expansion to a park doesn't usually lead to a 30% boost in ticket price... but adding a separate park? Easy to monetize.

 

[celluloid]

This thing is so dang messy.

A national park is not frontier, and certainly engine vehicles around it are not frontier in time period.

And all that aside, you know what the romanticized appreciation of nature isn't when it comes to national parks? Rolling all over that nature in your motor vehicle.

What an ugly mess and I would rather actually have Audubon Woodlore somewhere than Auto. It screams DCA in a bad way.