MK Cars-Themed Attractions at Magic Kingdom

[mickEblu]

The island and river were never designed to be a people eater though. Quite the opposite. Plus It was designed to be transportive. Taking people to another time and place. That’s what the castle parks are. Yesterday, Tomorrow and Fantasy. National Park meets talking Cars (based on a film set in the modern world) works better in a non castle park. That’s without getting into the fact that Liberty Square, Frontierland and their remaining attractions were designed to be facing the river/ island. To see Disney disregard all of this, the history and aesthetic beauty of the river, island and steamboat to shoehorn in this Cars ride is just sad to witness.

I get that the park will have more capacity but at what cost? And that extra capacity won’t come until Villains Land opens up. I don’t think the Cars ride(s) on its own will have more capacity than the island/ steamboat in any meaningful way, if at all. The obvious move was Villains, no Cars and keep the lower loop. Cars should have gone to DHS.

Yes I’m quoting myself here haha.

But let’s be honest, this isn’t about capacity as much as it’s about how much more money they’ll make on that real estate now. It’s certainly not about thematic integrity. Villains and Cars ride LLs, tons of merch and themed food up the wazoo. They currently make 0$ on that real estate now… at least on a spreadsheet. Obviously its intrinsic value and how it contributes to the overall picture and guest satisfaction is immeasurable. But some people aren’t aware or are not able to put it into words. And Disney will word their surveys in a way to get exactly the answers they want.

What about these two comments @phillip9698 and @Chi84 would make it seem like the steamboats/ TSI’s capacity has anything to do with my main argument? It’s more that people cherry pick something they feel they can debate and forget or disregard the main point of the posts entirely.

 

[Centauri Space Station]

I’d argue the most sacred attraction we have is the Country Bears. It’s the original, it’s the only one left in the US, and the mere thought of removing it caused such an uproar they decided to keep it. It’s the first true MK original, and even though it’s a new setlist now, those characters are sacred to MK. As long as Henry and the gang all exist forever at MK, I don’t care what songs they play. They’re just important to the park.

I would say COP is since its the only version around and originated from Walt. Peoplemover is another but more by default since DL's closed.

 

[Gusey]

I believe the riverboat was the most accessible moving attraction at WDW.

It is kind of ironic (if that's the right word) that they closed what could be the most accessible (Liberty Belle) and what could be the least accessible (TSI and the rafts) at the same time, almost as if they're balancing each other out

 

[phillip9698]

Obviously. For some reason you or someone else took a throw away comment I made about the capacity comparison and focused on that. Most of my comments in regards to this subject since the announcement was made has been in regards to theming/ place making. My argument has never been that the ROA/ TSI need to stay because of the amazing numbers they pull. Their value has nothing to do with capacity.

The comment was completely absurd for anyone who has ever been to WDW and ridden that boat. That's why we had to address it.

It's wild to make an asinine statement and then ask people why they are focused on it.

When you later stated you have never even been there before it explained everything though.

 

[BrianLo]

So you don’t think the riverboat + island sees 1,000 people per hour?

Almost never. 200 people on the riverboat and 100 on the island at any given time would be very busy for those attractions.

Often it was like 50 and a dozen. Neither attraction was open the full operating day. I would not be surprised if merely the Cars replacements put through like 3-4X more people in an operating day.

 

[JD80]

The busiest I've seen the Riverboat and TSI is the week before it closed and it wasn't that busy. They had two rafts going too.

 

[Disstevefan1]

Kissing the ground of the company that is NOTORIOUS for replacing all of their classic attractions is certainly… a choice here. Jaws, Twister, Ghostbusters, Back to the Future, Kong, Shrek, Dueling Dragons, I mean a lot of these were Universals bread and butter. Imagine the outrage if Disney replaced Haunted Mansion because it was too pricey to run (despite having the popularity)

You are correct, there are many that kiss Disney ground.

Holy moly - you forgot the worst destroy and replace Universal did. Disaster with its perfect practical multiple effect subway scene for........ Screen based F&F ????

I know unlike Disney, Universal is land locked but I do miss some of the classics!

Jaws was great yes, but my gauge when a destroy and replace is done, did we get something better? As much as I liked Jaws, the immersion of Harry Potter is amazing and I do not even follow the IP.

Horizons destroyed and replaced by Mission Space, this is a loss! I happen to like mission space but its not as good as Horizons and some folks literally hate Mission Space. Mission Space has not had a sponsor for about 15 years, so this will either be IPeed all over or destroyed and replaced for the new sponsor if Disney can grab one.

We all see what the fountain of Nations was destroyed and replaced with.... A massive loss in my mind.

 

[Disstevefan1]

Funnily enough there’s big Covid outbreaks in 30 states right now, so history could be repeating itself. I hope not!

BINGO! Disney's got their excuse for this failed cars thig!

"We wanted to do a great job on Cars land but COVID...."

 

[Disstevefan1]

The busiest I've seen the Riverboat and TSI is the week before it closed and it wasn't that busy. They had two rafts going too.

Rest assured, the new Cars land will have queues snacking through whatever they are calling Frontierland by then.

You wanted busy, you will get it.

 

[AidenRodriguez731]

You are correct, there are many that kiss Disney ground.

Holy moly - you forgot the worst destroy and replace Universal did. Disaster with its perfect practical multiple effect subway scene for........ Screen based F&F ????

I know unlike Disney, Universal is land locked but I do miss some of the classics!

Jaws was great yes, but my gauge when a destroy and replace is done, did we get something better? As much as I liked Jaws, the immersion of Harry Potter is amazing and I do not even follow the IP.

Horizons destroyed and replaced by Mission Space, this is a loss! I happen to like mission space but its not as good as Horizons and some folks literally hate Mission Space. Mission Space has not had a sponsor for about 15 years, so this will either be IPeed all over or destroyed and replaced for the new sponsor if Disney can grab one.

We all see what the fountain of Nations was destroyed and replaced with.... A massive loss in my mind.

I’m not a huge universal fan so I’m not as aware of their replacements. To me, other than a few exceptions (Stitch, Mission Space, JII) based on what I know, every ride that has been replaced has been an improvement to me personally. While mission space did replace an iconic attraction, I’ll give them a slight benefit over F&F because it’s atleast a unique ride system that is technically interesting. F&F afaik is just a terrible slop chopped up from the tram tour in Hollywood which I dont think Universal gets enough flack for. Imagine Disney taking small pieces from a ride in an area and opening them as “new attractions” in a flagship park. Literal craziness to me

 

[AidenRodriguez731]

I’m sure they didn’t. Disney limited their operating hours. I can’t remember the boat but I’m pretty sure Tom Sawyer was 11-6. Typically I’d see two rafts running, occasionally full mostly less so. Every once in a while they’d have three rafts.

But the island was never dead when I was there. It wasn’t packed either but I don’t think it was supposed to be. I don’t think it would’ve worked if it was packed. My kids loved it so we visited whenever we were there. It was always just a nice break and a place for the kids to have fun.

And that’s fine, it did what it was supposed to for the time. The parks have a changing need though and this was a question more about actual capacity where someone falsely claimed that TSI’s hourly capacity would dream of touching an E ticket cars attraction. It simply wouldn’t

 

[AidenRodriguez731]

Yes, I do consider that a sad statement about how people's standards have fallen. Though not surprising in the instant gratification era. From a rational standpoint yes it makes perfect business sense. But again if Walt had done everything that made perfect business sense, We literally would not have theme parks and Disneyland, The Magic Kingdom, all the other parks and by extension this very board would not exist.

I’m sorry but I’m just going to say it, the river is much less impressive than a Cars e ticket. The standard is not even in the same realm. I completely understand that people love the ROA and TSI, that’s fine to me. But can we not pretend that people who want something new and not aging animatronics I could get a similar experience with my local six flags park on their log flume, an always closed restaurant (opening it would not change anything at all but I digress), some calm walkways, and some boats. The only impressive thing to me, is the riverboat. Not a single thing screams “perfect theming” or anything above some of my small parks that I’ve went to. Now, maybe I’m abnormally blessed with great regional parks but it’s nothing special to me whatsoever. It has some history but is a lesser version of its Cali counterpart. It’s just nothing special to me at all. I’ve seen everything in it done before. When I go to Disney, I want to see something I haven’t seen in some regional park. This cars expansion is 100% that.

 

[mickEblu]

The comment was completely absurd for anyone who has ever been to WDW and ridden that boat. That's why we had to address it.

It's wild to make an asinine statement and then ask people why they are focused on it.

When you later stated you have never even been there before it explained everything though.

I’ll acknowledge that it appears that I was wrong about the steamboats/ TSI numbers. And here’s why I say it was a throw away comment. The low numbers do absolutely nothing to change my opinion of the ROA/ TSI’s / steamboats value. As they have nothing to do with my main point(s). In addition, the short term, temporary capacity increase (or decrease) between the Cars ride opening and Villains land opening meant pretty much nothing to anyone. Regardless of where you stand on this project.

 

[phillip9698]

But again if Walt had done everything that made perfect business sense, We literally would not have theme parks and Disneyland, The Magic Kingdom, all the other parks and by extension this very board would not exist.

There has to be a happy medium. If Walt got his way there wouldnt even be a MK, there would be some sort of defunct city in its place. Roy said it made business sense to put a "Disneyland" on the east coast to actually make some money before doing whatever Epcot would be.

Its not an either or thing.

 

[mickEblu]

Almost never. 200 people on the riverboat and 100 on the island at any given time would be very busy for those attractions.

Often it was like 50 and a dozen. Neither attraction was open the full operating day. I would not be surprised if merely the Cars replacements put through like 3-4X more people in an operating day.

100!? Didn’t expect to hear this. Wow, so it must have been even more charming and felt like more of a break from the rest of the park than I thought.

 

[Bocabear]

100!? Didn’t expect to hear this. Wow, so it must have been even more charming and felt like more of a break from the rest of the park than I thought.

It was charming....as was the river vista for that whole quadrant of the park... The Riverboat was a lovely break from the crowds.... THe ROA and TSI were never about volume....though in the early days they sure did their share... They were the special attractions that were not a mob scene that gave everyone a break from the crowds...a much needed break... Now it is just going to be crazy lines and more lines, and the idea of doing anything leisurely will eventually disappear completely... It will be a mad exhausting dash on every day of your vacation.... now hurry up or you will miss your quick-serve reservation and your scheduled bathroom time! You paid an extra $129 for that!!

 

[bcoachable]

Cars will be cool… but it sure seems as if it could have gone somewhere (anywhere!) else so as to keep the aesthetics and calmness of what it will now replace…

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

It’s just nothing special to me at all. I’ve seen everything in it done before. When I go to Disney, I want to see something I haven’t seen in some regional park. This cars expansion is 100% that.

But that shouldn’t apply to everything at WDW - otherwise a majority of MK would be gone. No spinners, no carousel, no teacups, no train ride. Lots of regional parks have fireworks too so get rid of them?

What about Mine train coasters and log flumes? I’d argue the original log flume with a story at Knotts is better than the WDW version now.

So what’s left? Pirates and mansion and Peter Pan?

 

[𝐌𝖆𝖓 𝖎𝖓 𝐖𝖊𝖇]

Cars will be cool… but it sure seems as if it could have gone somewhere (anywhere!) else so as to keep the aesthetics and calmness of what it will now replace…

Oddly enough, some had hoped the new Cars attraction would be placed in Tomorrowland, on the underused Speedway plot, as a kind of spiritual successor to the Tomorrowland Speedway—just reimagined with the Cars IP. (Part of that Bargaining stage I guess) But lately, I’ve been thinking it might’ve been better—or at least more interesting in hindsight—if that area had become a pond instead, bringing back some of the tranquil atmosphere that was lost with the draining of the Rivers of America.

Imagine a large body of water in Tomorrowland, designed to visually bridge the whimsical, swirly mod aesthetic of Fantasyland’s Mad Tea Party with the bubbly, Frutiger Aero-style neo-futurism designs as seen in Lightyear, Elio, and Strange World. An alien river with EV bumper boats—something in the vein of DisneySea’s Aquatopia that could serve as a fun, kinetic replacement for the Speedway while elevating the area’s atmosphere. A topic for a different thread, I guess. But I wouldn't be opposed to seeing a little ROA in TL, if only to pacify the fandom and return some of that lost Disney charm.

 

[Chi84]

100!? Didn’t expect to hear this. Wow, so it must have been even more charming and felt like more of a break from the rest of the park than I thought.

To the very few people who experienced it.