MK Cars-Themed Attractions at Magic Kingdom

[JoeCamel]

The retail sales say otherwise

Hence the gift shop at the exit with the googly eyes for your ride

 

[Phicinfan]

When will folks realize frontier has many definitions. I fully understand wanting to cling to the old, don’t agree with it, but understand it. But to ignore that a wooded, mountainous area is frontier is bordering on the absurd.

 

[Nickm2022]

Honestly personally like the idea of Frontierland being three sections deticated to American wilderness and how we inhabit it. from the 1800's the 1920's and the modern day.

 

[DisneyHead123]

When will folks realize frontier has many definitions. I fully understand wanting to cling to the old, don’t agree with it, but understand it. But to ignore that a wooded, mountainous area is frontier is bordering on the absurd.

I feel like pure definition doesn’t really work in this case though. A frontier could mean a frontier of outer space, or frontiers of thought, or the Australian frontier wars, or heck, Frontier airlines or a Nissan Frontier. If we’re being real here, we all have a pretty solid idea of what the OG Frontierland was depicting. One rather specific frontier, time, place, and culture. If, as people like to say these days, this “no longer serves”, well, ok. But no need to rewrite history and pretend this was always the theme when it really wasn’t.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

When will folks realize frontier has many definitions.

Well the prior definition was “The color, romance and drama of frontier America as it developed from wilderness trails to roads, riverboats, railroads and civilization.”

I’m not saying it has to be exactly that - but modern cars in a modern day National park setting is definitely a complete departure.

 

[HMF]

Well the prior definition was “The color, romance and drama of frontier America as it developed from wilderness trails to roads, riverboats, railroads and civilization.”

I’m not saying it has to be exactly that - but modern cars in a modern day National park setting is definitely a complete departure.

The problem of course is that a lot of our understanding about the past particularly about "Frontier America" has changed quite significantly since the 1970s to such an extent that I find it hard to believe that it is not somewhat of a factor in shifting the focus into this new direction. As with Splash though a lot of it is subtext and virtually every land in the Magic Kingdom style parks is a romanticization of a concept rather than a completely factually accurate facsimile.

 

[mlayton144]

Every kid wanted to be a cowboy not many wanted to work for Ford

When was the last time kids wanted to be cowboys? 1972?

 

[JustInTime]

When was the last time kids wanted to be cowboys? 1972?

My nephew dresses like Woody almost every day. He’s obsessed.

 

[JoeCamel]

When was the last time kids wanted to be cowboys? 1972?

Walt's time and the reason Frontierland exists

 

[jah4955]

The problem of course is that a lot of our understanding about the past particularly about "Frontier America" has changed quite significantly since the 1970s to such an extent that I find it hard to believe that it is not somewhat of a factor in shifting the focus into this new direction. As with Splash though a lot of it is subtext and virtually every land in the Magic Kingdom style parks is a romanticization of a concept rather than a completely factually accurate facsimile.

As I mentioned elsewhere, I never, ever enjoyed westerns. But parents did/do. They were children when that was the main thing on TV.

When I occasionally tried to watch re-runs (50's-early 60's) with them, I only kept asking myself, "who on earth would pine for this?" It was obvious that it was a hard, perilous life, where there was very little, if anything, to stop the "bad guys."

As censorship waned (both TV but moreso in movies) going into the 70s, their presentation got grittier and grittier (but arguably more accurate as BTTF3 parodied). For example, I wish I could unsee 1 Keenan Wynn film I saw while flipping channels (when that was a thing) many years ago for example...but I know there was even worse produced at the time to depict so many levels of cruelty of the "Frontier."

Yet it was because it was so romantizised, Disney's Frontierlands were such fun!

 

[Ayla]

When was the last time kids wanted to be cowboys? 1972?

You obviously didn't have boys who were born in the late 90's/early 2000's.

 

[jah4955]

You obviously didn't have boys who were born in the late 90's/early 2000's.

Woody definitely helped. Although only one season, I also enjoyed Riders in the Sky...I'm glad their music is part of Toy Story world now.

 

[Casper Gutman]

When will folks realize frontier has many definitions. I fully understand wanting to cling to the old, don’t agree with it, but understand it. But to ignore that a wooded, mountainous area is frontier is bordering on the absurd.

Frontier does not mean “a wooded, mountainous area.” A carefully curated national park, established and maintained by a strong, stable central government that has existed for hundreds of years, and surrounded on all sides by fully built up and modern population centers, is pretty much the opposite of “frontier” - even if the population and its government are talking cars with googly eyes.

 

[Casper Gutman]

When was the last time kids wanted to be cowboys? 1972?

I dunno. How many kids watch The Mandalorian?

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Frontierland was renamed Westernland for Tokyo Disneyland to further get the idea across to Japanese guests

For the past 70 years of Disney theme parks, "Frontierland" has meant something fairly specific

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

there are elements in the concept art that point towards original elements of Frontierland - which kind of make the modern cars all the more confusing.

 

[JMcMahonEsq]

You obviously didn't have boys who were born in the late 90's/early 2000's.

Having been a boy in the 90s there were no large groups of kids/boys playing cowboys, or looking to be cowboys. You are talking about the Nintendo/online generation of kids. Boys were playing video games, not pretending to ride horses.

You were also starting in 99 into the horrific period of school shootings. You didn’t have any societal appetite for playing traditional cowboys, or any scenarios where kids and guns, even play guns was anywhere near popular/promoted.

 

[jah4955]

Frontierland was renamed Westernland for Tokyo Disneyland to further get the idea across to Japanese guests

For the past 70 years of Disney theme parks, "Frontierland" has meant something fairly specific

Which is why I won't cry a river (no pun intended) if there's a name change when Piston Peak opens...a 31+ year dismantling of what "Frontierland" was once understood to mean:

• 1994 Canoes
• 2001 Keelboats (before 9/11)
• 2003 Diamond Horseshoe Revue
• 2023 Spalsh Mountain (intentionally mispelled lol)
• 2024 Country Bears (to be less "country" and more "IP"....not complaining, it's vastly better than closing outright....I'm looking forward to seeing revamp one day)
• 2024 Shootin' Arcade
• 2025 Riverboat
• 2025 TSI

Depending on how you look at it....6-8 Frontierland attraction closures...

 

[donaldtoo]

Which is why I won't cry a river if there's a name change when Piston Peak opens...a 31+ year unravelling of what "Frontierland" was once understood to mean:

1994 Canoes
2001 Keelboats (before 9/11)
2003 Diamond Horseshoe Revue
2024 Spalsh Mountain (intentionally mispelled lol)
2024 Country Bears (to be less "country" and more "IP"....not complaining, it's vastly better than closing outright....I'm looking forward to seeing revamp one day)
2024 Shootin' Arcade
2025 Riverboat
2025 TSI

Depending on how you look at it....6-8 Frontierland attraction closures...

Yep, we can’t have RedneckLand…!!!!!

 

[Incomudro]

Having been a boy in the 90s there were no large groups of kids/boys playing cowboys, or looking to be cowboys. You are talking about the Nintendo/online generation of kids. Boys were playing video games, not pretending to ride horses.

You were also starting in 99 into the horrific period of school shootings. You didn’t have any societal appetite for playing traditional cowboys, or any scenarios where kids and guns, even play guns was anywhere near popular/promoted.

Yeah, my fraternal twin sons are now 23, and none of them nor their friends ever pretended to be cowboys, or play cowboys.
Heck, I was born in '63, and we never did it.
A friend of mine had some Johnny West toys, but I didn't want them.
We played "army."
One of my sons watched all of the Clint Eastwood westerns, including Unforgiven.
But that was more because Clint is cool. He watched Dirty Harry and Gran Torino and The Mule as well.