MK Cars-Themed Attractions at Magic Kingdom

[Casper Gutman]

There is absolutely nothing at Dollywood, Silver Dollar City, or any of the other parks owned by Herschend that would approach Piston Peak if Disney does even their average standard rock work in the area.

Herschend wouldn’t even build a ride like this to begin with. They would just build another exposed steel coaster and call it a day.

Your comment couldn’t possibly be more disingenuous.

Oh boy, rock work!

 

[Casper Gutman]

This isn't That.

It isn’t?

 

[Ayla]

Oh boy, rock work!

Now Disney's hypothetical rock work is so exceptional, it can't be criticized!

 

[EricsBiscuit]

Change in and of itself is change. Neither good nor bad. But I see your point.

When it comes to replacing classic attractions designed by protégés of Walt Disney or Walt himself, the chances of an improvement from change (I.e. outright replacement) are minimal. As such, they should not be replaced. Focus on the other low hanging fruit around the park.

 

[Tha Realest]

I recall everyone was saying the same thing about Tiana's Bayou Adventure, and look at how THAT turned out.

And the EPCOT reimagining.

 

[el_super]

This has been refuted before, frequently and at length. So in the interest of brevity and at the risk of being ever so impolite… this is really dumb.

It's weird to keep prophesying the end of Magic Kingdom if they remove the river... when the river is already gone. It's done. It's over. The park will be fine. The guests will keep coming. No one is seriously expecting the most attended theme park in the world to go belly up in the next six months.

Closing up attractions that are not pulling their weight, is a normal part of running a theme park. Disney parks have been doing it for years. It is the reality of it.

 

[el_super]

At some point…. It ceases to be Walt Disneys Magic Kingdom. Not sure where that point is.

Walt wanted a place where families can have fun together. It will always be that. Trying to draw boundaries to that, saying that it has to have a castle and a riverboat or look like X Y and Z actually does more harm to Walt's original vision than I think some realize.

If it had to be kept as a museum to the point of preventing families from having fun there, then it would definitely stop being Walt Disney's Magic Kingdom.

 

[Bocabear]

Closing attractions without replacement is a bad thing too... With the amount of overcrowding while claiming the attendance numbers are down seems to indicate something bad is happening... Why is Tomorrowland a wreck and left that way? Why does the Speedway even exist at this point? Why wasn't the Cars attraction folded into the already existing Speedway location? I feel like the ROA and TSI were allowed to exist without updates and additions which eventually led to lower attendance and their reason for closure... and Railroad is in just as precarious a situation as it also has had absolutely no additional scenic updates since the Mickey's Birthdayland temporary additions over 30 years ago...

 

[el_super]

Closing attractions without replacement is a bad thing too... With the amount of overcrowding while claiming the attendance numbers are down seems to indicate something bad is happening...

But they are replacing it. If a new CARS attraction can see bigger through-put on a smaller plot of land, and a smaller maintenance budget, it will be a win-win for everyone. The guests have something new and exciting to ride and Disney saves money in the long term. That's why replacing attractions is essential.

Why is Tomorrowland a wreck and left that way? Why does the Speedway even exist at this point? Why wasn't the Cars attraction folded into the already existing Speedway location?

Probably part economics and part strategy. How many guests ride the speedway in a day vs the river attractions? Whats the difference in maintenance cost per guest carried for the river versus the speedway? I don't think it's hard to imagine that the speedway is significantly cheaper to operate and pulls more guests, making it less of a target.

I feel like the ROA and TSI were allowed to exist without updates and additions which eventually led to lower attendance and their reason for closure... and Railroad is in just as precarious a situation as it also has had absolutely no additional scenic updates since the Mickey's Birthdayland temporary additions over 30 years ago...

They updated Disneyland's river multiple times in the last 20 years, so they certainly know what the reward over investment would be. If I remember right, the last major refurbishment was around 2009, and even that didn't stop the river from being a target for downsizing in 2015. There's just only so much you can do to turn the tide against guest sentiment.

I'm sure the railroad is fine. Even now with over 50% of the route cut off, a good number of people are still riding. Probably more than the speedway.

 

[DisneyHead123]

Walt wanted a place where families can have fun together. It will always be that. Trying to draw boundaries to that, saying that it has to have a castle and a riverboat or look like X Y and Z actually does more harm to Walt's original vision than I think some realize.

If it had to be kept as a museum to the point of preventing families from having fun there, then it would definitely stop being Walt Disney's Magic Kingdom.

Remember that Walt’s original observation was that kids can have fun in lots of places. Kids are wired for play. I’ve seen my son have ecstatic hours of fun with water and a pool noodle (to be fair it was someone else’s pool noodle, and toys that don’t belong to you are always 3000% more fun, but still.) Walt’s innovation was adding elements for adults to have fun as well. I think replacing the universal charm of a beautiful, peaceful, charming riverboat with cartoon cars is very much not in that spirit.

I’m excited about a lot of things at Disney. Villains, Tropical Americas, the door coaster, the new parade, the water area at the new DVC. I’m not in the camp that thinks they’re falling apart - but I think this replacement was a mistake.

 

[Disstevefan1]

Closing attractions without replacement is a bad thing too... With the amount of overcrowding while claiming the attendance numbers are down seems to indicate something bad is happening... Why is Tomorrowland a wreck and left that way? Why does the Speedway even exist at this point? Why wasn't the Cars attraction folded into the already existing Speedway location? I feel like the ROA and TSI were allowed to exist without updates and additions which eventually led to lower attendance and their reason for closure... and Railroad is in just as precarious a situation as it also has had absolutely no additional scenic updates since the Mickey's Birthdayland temporary additions over 30 years ago...

Glancing at the wait times in MK -
Jungle Cruise - 40min
Peter Pan - 45min
Mine train - 50min
Space mountain - 30min
TRON 60 min.

This seem normal to low wait times. I was expecting lower wait times actually.
MK seems to be normally busy as usual.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

I recall everyone was saying the same thing about Tiana's Bayou Adventure, and look at how THAT turned out.

Pretty great!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

This may come as a shock but many of us visit lots of other theme/ amusement parks.

Everything I’ve seen about Piston Peak reminds me of something Herschend would build. Which is fun - Herschend does great things. But it shrinks the gap for me that’s for sure.

Wasn't implying others haven't been elsewhere but to what I have seen there is a huge gap from what Disney does to other places and if executed well Piston Peak will make that gap bigger not smaller

 

[harryk]

Why do people keep calling the loss of Rivers of America and Tom Sawyer Island and expansion? An expansion it is not - it is a removal of an attraction(s) to be replaced with another attraction on the same site.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Why do people keep calling the loss of Rivers of America and Tom Sawyer Island and expansion? An expansion it is not - it is a removal of an attraction(s) to be replaced with another attraction on the same site.

Well Villains Land is definitely going to utilizing some unused space so that part at least is an expansion

But it is a capacity expansion including just foot paths and walkways where people cannen that they couldn't be before

And the 4+ attractions being created will definitely take more guests than the current ones did

 

[SpectroBro]

Why do people keep calling the loss of Rivers of America and Tom Sawyer Island and expansion? An expansion it is not - it is a removal of an attraction(s) to be replaced with another attraction on the same site.

It is an expansion of capacity.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

But it is a capacity expansion including just foot paths and walkways where people cannen that they couldn't be before

That’s not how “expansion” works though. An expanded menu at a restaurant has more options, not different options that the chef thinks will be more popular.

 

[Disstevefan1]

Universal's EPIC universe is putting parks back into the theme park

Disney's WDW is putting the 6 flags back into its theme parks.

 

[lazyboy97o]

This isn't That.

It very much is, just like the wonder table was.

 

[Casper Gutman]

It's weird to keep prophesying the end of Magic Kingdom if they remove the river... when the river is already gone. It's done. It's over. The park will be fine. The guests will keep coming. No one is seriously expecting the most attended theme park in the world to go belly up in the next six months.

Not an argument anyone here is making. I believe they call that a straw man.