MK Piston Peak and Villains Land Construction Thread

[JMcMahonEsq]

Wouldn’t that also mean if the same number of people were riding phantom manor as haunted mansion it would be reasonable to think they were both being utilized equally?

Not in the least. Simple numbers don't tell the full story. You have to look at total number of visitors to park vs utilization per ride per guest. If each ride is being used by the same number of people, but one park has significantly higher attendance numbers overall, that may mean one park is underutilizing the space based upon total guests, despite having the same number of people use it as it is used in the other park. Disney Paris and WDW are literally on different continents, with different customer bases, park sizes, number of parks, ect. There is no reason whatsoever to make cross compare the two.

 

[JMcMahonEsq]

says who? The people designing this are not “space utilizers” they are theme park designers.

No one here is designing a new park. The whole discussion, both here in this tread, and in the board room was, "what we have in place in this area isn't working/being utilized enough, we want something else." We want to utilize the space better. No one ever brought up the change was needed because the "theme" of the river was off, or the "design" of TSI needed to be fixed. This was about function, not an art project.

 

[lazyboy97o]

“Theme parks are an art project.”

 

[jubstice]

Rivers of America never coming back b/c Disney "crossed the Rubicon" River.

(I'm not tying to be funny)...the outrage from the closure/absolute destruction gives me the hope that Disney will "step things up" more than they would have otherwise....we'll see....

Fair, but what is left for them to take out? Everything getting demolished were all kind of in their own area of their parks and really did not involve taking another experience down with it.

 

[Disstevefan1]

“Theme parks are an art project.”

I presume Walt thought this way.
I KNOW Bob does NOT.

 

[JMcMahonEsq]

“Theme parks are an art project.”

Plenty of people talk about the Earth being flat too. Freedom of speech doesn't cure/forgive stupidity.

 

[Disstevefan1]

Plenty of people talk about the Earth being flat too. Freedom of speech doesn't cure/forgive stupidity.

Both flat earth and freedom of speech are false beliefs....

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

Disney Paris and WDW are literally on different continents, with different customer bases, park sizes, number of parks, ect. There is no reason whatsoever to make cross compare the two.

Ever? Nobody can ever compare the 2 for any reason when it comes to theme park design? Even though they had some of the same imagineers involved?

Or just in the case of this specific project?

Are you saying everything about this project exists in a vacuum and is beyond compare with other theme parks period?

 

[BrianLo]

says who? The people designing this are not “space utilizers” they are theme park designers.

I agree with you, but the “Who” is management and they do not align with what we want from them. Nor, probably, are they aligned with their own designers.

The reason MK is not DL/DLP, is because of Fantasmic and Big Thunder. There’s simply no way around that. MK is far more like Tokyo Disneyland in terms of the rivers operational importance and therefore, unfortunately, that too has long been under threat.

If Magic Kingdom had a well integrated E ticket in lieu of Tom Saywer island it probably would be preserved.

Should operation and monetization matter more than art? No.

 

[jah4955]

The reason MK is not DL/DLP, is because of Fantasmic and Big Thunder. There’s simply no way around that. MK is far more like Tokyo Disneyland in terms of the rivers operational importance and therefore, unfortunately, that too has long been under threat.

Wish I could disagree, but great point. It also explains so much else. DL the original, DLP the deluxe DL.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

I agree with you, but the “Who” is management and they do not align with what we want from them. Nor, probably, are they aligned with their own designers.

Oh I agree 100% with that. Walt and Roy had tensions about building Disneyland in the first place. But this discussion board doesn’t exist within the confines of that box.

If we want to discuss only the management side - there are still questions. I absolutely believe @peter11435 when he says WDW management wanted to drain the river. I have no reason to doubt him. But why? Why do they care so much.

I also don’t think this plan was necessarily connected to that wish 100%.

If Magic Kingdom had a well integrated E ticket in lieu of Tom Saywer island it probably would be preserved.

On the list of possibilities for this area - I would have preferred the lower island remain as is. But somewhere between that and the current plan would have been an e-ticket in the center like Paris but keep the riverboat circling it.

 

[donaldtoo]

On a construction note…
Are there any recent aerial pics of the site…? Is RoI all filled in, at this point…? Are all the buildings, etc. on TSI gone…?

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

And maybe someday, bionic modules

On a construction note…
Are there any recent aerial pics of the site…? Is RoI all filled in, at this point…? Are all the buildings, etc. on TSI gone…?

All the buildings, structures and trees are gone. It’s hard to tell 3d without Waldo but from the photos it looks like some ground is being leveled / filled?

Also this historic railroad bridge is gone completely. Whether it was saved for use elsewhere, donated to a museum, or scrapped is unknown.

 

[EricsBiscuit]

Random imagineers always toy with a variety of ideas. The company however (park leadership) was never looking for a plan that kept the river.

Sarah Riles? Jeff Vahle? Or both?

 

[lazyboy97o]

Filling the site is going to require a bunch of dump trucks. It’s not something likely to happen unnoticed.

 

[donaldtoo]

Filling the site is going to require a bunch of dump trucks. It’s not something likely to happen unnoticed.

I couldn’t remember how much of TSI might be raised (if any), so I thought maybe they could push a lot of existing TSI dirt into the river…?

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

“If you’re working on these big-scale projects everything you touch is a creative medium” - Joe Rohde

(Before anyone jumps on me, he wasn’t talking about this specific project - it was a general theme park design thought.)

 

[truecoat]

On a construction note…
Are there any recent aerial pics of the site…? Is RoI all filled in, at this point…? Are all the buildings, etc. on TSI gone…?

This pic in from 2 weeks ago.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

This pic in from 2 weeks ago.

View attachment 897710

From that perspective it’s a bit easier to see how an attraction the size of big thunder with similar mountain like features can physically fit into the lower island space.

 

[donaldtoo]

This pic in from 2 weeks ago.

View attachment 897710

Woof. That’s just sick and sad, IM(not humble)O.
And now, looking at that, it brings another question to my mind…how is Piston Peak gonna’ play against Big Thunder Mountain, visually…?
Two “peaks” that close together…?!