News 'Beyond Big Thunder Mountain' Blue Sky concept revealed for Magic Kingdom

[MrPromey]

Mermaid is a decent attraction but it was just a carbon copy of what is at other parks with the same ride system as Haunted Mansion.
Nothing but an attraction that was rush into blueprints as a filler.
Walt Disney World deserves something special & unique.
Like when we got Everest Expedition back in 2006.
Us fans should be wowed & amazed!
Make us never second guess about not renewing our annual passes ever.

Lots of attractions use or have used the same ride system as Haunted Mansion. Disney invented it and it's called an Omnimover.

The ride system wasn't the problem, the ride they used it in was.

Having said that, it was planned for here at the same time as DL's (development budget was split). Theirs just opened a little sooner and what they managed to get right over there is setting it up as a c-ticket attraction from the onset where as over here, they gave it a really impressive e-ticket exterior and queue.

I mean, there is plenty more wrong with it than that but all of that's easier to overlook out in Californa Adventure because of where and how it was established, there.

A part of me wonders if all these noncommittal big plans they supposedly have are just their way of dragging their feet until they see how Epic Universe is received so they have some idea of what they may need to pour into future development on their end.

I'm beginning to think we won't see outward signs of them getting serous about anything until after Universal's next park is fully online.

In the meantime, they can stall and delay with pretty concept art for things they're "thinking about".

 

[TP2000]

A part of me wonders if all these noncommittal big plans they supposedly have are just their way of dragging their feet until they see how Epic Universe is received so they have some idea of what they may need to pour into future development on their end.

I'm beginning to think we won't see outward signs of them getting serous about anything until after Universal's next park is online.

Exactly. Or, in other words, check back in 2032.

 

[Cliff]

The official Twitter account just said Encanto/Indy at DAK is being “considered”

Egggg-zactly!

You can bet that very little of this actually has a budget, let alone a financial green light.

I'd bet again that the finance groups in Burbank and Orlando were watching the live stream with us...LAUGHING their tails off. I can see them texting each other:

"Look at that Joe,...these guys are crazy dreamers. There is no chance in Hell that we are going to sign off on ANY of that for 3 years...if at all!....Hahaha!!!"

This entire presentation was just to convince investors that everything at Disney is perfectly OK. It's there to make US feel that everything is fine. It's all smoke and mirrors. Disney will need to use careful wording like "what if" or "plans to" or "considering" because it's unfair to "promise" anything like this to actual investors using this information to make real investment decisions.

This is all just a mostly fake public relations hype attempt. Disney is not going to spend $1 on anything new until AFTER this massive HULU 10 billion dollar+ deal is fully financed and finished and Disney stops the hundreds of millions of dollars...per quarter,...every quarter....of financial bleeding.

 

[Model3 McQueen]

I'd rather Disney NOT commit to doing anything new or investing more under their current management. their changes tend to remove something that was well loved, and IMO replace with something inferior.

Not all, but most of it. IP synergy is their biggest priority.

 

[jmuboy]

This one is still so blue sky I’m not really that excited…yet.

What would be great is if by overdrive he means a much faster production schedule. These 5 to 7 year builds are ridiculous.

Agreed - but Josh kept saying things like stuff coming “this decade “ so I feel like this Beyond Big Thunder is going to be like the 7 year build out ( announcement to opening ) we had with Pandora at DAK.

But at least that was worth it

 

[lazyboy97o]

Theres a few problems with this theory:

1) What are we to make of all the grand plans unveiled by D’Amaro and WDI? Are they cynical liars?

2) Many planned (and announced) WDW projects had been scrapped before this FL-RCID thing became a thing.

3) CA hasn’t been “all systems go” in a non-hostile environment (you know, the state and locals that shut them down for 15 months).

1. Plans are always being developed on a variety of scales. Teasing what could be without interference is also a strategy used by all sorts of groups to remove regulatory barriers.
2. Just because there are other factors that can and do kill projects doesn’t mean new ones cannot arise.
3. The Disneyland Resort was not shut down out of spite specifically directed towards Disney.

You were just in the other thread claiming the Board had a good argument and was prevailing in their efforts to control development at Walt Disney World. Now you’re claiming that supposed success is meaningless.

 

[bmr1591]

1. Plans are always being developed on a variety of scales. Teasing what could be without interference is also a strategy used by all sorts of groups to remove regulatory barriers.
2. Just because there are other factors that can and do kill projects doesn’t mean new ones cannot arise.
3. The Disneyland Resort was not shut down out of spite specifically directed towards Disney.

You were just in the other thread claiming the Board had a good argument and was prevailing in their efforts to control development at Walt Disney World. Now you’re claiming that supposed success is meaningless.

And from the sound of what Josh said, part of pitching blue sky concepts are the ability to have ‘a conversation’, aka get feedback from fans before things get locked in. Had reactions to last year’s blue sky plans been through the roof positive, we’d probably have heard an announcement on Dinoland’s closure this year. Instead, we get a different concept to hear people’s thoughts on. The reaction so far seems much more positive.

 

[lazyboy97o]

And from the sound of what Josh said, part of pitching blue sky concepts are the ability to have ‘a conversation’, aka get feedback from fans before things get locked in. Had reactions to last year’s blue sky plans been through the roof positive, we’d probably have heard an announcement on Dinoland’s closure this year. Instead, we get a different concept to hear people’s thoughts on. The reaction so far seems much more positive.

Eh, that‘s more like pandering to the audience to save face on still not actually doing anything. If they really care about feedback they’d be working to actually improve capacity and continue to squander resources on redressing facilities.

 

[cookiee_munster]

Sorry if this has already been said, but the only way a villains land could work (IMO) is if the entire land were indoors like Mermaid Lagoon at DisneySea.

 

[Jrb1979]

Eh, that‘s more like pandering to the audience to save face on still not actually doing anything. If they really care about feedback they’d be working to actually improve capacity and continue to squander resources on redressing facilities.

My guess is also they don't have the money to do these big projects.

 

[csmat99]

DVC info kiosk!

Actually you aren't far off. I know there has been rumors of Hotel/DVC directly connected to World showcase if there ever add another country but wouldn't surprise me if they had DVC hotel back into this new section.

 

[James Alucobond]

^ Please no on Carsland. I wouldn’t mind seeing it show up at Hollywood Studios, but I really like that Magic Kingdom is still free of IP-locked lands.

 

[Door Coaster]

View attachment 741919
View attachment 741920
To me, this seems to be the path of least resistance for what they're trying to do. If they're building the resort north of the Grand Floridian, I could see a plaza/entrance/expansion area south of Coco that justifies being that far out.

A walkway from Haunted Mansion could create an extremely pretty boardwalk-type area and a fantastic transition into a villain's land, then a tunnel through to Coco and beyond. thematically, it works perfectly, IMHO. If they want, they could mess with adding another path over the utilidors entrance to decongest HM.

Decent map. FYI though I made a map based mostly off the 2022 announcement art and ToTBellhop-dirived info:

Artistic Representation
View attachment 697797

Note - since then it would appear that either Villains will be larger or a new IP will be moving in to replace Encanto since that's now going to DAK.

 

[Cliff]

People are upset because Disney keeps calling all these ideas as "what if...." or "considering..." or "under development.." etc....etc.

There is a very important reason why they will not say "We are GOING to do this or that". Disney needs to be 100% clear to stock holders and investors. They can't promise major business investments that cause people to make stock decisions based on future stated projects. They have a fiduciary responsibility to create fair an honest expectations...otherwise Disney could be held legally liable.

So,...all these ideas are likely just fantasies that have no budget, no finance green light and no timeline for implementation. Disney makes this CLEAR to cover it's tail for the stockholders.

Besides,...all of these paintings are likely to completely change into something totally new and different by the next D23 event anyway. This is the modern Disney trend now.

 

[OSUPhantom]

My recollection of the presentation was that their plans for Magic Kingdom was multiple additions to the park alongside Beyond Big Thunder. I imagine “Beyond” is probably the biggest part but I’m guessing other parts of the park will receive some love too. Their plan to respond to EU may be to double down on the flagship park in the mid/long term.

 

[MisterPenguin]

My recollection of the presentation was that their plans for Magic Kingdom was multiple additions to the park alongside Beyond Big Thunder. I imagine “Beyond” is probably the biggest part but I’m guessing other parts of the park will receive some love too. Their plan to respond to EU may be to double down on the flagship park in the mid/long term.

Except for the aborted MK Theater, I don't know of any other planned additions that were *announced* that were in addition to Beyond BTMR.

All other expansions were rumors, AFAIK.

 

[OSUPhantom]

Except for the aborted MK Theater, I don't know of any other planned additions that were *announced* that were in addition to Beyond BTMR.

All other expansions were rumors, AFAIK.

They didn’t announce anything so at this point everything is a rumor. I’m saying that was my perception of the presentation, I have no evidence beyond trying to read between the lines.

 

[Incomudro]

^ Please no on Carsland. I wouldn’t mind seeing it show up at Hollywood Studios, but I really like that Magic Kingdom is still free of IP-locked lands.

I'd take a Tokyo Sea like attraction at the Magic Kingdom.
Restore the Nautilus to its rightful place of honor!

 

[doctornick]

I'd take a Tokyo Sea like attraction at the Magic Kingdom.
Restore the Nautilus to its rightful place of honor!

Mysterious Island would work as a land in MK I feel like.

 

[ᗩLᘿᑕ ✨ ᗩζᗩᗰ]

I would also prefer it at Hollywood Studios.

However, I was approaching it from Disney's POV, and they have no large plans for WDW's worst park by a mile, HWS, which is why I included it here.

Rather than dropping half a billion on a hodgepodge land of Coco and whatever other random IP, I'd infinitely take arguably the greatest land outside of Tokyo DisneySea. That was my point, and placemaking-wise it would fit pretty well opposite of Big Thunder Mountain.

However, I don't feel like Cars Land feels like a single IP land in the ways the Potter and Star Wars lands do since it has a groundedness that makes it not even feel like one, while also having a heart to it on account of the IP that I feel has only ever been captured in Disneyland Park, so I'd more than welcome it.

If you don't get hung up on the symantics and just look at the visuals, a Radiator Springs Racers attraction would work well back there. And as you said, it would transition to a villainous mountainscape for a villains area.