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

[CaptainAmerica]

Didn’t that go away over 30 years ago with Mickey’s Birthday Land?

Passing through Fantasyland to get to Toontown made sense. Passing through Frontierland to get to Villains Land or whatever the hell doesn't.

 

[brb1006]

Was there any news out of D23 that wasn't crappy?

HarmoniUS getting replaced and The Hatbox Ghost finally coming to WDW.

 

[doctornick]

Fort should be safe. Something like
View attachment 666242

Okay, that feels acceptable to me. If the island remains (with the fort and stuff on the lower island) and the riverboat continues to function, I don't think the loss you indicate here is terrible. I remember in the past there was talk of just having bridges over to the island and no more boats which I wouldn't like.

That said, I would lot look forward to the extended period of time where the river would be drained and out of commission as well as the possibility of having a long shutdown of the train again.

I wonder if they at least would add some dioramas to the train path if they shut it down for a long period (ha!) or if they would integrate the railway into any attraction a la how it runs through Splash.

 

[ToTBellHop]

Passing through Fantasyland to get to Toontown made sense. Passing through Frontierland to get to Villains Land or whatever the hell doesn't.

I’m not as pressed on land flow as long as the transitions work well. Mansion to Villains is easy as is Big Thunder to Coco. Not sure about Encanto…

 

[ToTBellHop]

Okay, that feels acceptable to me. If the island remains (with the fort and stuff on the lower island) and the riverboat continues to function, I don't think the loss you indicate here is terrible. I remember in the past there was talk of just having bridges over to the island and no more boats which I wouldn't like.

That said, I would lot look forward to the extended period of time where the river would be drained and out of commission as well as the possibility of having a long shutdown of the train again.

I wonder if they at least would add some dioramas to the train path if they shut it down for a long period (ha!) or if they would integrate the railway into any attraction a la how it runs through Splash.

Shift the railroad as I showed and there’s no reason for it and RoA to close for more than a year. TRON has been uniquely obnoxious.

 

[doctornick]

So what's the thought (or isn't there any) about the design aesthetic of the lands branching off of the Hub? Is that just out the window? Or is this all part of Fantasyland? If so, "Beyond Big Thunder Mountain" is a weird way for them to have phrased the intro.

No reason lands need to be right off the hub. Though I do think it would be key to have more than one entrance/exit and not be a dead end.

Galaxy's Edge is a similar set up and is not connected to the Hub at DL.

 

[peter11435]

Partly true, they still had to ship in sand from Champions gate. My barber in Clermont has lived in Florida all his life and his grandfather owned acers of land along 27 in Champions gate. He remembers his dad selling sand to Disney in the 80s while they were building Epcot.

Nothing “partly true” at all. I didn’t say they didn’t truck sand in from elsewhere. I said most of the fill came from those resort sites on property. If this project happens most of the fill needed will come from on property too.

 

[_caleb]

I don’t think it is so much about value as it is about guest flow. With a ride, you are moving guests at a desired pace. With a walk through attraction, you have little to no control over that.

True. I was thinking. More of the recent (last several years) approach: a themed land with a few short rides but lots of opportunities for people to buy stuff. The only parts they want people moving through quickly are the parts that don’t generate additional revenue.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

True. I was thinking. More of the recent (last several years) approach: a themed land with a few short rides but lots of opportunities for people to buy stuff. The only parts they want people moving through quickly are the parts that don’t generate additional revenue.

Rise of the Resistance is like 20 minutes long.

 

[ToTBellHop]

Rise of the Resistance is like 20 minutes long.

It never ended for me. I’m not getting off that damn ship ‘til I find some coaxium. I know they are hiding some!

 

[Bocabear]

This is like the Hong Kong Disneyland expansion...Pushed out beyond the train loop... But why not just put Coco in the Mexico Pavilion where it fits nicely and expand beyond Big Thunder fo a more fleshed out and spectacular Villains Lair...Neither Coco or Encanto are quite the right vibe for Magic Kingdom...But World Showcase is and is in need of more attractions...

 

[ToTBellHop]

This is like the Hong Kong Disneyland expansion...Pushed out beyond the train loop... But why not just put Coco in the Mexico Pavilion where it fits nicely and expand beyond Big Thunder fo a more fleshed out and spectacular Villains Lair...Neither Coco or Encanto are quite the right vibe for Magic Kingdom...But World Showcase is and is in need of more attractions...

It fits thematically but doesn’t actually fit in Mexico. They can’t fit a headliner there.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

@wdwmagic I think we need a new sub-forum "Beyond Big Thunder Mountain."

First impressions:

1) Coco belongs in EPCOT
2) Encanto, eh, catchy song but I dunno. Maybe it will be an omnimover ride? Or are we actually opening doors in a walkthrough.
3) Villians, that should be an entire new park.

It doesn’t fit at all…it’s for PR purposes…

Good news is they have zero intention of doing it

 

[James Alucobond]

I’m not as pressed on land flow as long as the transitions work well. Mansion to Villains is easy as is Big Thunder to Coco. Not sure about Encanto…

Rather than the weird portal thingy in the artwork, it would be cool if they could use the riven mountain from the film that leads to the Encanto as a transition to the villains area.

 

[_caleb]

Rise of the Resistance is like 20 minutes long.

And a good bit of that might reasonably be put into the category of “glorified queue.” I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, just that the trend over the last generation has been to blur the lines between “themed area/experienc” and “rides.”

 

[crazy4disney]

Passing through Fantasyland to get to Toontown made sense. Passing through Frontierland to get to Villains Land or whatever the hell doesn't.

Muppets into Star Wars land via a “tunnel”. Cant be much worse than that hahaha

 

[doctornick]

It fits thematically but doesn’t actually fit in Mexico. They can’t fit a headliner there.

Not that I'm suggesting doing so, but if they wanted to use the back half of the Royal Sommerhaus plot (the former expansion area between Mexico and Norway), couldn't they put a sizeable ride there and theoretically accommodate a popular Coco ride? I see some buildings there but not sure if any are critical or can't be repurposed

 

[MrPromey]

This is the weirdest . . . "announcement"(??) ever

This is how you know they really didn't have anything - instead of announcing something years before they break ground, they're now making announcements of stuff they've sort of thought about!

I'm surprised the last slide wasn't ideas he was considering for lunch but hadn't decided on yet.

 

[disneylandtour]

There are 21 pages of people imagining what this place will look like. That's far more work than has been done in Imagineering on any of these projects so far. What we saw yesterday was a company unable to make announcements so it put up a few drawings and said, Who knows maybe we'll do something like this some day? Then again, maybe we won't. Josh was so incredibly clear that these were not announcements--but something closer to an art show.

 

[MrPromey]

Opening. It’s very close to green light (and may have just gotten it).

And you think they'll break ground and have it completed within three years?

Dude, no offense but it's 2022 and Disney we're talking about.