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

[CaptainAmerica]

EXACTLY!

This is like going to your kids and saying "How 'bout we book an exclusive jet to Orlando, stay in the Walt Disney suite at the Grand Floridian for two weeks and to VIP packages for each day so we can do whatever we want, however much we want without waiting in any lines?"

Then you pause for a moment to soak in their excitement and then follow up with.

"I'm still trying to scrape together the money to get the car fixed so it's just an idea but some day we might just do that!"

and then walk out of the room patting yourself on the back as the best dad ever.

I'm sorry but this is bullcrap. There's plenty here to criticize fairly without making things up. Josh was EXTREMELY clear, repeated over and over again, that what he was showing was concept art in the extreme early stages of "just being kicked around" in the creative process. There was absolutely no sense that he was making concrete announcements followed by pulling the rug out from under everyone.

 

[MrPromey]

... Indy would be incredible and fit Asia/Everest area, but again, it's not really about animals.

Neither is Moana, as far as I can tell so at this point, why not?

Disney doesn't care if it makes sense so anything is possible, right?

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

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.

You just kinda summed it up…

But it’s off the rails because I’m fairly certain I just saw someone saying the coco ride is a clone of flight of passage??

…nah…I must be drunk

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I'm sorry but this is bullcrap. There's plenty here to criticize fairly without making things up. Josh was EXTREMELY clear, repeated over and over again, that what he was showing was concept art in the extreme early stages of "just being kicked around" in the creative process. There was absolutely no sense that he was making concrete announcements followed by pulling the rug out from under everyone.

He’s not “Josh”…gotta adapt here Superfan…

And you’re buying the bull. Blue sky are WED/WDI concepts done by artists not otherwise engaged. Some get built…maybe 5%
I’m not kidding. It was more of promoting a “think tank” that can go other places.
They are not “projects”…with “timelines”…or “budgets”

It’s completely inappropriate/low rent for them to take a sketch and put it on screen and say “we are promoting thinking about stuff”. That’s not product.

It was almost like they are showing the crowd to Wall Street today and saying “looking at these rubes…they’re gobbling up something that doesn’t exist and not costing the shareholders a dime”

…nah…couldn’t be?

 

[Ho-Hum]

Was it ever really stated in the presentation that a Villains themed area was going to the Magic Kingdom? It seems to me that it was mentioned as being "in the distance..." Maybe the distance is greater than the park perimeter and is actually the 5th gate? Maybe the distance is actually Tokyo, since The Oriental Land Company seems to be the ones with deep pockets to pull this off!

 

[EPCOT-O.G.]

He’s not “Josh”…gotta adapt here Superfan…

And you’re buying the bull. Blue sky are WED/WDI concepts done by artists not otherwise engaged. Some get built…maybe 5%
I’m not kidding. It was more of promoting a “think tank” that can go other places.
They are not “projects”…with “timelines”…or “budgets”

It’s completely inappropriate/low rent for them to take a sketch and put it on screen and say “we are promoting thinking about stuff”. That’s not product.

It was almost like they are showing the crowd to Wall Street today and saying “looking at these rubes…they’re gobbling up something that doesn’t exist and not costing the shareholders a dime”

…nah…couldn’t be?

Now we know what “A Boundless Future” meant: they described future projects without the normal boundaries of whether or not, you know, they have any intention of designing or building them.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

He’s not “Josh”…gotta adapt here Superfan…

And you’re buying the bull. Blue sky are WED/WDI concepts done by artists not otherwise engaged. Some get built…maybe 5%
I’m not kidding. It was more of promoting a “think tank” that can go other places.
They are not “projects”…with “timelines”…or “budgets”

It’s completely inappropriate/low rent for them to take a sketch and put it on screen and say “we are promoting thinking about stuff”. That’s not product.

It was almost like they are showing the crowd to Wall Street today and saying “looking at these rubes…they’re gobbling up something that doesn’t exist and not costing the shareholders a dime”

…nah…couldn’t be?

"Moana and Zootopia in Animal Kingdom" are not projects (yet). But you don't believe that "rebuild Dinoland" is on the 10 year plan with a rough dollar amount next to it?

 

[DCLcruiser]

Neither is Moana, as far as I can tell.

Eh, pigs, chickens, manta-rays, what more do you need?

 

[DCLcruiser]

"Moana and Zootopia in Animal Kingdom" are not projects (yet). But you don't believe that "rebuild Dinoland" is on the 10 year plan with a rough dollar amount next to it?

100% agree. I'd bet Beyond BTMRR and Dinoland replacement are approved projects. They shut down PW for a reason. WDI does not just make concept art for fun. They are paid for projects. This was not some Imagineer's weekend artwork.

 

[SNS]

Was it ever really stated in the presentation that a Villains themed area was going to the Magic Kingdom? It seems to me that it was mentioned as being "in the distance..." Maybe the distance is greater than the park perimeter and is actually the 5th gate? Maybe the distance is actually Tokyo, since The Oriental Land Company seems to be the ones with deep pockets to pull this off!

It's too bad that the Tokyo Disneyland Resort has the issue with space. Can you imagine what the Oriental Land Company could do if they had a Disney World size property?

 

[SirLink]

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.

I would surmise that the DAK and MK thing was a glorified focus group. Would it shock me to see something like this at the next Destination D event for DHS/Epcot/Disneyland/DCA .. Disneyland Forward not withstanding.

 

[Touchdown]

As far as the blessing of size, that’s not strictly true in the individual parks. People need to walk to these places, and as you can tell by all the scooters and strollers WDW is already reaching limits for some people. Epcot is probably about as big walkable space as most will tolerate. There’s only two parks that get close to that size in the country, Cedar Point and USF (during HHN.) They will need to consider this when designing a new expansion.

 

[SirLink]

100% agree. I'd bet Beyond BTMRR and Dinoland replacement are approved projects. They shut down PW for a reason. WDI does not just make concept art for fun. They are paid for projects. This was not some Imagineer's weekend artwork.

Disney Legal shut Primeval Whirl down for safety purposes. Just an example of the multiple issues the ride has had.

Disney Reaches Settlement on Primeval Whirl Death

 

[DCLcruiser]

Disney Legal shut Primeval Whirl down for safety purposes. Just an example of the multiple issues the ride has had.

Disney Reaches Settlement on Primeval Whirl Death

Well, either way, it was a terrible ride.

 

[MrPromey]

I'm sorry but this is bullcrap. There's plenty here to criticize fairly without making things up. Josh was EXTREMELY clear, repeated over and over again, that what he was showing was concept art in the extreme early stages of "just being kicked around" in the creative process. There was absolutely no sense that he was making concrete announcements followed by pulling the rug out from under everyone.

I agree with everything you said except the bullcrap part. If it was bullcrap, we wouldn't have 20+ pages of people talking about how based on concept art of something they haven't even said they are going to do is going to fit into the space based just on those pictures of something they clearly haven't even begun to think about drawing up actaul design plans for.

Yes Josh may have been clear his communication was of something that amounts to nothing but the fact that he announced it is all it takes. (and it isn't like people at Disney don't know this which is why I'd consider it highly iresponsible).

Heck, we have someone already saying - apparently not intending to troll - they've heard from a source that the Moana blue sky concept is "close to being greenlit" and expected to open in '25 so.

 

[WDWFREAK53]

Let's just say they do build this expansion in Magic Kingdom...basically connecting Frontierland and Fantasyland. Having an expansion of that size means more people will be allowed in the parks. How does that affect Main Street at the end of the night? How about transportation?

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Yes Josh may have been clear his communication was of something that amounts to nothing but the fact that he announced it is all it takes. (and it isn't like people at Disney don't know this which is why I'd consider it highly iresponsible).

My sincere hope is that they can't honestly be this inept at PR and that they'd only show these things if they're a bit further along in development than they're letting on.

Heck, we have someone already saying - apparently not intending to troll - they've heard from a source that the Moana blue sky concept is "close to being greenlit" and expected to open in '25 so.

Yeah I mean they could greenlight it in a meeting today at 4 o'clock and it still wouldn't open in '25.

 

[FutureCEO]

they've heard from a source that the Moana blue sky concept is "close to being greenlit" and expected to open in '25 so.

doubt it will happen because Disney can't build a ride in less than 5 years.

 

[_caleb]

Maybe they are seeing what Disney fans come up with online so they can pick the best idea of how to do the layout from that.

Any mention of Frederick Chambers and I’m going to scream

 

[SNS]

I have no idea who that is. I'm afraid I have been out of the loop with Disney stuff for some time now.