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

[Rich Brownn]

Yes I know. I guess I question the entire thing. I have no faith today's Disney would even build the utilities. I know why Walt built them but today's company is, in many ways, in a different philosophical universe than Walt.

Er, Walt didn't build them. Roy did. And it did create some issues which is why the only did a ring on Epcot, and no others.

 

[ToTBellHop]

It won’t be

Hopefully they have stuck with the plan to keep the southern island accessible by raft, though.

 

[neo999955]

We're looking at a maximum expansion area of 14 acres. It's big, but it's not THAT big.

We'll get a nice, multi-land(ish) expansion, added ride capacity, and enough juice to kickstart marketing. That's it.

Is this just for phase one (which you've called happening) AND phase two (maybe happening in the future, aka villians, etc) or just phase one? I'm guessing the whole shebang.

 

[Delta-7]

Would they really need to reduce the Rivers of America to a circle around the southern half of Tom Sawyer Island for this? I hope not, considering that we’re just looking at 14 acres.

 

[UNCgolf]

Would they really need to reduce the Rivers of America to a circle around the southern half of Tom Sawyer Island for this? I hope not, considering that we’re just looking at 14 acres.

It's possible that if they're going to be doing site work in the area anyways for BTM, they want to go ahead and prep for a potential northern expansion too.

 

[Bocabear]

Is this just for phase one (which you've called happening) AND phase two (maybe happening in the future, aka villians, etc) or just phase one? I'm guessing the whole shebang.

Phase 2 never happens....if it did the parks would be much more developed than they currently are, the monorail would be connecting all of the hotels and Disney Springs, there would be 2 more resorts on the MK Monorail loop etc.... Never count on a phase 2

 

[EricsBiscuit]

Am I the only person rooting for them to maybe build Coco and not much else?

 

[MisterPenguin]

Would they really need to reduce the Rivers of America to a circle around the southern half of Tom Sawyer Island for this? I hope not, considering that we’re just looking at 14 acres.

This is 14 acres making a wild guess at land usage...

 

[doctornick]

Hopefully they have stuck with the plan to keep the southern island accessible by raft, though.

It’s entirely possible that the fort goes away - because of guns or some perceived negative connotation of Mark Twain, etc - but that some or all of its footprint remains.

 

[Bocabear]

Am I the only person rooting for them to maybe build Coco and not much else?

Yes. But Coco, in EPCOT World Showcase where the IP actually belongs would be a wonderful thing.

 

[eddie104]

Yes. But Coco, in EPCOT World Showcase where the IP actually belongs would be a wonderful thing.

Unfortunately I believe that ship has sailed a long time ago.

 

[EricsBiscuit]

This is 14 acres making a wild guess at land usage...

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This would be a best case scenario. Minimal downtime for the WDWRR and RoA attractions.

 

[jpeden]

This is 14 acres making a wild guess at land usage...

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This would absolutely HAVE to include a new train station for the land if the railroad was that close, right? It just makes too much sense (which is why it probably wouldn’t happen).

 

[James Alucobond]

This would absolutely HAVE to include a new train station for the land if the railroad was that close, right? It just makes too much sense (which is why it probably wouldn’t happen).

The land (at least for phase 1) will likely have pretty immediate access directly north of the existing Frontierland Station. I don’t think there’s much reason for another one. And honestly, I don’t think it’ll need one for phase 2 either. It’s in the same boat as Tomorrowland where it’s easily accessible from Fantasyland Station.

Just look at the map to see how close together they’d be relative to all other stops.

 

[eddie104]

Are any insiders willing to share any info regarding the ride count for this expansion?

Like a rough estimate of what to expect so I don’t get my hopes up and to keep my expectations in check.

 

[James Alucobond]

Are any insiders willing to share any info regarding the ride count for this expansion?

Like a rough estimate of what to expect so I don’t get my hopes up and to keep my expectations in check.

They’ve hinted at two for phase 1, with a Moana ride in Adventureland and a Coco (leading contender) ride just beyond Big Thunder. Other changes to Frontierland seem likely, but probably not additional rides. Phase 2 would probably be another 2-3 attractions with more significant dining and entertainment additions, assuming it ever happens.

 

[eddie104]

They’ve hinted at two for phase 1, with a Moana ride in Adventureland and a Coco (leading contender) ride just beyond Big Thunder. Other changes to Frontierland seem likely, but probably not additional rides. Phase 2 would probably be another 2-3 attractions with more significant dining and entertainment additions, assuming it ever happens.

I thought we were counting Moana as separate from this project?

 

[James Alucobond]

I thought we were counting Moana as separate from this project?

Supposedly, Moana + Coco is a variation of the original Coco + Encanto plan with the attractions more distributed. True that one isn’t actually beyond Big Thunder, but it’s apparently an evolution of the same plan.

 

[Jayhawker]

Coco is a great movie that I would easily recommend. And it has the potential to make for a really great ride too, very catchy and upbeat music and vibrant fantastical visuals. Whether they can make it fit its location is questionable though. And another Soarin type simulator (or any mostly screen based type attraction) would also be a pretty huge letdown too.

Agreed that this type of ride system would be a let down. Plus, you have the added reality of a GIANT show building. Granted, I do not believe you would have the same sight line issues that Epcot has with Soarin' and Cosmic Rewind.

 

[ᗩLᘿᑕ ✨ ᗩζᗩᗰ]

Coco is a great movie that I would easily recommend. And it has the potential to make for a really great ride too, very catchy and upbeat music and vibrant fantastical visuals. Whether they can make it fit its location is questionable though. And another Soarin type simulator (or any mostly screen based type attraction) would also be a pretty huge letdown too.

I'm still not convinced we're actually getting that.