News Cars-Themed Attractions at Magic Kingdom

[Bill in Atlanta]

This whole thread has been fascinating. I remain excited by this, but it's interesting to me to read different opinions on this, especially those that I would've never considered.

This right here is one of them. The emphasis on needing quieter areas has never occurred to me, nor ever been a thought I've had at any of the 8 Disney Parks, or Universal, or Six Flags, etc. parks I've been to. For me, and our families, the de-stressful parts of the trip were away from the parks - at the resorts, pools, etc. Paying WDW prices and looking for quiet areas to sit would never be on my list.

I hope you find yours going forward, just know that for many others, that is not a priority.

I'm kinda with you, but I see both sides. We've found ourselves booking more table service meals lately just to be able to sit and decompress for a while. But once that meal is over, it's back to the nonstop action for us.

 

[DCLcruiser]

I can appreciate that. But if Disney starts to remove areas like ROA where people can slow down and soak it in and get some amazing views, then the parks are geared more towards commando guests than anything else. A mix of both has always been the best recipe, but that's not what is happening any more. Disney would love it if everyone spent every second either on an attraction, in a store or in a restaurant.

I agree, there needs to be a balance. I like that WDW feels more engrossing in the lands, than just ride/ride/ride, like Six Flags.

But, I also understand that TSI/ROA needed more attention. I rode it in 2022 and thought how it was such a wasted opportunity (I don't mean to replace it, but to give us more reason to board the ship and explore). It might be MK's best kept secret (after DVC of course).

 

[DisneyNittany]

We're traveling west, through the great American frontier, we continue on into the forests of the American Northwest, and finally arrive at Villians Land aka ..... Seattle?

"...this path represents the Bering Strait Land Bridge as you transition from the American Northwest into Russia!" -Disney Imagineering

 

[Disstevefan1]

Many years ago I was watching my NFL team in a playoff game and getting increasingly agitated. As the game played out, I was really upset at the increasingly likely prospect they would lose (they did). Towards the end I was pretty upset, and then, as I watched the players on my team look pretty chill and ambivalent about how they were playing, it dawned on me: why do I seem to care more about this than they do, who have a lot more riding on it than me?

At the end of the day, this is here for our amusement. If it no longer amuses us, we have other options. But, if the people whose jobs it is to do these things do not care about thematic integrity, sight lines, and placemaking, why should I?

This analogy works. We are superfans of Disney.

When Disney makes mistakes we get upset and it hurts.

And as you say, folks in Disney, like Iger, do not care and certainly do not care about our feelings, its just another day at work for Bob.

 

[Earlie the Pearlie]

I agree a thousand fold with the comments above about neurodivergent people needing those quiet areas. I’ve got a combination of anxiety and some other things that meant that as a kid I would get overwhelmed easily by large, claustrophobic, crowded areas. DHS and most of MK are to this day incredibly draining for me, with the riverfront my main restorative spot in MK. Now almost all of MK will be draining for me. I hate to say it, but maybe I should just stick to the other two parks in the future. I love those two, but if I can’t decompress I don’t know what I’ll do

(And all of this doesn’t even mention that Muppet Courtyard is my favorite decompression area in DHS!)

 

[mickEblu]

This is probably wishful thinking but they knew the backlash they would face for making this decision which is why they didn’t release the last piece of concept art until after D23. A part of me wants to believe that the decision isn’t final. That they might be mining for a little data, seeing our reactions before they decide. Seeing if they could get away with leaving some of the Beyond Big Thunder acreage for future use in addition to Villains land. I tend to give them the benefit of the doubt in these situations because I’m an optimist and there are a few drops of goodwill left from the glory days.

 

[Jrb1979]

I mean I get the "hidden gem" concept. But I think we're beyond that at this point. Maybe if Disney hadn't spent the last 20 years building a kajillion hotel rooms and zero new parks.

To be fair that's how they molded their guests. You want E ticket after E ticket. If you want places to relax then go to you resort

 

[Charlie The Chatbox Ghost]

This whole thread has been fascinating. I remain excited by this, but it's interesting to me to read different opinions on this, especially those that I would've never considered.

This right here is one of them. The emphasis on needing quieter areas has never occurred to me, nor ever been a thought I've had at any of the 8 Disney Parks, or Universal, or Six Flags, etc. parks I've been to. For me, and our families, the de-stressful parts of the trip were away from the parks - at the resorts, pools, etc. Paying WDW prices and looking for quiet areas to sit would never be on my list.

I hope you find yours going forward, just know that for many others, that is not a priority.

I can only hope that they have walking trails through the Cars attraction, not that it'll be quieter, but at it'll probably be less packed. Disney seems to be against benches and shade for whatever reason, likely because those allow people to not be doing anything that requires actively spending money.

 

[Tha Realest]

I remember going as a kid and being accommodated for the disabilities in my family. My older brother is autistic and could not wait in lines without meltdowns as a kid. The disability pass (not sure what the name was back then) was a lifesaver for my parents and it made the trip so much better for everyone. Telling families that they should just "practice" is insane. They're just trying to milk everyone for more money, because a DAS pass is free and LL is not. They'd rather you buy LL instead of getting a DAS, even if it actively makes your trip worse. It's disgusting.


It's why areas where kids can explore and play and burn off energy are important. Many neurodivergent people need that. I loved exploring TSI with my brother, and he really loved that island, especially the barrel bridge. Again, I won't pretend I'm a TSI diehard- I'm much more on the team of "just leave the river there for the views"- but I understand it is important in many ways. I hope there are trails and such that intertwine the new area and allow people to explore. What's more "frontier" than exploring the wilderness on foot?

To the user who laughed at the tweet I posted- @WaltsTreasureChest - what's so funny about a neurodivergent person expressing their feelings? What's so funny about lessening the experience for people with disabilities?

Thank you for sharing your experiences and perspective.

This is also why I lament the loss of Bonyeyard. Not *everything* has to be an E-ticket extravaganza, especially when they remove steady, modestly popular C and D tickets for the next shiny thing.

If the rumors of DHS Monstersland are true it’s more of that same thing.

 

[DarkMetroid567]

It's not, though. It's demonstrably false. You can see it from most of Liberty Square.

Again, you wouldn't claim that if you'd actually been there, but you've never liked using actual logic in your arguments here anyways.

I’m sure this discussion is worn out already, but “can” is a real technicality. The only ways you’ll ever be seeing the RoA from Liberty Square are if you’re getting on the Liberty Belle, entering the HM queue, or going out of your way to look at it from the edge.

 

[Phroobar]

I can only hope that they have walking trails through the Cars attraction, not that it'll be quieter, but at it'll probably be less packed. Disney seems to be against benches and shade for whatever reason, likely because those allow people to not be doing anything that requires actively spending money.

There used to be a time when Disneyland was full of benches and umbrellas everywhere. They all disappeared in the last ten years. Just try to find a drinking fountain too. You can't be spending money if you're sitting. We can't get you free water from a fountain. Oh the germs!

 

[James Alucobond]

This is also why I lament the loss of Bonyeyard. Not *everything* has to be an E-ticket extravaganza, especially when they remove steady, modestly popular C and D tickets for the next shiny thing.

Cars does at least apparently include a B or C in addition to the main attraction, which is a merciful change from the norm. Hopefully Villains has some more modestly ticketed attractions and shows to complement the promised two signature attractions as well.

 

[Phroobar]

We can all write a 100 pages on this thread in 30 hours but no one will sign the petition below? Speaks volumes here…

Can you spare a minute to help this campaign?

Preserve and Safeguard the Rivers of America at the Magic Kingdom, Disney World

chng.it

Better yet, don't renew your annual pass and cancel your Disney+.

 

[Purduevian]

Thank you for sharing your experiences and perspective.

This is also why I lament the loss of Bonyeyard. Not *everything* has to be an E-ticket extravaganza, especially when they remove steady, modestly popular C and D tickets for the next shiny thing.

If the rumors of DHS Monstersland are true it’s more of that same thing.

In general I agree with you... However, MK is the only of the 4 parks that has a decent amount of A-C tickets and actually needs more modern E-tickets.

 

[Big_Shakalaka]

Any chance they reverse course on the location of this new Cars land and move it beyond Big Thunder?
The crowd reaction should have said everything they needed to hear. At their fanboi convention, the room was crickets when it was announced, and has only gotten worse when they announced the location.

 

[larryz]

We can all write a 100 pages on this thread in 30 hours but no one will sign the petition below? Speaks volumes here…

Can you spare a minute to help this campaign?

Preserve and Safeguard the Rivers of America at the Magic Kingdom, Disney World

chng.it

Maybe it's the wording -- "save Rivers of America from being overshadowed by commercial endeavors..."

Puh-lease -- the whole MK is already an overshadowing commercial endeavor!

OBTW, there's this one and this one, too.

 

[hopemax]

Joe Rohde, I believe, once made an Instagram post where he talked about what separates truly great themed entertainment from something that's just "fun" - "fun" is a wonderful thing, but it's also something you can have anywhere; a simple plastic toy can be fun, after all, and you can get a yo-yo or something for a few bucks. But if you want me to spend multiple thousands of dollars on a "themed experience", you need to offer more than that - if I can just have "fun" at home, then I need a deeper reason why I'd be willing to part with my hard-earned money to travel to muggy Florida and spend time in the environment you've created.

That impetus to spend the money and go to the theme parks is partly generated by the rides, yes, but the rides are more often the direct source of fun; what sets a great theme park apart is, though, is the attention to detail and the small, sometimes barely perceptible choices (sight lines, kinetics, color palettes, music, tactile choices for surfaces, layouts, costuming, construction materials, something as simple as period appropriate lighting fixtures, etc.) that transport you to a different place and a different frame of mind. Once you've got that, you can sell people on just about anything your park will offer, like original ride concepts or things that don't involve "just slap that character's face on it so it'll sell." I kind of point to something like the Guardians coaster for this: lots of fun, for sure, but not something particularly transportive.

Unfortunately for those of us who believe this, Disney found the alternative option. Just keep the experience so painful that people will line up to throw money at it, to avoid the pain. As long as "being a good parent" relies on a family trip to WDW, they'll get away with it. And when they stop being able to get away with it, the people in charge of these decisions will be long gone.

 

[DavidDL]

Something that feels "off" to me about the reasoning for a Cars attraction in Frontierland is that it's supposed to be about exploring the "frontiers" of America, but stuff like the piston mountain make it feel more like a trip through the world of Cars, rather than our own.

It's sort of hard for me to explain. Because I know an area like Big Thunder Mountain isn't "real" and is an original creation loosely inspired by real world areas, too. But it still feels authentic enough in its design for me to think it could have been pulled from the real "American West". And something like Tiana's, despite being the opposite (a cartoon world filled with singing animals), still goes out of its way to make clear that it's an adventure that takes place in the bayous of New Orleans, Louisiana.

But something about bringing a piston-mountain range, etc. to Frontierland feels like those areas are floating between some sort of thematic uncanny valley, where it is neither fully committed to being a celebration of a real area, or that of one within the Cars universe. Like, it would be nice to just say that the snow-capped peaks and surrounding forest are us exploring or celebrating the Pacific Northwest. But then I see the Piston and am reminded, "Oh wait, this is just a Cars land."

 

[lentesta]

Here’s another question I have, and maybe @lentesta could help answer it. Wouldn’t it be less expensive to expand the footprint of FL and MK than demolishing what is there already and then building on top of TSI and ROA? It seems like Disney has plenty of space.

Internally, "over ROA" is viewed as significantly less expensive than green field development.

 

[Charlie The Chatbox Ghost]

Any chance they reverse course on the location of this new Cars land and move it beyond Big Thunder?
The crowd reaction should have said everything they needed to hear. At their fanboi convention, the room was crickets when it was announced, and has only gotten worse when they announced the location.

Next to no chance. We could try writing letters (there's a list of execs to contact regarding Muppetvision going around so that same group could be contacted about RoA), and even if all of Disney's fanboys outcried it wouldn't change the fact that Little Timmy will beg his parents to ride the Cars ride, causing them to spend another $50+ that they wouldn't with the free to access and experience TSI.

I'm starting to see the usual suspects on Twitter explain why it's a good thing to lose the atmosphere of the RoA/TSI and how Cars is going to have the same exact atmosphere (it won't if they're filling up the river entirely), so the momentum of people against the change is already dying. People are exhausted (myself included) from spending all day yesterday arguing for it. I'm going to write to Disney and make my point for at least keeping the water, but there's no chance anything will change at this point unless they lose "river filling budget" or something.