News Cars-Themed Attractions at Magic Kingdom

LSLS

Well-Known Member
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.
None. They know Radiator Springs is big in DL, and they KNEW the backlash that would come from this (hence why they waited til 2 days later to put out the press release instead of facing it head on).
 

Charlie The Chatbox Ghost

Well-Known Member
This map from the permit suggests that they are interested in building outside the tracks, which makes the fact they're destroying attractions within the track berm even more senseless.
1723506826000.png
 

TrainsOfDisney

Well-Known Member
Internally, "over ROA" is viewed as significantly less expensive than green field development.
No way it’s less expensive than existing expansion pad development. Why you keep twisting things is beyond me.
I think it will work as well as Galaxy' Edge. While not a failure, certainly not the ROI that Burbank imagined.
The over all Star Wars theme park expansion is pretty close to a failure. In California it didn’t increase attendance and Rise usually has the same wait times as Indy - which means it’s good, but not the must ride.

In Florida the resort was a complete failure - the land did drive attendance at DHS so there was some success there.

In Paris, the Star Wars expansion was cancelled and replaced with Lion King (unless the 2 were at one point going to exist side by side.
 

wdwmagic

Administrator
Moderator
Premium Member
Original Poster
No way it’s less expensive than existing expansion pad development. Why you keep twisting things is beyond me.

The over all Star Wars theme park expansion is pretty close to a failure. In California it didn’t increase attendance and Rise usually has the same wait times as Indy - which means it’s good, but not the must ride.

In Florida the resort was a complete failure - the land did drive attendance at DHS so there was some success there.

In Paris, the Star Wars expansion was cancelled and replaced with Lion King (unless the 2 were at one point going to exist side by side.
@lentesta is correct, building on ROA is the lower cost option
 

Haymarket2008

Well-Known Member
Fantastic perspective.



"I remember when my family started going to Disney, it felt like there were *so many* lesser-known secrets to discover that kept us coming back. Interactive card games & scavenger hunts, pin trading, Hidden Mickeys, little museums & exhibits, beautiful secluded spots to chill out.

No, that stuff isn't all must-do for the family there for one day trying to max out their number of attractions-ridden. But the obscure things were *why* my family often desired more days at the parks, and kept coming back. Because there were little treasures to stumble upon too. [...]

It gives you a sense of agency and identity in a theme park to know that you can discover the things *you* like to do and enjoy the experience in a way that's different to others. When everything is a super must-do attraction with a 120-minute wait, there are no hidden gems.

In terms of hidden gems, Tom Sawyer Island & The Riverboat were the pinnacle of that idea to me. Some people have said "you never ride them," but I do. Every time. Because when I go to a theme park, I'm not just interested in rides—I'm interested in atmosphere, beauty, discovery..."


This is exactly my thoughts and feelings. Beautifully said.
 

easyrowrdw

Well-Known Member
I’m right there with you. As much as I like the franchise, mater is my least favorite character in many ways. If you could have seen my reaction to the initial news I was completely against Mater in FL as we know it. However this won’t be FL as we know it and everything we’ve seen from the Cars franchise on screen and in the parks (including AOA) says this will have theming and cohesiveness.

I don’t think (based on the concept art) that Mater will be that integral to the ride. He and McQueen appear to be commentating the rallye from their position at the finish line for Radiator Springs Network (RSN). Maybe you’ll hear his voice on the ride vehicle but I don’t think he’ll be intruding on some of the other natural areas of the land.
Just to clarify (not attempting to change your opinion), I was only using Lightning and Mater as examples. It doesn’t matter to me who the Cars are. IMO anthropomorphic vehicles from a world of anthropomorphic vehicles are completely misplaced in Frontierland, just as they would be at Animal Kingdom or the Wilderness Lodge.
 

BuzzedPotatoHead89

Well-Known Member
The over all Star Wars theme park expansion is pretty close to a failure. In California it didn’t increase attendance and Rise usually has the same wait times as Indy - which means it’s good, but not the must ride.
Ironically the challenges with Star Wars may be what’s leading to this also. By building this “front and center” as opposed to a land expansion around the backside of the park that can easily be avoided this becomes a visual focal point of interest and one folks must pass. From a design perspective this recenters the “balance of power” in the park in the same way Carsland and BvS did for DCA 2.0.

Compare the popularity of MMRR in DHS vs DL as well. While both are popular DHS still boasts longer lines because of its 1) placement and 2) comparative lack of major attractions. The same comparison can be made here.

Additionally I do believe the Cars IP is significantly more lucrative than SW in its current state.
 

Kamikaze

Well-Known Member
Disney Princesses as a brand didn't start until 2000, and I doubt the number of total revenue is including each individual princesses' merch sales from 1937-2000.

But yeah, I agree, the placement is the main issue here. I personally can live with Cars, but I can't live with the loss of the only major water feature remaining in MK.
Those numbers include everything, same as they include the revenue of the brands before Disney bought them. (Cars includes when it was Pixar owned, Star Wars when it was Lucas, etc)
 

ctrlaltdel

Well-Known Member
No way it’s less expensive than existing expansion pad development. Why you keep twisting things is beyond me.

The over all Star Wars theme park expansion is pretty close to a failure. In California it didn’t increase attendance and Rise usually has the same wait times as Indy - which means it’s good, but not the must ride.

In Florida the resort was a complete failure - the land did drive attendance at DHS so there was some success there.

In Paris, the Star Wars expansion was cancelled and replaced with Lion King (unless the 2 were at one point going to exist side by side.
First, he clearly said internally. It would also make sense, however. There are utility lines that exist there, it's already a constructed environment, etc. Where they would be expanding beyond big thunder is mostly untouched (obviously with the caveat of plenty of water management canals surrounding it).
 

doctornick

Well-Known Member
Also, I just noticed in your plan that Villains isn't using any of the back half of the river- so why not put Cars there? I feel like if Cars is taking the front half, then Villains is taking the back half.

Yeah, who cares about the back half of the river? The point is the river should exist in the front part next to Liberty Sq and the Frontierland town. Once you are north of HM, fill in away IMHO.
 

hopemax

Well-Known Member
The over all Star Wars theme park expansion is pretty close to a failure. In California it didn’t increase attendance and Rise usually has the same wait times as Indy - which means it’s good, but not the must ride.

In Florida the resort was a complete failure - the land did drive attendance at DHS so there was some success there.

In Paris, the Star Wars expansion was cancelled and replaced with Lion King (unless the 2 were at one point going to exist side by side.

I was trying to be nice! The fact that my DH, big Star Wars fan wants to spend little time in that area, and doesn't feel the need to even ride RoTR anymore (we rode a bunch on our DLR trip in 2021) tells me how I would describe it.

At this point, it's also safe to declare any of the New Tomorrowland projects failures. Especially, any of us who considered 1988 Tomorrowland a cool place to be. I just don't have any faith in Disney's ability to pull off major land revitalization projects. Carsland at DCA is probably the most successful, but the Flying Saucer space is a significant failure, actually getting on RSR requires work or $$, and it doesn't seem like WDW will be getting the other things that make Carsland work. I doubt there's going to be a need for people to be in the land at sunset to experience the transition, for example.
 

ctrlaltdel

Well-Known Member
Yeah, who cares about the back half of the river? The point is the river should exist in the front part next to Liberty Sq and the Frontierland town. Once you are north of HM, fill in away IMHO.
This clearly would have made the most sense if they didn't want to expand past the RR tracks. You can keep a heavily shortened river, keep the island (or make it a peninsula) and retheme it while you are there. It would still necessitate docking the boat but at least you would have the LB there.
 

Register on WDWMAGIC. This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.

Back
Top Bottom