News Cars-Themed Attractions at Magic Kingdom

[dmc493]

The only point I want to drop in is - a water feature is not the same as a body of water. While a stunning waterfall might work all the time, there's also times when it'll break or be shut off. A body of water (tied to larger stormwater management systems) will always provide the same level of kinetics.

Would not mind if they converted ROA to even a babbling brook among this Grizzly Peak-esque new landscape but I guess that's wishful thinking.

 

[phillip9698]

Totally agree The Chatbox Ghost.

I think some of the potential political reasoning questions stem from trying to understand the logic beyond TDO trying to fill up as much land as possible in the MK to make more profit.

I will really miss the view from BTM looking over ROA to the castle!

Also, the riverboat was such a gem. Where can you ride a working riverboat even if it went along a rail. So relaxing. I did not go for years and the in 2017 for my parents 50th anniversary we all went on and it was a blast. My wife who never went on before loved it more than anybody.

Pretty much any southern city with access to a large body of water.

Seriously just pick one, Memphis, Montgomery, Nashville, Charleston, New Orleans, Chattanooga, St. Louis, Savannah, etc……. Those boats are everywhere.

 

[DisneyRoxMySox]

Since Chevy continued to sponsor test track, Disney couldn’t install IP at will. So Disney at least had the idea/capability to put cars in TT if Chevy pulled their investment.

Chevys continued support of an attraction refresh sounds like the problem.

Chevy killed the ROAs.





JK - just in case.

That’s it. You’ll never see me buy a Chevy.

 

[radiorae]

I also wonder if Villains land had to have that pathway cutting across the river by BTMR and then up the side of HM, necessitating the removal of RoA regardless. At that point what would be preferable— a giant pond? Or an additional land?

 

[erasure fan1]

Does having attractions based on movies really add that much to the bottom line? Like if that Cars ride opens tomorrow what percentage increase would they see over sales of cars plushies and blu-rays or whatever?

That's a great question. Will adding cars sell more merch? I'm not really too sure if I really think about it. It's sold just fine without a ride. Little boys will probably always want toy cars. It's kind of like imagination. If they spend the money to fix it, will the line for a figment popcorn bucket be 3hrs instead of 2? I don't know. People just like figment and it sells great with one of the worst rides on property.

 

[RobbinsDad]

I'm in a weird camp here. Cars Land in DCA is great. Radiator Springs Racers is an amazing attraction, the backdrop is beautiful and I even like Junkyard Jamboree. I'm not a fan of Rollicking Roadsters, but it's not meant for me anyways.

I think Cars is a bit of an odd fit for this area, but we're also not getting new additions that are free of IP. I like that this is potentially a new ride system for the anchor attraction and that it's not a clone of RSR, even if it's an inferior attraction (we don't know whether or not it will be).

What I actually do like is the placement. This is very valuable real estate that was remarkably under utilized. Don't get me wrong, water has a place in Disney Parks and that aesthetic will be missed, but I actually like this choice.

For me, the Rivers of America weren't sacred. I couldn't tell you the last time I went to Tom Sawyer Island or went on the Liberty Square Riverboat. There is ALWAYS outrage if Disney removes anything, they know this and it's why they didn't reveal this on Saturday night. I'm sure (as evident by a 136 page thread) that TSI and the Riverboat carried with them precious family memories and you're probably just as upset as I was when Reflections of Earth went away.

For me, Cars is a weird choice that I don't love but I'm taking a wait and see approach. However, expansion in to this area is something that I fully support.

I mostly agree, although I do wish they would keep the portion of the river by HM and permanently dock the riverboat. Especially if one could walk on and off the boat at leisure. TSI is no big loss. What will tick me off is a Cars mini land with little or none of the mountain forest landscape shown in the rendering.

 

[jason976]

I also wonder if Villains land had to have that pathway cutting across the river by BTMR and then up the side of HM, necessitating the removal of RoA regardless. At that point what would be preferable— a giant pond? Or an additional land?

That’s what I was thinking. That Cars is just going in a space but Villains is the real reason this choice was made. I’m a fan of the choice regardless but I get why some don’t like it.

 

[MDB407]

If they are going to do this...wouldn't something more thematically appropriate like a stagecoach being pulled by bullseye through a toy story woody themed Old West make more sense? You could have stinky Pete being the great villain he is and trying to interrupt the tour thru the Old West. Instead cars in frontier land....makes 0 sense no matter how much the parks blog tries to spin it.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

Pretty much any southern city with access to a large body of water.

Seriously just pick one, Memphis, Montgomery, Nashville, Charleston, New Orleans, Chattanooga, St. Louis, Savannah, etc……. Those boats are everywhere.

That’s not correct - New Orleans and Louisville are the only ones I’m aware of, but there may be a couple more, that have an actual steam powered, paddle wheel driven, riverboat.

 

[RobbinsDad]

My main gripe with all of this is the Cars IP.

In my opinion, everything in Magic Kingdom should be whimsical (fun, not too serious), and removed from the modern real world. So I don’t think Star Wars or Marvel fit, as they are too serious, real-world, and/or political.

Cars is fairly whimsical, but it’s essentially set in a version of the modern real world. I really love the first Cars film, and the land in California looks great, it would just be better to have it in Hollywood Studios.

If it were a more suitable property, I’d be much more in favour. For example, it could be a Pocahontas themed river rapids.

Tbh I always thought that if they filled this area it would be with a river rapids ride.

 

[radiorae]

If they are going to do this...wouldn't something more thematically appropriate like a stagecoach being pulled by bullseye through a toy story woody themed Old West make more sense? You could have stinky Pete being the great villain he is and trying to interrupt the tour thru the Old West. Instead cars in frontier land....makes 0 sense no matter how much the parks blog tries to spin it.

Toy Story thematically makes more sense, but we already have a Toy Story land in DHS AND a Toy Story ride in MK, so it would likely be overkill. Plus I’m guessing if you ask a young kid if they’d rather ride a stagecoach or a race car, race car is going to have the overwhelming majority.

 

[RobbinsDad]

My main gripe with all of this is the Cars IP.

In my opinion, everything in Magic Kingdom should be whimsical (fun, not too serious), and removed from the modern real world. So I don’t think Star Wars or Marvel fit, as they are too serious, real-world, and/or political.

Cars is fairly whimsical, but it’s essentially set in a version of the modern real world. I really love the first Cars film, and the land in California looks great, it would just be better to have it in Hollywood Studios.

If it were a more suitable property, I’d be much more in favour. For example, it could be a Pocahontas themed river rapids.

Tbh I always thought if TSI/ROA was replaced it would be with a rapids ride.

 

[vagabondarts]

If they are going to do this...wouldn't something more thematically appropriate like a stagecoach being pulled by bullseye through a toy story woody themed Old West make more sense? You could have stinky Pete being the great villain he is and trying to interrupt the tour thru the Old West. Instead cars in frontier land....makes 0 sense no matter how much the parks blog tries to spin it.

People keep saying this but the fact is frontierland is going away for generic rustic theming. They just can’t say that part out loud yet.

 

[Mike S]

I find Universal is becoming more like Disney and Disney more like Universal.

It's Disney's loss IMO.

In a way you could say Dark Universe is an original park creation.

Universal obtaining the Nintendo ip for rides is truly the secret sauce. My kids don’t really care about much of universal stuff aside from maybe dr.suess and minions and a few other things…but Nintendo they love Mario, and princess peach and donkey Kong.

They don’t care about Harry Potter but man do they love Mario.

It’s really something that can rival many of Disney famous ips and appeals to both little children and adults and why I’m excited to visit universal again.

Pokémon alone will be absolutely massive for them.

 

[TsWade2]

Am I supposed to care what he thinks?

Not really. He has no control anyway.

 

[RobbinsDad]

People keep saying this but the fact is frontierland is going away for generic rustic theming. They just can’t say that part out loud yet.

I’m not sure how rustic theming, particularly landscapes similar to those found in the actual American frontier means Frontierland is going away.

 

[haveyoumetmark]

The Cars movie franchise has generated $21.5 billion in merch and ticket sales.

Unless I'm reading that wrong, Cars is the highest-grossing Disney franchise without an actual ride in Walt Disney World.

This NYT article from 2023 says Pocahontas has earned about $707 million in ticket sales. Let's go Snoop-Dogg-with-the-Olympic-Torch wacky[1] and say Pocahontas earned 10x that in merch sales. Humor me. So Pocahontas has earned $8B.

So consumers are willing to part with 2.5 times as much money for Cars as for Pocahontas. And it's probably 7x TBH.

Cars has multiple theatrical sequels. They could easily make more. Pocahontas has had none. It has no clear future.

I'm not saying Cars is the perfect franchise. I'm not saying I agree with IP in the parks. But c'mon given what we know about how the company makes decisions about the parks, this is as clear-cut as it gets.

[1] In all sincerity, I have never been more proud to be an American than that moment.

I appreciate your posts and POV. Usually very informative, sensible and data-driven in a way that might actually cut through the hysterics, bad takes, delusions and mob mentality.

 

[Captain Neo]

Toy Story thematically makes more sense, but we already have a Toy Story land in DHS AND a Toy Story ride in MK, so it would likely be overkill. Plus I’m guessing if you ask a young kid if they’d rather ride a stagecoach or a race car, race car is going to have the overwhelming majority.

No it doesnt. What do 90s Toys have to do with the Frontier or the wild wilderness??

 

[DarkMetroid567]

It’s interesting that you frame the “moral superiority” of people who aren’t happy with the loss of RoA/TSI as being upset purely because of politics/Walts beliefs or hatred against Imagineers. Most people in this thread and on Twitter have been expressing that they’re majorly upset with the loss of the atmosphere- the “park” part of “theme park”. We don’t hate Imagineers, they are told what to do by corporate, they don’t have a say in what stays or goes. I’ve already talked about why dozens of times. The people screaming “Woke Disney hates America” are a small minority of fans who are just screaming to fuel the culture war. They don’t represent the fandom as a whole, like how the Save Splash crowd don’t represent everyone who liked Splash.

I think I was fair in characterizing that not everyone is using these arguments — but a lot of people clearly are, and it’s the reason that emotions are running highly in the first place. If the opinions were just “I’m happy/sad to see this go” this thread would not be 140+ pages deep.

Also you call the parks “slop” at the end there- so you’re agreeing this Cars situation is not great?

Yes and no. It would not have been my first choice either, but I’m eager to see if they can pull it off. My standards of enjoyment for theme parks are quite low and I’m willing to go to some pretty bad ones. To say I have full confidence in Disney is a lie considering the way EPCOT turned out, but I’m still pretty excited to see the change and the impact it has on the worst Frontierland and RoA in the Disney parks, even if it turns out as slop.

I just get irritated by the holier-than-thou attitudes.

 

[Dizknee_Phreek]

Tbh I always thought that if they filled this area it would be with a river rapids ride.

See, now that I think would work better. And it could kind of tie in with the flooded town on BTM. Although I don't know if they'd want 2 water rides beside each other.