News Cars-Themed Attractions at Magic Kingdom

[KDM31091]

Because there will be water, water features, and waterfalls.

But will there actually be? They love to promise these things and not deliver, unfortunately. I guess we will see. I sure hope some water is kept and utilized.

 

[Bleed0range]

It’s difficult to have nostalgia for a park that you can no longer recognize, I feel like they should really stop taking things away to add things.

 

[KDM31091]

God. The future of Disney parks sounds so bleak.

Because it is. They want the parks to basically be permanent ads for Disney+. If you are not actively buying food, merch, or LL, they don't care about you. They do not want you just roaming around and relaxing and enjoying. You are just a number who exists to be monetized as much as possible. This does sound bleak but this is how corporate Disney views things. It's no longer about the guest experience but just how much money you are worth.

Because us diehard fans are passholders and sometimes locals, we're at the bottom of the priority list. DVC too, they already have our money. They don't care what we think because we continue to go anyway. A shiny new Cars land will attract that family from Colorado for their once in a lifetime trip for ten grand. That's all Disney cares about now. Not whether it fits, not whether it makes sense, just whether in the short term it will boost attendance.

 

[Disstevefan1]

Muppets probably makes more money though. But that’s another debate in another thread! Haha

The way TWDC does business, it seems they don't care about making money with the exception of pick pocketing their theme park guests.

 

[bwr827]

Someone remind me. How many years did this company take to build a small pedestrian bridge connecting the Grand Floridian to the MK walkway?

Hey - you quoted someone else’s words under my name.

I’m banking on 2029.

 

[peter11435]

But will there actually be? They love to promise these things and not deliver, unfortunately. I guess we will see. I sure hope some water is kept and utilized.

There will be.

Exactly what water features have been promised and not delivered? Aside from a fountain at Epcot.

 

[mickEblu]

I'd add, I actually think Disneyland's ROA may be at it's best in history, currently, despite the shortening. I really think that redone area to hide Galaxy's Edge, that the rail runs across, is stunning. Cascade Peak who?

The island however is a shell, and pathetic, and sad.

It’s definitely pretty and it has grown on me. Didn’t like the river being shortened at the time but you can’t deny they did a good job with it. What I miss more than anything is the Hungry Bear being right on the water. That was my favorite place to eat in DL as a kid and I would herd the whole family over there. Always made sure to get a table on the lower level to feed the ducks.

The island is still very beautiful, an integral part of the whole vista and a nice place to get away from the crowds once in a while but yeah everything is always closed lately and hardly anything is working. Even the bridge doesn’t feel as bouncy. Not a good sign.

 

[KDM31091]

There will be.

Exactly what water features have been promised and not delivered? Aside from a fountain at Epcot.

New Fantasyland has multiple streams/ponds in the artwork that don't exist in real life. Epcot not only lost a fountain but has none of the promised water features, if you look at the concept art there were several. Galaxy's Edge has absolutely no water; again that was in the art.

I understand the artwork is a guideline and is often optimistic. I'm just saying, there have been several instances where what we got is nothing even close to what was shown.

 

[DisneyRoxMySox]

Magic Kingdom version kinda does. Probably the worst one in the world. It’s such a nothing burger in comparison to the other ones. That’s why I think those of is who’re excited for it getting changed are excited even if we disagree with the chosen IP. It’s kind of unfortunate that the busiest park in the world has got the worst version of a cool land, and that’s gotta change.

I’ll give you DLP’s is superior. But I disagree that DL’s is better than ours, especially after the loss of Thunder ranch.

I haven’t been to Tokyo, but given everything is better over there, OK.

 

[Charlie The Chatbox Ghost]

Why do you think Tom is so steadfast on it? He’d be the first person to rally for this at the slight sniff of this going.

I trust Tom on this one. He was 100% right about the Rivers- he was saying they'd be completely gone when everyone else (myself included) were assuming it'd be Beyond BTM/on the back half of the river. Let's hope he's right on Muppets- if he really thought there was any chance they're in danger he'd be talking about it. Remember the Country Bears?

 

[lentesta]

So Muppets 3D will be destroyed?

That's the current plan. Like I said, it can change to Launch Bay.

 

[Sneaky]

I trust Tom on this one. He was 100% right about the Rivers- he was saying they'd be completely gone when everyone else (myself included) were assuming it'd be Beyond BTM/on the back half of the river. Let's hope he's right on Muppets- if he really thought there was any chance they're in danger he'd be talking about it. Remember the Country Bears?

I mean, I really truly wanna trust you, but the amount of sources, PLUS some actual media makes me a bit wary. Idk man, I agree with you on the bears front, but man, it’s so much and so loud. Then again, nobody said the door coaster. But if they were so sure, wouldn’t they announce it right now and squash it?

 

[tallica]

I texted someone inside the company on Sunday with "Now that the Galaxy's Edge timeline is broken, can we get a Darth Vader character breakfast?"

They texted back a compliment on how smartly I was dressed.

Was their response a non answer or am I missing something? Sarcasm on both ends?

 

[Animaniac93-98]

This is what I keep coming back to when people talk about this being a beautiful area themed to nature. It's not really, it's themed to a world in which cars with big eyes and cartoon smiles are the only living creatures and natural formations take on the shape of car parts. That's what they're putting down in the middle of what is now Frontierland and Liberty Square, not Grizzly Peak.

At any rate, this really just has me feeling that maybe the Disney parks are just big, tacky tourist traps as their critics always argued. In the past, there seemed to be enough idiosyncrasy, ambition, and creativity to make them interesting (at least to me) in how, for example, the Magic Kingdom mapped out a very American mythology and view of the world as filtered through the mind of Walt Disney or with EPCOT Center they attempted to create a World's Fair-style vision of optimism driven by technology and innovation. Even the evocation of different times and places in the resorts was at least fun. Once they start replacing the legacy lands of Magic Kingdom with lands based on films that currently make them a lot of revenue in merchandise sales, that version of the parks seems even further in the past than it was. That's also true at the resorts where you're now going to bed looking at Moana or The Incredibles.

That said, I'm not really a 'theme park guy' as much as I was in to Disney parks. For me, most of what gets build these days with single IP lands doesn't excite me as it seems to excite a lot of people, whether it's at Disney or Universal, because I generally don't care enough about any of the IPs to want to drop a ton of money or spend a lot of time wandering through three dimensional recreations of them. But, I guess I am not the market for the parks as they are now and probably not for the older parks as they begin to be remade along this model.

I didn't become a fan of Disney theme parks as a child because every ride was based on a movie I had seen.

I didn't keep going back as an adult because every new addition was based on the latest release.

I fell in love with The Magic Kingdom specifically because of the variety in settings, subjects and types of attractions.

Now everything is becoming a Disney movie ride, which makes the park less "Disney" to me.

 

[lentesta]

Was their response a non answer or am I missing something? Sarcasm on both ends?

I took the "smart" part as agreement.

 

[Disstevefan1]

That's the current plan. Like I said, it can change to Launch Bay.

I understand you are just reporting what you hear.

Lets hope they do the right thing and put it in the Launch bay.

The problem is, I have no faith they will do the right thing.

 

[lentesta]

The way TWDC does business, it seems they don't care about making money with the exception of pick pocketing their theme park guests.

I'm in a group chat with Mike Carlson from Podcast: The Ride, who pointed out that the 5 Alvin and The Chipmunks films have out-earned all 10 Muppets movies. I made a spreadsheet and adjusted for inflation:

 

[Charlie The Chatbox Ghost]

I mean, I really truly wanna trust you, but the amount of sources, PLUS some actual media makes me a bit wary. Idk man, I agree with you on the bears front, but man, it’s so much and so loud. Then again, nobody said the door coaster. But if they were so sure, wouldn’t they announce it right now and squash it?

I totally get the doubt, and I kinda doubt that Muppets is safe too. If the Rivers of America aren't safe, what makes the Muppets safe? Tom just really believes they are, and I hope he's right.

I'm not sure why Disney isn't saying anything. Maybe the plan was to demolish Muppets but they're second guessing themselves because of public backlash. It's going to get a LOT worse for Disney if they actually do decide to demolish Muppets, so they're better off redoing the plans in quiet and then pretend Muppets was never an option.

Too bad the same can't be said for what's going on at Magic Kingdom... at least we'll have Villains?

 

[KDM31091]

I didn't become a fan of Disney theme parks as a child because every ride was based on a movie I had seen.

I didn't keep going back as an adult because every new addition was based on the latest release.

I fell in love with The Magic Kingdom specifically because of the variety in settings, subjects and types of attractions.

Now everything is becoming a Disney movie ride, which makes the park less "Disney" to me.

Exactly. Disney is all about the details, immersion, theming. Another time and place. Not just movie IP slapped anywhere and everywhere. IMO that often destroys theming and immersion because, we see these movies and advertisements for them in our everyday life. It's no longer that magical and it doesn't provide the same sense of "wow" or escapism, at least not to me.

I'm not totally against IP and I think some IP attractions have been done well, but I don't understand how Disney doesn't see that almost all of the beloved classics do not rely on IP are just original, immersive attractions. That is what literally built their success. I cannot believe that no one at the top has realized this yet and at least made a pivot to do some original attractions even if IP has to be included with others.

 

[larryz]

Was their response a non answer or am I missing something? Sarcasm on both ends?

Their intent is clear...