News Cars-Themed Attractions at Magic Kingdom

[MrPromey]

Would you argue frozen is a timeless ip or Moana ? I think it’s hard to create a case for what is a current day timeless ip versus something like Peter Pan that is almost 70 years old.

Right now if you asked my daughter she would say frozen and Moana is better than Peter Pan. But that doesn’t make her anymore right or wrong.

It’s all truly subjective and very much tied the time of year living in.

They could be.

I don't think the Moana water walk-through will be, though.

The frozen ride? Hard to say but the way Disney is handling things today, I suspect their fan base would be willing to "let it go" if they were getting a newer better Frozen ride on an expansion pad in the Magic Kingdom.

It wouldn't shock me, btw, if Universal closed ET six months from now. People always seem to think that's what's going to happen every time it goes down for an extended refurbishment - that they'll close and it'll just never reopen and that's how that one will go.

That's the expectation most Universal fans have with Universal and I guess now, Disney's heading in that direction, too... of course, we haven't heard where the Monsters mini land is going yet so we'll see.

 

[Sir_Cliff]

To me, all that good will, all that emotional attachment Disney fans had to their properties was because of the "Disney Difference". More and more, the only difference between Disney and Universal is becoming who has the rights to what franchise.

Yes, I think for me this is what hits hardest about this announcement.

Universal and Disney basically do the same thing now, which is building attractions based on movies. Sometimes one will do it better than the other, but they work with more or less the same budgets and have more or less the same people designing their attractions.

The reason the announcement hits so hard is now they are replacing the remnants of the parks before they all blurred into one. Today, it's a big Piston Mountain greeting guests walking from the hub of the Magic Kingdom into what was once Liberty Square. Tomorrow, maybe our friends from Monsters Inc will take over Main Street USA. Tomorrowland could become Incredibles Land.

 

[MrPromey]

Yes, I think for me this is what hits hardest about this announcement.

Universal and Disney basically do the same thing now, which is building attractions based on movies. Sometimes one will do it better than the other, but they work with more or less the same budgets and have more or less the same people designing their attractions.

The reason the announcement hits so hard is now they are replacing the remnants of the parks before they all blurred into one. Today, it's a big Piston Mountain greeting guests walking from the hub of the Magic Kingdom. Tomorrow, maybe our friends from Monsters Inc will take over Main Street USA.

I'm sure lots of people here would be perfectly happy with trading Main Street USA for a Mini Monsters land even if it was just to have a clone of the California Adventure ride and a table service Harry Hausen's.

I don't think Disney's ready to give up their Walmart Sized gift shop now running the length of the left side just yet so we're safe for a while, there, though.

Having said that, under current leadership, Disney has certainly changed and I think that is changing newer audiences connections with them, though.

Something tells me, this newer crowd isn't going to put up with something being left stale for as long as say, Ellen's Energy Adventure was in the future.*

Not when the competition with their own stable of popular IPs keeps building and replacing.

*Their kind of like killing the goose as it were and I think they'll realize that too late as a company but for the executives who made the decisions to get them there, it won't matter because most of them will have moved on or retired.

 

[Sir_Cliff]

I don't think Disney's ready to give up their Walmart Sized gift shop now running the length of the left side just yet so we're safe for a while, there.

Well, they'd only have to change the name and the facade. In terms of the theming, they could just say that they are "reimagining what Main Street means" as D'Amaro said about Frontierland.

All bets are pretty much off.

 

[MrPromey]

Well, they'd only have to change the name and the facade. In terms of the theming, they could just say that they are "reimagining what Main Street means" as D'Amaro said about Frontierland.

All bets are pretty much off.

Well, since it seems like they're hesitant to announce where in Hollywood Studios that's actually going, I'm pretty sure they're trying to find the right way to upset a whole bunch of people about that park at the moment so again, I think we're safe for the time being when it comes to Main Street USA.

But I get your point.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

“Main Street has always been about people in the small town dreaming big! From a young Walt Disney to our favorite potty-mouth superhero - Main Street will soon be reimagined so that Deadpool can tell his Main Street story!” -Josh at D23, 20??

 

[Sir_Cliff]

Well, since it seems like they're hesitant to announce where in Hollywood Studios that's actually going, I'm pretty sure they're trying to find the right way to upset a whole bunch of people about that park at the moment so again, I think we're safe for the time being when it comes to Main Street USA.

But I get your point.

Sure, but it seems like they have made the decision in that case as well despite the fact they know the fans will be upset.

The era of big new investments in the parks promised by Iger over the past few months seems to involve a lot of slashing and burning.

 

[Sir_Cliff]

“Main Street has always been about people in the small town dreaming big! From a young Walt Disney to our favorite potty-mouth superhero - Main Street will soon be reimagined so that Deadpool can tell his Main Street story!” -Josh at D23, 20??

Trust me, there would be plenty of people on here arguing that no-one cares about turn-of-the-century-America and real people beyond us freaks would much prefer a Deadpool ride and Marvel theming to the tired Main Street USA.

 

[Jumping Fountains]

This might be an unpopular opinion, but kids today don't know who Tom Sawyer is, nor do they care about a steam-powered riverboat.

Not taking issue with the overall point or anything, but do kids not read huckleberry Finn or any Twain anymore in school?

 

[MSM]

Losing Muppets for another ride puts more pressure on the park. Big shows take lots of visitors away from ride lines and the busy walkways for a period of time. Plus, coasters and other rides are not the USP at Disney like they are at Six Flags and others. It's about an overall experience.

 

[Kamikaze]

Disney does well with "family coasters" which don't have big drops or go crazy with inversions.

It's doing very well with the newer family coasters (SDD, TRON, GotG:CR) that are 'smooth' in that there's no jerking around. Kids love it. And seniors don't break a hip or get whiplash.

All of WDW's 'family coasters' have significant queues. Back in the old days of Genie+, SDD was the first LL attraction to fill each day.

Now that DHS is getting a third coaster, EP and DAK could each use a second.

Oh absolutely, but that posters argument was basically that they shouldn't build anything except coasters. Because thats building for the majority of guests.

 

[danlb_2000]

I will say; the oddest thing is the urgency to get this done.

If I was a Disney executive with financial purse strings, i would be genuinely curious why we aren’t tearing out the tomorrow land speed way to create expansion space. Or utilize the space next to adventure land for a new e ticket attraction.

To hear that draining and tearing out tsi being the most costlier option is bizarre because it seems Disney would want the path of least resistance, at least financially speaking.

Now they have to worry about draining the river, regrading the entire land, they have to figure out how to dismantle and remove the river boat and only then begin to build upon the land for a new attraction and theme.

Draining the river isn't a big deal, it has been done a number of times. Getting rid of the riverboat also isn't hard. As for re-grading the land, they may use the current river level as the starting point for construction. This probably isn't much harder then prepping a fresh piece of land for construction.

 

[CoasterCowboy67]

So with all these boat rides going around, why doesn’t DHS have one? Do any of the land ideas considered for AC involve one?

Feels like an obvious gap in that park that Zootopia wouldn’t fit if it’s a clone. I get it’s just a ride system, but there’s something I notice more about 3 trackless rides in a park then 3 boat rides. I find boat rides to be more neutral and about the setting; rather than the motion itself

 

[Brer Panther]

What park is the remaining place they'd try to shove in the film that has a FARMER rabbit, with a park that has a WHOLE area with NO SPONSOR and NO IP...

...they're not actually considering that, are they?

Zootopia's a great movie and all, but I'd rather they not retheme Soarin' or Living With the Land to it.

 

[Tha Realest]

...they're not actually considering that, are they?

Zootopia's a great movie and all, but I'd rather they not retheme Soarin' or Living With the Land to it.

From cropaganda to copaganda

 

[lazyboy97o]

Moana has a nice expansion pad (originally intended for Fire Mountain).

Yes, it requires Disney to have the land inspected and determine if it is suitable to build on. Yes, they would probably have to adjust a road or two.

All new construction requires a geotechnical report.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Point being there has to be some large reason at play. This isn’t a simple project and Disney had much cheaper options within the boundaries of mk.

No, there really doesn’t. Disney is not just some cold, calculating machine. They do things that don’t make sense. Moving quickly gets you to the point of no return quickly.

 

[bwr827]

There is a difference between riverboats and steam powered paddle wheels.

Some you are referring to might be steam - Louisville and New Orleans both have them, but many are just decorative.

The riverboat experience you can still enjoy on the seven seas lagoon until they fill that in for a DVC tower cause it’s wasted space haha.

And this steam-powered paddlewheel boat is a theme park version that runs on a track in a shallow, manmade waterway. It’s not some authentic experience of history.

It is a piece of theme park history, and it is a huge change to see the area transformed into something different.

 

[bwr827]

Point being there has to be some large reason at play. This isn’t a simple project and Disney had much cheaper options within the boundaries of mk.

Why is it a given that Disney wants the cheapest and easiest way? And “way” to what?

We already have very sensible explanations for this new development. There’s no big mystery.

 

[bwr827]

Kind of defeats your point though because et is still an ip.

It’s a well done ride based off a classic ip that is still heavily regarded as one the top 10 best sci fi films in history.

Maybe the point you’re trying to make is the quality of the ip? Which I think is fair, but ultimately quality is subjective .

Isn’t it just Spielberg keeping the ET attraction alive?