News Cars-Themed Attractions at Magic Kingdom

[KDM31091]

The extreme backlash makes me wonder if any of this project will be reconsidered. Most likely not, but it’s definitely a larger than usual backlash
I’m hoping they at least maintain a semblance of the river and dock the boat.

 

[Quietmouse]

It exists. It was built. It's been developed. Yes, it has history.

I am once again pointing at the sign:

On Integrity

"Now, I have this to say, and I love Disneyland dearly, but when it comes to Walt Disney World -- to hell with Disneyland.

Disneyland has a colorful and unique history. But so does Walt Disney World, and Walt Disney World's history has been slowly whittled away these past few years by thoughtless and presumptive choices, choices held up only by ignorance of the unique local culture of the Florida park.

Walt Disney World needs to start thinking long-term now, now that forty years have breezed past. They need to seek out and maintain a roster of talent who know and have Walt Disney World bound into their blood and every fiber of their body the way Disneyland does. So far, the last two decades they've been content with Marriott hotel managers and accountants, people who don't see past the ends of their own nose. And lots of being led around by the wrist by Disneyland. But Walt Disney World, she isn't the second Disneyland. She's the first Walt Disney World. And she needs to start acting like it."

Penned 12 years ago...

Yes, but how much did Walt actively play into Disney world? I know he bought the land and had preliminary ideas and concepts , but obviously Disney Land was where he physically walked the streets. I just don’t think it’s a fair comparison.

 

[lazyboy97o]

That's not the logic of this expansion, though. The proposed design is full of planted areas, full of water and rockwork, and full of decor, often inefficiently so in order to hide the Cars vehicles from the rest of the land.

The hiding is a big part of the problem. The space was all organized around an open vista along the implied edge of the river. Dropping in a dramatic, defined edge condition is going to change the space in a way that contradicts its design. Something occupying the river space should be something you can see across the lands to maintain the design language of the lands.

 

[KDM31091]

I am not sure what Disney has done recently that gives you any sense that this will occur. Also, dissecting the concept art they provide...well, I have learned a lesson or two from that.

Exactly. Almost every recent project has been a letdown at worst and stripped down from the artwork significantly at best. There’s not much reason to be confident unfortunately

 

[Quietmouse]

The extreme backlash makes me wonder if any of this project will be reconsidered. Most likely not, but it’s definitely a larger than usual backlash
I’m hoping they at least maintain a semblance of the river and dock the boat.

The only reason why plans would change at this point if there was another global pandemic, and/or a large global recession.

Both of which are somewhat realistic at this point with economic uncertainty playing a large factor in todays time and Bird flu bringing uncertainty as the next pandemic.

 

[TP2000]

For example, are Cars made in a factory or…ahem…?

… it’s best not to think too hard about the Cars universe.

No, I encourage it. Because it's hysterical!

In Cars Land, the Luigi's Rollicking Roadsters ride is sponsored by Enterprise Rent-A-Car. A car can pay to rent a fellow car for a short bit of time in the Cars universe? So does that mean that Luigi's Cassa Della Tires is actually the town's house of prostitution and ill repute?

Disney® Sponsorships

Discover DISNEY® with Enterprise, official transportation provider of runDisney and ESPN Wide World of Sports.

www.enterprise.com

 

[James Alucobond]

The hiding is a big part of the problem. The space was all organized around an open vista along the implied edge of the river. Dropping in a dramatic, defined edge condition is going to change the space in a way that contradicts its design. Something occupying the river space should be something you can see across the lands to maintain the design language of the lands.

Right, just saying that this update is not like deleting planters. It's more like filling in planters designed for low floral with large sightline-blocking trees or sculptures.

 

[RSoxNo1]

I like the idea of a Pacific Northwest area in the Magic Kingdom. The mental gymnastics taking place to keep the Frontierland name is a bit strange. I wouldn't be surprised to see a name change entirely, especially if Haunted Mansion gets absorbed by Villains Land.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

“You'll never answer this question by relying on surveys, polls, data trends, etc because they measure what has already happened. They lead not to novelty, but to a kind of predictability that eventually becomes tedious, like a worn out relationship where one partner is just trying too hard. “
- Joe Rohde

 

[RSoxNo1]

Isn't that the ride system that was pitched for a Jurassic World/Park ride years ago?

Maybe, conceptually it appears to be a smaller vehicle version of Reign of Kong or Fast and Furious.

 

[SpectreJordan]

I really hope the Disney finance people decide this is to expensive and dont do it. I like the idea of a cars ride, but not at the expense of losing the Liberty Belle, ROA, and TSI. Also, send Cars to the Studios, and give MK something more fitting theme wise (Doesnt have to be IP Driven).

Most of the new announcements seem like a desperate response to the New Epic Universe Park. Except it is to little, and to late. Iger said that they have known about Epic was coming for around 10 years, and they are just now announcing new stuff. They should have announced this stuff 5 years ago, and had some of this stuff up and running starting this year and into next year.

None of this would compare to a brand-new theme park opening up, even if they were all homeruns. The only way Disney could've competed is with a 5th gate opening up around the same time. It's smarter to open this up a couple years after EU is out.

 

[DisneyHead123]

That's not the logic of this expansion, though. The proposed design is full of planted areas, full of water and rockwork, and full of decor, often inefficiently so in order to hide the Cars vehicles from the rest of the land.

The comment was addressed (respectfully, I hope,) to another poster, not the Disney company. I was responding to his or her proposed rationale for this change.

My point being - feedback is great. Sensitivity to your audience is great. Even efficiency in usage is good stuff, usually. But those can’t be standalone metrics, because the logical outcome of that is not great. (I think there was a Twilight Zone episode to that effect, where anyone considered “redundant” was just executed on the spot. That would be like the extreme extreme end of that spectrum.)

Balance in all things, right? Feedback is good. Maximizing efficacy is good. Balanced against an understanding that feedback is most useful for complaints, like “Hey, housekeeping has been really inconsistent” and is not a tool for people to take a deep dive into their own psychology to dream up the theme park that would make them happiest, mentally design it, and outline it in detail in a survey response.

 

[MisterPenguin]

Questions I would love to ask Josh D'Amaro:

• Does Lightning McQueen purchase life insurance or car insurance?
• The Popemobile appeared in Cars 2, implying the existence of Jesus Christ as an automobile. What make and model was the messiah?

This is why I don't get invited to media events.

The Christler has a bumper sticker that says, "Honk if you love me."

 

[Ghost93]

I'm in the Magic Kingdom today. As I walk around Tom Sawyer Island with my wife and kids, I can't help but think "man this place sucks, I can't wait until they rip it out and build something awesome instead."

I think Tom Sawyer's island is a well themed area of the park, but I acknowledge the reality that the area is completely dead most of the time and that the Tom Sawyer brand isn't relevant to today's kids. Throughout the 20th Century, Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn were taught in almost every school and were known by almost everybody in the general culture. I'm not sure that's the case anymore.

After the announcement that the area was going to be replaced by Cars I looked up modern YouTube videos of the island. Almost no one actually goes there. I did find some videos from the 80s and 90s showing that once upon a time, the island was heavily visited. But it has long outlived its use fo the Disney company.

 

[Stripes]

I am not sure what Disney has done recently that gives you any sense that this will occur. Also, dissecting the concept art they provide...well, I have learned a lesson or two from that.

I saw how beautifully they integrated Galaxy’s Edge at Disneyland into the surroundings of Frontierland and Critter Country.

Also an insider has chimed in and said:

”It’s hard to see from the art, but there are new ponds, streams, and waterfalls that are being created, so it’s not a total loss of water. There will actually be more kinetic energy with this than there currently is in the area.”

“How to fit Cars into the region is actually very real, as John Lasseter did concepts for the original films going through places like Yellowstone, but were never realized (though the adjacent franchise, Planes Fire & Rescue does take place in a Yellowstone-like national park). There is a lot more to this concept and I think you’ll see some more Cars related IP coming around the bend that will even cement how it makes logical sense being there. This concept is adjacent to National Parks (not inside one) and it is very pretty. I do have doubts about the reliability of it being outdoors in Florida, but that’s besides the point here.

The aesthetics of the land are based on the Grizzly Peak Recreation Area in DCA. (Piston Peak instead of Grizzly Peak) Obviously there are some aesthetic differences and it’s a Cars ride instead of a rapids ride, but that’s a product of the MK having Tiana’s so close and the IP requirement set above.

In the end, there was no way to save the existing river system. The new lands have major elevation changes that can’t be accomplished without altering the river…”

 

[Tha Realest]

Has to be a Christler.

Jesus didn’t just take the wheel: He is the wheel.

 

[Brer Panther]

They could sell the dolls at the Villains Land store

But then where will they sell the Bob Iger dolls?

Cars 2 had a underground parts market where they encounter this car.

Here's a thought - maybe they can have the Cars ride be sponsored by Chevron and have the cars from those ads appear alongside Lightning and Mater like Disneyland's Autopia in the 1990s.

That TDO and WDW management has left their Rivers of America to rot for decades now is not the fault of the paying guests who know that, and thus avoid wasting time on a lone riverboat to look at a landscaped drainage canal (my phrase from 2010).

Isn't that basically what they did with Splash Mountain? Go "to heck with maintenance" and let it rot so nobody will have a problem with you tearing it out?

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

In the end, there was no way to save the existing river system. The new lands have major elevation changes that can’t be accomplished without altering the river

That quote is very misleading. There was absolutely a way to save a portion of the River like in Disneyland. Anyone can argue the merits of saving it, but it could absolutely be saved.

 

[Magicart87]

The extreme backlash makes me wonder if any of this project will be reconsidered. Most likely not, but it’s definitely a larger than usual backlash
I’m hoping they at least maintain a semblance of the river and dock the boat.

The compromise will see it scaled back, they'll incorporate a larger water element and the attraction will be less than because of it.

or they'll come up with some other justification like well we wanted two attractions for this space but because y'all wanted a large water feature we had to rip out the second attraction. sorry it's your fault, you are the magic.

 

[Stripes]

That quote is very misleading. There was absolutely a way to save a portion of the River like in Disneyland. Anyone can argue the merits of saving it, but it could absolutely be saved.

Anything can happen with enough money. The question is not whether it could’ve been saved but rather was it worth spending 30-40% more on this project to save it, thereby cancelling what could very well become my favorite attraction, and delay the project by a year or more.

I would prefer that the money go towards building another E-ticket and getting this project open as soon as possible. I have a far more beautiful view outside my living room window than what Rivers of America offers at MK. It really is nothing special to me. It doesn’t have the history, the beauty, or the kinetics of the one in Disneyland. And a similar or higher level of serenity can be accomplished in Frontierland and Liberty Square without squandering so much valuable land.