News Cars-Themed Attractions at Magic Kingdom

[lazyboy97o]

I probably didn't articulate it well but what I meant was how far along they are in taking an abstract idea with concept art and putting that into functional designs.

Like with Pandora, it's pretty evident, they really didn't have much figured out when they rushed that announcement.

Everyone's making assumptions about actual track layout, water features, and ride systems based on that concept art which doesn't seem to be to real scale and wasn't designed featuring aspects of the park it's going in so beyond tearing down what's there, I'm just curious how early stage they actually are with things at this point.

Obviously, they could start throwing up walls and tearing up Frontierland tomorrow but have they mapped out a real ride layout? Are they ready to start creating show elements that will be installed because they know what space, environment and other elements will be available to build to?

Is there an actually paced out ride or is it just a ride system, approximate length, and IP?

That sort of stuff.

Pandora was announced before design work had really begun. Most projects have gone through concept design which does involve more than developing art. There are functional designs that document that overall scope of work.

The problem with looking at art is that you don’t know it was developed. It’s all called concept art but gets developed through all five phases of design and even into construction. It can sometimes be discerned as certain tools have certain stylistic trademarks. While individual scenes may not be based on anything specific aerial views do tend to be based on some sort of plan that makes some sense.

 

[tissandtully]

I think the thinking is “a lot of people are willing to spend their money to see these things. Maybe we should try them in a park.”

Yeah, I guess we've narrowly avoided an Alvin and the Chipmunks land. Maybe one of the Middle eastern parks will add it lol, honestly seems like something they would do.

 

[tissandtully]

Specifically, it's "Front-Tire Land."

This is too good not to use.

 

[Wall-e]

We are at DCA this morning and as we are waiting in line for RSR a large group of Imagineers (mostly young adults so assuming college program or the like) are out studying the ride and area.

After seeing Grizzly peak for the first time and seeing what Disney can do with that and Wilderness Lodge and experiencing the Radiator Springs vibe I’m even more excited for what may come to New Frontierland.

They can definitely create the feel of kinetic energy if they can replicate the Grizzly Peak falls.

 

[Raineman]

We are at DCA this morning and as we are waiting in line for RSR a large group of Imagineers (mostly young adults so assuming college program or the like) are out studying the ride and area.

After seeing Grizzly peak for the first time and seeing what Disney can do with that and Wilderness Lodge and experiencing the Radiator Springs vibe I’m even more excited for what may come to New Frontierland.

They can definitely create the feel of kinetic energy if they can replicate the Grizzly Peak falls.

There has already been plenty of kinetic energy in that area for 50 years now.

 

[Nickm2022]

More like 7-12 minutes - which is fine. It actually increases capacity and more guests might want to ride it if it’s a shorter time commitment.

If it's more like 7-12min then the 4ish min I thought it would be then yeah I agree that is actually better. My one gripe has always been the ROA in the back is kinda boring, too long (on the boat), and not enough to see, especially compared to the Rivers in DL and DLP (the ones I've personally been too).

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

But I would be glad if they kept either portion with a running riverboat.

Same here - I’m for any solution that keeps the riverboat.

The lower portion keeps the vibe of Frontierland - and also the riverboat going by Tiana. It also is a smaller portion of property if that’s the concern.

 

[ThePhoenicians]

I don't really have a preference one way or another of whether they keep the ROA/TSI. Although, thematically, it would make sense to have to cross a river of some sort to venture into the wilderness. Keeping a shortened river (and thinner as well) from Big Thunder to Haunted Mansion queue with a static Liberty Belle seems like a reasonable compromise.

 

[Bocabear]

The river ride in DAK was kind of boring too...but they chose to not add more show scenes...If they had, we would still have the boat ride in DAK... and the Riverboat in MK might actually have more riders.... Likewise with the train... If they build some engaging show scenes it would probably increase ridership 10 fold....

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

The river ride in DAK was kind of boring too...but they chose to not add more show scenes...

The other issue was there were very few attractions at DAK and the boat ride was low capacity and was not as interesting as it looked. So guests ended up waiting a long time for a very boring ride.

It’s a shame it got cut - the park needs that type of attraction and i think now it wouldn’t have the same issues.

 

[Bocabear]

It wouldn't have been that boring if they added some more show scenes.... That is all they had to do...Make it more engaging...

 

[Dizknee_Phreek]

So here's a crazy thought I've had. Many of us agree that keeping the river along HM to BTM and docking the riverboat would be a decent compromise. Some have said one reason the riverboat isn't popular is because it doesn't take you from point A to point B. So WHAT IF...we keep the lower part of ROA, dock the riverboat, and then Disney creates a small boat (like the old keel boats or similar) to take people from the old keel boat dock to what will eventually become the old TSI dock near BTM. That will keep the river intact, allow exploration of the riverboat and create kinetic energy in the river that will actually take people from one side of LS to the far side of FL. I'm sure there are logistical factors I haven't really thought of to make this not feasible...but, you know, just throwing out some blue sky armchair Imagineering here.

 

[Pi on my Cake]

It wouldn't have been that boring if they added some more show scenes.... That is all they had to do...Make it more engaging...

The problem really wasn't the lack of show scenes. It's that the entire path of the boat ride could be seen from the walkways. They could add all the show scenes they want but if you can see them in just a 10 minute walk why would you do a 20 minute boat ride and a 15 minute line taking an hour out of your day.

The riverboat has showscenes (how exciting they are/are not notwithstanding) in the back half you can't see any other way. There's not really a way to do that with DAK unless they added a cave or something to go through

 

[Nickm2022]

My personal opinion is that we've always had the worst version of Rivers, the Island, and the train. So I personally don't care what they do as long as it's better than what was there before. I'd also add it's not like we're losing River's just for Cars rather we're losing it mainly for Villains and just the bottom part for Cars.

Really hopeful that we finally get new scenes and upgrades for the train, especially when it goes through the Villains area. And I'd ad the DAK river boat as well as the Swan Boats the use to exist for MK we're good ideas for moving guests around but it's the same issue of ride capacity and do you get moved quicker walking it vs taking the boat. That's one reason the train's been so useful because it moves people quicker then walking and the lines are usually not bad. You can't argue that with the DAK boat and it's not like it has the scenery of Peoplemover sadly.

 

[tissandtully]

My personal opinion is that we've always had the worst version of Rivers, the Island, and the train. So I personally don't care what they do as long as it's better than what was there before. I'd also add it's not like we're losing River's just for Cars rather we're losing it mainly for Villains and just the bottom part for Cars.

Really hopeful that we finally get new scenes and upgrades for the train, especially when it goes through the Villains area. And I'd ad the DAK river boat as well as the Swan Boats the use to exist for MK we're good ideas for moving guests around but it's the same issue of ride capacity and do you get moved quicker walking it vs taking the boat. That's one reason the train's been so useful because it moves people quicker then walking and the lines are usually not bad. You can't argue that with the DAK boat and it's not like it has the scenery of Peoplemover sadly.

I felt disappointed we didn't get more with the Tron tunnel, I was hoping we'd get something like the dinosaur scenes on DLRR, maybe some cool projections or screens or something.. but nope

 

[V_L_Raptor]

This is too good not to use.

I think it's actually on their draft artwork or plans at this point. I saw it on one of the screengrabs here.

 

[Incomudro]

We are at DCA this morning and as we are waiting in line for RSR a large group of Imagineers (mostly young adults so assuming college program or the like) are out studying the ride and area.

After seeing Grizzly peak for the first time and seeing what Disney can do with that and Wilderness Lodge and experiencing the Radiator Springs vibe I’m even more excited for what may come to New Frontierland.

They can definitely create the feel of kinetic energy if they can replicate the Grizzly Peak falls.

The Wilderness Lodge was built 30 years ago.
Try looking at the Riviera or Poly Prison for a better idea of Disney's current level of theming.

 

[Disstevefan1]

The Wilderness Lodge was built 30 years ago.
Try looking at the Riviera or Poly Prison for a better idea of Disney's current level of theming.

Wilderness Lodge is my favorite resort.

I hope they never start to re model it and "sanitize" it.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

The Wilderness Lodge was built 30 years ago.
Try looking at the Riviera or Poly Prison for a better idea of Disney's current level of theming.

True! Everyone keeps pointing to Grizzly Peak - that was designed and built in the 90’s - yes that park as a whole was built cheap but Grizzly Peak was built with “old imagineering” - standards.

When was the last time Disney built something with no sight-line issues like Grizzly Peak? New Fantasyland is decent over all so put that in the ring I guess

 

[October82]

True! Everyone keeps pointing to Grizzly Peak - that was designed and built in the 90’s - yes that park as a whole was built cheap but Grizzly Peak was built with “old imagineering” - standards.

When was the last time Disney built something with no sight-line issues like Grizzly Peak? New Fantasyland is decent over all so put that in the ring I guess

Like much of DCA, Grizzly Peak was done as well as could be done on the budget they were given.

What people miss is that it isn’t built like most Disney mountains - much of it is built up “earthworks”, basically a series of retaining walls - with only the “bear” a separate structure.

This was done to fit into the meager budget the park had, but also means that the space basically can’t be used for anything else. Since the concept art here shows the attraction vehicles interacting with the “mountain”, we aren’t getting a very large or elaborately themed structure. That is, unless the budget for the Cars attraction is well in excess of what is reasonable for a D-ticket.

People who draw the comparison between Grizzly Peak and Cars should keep in mind the difference in cost and scale.