News Cars-Themed Attractions at Magic Kingdom

[basas]

Time will tell. As a Cars fan I was very annoyed at the announcement and wondered how it would fit in. Now that I’ve seen what they plan to do and how excited my 11 year old son is to see this new land I’ve moved towards looking forward to seeing if they can really reinvigorate us with grand imagineering on the scale that the concept art is advertising.

I like it too…but NOT in this location.

There are other places this could have gone. BIG distinction.

 

[Chef idea Mickey`=]

I am so disappointed with this announcement although not surprised. The “new” Disney “leadership “ is determined to completely reimagine Magic Kingdom into something that has lost all of its’ magic and nostalgia. They have completely lost their way.

This is the "new" leadership where all that's strict to maintain is if your at a meet and greet you stand behind the wall when you know your in line. That you are friend and telling you or any one to do this ( for me. )

 

[Beacon Joe]

I mean, there are things like McAfee and Dragon's Tooth on the Appalachian Trail. It's not completely out there.

Yeah I know. I'm just moaning because I think this redevelopment is dumb.

I sang the Pocahontas song on McAfee once. I guess this reno could be just lumped into the overall category of Disney creative geography, like how one minute she's in the middle of the Chickahominy and then a short dance later she's hanging out in the Appalachians.

 

[the_rich]

So nothing they announced is an expansion. Monsters, tropical americas and cars/villains all seem to be replacements. Not true expansion imo

Monster could be going in 2 different places. One would be an expansion. Cars/villains is a true expansion. They are getting rid of an attraction that gets minimal traffic for 4 new attractions that will greatly expand capacity. Encanto will also expand capacity over what it is taking the place of.

 

[DCLcruiser]

The Davy Crockett and John Wayne frontier vibe is dated and out but National Parks attendance figures say people are still very into the wilderness.

Go to a national park...They need the money. TSI/RoA is nothing like a national park. There are plenty of large lakes with historic boat rides (real boats).

 

[lazyboy97o]

I think we all would've nodded our heads in approval.

No, a whole path and row of buildings facing a wall of trees and rocks because it’s really the backside of an attraction would be considered bad design because it is bad design.

 

[Dear Prudence]

I wish WDW would get a similar treatment- replacing Tom Sawyer with a new theme while keeping the island in tact. I don't care for Tom Sawyer either, as I'm sure most people nowadays agree with, but the island serves a great purpose to the parks.

Also, in re: ROA, I am less excited about the possibility of a partial retheme to the national parks, but that's not any more Native friendly than the current ROA.

They could retheme it the The Rescuers critters or something, so it works as a kid play area and ties into the recent addition of Bayou theming.

 

[EricsBiscuit]

I feel many of you have already adequately expressed why this is a terrible decision and I don’t have much more to add. All I can say is, goodbye, old friend. You will be missed.

Night view from the pilot house of Fort Langhorn!

“Old soldiers never die, they just fade away.” - Douglas MacArthur

 

[basas]

Go to a national park...They need the money. TSI/RoA is nothing like a national park. There are plenty of large lakes with historic boat rides (real boats).

Am I not allowed to like both? I love the national parks…but I love the RoA too! It’s not an ‘either/or’.

 

[Chef idea Mickey`=]

Can we not be excited no more for new things for Disney World because any sign of expansion at this point is always unnecessary. MOANA will not be necessary when it decides to replace The Jungle Cruise which is by all means cracking.

 

[el_super]

This is not the Architecture of Reassurance.

It could be. The big problem with the river and island as relaxing space is that you still have to PLAN to enjoy it. Whether that's just jumping in line, or planning it around your LL returns or what have you, you can't enjoy the space spontaneously. If they can build a relaxing space that allows people to wander in and discover it on their own, it might be better.

 

[DCLcruiser]

No, a whole bath and row and buildings facing a wall of trees and rocks because it’s really the backside of an attraction would be considered bad design because it is bad design.

The only way to make this really work is to have the backside look like the dry west, not the Pacific Northwest and its evergreens. They would need to double to old west buildings on both sides of the street. I guess that is why the boat landing building is staying.

 

[phillip9698]

But by making the island accessible without the rafts, more people can go to it. More kids can run around the play areas, more people can get to the restaurant that would likely have more justification to be open all the time. We need quieter areas of the parks so they don't turn into super stressful, chaotic environments. The parks experience is already very overwhelming at times because of crowds and a lack of many places to go back and hide.

Last time I was at WDW, at one point my family and I found ourselves in the quiet back areas of the Morocco pavilion at Epcot. It was peaceful, quiet. A nice break from the insane crowds that were there that night. Same vibes on Tom Sawyer Island too. Parks need quieter, open spaces for people to explore and take in the atmosphere and escape from the insanity of the rest of the park.

I spoke on that in a later post. My family too enjoys the spaces in Morocco and Japan. Thing is, when we are there they are empty.

I don’t see how there can be any argument for a business to keep these spaces when people aren’t using them for their intended purposes. It would be one thing if people were actually using the laid back and peaceful areas, but in Epcot, MK, and AK they simply do not.

The very vocal minority will definitely cause a stir over this but the majority of Disney guests won’t miss the area at all.

 

[UNCgolf]

It will be seen by those riders, but are those the most popular? Feel like Fantasyland, Tomorrowland and Adventureland are more popular.

There are always walls up somewhere at the parks.

This won't just be some random walls, though. It's much larger scale construction than that right in the middle of a major guest facing area.

Also, I'd wager at at least 90% of Magic Kingdom visitors are in Frontierland or Liberty Square at some point during their day. It's not like it's Rafiki's Planet Watch.

Anyways, as I said, they can't really hide it -- I'm just pointing out it's going to be really bad for a year or more for that whole area of the park.

 

[John park hopper]

I guess the same can be said for AK it is nothing like an African safari ---go to Africa

 

[TheIceBaron]

Kevin Costners western movie bombed hard at the box office this summer. Westworld was really only good for one season. And who could forget how the Lone Ranger did. The western theme, while charming isn’t really moving the numbers the suits care about. Does a relaxing area in a theme park have good numbers too? I hate the mentality but that seems like what we are dealing with

 

[lazyboy97o]

Eventually EVERY attraction should be replaced. The parks aren't museums. They have to continuously evolve.

The root issue isn’t replacement. It’s a complete ignoring of context. This project is not actually responding the fundamental design and organization of Liberty Square and Frontierland. It’s a McMansion being plopped into an old neighborhood.

 

[DCLcruiser]

Am I not allowed to like both? I love the national parks…but I love the RoA too!

You are, but I think it's unfair to compare TSI/RoA to the majesty, beauty and inspiring views found in an actual national park. To say that national park popularity in anyway translates into TSI/RoA. One is a fake recreation that is oddly located in a theme park with rides.

 

[Dear Prudence]

Can we not be excited no more for new things for Disney World because any sign of expansion at this point is always unnecessary. MOANA will not be necessary when it decides to replace The Jungle Cruise which is by all means cracking.

12-15 years ago, I would have been pumped.

But now I've seen every lazy, unremarkable, and cheaply slapped together thing, and I cringe at every announcement.

 

[erasure fan1]

Wait until they announce BTMRR is going also be Cars themed.

Bat-mobiles in the carverns, googly eyes on the font of the trains…..

No no no. It will become Woodys rootinist tootinist run away railroad.

Because then eventually things become stagnant. If every attraction is a classic that can never be touched then the parks become museums. I certainly could be wrong but I'm of the opinion that Walt would've replaced allo fo magic kingdom by now.

I agree 100%. The problem though, is Disney isn't at that point of need yet. They have more than enough space to expand all the parks with no loss of existing attractions. They have spots where they've closed things just sitting empty. Stitch, wonders of life, animation courtyard... I can see when they close or swap very low rated attractions. But unless it's a Stich level attraction, it doesn't need to go away. They have the space, they have the demand for something new and they need the capacity. It should be a no brainer for Disney, but sadly it's not.