News Cars-Themed Attractions at Magic Kingdom

[RoysCabin]

This is another big part of the issue. What distinguishes the parks anymore? Any of the new projects could easily be shoved into any of the parks at this point. They are losing their identities.

Yes , I get it, IP is popular, merch sells, the kids like it. But the parks used to be about a higher quality standard. Putting things that made sense in their respective areas. Sorry, but to me Encanto & Indy are still very much a reach for AK, as is Cars for MK.

Plus, speaking for myself here, I'm just tired of being expected to know all of these properties at this point.

Like, I have some Pixar films I like; over the years they've made some absolutely wonderful stuff, after all! But part of what creates a connection with a themed attraction is universality; I shouldn't have to know what a given movie is to enjoy something, but now there are so many new rides/areas based around films that if I haven't seen them or don't personally enjoy them, I'm not really interested in spending tons of time there. This is made worse by our modern "content is king" era where new sequels and whatnot are being pumped out endlessly; this isn't, say, the early/mid 90s where Disney would release something like Aladdin or Pocahontas, give it a parade at MGM Studios and a shoutout here or there in the park, and then do the same for the next movie, there's now pretty much an endless supply of content and it's filling up every available nook and cranny.

It's not to say every single IP-based attraction requires riders know everything about it, I've seen some that manage to sidestep it, but it's just getting more and more alienating at this point.

And ultimately, yes; why bother with different park names or aesthetics if the end goal is "keep dumping our properties wherever?" I think "Epic Universe" is an incredibly dumb name for a theme park, but part of why Universal's doing it is because EU has no overarching theme - each area is based around a specific property, that's it. The difference is, they're not, again, insulting our intelligence the way Disney keeps insisting on doing, by telling us Cars fits perfectly into Frontierland, or that "this is what Walt would have wanted; see, we built a statue of him prove it!", or some other nonsense.

 

[basas]

You'd have to actually know that history, first, not just a version of it that you've decided is the "right" history. Disney has never been about a proper showcase of history, it's always been sanitized or altered for comedy's or exoticism's sake from the get-go, so I suppose there should've been people up in arms about that from the moment the park opened.

With all due respect, you have no idea my knowledge (or lack thereof) of American history. I understand you have said you’re a history teacher. That’s fantastic, but it doesn’t give you the final word on the subject.

 

[tissandtully]

They're about to tear out the RoA, TSI and Riverboat for a smaller, much uglier and less impressive and overall worse adaptation of Radiator Springs Racers. I'll take MK's butchered (and I do most certainly agree that it is inferior to DL's) POTC any day over this garbage.

Dang, you've rode it already?

 

[Chef idea Mickey`=]

Spare me. There is water all around the hub. There are 2 outdoor water rides. The rendering (again I know, it's just a rendering) has a waterfall. And there is a giant lagoon right in front of the park entrance. Nostalgia for lost attractions is one thing. To complain that MK will not have enough water features now is dumb.

2 water rides? TBA and what?

 

[the_rich]

Yep, a trackless RSR, the biggest hit attraction at DLR, so much that people queue up an hour before rope drop at DCA and run straight to it.

Honestly when I rode it for the first time in 2018 I was amazed. I had a feeling of such wonder when we made the turn and you could see the whole backdrop with the music. Its probably the best thing Disney has done domestically in decades.

 

[todd23]

These are big laydown yards and one right up against the railroad..

View attachment 808832

Does that mean all those trees will be removed and gravel will be there?

 

[Ice Gator]

Spare me. There is water all around the hub. There are 2 water rides. The rendering (again I know, it's just a rendering) has a waterfall. And there is a giant lagoon right in front of the park entrance. Nostalgia for lost attractions is one thing. To complain that MK will not have enough water features now is dumb.

Yeah I’m over it. Tiana’s discourse has exhausted me enough.

I legitimately can’t believe that people are whining over losing a man made body of water with a nearly abandoned playground instead of being excited for an enormous new area with attractions. This ain’t no Splash Mountain replacement- yet for some reason people seem more up in arms about this change.

 

[danlb_2000]

My brain is also asking, there are a lot of trees in that gravel laydown yards. Are they all being cleared? If they are being cleared, are they being cleared because future construction is going there anyway?

For now they are being cleared to be used for construction staging, there really isn't any place close to the project for that. It's possible in the future that something else will be built there.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

I agree. But that doesn’t mean you destroy a huge part of the theming and place-making of MK to get it. “The blessing of size” and all.

The blessing of size does not refer to Magic Kingdom, it's about the Walt Disney World Resort.

Magic Kingdom doesn't need to get any bigger.

 

[Satans Hockey]

So? I keep on seeing these kinds of comments, but htey make no sense.

The choice wasn't "put in Cars" vs "keep RoA/TSI". The choice is "Remove RoA/TSI to put in Cars" vs "Put in Cars and keep RoA/TSI". We can debate the finer points of Cars in MK, but they didn't have to put it in that particular location.

Why not retain the RoA and keep that ambiance and have all the benefit of the Cars addition? Who exactly is losing in that situation?

It makes plenty of sense if they found the numbers of people actually riding the boat don't warrant running the boat. Same with Tom Sawyer Island. I don't know the numbers of how many people actually use these attractions but Disney does.

They can put these attractions in now and then put even more new attractions in a different location in the future.

 

[KDM31091]

Yep, a trackless RSR, the biggest hit attraction at DLR, so much that people queue up an hour before rope drop at DCA and run straight to it.

And it's a nightmare. Shoulder to shoulder people. Anxiety inducing at least for me, not my idea of fun. And now that will be even more so the situation at MK with more headliner attractions and fewer chill, relaxing ones to escape to.

I guess for now we still have CoP and Tiki Room as a reliable almost always walk on to relax. But the numbers are dwindling. The riverboat is almost always a walk on when the boat arrives due to its massive capacity, i.e. you rarely have to wait through another cycle, if ever.

I understand it's a business and obviously they want the rides to be popular but there needs to be a balance of "OMG STAMPEDE TO THIS RIDE" attractions with chill, off the beaten path ones.

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

Dang, you've rode it already?

I have indeed ridden POTC.

 

[James Alucobond]

2 water rides? TBA and what?

I’d guess they mean Jungle Cruise.

 

[the_rich]

I'm sure right now there's someone advocating for Deadpool Land built on one of Main Street USA's side streets.

What does that have to do with what I asked? Earlier premeirdrum had said there were a few options for the area and this was the most expensive. I'm curious what the other options were.

 

[tissandtully]

Yeah I’m over it. Tiana’s discourse has exhausted me enough.

I legitimately can’t believe that people are whining over losing a man made body of water with a nearly abandoned playground instead of being excited for an enormous new area with attractions. This ain’t no Splash Mountain replacement- yet for some reason people seem more up in arms about this change.

And they will be there the first day it opens.

 

[montyz81]

Epic universe is becoming more attractive everyday for my next destination and stay in Orlando

 

[disney fan 13]

Absolute warfare in here currently. It's possible that the rides will be good and that people can be sad to see the area go/ think it's not the best idea to remove TSI/ROA for a variety of reasons. Both things can be true!

 

[KDM31091]

Plus, speaking for myself here, I'm just tired of being expected to know all of these properties at this point.

Like, I have some Pixar films I like; over the years they've made some absolutely wonderful stuff, after all! But part of what creates a connection with a themed attraction is universality; I shouldn't have to know what a given movie is to enjoy something, but now there are so many new rides/areas based around films that if I haven't seen them or don't personally enjoy them, I'm not really interested in spending tons of time there. This is made worse by our modern "content is king" era where new sequels and whatnot are being pumped out endlessly; this isn't, say, the early/mid 90s where Disney would release something like Aladdin or Pocahontas, give it a parade at MGM Studios and a shoutout here or there in the park, and then do the same for the next movie, there's now pretty much an endless supply of content and it's filling up every available nook and cranny.

It's not to say every single IP-based attraction requires riders know everything about it, I've seen some that manage to sidestep it, but it's just getting more and more alienating at this point.

And ultimately, yes; why bother with different park names or aesthetics if the end goal is "keep dumping our properties wherever?" I think "Epic Universe" is an incredibly dumb name for a theme park, but part of why Universal's doing it is because EU has no overarching theme - each area is based around a specific property, that's it. The difference is, they're not, again, insulting our intelligence the way Disney keeps insisting on doing, by telling us Cars fits perfectly into Frontierland, or that "this is what Walt would have wanted; see, we built a statue of him prove it!", or some other nonsense.

Exactly. I do get tired of the marketing spins attempting to justify attractions. Look, Cars has no business in Frontierland, period. I don't care how they try and spin it. It's not true to theme. Some vague "exploration", "adventure", or "foot on the gas" does not constitute fitting into a theme. Ditto for Indy, Ditto for Encanto.

I get it, they don't care about us purists anyway. But Disney is just unfortunately falling further and further from what it once was.

The only saving grace is that maybe, potentially the Villains Land will be very very cool, and it is replacing nothing, so it's a net positive. But what we're losing for Cars is almost unacceptable.

 

[DarkMetroid567]

The blessing of size does not refer to Magic Kingdom, it's about the Walt Disney World Resort.

Magic Kingdom doesn't need to get any bigger.

Yeah, MK is already oversized (the walk to Tiana and BTMR is terrible). It really doesn’t need to become a slog like Shanghai Disney, Alton Towers, or Marineland are.

 

[LittleBuford]

Log flume in Paris (where it gets mighty cold in the winter) seems odd, too…

As a Brit, I find this a very strange sentiment. You guys realise that many of our theme parks over in Northern Europe already have log flumes, right?