News Cars-Themed Attractions at Magic Kingdom

[Sir_Cliff]

The evolution of the announcements of D23 is kind of fascinating to me.

There has been such hype that, finally, Disney was going to open their wallets and shower the parks with love. The expectation was that D23 was where we would finally get to see what that all meant in practice.

Then, when it came, they were surprisingly coy about almost all of their major announcements as if they knew they weren't going to be received as quite the net positives that fans had been led to believe. This announcement is probably the biggest in showing why they did that, but I have to wonder what is to come as we start to hear specifics about their other plans.

Another thing I don't understand is why people are falling for that 'reveal' of villains land at the end of the panel. That is such a vague piece of concept art with no location nor time frame announced that was obviously dropped out there to give fans something to hang onto. We'll see.

 

[JohnD]

I have a feeling that's just a little lagoon to help the edges of Big Thunder which was designed to look good up against a shoreline.

On a similar topic, it's going to feel weird having land creep right up to Tiana's splashdown area.

Others have said it, I'll say it too: Glad they didn't do this to DL, but in all honesty, WDW's Frontierland was never clicking correctly for me. Maybe because more money and effort was put into Liberty Square? (The dinky Frontierland sign didn't help.). Maybe because it never got Western River Expedition? Maybe because it never had more animated vignettes along the river bank - it always felt a little lazy, like, "Florida swamp will be sufficient atmosphere here in the back." And, on a similar note, the WDW river isn't a respite like it is in Anaheim. You want to relax riding a real boat on Floridian waters? WDW still has a few options like that.

In any case, it's becoming "American National Park Land". It's going to create some REALLY crazy reframing of things.

If they did this to DL, they would have to come up with another solution to Fantasmic or end the show. Fans would revolt if that happened.

 

[DCLcruiser]

To be honest, I care more about the riverboat than the island itself.

Trust me, if they wanted to expand and not touch this area, I would be fine. We rode the Liberty Belle on our last trip. I think it was my first time, unless my parents took me when I was very young. It was a longer and more interesting experience than I realized. So, I have no bad feelings. I just don't hate that it's being replaced.

 

[Captain Neo]

Well…we don’t need to get into that here (not allowed to) so I will most definitely be leaving this here but…if that is their thinking, and to be clear I don’t think it is, then that isn’t really a bad read on the room at the moment.

You can’t talk about politics here but American history is a fundamental element of the Disney. Parks so this will absolutely be brought up both here and elsewhere

 

[Haymarket2008]

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.

Holy smokes, this is THE take.

 

[the_rich]

The point of my post is they don't need to get rid of either. They aren't in a position where space is gone, and you have to make a choice. Even though I'm not a crazy fan of TSI, I just don't see any reason at this point for it to go.

Well, an insider posted earlier(don't remember who)that after cars and villains the rest of the land bbt is slated for another expansion. If that's the case and they are thinking long term then they did need to do this.

 

[DCLcruiser]

Maybe it's just me, but don't roads and cars kind of take the charm and romance out of the wilderness? Do people really go to the real wilderness and wish that there were more roads and the sound of cars whizzing by? If so, I guess Disney is creating that fantasy for them.

Ask every single person who off-roads, overlands or likes rally racing. Cars and the wilderness go hand in hand.

Of course, it's nice to be without technology in the wilderness as well.

 

[Charlie The Chatbox Ghost]

In any case, it's becoming "American National Park Land". It's going to create some REALLY crazy reframing of things.

Which could be fine if they manage to keep the beautiful views the rivers currently offer intact. I hope more of the water is saved than the concept art makes it look like.

Also, despite all the talk about them renaming Frontierland as a whole, I can see the name "Frontier" still fitting with a more American nature inspired area. It's literally the American frontier- dusty western towns, lush southlands, and the green and cold pacific northwest. If they changed the name it would be a bad choice.

 

[doombuggy999]

If they wanted to increase traffic to TSI, all they needed to do was turn Fort Langhorn into a merch shop selling limited time popcorn buckets and have Aunt Polly's serve special cupcakes.

I mean, they could have started by having Aunt Polly's actually open.

 

[Dear Prudence]

Give it time. Eventually they'll decide those waterfalls are as difficult to maintain as the old Tomorrowland ones, and they'll be taken out of service. Why build something to maintain it, after all?

That is my one big hang up, knowing theybwill go lazy and cheap and then not even upkeep it. Isn't TBA already falling apart?

 

[doctornick]

No that’s 100% what it means. If people aren’t enjoying it in one location, but are enjoying it in another, it means objectively the DL version is satisfying its guest better than Orlando. Just because you like it, doesn’t mean that others are foolish not to like it.

The crowds at DL and WDW are completely different. And, no, I don't think that people at DL are "enjoying" RoA/TSI more than at MK - the island there is just as sparse when I have visited it.

 

[DCLcruiser]

No worries. Everyone has different interests. I’m a kid of the late 80s and I loved it…but then I’ve always had a passion for American history and read the books in high school.

I also love the Cars franchise (which seems to put me in the minority around here). Radiator Springs Racers is my favorite ride at Disneyland Resort. I’m also not opposed to cloning. I’d love to have a version of it in Florida. But we could have gotten that without blowing up a quarter of the park…

I am a huge car guy, so I like the Cars brand. If this was a copy/paste of DCA I wouldn't be as excited, but the snowy mountain and muddy rally/off-road nature of it is different enough for me.

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

They're losing Scott Gustin... It's truly over.

You know they've screwed up when they have both Drew and Scott angry at them.

 

[Captain Neo]

Wait now this is a political thing?

I'll lead the parade if we're lining up to bash w*ke Disney, but... this isn't that.

Well they are also getting rid of Great Moments with Mr Lincoln and replacing it with a Walt Disney show at Disneyland so they are erasing American history from the parks. Nothing is sacred to these IP hounds

 

[J4546]

Maybe (but prob not) they will utilize the RoA infastructure and use the lower river bed as a basement level for the ride and it will take you through caves and caverns?

 

[Sir_Cliff]

That is my one big hang up, knowing theybwill go lazy and cheap and then not even upkeep it. Isn't TBA already falling apart?

I think TBA is more a case of it never working to begin with!

 

[doctornick]

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.

Yeah, it would be simple to keep the island generally intact but changing the theme and name. there's nothing sacrosanct about it being "Tom Sawyer" if that is what the issue is.

 

[Drdcm]

I hope Scott doesn’t loose the inside scoop status

 

[el_super]

The crowds at DL and WDW are completely different. And, no, I don't think that people at DL are "enjoying" RoA/TSI more than at MK - the island there is just as sparse when I have visited it.

The island at Disneyland got a complete re-theme 15 years ago. Certainly there were problems there.

It's been 8 years since they shortened the river too. Let's not pretend it's safe either.

 

[GhostHost1000]

Well they are also getting rid of Great Moments with Mr Lincoln and replacing it with a Walt Disney show at Disneyland so they are erasing American history from the parks. Nothing is sacred to these IP hounds

It really scares me having them create an animatronic of Walt.