News Cars-Themed Attractions at Magic Kingdom

[Kamikaze]

Just so we're al clear: if the leadership at Disney is willing to do this, they are willing to do much, much more.

At risk of sounding ultra-dramatic, it truly is over. And I don't mean that these parks can't be enjoyed by families (they will be). Nor do I mean that every historic aspect of these parks will be gone overnight.

What I mean is that today's dopamine addicted society has convinced Disney that the historic values and ideas that were the bedrock of these parks are no longer important or valuable. I don't know how long it will be but one day, every last facet of these ideas will be gone and Walt Disney World will be indistinguishable from Universal Orlando. My guess is about 20 years left before it's all gone.

Old and 'historic' are not synonyms.

I think you're leaning more towards 'iconic' than historic. Which, yes, all three features being removed can be described as iconic. But TSI is probably the least visited attraction at MK, just because its so difficult to get to. So I can definitely see why they want to maximize/monitize that space.

 

[Incomudro]

Kind of ironic that the theme of Cars was about the heart and charm of the old being bypassed by a rushed modern lifestyle which has no use for it, and no longer slows down to appreciate the little things.

 

[Bocabear]

That is ironic...and I wonder how relevant Cars will even be in 30 years... Basing everything on the latest trendy IP is not always the best idea...it is too specific. That was what worked well about the design of the Disney parks.. The fabric of it was not specific IP but themes and ideas...

 

[Kamikaze]

You clearly miss the theme and heart of the movie.

Who's talking about a movie?

 

[Kamikaze]

What makes you think Cars will be relevant in 20-30 years?

What makes you think it won't?

 

[castlecake2.0]

I think the main issue was the park was designed almost perfectly for the amount of guests it thought would have for its first ten years, but as they added things they blocked themselves in. Haunted mansions queue has no room to expand and there’s no way to get around it without touching the river. Big thunder and splash blocked any major path way on the other side. Now you’re stuck with a giant, albeit beautiful, river blocking any further expansion west.

 

[Horizonsfan]

I’m still in the wait-and-see camp for this; but I am struck by the ineptitude of the marketing operation. The marketing/comms people seemingly don’t know how to massage controversial news to fans.

Given that the controversy here is primarily about loss of atmosphere, they could have commissioned a rendering or two of the current river boardwalk area. Give us an idea of how the area would feel post-rebuild. If they showed something on par with the grizzly peak falls or Fantasy Springs entry, that could quell a lot of displeasure.

 

[Disney Glimpses]

What makes you think it won't?

You just wait until the 2050 re-theme of this attraction to the latest Pixar film Cyber Trucks.

 

[lazyboy97o]

What makes you think Cars will be relevant in 20-30 years?

Cars is already 18 years old.

 

[Kamikaze]

Turning the Liberty Belle into a restaurant isn’t some simple undertaking. At a minimum you need a kitchen facility somewhere and a way to quickly move food over and keep it hot and protected. Even then, you’d only be able to have service on decks that can be directly accessed by ramp. If you have dining on the upper level then it needs to be accessible, so you have to add an elevator which is a significant change.

This isn't accurate. All seats don't have to be ADA compliant, you just have to have ADA compliance available for those that need it. For example at an arena, not all seats are ADA compliant, just the designated areas.

 

[Kamikaze]

You just wait until the 2050 re-theme of this attraction to the latest Pixar film Cyber Trucks.

Cute that you think Elon's stuff won't be all rusted in junkyards in 2050.

 

[Kamikaze]

I’m still in the wait-and-see camp for this; but I am struck by the ineptitude of the marketing operation. The marketing/comms people seemingly don’t know how to massage controversial news to fans.

Given that the controversy here is primarily about loss of atmosphere, they could have commissioned a rendering or two of the current river boardwalk area. Give us an idea of how the area would feel post-rebuild. If they showed something on par with the grizzly peak falls or Fantasy Springs entry, that could quell a lot of displeasure.

They know exactly what they were doing, its why they didn't show the art or file the permits until D23 had ended. They knew it would be a huge controversy.

 

[RobbinsDad]

Cars will still be cool in 30 years because cars will be. Kids dig transportation.

 

[bwr827]

You KNOW no thought or care is going into this.

That’s such an insulting dismissal of the commitment and endless hours of creative energy the imagineers devote to their livelihood.

 

[James Alucobond]

I’m still in the wait-and-see camp for this; but I am struck by the ineptitude of the marketing operation. The marketing/comms people seemingly don’t know how to massage controversial news to fans.

Given that the controversy here is primarily about loss of atmosphere, they could have commissioned a rendering or two of the current river boardwalk area. Give us an idea of how the area would feel post-rebuild. If they showed something on par with the grizzly peak falls or Fantasy Springs entry, that could quell a lot of displeasure.

I tend to agree with this. Since we see that at least a corner of the boardwalk survives, getting a rendering from a few different angles would be much appreciated.

 

[Phroobar]

Over on the Disneyland side we freaked out about having our ROA shortened and narrowed for that "cancerous growth" . People threatened to never renew their annual pass or to never step foot in it because of that they did to the river. You guys are losing the ENTIRE THING and some of you are good with that for a ride that never works in the rain. Good thing it doesn't rain in Florida.

 

[Tha Realest]

Not being combative here so I don’t want it to come off that way because I really do have empathy for folks who are saddened by this news. But just a real question.

For folks who are excited with this announcement, and there are a lot of us, what does this mean for us. That we are like the people in charge and we just don’t care or worse, that we just “don’t get it”?

Because I get it- I just happen to disagree. I believe this is what the park needs and I think, based on the concept art, that it’s going to look amazing. I obviously could end up being wrong and we all know how reliable concept art is.

I guess my point is that for us, the people in charge made the right decision….for now.

I appreciate your comment and do not take it as combative. I think there are things to look forward to here with this. I am not lamenting the loss, necessarily, of TSI. I think dropping Cars land - which I think will be BEAUTIFUL; I adore Carsland DCA - against the backdrop of what’s there already just feels very incongruent. Then the solution becomes, what do we now need to do to change LS and HM and all those areas to mesh well with Cars land.

I don’t begrudge anyone for being excited and hopeful. In my mind, it’s not worth getting worked up over because some of us seem to care about certain aspects of this stuff more than the designers themselves.

 

[Wall-e]

This is absolutely a reality that many of us need to face. It just means that the very, very unique Disney parks that we came to love dearly will be a distant memory. We're already seeing that happen; it's just happening faster and at a bigger scale.

There’s many who are ok with losing ROA/TSI but don’t want to lose the atmosphere/ambiance (which I am right there with) of the current path/area BUT I believe the new area will have its own enjoyable atmosphere that new visitors and old will come to love.

And for those wondering about the theme of Harbor house and Liberty Square as it relates to the new area I think it’s an opportunity to expand the Haunted Mansion area to make it something more (HM Lounge anyone???).

I for one have one remaining concern, what will become of the other adjacent major Disney River…the River of Poo(h)?

 

[Kamikaze]

Over on the Disneyland side we freaked out about having our ROA shortened and narrowed for that "cancerous growth" . People threatened to never renew their annual pass or to never step foot in it because of that they did to the river. You guys are losing the ENTIRE THING and you're good with that for a ride that never works in the rain. Good thing it doesn't rain in Florida.

Uh, I don't think you read the thread.

 

[Tha Realest]

And what hurts the most is they knew this would be unpopular. They knew it’d be controversial which is why they didn’t announce it at d23. They knew it’d be unpopular and they don’t care. They’re going to plow ahead anyway.

Thank goodness he didn’t announce what was leaving. The response to this real time was tepid at best; watch the video and you can see Josh kind of surprised there wasn’t a big pop.