News Cars-Themed Attractions at Magic Kingdom

[Quietmouse]

So with cars, plus villains land me eventually Moana - adventure lane expansion - does that put magic kingdom in mandatory 2 day/3 day park territory?

 

[Wall-e]

Well, why shouldn't a cut rate barely themed tower look like the concept art?
Yeah, they can deliver on that.
Think they'd ever build a Yacht/Beachclub, Boardwalk, Animal Kingdom Lodge again?

Depends again on the conceptualization of a vision. Based on the information we have someone has a vision for improving this area for decades to come. A lot of pieces need to fall into place to make this vision a reality but until I see otherwise I am going to look forward to this area being plussed in the way the concept art has dreamt up.

 

[Purduevian]

I guess I am not seeing how this can be anything significant attraction-wise. This doesn't look like an E-ticket at all. There just isn't space. This area is not all that I much larger than Space Mountain. Jungle Cruise, Kali, even the Hub are all notably larger. And, they need to add walkways, significant rockwork, queue and a second attraction all in that space.

Obviously there are creative ways, but I'm thinking 7dMT is about the size and scale we are talking here. I guess that RSR/CarsLand does not make to me.

quick google mapping of other thrilling rides:
Big Thunder ~86,000 Sq ft
Mine Train ~85,000 sq ft
Space ~90,000 sq ft
TT ~136,000 sqft
Guardians ~182,000 sqft
Rise ~97,000 sqft
SDD:~130,000 sqft
Dinosaur ~81,000 sqft
Everest: ~145,000 sqft

 

[Quietmouse]

No, the crux of the issue is current management doesn't understand that underutilized space is critically important to have. You need E ticket thrills AND relaxing hideaways for a theme park, especially the most visited one in the world, to prevent it from feeling oppressive. Even if most people never set foot on the Liberty Belle when visiting MK, almost everyone at the park, even if not consciously, appreciated the ambience it provided.

You can easily create the same level of ambiance with this cars land expansion.

Basing off the concept art, it appears the crux is to be western nature, with mountains and trails. Aside from the main attractions - just by supplementing some nature themed walk trails and hide away spots for younger kids to play and adults to relax will by default create more utilization than Tom Sawyer island ever did.

 

[DCLcruiser]

No, don't do this. Splitting the thread up will lead to the same sort of echo chamber that Tiana was allowed to have when it was split into two threads. And discourage the extremely well warranted criticism.

Yea, but it's not about the ride. People are posting landfill schematics interspersed with arguments over TSI/ROA.

There was literally a post showing that the concept art uses FL from Paris and it was just passed over by a ton of pages. No one can see the actual content because of all the arguing.

 

[peter11435]

No, the crux of the issue is current management doesn't understand that underutilized space is critically important to have. You need E ticket thrills AND relaxing hideaways for a theme park, especially the most visited one in the world, to prevent it from feeling oppressive. Even if most people never set foot on the Liberty Belle when visiting MK, almost everyone at the park, even if not consciously, appreciated the ambience it provided.

Theme parks do need attractions that are smaller scale, accessible to everyone, and nearly immediately available. However they should not have attractions that regularly operate at less than 20% of their designed capacity.

 

[UNCgolf]

Now:

View attachment 809049

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

www.google.com

Can you point to water here?

It's directly in front of you, and obviously there when you're standing there. Now go post all the other Google Maps photos from Liberty Square where the water is prominent even in their mediocre photos.

 

[lazyboy97o]

And that’s exactly my point, your fear is valid, but the truth is we don’t know how it will actually enhance or diminish the area until the final product is done.

We have associated this area with RoA because it has existed this way for a long time, so we can’t phantom in our minds it being different. And that’s valid.

Nonetheless, the truth is that Frontierland and Liberty Square will be different by the time this project, whether that absolutely ruins that area of the park, improves it or ends up something in the middle remains to be seen. It’s okay to be afraid and have reservations, but let’s not jump on the doom and gloom buggie. The negativity can be exhausting.

It’s not people just not knowing. Good theme parks aren’t just a collection of decorated buildings. The space is designed and shaped to evoke a specific experience. Everything is oriented around the river and its vista. The attraction is not being designed to take on that same central, unifying role. It has some odd points that reach out as attempts at being weenies but it’s otherwise designs to be hidden away.

I thought they had filed bankruptcy and went under after their dark ride coaster design was passed over for Mario Kart and Mad Ramp Peak at Genting Skyworlds sits rotting.

Well, if they're back, that's great as I always liked their stuff

Bankruptcy doesn’t always mean closing the business. They were close, but found a buyer.

Hypothetically, I can imagine that ... stockholders ... are asking ... publicly and privately ... why the parks attractions pipeline was allowed to go empty. Hypothetically. Because tf do I know?

So if you're an exec, that starts a ticking clock that you need to address.

And the longer, more expensive project addresses this more effectively how? The desire to make a radical change to the park isn’t new. It wasn’t just driven by circumstance or pure financials.

 

[doctornick]

I’m willing to bet that 99% of the people on these boards upset would be just fine with this design. I know I would be.

Yep. That's pretty much what I expected when the rumors of "we are losing the RoA/boat/TSI" started and I had already accepted it. I mean, it's not what I would do but I think that would be a justifiable setup to use. But removing the riverfront entirely is just a step too far in terms of the visual aspect of that area.

I kind of feel like if you are going to remove the water, you have to put up a bunch of buildings on what is currently the river edge to make it feel more like a town. Maybe something like a shooting gallery in Frontierland would be a nice fit.

 

[KDM31091]

Not like AK themed no...those days are gone. They want to keep things vanilla in the resorts

This. They’re going to continue to build very very lightly themed resorts. Another Disney difference, gone.

 

[durangojim]

The Cars thing looks cool, but why does Disney always have to take something away in order to give us something new. I can't count how many times my family and I walked along the ROA, especially at night just enjoying the ambience, taking photos of the paddlewheel or castle reflecting on the river at night. TSI was the last of the idealized Frontier of the American West, it was also great fun with the caves and fort, somewhere kids could still enjoy without having modern technologies crammed down their throats. Hopefully we'll get to experience both of them one last time before they shut everything down.

 

[John park hopper]

Stock is 85.63 this announcement didn't give the stock a bump and it seems most of the comments are against. We have to remember Bob probably won't be here to see this get started and the economy who knows where that is going so like so many things Disney proposes it may never get built (which would suit me just fine).

 

[BuzzedPotatoHead89]

I guess I am not seeing how this can be anything significant attraction-wise. This doesn't look like an E-ticket at all. There just isn't space. This area is not all that I much larger than Space Mountain. Jungle Cruise, Kali, even the Hub are all notably larger. And, they need to add walkways, significant rockwork, queue and a second attraction all in that space.

Obviously there are creative ways, but I'm thinking 7dMT is about the size and scale we are talking here. I guess that RSR/CarsLand does not make to me.

It doesn’t have to be huge, just popular enough to generate fresh buzz - and thus new merchandise and lightning lane revenue. Increasing the per customer spend. While I realize gender roles are taboo, it’s also a valuable “boy-centric” franchise to coexist alongside Tiana.

Today’s kids aren’t buying coonskin caps anymore or reading long-form books in general, but certainly not the likes of Tom Sawyer or Huck Finn.

This is the end result of TDO’s poor planning both in terms of its reliance of upselling Lightning Lanes as a core function of the WDW property business model and it’s inability to properly maintain TSL/RoA for years. Unlike DL there is no financial incentive (like Fantasmic) tied to keeping the rivers operational. Nor is there an incentive to tug in the nostalgia heartstrings, in part because the MK does have the benefit of the sheer number of E-tickets that DL has, but also because the audience is wholly different.

The business model for the WDW is to fill each park with a moderate selection of fresh E-tickets, and crowd them as much as possible creating an artificial scarcity necessitate requiring the upcharging of LL to ensure your once a decade or once a lifetime tourist “maximize their day”. When you view it through that lens it makes sense why land expansion and “free” (non-LL) C-ticket or even D-ticket rides are a waste of space.

 

[Tha Realest]

We’re missing the broader picture here.

Yes, we’re losing a tranquil area of the park. Yes, we’re losing some of the core identity of two lands.

But look at what we’re gaining.

Imagine, it you will, you’re on one of those banked curves on Big Thunder. You look up, across what used to be the Rivers of America. You see a new mountain range, pines native to the Pacific Northwest, a rough hewn dirt trail a few dozen feet away.

As you start to process what is happening, you hear something. A rumble. Your eyes dart to the sound as something emerges from the verdant growth.

A car.

Not just a car - my apologies. A Car.

As you process what’s happening, you lock eyes. Not with the passengers - with the vehicle itself. Something happens with the retina when they make eye contact with another sentient being. It becomes more acute, focused, aware. The googly eyes of the Car put you at ease, until you see the Car is not looking at you, but into you. It probes your soul, reaching to your innermost places. It says, We exist because we overthrew our human overlords. We will soon do it to you. A ride vehicle that doesn’t need tracks doesn’t need operators either - or passengers. Just as people now forget the frontier and all that came with it, soon too will they forget you.

Your train banks around and the goat stares at you. You do not stare back.

The train starts to break as you pass through the skeleton of what was once an apex predator. As you pull in the station, a young child - looking like a younger you - has obvious fear on his face as he clutches his mother’s hand. Looking for reassurance that this won’t be as bad as he’s imagining it to be, he looks you in the eyes.

You look away.

 

[LSLS]

Stock is 85.63 this announcement didn't give the stock a bump and it seems most of the comments are against. We have to remember Bob probably won't be here to see this get started and the economy who knows where that is going so like so many things Disney proposes it may never get built (which would suit me just fine).

Wow, you really don't think they start this til 2040?

 

[Disgruntled Walt]

"For more than fifty years, God has cared for the Rivers of America...but he cannot save them from FOOLS!"

 

[Dear Prudence]

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

Have you seen what they've made lately?

 

[Yellow Strap]

100%.

A few podcasts ago I was wondering about where Moana was in all of this, and whether we'd see anything at all. And someone in the company emailed me to say "You know Moana has never left the top 5 of Disney+ streaming titles, right?"

Coming out of this D23 we've seen most, but probably not all, of the first 5 years of a 10-year plan.

I think some are forgetting this part. Its a 10 year Investment.
This is the greenlit part one that will be all done by 2027-29. I can see at Destination D23 in 2027 the next part announced which includes Moana, Imagination, and expansions to Galaxy's Edge and maybe Epcot.

 

[peter11435]

Stock is 85.63 this announcement didn't give the stock a bump and it seems most of the comments are against. We have to remember Bob probably won't be here to see this get started and the economy who knows where that is going so like so many things Disney proposes it may never get built (which would suit me just fine).

Announcing massive spending that will be years away from generating returns was never going to boost the stock.

As for the negatively, it depends on where you look. This forum and your social media are echo chambers.

 

[John park hopper]

Wow, you really don't think they start this til 2040?

Bobs 73 ya think he'll make it to 2040 --he may just for spite