News Cars-Themed Attractions at Magic Kingdom

Haymarket2008

Haymarket2008

Well-Known Member
duncedoof said:
Fantastic perspective.



"I remember when my family started going to Disney, it felt like there were *so many* lesser-known secrets to discover that kept us coming back. Interactive card games & scavenger hunts, pin trading, Hidden Mickeys, little museums & exhibits, beautiful secluded spots to chill out.

No, that stuff isn't all must-do for the family there for one day trying to max out their number of attractions-ridden. But the obscure things were *why* my family often desired more days at the parks, and kept coming back. Because there were little treasures to stumble upon too. [...]

It gives you a sense of agency and identity in a theme park to know that you can discover the things *you* like to do and enjoy the experience in a way that's different to others. When everything is a super must-do attraction with a 120-minute wait, there are no hidden gems.

In terms of hidden gems, Tom Sawyer Island & The Riverboat were the pinnacle of that idea to me. Some people have said "you never ride them," but I do. Every time. Because when I go to a theme park, I'm not just interested in rides—I'm interested in atmosphere, beauty, discovery..."
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This is exactly my thoughts and feelings. Beautifully said.
 
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easyrowrdw

Well-Known Member
Wall-e said:
I’m right there with you. As much as I like the franchise, mater is my least favorite character in many ways. If you could have seen my reaction to the initial news I was completely against Mater in FL as we know it. However this won’t be FL as we know it and everything we’ve seen from the Cars franchise on screen and in the parks (including AOA) says this will have theming and cohesiveness.

I don’t think (based on the concept art) that Mater will be that integral to the ride. He and McQueen appear to be commentating the rallye from their position at the finish line for Radiator Springs Network (RSN). Maybe you’ll hear his voice on the ride vehicle but I don’t think he’ll be intruding on some of the other natural areas of the land.
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Just to clarify (not attempting to change your opinion), I was only using Lightning and Mater as examples. It doesn’t matter to me who the Cars are. IMO anthropomorphic vehicles from a world of anthropomorphic vehicles are completely misplaced in Frontierland, just as they would be at Animal Kingdom or the Wilderness Lodge.
 
BuzzedPotatoHead89

BuzzedPotatoHead89

Well-Known Member
TrainsOfDisney said:
The over all Star Wars theme park expansion is pretty close to a failure. In California it didn’t increase attendance and Rise usually has the same wait times as Indy - which means it’s good, but not the must ride.
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Ironically the challenges with Star Wars may be what’s leading to this also. By building this “front and center” as opposed to a land expansion around the backside of the park that can easily be avoided this becomes a visual focal point of interest and one folks must pass. From a design perspective this recenters the “balance of power” in the park in the same way Carsland and BvS did for DCA 2.0.

Compare the popularity of MMRR in DHS vs DL as well. While both are popular DHS still boasts longer lines because of its 1) placement and 2) comparative lack of major attractions. The same comparison can be made here.

Additionally I do believe the Cars IP is significantly more lucrative than SW in its current state.
 
Kamikaze

Kamikaze

Well-Known Member
The Chatbox Ghost said:
Disney Princesses as a brand didn't start until 2000, and I doubt the number of total revenue is including each individual princesses' merch sales from 1937-2000.

But yeah, I agree, the placement is the main issue here. I personally can live with Cars, but I can't live with the loss of the only major water feature remaining in MK.
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Those numbers include everything, same as they include the revenue of the brands before Disney bought them. (Cars includes when it was Pixar owned, Star Wars when it was Lucas, etc)
 
ctrlaltdel

ctrlaltdel

Well-Known Member
TrainsOfDisney said:
No way it’s less expensive than existing expansion pad development. Why you keep twisting things is beyond me.

The over all Star Wars theme park expansion is pretty close to a failure. In California it didn’t increase attendance and Rise usually has the same wait times as Indy - which means it’s good, but not the must ride.

In Florida the resort was a complete failure - the land did drive attendance at DHS so there was some success there.

In Paris, the Star Wars expansion was cancelled and replaced with Lion King (unless the 2 were at one point going to exist side by side.
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First, he clearly said internally. It would also make sense, however. There are utility lines that exist there, it's already a constructed environment, etc. Where they would be expanding beyond big thunder is mostly untouched (obviously with the caveat of plenty of water management canals surrounding it).
 
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doctornick

Well-Known Member
The Chatbox Ghost said:
Also, I just noticed in your plan that Villains isn't using any of the back half of the river- so why not put Cars there? I feel like if Cars is taking the front half, then Villains is taking the back half.
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Yeah, who cares about the back half of the river? The point is the river should exist in the front part next to Liberty Sq and the Frontierland town. Once you are north of HM, fill in away IMHO.
 
hopemax

hopemax

Well-Known Member
TrainsOfDisney said:
The over all Star Wars theme park expansion is pretty close to a failure. In California it didn’t increase attendance and Rise usually has the same wait times as Indy - which means it’s good, but not the must ride.

In Florida the resort was a complete failure - the land did drive attendance at DHS so there was some success there.

In Paris, the Star Wars expansion was cancelled and replaced with Lion King (unless the 2 were at one point going to exist side by side.
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I was trying to be nice! The fact that my DH, big Star Wars fan wants to spend little time in that area, and doesn't feel the need to even ride RoTR anymore (we rode a bunch on our DLR trip in 2021) tells me how I would describe it.

At this point, it's also safe to declare any of the New Tomorrowland projects failures. Especially, any of us who considered 1988 Tomorrowland a cool place to be. I just don't have any faith in Disney's ability to pull off major land revitalization projects. Carsland at DCA is probably the most successful, but the Flying Saucer space is a significant failure, actually getting on RSR requires work or $$, and it doesn't seem like WDW will be getting the other things that make Carsland work. I doubt there's going to be a need for people to be in the land at sunset to experience the transition, for example.
 
ctrlaltdel

ctrlaltdel

Well-Known Member
doctornick said:
Yeah, who cares about the back half of the river? The point is the river should exist in the front part next to Liberty Sq and the Frontierland town. Once you are north of HM, fill in away IMHO.
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This clearly would have made the most sense if they didn't want to expand past the RR tracks. You can keep a heavily shortened river, keep the island (or make it a peninsula) and retheme it while you are there. It would still necessitate docking the boat but at least you would have the LB there.
 
RSoxNo1

RSoxNo1

Well-Known Member
I'm in a weird camp here. Cars Land in DCA is great. Radiator Springs Racers is an amazing attraction, the backdrop is beautiful and I even like Junkyard Jamboree. I'm not a fan of Rollicking Roadsters, but it's not meant for me anyways.

I think Cars is a bit of an odd fit for this area, but we're also not getting new additions that are free of IP. I like that this is potentially a new ride system for the anchor attraction and that it's not a clone of RSR, even if it's an inferior attraction (we don't know whether or not it will be).

What I actually do like is the placement. This is very valuable real estate that was remarkably under utilized. Don't get me wrong, water has a place in Disney Parks and that aesthetic will be missed, but I actually like this choice.

For me, the Rivers of America weren't sacred. I couldn't tell you the last time I went to Tom Sawyer Island or went on the Liberty Square Riverboat. There is ALWAYS outrage if Disney removes anything, they know this and it's why they didn't reveal this on Saturday night. I'm sure (as evident by a 136 page thread) that TSI and the Riverboat carried with them precious family memories and you're probably just as upset as I was when Reflections of Earth went away.

For me, Cars is a weird choice that I don't love but I'm taking a wait and see approach. However, expansion in to this area is something that I fully support.
 
phillip9698

phillip9698

Well-Known Member
Dear Prudence said:
At Disneyland they're always slammed (which I loooove)
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Which is a perfect reason to keep the attractions at DL.

People have been asking more and more for work to make MK something other than DL Lite, this is a start. If people have demonstrated they don’t want to experience something over the last 20 years, then give them something they do want.
 
Captain Neo

Captain Neo

Well-Known Member
Does having attractions based on movies really add that much to the bottom line? Like if that Cars ride opens tomorrow what percentage increase would they see over sales of cars plushies and blu-rays or whatever?

To me it’s a really backward way of thinking about things that’s stuck in the 80s. Like by the time The guardians of the galaxy attraction opened the series was done and James Gunn has gone on to greener pastures. In a few years it’s just going to be “that coaster based on an old movie” and will just end up dated like the Ellen adventure every passing year.

Same with Star Wars land they tied it so heavily to the sequel trilogy which A) No one was all that crazy about and B)was already OVER by the time the land opened and now they have this land junking up the property that they really don’t know what to do with. It’s telling that the Star Wars hotel was closed and the galaxy’s edge for Paris was quietly cancelled and replaced with lion king.
 

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