Could $300 million buy WRE?

[Progress.City]

A persistent rumor I keep hearing is that $300 million is earmarked within WDW's $3.5 billion expansion and makeover budget (which also includes as confirmed Star Wars and Toy Story lands) for Frontierland Expansion. I was thinking, with WDW's 50th anniversary coming up in a few years, it would make sense for Disney to resurrect plans for WRE.

WRE is arguably WDW's best ride that was never built. It was planned for Frontierland and was designed by the same Imagineer that designed PotC. It was supposed to be greater and more ambitious than the original DL version of PotC, basically a PotC-like ride themed to the Wild Wild West. It was supposed to be built instead of PotC, but Disney caved in to complaints due to the fact PotC was originally missing from the MK during its first few years of operation. To get PotC funded and built for the MK, WRE was killed and funds for it were moved to PotC.

IMHO, WRE is the greatest ride never built and it would be a real honor for WDW to finally build it after all these years and a perfect addition in time for its 50th!

So, I pose the question. Can the rumored $300 million pay to finally have it built? Or maybe a variation of it?

 

[marni1971]

The oil crisis and Space Mountain also killed it.

 

[bethymouse]

What is WRE please? Thanks.

 

[RobotWolf]

What is WRE please? Thanks.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_River_Expedition

 

[bethymouse]

I can't imagine anything called "Thunder Mesa Mountain". LOL.

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

It was rumored initially that the Frontierland expansion budget was supposed to be separate (and potentially higher) from the money allocated to MK from the DHS budget. Also, it was $350 million IIRC (probably including a new fireworks show, refurbishments for existing rides and maybe a new night parade among other things, didn't seem like it was for any new rides). Don't know how much the Frontierland budget might have been, but it sounds like it has been put on hold, if not outright canned. This Frontierland rumor was tossed around prior to the budget cuts instigated by overruns from Shanghai and MM+. And more recently, it sounded like WRE wasn't on the table anyways.

I would think that $300 million should be enough even for a very mismanaged Disney to be able to build it. Assuming they don't blow the entire budget on a bunch of unnecessary rockwork and whatnot. Perhaps i'm wrong though. It's difficult to say, it has been a very long time since Disney built a ride anything like WRE stateside, Splash Mountain probably being the most recent and closest comparison in the US (Sinbad perhaps if you count Asian parks, and even that was still 15 years ago).

The problem is that I doubt Disney would ever want to build this. They have made it quite clear they hate anything not attached to an IP. On top of not wanting this ride attached to an IP, the only things that I could imagine them trying to attach this to are The Lone Ranger or Woody's Roundup. Lone Ranger flopped and probably won't be getting any exposure in the future, and lord help us if it's Woody's Roundup... And as I said, they haven't built a ride anything remotely like WRE in over a decade.

 

[Progress.City]

It was rumored initially that the Frontierland expansion budget was supposed to be separate (and potentially higher) from the money allocated to MK from the DHS budget. Also, it was $350 million IIRC (probably including a new fireworks show, refurbishments for existing rides and maybe a new night parade among other things, didn't seem like it was for any new rides). Don't know how much the Frontierland budget might have been, but it sounds like it has been put on hold, if not outright canned. This Frontierland rumor was tossed around prior to the budget cuts instigated by overruns from Shanghai and MM+. And more recently, it sounded like WRE wasn't on the table anyways.

I would think that $300 million should be enough even for a very mismanaged Disney to be able to build it. Assuming they don't blow the entire budget on a bunch of unnecessary rockwork and whatnot. Perhaps i'm wrong though. It's difficult to say, it has been a very long time since Disney built a ride anything like WRE stateside, Splash Mountain probably being the most recent and closest comparison in the US (Sinbad perhaps if you count Asian parks, and even that was still 15 years ago).

The problem is that I doubt Disney would ever want to build this. They have made it quite clear they hate anything not attached to an IP. On top of not wanting this ride attached to an IP, the only things that I could imagine them trying to attach this to are The Lone Ranger or Woody's Roundup. Lone Ranger flopped and probably won't be getting any exposure in the future, and lord help us if it's Woody's Roundup... And as I said, they haven't built a ride anything remotely like WRE in over a decade.

Thank you for that. That is by far the best reply in any thread that I ever read here! Seriously.

 

[doctornick]

I agree with everything @MerlinTheGoat said and do not expect WRE to ever be considered, let alone planned. But I like others in this post would absolutely love for it to be brought to the MK. It truly would be a great and appropriate addition to MK for the 50th and could be the impetuous for expanding the guest areas to the northern side of the RoA, as DL is doing.

 

[Cmdr_Crimson]

I can't imagine anything called "Thunder Mesa Mountain". LOL.

Don't tell that to Disneyland Paris...Their Frontierland's Town name is a Nod to the proposed attraction that never happend..

 

[bethymouse]

Well, I know Mesa is the desert, so I guess it fits in alright. It should say Welcome to Montagne de Tonnerre.

 

[danyoung56]

If there were ever any form of the WRE built, it would have to be vastly modified from its original plans. The characters that Marc Davis designed were very culturally insulting, which might have been OK in the 60's but would never fly today.

 

[Cmdr_Crimson]

If there were ever any form of the WRE built, it would have to be vastly modified from its original plans. The characters that Marc Davis designed were very culturally insulting, which might have been OK in the 60's but would never fly today.

Some of the Scenes were used for World of Motion when the WRE Was scrapped..