News Disney hints at more changes to come at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom

[Bocabear]

Nobody watches the cartoon. Few people that walk into a Disney park even know it exists, let alone have seen it, let alone are familiar with the offensive characterizations. 99.9% of the guests that walk through the gates probably think "Pecos Bill" is just a Western-ish sounding name for a restaurant that was randomly chosen.

But again, if Disney feeds the need to change it to remove the IP, sure that's fine. It doesn't explain the need to make it into a New Orleans themed area and mess up the continuity of Frontierland even more than they already are doing. It can easily be left as a Western establishment thematically consistent with the shops and Country Bears next to it and (ideally) if they wanted to do a NOLA theming for Tiana, they can do it next to the RR station outside the berm.

But then you always end up with that thematic inconsistency...Liberty Square to Frontierland to Louisiana Bayou to Frontierland again... If they are doing the expansion Beyond Big Thunder, it would make sense to retheme the riverfront to a New Orleans setting and let the new section be a more fleshed out Frontierland...set in the old west.... Disneyland Paris has a beautiful Frontierland...
Ours is just a row of facades along a 19th century waterfront.

 

[JD80]

Frontierland should be replaced anyway. "The Frontier" is not remotely part of the cultural zeitgeist anyway. I think blending it in with Adventureland on one end and Liberty Square on the other over time is probably the better way of doing things.

I am very much looking forward to the new Country Bears. Forgot to do it one last time on my last trip.

 

[HauntedPirate]

Ours is just a row of facades along a 19th century waterfront.

The walk along Rivers of America is a progression from Colonial times to the Wild West.

 

[Disstevefan1]

Have a read of the article. I think it is likely Pecos Bill.

Pecos Bill's was my favorite until they re did the menu and got rid of the taco salad with the taco shell bowl. That was one of the food items for me was a "always get" and I looked forward too.

 

[ToTBellHop]

The walk along Rivers of America is a progression from Colonial times to the Wild West.

The historical and geographical progression was broken when Splash arrived over 3 decades ago. So that ship has sailed.

I actually really like Frontierland and think there are ways to celebrate the Old West without highlighting things that haven’t aged well. Pecos Bill may be a “product of the time” but Magic Kingdom is still a theme park in 2024. You can’t just ignore that whenever you want to feel like a kid again. And I don’t think Walt wanted that stagnation either.

 

[JohnD]

The historical and geographical progression was broken when Splash arrived over 3 decades ago. So that ship has sailed.

Good point.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

Well, DL is creating a Tiana restaurant. Of course, over there, they just remove Critter Country and roll it into New Orleans Square. Easy solution there.

Did Winnie the Pooh moves to New Orleans?

 

[yensidtlaw1969]

Did Winnie the Pooh moves to New Orleans?

For that reason (among some others) I'm not as convinced as many seem to be that Tiana's Bayou Adventure will be rolled into New Orleans Square.

TBA will have enough critters to make sense in Critter Country.

 

[Disgruntled Walt]

For that reason (among some others) I'm not as convinced as many seem to be that Tiana's Bayou Adventure will be rolled into New Orleans Square.

TBA will have enough critters to make sense in Critter Country.

It almost would have made sense to move the entrance/exit of the attraction to New Orleans Square, but I guess that would have worked better if the ride were a retelling of the movie's plot.

 

[JohnD]

Did Winnie the Pooh moves to New Orleans?

Okay, so I thought Splash was the only attraction in Critter Country. Well, pull Splash>Tiana from CC and roll it into NOS while leaving everything else in CC. Not as hard to do in DL is my point because NOS is already adjacent. Sorry for all the acronyms.

 

[MisterPenguin]

The walk along Rivers of America is a progression from Colonial times to the Wild West.

Not when you're standing at a Mississippi River port and you're still in Liberty Square with an upstate New York gothic mansion on one side and Colonial Philadelphia on the other.

As you take that walk, the Mississippi River and its Riverboat are always with you breaking any sense of chronological or geographical progression. How can you move from the East to the West by traveling along a river that goes North to South?

Then you hit Country Bears and Splash Mountain. Neither are "The Frontier." They're "The South." And Frontierland constantly confuses The South with The Old West.

And that's just from the outside. Inside CBJ, they're singing country songs from the mid-20th century. A ride along that Mississippi Riverboat takes you to Colorado and New England... both famously Mississippi river free. Where are the cries that that attraction breaks the theme of Frontierland?

Frontierland abutted to Liberty Square has always been a thematic mess. Does that excuse more thematic messiness... not totally. But if they're not going to clean up the mess that is there, then one shouldn't cry "not in theme!" because there is no logically consistent theme there to begin with.

 

[ToTBellHop]

Again, outside of the name, what exactly "hasn't aged well" with the Pecos Bill restaurant? I am being completely serious here. Is there something architecturally or in the décor that is offensive in some way? I don't understand how potentially changing the restaurant's name wouldn't definitively solve any problem with it.

It’s still the Pecos Bill restaurant with a new sign. If they turn a Wendy’s into a realtor’s office, you can still see it was a Wendy’s. Did we forget Test Track was once World of Motion?

Also, it’s dated. If it needs updates anyway, align it with its new neighbor.

 

[yensidtlaw1969]

Again, outside of the name, what exactly "hasn't aged well" with the Pecos Bill restaurant? I am being completely serious here. Is there something architecturally or in the décor that is offensive in some way? I don't understand how potentially changing the restaurant's name wouldn't definitively solve any problem with it.

Because the problem that Disney would be trying to solve in retheming the restaurant is not actually the name. It's that they would want a Tiana-themed restaurant near her ride and this would be the quickest and cheapest way to do that.

That the current name of the restaurant, which does itself have problems, could be traded in favor of a project that they feel will be more successful would essentially be a bonus in Disney's eyes. Taking Pecos Bill's name off the sign is not the foregrounded intention here, just a plus.

 

[HauntedPirate]

Will they update the Big Thunder queue again to remove the references to Pecos Bill?

 

[wdwfan22]

The only reason Disney is going to retheme Pecos Bills to Tiana is they know it will draw even more people in. Tiana is popular pecos bill nobody knows.

 

[yensidtlaw1969]

The only reason Disney is going to retheme Pecos Bills to Tiana is they know it will draw even more people in. Tiana is popular pecos bill nobody knows.

Essentially.

 

[Disstevefan1]

The only reason Disney is going to retheme Pecos Bills to Tiana is they know it will draw even more people in. Tiana is popular pecos bill nobody knows.

Theme doesn’t matter. If the food is good it will draw people in.

 

[wdwfan22]

Theme doesn’t matter. If the food is good it will draw people in.

With Tiana they can use character tie ins charge more for less and people will pay it. It’s a win for Disney. if they keep it counter service I can see themed sippers and more up charge items.

 

[Andrew25]

As a local, I'm all for better food in the parks beyond the typical tenders and burgers. Even though I think the retheme is unnecessary, at least the food will transition to better options.

As long as the Jalapeno Poppers across Pecos find a new home, I will have no problems.

 

[JohnD]

Essentially.

So why are we having this long, drawn out discussion? Everyone agrees that Pecos Bill will be rethemed to tie to Tiana. I see no there there.