Indiana Jones Land?

[Eric M Blake]

They could create a tram/train/skyliner to take people from the main Studios park to the expansion area.

Brilliant! AK already has that kinda thing with Raffiki's Planet Watch aka Conservation Station. So why not have a "ride" like that, with DHS?

I love it.

 

[cranbiz]

Jokes aside, that's pretty "obvious" (be it over or under the road).

Probably have to be kinda wide, of course, since we're talking about visitors IN the park, not simply folks who are park hopping.

Yes, it's obvious they would have to do either a bridge or an underpass.

My issue with either and why my post is that the current TDO management and TWDC management has lost their roots in the quest for the almighty dollar.

When I worked for Disney you would have got a well themed bridge or tunnel that the guest would not ever know that it's a bridge or tunnel. Like the bridge over the safari road at DAK. A guest has to really know what they are looking for to know they just walked over the road. That bridge is themed extremally well, it doesn't scream "I'm a bridge".

I could see the current leadership building a pedestrian bridge to span World Dr to access the expansion and theme it as a toll bridge, complete with a toll.

 

[Eric M Blake]

Yes, it's obvious they would have to do either a bridge or an underpass.

My issue with either and why my post is that the current TDO management and TWDC management has lost their roots in the quest for the almighty dollar.

When I worked for Disney you would have got a well themed bridge or tunnel that the guest would not ever know that it's a bridge or tunnel. Like the bridge over the safari road at DAK. A guest has to really know what they are looking for to know they just walked over the road. That bridge is themed extremally well, it doesn't scream "I'm a bridge".

Sadly, that's a fair point. That said, wasn't Iger in charge when the Skyliner was built? So something creative isn't impossible...just not likely if they can do something more "economical."

I could see the current leadership building a pedestrian bridge to span World Dr to access the expansion and theme it as a toll bridge, complete with a toll.

Well that'd sure cause a riot.

 

[J4546]

interesting....maybe they could build something kinda like Cosmic Rewind in SWGE where the entrance/que area is on the western edge of the current GE and then the launch and show building was built over and on the other side of world drive. It just seems like if they were ever to expand itd be much easier to expand to the NW quadrant and parking lots....


.Maybe they relocate the entire front/entrance of the park and have the parking lots on the other side of World Drive with the entrance to the park going under/over it and then use the old parking lots for expansion....which would be a ton of room. But with all the work that would entail and with all the new entrances they just built, highly unlikely.

 

[Eric M Blake]

interesting....maybe they could build something kinda like Cosmic Rewind in SWGE where the entrance/que area is on the western edge of the current GE and then the launch and show building was built over and on the other side of world drive.

I could see that. (That's also the case with the Haunted Mansion, of course.)

And for the northern half of the "butterfly" area, perhaps an Indiana Jones ride akin to the one in Anaheim, with most of the adventure happening "underground".

 

[MisterPenguin]

I, for one, welcome the new DHS Land: Pedestria!

 

[cranbiz]

interesting....maybe they could build something kinda like Cosmic Rewind in SWGE where the entrance/que area is on the western edge of the current GE and then the launch and show building was built over and on the other side of world drive. It just seems like if they were ever to expand itd be much easier to expand to the NW quadrant and parking lots....


.Maybe they relocate the entire front/entrance of the park and have the parking lots on the other side of World Drive with the entrance to the park going under/over it and then use the old parking lots for expansion....which would be a ton of room. But with all the work that would entail and with all the new entrances they just built, highly unlikely.

Well, they redirected the entrance to accommodate SWGE and the soon to be closed and bulldozed Galactic Starcruiser. It actually makes perfect sense to relocate the parking and vehicle entrance to that other side of World Dr, then have tram service and unthemed pedestrian tunnel like at the TTC. Of course, that does mean that tram service needs to return. Something I'm not sure that will happen in my lifetime.

The biggest issue with another parking lot and entrance relocation is getting the CFTOD to build and pay for it. Somehow, the new board can't seem to grasp their existence is simply to run EMS, Permitting, Inspection Services and to build and maintain infrastructure.

 

[cranbiz]

Sadly, that's a fair point. That said, wasn't Iger in charge when the Skyliner was built? So something creative isn't impossible...just not likely if they can do something more "economical."

Yes, he was. Creative, I would not call the skyliner. It's an off the shelf (so to speak) transportation system that in the long run will be cheaper to run than any other method of mass transportation. It will even eventually be cheaper than adding busses.

One of the main reasons for installing the skyliner was to add value to Riviera, a DVC resort placed in the middle of nowhere.

 

[Eric M Blake]

Yes, he was. Creative, I would not call the skyliner. It's an off the shelf (so to speak) transportation system that in the long run will be cheaper to run than any other method of mass transportation. It will even eventually be cheaper than adding busses.

One of the main reasons for installing the skyliner was to add value to Riviera, a DVC resort placed in the middle of nowhere.

Be that as it may, it's still a fun "ride" as far as it goes. A skyliner system for going to different halves of a park could be kinda stylish.

 

[cranbiz]

Be that as it may, it's still a fun "ride" as far as it goes. A skyliner system for going to different halves of a park could be kinda stylish.

Been tried. Skyway at MK. Not that it would concern the Disney of today, guests could see backstage. It's bad show.

Fun is one thing. The Skyliner is fun, the monorail is fun. At the time. the monorail was creative. The Skyliner is not.

I'm not dissing the Skyliner. It serves a purpose and a need. It's just not a creative solution and has the same operational ability as the monorail and watercraft. It can't run in a thunderstorm or high winds.

Busses on the other hand, are usually very reliable and can run in just about any weather. They are also not creative nor fun. Busses are also expensive to run them on a per guest ratio because they need more CM's to staff them and a bus driver costs more than a monorail or skyliner host/hostess.

 

[Eric M Blake]

Fair point.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Here's something: I was reading up on the RCID Comprehensive Plan document the "suitability" map is from...and I found this:

View attachment 722198

In other words, the "butterfly" area itself is looked at in-house as potential expansion area for DHS, rather than for the "easier" parallel park.

View attachment 722199View attachment 722200

I mean...I'd be VERY curious about the exact way they'd work around World Drive. But the fact that the document points directly to that possibility is *quite* interesting.

The Comprehensive Plans are not “in-house” documents. The District recognizing that land could be used does not mean it is being considered by Disney, especially since the actual means of use do not have to be specified by the plan. It’s a completely hypothetical what if scenario to understand how things could be maximally developed.

 

[Eric M Blake]

The Comprehensive Plans are not “in-house” documents. The District recognizing that land could be used does not mean it is being considered by Disney, especially since the actual means of use do not have to be specified by the plan. It’s a completely hypothetical what if scenario to understand how things could be maximally developed.

Until fairly recently the folks in the RDIC crew were generally "in the (corporate) family," to be fair. The document, as such, is "it is, but it isn't." Nonetheless, your point is fair to an extent--it's not like they're listing "most likely path." However, it is still very interesting that they went there, and thus it feeds new speculations we didn't think about before.

 

[Bocabear]

Any of that expansion would be astronomically expensive to get people from the park over to expansion land on the other side of World Drive....You could not just have a transportation system going across....they would have to be walking paths as well in case the system breaks down... Just to get people from Hollywood Boulevard over to the vacant land across the drive is actually farther then the length of the entire park as it stands...It is a lot farther than you think. And then no infrastructure built yet...It would be hundreds of millions just to create that basic footprint.
Only way they would ever do anything like that would be to build the expansion in the parking lot attached to the current park footprint. If you literally had to wait a half hour+ for a shuttle to the expansion side of the park, plus a 20 minute ride, it would break up the day terribly... and I think Disney is done with big investments in park expansion for the foreseeable future...after the EPCOT disaster they need to take a break until they can come up with a team that can better design and build within a reasonable time frame..

 

[Eric M Blake]

Any of that expansion would be astronomically expensive to get people from the park over to expansion land on the other side of World Drive....You could not just have a transportation system going across....they would have to be walking paths as well in case the system breaks down... Just to get people from Hollywood Boulevard over to the vacant land across the drive is actually farther then the length of the entire park as it stands...It is a lot farther than you think. And then no infrastructure built yet...It would be hundreds of millions just to create that basic footprint.
Only way they would ever do anything like that would be to build the expansion in the parking lot attached to the current park footprint. If you literally had to wait a half hour+ for a shuttle to the expansion side of the park, plus a 20 minute ride, it would break up the day terribly... and I think Disney is done with big investments in park expansion for the foreseeable future...after the EPCOT disaster they need to take a break until they can come up with a team that can better design and build within a reasonable time frame..

True enough. Frankly I have yet to understand why they'd get rid of the "smooth corners" aesthetic with the new building.

(To be blunt, I've yet to see the reason for replacing a big chunk of the building at all, when the Moana stuff seemingly could've been the plaza between the two, no problem. But, y'know...I'm eager to be pleasantly surprised.)

 

[SpectreJordan]

For 20 years…they were content to have dak and mgm feed people into the other 2 parks and downtown in the evening. Obviously the older are the more fleshed out places with more name tags

But they did pivot in the last 10 years a bit. And they should. I give credit for that. In the end - studios isn’t much better than it was - but they tried. More of a refresh than an expansion based on capacity.

DAK is the enigma for them. Eisner forced that through and zoos cost a TON of money. High overhead. Unavoidable.

That would never…ever..be greenlit today. Not for a second.

They screwed up by bringing such a big draw like Star Wars to DHS without expanding it in other ways. That park always feels like the most crowded one because everyone wants to see Galaxy's Edge but there's not enough elsewhere for them to do.

I don't hate TSL like a lot of people here do, but that land really should've had a nice big budget dark ride. That'd be a crowd eater.

 

[SpectreJordan]

Entrances can be moved. Parking lots built on. Parking garages added.

Below, the Yellow is the expansion pad within SWL. The purple are other expansion pads. The green is all 'back of house' that can be converted into park space.

Don't forget that everything from Walt Disney Presents to the former Ariel show to all or part of Launch Bay can be razed and repurposed.

[Thanks to @marni1971 for identifying the yellow and purple pads.]

View attachment 721524

And the Orange is an 'easy' expansion of SWL. And the Orange and Yellow together can be converted into park space.

View attachment 721525

The orange & yellow are mouth watering possibilities. But the orange is almost as big as DHS, combined that with the yellow & you'd have a whole new park. I doubt we'd ever see that happen in our lifetimes, we'd be lucky to see any of the orange touched.

anyways with the Indy stuff... don't count on it. short term I agree with others that investment in DHS will be minimal. They 'gave it their all'... and current DHS is what Bob's 'all' looks like. Pretty pathetic really

but even further out, Dial of Destiny is about to be a turd, and because of that I doubt WDC will invest substantially the IP for the foreseeable future. Once again, they "gave it their all".... and it was terrible, as usual

Thanks Kathy!

It wouldn't hurt so much if we atleast had Indiana Jones Adventure here in WDW. It's insane that ride wasn't ported to DHS or MK's Adventureland a couple years after it opened in DL.

I love the stunt show but DL, Paris & Tokyo all having Indy rides while we don't sucks.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

They screwed up by bringing such a big draw like Star Wars to DHS without expanding it in other ways. That park always feels like the most crowded one because everyone wants to see Galaxy's Edge but there's not enough elsewhere for them to do.

I don't hate TSL like a lot of people here do, but that land really should've had a nice big budget dark ride. That'd be a crowd eater.

Are you talking about the same park?

 

[Bocabear]

They screwed up by bringing such a big draw like Star Wars to DHS without expanding it in other ways. That park always feels like the most crowded one because everyone wants to see Galaxy's Edge but there's not enough elsewhere for them to do.

I don't hate TSL like a lot of people here do, but that land really should've had a nice big budget dark ride. That'd be a crowd eater.

I think they consider Midway Mania to be the big budget dark ride...sadly. I would love to see them add a Cars miniland presence as well as a Monstropolis presence...Toy story is my least favorite of the Pixar films...but that is just me...lol

 

[Eric M Blake]

The orange & yellow are mouth watering possibilities. But the orange is almost as big as DHS, combined that with the yellow & you'd have a whole new park. I doubt we'd ever see that happen in our lifetimes, we'd be lucky to see any of the orange touched.

Honestly, since the yellow is where the entrance is, I'd see any "yellow expansion" would be the clearing of the trees for more parking, to replace the parking lot in the orange.

That said, the orange alone is pure Chef's Kiss for park expansion.

It wouldn't hurt so much if we atleast had Indiana Jones Adventure here in WDW. It's insane that ride wasn't ported to DHS or MK's Adventureland a couple years after it opened in DL.

I love the stunt show but DL, Paris & Tokyo all having Indy rides while we don't sucks.

THIS. Honestly, it should be a given if they ever intend to truly expand DHS. Indy Adventure right "behind" the Stunt Spectacular, courtesy of the orange.

It's "What The People Want."

I think they consider Midway Mania to be the big budget dark ride...sadly. I would love to see them add a Cars miniland presence as well as a Monstropolis presence...Toy story is my least favorite of the Pixar films...but that is just me...lol

So many endless possibilities, and frankly they can all be achieved with the orange alone.