Magic Kingdom after TRON

[mharrington]

I've done many threads to updating the Magic Kingdom in particular, because I've always tried to differentiate that from Disneyland, at least a little bit, while also replicating my ideas in select other parks. The other parks in Florida, and for that matter, the Disneyland Resort, I've never given much thought to. I don't know how to improve EPCOT, really, save for trying to bring back Journey Into Imagination in some capacity, even a diminished one, and maybe provide a few new additions to World Showcase. Even with the Star Wars land, The Studios continues to be a messy hodgepodge. As for the Animal Kingdom, I was never particularly impressed with it when I first went in 2002. Not even the additions of Everest or Pandora have made me want to return. If I ever go back to WDW, I'm steering clear of the Animal Kingdom.

As for the Disneyland Resort, they're mostly fine the way they are, save for some minor changes here and there, mostly cosmetic, although I have had some ideas for improving Toontown (even after its big overhaul) and Tomorrowland (not sure how, though).

In any case, here's just a few of what I would do to update the Magic Kingdom after the TRON coaster opens. Some are new, others are just improvements to existing attractions:

-Magician Mickey's Magical Madcap Mania (working title): A new dark ride on Main Street, the first true attraction in any Disney park's Main Street (not counting the Railroad or the vehicles)
-Pirates of the Caribbean: A few new elements added to help keep the nostalgists happy, plus some few surprises, too!
-Country Bear Vacation Hoedown: The updated version of the Country Bears is back!
-Geppetto's Workshop: A new spinner in Fantasyland (replaces Mickey's PhilharMagic)
-Peter Pan's Flight: The ride is expanded with a new scene (takes over the shop at the exit of PhilharMagic)
-It's a Small World: A new exterior with a tie-in to the S.E.A.!
-Mad Tea Party: A new set of designs for the teacups and teapot in the center
-The Astounding Duke Donaldo and His Silly Symphonic Seals: A water ride in Storybook Circus
-Space Mountain: A drastic overhaul to bring it up to date and not make it feel so ancient compared to TRON
-A new shooter dark ride, themed either to "Big Hero 6" or even to the Hero's Duty game from "Wreck-It Ralph": Replaces the Buzz Lightyear ride. This was a difficult decision to make, but I decided to do it because it was similarly replaced with Ant-Man in Hong Kong, and besides, this version of the ride feels more restrictive compared to the other, more superior versions of the ride in other parks, where you can unholster the laser guns to fire more freely compared to WDW, where the guns are mounted to the ride vehicles. It may or may not take over part of the Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor show.

 

[MickeyMouse10]

A Mickey Mouse attraction on Main Street could be pretty cool. Since we haven't gotten a true classic Mickey ride in Disney World yet. You could even do a greatest hits type ride for him, that showcases different shorts.

 

[mharrington]

On Main Street, in the space once considered for the Main Street theater, located in the old Tinker Bell meet-n-greet space at the Town Square Theater, is a new Mickey Mouse-themed dark ride. I will go into more details at a later time, but for now, all I will say is that that it's based on an earlier concept by @Basketbuddy101: https://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads...open-brainstorming.924777/page-4#post-7600592.

I have modified it to make it less about magic and more about about entering locales of the old cartoons, something like the Timeless River level of "Kingdom Hearts 2". In fact, I did this very concept on another thread (https://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/magician-mickeys-madcap-mania-working-title.979143/), but I was still not entirely satisfied with it, so I tweaked it a bit.

The basic premise is that Mickey is going to put on a magic show at the theater, assisted by Donald and Goofy, and you are there as special guests. But Pete, whose Shakespearian performance was bumped for him being too much of a ham, decides to retaliate by stealing Mickey's hat, wand and bag. As Mickey's special guests, he wants you help with the retrieval. Outside (a night setting that is indoors), you board special caravans (which resemble the old Horseless Carriages (not sure if they still have those)) with which to chase after Pete, but he drops the bag, which enlarges in size. Pete grabs the two most important items, Mickey's hat and wand, before everyone is swallowed up inside!

This leads Mickey and friends on a merry chase through the magic bag, which leads through a magical vortex reminiscent of the magic hat subarea of the remake of "Castle of Illusion", and beyond that, into a strange world reminiscent of Mickey's old cartoons as you go and try to get Mickey's hat and wand back from Pete in time for the show!

 

[mharrington]

The zany adventure inside the magic bag begins through a vortex of magic cards, rabbits, birds and other magic forms! Then, as you follow Mickey and the gang on a chase through the bag to retrieve the hat and wand, they go through all sorts of vignettes, all based off of classic Mickey cartoons, including a giant home full of dancing inanimate objects and beyond that, a jungle of a backyard full of giant insects! It transitions into a real jungle with encounters with lions and gorillas and bears! (Oh, my!) This is followed by a snowy mountain full of eagles and a downhill chase on a sled, before transitioning into a train tunnel with a train, driven by Pete, coming at you (shades of Mr. Toad much?)! The train derails and lands in an service station/airport, where Pete flees from a car engine and lands in the water, where he loses the hat and wand for good! Meanwhile, Mickey and friends show up for vengeance, with Mickey at the helm of the iconic Steamboat Willie, only to learn the bad news. Will they ever be able to get home to the magic show on time?!

Stay tuned as I will go into more detail on a verbal tour of this ride at a later time (I hope). I may utilize screens/projections, however, for the sake of space.

 

[mharrington]

In Adventureland, Pirates of the Caribbean is receiving a few slight tweaks to help try to blend in the movie characters and not make them stand out too much. These same tweaks will be made to Disneyland's version also.

On the Wicked Wench, Barbossa remains, but now he's only threatening the town and not Sparrow in particular. The way it's set up, there would not be any need for Geoffrey Rush to redo his lines. The original lines went something like this: "Surrender Captain Jack Sparrow, or by thunder, we'll burn the city to the ground!" Now it would just be something like "Surrender, or by thunder, we'll burn the city to the ground!" The only tricky part might be where he says, "It’s Captain Jack Sparrow we're after, and a fortune in gold." It would be rearranged to now say, "It's a fortune in gold we're after."

Nearby, the well scene also omits any references to Sparrow, instead reverting to the original dialogue of the original pre-movies ride: "Speak up, ya bilge rat! Where be the treasure?", etc.

A new addition is added to the ride at the beginning as well. It was initially planned to include a Pepper's Ghost effect which never occurred, but it will be utilized at last, possibly at the bottom of the drop to suggest the transformation from skeleton to full flesh and back (a similar transition (not Pepper's Ghost, though) also occurs at Disneyland):

 

[mharrington]

Conveniently for World Bear Day...

Maybe it's just that I'm more familiar with the one at Disneyland, but even though the Country Bear Jamboree is a classic, I've actually preferred the revised Vacation Hoedown version, which has a genuinely great song to start things off:


As such, I've thought about bringing that version back to WDW for the first time in 30+ years (it was reverted to the original version in 1992). However, sadly, I have a feeling that it will likely need to be cut down a bit, like the version in WDW is now. I'm not sure how, though.

One radical idea I came across that has merit is this suggestion from a blog post on Passport 2 Dreams: http://passport2dreams.blogspot.com/2018/07/a-personal-magic-kingdom-wish-list.html. In particular, the post suggests making the Country Bear show the centerpiece show for an ice cream parlor, as a way to help get people out of the heat and hopefully help people see the show as a "value proposition", because apparently the show was never really that popular.

The post suggests removing the back wall of the lobby so you will always see the theater and the seating replaced with tables with charging stations. The show would happen every 30 minutes or so. People who don't care for the show can come and go as they please, while those who do like the show can see value in it while relaxing with ice cream or a soda (or both at the same time!). It will even allow the show to turn a profit and pull its weight more in the park.

However, I would have it go to the Vacation Hoedown version, as I kind of have a soft spot for that and was disappointed when the show was shut down at Disneyland to make way for Pooh (unlike WDW, Disneyland's version never changed back to the original show, always staying as the Vacation Hoedown version until closing for good).

 

[mharrington]

Not that I'm really expecting a response, but here goes with the next part:

Many changes will happen in Fantasyland, starting in the area as you walk into the land from Liberty Square and past the Tangled-themed restrooms, both involving two rides sitting opposite one another...

The first change is mostly minor, but with an extra layer added, as the entrance to It's a Small World is overhauled to do away with the tent design and instead go with something more like a fantasy version of the old Adventurers Club, with another connection to the Society of Explorers and Adventurers, adding to the adventures of Captain Mary Oceaneer!

In her world travels, Mary has visited many countries throughout the world and at every stop, she has befriended all the children of all the lands she has visited. She has gathered various artifacts from the lands she has visited to make a working clock tower that sits in the queue.

This classic Disney attraction is the latest attraction (and the third just in the Magic Kingdom alone) with a connection to S.E.A.! It's also the third reference to Mary Oceaneer in particular in the park (and the fourth in the resort as a whole).

 

[mharrington]

I'm calling on a few posters here for feedback, including @MickeyMouse10 and @MagicKingdom4Ever. In the meantime, here's the next part of the Magic Kingdom overhaul...

Across from Small World, Peter Pan's Flight will be updated, which will entail the removal of Mickey's PhilharMagic (more on that later). The entrance to the ride will resemble this piece of concept art below:

The entire load area resembles the inside of the Darlings' home, to complement the overall queue. The back of the load area will have a new mural resembling that of the artwork for the initial videotape release of the movie:

Within the ride itself, there will be new effects similar to the updated version in Disneyland and more so the new version in Shangahi, with the Darling kids up in the air as Peter Pan covers them with Tinker Bell's pixie dust:

As you head out the window and pass over Nana, in the lit window nearby, a new shadow effect is shown as you see Mr. Darling disturbed and confused by the racket. "What the dickens?" he appears to be saying.

Moreover, the projection effects from Shanghai of Peter Pan and the Darling kids flying over London is replicated here.

The ride is changed little until the near-climax of the ride, with Peter and Captain Hook dueling on the ship's topsail. New figures of these two are shown, with their blades locked together and Hook trying to force Peter off the edge, in a scene reminiscent of the fight at Skull Rock (and which was later replicated for the "Wonderful World of Disney" opening in the late '90s and early 2000s):

I'm also thinking of updating the scene similarly in Disneyland. It would also fix the error in that version which places Hook's hook on the wrong arm, something that's always bugged me (Paris' version is also like this, and that too will be rectified).

Then, as Peter gains control of the ship, there is a new sparkling effect, similar to the one in Disneyland, as Tinker Bell covers the ship in pixie dust to fly it back to London. Then, as you pass Hook on the jaws of the crocodile, you head through a brand-new scene, similar to the ending in Shanghai (replacing the gift shop at the exit of PhilharMagic). It takes you through the moon and back into the Darling home, with the ship-shaped cloud in the window, while Mr. Darling is heard saying, "I feel as though I have seen that ship before, long ago, when I was very young..."

There will also be new voices for the ride, including Corey Burton pulling double duty as Captain Hook and Mr. Darling, as well as Adam Wylie voicing Peter Pan, whom he voiced in one of those "Jake and the Never Land Pirates" movies. Maia Mitchell will voice Wendy, whom she also voiced in "Jake and the Never Land Pirates". Finally, I've thought of Alan Tudyk to voice Mr. Smee.

What do you think?

 

[MagicKingdom4Ever]

I'm calling on a few posters here for feedback, including @MickeyMouse10 and @MagicKingdom4Ever. In the meantime, here's the next part of the Magic Kingdom overhaul...

Doth mine ears deceive me? Someone asks for my feedback?

 

[mharrington]

Doth mine ears deceive me? Someone asks for my feedback?

Yes, I just want to know what you think of what I did so far.

 

[MagicKingdom4Ever]

Yes, I just want to know what you think of what I did so far.

i think it's great

 

[mharrington]

I had been wrestling for a long time with bringing a Pinocchio ride of some kind to WDW's Magic Kingdom. However, I didn't want just a copy of Disneyland's Pinocchio ride, even though I had already done an improved version that garnered a lot of likes. I had considered everything from a swing ride to a water thrill ride themed to Pleasure Island and Monstro (based on an abandoned concept from the early days of Disneyland for a water thrill down Monstro's tongue), located on the space once occupied by the Tomorrowland Speedway.

However, I was advised by @MickeyMouse10 that a Pinocchio ride, any kind, should take the Village Haus restaurant into account. It wouldn't make sense to have a ride over by where the Speedway is now and leave the Village Haus as is. The problem with that location is that it's right next to the entrance to the Utilidors. I like to try and be realistic, but I also like to try and utilize space like the Speedway, which I feel has kind of outlived its welcome.

One idea I've had that seems doable, though not without sacrificing something else, was putting a spinner in the space once occupied by Mickey's PhilharMagic, which is just down the way from the Village Haus. I looked it up on Google Maps, and the footprint appears to be small enough. I'm thinking of doing a Caterpillar-style ride here, similar to Scuttle's Scooters...


...or any one of the many versions of Slinky Dog (Zigzag) Spin:


In this case, the ride will be called Geppetto's Workshop, which is exactly what it looks like from the outside. It resembles the entrance to the store near the Pinocchio ride at Disneyland:

The ride is set inside the workshop and themed to resemble a new wood-carved toy of Geppetto's that he wants to share with you. The seats (I believe this kind of ride has 16 in all) are all themed to different characters: Pinocchio, Jiminy Cricket, Figaro and Cleo. Geppetto (voiced by Jeff Bennett) provides the safety spiel and then says, "Music, professor!" Then Geppetto's wood-carved music boxes come to life to play music box versions of songs from the movie, while your seat spins in a circle, in up and down motions, for about 90 seconds. As the ride ends, Geppetto seems to think that Pinocchio will like this

I think that's a fairly simple way to get a Pinocchio ride into the park without having to break the bank. However, this ride could give the teacups a run for its money in the thrill factor, so don't eat right before going on.

 

[mharrington]

One of my pet ideas was to do something called the Twist-n-Splash, a concept for a water spinner from Mack Rides, which exists in a few parks in the world, including Blackpool Pleasure Beach:


There are very few of this type of ride in the world, however. In addition to Blackpool, it also exists at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom (The Penguin), Six Flags St. Louis (Tsunami Soaker), Attractiepark Slagharen (Expedition Nautilus) and, in a funny ad, Rulantica (the Mack-O-Matic):


Anyway, I had initially considered theming the Twist-n-Splash to Pinocchio's encounter with Monstro the whale, but it just seems too slow-paced for that idea.

My alternate idea for the ride will be located in Storybook Circus and themed to Donald Duck and a seal lion act (based on "Mickey's Circus"), possibly called "The Astounding Duke Donaldo and His Silly Symphonic Seals":

The ride has you in seal tank-themed spinners and spin in a circle while Donald's seal act takes place. As guests off to the sides try to squirt rides with cannons (taken from the clown wagon near Casey Jr.) and the guests squirt one another in the ride, too, different seals (all with different names, which I may get to later) all toot horns that play music, but which can also squirt riders as well. Donald stands in the center, proudly holding up Salty, the baby seal.

Interestingly, the seals themselves look less they do in "Mickey's Circus" and more like in "Mickey and the Seal":

The music that the seals play on the horns may sound familiar; it's actually the Donald Duck theme, played in a circus style!


They had actually made a musical snowglobe out of this, which I finally found after a long, long time!

 

[oogie boogie man]

Hopefully Tomorrowland does something with the former Stitch space. There's no excuse to leave it abandoned. It's prime real estate.

 

[mharrington]

Hopefully Tomorrowland does something with the former Stitch space. There's no excuse to leave it abandoned. It's prime real estate.

I don't know what to do with it, honestly. I've had an idea in mind to replace Buzz Lightyear with something else, like what they did in Hong Kong when they replaced Buzz Lightyear with Ant-Man. I'm thinking of doing something with either "Big Hero 6" or maybe even "Hero's Duty".

And while on the subject of redos, with the advent of the TRON roller coaster, Space Mountain is going to feel somewhat ancient by comparison. I've thought of redoing that one quite drastically. Basically, it would be like the 2005 redo of Disneyland's Space Mountain, but bigger, since the Florida version is bigger.

To start with, gone would be the double track. Instead, it's now a huge single track. The main premise is that it would now be derivative of the old Flight To The Moon/Mission To Mars attraction, but obviously as a roller coaster. For more information, you can watch this video here:


Anyway, the idea is that the roller coaster's track is being totally redone for this new version, for a longer trip into space, planning a trip to the moon for everyone. On the lift hill, the music may seem familiar to a few serious Disney fans. It's actually the opening theme to "The Black Hole", Disney's answer at the time to "Star Wars"!


And then events play out as you try to make your way to the moon in your private rocket!

Sorry if it's thrown together, because it's late for me. I hadn't really thought this idea through. I'm concerned about this concept becoming dated pretty fast, since "Flight To The Moon" and "Mission To Mars" both became dated pretty fast.

 

[Rambozo]

Hopefully they actually do the Beyond Big Thunder ideas. Not the villain one though, that should be it's own park.

 

[mharrington]

Hopefully they actually do the Beyond Big Thunder ideas. Not the villain one though, that should be it's own park.

I had initially thought of something out back there, but that went nowhere, and now that I heard about the mysterious "Beyond Big Thunder" idea, I'm going to leave it alone and see what happens.

 

[mharrington]

I have been debating how to go about redoing Buzz Lightyear as either "Hero's Duty" (the shoot-'em-up game from "Wreck-It Ralph") or "Big Hero 6", but I'm not sure at the moment. I will leave that for the moment and return to a verbal tour of "Magician Mickey's Magical Madcap Mania"...

After winding through the Town Square Theater space (where the Tinkerbell meet-n-greet once stood and taking up space once considered for that was once considered for the aborted Willis Wood Theater concept), you go through a dressing room before you are to meet up with Mickey's group for a special backstage pass to a show at the theater. However, Pete is nearby, and unhappy that the Town Square Theater management had replaced him in favor of Magician Mickey. He was going to do "Hamlet", but management considered him too much of a ham. He is not happy about being replaced, and by a magic act of all things, and he decides to do something about it.

As Donald and Goofy bring out Mickey's all-important magic bag for the show, Pete snatches the bag away. Mickey's group, with you in tow, give chase to retrieve it for the show. You board a special caravan used by Mickey's group when they first arrived (and will be departing in after the show). Mickey and friends catch Pete, and he drops the bag, opening it up in the process and releasing the contents (sparkly dust, a magic hat, a wand, rabbits, birds, playing cards) and seemingly enlarging in size. Smiling evilly, Pete grabs the two most important parts of the bag, the magic hat and wand, as the group gets swallowed up inside.

You enter the magic bag, and wind up inside is a swirly purple vortex of nothingness, full of rabbits, birds and cards. It looks like the magic hat subarea of the "Castle of Illusion" revival:


As Mickey tries to get the magic hat off of Pete's head, Goofy struggles with getting the wand away from Pete. In doing so, Donald gets hit with magic blasts that turn him into various different animals at once, much to his irritation. And when Donald is turned back to normal, he squawks in irritation, only for cards to spew from his mouth. Mickey succeeds in getting the hat off, only for Goofy, in tussling with Pete for possession of the wand, to accident hit the hat with it, causing it to enlarge and suck everyone in like a vacuum. In the process, Mickey, Donald, Goofy and Pete all transform into older versions of themselves, with Mickey having solid black eyes, Donald's beak being longer, Goofy resembling his old Dippy Dawg self, and Pete getting a peg leg.

This leads to what looks like Mickey's house, which confuses everyone, most of all Mickey. However, it seems that everyone is now shrunk down to inanimate object size, in a scene out of "Thru the Mirror". You encounter lively objects, until Donald and Goofy accidentally fall back into a pair of king and queen of heart cards, which the king takes offense to, and sics his cards on the trio. Pete runs off, too, but not before snatching away the wand and hat that Mickey has in his possession. Incidentally, the cards resemble those from a promotion piece in Good Housekeeping magazine:

Out the back door everyone is chased by the objects in the house. Here, it's a giant garden, similar to "Mickey's Garden", where everyone is menaced by giant insects:


The giant grass then gives way to a jungle setting (normal-sized again) where everyone is menaced by wild animals, like those in "Jungle Rhythm", where you have run-ins with a lion, a bear and a gorilla that terrorizes each of the gang:


The gorilla is not from "Jungle Rhythm", but from "The Pet Store":

This leads to a mountainous area, with encounters with a mother eagle and her new brood of eaglets (as seen in "Alpine Climbers") that attack:

Then down the snowy mountain you go, catching up with Pete on a sled, similar to "The Klondike Kid" (more to the point, this Game-and-Watch-style game that you can play in "Kingdom Hearts 3"):

You manage to catch up with Pete, and as Mickey and friends grapple with Pete for possession of the hat and wand, everyone crashes at the bottom of the mountain.

This lands you in a small area of town, home to a service station (taken from "Mickey's Service Station") and an airport (taken from "The Mail Pilot"). The plane from "Plane Crazy" flies overhead, with Mickey inside. Over at the service station, cars (from other cartoons), with Donald and Goofy caught in them, rise and lower on their platforms. On the wall, tires spin wildly, and there are license plates similar to those in the Roger Rabbit ride whose letters/number combinations form Disney references: CAP 10 HK, L MERM8 and 101 DLMN, among others. It looks like the projection level from "Epic Mickey 2":


And then you spot Pete fleeing for his life from a rogue car engine, still holding fast to the hat and wand. But he isn't looking where he's going, and he runs right off the pier at Podunk Landing!

Mickey approaches, famously piloting the Steamboat Willie (whistling as he does) and activates the crane on the boat's stern (the same one used to lift Minnie onto the boat) to lift Pete into the air, literally hanging him out to dry. But Pete dropped the hat and wand in the water, so they're long gone now, so now Mickey's magic show can never happen! At that moment, Donald comes up riding on the back of a whale (as seen in "The Whalers"):

And Goofy comes in, riding a wave, like in "Hawaiian Holiday":

As they come in for vengeance on Pete, Mickey suddenly remembers that he had a spare hat and wand on his person and puts the hat on. He tries to call out to his compadres to stop, but they don't hear in time, and the whale and wave crash into the steamboat, causing a huge splash that sends everyone every which way. At that moment, however, Mickey uses the wand in the nick of time as the wave crashes into a boat storage shed, resembling this from the Timeless River level in "Kingdom Hearts 2":

The room is plunged into another magical vortex of rabbits, birds and playing cards, and you emerge from the magic bag, made evident by the large zipper along the edge of the exit archway. You find yourself back in the familiar Town Square Theater, at the backstage door, with only minutes to go before the show begins. Donald and Goofy are impressed by Mickey's spare hat and wand, which he has on him proudly. They ask how he knew about it and how they got back so quickly. Mickey laughs and says that a magician never reveals his secrets. As for Pete, he is all soaking wet and hanging from a tree branch upside-down. Everyone waves goodbye and you exit.

What did you think of Magician Mickey's Magical Madcap Mania? It was somewhat modified from an earlier version.

Also, given where it's going, on Main Street, I may have to utilize screens over physical set pieces in certain places, such as in the snowy chase scene.

 

[mharrington]

I had forgotten to make another update to Fantasyland, this one for updating the Mad Tea Party:

I have read an article where a patent was filed to update the Mad Tea Party so that the spinning would generate electricity to power some new special effects: https://www.disneyfoodblog.com/2021...-update-mad-tea-party-heres-what-were-seeing/.

To go along with this, the teacups and the matching teapot in the center will be rethemed to dispense with the old 1970s look. I was originally thinking about just duplicating the Disneyland teacup designs, but then I thought of doing the cups instead as more like the characters from "Alice In Wonderland", with the characters' color schemes and little pieces associated with them (such as the Mad Hatter's 10/6 tag and the Cheshire Cat's grin). The latter would look like this:

As you can see, there is an idea for the cup with the Cheshire Cat's grin on it. Maybe the one with the green-colored stripe could be themed to the Mad Hatter, with the 10/6 tag on it. There will also be one the designs of cards on it (themed to the Queen of Hearts and her card soldiers, obviously) and another themed to the White Rabbit, with pocket watch designs on it.

In the center, the teapot with the Dormouse in it will be changed to an older design: yellow with red flowers on it, as it was in the early days of the park:

I also noticed that the carousel and Dumbo have panels that depict scenes of their respective movies ("Cinderella" and "Dumbo", obviously) adorning the central areas. So I decided that the Mad Tea Party, also a spinner ride, should also have images of this kind, too, obviously themed to "Alice". One piece of artwork shows Alice meeting the Cheshire Cat, another shows the Unbirthday Party scene, and so on. But what should they be, though? One obvious one is the tea party scene, as I said, looking like this (but more rendered like for Dumbo):

 

[Keyblade Jedi]

Great Ideas.