New Fantasyland-Largest Expansion of the MK, really?

[lazyboy97o]

What about Frontierland? I would almost be willing to bet the area taken up by Splash and its expansion could rival the new Fantasyland. Remember it was more than just adding the ride. They had to newly develop the area around it.

Not being well versed in what was there for Big Thunder Mountain, it looks like Splash Mountain is near the size of the expanded space occupied between Pinocchio's Village Haus and the old lagoon.

 

[Funmeister]

Not being well versed in what was there for Big Thunder Mountain, it looks like Splash Mountain is near the size of the expanded space occupied between Pinocchio's Village Haus and the old lagoon.

So about the same size as the actual new expansion in Fantasyland? I guess they are also counting Tangled toilets?

 

[lazyboy97o]

So about the same size as the actual new expansion in Fantasyland? I guess they are also counting Tangled toilets?

But the Tangled toilets as expansion are only the new walkway and a slight reduction with the closure of the old restroom facility. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad looks to be close to twice the size of Splash Mountain.

I do not know if it was official, but I also saw a headline this morning calling the CityWalk changes the complex's biggest expansion. Differently subdividing the same retail spaces is hardly expansion in my book.

 

[Funmeister]

But the Tangled toilets as expansion are only the new walkway and a slight reduction with the closure of the old restroom facility. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad looks to be close to twice the size of Splash Mountain.

I do not know if it was official, but I also saw a headline this morning calling the CityWalk changes the complex's biggest expansion. Differently subdividing the same retail spaces is hardly expansion in my book.

In all fairness we do not know for sure if it is based on actual land size or number of offerings (attractions). It is a marketing ploy on their part. The only thing is talking about the "largest expansion in MK history" does not have a chance against the Universal marketing machine that cranked up yesterday.

 

[The Empress Lilly]

What about Frontierland? I would almost be willing to bet the area taken up by Splash and its expansion could rival the new Fantasyland. Remember it was more than just adding the ride. They had to newly develop the area around it.

Thunder was one phase, Splash followed a dozen years later. Splash also involved the Frontierland Expansion Project of expanding FL by closing the train station and re-opening it at a new location.

I'd say Caribbean Plaza is a bigger expansion than either Splash or Thunder. And the TL expansion the biggest of all.

 

[The Empress Lilly]

Not being well versed in what was there for Big Thunder Mountain

Grass.

 

[Funmeister]

Thunder was one phase, Splash followed a dozen years later. Splash also involved the Frontierland Expansion Project of expanding FL by closing the train station and re-opening it at a new location.

I'd say Caribbean Plaza is a bigger expansion than either Splash or Thunder. And the TL expansion the biggest of all.

I think the major expansion in Adventureland a few years baaaa.......oh wait.

 

[AndyMagic]

All of this discussion is semantics in the end. The verbage used by Disney is just standard marketing-speak. I think if the expansion included some groundbreaking rides instead of just beautiful walkways, the "largest expansion" moniker wouldn't be as disingenuous as it is now. For years the 20k plot was slotted to get just one large E-ticket attraction. What we eventually got was a very large piece of bread with butter spread too thin and so the size of the bread is what is being touted.

 

[Slowjack]

I think the reason Disney can get away with this "largest expansion ever" talk is that it's been so long since any major construction has occurred at the MK -- since Splash opened in 1992 by my reckoning. There have been new attractions, but housed in already existing show buildings. That's a whole generation for which New Fantasyland is the largest expansion they've even seen, at least.

 

[doctornick]

Thunder was one phase, Splash followed a dozen years later. Splash also involved the Frontierland Expansion Project of expanding FL by closing the train station and re-opening it at a new location.

So, after BTM opening and before Splash, what occupied the space filled by Splash? That seems like a pretty big space to have nothing there.

 

[space42]

The view walking from Pirates - Thunder Mountain under construction with no Splash. Picture from disneypix.com

 

[The Empress Lilly]

The view walking from Pirates - Thunder Mountain under construction with no Splash. Picture from disneypix.com

Incidentally, this is my oldest memory of Disney. My first trip was a ten year old me just before they opened Thunder.


Back then young me thought Thunder was themed to the Pluto short, 'The Legend of Coyote Rock'. They sold that cartoon on super 8 in the MK. We watched it endlessly at home, before the era of VHS. (for our younger members: that's like a dvd, like what your parents use to watch movies. Which was like a video cassete tape, like your grandparents used. Which is like a super 8, which us zombie corpses used.)
(For our older members: there is a strange similarity between the days of super 8 and the modern YouTube era of infinite media: both revolve around short clips, through the nature of the medium. The medium is the message.)

A famous cartoon, it won an oscar in 1945. I've always wondered if a young ten year old Tony Baxter's mind was as filled with imagery of this cartoon as mine was....

 

[Tim Lohr]

So, after BTM opening and before Splash, what occupied the space filled by Splash? That seems like a pretty big space to have nothing there.

The original Frontierland Train Station was just little bit south of where Splash Mt. is now, and in between the original station and BTM was the backstage access road for the parade floats. Now the parade float road is where the original Train Station used to be, and the new train station is were the old parade float road used to be... hope that makes sense

Original Train Station

1984 - BTM (at top) - Parade Float Exit Road (middle) - Original Train Station across from Pecos Bill's

Today

 

[boufa]

In all of our vigor to hate on Disney, did we consider the definition of largest? I guarantee the definition that they used was most money$$$$. And by that definition it certainly makes it hands down.

 

[wm49rs]

In all of our vigor to hate on Disney, did we consider the definition of largest? I guarantee the definition that they used was most money$$$$. And by that definition it certainly makes it hands down.

I'm personally not for celebrating Disney's budgetary issues....

And I'm not going to perform the calculations, but any current costs should be compared to monies spent in the past adjusted for inflation.

 

[MOXOMUMD]

The original Frontierland Train Station was just little bit south of where Splash Mt. is now, and in between the original station and BTM was the backstage access road for the parade floats. Now the parade float road is where the original Train Station used to be, and the new train station is were the old parade float road used to be... hope that makes sense

Original Train Station

1984 - BTM (at top) - Parade Float Exit Road (middle) - Original Train Station across from Pecos Bill's

Today

I know I'm in the minority, but I miss the original train station.

 

[Tim Lohr]

I know I'm in the minority, but I miss the original train station.

I kinda miss it too, I remember as a kid my family would sit on the steps of it to watch the Main Street Electrical Parade

 

[The Empress Lilly]

I know I'm in the minority, but I miss the original train station.

I know what you mean. For me it's not so much the train station, but the entire area. I guess FrL with Splash is better than without, but I can't truly get used to it. The area feels packed, crowded, claustrophobic. Without clear traffic patterns so everybody is in each other's way.

The old old train station also felt more natural, more frontier, than the modern large elevated one. The entire area felt more frontier than it does now. The empty lands leading up to a desolate, deserted Thunder Mountain felt more natural than the current set-up, from the wooden walkways in the river to the cartoons and the wet, southern swamp.

 

[englanddg]

I know what you mean. For me it's not so much the train station, but the entire area. I guess FrL with Splash is better than without, but I can't truly get used to it. The area feels packed, crowded, claustrophobic. Without clear traffic patterns so everybody is in each other's way.

The old old train station also felt more natural, more frontier, than the modern large elevated one. The entire area felt more frontier than it does now. The empty lands leading up to a desolate, deserted Thunder Mountain felt more natural than the current set-up, from the wooden walkways in the river to the cartoons and the wet, southern swamp.

I actually like the current station. Especially the convoluted traffic patterns. It feels like a haphazard mining town, and with the barn facade transition for Splash, I think it's really quite well done. It's one of my favorite areas of the park precisely because it's so layered with walkways, lines, facades, stairwells and ramps...it's not just flat ground, which is rare even in Disney theme parks (AK, while not my favorite park, also has some of this going for them with the nature trails). I love it!

 

[The Empress Lilly]

I actually like the current station. Especially the convoluted traffic patterns. It feels like a haphazard mining town, and with the barn facade transition for Splash, I think it's really quite well done. It's one of my favorite areas of the park precisely because it's so layered with walkways, lines, facades, stairwells and ramps...it's not just flat ground, which is rare even in Disney theme parks (AK, while not my favorite park, also has some of this going for them with the nature trails). I love it!

I know what you mean. I will try to train myself into this line of thinking, to enjoy the area better.

To me, I grew up with Thunder. The area in front of it wasn't a crowded, bustling town. But a transition area from the town to the deserted Thunder valley.


Like Mos Eisley. If you grew up on Star Wars, you thought of it as a small town, a backwater. In the later versions, Lucas transformed it into a large bustling hub. I have never made that mental transition either.