Possible Frontierland expansion

[WildcatDen]

This rumor has solid legs.

So does Sally Struthers but that is not necessarily a good thing.

 

[asianway]

Not only is this simply untrue, but even if it were it would not afford Disney anything they would consider to be worth the investment of moving Small World.

Festival of the Lion King is a Stage Show, and as far as the infrastructure of Disney stage shows go, it's a fairly traditional one. There are no crazy lifts in the stage, no unusual engineering to the theater -- every component of that show is designed to have been loaded in when they needed to and taken out when it's time to remove the show. The scenic elements are on wheels; many of them are old Parade floats, literally designed to be moved from place to place.

It's a Small World was and is not similarly designed - it is a huge animatronic production filled with heavy machinery and large, bolted-down set pieces in a purpose-built building that was designed to be flooded and be as permanent as can be until they decide to demolish it at great expense or close the park and let the ride rot with it.

The new theater for Festival of the Lion King was designed with this particular show in mind, but a Theater is by it's nature a flexible space, and you better believe they designed it in the understanding that they may one way wish to put another show in there. Small World was designed to last until the building fails or until the end of time, whichever comes first. In Tokyo, it seems, the former is winning that race.

BUT, even IF Disney moved Festival of the Lion King, think about what they got out of it. For the several millions they spent building the new Theater, they got a space in their theme park ready to handle this and whatever the next show one day is, but also the chance to expand their fledgling park in the best possible way, with a visible franchise taking up that newly available prime real estate so that the overall park can more efficiently make back the money that has been invested in it.

Magic Kingdom has no such issues. Beyond the park having plenty of more accessible real estate for them to build upon, Magic Kingdom is making BANK. There is NO financial incentive to undertake worth that exhaustive, and no creative reason either. If they're willing to shoehorn Frozen into Norway, then no idea they have is in their mind *so perfect* for that spot that they wouldn't dream of finding another place to build it before tearing down one of their most enduring and endearing classic attractions and putting it there.

The cost then, further that the demolition costs, to rebuild Small World somewhere else would be SO much higher than building a new theater for FOLK that it's not even funny. Tokyo is making this investment solely because the alternative is to let the attraction fail, and they are thankfully unwilling to do so. If they could keep their Small World running in it's current location until the end of days they would be more than thrilled to do so. The fact is, they can't, so they're taking advantage of the situation.


TL;DR - It ain't happenin'. Ever.

Arguing with him is like talking to a brick wall-hit ignore do yourself a favor

 

[WildcatDen]

I'm not saying it would appear, but there certainly is a president.

?? Hmm. Not sure what to say, so I will go with the obvious.

Yahtzee!!

 

[PhotoDave219]

They moved the Festival of the Lion King to make way for Avatar, Small World is a lot less expensive than that

Really, what drugs are you on?

 

[MarkTwain]

And you yourself? What do you think of the new show?

It's a mixed bag for sure.

On the one had, it's certainly a historical attraction, and was a pet project of some of the greatest WED-era Imagineers. It's not fun to see that kind of history messed with lightly, and one would always prefer to see an attraction like that in its original presentation.

On the other hand, as we saw with Epcot in the 1990s, an attraction's survivability is equal to the numbers it pulls in and the guest satisfaction it creates. If making a few changes/trimming down the show some is what keeps the show going the way of Horizons, then I won't argue too much. The best parts of the show are still there, the crowd seems to really enjoy it (perhaps even more than before), and most importantly, the spirit of the attraction is still intact.

Given what Disney was trying to do, I thought they succeeded. There are some things I take issue with (I still don't get Terrence's weird strobe light dance, and I would've kept a few more snippets of dialogue between the wall animals), but I think they were generally tasteful in their cuts and succeeded in making a leaner, brisker show. The question is whether cutting the show down was an appropriate thing to do in the first place, but I won't pretend it wasn't entirely unnecessary in this low-attention-span era.

 

[yensidtlaw1969]

Arguing with him is like talking to a brick wall-hit ignore do yourself a favor

The hope was to drive the point home to the larger population, not just him, since there seems to be small legion of people these days calling for IASW to be moved.

And in case anyone missed it before: It's A Small World is not moving. The idea is asinine and we should stop talking about it.

 

[MarkTwain]

So I know Marni has hinted at plans to dock the riverboat before, but I thought I'd share a bit more (not sure how much of this is known or talked about).

Plans once existed for TSI to permanently dock the riverboat, and turn much of the island into a sort of Sheriff Woody-themed collection of A-ticket rides. Perhaps the fort and some of the landscaping would have been kept, but otherwise the island would consist of two or three small-scale rides like spinners, teacups, etc., all centered around Woody and Bullseye. Only a few bridges would lead over to the island, and with the island itself not being particularly huge and not able to hold massive queues and infrastructure, this is about as much as could be done with the space without rerouting the river. I am 100% sure these plans existed, but were abandoned with a number of other ideas proposed for MK in favor of New Fantasyland.

This is the last I've heard about details regarding a Frontierland expansion, and obviously this is a few years old. Given that this is now very similar to what they're planning on doing at DHS (I almost wonder if this idea morphed into the one at DHS, or if some Imagineer pitched the DHS plan deliberately to prevent this from happening at MK)... I don't see this happening again.

This leads me to agree with @marni1971 that this is a completely new proposal and will likely not be utilizing the island (given the limited space available for anything but A-tickets).

 

[asianway]

Really, what drugs are you on?

He'll be back with a bunch of misinformed "evidence" to support his asinine position in a moment

 

[PhotoDave219]

The hope was to drive the point home to the larger population, not just him, since there seems to be small legion of people these days calling for IASW to be moved.

And in case anyone missed it before: It's A Small World is not moving. The idea is asinine and we should stop talking about it.

Well said.

 

[WildcatDen]

I think MILF is great...

Just don't Google it at work.

 

[Shaman]

Steam punk/Verne land between Big Thunder and HM would be awesome...and a reasonable-ish transition.

/armchair-eering off

 

[jt04]

Seriously? You've always been overly optimistic, but occasionally sensible.
Now you're just constantly spouting nonsense.

Get rid of IaSW because it doesn't generate merch. sales? It's a classic. It's a people eater. It's family friendly.
Next, you're going to suggest that the entire Splash Mountain should be re-themed. Oh ... wait!

It isn't like it wouldn't be available. It would just become unique to DL in the US. It isn't vital to WDW's future. Same as many attractions that have moved to yesterland such as 20K, Innerspace, Mission to the Moon etc etc.

It is a theme park not a museum.

 

[jt04]

Steam punk/Verne land between Big Thunder and HM would be awesome...and a reasonable-ish transition.

/armchair-eering off

I love this idea and I am not even an Armchair Imagineer.

 

[jt04]

It isn't like it wouldn't be available. It would just become unique to DL in the US. It isn't vital to WDW's future. Same as many attractions that have moved to yesterland such as 20K, Innerspace, Mission to the Moon etc etc.

It is a theme park not a museum.

And retheming Splash to the western US would be welcome indeed. Someday it will happen.

 

[Rteetz]

And retheming Splash to the western US would be welcome indeed. Someday it will happen.

It would be welcome?

 

[MaxW]

And retheming Splash to the western US would be welcome indeed. Someday it will happen.

Stop. Splash is a awesome ride and people love it. i wouldn't hold my breath on it being re-themed.

 

[doctornick]

TL;DR - It ain't happenin'. Ever.

"Ever" is a long time and we really can't say that. Obviously, IASW is not moving any time in the reasonable future; it's unlikely any attraction would except maybe a stage show because it would be fairly easy/cheap (moving Laugh Floor to DHS is probably the only semi-realistic armchair imagineering concept of an attraction moving in the short term that I've seen).

That said, I think IASW moving in the distant future is semi-plausible. Not any time soon, but there are factors that would make it conceivable -- namely, that is is located at a significant choke point for guest movement and because it blocks access to a significant amount of inside the berm land that could be used for expansion. It's possible that somewhere in the distant future that MK might require access to that land and it might be viewed as sensible to move IASW as a way to do it. I am not saying this is likely and it sure as hell wouldn't be any time soon, but it's not an odd idea. As has been noted, IASW is moving in Tokyo due to practical considerations, so it could be done when there is sufficient need. MK at this point obviously does not have the need and there is land elsewhere than can be developed much more easily (even for Fantasyland).

I get that it is annoying to hear people make unrealistic armchair engineering commentary -- especially when the same ones are repeated time and again. I just always question when people talk in absolutes though. Nothing is forever and the MK of 20 or 30 years from now might have completely different needs

 

[doctornick]

I'd love to see a version of the peoplemover in the new SW land.

I agree. One of the things that Disney used to do, but has become a bit of a lost are is use three dimensions effectively. It's great to have attractions at different heights to maximize space and add to the kinetics of an area. Tomorrowland was really a pinnacle of this with the Peoplemover, Astro Orbitor and Skyway -- and even more so at DL with the Subs and Monorail as well.

Coruscant in Star Wars had the same effect going on with vehicles travelling at different levels, so there's a precedent for that kind of look. It would be cool if the new and improved DHS incorporates it in some way.

 

[JenniferS]

And retheming Splash to the western US would be welcome indeed. Someday it will happen.

Wanna bet?
I ante up two Dole Whip floats.

 

[lobelia]

Can someone post an overhead of this area again? I'm just curious about possible locations. Does the river cruise have show scenes throughout the ride?