Rumors Clarified

[MagicalMonorail]

Hey all! I just returned from a great trip to WDW. It may be my only trip for 2 years, but it was a good one. This year I got to go on the Keys to the Kingdom Tour at MK. It was one of the greatest things I've ever done at the MK. If you are interested in the theme parks and/or the Magic Kingdom, this tour is for you. I was able to ask our tour guide, who was really awesome, about some of the rumors that have been floating around. Here's what he said:

-The Haunted Mansion will be getting about a month long technical rehab. Nothing near to the caliber of the rehab IASW got.

-The Carousel of Progress will not be closing. Even though it is seasonal, guests still ride it when it is open. Disney thinks it's "too classical" to close.

-PotC fans, beware. This ride is getting a massive overhaul. They will be installing a half-dozen Johnny Depp AA's and about a half-dozen Geoffrey Rush AA's. There will also be a Black Pearl Ship placed in the ride. PotC will close later this year for about a year to a year and a half.

-The 20K site will indeed be turned into Pooh's Playground. However, this is temporary. The guide said that there is room for 3 E-rides. He said one of these will PROBABLY be a Monsters Inc. ride. It also will probably be a copy from the ride they are building in Disneyland.

I am sorry if any of these have been posted before. This came from our Disney tour guide so I am guessing it is official. I don't want to give the tour guide's name because I don't know if he is allowed to release this information. If you have any questions about the tour, please let me know.

 

[M:SpilotISTC12]

WOW!!!! Thank god for 20k. I will miss POTC. The best news is CoP is not closing!!!! WOOT!!!

 

[TinkerBell9988]

Yeah, when my mom and I went on Keys to the Kingdom, our guide told us a TON of stuff, including things that we see now (like, IASW version 2.0 with the "glockenspeil", etc...). Our guide told us about Pooh's Playground, Johnny Depp in PotC, and how the Carousel of Progress is going to stick around for a while.

Oh, and by the way, we went on the tour in October 2004. And I HIGHLY recommend it to everyone on this forum.

 

[Woody13]

So, who likes to eat baloney in their sandwiches?

 

[TimeTrip]

So, who likes to eat baloney in their sandwiches?

Agreed .. for the most part on the fanciful rumors

 

[tjpeeb]

No potc this christmas? Rats... Was looking forward to taking my 7 year old on this attraction. Progress isnt always easy.

 

[Thrawn]

I was able to ask our tour guide

It doesn't matter how good the CM is, or what job they have, they do not get information on things that are not going to directly influence their job. And the things they do get info on, we usually hear about before they do.

The 20K site will indeed be turned into Pooh's Playground. However, this is temporary.

Every ride or attraction can be considered temporary.

The guide said that there is room for 3 E-rides.

No, there isn't.

He said one of these will PROBABLY be a Monsters Inc. ride. It also will probably be a copy from the ride they are building in Disneyland.

Thats strange, because they aren't building ANY Monsters Inc ride. They are overlaying the old Superstar Limo ride with a Monsters Inc theme. So, according to the CM, we are getting some Monsters Inc theming without a ride to go with it?

The Haunted Mansion will be getting about a month long technical rehab. Nothing near to the caliber of the rehab IASW got.

I'm pretty sure a two month rehab is already on the books.

The Carousel of Progress will not be closing. Even though it is seasonal, guests still ride it when it is open. Disney thinks it's "too classical" to close.

Correct this to: CoP is not currently planned to be closed. This follows the same logic as the "temporary" on the Hundred Acre Wood.
I love the attraction, but everyone has to admit, that eventually, it will have to be overhauled or taken down.

PotC fans, beware. This ride is getting a massive overhaul. They will be installing a half-dozen Johnny Depp AA's and about a half-dozen Geoffrey Rush AA's. There will also be a Black Pearl Ship placed in the ride. PotC will close later this year for about a year to a year and a half.

I can understand one of each AA, but they aren't going to turn this into a ride based on the movie. Disney isn't stupid.

 

[ballewclan]

So what exactly is a technical rehab of HM? Like any noticable improvements or things like the ride track?

Anyone? Thrawn? lol

 

[Thrawn]

So what exactly is a technical rehab of HM? Like any noticable improvements or things like the ride track?

Anyone? Thrawn? lol

I would guess a technical rehab is something like fixing sound, effects, and AA problems. They definetly wouldn't be changing the track. Not in a month.

 

[imagineer boy]

-The Haunted Mansion will be getting about a month long technical rehab. Nothing near to the caliber of the rehab IASW got.

I hope this is true! Lots of audio in the Haunted Mansion needs to be refreshed and some AAs need tweaking.

-The Carousel of Progress will not be closing. Even though it is seasonal, guests still ride it when it is open. Disney thinks it's "too classical" to close.

Yay! I really hope this is true. But it does atleast need a rehab.

-PotC fans, beware. This ride is getting a massive overhaul. They will be installing a half-dozen Johnny Depp AA's and about a half-dozen Geoffrey Rush AA's. There will also be a Black Pearl Ship placed in the ride. PotC will close later this year for about a year to a year and a half.

This one I'm finding a little hard to swallow. All we've heard is that we're just getting one Jack Sparrow AA. Surely we would've heard more rumors about these drastic changes on other very reliable web sites like Mouse Planet.

-The 20K site will indeed be turned into Pooh's Playground. However, this is temporary. The guide said that there is room for 3 E-rides. He said one of these will PROBABLY be a Monsters Inc. ride. It also will probably be a copy from the ride they are building in Disneyland.

As much as I hate the idea of a Pooh play ground, putting in Monster's Inc is simply unbelievable. It would be very out of place in Fantaseyland. How out of place would a giant exterior of the monster's inc factory in the middle of a European fantasey village look? The Imagineers know better than this. It would be better off at MGM. And for the love of all that is holy, NO MORE CLONES!!!!

This came from our Disney tour guide so I am guessing it is official.

Don't be too sure. We often get false rumors started from cast members. such as the monorail, people are constantly reporting here saying that a cast member told them that the monorails would be expanded, and there have never been any plans to. BTW, if it comes from a tour guide, then it is not official. If it comes from say, Jay Rasulo, then it is 100% official.

 

[MagicalMonorail]

Thrawn, why are you always so negative? It seems every time I see one of your posts, you are putting someone else down. If you have made cheerful and/or positve posts in the past, then I apologize. By the way, I do know who Thrawn is. I read the Star Wars books. :wave:

 

[Pongo]

Thrawn, why are you always so negative? It seems every time I see one of your posts, you are putting someone else down. If you have made cheerful and/or positve posts in the past, then I apologize.

Don't worry. He knows.

 

[mousermerf]

There is enough room on the old 20k plot for 3 e-tickets. AKA: there's roughly enough room for 3 decent attractions.

E-tickets need not a certain size of land, and every "overlay" comparison i've seen on here (i've seen the actual areil photos from Disney doing the side-by-side) is woefully wrong is their assumptions about how much land actually became walkway already and how much is really left back there.

In short, 20K was huge, and yes, you could put lots of stuff back there. An E-ticket could be anything of the high quality standards - Soarin' is a big footpring, Star Tours is tiny (and was e-ticket when it opened). Spaceship Earth has the smallest footprint of them all

 

[CTXRover]

Thanks for the news updates Magicalmonorail!

I wouldn't expect 12 new AA's for Pirates (6 Jack Sparrows and 6 Barbossa's). AA's aren't cheap, unless the are just new skins for some of the Pirates already there. Even that though I don't believe. At least I hope they don't go that far. I'm 100% behind adding one AA of Jack Sparrow somewhere in the ride. It makes a lot of sense in many ways, as long as it doesn't change the overall ride.

Also, despite the fact that the tour guides for the Keys of the Kingdom tour are usually very well trained, they can be wrong. There were a number of things the guide I had told us that either contradicated what is in published books by Imagineers or new things to come that have yet to see the light of day (I took the tour almost 5 years ago I believe)

 

[stitchcastle]

off topic but, i like the Thrawn character too even if he was an impostor. I never did get to read the last 3 books though.

I'm not too giddy about the Monsters Inc. ride coming to the old 20k site, it just feels so wrong...unless they plan to expand Tootown.

actually, Magical Monorail is right, there IS room for 3 e-tickets in the old 20k site, or was it just two? But i'm really sure that the the place back there is huge.

PotC getting a -Curse of the Black Pearl- makeover? Bring it on! I'm tired of people moaning about how inferior WDW's version of pirates is to DL, at least Capt. Sparrow could breathe new life and some unique-ness to the ride.

For Haunted Mansion, know it's just a minor rehab but i hope they could add in some of the new effects from the DL version.

this is purely wishful thinking but I wish WDW would have the balls to build Tokyo's Pooh's Hunny Hunt by the upcoming Pooh Play area, then they could just retrofit another new ride into the current Pooh ride.

 

[Thrawn]

There is enough room on the old 20k plot for 3 e-tickets. AKA: there's roughly enough room for 3 decent attractions.

E-tickets need not a certain size of land, and every "overlay" comparison i've seen on here (i've seen the actual areil photos from Disney doing the side-by-side) is woefully wrong is their assumptions about how much land actually became walkway already and how much is really left back there.

In short, 20K was huge, and yes, you could put lots of stuff back there. An E-ticket could be anything of the high quality standards - Soarin' is a big footpring, Star Tours is tiny (and was e-ticket when it opened). Spaceship Earth has the smallest footprint of them all

No. According to Google Earth (formerly Keyhole) the 20k area was less than .1 mile by .1 mile (rounded up, and made square.) This includes part of Magic Kingdom Drive and part of the walkway before the lagoon was taken out.

I cannot accurately measure SSE, because of the huge honkin geosphere over the top. However, I will use Star Tours to compare. Star Tours measures .04 by .065 (rounded down, and made square)

So, thats
.100 x .100
vs
.040 x .065
.040 x .065
.040 x .065 =
.120 x .195

By using your "tiny" footprint, three will not fit. Heck, you can barely squeeze in two. With the things Disney would have to build (gift shop, probably a couple quick service food stands, a bathroom probably) you might not even get two in the area.

I can post pictures showing this, but its late.

As to the OP: How am I being negative? Because I am not naive enough to believe some lies told to you by a CM?

 

[AEfx]

I'm really hoping they put a stash of D-tickets over there.

Fantasyland at the MK is rather...bare. To me, that's what Disney magic is all about - the dark rides based on the films. That's what fascinated me as a child.

We've got three dark rides based on films - that's it. I'd love to see the 20K area with Alice and Pinocchio dark rides (clones are fine with me) and maybe a new one - say, the Sleeping Beauty ride we've always heard about. Make the first two on a smaller scale, and then go all out on the Sleeping Beauty ride with a nice AA of the dragon.

My mom had never been to WDW, but had obviously watched all the specials and listened to me talk about it for my whole life, and when she finally got to go to the MK a few years ago she was actually a bit disapointed. She expected more "disney" rides at the MK, as in based on Disney cartoons. She thought Peter Pan's flight was the most stunning thing ever - because it was the one most like a Disney cartoon.

I think the general public would be very happy to have more small-scale dark rides in Fantasyland - and so would I. Even if they were no more technologically advanced than Pooh, or their Anaheim counterparts, they'd still be a welcome addition.

AEfx

 

[Figment1986]

hmm.. a sleeping beauty ride.... brilliant.. (and tokyo can have one too... just no other park can.. thanks to the fact they have her castle... thought they can get cinderella ones..)

I would like Alice or Pinochio.... or mabey 2 unique original rides...

 

[marlaymike]

Thank you very much for the update!

 

[llrain]

he/ she sounds like one of those people who think they have all the information about everything and they are always right and everything else is wrong until they verify it themselves..
or just seem plain arrogant
I mean what the heck is all this measuring garbage posted here...was this asked for? way too much we needed to know

No. According to Google Earth (formerly Keyhole) the 20k area was less than .1 mile by .1 mile (rounded up, and made square.) This includes part of Magic Kingdom Drive and part of the walkway before the lagoon was taken out.

I cannot accurately measure SSE, because of the huge honkin geosphere over the top. However, I will use Star Tours to compare. Star Tours measures .04 by .065 (rounded down, and made square)

So, thats
.100 x .100
vs
.040 x .065
.040 x .065
.040 x .065 =
.120 x .195

By using your "tiny" footprint, three will not fit. Heck, you can barely squeeze in two. With the things Disney would have to build (gift shop, probably a couple quick service food stands, a bathroom probably) you might not even get two in the area.

I can post pictures showing this, but its late.

As to the OP: How am I being negative? Because I am not naive enough to believe some lies told to you by a CM?