Tom Sawyer's Island replacement / Expansion

[Jerm]

Any chance they would expand out Liberty square?? Man I would love a sleepy hollow type ride. I know they have had additional interest in the New England area....and that area is fairly under represented

I don't think they would get rid of TSI (based on the very popular Mark Twain book) to move in a Sleepy Hollow ride (based on a popular story) that I think even less people would get. You have to remember that as cool as theming is and as much as you loved a story/movie/cartoon Disney has to appeal to a HUGE number of people to justify the money for any type of attraction and pretty much unless it makes money for the company outside of the walls of the theme park odds are very very slim it will make it inside the walls of a theme park.

 

[wickedfan07]

That actually would be a really great idea. Disney World doesn't have a toboggan ride, and the wood + water element would allow it to blend nicely with the islands woodsy atmosphere. Toboggan rides are thrilling yet also tame enough that the whole family can enjoy. Again, you have the logistical issue of how to get a mass amount of people to and from the island, but I'm sure they could get around that somehow.

Maybe there's some logistical reason Disney can't do this, but why not build a drawbridge over the river? The Liberty Belle wouldn't take htat long to cross the path of one or two bridges along the river (one in Liberty Square near the Haunted Mansion and another in Frontierland near Big Thunder Mountain maybe?) Because there is only one riverboat, one of the bridges would always be down and usable while the other was open and impassable (in case of an emergency on the island that required immediate evacuation). I'm sure there would be some tasteful way to keep people from trying to cross such a bridge whileit is opening. (I'm imagining people falling into the water while the bridge is opening, and I'm sure that's why Disney would opt not to build such a bridge.) All it would really take would be a themed announcement, a Cast Member at either end of the bridge to close a gate and give the signal that the bridge is safe to open. With the right precautionary measures, such a system wouldn't be unsafe.

If the bridge(s) opening every 30 minutes is too much of a hassle, limit the Liberty Belle's operation to once every 45 minutes or once an hour. They could even only operate the Liberty Belle during vertain hours of the day if they wanted to limit the number of times the bridges had to open each day. Any use of the riverboat as a real boat would be way better than having the thing docked forever.

If it is docked forever, I see the riverboat being turned into a glorified Princess Tiana greeting location. At least it would be used, but I'd rather see it operating as intended.

 

[Master Yoda]

But then you run into the question, is the gain of the island worth the loss of the riverboat? Some would argue that both are more useful in their current states, with TSI left as a kind of more untamed, natural, if uncrowded oasis from the rest of the park.

For me it's just a question of priorities. Sure you could close the Liberty Belle and build a new land on/starting from TSI... but why p*ss off so many park-goers when you could use that money at another park to build an expansion that we might actually like? :shrug:

That is the big question every time something new has to come at the expense of something there. I think it is safe to assume that Disney has the data to make that decision. The problem is what we want and what the general public wants tend to be 2 very different things and we know what side Disney will come down on that issue.

 

[EPCOTCenterLover]

If they can tunnel under the river in Paris, they may be able to do it in Orlando. Even considering the water table. And there was once discussion of it happening in Anaheim as well.

 

[flavious27]

lol :roflol:

Another blog did a write up of a lunch they did with him at the brown derby: Link He/they said that he is just a researcher for renovations and making new attractions fit.

I doubt that he will reveal anything that wasn't already approved by his bosses to be talked about. Or anything that he wasn't working on.

The thing with wdi is that their employees can't reveal anything that hasn't been revealed to the public. That insider information is not only trade secrets, but it is looked at as insider information by the SEC.

 

[ToTBellHop]

That is the big question every time something new has to come at the expense of something there. I think it is safe to assume that Disney has the data to make that decision. The problem is what we want and what the general public wants tend to be 2 very different things and we know what side Disney will come down on that issue.

This is why I love how Disneyland Paris dealt with this--obviously, the general public would take an E-Ticket over Tom Sawyer Island (and I might agree depending on the quality of the ride). The beauty of using this space for one huge ride is you can have the ride's queue on the side of Frontierland everyone walks on and have the ride vehicle travel under the Rivers of America to the ride.

That said, if it's capacity they want, then you have to allow people to walk over to the island--using a bridge that would necessitate a stationary Liberty Belle (you can't build a tall bridge since people wouldn't walk up those stairs and it'd be out of place in Frontierland/Liberty Square and a drawbridge wouldn't do--think about how long the average drawbridge has to stay up to let a boat pass (takes about 10 minutes) or the way traffic is snarled in World Showcase every day when they bring out the IllumiNations barges. Not practical here.

A walking tunnel (read: cave) under the Rivers of America might work, though. Not sure if it's feasible though. Anything particularly important under the river itself that couldn't be moved?

 

[bstiles]

The only type of attractions disney is going to build are ones with known franchises. They announced this a couple years ago, this along with anything that is going to move merchandise. So anyone know what they can shoehorn into this area that is not a new IP.

 

[Jerm]

A walking tunnel (read: cave) under the Rivers of America might work, though. Not sure if it's feasible though. Anything particularly important under the river itself that couldn't be moved?

Nothing but a bit of a low water table and the utilidors around the area.....yeah not a option.

 

[airwick0905]

Well, while we are draining the river to create a tunnel to the island, why not move Fantasmic! to Tom Sawyer Island as well like it is in Disneyland and install World of Color at DHS?

While I'm joking, it could totally be possible...if the Magic Kingdom didn't have a nighttime parade route through the potential viewing area of Fantasmic :-\

 

[ToTBellHop]

Nothing but a bit of a low water table and the utilidors around the area.....yeah not a option.

Why couldn't they alter the position of the utilidors?

I know there's a low water table but it stands to reason if there is a utilidor physically under the rivers (and I don't know if there is), there could be a guest-access tunnel under the rivers too. I know the river itself is no more than a few feet deep.

I just think it would stink to have the Liberty Belle go static. The Rivers used to be so much more dynamic but it's the last boat we have.

If they were to bring back the Keel Boats (and maybe the canoes that Disneyland has), I might be willing to forgive and forget...I accepted long ago that our river traffic would be nothing like Disneyland's, but a completely stagnant river would suck.

Well, while we are draining the river to create a tunnel to the island, why not move Fantasmic! to Tom Sawyer Island as well like it is in Disneyland and install World of Color at DHS?

While I'm joking, it could totally be possible...if the Magic Kingdom didn't have a nighttime parade route through the potential viewing area of Fantasmic :-\

While Fantasmic's location is cool at Disneyland, I wouldn't want it in the MK. It creates such a traffic nightmare at Disneyland--the Hollywood Hills Amphitheatre is (to me) a much better location for the show. It just so happens that Disneyland's show is superior. Disneyland's show in our amphitheatre would be ideal to me.

 

[BK31]

All he said was "The Grid". He left it at that and that was ALL he said about future developments.

I too love the Liberty Belle and would hate to see it permanently docked. I can't help but wonder if the "grid" comment isn't related to TRON at all but rather related to the redirection of ped traffic with the removal of the old skyway station and the path going closer to HM.

Maybe they'll do something that would link ped traffic across the river to the island from the HM side and have another connection to Frontierland so there's an alternate path around the top of things completing a gridwork of pedestrian travel.

Just a thought

 

[airwick0905]

While Fantasmic's location is cool at Disneyland, I wouldn't want it in the MK. It creates such a traffic nightmare at Disneyland--the Hollywood Hills Amphitheatre is (to me) a much better location for the show. It just so happens that Disneyland's show is superior. Disneyland's show in our amphitheatre would be ideal to me.

I know, I've seen them both in person and you're right. Disneyland's is FAR superior. And part of the reason I feel so is it's atmosphere, how it just comes "out of the park" at show time, no amphitheater required, haha. That's why I was thinking it would be cool to mimic that sensation at the Magic Kingdom. But you bring up the point of the traffic it creates at Disneyland after the show...I don't know, if Disneyland can manage the traffic, I'm sure Magic Kingdom could as well. The nighttime parade route is the only hold up for me.

 

[Gregoryp73]

The only type of attractions disney is going to build are ones with known franchises. They announced this a couple years ago, this along with anything that is going to move merchandise. So anyone know what they can shoehorn into this area that is not a new IP.

There is a lone ranger movie coming out?

 

[MarkTwain]

There is a lone ranger movie coming out?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1210819/

 

[Jerm]

Why couldn't they alter the position of the utilizers?

No the Utilidors are pretty much the basement of the Magic Kingdom, none of them are under the river but they do run around that area.

I know there's a low water table but it stands to reason if there is a utilidor physically under the rivers. I know the river itself is no more than a few feet deep.

If by few feet deep you mean 4-5 at the most shallow point and 6-8 and the deepest yes....

Pic from http://www.bigfloridacountry.com/disney.htm

 

[lunchbox1175]

The Fantasyland expansion is great, and an update to Tom Sawyer Island would be nice, but Tomorrowland is more like Yesterland, it needs the update more than anything.

 

[EPCOTCenterLover]

MK's Tomorrowland rocks compared to the one at DL!

 

[The Duck]

Vicious mermaids in PotC would be awesome!! There's plenty of places to add a few water AA's.

TSI does need an update, but please don't close Liberty Belle!! Pretty much anything would work I think if they'd just keep it an island with faster access on & off... But the whole digital frontier idea? That's terrible!

Time will tell?

The only place that I could see mermaid AA's in POTC is with the skeletons (gnawing on a bone perhaps?). If mermaids are really on the way, I hope that it's not just another mist projection.

 

[Lee]

The only place that I could see mermaid AA's in POTC is with the skeletons (gnawing on a bone perhaps?). If mermaids are really on the way, I hope that it's not just another mist projection.

Yes to the first, nope to the second.

 

[Scuttle]

Yes to the first, nope to the second.

Should we expect significant downtime or is this something that can be done on third shift?