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Tom Sawyer's Island replacement / Expansion
- Thread starter UltimateLaxBro
- Start date
Magenta Panther
Well-Known Member
WDW1974
Well-Known Member
I don't ever think this is gonna make it anywhere ... nor do I think it should.
TSI is part of what gives Frontierland its sense of place, history and character ... placing a thrill ride (and IMHO the worst type) there is an AWFUL (what do the kiddies say today? AN EPIC FAIL?!) prospect. MK parks don't need raft rides. I can see why some would try and push it through since SDL is getting one, albeit a very different experience. But it just doesn't belong ... it overloads one major corner of the park with three 'thrill' (at least as Disney goes) rides. It destroys one of the last peaceful slower-paced immersive Disney experiences.
In a park with so much dead space as well as expansion pads, it blows my mind that this generation's Imagineers best ideas are things like 'hey, why don't we put a raft ride on TSI' ... really pathetic!
I get there are folks at WDI-FLA whose jobs may depend on this project in the future (hence, the purposeful leaking of it), but it just isn't gonna happen for so many reasons.
~Lunch is here~!
Horizonsfan
Well-Known Member
I hope you're right. There is so much more that can and should be added/redone at the MK. The last thing that is needed is to rip up a spot of place making, in the name of another piggybacked ride.
I'm all for new attractions but c'mon this is the best place they can think to put it? What about AL's expansion plots? Or any other lands?
I'd rather they shut down accessibility to the island than have it (and the river) be hacked apart in the name of a raft ride.
You mean that closed down place?
UberMouse
Active Member
Nah it's still open...and I am openly in denial.
janoimagine
Well-Known Member
I agree ... in the past wdi ... the person even suggesting such garbage would have likely been pink slipped before they even got back to their desk.
If thats the best solution wdi can come up with for TSI then the future is indeed dark.
MarkTwain
Well-Known Member
I too am starting to severely question the work being done in Orlando. I really don't get it. Although many are more worried about TSI, I'm more worried about the Liberty Belle. The steamboats are park icons - I would say that second to the castle and the mountains, the riverboats are the singular most iconic structure at every Disneyland-style park - and the only of those icons which physically takes you somewhere! The very idea of a functioning, moving, and nearly full-scale riverboat traveling through a theme park (just think about that for a moment) is astounding. It's the kind of thing that separates the spectacle of a Disney park from the cheap amusement parks at home that disguise the restaurant as a stationary riverboat and leave it at that. Why would Disney remove such an amazing feature of the Magic Kingdom?
The level of respect Disneyland shows their Mark Twain riverboat is vastly superior - they actually treat it like the icon that it is. It gets featured on pins and merchandise, it has an attraction poster, it plays a part in Fantasmic every night, it was ornately decorated for the park's 50th anniversary celebration, and of course, the entire Rivers of America got a significant refurb recently, which added new show scenes, painted rockwork, and a new narration. Meanwhile, WDW runs their Liberty Belle pretty much the same way they have since Disney launched it in 1971, creaky AAs and all, and judging by how much attention they give the boat outside the attraction itself (like, on merchandise and resort marketing and stuff), they would almost rather pretend it doesn't exist. Apparently, they've just been on tenterhooks to shut it down so they can build a 3rd E-ticket thrill ride in Frontierland.
It's like Disneyland actually values its roots, attractions that opened when then park did, the authentic and historical experiences which used to define what it meant to be a Disney park. Meanwhile, WDW is just pulling a Universal and shutting stuff down so they can build the next franchise tie-in (I presume - but let's be honest here).
I really just don't get it. :shrug:
EPCOTCenterLover
Well-Known Member
PLEASE not a spinning raft ride in Frontierland. Just an awful idea!
NoChesterHester
Well-Known Member
From what I hear, it sounds like...
Keep in mind....I'm hearing nothing to indicate that this is an approved project. Barely more than just a concept at this point. This thread is a wee bit premature.
That is super disappointing. Do we really need another soaker raft ride? Destroy the Rivers of America for that?
WDW1974
Well-Known Member
Neither do they, though.
The MK's waterways used to be vibrant and on the move. Now ... what's that saying about still waters?
They went from two riverboats to one, they killed the canoes and then the keelboats. They shuttered Aunt Polly's (one of my absolute favorite places for a lunch at WDW). They shut effects off that went unrepaired (burning settlers cabin) and left hurricane damage on the island for years.
So, no, they don't get it.
~They must be smarter than us because they have the positions, right?~
Scuttle
Well-Known Member
My thoughts as well. If Tom Sawyers is in jeopardy as well as the Liberty Bell we better be getting a super e-ticket. Not some stupid raft ride that will close every January.
Zac Skellington
Well-Known Member
Didn't they adjust the water cannons on Splash because guests didn't want to get soaked? Isn't Kali pretty much a walk-on most of the year? Why go there again?
If they could figure out how to replicate the experience of a forward-facing raft ride, that's something I'd be excited to ride. Another big circle soak-em raft ride? This is the type of generic attraction I'm least excited about -- not to mention the type of attraction that Disney hasn't been able to outdo its competitors on.
NoChesterHester
Well-Known Member
Because there isn't anything to out do. The reality is you can theme the crap out of it and it is still just an eight person circular raft ride where the only entertainment is watching the poor schmuck across from you get doused. I'm not a big complainer, but the mere proposal of this gets my ire up.
I don't know that's true. People might have said the same thing about flume rides pre-Splash Mountain or freefall rides pre-Tower of Terror. There's no reason that kind of ride vehicle or system requires the dumping of huge sums of water on its guests. And even if it did, I would have expected Disney to find a way to do it better than its competitors. I haven't ridden Grizzly River Run, but Kali River Rapids is the single most disappointing ride at Walt Disney World.
WEDway1975
Active Member