News Tron coaster coming to the Magic Kingdom

[Sundown]

I had forgotten to say keeping MK Tomorrowland's area loop as is would be delightful as well.

Audio theming is such a huge part of the experience. If the area music is indeed changed, I hope their is much planning and development behind the new music. Reading-up on the Brian Transeau work for Shanghai TL, it does seem he devoted himself to it entirely. Would hope for the same from a new composer(s) if they were to change it up with a new loop.

 

[BlakeW39]

I love the idea of a Tron coaster at MK. For a multitude of reasons.

i.) The Magic Kingdom needs work, out of all of the castle parks it gets the least but deserves the most given its perception as the top dog. It far exceeds any other park on the planet in attendance and it should show more. It needs more ambitious E tickets imo.

ii.) I also think Tomorrowland is the weakest part of the park alongside the Fantasyland bit that went without an update. So a new E balances it out a bit imo.

iii.) Magic Kingdom could use a higher tier coaster in terms of thrill. So it's good that Tron will be in a category with Rockin and Everest.

Ik there are complex reasons that people think the MK needs something other than an E, but I think the first to updating MK to be what it should is E tickets. Just imo

 

[IMDREW]

Modern e-tickets.

 

[trainplane3]

I'd almost, alllmoooossst, be fine with the Shanghai loop coming here but I'm not sure it would fit with our TL. It'd be nice for the area around Tron and SM but I get the feeling it's too serious (?) sounding when compared to our current bleepy-bloopy TL loop and land style.

They would have to add in some music from our TL to make it work (CoP, Nation on Wheels, etc) but changed to the style of Shanghais loop.

 

[doctornick]

I love the idea of a Tron coaster at MK. For a multitude of reasons.

i.) The Magic Kingdom needs work, out of all of the castle parks it gets the least but deserves the most given its perception as the top dog. It far exceeds any other park on the planet in attendance and it should show more. It needs more ambitious E tickets imo.

ii.) I also think Tomorrowland is the weakest part of the park alongside the Fantasyland bit that went without an update. So a new E balances it out a bit imo.

iii.) Magic Kingdom could use a higher tier coaster in terms of thrill. So it's good that Tron will be in a category with Rockin and Everest.

Ik there are complex reasons that people think the MK needs something other than an E, but I think the first to updating MK to be what it should is E tickets. Just imo

MK needs a solid mix of increased E-tickets but also more lower ticket attractions that have high capacity for crowds. I think Tron is a nice addition, but they should also be adding an E-ticket thrill ride in Adventureland (something like Fire Mountain, IJ Adventure, Journey to the Center of the Earth, etc.) plus a high capacity family ride in Frontierland (e.g. Western River Expedition). Wouldn't hurt to have some additional dark rides in FL. And putting the theater in Main Street would also help.

Wait, is that a lot of stuff? Yep, that's the problem -- MK is woefully underbuild for the crowds it draws. All of WDW is.

 

[BlakeW39]

MK needs a solid mix of increased E-tickets but also more lower ticket attractions that have high capacity for crowds. I think Tron is a nice addition, but they should also be adding an E-ticket thrill ride in Adventureland (something like Fire Mountain, IJ Adventure, Journey to the Center of the Earth, etc.) plus a high capacity family ride in Frontierland (e.g. Western River Expedition). Wouldn't hurt to have some additional dark rides in FL. And putting the theater in Main Street would also help.

Wait, is that a lot of stuff? Yep, that's the problem -- MK is woefully underbuild for the crowds it draws. All of WDW is.

Bingo! WDW is underbuilt - E tickets are some of what needs to be done for all of the parks. Idk if an E ticket coaster but for MK, it's certainly a start, especially given that MK could use one higher level thrill. Look at the lack of action over the past decade... to now? Now we get an E in MK, a family land in DHS, and one of the most kmmersive lands ever in DAK.

Personally, Tomorrow land could have done with a dark ride style attraction, vastly updated aesthetic, and an overhaul to the speedway and Space Mountain. Instead of Tron, we could've gotten Mystic Manor to Adventureland or maybe a thrill ride, as well as a vastly improved Jungle Cruise (better scenes and animatronics please!). Frontierland rive expansion... a whole bunch of stuff... but Tron is certainly still a step in the ride direction.

WDW is by far their most iconic and favored resort - they should treat it as such and expand, develop, and update it.

 

[MisterPenguin]

See this thread starting here for a discussion of the crowding issue: 5th Gate v. Bigger MK v. Develop other Parks More. It has some facts to consider.

 

[geekza]

plus a high capacity family ride in Frontierland (e.g. Western River Expedition)

I mean, they have some AA figures that were meant for the WRE that have been in use since 1982, so they wouldn't be starting from scratch. They could even bring back Hoot Gibson and have him promote the ride for a decade before quietly shutting him down and walling him up. "For the love of God, Montresor! Hoot hoot hoot hoot..."

 

[rle4lunch]

Bleepy Bloopy. Thanks for the actual LOL on that.

 

[@DisneyBryan]

Bingo! WDW is underbuilt - E tickets are some of what needs to be done for all of the parks. Idk if an E ticket coaster but for MK, it's certainly a start, especially given that MK could use one higher level thrill. Look at the lack of action over the past decade... to now? Now we get an E in MK, a family land in DHS, and one of the most kmmersive lands ever in DAK.

Personally, Tomorrow land could have done with a dark ride style attraction, vastly updated aesthetic, and an overhaul to the speedway and Space Mountain. Instead of Tron, we could've gotten Mystic Manor to Adventureland or maybe a thrill ride, as well as a vastly improved Jungle Cruise (better scenes and animatronics please!). Frontierland rive expansion... a whole bunch of stuff... but Tron is certainly still a step in the ride direction.

WDW is by far their most iconic and favored resort - they should treat it as such and expand, develop, and update it.

Not actually true. It’s the flagship resort, for sure, but the company actually favors DL over WDW in almost all areas, including spend on upgrades, enhancements, maintenance, etc.

 

[BlakeW39]

Not actually true. It’s the flagship resort, for sure, but the company actually favors DL over WDW in almost all areas, including spend on upgrades, enhancements, maintenance, etc.

Yeah (I'm saying most favored by fans)... and I'm saying that needs to change.

 

[@DisneyBryan]

Yeah (I'm saying most favored by fans)... and I'm saying that needs to change.

Agreed.

 

[rle4lunch]

Agreed.

I grew up on WDW and MK being my homepark. I didn't go to DL till my early 20's. I was always told that DL was too small and built on a city block and to discount it as something less than what it really was/is. Boy was I in for a rude (and wonderful) awakening to the fact that DL trumps MK in pretty much every way possible. I'm not talking WDW vs DL, I'm talking specifically DL vs MK. MK loses on nearly every level. Same goes for DHS vs DCA. DCA is hands down the better park.

Why this is? I dunno. I could only imagine that it had to deal with DL/DCA proper having much less space to deal with, so they have to fill it with more bang for the buck to keep people coming.. It's definitely not cheaper to build in California vs Florida, so that isn't a factor. 200 acres (DL) vs 45 sq miles (WDW) of upkeep probably have to do something with it too.

WDW in its whole, beats DL for a full immersion park and week long vacation stay, but bang for the buck? DL.

 

[BlakeW39]

I grew up on WDW and MK being my homepark. I didn't go to DL till my early 20's. I was always told that DL was too small and built on a city block and to discount it as something less than what it really was/is. Boy was I in for a rude (and wonderful) awakening to the fact that DL trumps MK in pretty much every way possible. I'm not talking WDW vs DL, I'm talking specifically DL vs MK. MK loses on nearly every level. Same goes for DHS vs DCA. DCA is hands down the better park.

Why this is? I dunno. I could only imagine that it had to deal with DL/DCA proper having much less space to deal with, so they have to fill it with more bang for the buck to keep people coming.. It's definitely not cheaper to build in California vs Florida, so that isn't a factor. 200 acres (DL) vs 45 sq miles (WDW) of upkeep probably have to do something with it too.

WDW in its whole, beats DL for a full immersion park and week long vacation stay, but bang for the buck? DL.

Yep. And that needs to change. There is no reason that DL should get better treatment than WDW. WDW gets better numbers and the public clearly prefers WDW... so WDW should be treated as top dog and given the most, because it is the top dog, the apex predator of Disney parks and resorts. And the reason why DL is updated more? Because they do spend more resources on WDW as a whole but they don't spend proportionally enough WDW, given that it is a lot larger. I don't know why exactoy they seem to spend more on every other resort... but maybe it is because of WDW's success that they don't do more. Maybe they feel (felt) it's fine as is?

 

[rle4lunch]

Yep. And that needs to change. There is no reason that DL should get better treatment than WDW. WDW gets better numbers and the public clearly prefers WDW... so WDW should be treated as top dog and given the most, because it is the top dog, the apex predator of Disney parks and resorts. And the reason why DL is updated more? Because they do spend more resources on WDW as a whole but they don't spend proportionally enough WDW, given that it is a lot larger. I don't know why exactoy they seem to spend more on every other resort... but maybe it is because of WDW's success that they don't do more. Maybe they feel (felt) it's fine as is?

I truly think a main factor is that WDW gets a LOT of "one off" international visitors, so maybe WDO doesn't see the need to update as much as DL, which thrives off of repeat business. That said, UNI putting a dent in things in Orlando is definitely a good thing for both parks. Capitalism works.

 

[yensidtlaw1969]

MK needs a solid mix of increased E-tickets but also more lower ticket attractions that have high capacity for crowds. I think Tron is a nice addition, but they should also be adding an E-ticket thrill ride in Adventureland (something like Fire Mountain, IJ Adventure, Journey to the Center of the Earth, etc.) plus a high capacity family ride in Frontierland (e.g. Western River Expedition). Wouldn't hurt to have some additional dark rides in FL. And putting the theater in Main Street would also help.

Wait, is that a lot of stuff? Yep, that's the problem -- MK is woefully underbuild for the crowds it draws. All of WDW is.

The only issue I would take with adding so much to the Magic Kingdom is that it would draw further into focus how relatively little there is to do in the other parks. The Magic Kingdom is already so heavily loaded with attractions compared to Epcot, DHS, and AK, and demand is already high for that park. Unless new attractions there are masters of capacity like Pirates and Mansion it seems the problem would only continue to compound the way it does any time MK opens something new.

Perhaps if the other three parks rounded out their attraction menus to a degree comparable to MK people might spend less time in their trip at the Magic Kingdom in favor of the other parks. Most people making their way to WDW are visiting MK - it's the "default", and your mileage may vary with the other parks depending on the length of your trip. The fact that the park has the most to do by a mile seems to compound the issue, I'm not sure the answer is simply to give it even more to do. New Fantasyland seemed to follow that mission, but doesn't appear to have made meaningful progress in balancing crowds in the park - it looks like it caused people to spend more time in the MK since there was more to see.

I don't want to see the park stagnate, it certainly has already in some parts, but it feels like the real answer would be rapid expansion of the other parks. That's part of what's annoying about the new attractions in DHS, they are for the most part replacements of attractions rather than additions to what's there. The attractions may be better than the park had before, but after all the money is spent capacity will still be an issue and the park will still not have anywhere near the amount of things to do as MK.

 

[BlakeW39]

I truly think a main factor is that WDW gets a LOT of "one off" international visitors, so maybe WDO doesn't see the need to update as much as DL, which thrives off of repeat business. That said, UNI putting a dent in things in Orlando is definitely a good thing for both parks. Capitalism works.

I think the key difference between WDW and DL, right now, is that DL is a vacation stop and WDW is the vacation destination. So people are coming to Florida to see Walt Disney World (and possibly Universal as well), while people going to Disneyland are going there and somewhere else. Also one off visitors aren't the problem since Disney has a vast majority of guests returning, so international guests maybe, but one timers are increasingly rare.

 

[JohnyKaz2078]

Not actually true. It’s the flagship resort, for sure, but the company actually favors DL over WDW in almost all areas, including spend on upgrades, enhancements, maintenance, etc.

No not really. IMO both resorts are getting equal attention but it doesn't seem very obvious since WDW has 4 theme parks and DL has 2 in a very short distance from each other.

Large scale projects haven't been undertaken in Disneyland since the remodeling of DCA and the first one will come 8 years later with the opening of Star Wars Land. WDW's latest large scale project just finished in 2018 (TSL) one year after the opening of Pandora (2017) and 4 years after the completion of NFL (2014). The next one will come in 2019 (SWL and the Runaway Railway) 3 new rides will open in 2020 (GoTG, Ratatouille and the heavily-rumored Mary Poppins dark ride), Tron will open in 2021 and around this time is when the reconstruction of Future World will finish.

Ride enhancements are unfortunately much more prominent in DL. Many classic rides such as Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland, Big Thunder Mountain, Matterhorn etc. for Disneyland's 60th Anniversary (the same that happened in DLP for its 25th Anniversary). But WDW and especially the Magic Kingdom really benefits from awesome and sometimes interactive queues in many of the most popular attractions (SDMT, Peter Pan, Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain).

 

[crxbrett]

I'd almost, alllmoooossst, be fine with the Shanghai loop coming here but I'm not sure it would fit with our TL. It'd be nice for the area around Tron and SM but I get the feeling it's too serious (?) sounding when compared to our current bleepy-bloopy TL loop and land style.

They would have to add in some music from our TL to make it work (CoP, Nation on Wheels, etc) but changed to the style of Shanghais loop.

I think it sounds a lot like the current Innoventions/Future World loop as well as the Tomorrowland v3 BGM loop (1993/1995-2003) - both of which I love(d) immensely. And even though that specific TL loop was just music from actual pre-existing non-Disney albums, the new age music actually did work pretty well at the time. I get what you are saying, it is more serious sounding. But the serious music was used before and I feel like it could be again - especially if Disney is going to make TL have the pre-1994 look and feel to it again.

 

[Kman101]

MK needs a solid mix of increased E-tickets but also more lower ticket attractions that have high capacity for crowds. I think Tron is a nice addition, but they should also be adding an E-ticket thrill ride in Adventureland (something like Fire Mountain, IJ Adventure, Journey to the Center of the Earth, etc.) plus a high capacity family ride in Frontierland (e.g. Western River Expedition). Wouldn't hurt to have some additional dark rides in FL. And putting the theater in Main Street would also help.

Wait, is that a lot of stuff? Yep, that's the problem -- MK is woefully underbuild for the crowds it draws. All of WDW is.

WORD!

That's all I got. lol

I agree completely. Stagnation for two decades and budget cutting what actually did get built is a poor way to run the parks.

Imagine if they even built half of what's been "planned"? We, and they, would be much better off. They're playing catch up and still need more, and in a lot of cases not making the right choices. I feel like even though there's the, reluctant, acknowledgment of needing more, they still have their old mind frame of "where can we cut".