News Tron coaster coming to the Magic Kingdom

[SilentWindODoom]

“The physician can bury his mistakes,—but the architect can only advise his client to plant vines.”
-Frank Lloyd Wright

Plopping down a bunch of extra trees and bushes is not good design. Even then, that can only do so much and there will be no berm.

I can not argue with the the idea that additional plantings being a bandage for poor design means that they will plant no additional trees and the current view of the box is the final one. Mostly because that line of reasoning on its own is silly and nonsensical.

 

[cheezbat]

Escape the swamp!!! Build it near Toronto.

Nah. That won’t curb the insane crowds from visiting sunny Florida instead.

 

[CastAStone]

Nah. That won’t curb the insane crowds from visiting sunny Florida instead.

It will from April to October! Florida isn’t getting colder....

 

[lazyboy97o]

I can not argue with the the idea that additional plantings being a bandage for poor design means that they will plant no additional trees and the current view of the box is the final one. Mostly because that line of reasoning on its own is silly and nonsensical.

That’s not what I said... If you want to ignore reality that this is going to visible, that it is patterned because it will be visible, then that is your denial to hold onto. Maybe you can also hold onto hope that the other coaster box will be hidden.

 

[SilentWindODoom]

That’s not what I said... If you want to ignore reality that this is going to visible, that it is patterned because it will be visible, then that is your denial to hold onto. Maybe you can also hold onto hope that the other coaster box will be hidden.

The quote and point seemed a non-sequitir to the question of whether or not we know the final look. We don't unless someone has the plans. I ain't holding onto anything but a temperate calmness about this while others are doomsaying on assumption. Could be hidden. Could be not hidden.

I'm a bit tired so I'm going to skip finding the exact best line from Billy Joel's "Shades of Grey".

In the end, it's still going to be better than Rapunzel's tower being visible from Liberty Square or a giant magic lamp being visible over the rooftops of Frontierland.

EDIT: Oh! Also, what other box?

 

[MisterPenguin]

Do we know what it will look like? We have a pretty good idea. Especially for those who read the thread...

Here's superimposing the site plan to Google Earth. You can see that the main bulk of the ride is on existing land. The smoker's lane is in red.

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And a 3D view from one angle...

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And another with Shanghai's building overlaid...

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While on the train, you can pretty much not see anything outside the park confines because of the treeline. Going by ground views in Google Earth Pro, it will be the same. You may be able to just catch glimpses of the top of the building through the tops of trees.

So, in the pic below, starting on the smoker's path from Storybook, you can see the ride canopy in blue (which should not be an issue to see), and you can see the building in white behind it. Just a few more trees can block that view.

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Here's the view from the Contemporary. The white outline is the big box, the blue is the canopy...

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Here's an even more disheartening view from the Contemporary...

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If that's the case, the view from outside is more like...

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Here's the outline of the ride as it exists in Shanghai overlaid from the same angle....

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And from a different angle...

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[Marc Davis Fan]

It's been kind of mentioned elsewhere, but with Wonders of Life being a shell and so much of the World Showcase being empty in Epcot and the Studios and Animal Kingdom together have about the same amount of attractions that aren't walkthroughs/easily missable exhibits combined as Magic Kingdom. Fantasyland has about the same number of attractions that aren't just Meet and Greets as the Studios. The other parks need more.

I agree that the other parks should have more attractions.

However, MK's high attraction amount is primarily (though not entirely) due to its A-D tickets, and IMHO, no area of MK reaches the impressiveness-level of World Showcase, Galaxy's Edge, or Pandora (or almost any of DAK).

So, if one of Disney's goals is to maintain the public perception that it is the absolute best in theme parks, and MK is the park that people associate with WDW, that goal would be furthered by ensuring that MK has a high-capacity, state-of-the-art, knock-your-socks-off E ticket or two.

 

[cjkeating]

Space Mountain “technically” has one, but you just have to tell the CM at the split you’re a single rider and they put you in the line

I've been picked out as a two on both Space and TSMM before.

 

[MisterPenguin]

So, if one of Disney's goals is to maintain the public perception that it is the absolute best in theme parks, and MK is the park that people associate with WDW, that goal would be furthered by ensuring that MK has a high-capacity, state-of-the-art, knock-your-socks-off E ticket or two.

The problem is this, Iger has mentioned several times that overcrowding is an issue with guest satisfaction. And before the pandemic, the Magic Kingdom was certainly overcrowded. So in order to raise people's appreciation for Magic Kingdom, the overcrowding needs to be dealt with.

Putting more E tickets in Magic Kingdom right now will only exacerbate the overcrowding problem. So, if Disney wants people to think that the Magic Kingdom is the best park, it needs to deal with the overcrowding.

The stick approach is to keep raising prices, or to put in an attendance cap like we have now during the pandemic. The carrot approach is to put more attractions and e-tickets in the other three parks to draw people out of the Magic Kingdom.

 

[CastAStone]

The carrot approach is to put more attractions and e-tickets in the other three parks to draw people out of the Magic Kingdom.

Or to build a new resort in Iowa.

 

[UpAllNight]

Disney seems to aim high (not always getting it right mind) or not at all with additions these days. I cant ever see them create rides like Pinocchio, Alice in Wonderland, Roger Rabbit, but it’s these rides which really elevate Disneyland as an experience above MK. They’re not headliners but the quantity of them really adds to the day.

MK is many lower level rides short of Disneyland, but let’s not forget Disneyland also has Star Tours, Indiana Jones, Rise of the Resistance, Smugglers Run, and the new Mickey ride is on the way, so it’s also a number of E ticket attractions up (let’s not debate if they’re all E’s again, it’s my interpretation only!)

I’m really not offended by Tron...a coaster next to a coaster. As an overall resort, Disneyworld is still a few short of what I would expect it to have. I think Animal Kingdom could benefit from another high quality coaster.

I think Tron will be a very welcome addition to MK.

 

[SilentWindODoom]

Do we know what it will look like? We have a pretty good idea. Especially for those who read the thread...

Well, I specifically was speaking on final landscaping and how it will grow in a year or two, but jeez you were doing similar work to what I did recently a year and more ago. Are you doing that in Sketchup? It's quite nice. I can't say that it would have saved time to have come across that, though, because it would have necessitated reading the previous 320 or so pages it probably would have been a net loss for time. I just popped into the last page at the time I first checked in and found things a bit doom and gloom.

I agree that the other parks should have more attractions.

However, MK's high attraction amount is primarily (though not entirely) due to its A-D tickets, and IMHO, no area of MK reaches the impressiveness-level of World Showcase, Galaxy's Edge, or Pandora (or almost any of DAK).

So, if one of Disney's goals is to maintain the public perception that it is the absolute best in theme parks, and MK is the park that people associate with WDW, that goal would be furthered by ensuring that MK has a high-capacity, state-of-the-art, knock-your-socks-off E ticket or two.

The fact of the matter is that Magic Kingdom is the crown jewel of the Vacation Kingdom of the world. They really could let it go to pot and still rake in the most international guests on strength of brand for the next quarter century. I do feel that it can't remain stagnant and hope they continue to refresh and fix things, and I find this may help balance the two mountains and Pirates on the other side of the park, but they're slammed and they don't need to draw guests to MK. They need to spread the wealth.

And I personally absolutely love the World Showcase, but with a low attraction count it's not going to appeal to everyone. I wish more held it in as high esteem as you when the Brazil thread was going and so many people were attraction or death about it.

 

[MisterPenguin]

Are you doing that in Sketchup?

Google Earth Pro

Download and install Google Earth Pro, it's free!

Go to where you want to plop the building. Hit "R" to center yourself above the plot looking straight down. Make sure Terrain is unchecked. Click on the polygon tool. Here I shall add a tower to World Showcase Plaza...
View attachment 295145

Left click to drop corners and edges of your polygon. Right click erases a point. You can grab and drag points around. You can chose the color of the line and the fill and their opacity. If you don't want a fill, but just a wire frame, reduce area's opacity to zero. Likewise, zero opacity on the lines hides the frame. Here's a pentagon...

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When you got the right shape and placement click OK to save it. Now, we'll add height. Right click on your polygon on the map or on the places menu and click Properties to alter it. Go to Altitude. Chose relative to the ground and check Extend sides to ground. Use the slider to add height or type in the altitude (in meters). Let's make it 20m tall and click OK....

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Now you want to go into 3D mode, so, click Terrain and 3D buildings. Now, position yourself (the camera's POV) to see how the model looks in 'the real world.'....

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[Marc Davis Fan]

The problem is this, Iger has mentioned several times that overcrowding is an issue with guest satisfaction. And before the pandemic, the Magic Kingdom was certainly overcrowded. So in order to raise people's appreciation for Magic Kingdom, the overcrowding needs to be dealt with.

Putting more E tickets in Magic Kingdom right now will only exacerbate the overcrowding problem. So, if Disney wants people to think that the Magic Kingdom is the best park, it needs to deal with the overcrowding.

The stick approach is to keep raising prices, or to put in an attendance cap like we have now during the pandemic. The carrot approach is to put more attractions and e-tickets in the other three parks to draw people out of the Magic Kingdom.

Right, that's true.

In a perfect world, they could add lands to MK (like they did at DL), which would increase park capacity and improve crowd flow. But of course, we shouldn't expect anything at the budget-level of a land to be considered anytime soon...

 

[MisterPenguin]

Right, that's true.

In a perfect world, they could add lands to MK (like they did at DL), which would increase park capacity and improve crowd flow. But of course, we shouldn't expect anything at the budget-level of a land to be considered anytime soon...

Indeed.

It's also good to remember that MK has to live as part of a four park complex. WDW is intended to be a week long vacation with guests visiting all the parks. The other Disney parks around the world only have one or two parks, and so, they cram all the rides into those one or two parks. WDW purposefully spreads the rides out.

The problem is that guests vote with their feet and the majority of those feet wind up in MK. One, because it's the most family friendly. And, two, it has the most rides... 27 compared to the nine rides in each of the other three (give or take one or two now and then).

DLR has about the same number of rides as WDW, but they're packed into two parks (~39 in DL, ~20 in CA).

This means that in WDW, the other three parks were meant to be attractive because of their other non-ride attractions:

• For Epcot, a permanent world's fair with national expos;
• for DAK, a zoo;
• for DHS, a studios tour experience and live shows.

But those other types of attractions aren't as popular as rides. Being also a zoo doesn't make DAK as popular as MK. A zoo doesn't make up for having 18 less rides.

This is why, if I were King of Theme Parks, I'd be constantly adding more rides to 'the other three' until they're able to drain people from MK before upgrading MK with more attractions.

 

[doctornick]

Disney seems to aim high (not always getting it right mind) or not at all with additions these days. I cant ever see them create rides like Pinocchio, Alice in Wonderland, Roger Rabbit, but it’s these rides which really elevate Disneyland as an experience above MK. They’re not headliners but the quantity of them really adds to the day.

MK is many lower level rides short of Disneyland, but let’s not forget Disneyland also has Star Tours, Indiana Jones, Rise of the Resistance, Smugglers Run, and the new Mickey ride is on the way, so it’s also a number of E ticket attractions up (let’s not debate if they’re all E’s again, it’s my interpretation only!)

I certainly agree that DL is overall better than MK bolstered by more E tickets and a bunch more C ticket type rides. However one thing that often gets overlooked or ignored is that MK has a bunch more shows than DL - Country Bears, HoP, Philharmagic, Laugh Floor, Carousel of Progress - that help to complete that park. They tend to fill the role that the FL dark rides do in DL.

 

[UNCgolf]

The perception of MK as the Holy Grail has gone on too long, is more trouble than it's worth, and is entirely self-perpetuated by the company. An Animal Kingdom with 21 solid attractions running the gamut from A to E-Tickets could easily draw as many people as MK. I don't know why they continue to insist on testing to see when the MK's back will break from carrying the resort.

Animal Kingdom has far more capacity than you see listed on the MDE app. The two animal trails and the pathways around Discovery Island alone should count as major additional attractions. I think it's the park that needs additions the least at the moment -- that doesn't mean it doesn't need them, of course, just that EPCOT and DHS need them more.

EPCOT gets similar help from the World Showcase pavilions, where people can spend hours just wandering around and exploring. It's not at the level of Animal Kingdom, though, and Animal Kingdom has multiple headliner rides that dwarf any attraction in EPCOT outside of Spaceship Earth. When Disney butchered Future World, they didn't just decrease ride quality and capacity, they also eliminated multiple areas that helped give guests something to do -- most of the original pavilions had shows and other activities beyond the ride itself, and of course Communicore/Innoventions also had plenty to see in the early days.

That's why, despite all the recent additions, DHS is still dragging behind the other parks. Beyond the fact that those additions were mostly replacements for older attractions instead of actually adding capacity, the park has very little to do outside the actual attractions themselves. Galaxy's Edge is really the only place someone can spend time just exploring, but there's nowhere near enough there to turn DHS into a full day park. If you're not in line for an attraction, riding/viewing an attraction, or eating, there's basically nothing to do.

 

[marni1971]

Animal Kingdom has far more capacity than you see listed on the MDE app. The two animal trails and the pathways around Discovery Island alone should count as major additional attractions..

A problem is joe public wants ridez nowerdays.

 

[UNCgolf]

A problem is joe public wants ridez nowerdays.

Or at least that's what Disney believes.

 

[Marc Davis Fan]

A problem is joe public wants ridez nowerdays.

Yep, and Disney has to take some of the blame for this, having marketed themselves using images of Fantasyland rides for so many decades that, to much of the public, "Disney World" is thought to be a family amusement park with a castle.

That's the marketing which always worked in the short term, but at the expense of long-term perceptions of what makes Disney significant and special.

Honestly, if you tell the average person that Disney is about the unique experience of being believably transported to other times and places, a substantial percentage will say "I never thought of it that way."