TSI / Frontierland Addition

[flavious27]

Or instead of the current riverboat being the one used, bring back something similar to the Mike Fink Keel Boats but have them all "Next Gen" fitted to shoot back at the fort as well as "react" if the fort hits them.

That way you dont "ruin" the riverboat for people who enjoy the more peaceful boatride, you give the folks at the fort something to shoot at, and you have another small capacity "ride" to suck in crowds.

You could actually expand this by adding some next gen "props" in areas you can see from the fort and have it almost like a giant shooting arcade.

I like that idea, they can fit air cannons to simulate fire back at the fort. Also adding the Keels back would be a great reversal of that bad decision.

 

[juniorthomas]

I say they can expand the caves and have them lead to a large cavern that is setup to be a performance area. There is alot that they could do with the idea of tom sawyer and caves.

The thing that needs the most work and focus is the fort, and wdi can get creative in so many ways. Why not have the rifles activate mini fountains in the river so it simulates bullets hitting the water?



I think aunt polly's should be a TS, it would make sense with the character. It would be charming to be waited on while having a table "riverside". I think that they should expand the seating if they do change to TS.



I think if they expand behind the hm showbuilding, they could build a bayou with a mama's shack.

Obviously, a lot of work would have to be done, as an island is in no way a bayou, but still. It could be really nice.

 

[juniorthomas]

I don't think the theme is the problem, and that kind of thinking leads to Disney's favorite easy fix--shove some characters at the problem and call it a day. When I got my daughter to the island last trip, it was because I told her what she could do--in particular she wanted to walk on the bridges she had seen from the riverboat. Tom Sawyer wasn't an issue one way or the other, but the point is, if she hadn't been able to see what was over there she wouldn't have been game for it. She wanted to do the Treehouse because she could see that she could climb up it. She doesn't need to know about the Swiss Family to want to climb a tree--but once she got going, and I explained the basic idea as we walked, she thought it was a neat story.

I guess what I'm saying is, I don't think the theme is holding the island back. If they decide to retheme it as part of a major renovation, I'm cool with that if it still fits the area (Princess and Frog would not, in my opinion). But my fear is that if they decide to retheme, they will expect the new theme to carry the weight and we'll get a cheap re-do.

Well as a piece of property in WDW, where money is undoubtedly a factor in any retheming/refurbishment, I'm sure it would be an easy sell to install a Disney brand in TSIs place and try to build some allegiance among existing fans of that brand that could translate into more merchandise sales, etc...

And yes, I agree that stuffing characters onto an aging ride is not a recipe for success. But I feel that very few kids would go to an island - that has access issues - to explore Tom Sawyer's world, when they could instead go to an island themed towards a brand they do know. Tom Sawyer isn't as large of a draw to kids as something from a more recent film would be.

And again, I love TSI. I'm fine with them keeping it as is. To me, the only thing it lacks is quick access. Put a footbridge there and more people can explore it. Of course that takes away from some of its charm, but that's what you deal with. Pros and cons to everything.

 

[montyz81]

- With the Riverboat now stationary, it would be converted into some kind of eatery

The Riverboat is now stationary?

 

[IWant2GoNow]

Well as a piece of property in WDW, where money is undoubtedly a factor in any retheming/refurbishment, I'm sure it would be an easy sell to install a Disney brand in TSIs place and try to build some allegiance among existing fans of that brand that could translate into more merchandise sales, etc...

And yes, I agree that stuffing characters onto an aging ride is not a recipe for success. But I feel that very few kids would go to an island - that has access issues - to explore Tom Sawyer's world, when they could instead go to an island themed towards a brand they do know. Tom Sawyer isn't as large of a draw to kids as something from a more recent film would be.
And again, I love TSI. I'm fine with them keeping it as is. To me, the only thing it lacks is quick access. Put a footbridge there and more people can explore it. Of course that takes away from some of its charm, but that's what you deal with. Pros and cons to everything.

Or... do the opposite. Make a brand new Tom Sawyer movie that will draw more attention to the island as well as get younger and older audiences in to see the movie and make money on the movie. Spruce up TSI as mentioned above and viola! More attention is being paid to TSI by guests.

It would have to work... right? :hammer:

 

[Master Gracey 5]

Based on what I've heard here, this is my bit of inventive speculation. The new Expansion Land would take over the North part of TSI plus part of the waterway. The water loop and TSI would be reduced, and it's possible that there would be a "dinner cruise" of sorts on a Liberty Belle restaurant. The remaining waterway would be a "way out" all the way to Bay Lake. There would be a drawbridge (opened to let the Liberty Belle through) near the entrance to BTM, and a walkway along the queue to HM.

This is all imagination, but it keeps things close with plenty of access.

Something like this would be the only thing I could see them doing. While the island has significant space on it, access has always been the issue. Restaurants don't work because all the food, staff, etc has to be boated over in the morning and back in the evenings. Same with maintenance for a real ride. Every time it broke down, they'd have to boat techs over just to look at it.

This would provide plenty of space with two access points (plus backstage access behind HM and BTM. That would allow them to keep the theme of one land or the other and keep the area near Splash from being more crowded than it already is. I doubt we'll see this anytime soon, since they would have to fill in and redirect the river which isn't a cheap prospect. The cost for FLE would have been much more if they hadn't already filled in most of 20K leagues.

Either way I like Frontierland/Liberty Sq as they are. I'd rather see some more love in Tomorrowland like a couple new attractions to replace the speedway or Stitch.

 

[Slowjack]

Or instead of the current riverboat being the one used, bring back something similar to the Mike Fink Keel Boats but have them all "Next Gen" fitted to shoot back at the fort as well as "react" if the fort hits them.

That way you dont "ruin" the riverboat for people who enjoy the more peaceful boatride, you give the folks at the fort something to shoot at, and you have another small capacity "ride" to suck in crowds.

You could actually expand this by adding some next gen "props" in areas you can see from the fort and have it almost like a giant shooting arcade.

I like this, too. I miss the Keel Boats, but as much for the waterfront kinetics as for any desire to actually ride them. This would be a good way to make them fun again.

Or hey, fire up the burning cabin again. Put an AA outlaw in a window, he shoots at the boats (air blasts in water) and when the guests fire back, someone hits his jugs o' moonshine, and that lights the cabin up (the AA would drop from sight and we'd hear him yell about getting out of there--don't want to imply he dies in there!)

 

[RSoxNo1]

While throughput could be an issue, could they make drawbridges leading to this island? This would allow the Riverboat to stay in operation.

 

[ryanduggers]

While throughput could be an issue, could they make drawbridges leading to this island? This would allow the Riverboat to stay in operation.

Now that makes sense.

 

[Captain Chaos]

Drawbridges??? Sounds like a good idea but a people control nightmare... Imagine 100 guests having to wait for the slow moving Riverboat to pass, while the draw bridge is up??? People complain about little things now... Imagine the complaints about that????

 

[juniorthomas]

Or... do the opposite. Make a brand new Tom Sawyer movie that will draw more attention to the island as well as get younger and older audiences in to see the movie and make money on the movie. Spruce up TSI as mentioned above and viola! More attention is being paid to TSI by guests.

It would have to work... right? :hammer:

That's the ticket! Sounds like you should head over to Burbank

 

[Slowjack]

Drawbridges??? Sounds like a good idea but a people control nightmare... Imagine 100 guests having to wait for the slow moving Riverboat to pass, while the draw bridge is up??? People complain about little things now... Imagine the complaints about that????

A bit overblown, I think. If there's one thing WDW guests are used to, it's a little waiting. People get geld up by a drawbridge every day at Epcot when they bring out the barges for Illuminations, and parades and street shows block access to areas for much longer than it would take the riverboat to pass. I'm not sure the drawbridges are the best idea (not sure if they would feel right in that setting, for one thing), but I don't think they would be a crowd control nightmare.

 

[flavious27]

A bit overblown, I think. If there's one thing WDW guests are used to, it's a little waiting. People get geld up by a drawbridge every day at Epcot when they bring out the barges for Illuminations, and parades and street shows block access to areas for much longer than it would take the riverboat to pass. I'm not sure the drawbridges are the best idea (not sure if they would feel right in that setting, for one thing), but I don't think they would be a crowd control nightmare.

The drawbridge in epcot moves once a day, it won't be up and down every 10 minutes.

 

[Fractal514]

The drawbridge in epcot moves once a day, it won't be up and down every 10 minutes.

Neither would this one, every half an hour, and probably not for as long as the Epcot bridge.

 

[stitch2008]

The drawbridge in epcot moves once a day, it won't be up and down every 10 minutes.

Ive been to a couple parks that have train crossings. The gates keep guests from crossing the tracks till the train passes. Ive never heard many complaints about it. Id think a drawbridge that was used like every 30mins for about a minute or two wouldnt be bad.:shrug:

 

[MotherOfBirds]

There was a post on Longforgotten that talked about a never-realized concept at DLR to tie in POTC, HM, and TSI to an extent with the original story of the mansion's sea captain and his dealings with pirates and involved mentions of the name Jean Lafitte all over NOS. The mega-theme was going to involve a "secret" tunnel in front of HM with a cavern of pirate treasure and skeletons and the like with the possibility of later extending the tunnel under the river to TSI, in essence changing the island from Tom Sawyer to The Goonies. Now, despite a few theming changes for a different land here in WDW and a couple of logistical issues, I rather like the idea. I'd pick Corey Feldman over Tom any day XD

 

[flavious27]

Neither would this one, every half an hour, and probably not for as long as the Epcot bridge.

Ive been to a couple parks that have train crossings. The gates keep guests from crossing the tracks till the train passes. Ive never heard many complaints about it. Id think a drawbridge that was used like every 30mins for about a minute or two wouldnt be bad.:shrug:

It will take a couple of minutes for the CMs to clear both sides of the bridge, then a couple more minutes for the bridge to lift up in time for the boat, wait for the boat to pass by, and then for it to lower into place and then for the CMs to reopen the bridge. Add to that, this bridge will require a ton of maintenance because if it breaks, the main path to tsi is gone and the liberty belle can not be run.

I also have been to some parks that have had the train crossings, that does only last a minute or so for the train to pass and the path to reopen.

 

[Slowjack]

The drawbridge in epcot moves once a day, it won't be up and down every 10 minutes.

It moves more than that--at least the last time I was there, they took multiple stages to get all the barges out. And the riverboat runs on the half-hour, not every ten minutes. Finally, if there were two bridges, each on the opposite side of the island, one would always be down.

 

[Scuttle]

While throughput could be an issue, could they make drawbridges leading to this island? This would allow the Riverboat to stay in operation.

I like it!

 

[rocketrod7]

Based on what I've heard here, this is my bit of inventive speculation. The new Expansion Land would take over the North part of TSI plus part of the waterway. The water loop and TSI would be reduced, and it's possible that there would be a "dinner cruise" of sorts on a Liberty Belle restaurant. The remaining waterway would be a "way out" all the way to Bay Lake. There would be a drawbridge (opened to let the Liberty Belle through) near the entrance to BTM, and a walkway along the queue to HM.

This is all imagination, but it keeps things close with plenty of access.

I wonder if the new pathway being built on the old Fantasyland Skyway area, which will improve access to Liberty Square. Is actually prework for this later frontierland expansion.....