TSI...what would you do?

[MKCP 1985]

The Magic Kingdom draws so many guests and TSI is both outdated and underutilized - I would vote to scrap it completely and use the land for a new area. The question would be what to put there. WDW has 3 other complete parks to place areas.

Spending other people's money, I would develop a colonial America area that bridges Frontierland and Liberty Square by locating an area that takes the best ideas from Pocahontas, Pecos Bill, Sheriff Woody's Roundup, the unused ideas from Disney's Great America park and something I haven't even thought of.

 

[I_heart_Tigger]

Very good point. Here's my alternative idea: perhaps, if the Lone Ranger is a hit film, there could be a mock shootout between the Ranger and outlaws, who are hiding out on the island. Once they're vanquished, the Lone Ranger could encourage guests to travel to the island to pick up his silver bullets for redemption of some sort...

I would love a Lone Ranger attraction of some sort. My Dad loved the tv show and I'm looking forward to the movie despite the raging Tonto controversies...blah...just let me enjoy the movie. Although the thought of two Johnny Depp animatronics in the parks seems a little odd for some reason. Maybe the plot of the new movie would provide more of a storyline that an attraction could be based around.

 

[copcarguyp71]

I am all for a non-movie inspired theme/attraction. Too often movies loose their appeal/draw over time but a new idea can be refreshing. The only place I would say that really needs to rely on movie tie-ins is DHS. I would love to see what imagineering could come up with if TDO wound them up and let them go!

 

[Clyde Birdbrain]

I live nearby and have visited MK many times throughout the last 18 months, but I have only taken the journey to TSI once. The raft trip across the water was very awkward as the operator seemed to have never done it before and could not get control of the raft. It took her many tries to get the raft on the dock.

At Disneyland Paris I love the fact that Big Thunder Mountain is in the middle of the water at Frontierland, with the train going through a tunnel to get to the other side. I guess it's too much work to move BTM to TSI

 

[BenSmith]

I gurantee you most guests have never heard of it

 

[WDWKelly]

honestly, i love TSI. ive read both The Adventures of Tom Sawyer AND Huck Finn. this island is very accurate to the books. HOWEVER if u never read the books, then you would have no CLUE the signaficance of the clubhouses, or walkways, creeks, mines, etc. to most people they mean ABSOULUTLY NOTHING! BUT THEY MEAN SMTHIN TO ME AND WHOEVER ELSE READ THE BOOK!! idk, im not going any way. i think we should look at this like we dont know or weve never read/heard of these books

 

[BenSmith]

The whole culture of TSI is not relevant at WDW. It's a place to take in sights and relax. The average visitor(AKA a tourist) Won't do TSI because they will do HM, Space and Splash Mountain, Peter Pan, and pretty much every ride at the park before they consider taking a ride over to TSI, just doesn't get in the Itinerary for someone who only visits once every 2 or 3 years. Can you take a ride over their at night? It would make for some Beautiful Pics.

 

[awoogala]

we love it. Only time the kids are allowed to really burn off all the crazy energy at the world. They can run, and climb, and go into caves. The rest of the time, they need to be on their best behavior (stand still in line, proper dining etiquette at 2-3 meals a day) disney can be a whole lot of restrictions on kids, so TSI lets them get out all the crazy!
Plus, the stories are timeless classics. All children should read, or have them read to them, at some point.

 

[Lil Fort]

I say bring on something new and exciting. TSI is boooooooring!

 

[blueboxdoctor]

OK, so what they have to do is make a bridge to the island. The whole boat nonsense may have been cool back-in-the-day, but nowadays its inadequate. Yes, this may conflict with the ferry boat, but make that stationary, its not like it was a good boat ride, it didn't even have seats/benches. If they wanted to do something really cool it could be made into a restaurant or counter service (but there's potential for a cool restaurant there, despite it being right next to liberty tree tavern, but it's not like they'd be competing against each other, and since they use it mainly for a princess and the frog show, why not have cajun style food?).

The island needs something interactive. Yeah, there's a fort, but so what? I don't want to go there to play checkers or feel like I'm going to get stuck in the escape tunnel (and I'm a thin person). Please open up Aunt Polly's again, it's a bit depressing having an empty building there. I don't really know what to do with the island, but something needs to be done, as it feels like a major waste of space.

 

[stevehousse]

I vote to fill it all in, remove the boat, and open villians land back there!

 

[dreamfinder]

Introduced my DW to the rocking chairs on Aunt Polly's porch. And she had found her second favorite spot in WDW, wondered why I was holding out on her. (Beyond the rocking chairs at AKL by the Savannah) Personally it's the polar opposite of sticking video games/screens in queues and rides. Something where you need to think for yourself, and find your own creativity. Each time I have gone over there just to wander around, I still get almost taken out by 7-10 year olds running around having the time of their life.

 

[Alison1975]

I voted to keep it. We love going over there. We plan out a mid afternoon trip for some down time. My kids enjoy running all over the place unrestricted with fewer people. My husband and I sit on the landing in the rocking chairs and enjoy a quiet moment and people watch. At some point we will also get in a few games of checkers. Since we live in Florida we do day trip over to WDW. We live 77.4 miles away so for us going back to our room is not an option. This for us provides the quiet area we crave.

Ditto..keep it. My kids LOVE TSI and they need that space to let off steam, run around, explore. an hour out of a few days at MK isnt too much time and my kids love the freedom!

 

[GLaDOS]

Keep it. Not everything has to be a space chock full of sweaty tourists. Every park needs their quiet spaces.

 

[Goofnut1980]

FYI, I just looked on googlemaps and the size of the riverboat and TSI would be slightly larger than Fronteirland and Adventureland combined...whoa! What an awesome level of possibilities that would present...it boggles my mind that this much land has been untapped other than the minimal effort offering currently there.

We need a new themed land.. or an expansion of Frontierland/Liberty Square with some of the things planned for the Disney America Park that was scrapped from Virginia. Walt was about new ideas, not doing what has been done...

Create new characters and a land around those, that would then lead to shows and movies..

Or Dark Kingdom... I am sure you could make a few rides... all about Villains.

Or extend Liberty Square to include Liberty Street that was never built.

 

[FettFan]

I'd reopen Aunt Polly's, and give it a signature dish that you can't get anywhere else in the World.
(Beer-batter catfish, served with hush-puppies, perhaps? Fresh-baked handheld fruit pies?)

I'd also overlay the island with a turn-of-the-century "County Fair" style setup. Have classic fair rides....Ferris wheel, carousel, burlap-sack slide, etc. Oh and a hot-air balloon.

Make it a real DRAW to get people there.

 

[The Empress Lilly]

TSI is one of the greatest treasures of the MK. Awesomely themed, a real gem. A haven of tranquility in a sea of madness. It adds a sense of authenticity to the entire park, adds a sense of serious but playful Americana to LS and FL.

Hands off!!

 

[PUSH]

I am all for a non-movie inspired theme/attraction. Too often movies loose their appeal/draw over time but a new idea can be refreshing. The only place I would say that really needs to rely on movie tie-ins is DHS. I would love to see what imagineering could come up with if TDO wound them up and let them go!

I agree. If you look at some of the most famous/popular attractions a lot of them didn't originally have movie tie-ins (as far as I know.) Space Mountain, BTMR, IASM, PotC, HM, SSE, Soarin', TT, EE, Kilimanjaro Safaris, etc. Something fresh would be nice.

 

[disney fan 13]

TSI is one of the best places in WDW to just sit back and take in the scenery, And it is also a great place to explore. (Now if they could just reopen AP's and fix those soda machine...)

 

[copcarguyp71]

OK, so what about getting rid of the riverboat, let imagineering come up with a way to demark TSI from neighboring attractions and use the newly filled in area as FronteirLand and LibertySquare expansion? While it may not be enough for E-tickets it would still be fresh new areas for expansion. Even an outdoor theater might be nice for shows...not everything has to be either a dark ride or E-Ticket. Expansion/changes would be nice in that area of the park.