Walt Disney World Resort: A New World of Magic Awaits…

[KingMickey]

Hello and welcome!

It’s been a long time since I’ve posted one of my own threads on these forums - probably over a decade at this point - but I’ve been kicking around these ideas for a new ‘WDW Imagineering Build Out” thread that I’m finally ready to post after considering a lot of different plans and ways that I could imagine would improve the parks. I might be a little rusty after being out of the Disney Parks Imagineering game for some time, but it’s always been something I’ve been passionate about and I’m excited to start another one of these projects.

For this new thread, my plan is to take you on a tour through each of Walt Disney World’s theme parks - including a new fifth theme park that is being added to the resort’s roster. Each of the parks will receive detailed land-by-land description overviews of the land’s offerings, attractions, additions, expansions and other significant changes that will take place as part of ‘building-out’ the park to its fullest potential. Now, I should make the disclaimer - each one of the parks is going to see radical changes. (Yes, the Rivers of America IS being *mostly* fully contained in my plans, so no need to worry there.) However, after being a WDW local that’s grown up and changed with these parks, I respect them for what they were and what they have become, but I also know - they could and should be so much more than they are - and so, my dream version of each of these parks was created.

While I call it my dream version of the parks, I would like to consider them “realistic - but with a generous dash of Blue Sky.” What I mean by that is that I’m not going to just drop entire lands and attractions into park spaces where there’s realistically no space to accommodate them, just like I wouldn’t create something that is inherently unbelievable to be found within the park, either. Everything is planned with the premise that it *could* work, with the necessary steps being taken to be able to make these changes work. To that end, that’s where this ‘generous dash of Blue Sky’ comes in…because many of these ideas are things that I and many others wouldn’t ever think Disney would actually do, even though it’s possible (i.e., rebuilding an attraction in a new land 100 feet to the left…which, maybe surprisingly or not, happens to more than one Magic Kingdom attraction in this plan. Place your bets on which.)

However, for my dream versions of my parks to be built out the way I envision them, I’ve been blessed with an infinite amount of Blue Sky money for Blue Sky ideas, so I’m cashing them in. The park that I create in the process will hopefully retain the nostalgia and what everyone loves about them - because that’s part of the magic of a Disney theme park experience that transcends generations - while still working to create a much more fuller, valuable and one-of-a-kind theme park experience that Walt Disney set out to do nearly seventy years ago.

With that being said, thanks for reading my welcome post and hopefully you’ll stick around to see what’s in store as we start off with Walt Disney World Resort’s flagship park - the Magic Kingdom.

I’ll leave it to Walt’s words to conclude this post, as there’s no better way to begin my dream version of the resort he’d dreamed of one day seeing.

“All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.” - Walt Disney

Welcome to…

 

[cdunlap]

Cool!

 

[KingMickey]

And so, our tour begins at the resort’s premiere theme park…

“There is a place where castle spires gleam in the a night sky. Where fantasy is real and wishes come true. Where every day ends with happily ever after. There is a place…
…where magic lives.”

Welcome to the Magic Kingdom!
​

The Magic Kingdom opened on October 1, 1971 with the Walt Disney World Resort and has been enchanting guests ever since with magical moments and memories that last a lifetime. For over the last fifty years, generation after generation have walked right down the middle of Main Street U.S.A. and stepped into the most magical place on earth…

“…a Magic Kingdom where the young at heart of all ages can laugh and play and learn - together.”

Inspired by the attractions and park layout of Walt Disney’s original park Disneyland, in Anaheim, California, the park blends together different remarkable lands to immerse guests into the stories and settings that have become some of the most iconic experiences within theme park history. Featuring lands themed to adventure, the frontier, fantasy, tomorrow and more, the Magic Kingdom and the other “castle parks” have become some of the most iconic, photographed and visited destinations in the whole world. In fact, the Magic Kingdom has become the most visited theme park destination in the world - and that’s a record the park has held for nearly two decades.

Walt Disney was heavily involved with the planning of the Walt Disney World Resort and the Magic Kingdom. Disneyland’s issue of space and conflicting themes (i.e., a Frontierland cowboy walking through Tomorrowland on break) had led Walt to conceive a plan to optimize the potential for his next theme park venture. With this plan, the Magic Kingdom and the resort as a whole would have the “blessing of size”, a gift that Disneyland was never quite so lucky to have been given, but has made it work regardless.

In addition to the scope and scale of the park, the planning of the Magic Kingdom also featured the entire park being built up on the “second floor” in order to feature the “utilidors” - tunnels underneath the park that allowed Cast Members and operations to move around the park out of sight. With so many new opportunities being built into a new park, the dream vision that Walt had for his new Florida resort was starting to become a reality…

…but it would always remain a dream to him, as he passed away in the winter of 1966, five years before the resort would be completed. With much planning and constructing to do, Walt’s brother, Roy Disney, took the reins of the project, ensuring its completion. On October 1st, 1971, the Walt Disney World Resort opened and debuted the Magic Kingdom, with Roy Disney’s words dedicating the park:

“Walt Disney World is a tribute to the philosophy and life of Walter Elias Disney... and to the talents, the dedication, and the loyalty of the entire Disney organization that made Walt Disney's dream come true. May Walt Disney World bring Joy and Inspiration and New Knowledge to all who come to this happy place ... a Magic Kingdom where the young at heart of all ages can laugh and play and learn together.”

And so, the Magic Kingdom was opened, boasting as a bigger, “improved” version of its sister California park and featuring similar lands and attractions, circled around a central castle that acts as the kingdom’s iconic beacon - or “weenie”, in Imagineering terms. Similarly to Disneyland, the park featured a Main Street U.S.A., Adventureland, Frontierland, Fantasyland and Tomorrowland and an original land, Liberty Square, with returning California classics, such as The Haunted Mansion, it’s a small world and the Jungle Cruise as just a few of the opening day experiences on the attraction roster.

Over the years, the park has grown and expanded and developed a tone of its own that distinguishes it from the other castle parks in the world. Since opening, it’s seen the introduction *and removal* of new lands (Mickey’s Toowntown Fair, now Storybook Circus), it’s seen the addition of new attraction experiences like Pirates of the Caribbean, Space Mountain, Splash Mountain and TRON Lightcycle Run, it’s received a long-awaited expansion to Fantasyland and it has plans to continue growing and providing new experiences for new generations of guests to enjoy.

Which brings us to the present and my own personal opinions on the park. Similarly to what I said in my ‘welcome’ post - I respect the park for what it is, but also know that it could be so much more and really redefine the “castle park” experience.

And this is where I think Magic Kingdom somewhat falls flat. The park is the resort’s flagship park and, when people say they’re going to Disney, they don’t even have to be told that they’re going to the Magic Kingdom to conjure up images of Cinderella Castle, flying elephants and spinning tea cups. It’s so engrained in people’s minds and pop culture, it’s practically taken on a form of its own.

But as spacious and well-known as it is, it feels as though it lacks a bit of what the other castle parks have that make those castle parks feel special. It doesn’t have the quaint charm and intimacy of Disneyland. It doesn’t have the fairytale-esque romance and allure of Paris. It doesn’t take risks and vast departures from the “castle park” model the way that Hong Kong and Shanghai do. At most, Tokyo modeled its’ park from Magic Kingdom’s scope, but filled it with the quantity (and quality) and value of attractions that Disneyland features. In many ways, I think Magic Kingdom plays it too safe, offers too much in areas where it doesn’t need it and where it doesn’t blend well, while offering too little elsewhere.

Disneyland manages to provide a generous roster of attractions while still managing to fill every bit of space with value, theming, nostalgia or intimacy. It feels like Magic Kingdom opened with that concept - very much inspired from Disneyland’s take on what the “castle park” model would become - but it feels like it’s grown too complacent, too mature, too inconsistent, both too much and too little - and with this being the flagship park of not just Walt Disney World, but what I think many would consider Disney Parks in general, I think it’s time the Kingdom saw a little more magic sprinkled in every corner.

With that being said, when mulling over how to improve the Magic Kingdom, I had a set list of goals in mind to really optimize the park experience and make the most out of the groundwork that was established fifty years ago.

1) Make the most of the space available:
Something that has always irked me about Magic Kingdom - and honestly, all of WDW’s parks, is that we’re always hearing about this “blessing of size”, but it feels like the space in the parks is both under-built and underutilized. I want every bit of this castle park to feel purposeful, valuable, a part of the “whole picture” that the park experience provides.

I mentioned in my initial post that this might even mean removing an attraction and building it elsewhere, doing off the wall things in order to gain expansion or attraction space, reformatting the park to help it be a better version of itself, while not taking away what people loved about it - and that’s what I plan on doing.

2) Adjust the Walt Disney World Railroad and the Rivers of America:
This bit is taking a bit out of Disneyland’s playbook when they adjusted their Railroad and Rivers of America to accommodate for the expansion of Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge. This was one of those things that was met with relative uproar the moment that it was announced…but in hindsight, the end result is actually quite lovely. The scenic views of the cascading waterfalls and natural-looking rocks and wilderness as the Railroad passes through is one of my favorite sights of Disneyland. I plan to do something similar to MK’s River, slightly trim off the top edge just a bit to make that land more expansion-accessible…but really, the River itself is being expanded on into a new land in the northwestern side of the park, where water will be heavily featured. So, almost as a total contrast to the recent D23 announcements of the new (misplaced) Cars IP taking over the Rivers of America, my plan is slightly reshape the top half and expand the body of water out even more.

As for the Walt Disney World Railroad, it had a long rest during TRON’s construction…and it will again. There will be several changes made to the Railroad, most based on other changes and additions happening in the land that it travels through, which I’ll discuss when providing the overview for each land. Since the Railroad works to create a somewhat physical “berm” - or barrier - around the park, the plan is to actually expand the Railroad’s track outward more, creating a new outer berm on the western side of the park. Doing so will see the relocation of a few things: namely the Frontierland Railroad Station (a new Station will be placed in a nearby new land), the parade float storage building (moved to a different side of the park, which also means a new parade route) and other backstage facility buildings/roadways in the area behind Frontierland. This will work to fit more of the park’s expansion space nearby the Rivers of America within this new berm, but will also open up quite a bit of expansion space by pushing the Railroad’s track out a bit farther on that side of the park, which will be a great improvement overall.

Out of this, we get an intact Rivers, a somewhat lengthened Railroad and the access to more expansion space around Adventureland, Frontierland and the Rivers. Seems like a win/win/win to me.

3) Go beyond the berm:
Another strategy to optimize the park’s potential is expanding beyond its established perimeter. It’s not the first time they’ve done this. They’ve done it with the construction of Pirates, Splash and Space, with the ride, park paths if queue going under the Railroad, respectively. Most recently, we’ve seen them go “beyond the berm” again with TRON and the pathways that cross over the Railroad tracks and the new tunnels that were built around them. Even with the Railroad being expanded outward to accommodate more expansion within, I also plan on more expansion beyond and using the western/northwestern expansion pads to create a new physical berm with the lands themselves.

4) Increase capacity, increase enjoyment:
Something that irks me with Disney’s decisions is that…they would much rather replace than build new. In some instances, it’s understandable when an attraction has lived past its prime, in other ways, it’s a cost-cutting method to save some money here or there for the sake of retrofitting a building to place in whatever new ride is being shoehorned into that existing space. The issue is…taking away a ride to replace it with a new ride doesn’t do much to increase capacity unless you’re actually *adding* to the park - and the parks are in great need of tackling those capacity issues.

Which segues to another impression I’ve felt in the last few years - it feels like Disney doesn’t know how to build “small” anymore. It feels like every new addition to the parks needs to be classified as an E-Ticket that breaks the mold in the theme park landscape and it’s anything less than that, it’s seen as a failure - which just isn’t true. Of course, there is a place for those Rise of the Resistances and Cosmic Rewinds in the park, just as there is a place for your Explorer Canoes, Astro Orbiters and walkthrough attractions. All are necessary and add to the experience by providing a diverse array of ‘types’ of attractions to enjoy. Not everything needs to be an E-Ticket, just like not everything needs to be an A. Heck, not everything needs to even be a ride at all. Increasing capacity can be increasing places to explore, things to see, paths to walk, and absolutely, including attractions of all types, too - and I plan on doing all of that to really build out this park.

5) Consistency is key:
This is another gripe of mine about MK and it’s where my “too much in an area that doesn’t need it” stems from. In areas like Adventureland or Tomorrowland, areas of the park can start to feel wildly inconsistent with theming with poorly placed IPs or a flood of too many IPs in an area where the thematic connection can be incredibly…lousy? For example, in recent years Tomorrowlands have become this unusual amalgamation of Buzz Lightyear, Monsters, Inc., Stitch, Marvel, Star Wars, TRON, all weaving through the Tomorrowland classics like Space Mountain, Peoplemover and Astro Orbiter without there being any real consistency to tie any of it together. It feels a lot like just throwing IPs at a wall and seeing what sticks - or as I put it, “doing too much with too much”.

In my dream version, I plan to greatly tidy up this inconsistency, clean up these areas and keep the themes, tones, settings of these areas something consistent and well-fitted for the park.

So, with those goals in mind…

…it’s also important to note that in this new version of the Magic Kingdom, it will still *be* the Magic Kingdom. My plan is not to make this a clone of Disneyland because it’s charming. Or a clone of Paris because it’s romantic and alluring. Or a clone of Shanghai because it’s strikingly different in execution.

While Magic Kingdom could be so much more - that does not mean it needs to be a clone of another castle park to be good, nor does it have to be a “best of” park that throws in the best parts of the others to be good.

The Magic Kingdom has its own grandeur, its own tone and feel to it that should not be lost in the process of “fixing” the park. It is special all its own, these dream changes of mine just help it shine a little brighter.

Now that my opinionated and lengthy analysis is out of the way, I’ve set the scene for what’s to come, we’ve just hopped off the Monorail and the sound of a steam train’s whistle is heard approaching as we find ourselves at the entrance to…

 

[HomeImagineer]

can't wait for that ^^

 

[KingMickey]

We begin our grand circle tour of the Magic Kingdom upon entering the park’s entry and come across perhaps the park’s second-most photographed location - the Main Street Railroad Station with the Mickey Mouse floral display flanking the grand structure from below.

The chimes and whistles from THE WALT DISNEY WORLD RAILROAD ring clearly across the entrance plaza, as guests board one of the four trains that circle the park - the Walter E. Disney, the Roy O. Disney, the Roger E. Brogge or the Lilly Belle steam locomotives - each representing a significant member of Disney’s history. The four locomotives were obtained from a narrow railroad system in Mexico, were shipped to the United States, refurbished to look like 1800s locomotives and were restored to operating condition. The Railroad’s construction was overseen by Roger E. Brogge, who also oversaw the construction of Disneyland’s Railroad.

The Railroad’s originally had an approximate 1.5 mile route around the park, which will be increased to a 2 mile loop with the train’s rerouting to the southwestern edge of the park, making it about a 22-minute ride to complete a full circle loop around the Magic Kingdom.

The Railroad features three train stations, one here at the entrance of the Magic Kingdom, another in a new land “beyond Big Thunder” and the third in another new land in the former location of Fantasyland’s station in Storybook Circus. In addition to the stations located in new lands, the Railroad also passes through new dioramas, tunnels and even caverns, with new sights and secrets to behold - some only viewable from taking a trip around the Railroad. We will dive into each of those new sights and dioramas when discussing each of the lands in their own section.

At the corners of this welcome plaza are the entrance NEWSSTANDS. These small stores sell hats, refreshments, sunscreen, wheelchairs, scooters and stroller rentals and other sorts of items to help make the guests day more enjoyable. It is also where the park’s locker and storage location is found and acts to provide a few amenities for the guests right at the entrance of the park.

On either side of the Mickey Mouse floral centerpiece, tunnels pass through and under the Main Street Station and bring them further into the park. Above these tunnels is a plaque, which reads:

“Here you leave today and enter a world of yesterday, tomorrow and fantasy.” - Walt Disney’s words about a Magic Kingdom where the young and young at heart may enjoy this place together.

Inside these tunnels, vintage posters of the park’s classic attractions are mounted, framed on the walls in pristine display. The buttery smell of popcorn from the park beyond wafts through the tunnels, an intentional choice designed to replicate the feeling of being at the movies with guests getting a glimpse of the entertainment in store, along with the sights and smells that make the experience unique.

On the other side of the tunnels, guests find themselves in the heart of the Magic Kingdom.

MAIN STREET U.S.A. is the first land guests enter, resembling small-town America at the turn-of-the-century. The swirl of small town America with its shops and dining, the flickering lamplights, the newly-placed bricks lining the sidewalks of the street, the sights of vintage vehicles and horse-drawn carriages making their way towards a distant castle at the end of the street…it all blends together to create a nostalgic ode to Walt Disney’s childhood home of Marceline, Missouri in the 19th Century.

The tunnels lead guests into Main Street’s Town Square. Taking the stairs up to a landing on the opposite side of Main Street’s Railroad Station offers a great view of the square and a beautiful vista of Main Street U.S.A. and the castle beyond. A center square boasts gardens and a central flagpole with a sweeping flag, a proud display of Walt Disney’s patronage to America.

Town Square is home to CITY HALL, where the parks GUEST RELATIONS offices are located. To the left of City Hall is the CHAMBER OF COMMERCE building, which operates as a merchandise pick-up location. To the right of City Hall is the Main Street Firehouse, where some of the MAIN STREET VEHICLES are often located when they are not traveling along the street to offer guests transport. The vehicles include a horse-drawn streetcar, a fire engine, a jitney and an omnibus. Occasionally, one might catch THE DAPPER DANS, a barbershop quartet that performs classic tunes and harmonies, traveling down the street on one of these carriages.

The Firehouse also serves as a new pop-up meet and greet location, where guests will be able to find the one and only, Mickey Mouse! Mickey will routinely be found here for visits and will also be paired up with another character, usually Minnie Mouse or Pluto. Elsewhere in Town Square, Donald Duck, Goofy and Daisy Duck have all found spaces to take part in spontaneous meet and greets with guests.

On the side of the square opposite of City Hall, the Town Square Theater is located. Previously, this building was used as a meet and greet space for Mickey Mouse, Tinker Belle and the princesses, but now features a new exhibit walkthrough attraction, named WALT DISNEY: THE MAN BEHIND THE MAGIC. This exhibit takes guests on a walking tour featuring memorabilia, artifacts and visual representations of the history and life of Walt Disney. A similar attraction was formerly featured as Walt Disney Presents at Disney’s Hollywood Studios but has since been removed, with many of its exhibit set pieces being relocated to this new home in Town Square Theater.

The exhibit leads to a small, intimate theater (in the former Tinker Belle greeting space), where a fifteen minute film presentation is hosted and narrated by Julie Andrews. This film provides a historical telling of Walt Disney’s early life, his talents as an animator and storyteller, the advent of his Animation Studios, and the creation of Disneyland, before culminating as the film screen rises to reveal Walt himself, a realistic hologram that walks onstage to greet the guests. Behind him, a series of concept plans and maps of “The Florida Project”, as he tells guests of his dreams for The Walt Disney World Resort, using archival audio of his own presentation to recreate the scene in real life. The presentation concludes with a refrain of “When You Wish Upon A Star”, Walt Disney looking on and smiling, as his concept plan for the Magic Kingdom transforms into a montage of the park in its present, real state as the curtain lowers.

It was important for me to include an experience that celebrated the life and times of Walt Disney and the legacy that he left behind to be placed somewhere in Magic Kingdom, as there really is no better place for it. I wanted to use a space to pay homage to his life, his hard work and commitment - and see it all realized in the very park he’d dreamed of seeing one day. The walkthrough exhibit also provides a wonderful reprieve from the bustle of the park to enjoy a historical, educational retrospective on Walt and his parks.

At the exit of the theater, a shop named WALT DISNEY CO. COLLECTIBLES features a variety of wares, decor, artwork and other merchandise based on Walt, the company and the Disney Parks. The gift shop segues back out into the building’s lobby, where the park’s PhotoPass and camera center services are located.

Just across the lobby, in the space that featured Tony’s Town Square Restaurant, a new table service dining option aptly named 1901 is located. This remodeled restaurant shares the same theme as Main Street U.S.A. itself - “small town” America at the turn-of-the-century. Tablecloth-covered tables line the restaurant’s dining room, cast aglow from the flickering oil lights adorned on the walls. White blossoms grow on trellises placed throughout the dining room, separating it into smaller, intimate dining spaces. The walls of the dining room are lined with antique cooking instruments, recipe notes from cookbooks of generations past and old-time photos of dining halls from 1900s small town America.

Just outside the interior dining room, there is a second dining room paneled with windows that look out onto the busy Town Square. There is even an outdoor seating patio, which is especially lovely during parades or days with great weather. The restaurant opens for lunch and serves simple lunch fare - soups, salads, sandwiches, lighter entrees. For dinner, steak, pasta and seafood entrees are added for a more expansive dining menu fit for dinner service.



Back outside, the top of Town Square feature two of the park’s major stores on either side of the center street that proceeds towards the hub of the park. The first of these stores is THE EMPORIUM, the largest gift store in the entire Magic Kingdom. The store is the one-stop shop for all purchasing, as it features apparel, accessories, toys, plushes, homeware, snacks and more. It boasts some of the widest selection of merchandise in the resort and is a dream come true for a Disney shopper. The outside of the Emporium is also lined with “magic windows” - animated sculpture vignettes from famous Disney films that come to life, transform and change before your eyes. The seven Disney films included in these windows are Pinocchio, Cinderella, Peter Pan, The Little Mermaid, Hercules, The Princess and the Frog and Encanto.

On three opposite corner of the street is THE MAIN STREET CONFECTIONARY, an old-fashioned candy shop that is certain to delight anyone’s sweet tooth. Delightful treats, some even inspired from Disney’s classic characters, are made fresh here daily. From candy apples and chocolate fudge to Mickey-shaped cereal treats and hand-spun cotton candy, the sights and smells of this sweet establishment are enough to entice guests inside to indulge. Be sure to check out the shop’s Kernel Kitchen, where visitors can create their own sweet or savory popcorn mixes with chocolate drizzle and candy toppings - an entirely personalized popcorn experience.

 

[KingMickey]

On both top corners of Town Square, the newly-constructed MAIN STREET ARCADES act as turn-of-the-century themed bypasses to take guests from the front of the park directly towards the central Hub. A bypass has previously been constructed and has existed on the East side of Main Street for the last decade and is occasionally used for events and better guest flow during nighttime events, but the area is relatively not themed, with large amounts of the back of the Main Street buildings and other infrastructure work left exposed and visible. Not exactly the idealized, romanticized turn-of-the-century small town we want to be immersed in.

The upper left corner of Town Square has always been a little more difficult to situate a bypass to the Hub, as there’s not only the parade gates next to the Firehouse, but the Car Barn where the trolley (and its horses) are kept throughout the day, as well as the Harmony Barber Shop on the corner next to the Emporium. It might be a controversial change, but I’ve decided to relocate the Barber Shop elsewhere, in order to gain a point of entry to be able to install a bypass on the west side block of space backstage, in such a way that will leave the parade gates and Car Barn unaffected.

The arcade passages themselves will be heavily themed, featuring turn-of-the-century small town storefronts, a glass-domed ceiling and low-lit light posts adorned with potted flowers, lining their way down the arcades. While the arcades are designed for easier guest flow through the park, no detail will be spared in making them immersive, romantic, alcove-like “side streets” to the “Main Street”.

The two arcades are also distinguished with proper names. The arcade down the left backstage block of the street is known as the LIBERTY ARCADE, while the passage on the right side is known as the PROGRESS ARCADE. Inside these passages, the small town “storefront” windows serve as exhibit pieces. In the Liberty Arcade, the windows lining the passage are filled with small-scale recreation models of famous U.S landmarks constructed in the early 1900s. These windows include model recreations of Coney Island, the Lincoln Memorial, the Bunker Hill Monument and the Statue of Liberty. In the Progress Arcade, instead of small-scale building models, the exhibit windows feature late 19th and early 20th century displays of technology and how it’s progressed. These windows include displays of Henry Ford’s Model T automobile, the telephone, the typewriter, the camera and, of course, Thomas Edison’s electric light bulb. The arcades on both sides of the street provide information plaques for each of the exhibit pieces on display.

Back on Main Street and just past the Confectionary, there is the MAIN STREET CINEMA. For the past decade, this small space has been used as a store, primarily offering vintage Disney merchandise from the resort’s early years. The cinema has now been restored to a classic movie palace , screening some of Disney’s earlier animated works. After moving around the entry ticket booth, the cinema opens to a dim theater featuring six small projection screens with a raised viewing platform at the center of the room. Some of the projected features include early Mickey Mouse cartoons shorts, including “Steamboat Willie”, “Plane Crazy”, “The Barn Dance” and “Mickey’s Follies”, with over twenty features to be included.

Next door to the Main Street Cinema is UPTOWN JEWELERS, a quaint shop that features sophisticated watches, fine jewelry, gorgeous handbags and one-of-a-kind clothing and accessory pieces. The store is placed right on the corner along with the Emporium on the opposite side of the street, bringing us about halfway down Main Street.

Here at the middle of Main Street, guests find themselves at an intersection known as Center Street, a side street that extends from the mainstay of buildings on both sides. On the side street to the right beyond Uptown Jewelers, shuffling around fruit carts and artist stands, the quiet side street not only connects to the new Progress Arcade, but is also where the new HARMONY BARBER SHOP is found. The new Barber Shop takes up the back bit of store space in the present Uptown Jewelers and provides a handful of chairs where professionally-trained barbers provide haircuts. It’s a great place for a little one to receive their first haircut - with an added bit of Disney magic sprinkled in.

On the other side of Center Street, this was also once an open side street where a flower shop, a clock shop and the original Harmony Barber Shop was located before the street was converted into an extension of the Emporium, essentially making the entire west block of the street one large store with varying different storefronts. We are opening the west side of Center Street back up, which provides a few notable changes. The first is that we break apart the Emporium so that one store is not occupying the entire left block. With that being the case, we create a new open side with new Main Street exteriors to lead all the way to connect to the Liberty Arcade on the left.

The second opportunity that is presented is that opening this part of Center Street up again provides a new dining spot that, while small, packs a lot of charm into the middle of Main Street. CAFE LILLIAN, aptly named after Walt Disney’s wife, is a new cafe located alongside west Center Street. This new cafe features an outdoor patio with seating under quaint, striped umbrellas or a large gazebo, as well as a small, tucked-away indoor section with booth seating, all which make a lovely spot to grab a quick bite with views of the charming street. While the cafe is predominantly outside, the small indoor section features portraits of Lillian and Walt together throughout, with beautiful, fresh rose flowers adorning the interior, her favorite flower. The cafe is open for breakfast and lunch only and makes the perfect spot to grab that morning breakfast sandwich, Mickey waffle, or their famous Main Street Patty Melt as a midday meal. The seating patio opens in the evening to provide additional seating on the quiet side street to offer a moment’s reprieve from the main bustle of the street. While taking a small bit of space, a tiny cafe built at the side of Main Street adds an extra bit of charm and intimacy that Magic Kingdom’s could use more of.

A big part of renovating this new Main Street was not only meant to focus on finding ways to improve guest flow throughout what is the busiest part of the park, but to also restore a lot of the charm, beauty and finer details that really make Main Street U.S.A. feel like a real, lived-in place, with real businesses and people that run them. The street artists, Harmony barbers and cafe staff are all an example of that small town, lived-in feel that is reminiscent of your own local town’s Main Street.



The next part of the street continues with more offerings, shopping and dining on Main Street. On the left side just beyond the new Cafe Lillian, the other “second half” of the Emporium is now DISNEY CLOTHIERS and a newly relocated CHAPEAU HATS. This set of stores provides a wide arrangement of clothing options, sweaters, Spirit Jerseys, jackets, t-shirts and more. The corresponding Chapeau Hats is the park’s headgear store, offering hats, character headwear apparel and an incredible wall of Mouse Ears. The shop also offers hat personalization and embroidery for an extra touch of magic to add to your headwear.

Right next to these stores on the top corner of the west block of the street is CASEY’S CORNER, Main Street’s quick service dining location offering a selection of classic American fare, such as hot dogs, fries, Coca-Cola products, lemonade and their famous corn dog nuggets. Themed to the animated feature “Casey at the Bat” from Make Mine Music, the dining space is loaded with vintage baseball memorabilia, creating a small corner of Main Street devoted to the sport that’s become known as America’s pastime. The restaurant features an indoor seating area with both tables and bleacher-style seating, as well as an outdoor courtyard of striped-umbrella courtyard. Even in the Florida heat, the outdoor seating can be a lovely occasion, especially when the friendly Casey’s Corner pianist arrives to play a memorable Disney tune or two on their piano, their cheerful playing and nostalgic melodies sure to make some smiles on Main Street.

Outside of Casey’s Corner and to the left, a small courtyard connects to the Liberty Arcade and also includes the park’s FIRST AID and BABY CARE CENTER. Just beyond these service centers, the glass-domed roofs of THE CRYSTAL PALACE restaurant come into view.

The Crystal Palace is both a buffet-style table service character dining experience for breakfast and a counter service for lunch and dinner, set in a bright, Victorian-inspired greenhouse brimming with light, topiaries and tropical palms. At breakfast, a bountiful buffet of American favorites, like fresh pastries, fruit and traditional morning fare is served. In addition to the beautiful, sweeping views of Main Street U.S.A. and Cinderella Castle, the restaurant is also a character dining location, where guests can experience meetings with Winnie the Pooh and a friend like Tigger or Piglet, Peter and Wendy, Alice and the Mad Hatter and even Mary Poppins when she’s able to fly in. At lunch and dinner, the restaurant transitions to a casual “self-serve” counter service where guests seat themselves and can enjoy delicious selections like fried chicken, pastas, pot roast, freshly-prepared salads, desserts and more. It makes for quite a wonderful spot to dine in the Magic Kingdom.

 

[KingMickey]

On the opposite side from the stores and Casey’s and moving on from the east Center Street, there is CRYSTAL ARTS, a shop where artisans create hand-blown glass figures, ornaments and glassware for sale. It’s worth stopping by to see one of these artisans demonstrations, as they shape and create these glass creations before your eyes. Right next to the shop is the MAIN STREET BAKERY, which is a great place to grab a hot or iced coffee, a specialty beverage or choose from a wide selection of baked pastries, sweets and delicious cookies.

Just past the bakery and on the top corner of the east block of buildings is THE PLAZA ICE CREAM PARLOR. If the baked goods next door don’t satisfy your sweet tooth, the array of hand-scooped ice cream flavors, waffle cones, sundaes and other dessert specialties are sure to hit the spot. Next door to The Plaza Ice Cream Parlor, the Plaza Restaurant used to be located, but on this new Main Street, the Ice Cream Parlor will be expanding into that space occupied by the restaurant. This helps to achieve a few things. First, the current Ice Cream Parlor is already so popular, but so tiny and cramped that there’s usually a winding line out on the sidewalks of Main Street just to get inside. This move will help to create a bigger space in the parlor to accommodate a larger queue and needed facility space to create some masterful desserts, but it also opens space to include some indoor seating in addition to the courtyard of tables just outside. Given that dining options have been and still will be added to Main Street with this plan, I’m fine with using the Plaza table service space if it means getting a more expansive ice cream parlor with available indoor seating.

Back outside the parlor and down to the right, the path connects back to the Progress Arcade. I think it’s a wonderful idea to have little interconnected side street paths in-between the blocks of buildings to help bridge the “Main Street”, Center Street and Arcades together. It helps make it easier and more efficient to get to and from different parts of Town Square, Main Street and the Hub and works to disperse crowds more effectively.



Past the north entrance to the Progress Arcade, in a section of land formerly occupied by the Tomorrowland Terrace, another new dining location is found and serves as a perfect juxtaposition to The Crystal Palace on the opposite side of the plaza. WALT’S is the park’s new signature dining location - and as the name entails, it’s a restaurant inspired by Walt Disney and the magic he’s left behind in his parks. Taking up residency in a constructed aged, but majestic Victorian manor on the edge of Main Street U.S.A., Walt’s is a dining experience like no other.

Serving sophisticated and contemporary cuisine alongside Walt’s favorites like chili and fried chicken, guests enter the Main Street-inspired grand lobby, where framed photos of Walt and his work take you on a journey of his life. The lobby is full of gorgeous details and various pieces of Disney history on display. Framed images of Walt on Main Street seem to come to life with a sprinkle of pixie dust from an elusive Tinker Belle that flies from photo to photo, interacting with Walt in each of them. The shimmery magic cascades from within the images and whirls through and around the lobby and into the dining rooms, bringing the rest of the manor to life in the most magical ways.

On the topic of the dining rooms, there are four with each one themed to a classic Magic Kingdom land - Adventureland, Frontierland, Fantasyland and Tomorrowland. Each room is filled to the brim with artifacts and props, portraits and even audio-animatronics that come to life and become part of a one-of-a-kind dining experience. Totems, flowers and tiki birds awaken and interact with guests in the Adventureland’s exotic, tropical dining room. Frontierland’s western saloon features beautifully crafted portraits of the great frontier and the Rivers of America come to life, the western-themed room occasionally brimming with sparkling gold dust as a small runaway Big Thunder train circles the room’s upper ledge. Fantasyland’s room is designed to look like a European storybook library where paintings and sculptures from tales like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio and Alice in Wonderland come alive. You might see an occasional appearance by the Cheshire Cat or the three good fairies as they magically appear and disappear throughout the room. Geppetto’s cat Figaro quietly sleeps on a bookshelf ledge, occasionally awakening to greet the guests. In Tomorrowland’s dining room, a rotating light fixture resembling the Astro Orbiter swirls above, a Space Mountain rocket suspends from the ceiling ready for takeoff and an incubation tube holding the original Alien Encounter nemesis illuminates, revealing the creature.

The restaurant itself is stunning, full of detail, land-accurate antiques and artwork, making it a signature magical dining location within the Magic Kingdom. Thats not the only secret that this new manor has in store. A newly found location for CLUB 33 will be found on the third story of the building.

A vintage gold-accented lift carries club members up to the exclusive floor, where a lavish and exquisite lounge, bar and restaurant are found. The lounge features beautiful, ornate stained glass artwork above, casting a a pristine and glamorous glow over the seating area. Skilled bartenders make delicious drinks while a live pianist plays jazzy renditions of popular Disney tunes. The club also features a full service dining room, offering a wonderful selection of gourmet dishes that are prepared by world-class chefs in the beautiful, Victorian setting. Everything about the experience is lavish, sophisticated and luxurious - from the meals to the mixed drinks and music. The club also features a private balcony that wraps around the manor, providing guests with wonderful views of the Hub and the Magic Kingdom, as well as an exclusive viewing location for nighttime entertainment.

While a Club 33 location already exists at the entrance of Adventureland, I’ve always thought the location has left much to be desired, as it feels like it just took up occupancy there because it was an available space without much else to the location - no connection to Walt, to the park’s history, no great view from the club - it feels very much the opposite of what made Disneyland’s Club 33 feel like such an intriguing, exclusive experience. I also think the idea of each of the four Walt Disney World parks needing its own private lounge is a bit overkill, so this club on the corner of Main Street will be the sole one across the property. I wanted to relocate Club 33 to Main Street as there really is no better place for it, especially with the land’s connection to Walt and the amazing views of the Cinderella Castle that it provides. When I decided that I would bring Walt’s and place the new restaurant in a lovely Victorian manor, I knew that this building - one themed to Walt and his Magic Kingdoms - would be an excellent place for Club 33 to find a new home.

As we wrap up our tour of Main Street U.S.A., we’re taken into the Hub, the very center of the Magic Kingdom. Beautiful grass lawns, fountains and newly placed Rose Gardens off to the sides of the castle make this central spoke a wonderful place to enjoy the sights and sounds of the park. In the central circle of flower beds in the middle of the Hub, the PARTNERS statue is found, showing Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse, symbolically hand-in-hand, capturing their creative partnership, as well as their shared legacy.

Just beyond the statue, the tall icon of the park, CINDERELLA CASTLE, stands tall and majestic over the kingdom. Standing at 189 feet tall, the castle, with its’ tall turrets, blue roofs, gold accents and surrounding moat, has not only become an endeared symbol of the Walt Disney World Resort, but of the entire Walt Disney Company. For many, this castle has become a symbol of happiness, hope and how magic really does exist in the world.

There will be more to explore within Cinderella Castle later, but here at the central spoke that connects to the kingdom’s *nine* other lands is where we will end our tour for right now.

_______________

-MAIN STREET U.S.A.-

ATTRACTIONS
1) The Walt Disney World Railroad
2) Walt Disney: The Man Behind the Magic
3) Main Street Vehicles
4) Main Street Cinema
5) Main Street Arcades

DINING
1) 1901
2) Cafe Lillian
3) Main Street Bakery
4) The Plaza Ice Cream Parlor
5) Casey’s Corner
6) The Crystal Palace
7) Walt’s
8) Club 33

SHOPPING AND GUEST SERVICES
1) Newsstands
2) The Chamber of Commerce
3) City Hall
4) Walt Disney Co. Collectibles
5) The Emporium
6) The Main Street Confectionary
7) Uptown Jewelers
8) Harmony Barber Shop
9) Crystal Arts
10) Disney Clothiers
11) Chapeau Hats
12) First Aid
13) Baby Care Center
_______________

Thank you everyone for reading! Please feel free to comment and share with me your thoughts!

 

[Lord Fozzinator]

I am watching with great interest. Especially the new lands.

 

[John park hopper]

Open in October 71 I visited May 72. WDW at its finest
Thanks for the memories

 

[MANEATINGWREATH]

You're the pioneer of these dream resort threads, so it is great to see you back in action! It's been a long time since the days of Visions Fantastic, so this certainly felt like a nostalgia trip to me.

 

[KingMickey]

Thank you, MEW! It’s been a long time, but it’s great to still see you active on here, too. Been keeping an eye on your Alternate Disneyland and I think it’s fantastic. Thank you for the kind words!

 

[KingMickey]

Moving away from the central Hub of the park and down the southwestern spoke, the cheerful tunes of Main Street fade away as the sight of lush, overgrown tropical foliage and the sound of rhythmic drumming pulls us into our next land.

ADVENTURELAND

Here we find ourselves in the heart of adventure, far from civilization in the remote jungles of Africa and Asia, as Walt Disney envisioned the land in its original incarnation.

Adventureland provides a 1930s view of ‘exotic adventure’, with a focus on the Tiki-craze that boomed in the decades that followed, the very inspiration that gave Walt the idea to create the Enchanted Tiki Room. It’s a land that combines adventure, romance and mystery and attaches them to the sights that await ahead - tropical river cruises, exotic singing flowers, secret temples of treasures and dangers, a society devoted to the pursuit of exploration and the melodious harmonies of singing birds and tiki totems alike.

Adventureland is currently what I believe is an example of “too much” in one space, with a lot of different elements that just don’t ‘work’ together. As it is, Adventureland is currently a mesh of classic Adventureland (Jungle Cruise, Treehouse, Enchanted Tiki Room) with an Agrabah/Aladdin-themed sub-section in the middle of it all, which then segues into the Caribbean Plaza. It’s too much and too inconsistent in the land’s footprint.

And I know, the jungles of Asia don’t exactly mesh consistently with the Pacific Islands and paradises that represent the Enchanted Tiki Room, but this is an example of attractions that ‘work well together’ in a way that adds to the land, instead of being a whiplash of IPs and inconsistent themes/settings that change every hundred feet.

That’s a big goal of improving this version of Adventureland, cleaning it up and keeping it more consistent. To that end, one of the most notable changes to help with that goal is the removal of The Magic Carpets of Aladdin and the Agrabah sub-section of Adventureland. In addition to being the third type of Dumbo spinner that the park has to offer and being a crowd pinch point in the middle of the land, it’s also just…not very pretty to look at, in my opinion. The mesh of jungles, Agrabah and the Pacific Islands all at once in one central square is just too much all at once.

The second major change is the removal of Caribbean Plaza. Again, I know this is a vast change, but I believe it’s necessary to create a more cohesive Adventureland. As the story goes, Pirates of the Caribbean and this Caribbean Plaza never ended up being intended to ever be built in Magic KIngdom’s Adventureland, but after the park had opened, guests practically demanded for the Disneyland classic to be found here, as well. The attraction was fast-tracked and constructed to appease the new resort’s guests and, well let’s just call it what it is and rip the band-aid off, it gave us the least favorable version of the attraction and added a bit of in-cohesion to Adventureland to accommodate it.

With the removal of both the Agrabah sub-theme and Caribbean Plaza along bringing in new offerings that fit the tone and ‘work with’ the classic attractions of Adventureland, this land will now be consistent in tone and feel - a dark, exotic jungle in Asia, set in the distinct era of the 1930s with Big Band tunes playing in the reprieves of civilization, all with a hefty dose of elements tied to the Society of Explorers and Adventures (S.E.A.). In fact, the consistent thread that ties all of the land’s attractions - and even some of the dining and shopping - together, is the S.E.A. itself. It all blends together to create an Adventureland that feels exciting, new, cohesive, but still very classic.

The Society of Explorers and Adventurers is an organization full of scientists, explorers, researchers, artists and the like, with their unified pursuit being the continued exploration of the world’s oceans and exotic lands. The society is laden with hidden lore that only the most keen Disney park-goers can connect, which work to tie them to different Disney attractions around the globe, through several of its leading members and the roles they play within each of the attractions.

As the society’s mission statement goes, “The mission of the Society of Explorers and Adventurers is to collect, conserve, and curate valuable cultural and artistic artifacts from around the world and make them available to the public in an artistically pleasing and sensitive manner. It is furthermore the mission of the organization to equip and mount socio-cultural expeditions to discover, explore, chronicle and protect the artistic achievements of human society, past and present, exalted and forgotten.”

In Magic Kingdom’s Adventureland, Dr. Albert Falls, the legacy he left behind and his granddaughter, Alberta Falls, play the starring roles and provide the most direct connection to the land’s ties to the Society of Explorers and Adventurers. Dr. Albert Falls was a colonial English explorer that went on a two week-long journey to chart the unknown, seemingly paranormal ‘Jungle Rivers’, a vast river-body that connected ancient rivers from all over the world. Falls navigated these exotic rivers on a small steamboat, traveling from the Ganges River, to the Congo, the Nile and the Amazon, before stumbling upon the remnants of a fallen temple where he encountered a ferocious tiger with a glowing eye that paralyzed him with fear. The tiger let him pass with a roaring warning and the jungle rivers led him here, to what we now know as Adventureland.

Falls and his wife had a hidden club constructed in the settlement of the nearby jungle river, a secret meeting place for the society hidden behind a library bookshelf, a place to gather, discuss their explorative conquests and Mrs. Falls would sing her jazzy tunes. Another base for the society was built along this mystical river - within the Enchanted Tiki Room in Polynesia - where the society would gather and commemorate their adventures amidst a choir of tropical birds that collected in the sacred, secret place. In the early 1900s, Albert Falls established the Jungle Navigation Company, a business that transported passengers and cargo across the rivers of the world. Many members of the society utilized this service and the Jungle Navigation Co. would establish outposts throughout the world’s jungles…

…but one day, Dr. Albert Falls went off on a journey…and disappeared, never to be seen or heard from again.

His granddaughter, Alberta Falls, took up the position to run his company and formally began the “Jungle Cruise” tourism service. While continuing to run the business that Dr. Albert Falls worked hard to create, Alberta has a secret motive behind the company’s operations in this jungle outpost: recruit new members of the society to explore the hidden jungles of Adventureland and find the truth of what happened to her grandfather…

And with that, we begin our tour of the dark jungles that await us in Adventureland…

 

[KingMickey]

The path continues on a bridge over water, taking guests under a carved wooden arch of the land’s entry, adorned with flickering, dancing flame torches and exotic flowers that spill over the sides.

As soon as we enter, we’re immediately taken in by the enticing smell of fresh barbecued grilling. The area formerly occupied by Club 33 has now been transitioned into a new open air dining offering, named BWANA BOB’S BARBECUE. With this new quick service option, guests can escape to this tropical jungle oasis on a patio overlooking the water, complete with tropical flowers, flickering torches and jazzy 30’s tunes playing from an old radio, all which create a lovely, exotic haven. Food items like barbecue and vegetable skewers, potstickers, fried chicken thighs and bao buns are not only prepared in an open grill kitchen, but the smells that waft through Adventureland from it are both mouth-watering and enticing. It’s a definite stop for a quick, savory and delicious snack.

Just across the way in the area behind the Crystal Palace and stretching towards the *former* location of the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse, a new, exhilarating experience is found. The S.E.A. EXPLORATION CAMPSITE is a hands-on, ‘ropes’ obstacle course that takes guests up a jagged jungle cliff outcropping, where a beautiful cascading waterfall flows down to the jungle rivers below. I know, a “ropes course”-type attraction would most likely never be found in a U.S Disney theme park the way that one is found in Shanghai, but in my dream version of this park, it’s the exact type of exhilarating, physical experience that this land needs, where the guests are actually exploring, adventuring and ‘doing’.

In the S.E.A. Exploration Campsite, guests explore a settlement campsite at the base of the craggy rock formation, where collected expedition and traveling equipment boasting the S.E.A. insignia line the path through the outpost. Strewn about the crates and tents are letters left behind by Alberta Falls, welcoming the guests and urging them to put themselves to the test and try the new adventure course she’s created for interested society members - a task to quite literally push their exploration and adventurous skills to the limit! From here, the path proceeds up the cliffside where three unique, elevated rope courses await. Through these courses, guests cross over rickety wood bridges, through dark caverns, across netted platforms and planks over a river gorge and even uncover a hidden treasure cavern, guarded by a singing white cockatoo by the name of Rosita. The bird seems to be clutching something within her claws from her perch, as she calls out, “Danger! In Falls!” Also, is that…a potion bottle? The glowing liquid inside seems to sparkle like gold. Whatever the case may be, it remains a mystery for now…

The ropes course ends in a thrilling conclusion - an exciting zip line down the cliffside and behind the mountainous waterfalls - a nod to Jungle Cruise’s Eight Wonder of the World, the backside of water - before landing back at the base campsite. Was that exciting trip behind the waterfall the “danger” Rosita spoke of - or does something else await?

Having completed Alberta’s training tasks and being awarded with a S.E.A. insignia token of ‘exploration and adventure’ training completion, the guests are on their way to becoming the newest members of S.E.A. The campsite also hosts S.E.A. IMPORTS, a small shop set up to display the treasures and artifacts found or linked to members of the Society of Explorers and Adventurers. One might even catch Albert, the playful monkey from Hong Kong’s Mystic Manor, that always finds himself in a bit of mischief. He pops up from within a treasure chest at the back of the shop, before letting out a chuckle and disappearing back inside, the sound of gold coins clattering about.

Across from the campsite, a settlement of buildings has been constructed opposite of the jungle river’s edge. In this settlement, ALOHA ISLE is found serving frozen treats like pineapple and vanilla swirls, frosty floats and other soft-serve sweets in this tropical outpost.

Right next door is THE ADVENTURER’S CLUB, the very secret place that Dr. Albert Falls and his wife constructed when establishing the outpost. This restaurant is taking the place of the former Skippers Canteen, still keeping much of its theme intact while operating under a new moniker with a bit more of *this* Adventureland’s story themed throughout. In the long absence of Dr. Falls, the steamboat skippers and society members that remain have opened his secret meeting place to only the most elite adventurers.

Located in three of Dr. Falls’ society rooms - the colonial Mess Hall, the family parlor or the secret society room beyond his library - explorers are welcomed into this club to dine and discuss their own adventures in Adventureland. With nods to Falls’ influence along the jungle river settlement, the club featuring many society artifacts and portraits of expeditions and the combined bold and flavorful cuisine of Asia and Polynesia, The Adventurer’s Club is a taste of the exotic intertwined with the lore of S.E.A and Adventureland.

Just next to The Adventurer’s Club is a tunnel bypass that connects to FRONTIERLAND. Connected to this bypass is another new piece of paradise found in the former location of the land’s Sunglass Hut store. SHIRIKI’S JUICE BAR is a new indoor refreshment hut serving fresh, mixed and frozen tropical fruit juices in authentic tiki glasses, served in the fruit itself or - perhaps bizarrely - what look like potion bottles? The juice bar is an oasis all its’ own, with flickering torches and lush palms throughout...but the beauty of the place hides the secret evil that is kept within.

The walls of the bar feature various totems, idols and wood masks found from jungles around the world - perhaps collected by one of the members of the society and stored here for safekeeping - to the misfortune of the unsuspecting juice bar staff. One of these totems is none other than that of Shiriki Utundu - the same possessed idol deity that haunts Tokyo DisneySEA’s Tower of Terror - who has now taken up occupancy in this tropical haven in Adventureland. The idol has fallen into the hands of several jungle tribes, men who’d sought out to steal it and even Harrison Hightower III - a deceitful, villainous S.E.A. member - all whom have faced fates worse than death since inheriting the idol. It is said that this spot may have once been owned by Trader Sam himself, as a spot to test and sell his latest…experiment - something that he referred to as a “purifying potion”, bottles and liters glowing with a shimmering liquid. Legend has it, with his mystical powers and ancient knowledge, these potions he’d created were able to bring life to the inanimate and make even the most stoic of artifacts come alive…

…what an unfortunate turn of events that the evil Shiriki Utundu has seemingly forced Sam out and took over the location, using the potions left behind to turn the tropical bar and its’ artifacts into an unknowing mad house…

While the bar finds a new owner at home here in Adventureland, be wary. You might see Shiriki come alive with a devilish grin, a haunting laugh echoing through the bar, before a green electric surge expels from the idol, lighting up the eyes of all the other totems and masks on the wall, twisting and turning, before all returns to normal…a message to unsuspecting visitors, that even in tropical reprieves like this, danger is always lurking and one cannot escape the eyes of Shiriki Untundu.

 

[KingMickey]

Heading deeper into the land, a series of covered secluded seating alcoves move away from the juice bar and empties out into the ADVENTURELAND BAZAAR, a series of shops that blends the exotic environments of Africa, Asia and Polynesia together into one marketplace that offers a wide array of Adventureland-specific merchandise for the land’s attractions. Just off this bazaar, we arrive at the space that was previously occupied by The Magic Carpets of Aladdin. As mentioned earlier, the Carpets will be removed to open up the space in the courtyard more, but to also help maintain a thematically consistent Adventureland without “too much” happening all at once. No need to worry, there will be plans for Aladdin in the future, as it really DOES deserve so much more than just being Magic Kingdom’s third spinner attraction.

The TROPICAL HIDEAWAY TREEHOUSE will now take the place of the Carpets, relocating and re-theming the former Swiss Family Treehouse to this new location. This move helps achieve a few things. First, it provides a new “weenie” - something to draw the crowd into the land by placing it as such a focal point. The next is that it provides a relatively cramped and uncovered area with shade, but also a lot of tropical foliage, plants and trees that help keep the area beautiful, exotic and much more consistent with the theme that this ‘new’ Adventureland is working towards. And for last, the relocation of the Treehouse allows for new expansion space that will host both parts of the new S.E.A. Exploration Campsite and a new, fun B-ticket flat ride that we will get to shortly.

The Tropical Hideaway Treehouse will largely serve as the same type of experience as it was previously - an explorable treehouse that takes guests up wooden walkways into the branches and alcoves in the highest reaches of the tree, offering breath-taking views of the Magic Kingdom. The treehouse is now themed to Adventureland itself, with tiki birds taking up residency and singing tunes from the branches, a loft hidden away at its peak that acts as a watchtower for Alberta Falls’ expedition and even a mid-tree stop where Trader Sam has set up a shop that’s practically ready to fall from the frail branches that it’s precariously perched on. One can admire Trader Sam’s wares, his knick-knacks and even those purifying potions he’d tried to sell once before. Perhaps he’s moved his business to the precarious perches of the treehouse ever since Shiriki kicked him out of his former business spot. In this spot, Rosita is seen again with the potion bottle in hand. It is without question that she’s clutching onto one of Sam’s potions, but why? “Need potions! Stuck here!”

The stone benches built into the rock work at the base of the tree are a perfect spot to enjoy the DOLE Whip floats and soft-serve available at the nearby SUNSHINE TREE TERRACE counter service stand. The location serves delicious Citrus swirls and an entire DOLE Whip assortment of tropical flavors and colors. Here, the Florida-favorite Orange Bird serves as a popular mascot for the location, created by Disney as a character for the Florida Citrus Commission in 1970. The Orange Bird not only inspires sweet tropical treats and his own line of merchandise sold nearby at the Adventureland Bazaar, but also occasionally appears for meet and greets at the base of the tree.

Next to The Sunshine Tree Terrace is a classic - WALT DISNEY’S ENCHANTED TIKI ROOM - an original opening day attraction at the Magic Kingdom and the first ever to introduce WED Enterprises’ audio-animatronics when it premiered in Disneyland in the 1960s. Here, guests enter the Sunshine Pavilion, a tropical oasis where they are greeted by two toucans, Clyde and Claude, where they tell the story of how they escaped the animals of a nearby jungle river and stumbled upon the pavilion and the Enchanted Tiki Room within.

Guests are ushered inside, where large windows look out into the distant oceans, volcanoes and foliage of tropical Polynesia. Our four macaw hosts - Jose, Michael, Pierre and Fritz - kick off the show and “awaken” the room as an orchestra of other birds, flowers and tiki totems come to life to sing, dance and mystify audiences, as they have done for decades. But just as the singing, drumming and chanting crescendos in the Enchanted Tiki Room, the tiki gods send down their fury, “angered by all the celebrating” and causing a tropical thunderstorm that shakes the chamber. With a word of warning to not upset the tiki gods, the birds explain that every cloud has its silver lining and proceed to their finale song.

While the show won’t change much, a few alterations will be made to further restore it to its original version, as it was done in 2011. The length of the show will be increased from ten to fifteen minutes, returning more of the cut musical segments to this version, as well as restoring the enchanted fountain effect that rises from the bed of flowers at the center of the room. While we’re at it, might as well throw in some lighting and sound upgrades to round out this improved show. So not too much happening to the Enchanted Tiki Room, just restoring more of the original show and some show upgrades to keep it feeling fresh and bright.

However, across the way from The Enchanted Tiki Room and placed right on the jungle river between the S.E.A. Exploration Campsite waterfall cliff and the Jungle Cruise is TRADER SAM’S TIKI TWIST. This is the new B-ticket attraction that was briefly mentioned earlier that combines elements of both Jungle Cruise and The Enchanted Tiki Room in a new combination water/spinning flat ride.

The premise of this attraction has guests boarding one of Trader Sam’s twirling tiki totem heads that are set in a circle on the jungle river, surrounded by lush foliage, tiki statues and even miniature, steaming volcanoes. Sam has used his purifying potions to bring these tiki totems to life, as seen by the large glowing potion bottles hidden amidst the surrounding foliage. In the center of the ring of tiki heads is a large volcano, bubbling and spewing smoke, as the growing sound of an eruption is brewing.

The ride itself is somewhat similar to a tea cup-style attraction, as the tiki head totems spin individually, but also spin as one larger unit around the central volcano. But watch out - you WILL get wet! As the tiki heads twist and turn, water jets shoot from the river, the devious tiki statues open their mouths and squirt water jets at the guests with a laugh, the potion bottles overflow and even the smaller volcanoes bubble over and erupt with a burst of water, all attempting to soak the guests - which may not be too bad on those hot Florida days. But just as we think the twisting tikis are about to end their dance, they pick up speed slightly, as the rumbling sounds from the large volcano rock the river and the sounds of clapping thunder shake the earth. Suddenly, from the smoking peak of the volcano, a totem of Uh-Oa, the Tiki Goddess of Disaster, emerges, her eyes glowing.

If one has been so lucky to avoid getting soaked until now, that luck has run out. With continued disrespect to the tiki gods, Uh-Oa has emerged with a vengeful wrath and, after a wicked laugh that echoes through the jungle, the smaller volcanoes, the tiki statues, potion bottles, the water jets and the main volcano all erupt with plumes of water at once, showering riders in the finale of the attraction. At the conclusion, the tikis end their twisting and turn to face Uh-Oa, who warns “not to mess with Polynesia, or the tiki gods will squeeze ya!” before disappearing back into the depths of the volcano in a fit of smoke.

 

[KingMickey]

The jungle river leads to the JUNGLE CRUISE itself, an attraction that takes guests on a riverboat cruise through the tropical jungles and waters of Adventureland. Along the river lies a colonial outpost filled with exploration gear and period artifacts with a dock that offers jungle river expeditions ready to sail, the business now managed by Alberta Falls.

Hosted by a wise-cracking skipper manning the boat as our guide, the steam launches travel down the exotic river, passing by audio-animatronic animal inhabitants and other sights held within the jungle. Some moments include traversing through a hippos lagoon, gorillas trashing a campsite, exploring a dark temple containing a tiger and elephants bathing in a waterfall grove.

Not much about any changes here. The only new notable change will be a second *newly-built* fallen temple structure that the cruise comes upon and passes under briefly, which is a part of our next and final attraction that we will get to in just a moment. As another opening day attraction for both Disneyland and Walt Disney World, it continues to find its home here in Adventureland as a Disney Parks classic.

Finally, we arrive to our last section of Adventureland, which was previously occupied by Caribbean Plaza and the Pirates of the Caribbean, which will be relocated to the expansion space behind Adventureland. In many iterations of “reimagining Adventureland”, I’ve seen this plot of land used for attraction concepts like Fire Mountain, an Indiana Jones-type ride and now, Imagineering’s present day “plan” for a future Moana attraction. While Indiana Jones Adventure is one of my favorite attractions and Moana is fantastic (and both will be utilized elsewhere), I wanted to do something new that tonally fits and felt a bit more unique to this Adventureland.

As I mentioned in my previous posts, this dream plan has some drastic rearrangements in store - with Pirates being one of them. While the relocation of Pirates to a nearby expansion space right next door may not be something Disney would likely do, it provides the opportunity to build a new attraction in Pirates’ former footprint, while also being able to rebuild Pirates as a grander version of itself that Florida deserves in the available space behind where it currently sits. And with the railroad being re-routed to the edge of the park’s berm and the parade route/storage changing, it opens up a lot of expansion space that becomes much more accessible on that side of the park. Bye to Pirates as we knew it and hello to a new expedition that awaits us in Adventureland.



While the path between The Enchanted Tiki Room and Jungle Cruise once entered the distinctly different Caribbean Plaza, we now find ourselves in an extension of the dark, overgrown jungles of Adventureland. The lush trees and swirling pathways lead way to a grand, but fallen temple hidden away on the outskirts of the jungle. Having been lost to the world centuries ago, the temple is sprawling with overgrown vines that spread across the large tiger statues guarding the fallen temple entrance. This is FALLS EXPEDITION: TEMPLE OF THE TIGER.

On this new adventure, guests embark into the fallen temple and enter chapels adorned with tiger carvings, an altar containing a grand mural of a large tiger, a temple chamber that takes guests over the nearby jungle river (as mentioned earlier with the Jungle Cruise), as well as a series of chambers that serve as a safe hold for an expedition. Inside the chambers, we find tons of clues and maps that point to a secret sanctum inside of the temple. On a series of static radios, inbetween the jazzy tunes of decades past, Alberta Falls tries to communicate to the guests and asks them for their assistance. From the clues she’s collected on display in the planning room, she believes her grandfather’s last location is somewhere inside the hidden temple. She’s reached a temple blockade and needs more S.E.A. members to help proceed forward into the sanctum ahead. However, she warns us - the temple is guarded by an ancient tiger, an otherworldly, unnatural being with a mystical eye and a ferocious temper. If we join her expedition, we must do so with caution.

The guests are shuffled through subterranean temple chambers, where the start of their expedition awaits as they board their ride vehicles, consisting of two carts that hold six passengers each, twelve riders per vehicle. With this Adventureland, I wanted a new, original attraction that offered family-friendly thrills, but kicks the excitement into high gear. Falls Expedition: Temple of the Tiger will be an exciting indoor/outdoor coaster that utilizes a backwards coaster segment, an elevator lift and a vertical drop element. By design, the coaster vehicles and track are more traditional in style, but with a lot of exciting elements that make it a one-of-a-kind, must-see experience.

The expedition carts dart into the depths of the temple, through a dark chamber of over-grown bats, before reaching a grand temple door, surrounded by fallen and broken statues tigers. Alberta’s voice cuts through the darkness, as she appears from the chamber darkness with torch in hand, the effect achieved by the character appearing on a translucent scrim amidst the set pieces. She says that her clues lead her to believe that her grandfather is locked away beyond the door, but she has no way of getting inside, as the passage is sealed shut.

As if on cue, a ferocious roar rings out through the chamber and Alberta warns us of what’s to come. A mystical force emanates through the chamber and an aura glows around the fallen tiger statues. Then, the magical force reconstructs the statues and the tigers spring to life. While the show scene plays out, the track piece behind the carts switches and rotates out, connecting to a new track that takes guests into the next segment of the ride. As the tigers leap and roar fowards, the cart lurches back. Alberta jumps into her own cart and beckons us to escape before we find ourselves in greater danger. The tigers begin to advance closer, as the carts lurch backwards into the darkness and the first coaster section of the attraction begins. The coaster takes a swirling trip backwards through the darkness and ruins of the temple. The thrills are mild, but exciting for this portion of the ride, as the carts take banked curves evading the tiger figures and shadows that appear out of the darkness. For a brief moment of the backwards portion, Alberta appears to be riding a cart backwards alongside the riders, using her torch to fend off the attacking tigers. The carts begin to slow as a ferocious roar is heard and a mystical aura glows around the vehicles, which now seemingly ‘float’, as if being pulled by the mystical force, turning 180° to be facing forward again before reaching another stop.

In this deeper temple sanctum, the figures of human statues are illuminated by flickering torches. Alberta appears again and warns us that there’s no escape with the creatures on our trail. From the light of the torches, the attraction’s show-stopping moment begins, as a huge audio-animatronic tiger with a glowing eye emerges from the darkness. The beast is massive, unnatural and unlike any real tiger that exists.

The carts are caught in the glowing gaze of the tiger and Alberta warns us to avoid looking into the its eye, or we might end up like the stone explorers before them. With a ferocious roar at Alberta’s successful warning, the tiger snarls and enchants the carts and they begin to rise. Masked by fog and the large tiger’s glowing gaze, here is where an elevator lift is used to raise the vehicles to the top of the temple. It’s clear, if the riders aren’t going to fall to the tiger’s paralyzing gaze, it has other plans to rid the temple of them.

With a mighty roar from the beast, the vehicle tips out of the top of the temple and proceeds down a thirty foot drop, racing through banked curves and unexpected twists as the carts make their way through the jungle temple ruins. This outdoor section of the ride is slightly more thrilling than the indoor backwards ‘temple tigers chase’ segment, with the level just slightly more exhilarating to other coasters at Magic Kingdom. The carts twist through the overgrown jungle and turn back into the temple, darting through the ancient chambers at high-speeds before entering back into the chamber with the grand temple door and accelerating forward, crashing through it.

Inside of the chamber, the room glows with a mystical aura and at the center of the room is none other than the figure of Dr. Albert Falls, paralyzed in stone after an encounter with the beast. Alberta catches up to us and recognizes her grandfather. As if she’d been following us on our adventure all along with the clues she’d dropped us, Rosita appears from above with Trader Sam’s purifying potion and uses it to return Dr. Falls to life, while beginning work on the other lost explorers. With Falls restored, the tiger deity closing in and the powerful aura causing the temple to start to cave in around us, Alberta takes her grandfather into her cart and begins to kick it into high gear. At that moment, the temple ground beneath the riders gives way and the carts suddenly free-fall drop twenty feet to a connecting piece of track below.

From here, the vehicles kick it into high gear and race through the underground chambers of the temple, before blasting through a fallen wall and emerging back out into the surrounding dark jungles. Rounding the corner, the carts pull into an expedition settlement where figures of Alberta, Dr. Falls and Rosita are waiting for us. They thank us for their help and for rescuing Dr. Falls and remind us that there’s always more exploration and adventuring to do in the Society of Explorers and Adventurers! The carts pull into a campsite outpost set beneath the temple and the riders disembark.

Across from the exit of the attraction, a shop outpost called TIGRIS TOKENS is set, offering ancient artifacts, goods and collected memorabilia from the ancient tiger temple experience. The new shop takes up the previous spot of Tortuga Tavern, now a jungle outpost amidst a grove of tall trees, fallen temple stones and a waterfall pond, the spirit of the tiger appearing from within.

The final bit of info to provide about the land are adjustments to the Railroad. Previously, the train left Main Street U.S.A. and steered into the jungles of Adventureland, crossing over a trestle bridge, the parade route crosswalk and entering the Pirates tunnel, where the boats dropped under the railroad tracks to get into the ride’s bigger show building outside of the park’s berm. In this new plan, most of that is gone. The parade route, crosswalk and subsequent storage building farther off are no longer there, as well as the Pirates tunnel, which has now been changed to Falls Expedition: Temple of the Tiger. Instead and similar to the adjustments to Disneyland’s Railroad, after entering into the jungles of Adventureland, the train makes its’ first left turn on an altered track route! This brings the train’s route all the way to the park’s edge and allowing for more expansion space within. For this new section, the train traverses by a S.E.A. outpost next to a cliffside waterfall that expands into a pool of water full of exotic plants and jungle trees full of tropical birds. A Jungle Cruise boat is capsized next to a group of underwater hippos, as monkeys point and shout from the trees. From there, the railroad proceeds through a small portion of tropical trees, the noises of the animals within sounding out, before the train enters into a dark cavern, which is part of the next land’s territory.

And that’s a wrap on our new Adventureland! I think it does a good job to help ‘tidy’ up some of the existing land, while utilizing S.E.A. as a strong theme to bring all of the land’s attractions together in a cohesive story. The new attractions (S.E.A. Exploration Campsite, Trader Sam’s Tiki Twist and Falls Expedition) even work together to combine existing elements of Jungle Cruise, Tiki Room and Adventureland as a whole - even giving Rosita her own side story that weaves Trader Sam, the Falls family and the attractions of Adventureland together. A great answer to “I wonder what happened to Rosita?” She was working alongside Alberta all along to guide explorers to the rescue Dr. Falls!

Let me know what you think of Magic Kingdom’s new Adventureland!
_______________

-ADVENTURELAND-

ATTRACTIONS
1) S.E.A. Exploration Campsite
2) Tropical Hideaway Treehouse
3) Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room
4) Trader Sam’s Tiki Twist
5) Jungle Cruise
6) Falls Expedition: Temple of the Tiger

DINING
1) Bwana Bob’s Barbecue
2) Aloha Isle
3) The Adventurer’s Club
4) Shiriki’s Juice Bar
5) Sunshine Tree Terrace

SHOPPING
1) S.E.A. Imports
2) Adventureland Bazaar
3) Tigris Tokens

 

[DisneyFan32]

The jungle river leads to the JUNGLE CRUISE itself, an attraction that takes guests on a riverboat cruise through the tropical jungles and waters of Adventureland. Along the river lies a colonial outpost filled with exploration gear and period artifacts with a dock that offers jungle river expeditions ready to sail, the business now managed by Alberta Falls.

View attachment 817586

Hosted by a wise-cracking skipper manning the boat as our guide, the steam launches travel down the exotic river, passing by audio-animatronic animal inhabitants and other sights held within the jungle. Some moments include traversing through a hippos lagoon, gorillas trashing a campsite, exploring a dark temple containing a tiger and elephants bathing in a waterfall grove.

View attachment 817578

Not much about any changes here. The only new notable change will be a second *newly-built* fallen temple structure that the cruise comes upon and passes under briefly, which is a part of our next and final attraction that we will get to in just a moment. As another opening day attraction for both Disneyland and Walt Disney World, it continues to find its home here in Adventureland as a Disney Parks classic.

View attachment 817577

Finally, we arrive to our last section of Adventureland, which was previously occupied by Caribbean Plaza and the Pirates of the Caribbean, which will be relocated to the expansion space behind Adventureland. In many iterations of “reimagining Adventureland”, I’ve seen this plot of land used for attraction concepts like Fire Mountain, an Indiana Jones-type ride and now, Imagineering’s present day “plan” for a future Moana attraction. While Indiana Jones Adventure is one of my favorite attractions and Moana is fantastic (and both will be utilized elsewhere), I wanted to do something new that tonally fits and felt a bit more unique to this Adventureland.

As I mentioned in my previous posts, this dream plan has some drastic rearrangements in store - with Pirates being one of them. While the relocation of Pirates to a nearby expansion space right next door may not be something Disney would likely do, it provides the opportunity to build a new attraction in Pirates’ former footprint, while also being able to rebuild Pirates as a grander version of itself that Florida deserves in the available space behind where it currently sits. And with the railroad being re-routed to the edge of the park’s berm and the parade route/storage changing, it opens up a lot of expansion space that becomes much more accessible on that side of the park. Bye to Pirates as we knew it and hello to a new expedition that awaits us in Adventureland.



While the path between The Enchanted Tiki Room and Jungle Cruise once entered the distinctly different Caribbean Plaza, we now find ourselves in an extension of the dark, overgrown jungles of Adventureland. The lush trees and swirling pathways lead way to a grand, but fallen temple hidden away on the outskirts of the jungle. Having been lost to the world centuries ago, the temple is sprawling with overgrown vines that spread across the large tiger statues guarding the fallen temple entrance. This is FALLS EXPEDITION: TEMPLE OF THE TIGER.

View attachment 817587
View attachment 817579

On this new adventure, guests embark into the fallen temple and enter chapels adorned with tiger carvings, an altar containing a grand mural of a large tiger, a temple chamber that takes guests over the nearby jungle river (as mentioned earlier with the Jungle Cruise), as well as a series of chambers that serve as a safe hold for an expedition. Inside the chambers, we find tons of clues and maps that point to a secret sanctum inside of the temple. On a series of static radios, inbetween the jazzy tunes of decades past, Alberta Falls tries to communicate to the guests and asks them for their assistance. From the clues she’s collected on display in the planning room, she believes her grandfather’s last location is somewhere inside the hidden temple. She’s reached a temple blockade and needs more S.E.A. members to help proceed forward into the sanctum ahead. However, she warns us - the temple is guarded by an ancient tiger, an otherworldly, unnatural being with a mystical eye and a ferocious temper. If we join her expedition, we must do so with caution.

The guests are shuffled through subterranean temple chambers, where the start of their expedition awaits as they board their ride vehicles, consisting of two carts that hold six passengers each, twelve riders per vehicle. With this Adventureland, I wanted a new, original attraction that offered family-friendly thrills, but kicks the excitement into high gear. Falls Expedition: Temple of the Tiger will be an exciting indoor/outdoor coaster that utilizes a backwards coaster segment, an elevator lift and a vertical drop element. By design, the coaster vehicles and track are more traditional in style, but with a lot of exciting elements that make it a one-of-a-kind, must-see experience.

The expedition carts dart into the depths of the temple, through a dark chamber of over-grown bats, before reaching a grand temple door, surrounded by fallen and broken statues tigers. Alberta’s voice cuts through the darkness, as she appears from the chamber darkness with torch in hand, the effect achieved by the character appearing on a translucent scrim amidst the set pieces. She says that her clues lead her to believe that her grandfather is locked away beyond the door, but she has no way of getting inside, as the passage is sealed shut.

As if on cue, a ferocious roar rings out through the chamber and Alberta warns us of what’s to come. A mystical force emanates through the chamber and an aura glows around the fallen tiger statues. Then, the magical force reconstructs the statues and the tigers spring to life. While the show scene plays out, the track piece behind the carts switches and rotates out, connecting to a new track that takes guests into the next segment of the ride. As the tigers leap and roar fowards, the cart lurches back. Alberta jumps into her own cart and beckons us to escape before we find ourselves in greater danger. The tigers begin to advance closer, as the carts lurch backwards into the darkness and the first coaster section of the attraction begins. The coaster takes a swirling trip backwards through the darkness and ruins of the temple. The thrills are mild, but exciting for this portion of the ride, as the carts take banked curves evading the tiger figures and shadows that appear out of the darkness. For a brief moment of the backwards portion, Alberta appears to be riding a cart backwards alongside the riders, using her torch to fend off the attacking tigers. The carts begin to slow as a ferocious roar is heard and a mystical aura glows around the vehicles, which now seemingly ‘float’, as if being pulled by the mystical force, turning 180° to be facing forward again before reaching another stop.

In this deeper temple sanctum, the figures of human statues are illuminated by flickering torches. Alberta appears again and warns us that there’s no escape with the creatures on our trail. From the light of the torches, the attraction’s show-stopping moment begins, as a huge audio-animatronic tiger with a glowing eye emerges from the darkness. The beast is massive, unnatural and unlike any real tiger that exists.

View attachment 817583

The carts are caught in the glowing gaze of the tiger and Alberta warns us to avoid looking into the its eye, or we might end up like the stone explorers before them. With a ferocious roar at Alberta’s successful warning, the tiger snarls and enchants the carts and they begin to rise. Masked by fog and the large tiger’s glowing gaze, here is where an elevator lift is used to raise the vehicles to the top of the temple. It’s clear, if the riders aren’t going to fall to the tiger’s paralyzing gaze, it has other plans to rid the temple of them.

With a mighty roar from the beast, the vehicle tips out of the top of the temple and proceeds down a thirty foot drop, racing through banked curves and unexpected twists as the carts make their way through the jungle temple ruins. This outdoor section of the ride is slightly more thrilling than the indoor backwards ‘temple tigers chase’ segment, with the level just slightly more exhilarating to other coasters at Magic Kingdom. The carts twist through the overgrown jungle and turn back into the temple, darting through the ancient chambers at high-speeds before entering back into the chamber with the grand temple door and accelerating forward, crashing through it.

View attachment 817585

Inside of the chamber, the room glows with a mystical aura and at the center of the room is none other than the figure of Dr. Albert Falls, paralyzed in stone after an encounter with the beast. Alberta catches up to us and recognizes her grandfather. As if she’d been following us on our adventure all along with the clues she’d dropped us, Rosita appears from above with Trader Sam’s purifying potion and uses it to return Dr. Falls to life, while beginning work on the other lost explorers. With Falls restored, the tiger deity closing in and the powerful aura causing the temple to start to cave in around us, Alberta takes her grandfather into her cart and begins to kick it into high gear. At that moment, the temple ground beneath the riders gives way and the carts suddenly free-fall drop twenty feet to a connecting piece of track below.

From here, the vehicles kick it into high gear and race through the underground chambers of the temple, before blasting through a fallen wall and emerging back out into the surrounding dark jungles. Rounding the corner, the carts pull into an expedition settlement where figures of Alberta, Dr. Falls and Rosita are waiting for us. They thank us for their help and for rescuing Dr. Falls and remind us that there’s always more exploration and adventuring to do in the Society of Explorers and Adventurers! The carts pull into a campsite outpost set beneath the temple and the riders disembark.

Across from the exit of the attraction, a shop outpost called TIGRIS TOKENS is set, offering ancient artifacts, goods and collected memorabilia from the ancient tiger temple experience. The new shop takes up the previous spot of Tortuga Tavern, now a jungle outpost amidst a grove of tall trees, fallen temple stones and a waterfall pond, the spirit of the tiger appearing from within.

The final bit of info to provide about the land are adjustments to the Railroad. Previously, the train left Main Street U.S.A. and steered into the jungles of Adventureland, crossing over a trestle bridge, the parade route crosswalk and entering the Pirates tunnel, where the boats dropped under the railroad tracks to get into the ride’s bigger show building outside of the park’s berm. In this new plan, most of that is gone. The parade route, crosswalk and subsequent storage building farther off are no longer there, as well as the Pirates tunnel, which has now been changed to Falls Expedition: Temple of the Tiger. Instead and similar to the adjustments to Disneyland’s Railroad, after entering into the jungles of Adventureland, the train makes its’ first left turn on an altered track route! This brings the train’s route all the way to the park’s edge and allowing for more expansion space within. For this new section, the train traverses by a S.E.A. outpost next to a cliffside waterfall that expands into a pool of water full of exotic plants and jungle trees full of tropical birds. A Jungle Cruise boat is capsized next to a group of underwater hippos, as monkeys point and shout from the trees. From there, the railroad proceeds through a small portion of tropical trees, the noises of the animals within sounding out, before the train enters into a dark cavern, which is part of the next land’s territory.

View attachment 817581
View attachment 817582

And that’s a wrap on our new Adventureland! I think it does a good job to help ‘tidy’ up some of the existing land, while utilizing S.E.A. as a strong theme to bring all of the land’s attractions together in a cohesive story. The new attractions (S.E.A. Exploration Campsite, Trader Sam’s Tiki Twist and Falls Expedition) even work together to combine existing elements of Jungle Cruise, Tiki Room and Adventureland as a whole - even giving Rosita her own side story that weaves Trader Sam, the Falls family and the attractions of Adventureland together. A great answer to “I wonder what happened to Rosita?” She was working alongside Alberta all along to guide explorers to the rescue Dr. Falls!

View attachment 817580



Let me know what you think of Magic Kingdom’s new Adventureland!
_______________

-ADVENTURELAND-

ATTRACTIONS
1) S.E.A. Exploration Campsite
2) Tropical Hideaway Treehouse
3) Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room
4) Trader Sam’s Tiki Twist
5) Jungle Cruise
6) Falls Expedition: Temple of the Tiger

DINING
1) Bwana Bob’s Barbecue
2) Aloha Isle
3) The Adventurer’s Club
4) Shiriki’s Juice Bar
5) Sunshine Tree Terrace

SHOPPING
1) S.E.A. Imports
2) Adventureland Bazaar
3) Tigris Tokens

Are you gonna have Roger Rabbit's Hollywood, Dick Tracy's Crimestoppers and Great Muppet Movie Ride for DHS?

 

[KingMickey]

Are you gonna have Roger Rabbit's Hollywood, Dick Tracy's Crimestoppers and Great Muppet Movie Ride for DHS?

Much of Hollywood will be getting an entirely redone facelift, which will include one Roger Rabbit ride that isn’t Car Toon Spin and a Muppet ride that also isn’t the Great Muppet Movie Ride.

 

[DisneyManOne]

Wow, that S.E.A.-inspired Adventureland was incredible! It was so heavily-detailed, I could practically imagine how it would all look in real life; and I loved the way everything blended together! And I can't wait to see what you have in mind for the all-new Pirates ride, too.

 

[DisneyFan32]

Much of Hollywood will be getting an entirely redone facelift, which will include one Roger Rabbit ride that isn’t Car Toon Spin and a Muppet ride that also isn’t the Great Muppet Movie Ride.

Toontown Transit?

 

[KingMickey]

Wow, that S.E.A.-inspired Adventureland was incredible! It was so heavily-detailed, I could practically imagine how it would all look in real life; and I loved the way everything blended together! And I can't wait to see what you have in mind for the all-new Pirates ride, too.

Thank you! I’m glad you liked this newer Adventureland, I wanted to keep it cohesive and I thought adding elements of S.E.A. to be the piece to thread throughout would work well. Pirates will be coming up next.

Toontown Transit?

Yeah, something similar to that. I’m still kicking around ideas of what I think would best suit the new Hollywood park.