What if…Magic Kingdom was built today?

Disney Warrior

Disney Warrior

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Magic Kingdom, which right now holds around 67 attractions, is (imo) a decent theme park. It (mostly) provides a good balance of attractions, from thrill to family to IP to original. But that begs the question: what if the Magic Kingdom was built in 2024? Would it even hold a candle to the real one? Would it feel like a dystopian version? Maybe. More info on the next post
 
Disney Warrior

Disney Warrior

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Let's start with Main Street, which would now be Mickey Avenue, as in Shanghai Disneyland. This land would be themed to Mickey and friends, of course, and it would add more IPs. The place where you can meet Mickey is now home to all of the Sensational Six. Don't worry, the railroad's still here. It's just that this land doesn't have a turn-of-the-century theme anymore.
Onto Adventureland, which has seen some changes. The Swiss Family Treehouse is swapped out for the Adventureland Treehouse from Disneyland, and the carpets would still exist. But unfortunately, the Tiki Room wouldn't exist. Instead, a new show themed to Moana (retelling the movie) would replace it. The Jungle Cruise would still exist (Disney's not that evil) but with more ties to SEA and random Disney character cameos. Pirates would still exist, except that it would be entirely based on the movies (and it uses the Shanghai ride system).
Frontierland isn't really unrecognizable, but in a way it is. First of all, Tom Sawyer Island wouldn't exist, it (and the Rivers of America as a whole) would be replaced by the Cars themed experience that they're adding in our world. Tiana's Bayou Adventure would be built, and Big Thunder Mountain wouldn't be built. It would be replaced by a coaster themed to Toy Story that only vaguely fits “Frontierland” (it would be themed to Woody's Roundup and have a design more suited for Fantasyland. The shooting gallery obviously wouldn't exist, and neither would the Country Bears (sadly). The latter would be replaced by a show featuring Mickey Mouse and friends (and possibly Toy Story characters too)

See what other changes are made in the next part.
 
Disney Warrior

Disney Warrior

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Anyways, Liberty Square is literally unrecognizable. It's now Villains Land, which is themed to Disney villains. Also, this land would not be an opening day land. Disney would never build the Hall of Presidents today, so it is replaced by a dark ride (maybe a trackless one that takes 5 years to build and breaks down often) themed to Maleficent, Hades, and Cruella. There's no riverboat because there's no river. The Haunted Mansion stays, but characters from the Nightmare Before Christmas are there year round. Yes, there are only two attractions, and they are both dark rides. Sounds familiar?
As for Fantasyland, I don't think it would see many changes. It's a Small World would now have Disney character cameos, Peter Pan would be unchanged, PhilharMagic would still exist, the castle would be themed to every princess (and as such the carousel now has a generic theme), the Beauty and the Beast darkride from Tokyo would be built behind Beast's castle, Little Mermaid and 7 Dwarves would still exist, same with Pooh, the princess meet and greet area, and the teacups, Fairytale Garden would become a DVC lounge, and Storybook Circus would remain the same (except for the meet and greet area; guests will instead meet characters from the newest/hottest Disney movie). (If you were expecting Frozen, they’re not here. They're in Epcot.)
Now onto Tomorrowland, and hoo boy. I think Disney would've ruined this land way more than they did in our world. Firstly, the Speedway would still exist, but it would instead be themed to Wreck it Ralph. Space Mountain wouldn't exist, Tron would actually replace it. As for what exists on Tron's plot? Nothing. There would be no Peoplemover (sadly), but there would still be the Astro Orbiter. Disney also wouldn't have built the Carousel of Progress today, so it goes. Instead, it's replaced by a dark ride themed to Wall-E that takes up less space. Laugh Floor and Buzz would remain unchanged, and Stitch would be replaced by another very simple meet and greet area where you can meet random Disney characters.
The parades and fireworks shows would be the same as our world's, but entirely themed to IPs.

And that's what Magic Kingdom would look like if it were built in 2024. Yeah, it feels like an evil dystopian version of the most visited theme park in the world. If this were real, it would probably open in 2036 (or never). I probably won't do the other parks in WDW because they'd probably be the same if they were built today. Feel free to leave comments.
 
MickeyMouse10

MickeyMouse10

Well-Known Member
Yep, for some strange reason they want to get rid of the Old West theming too. I heard it's because of slavery, but that would mean anything before 1865 can't be used.

Walt must be rolling over in his grave.
 
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MickeyMouse10

MickeyMouse10

Well-Known Member
Disney Universe



I think Epic Universe if it existed would really effect what the park would look like. Even the name would probably be different. Because they wouldn't want to be known as just a World. Another factor is their continued need for representation for p.o.c. characters. So I think Princess Tiana would get the castle, even if they had to make one up. Main Street would be New Orleans Avenue and Frontierland and Liberty Square would be totally gone, and unfortunately so would a lot of the animatronics as well.


The park would be a much lesser version than the one we know and love. Because gone are the Geniuses that made up Imagineering. In their places now sits creatives too influenced by what Universal Orlando is doing down the street.



Adventureland

  • Moana’s Sea Venture (boat ride)
  • The Journey of Water (water play area)
  • Polynesian Serenade starring Stitch (animatronics show)
  • Hawaiian Rollercoaster (family coaster)

  • Lilo’s Pineapple Hut (walkup)



Tropical America

  • Coco: La Musical (stageshow)
  • Casa Madrigal (omnimover)
  • UP and Away: Russell and Dug’s Great Adventure (suspended rail dark ride)

  • Restaurant: Dante’s Tacos



Fantasyland

  • Rapunzel's Lantern Festival (boat ride)
  • Princess Fairytale Carousel (carousel w/ different Disney horses)
  • Tiana’s Magical Mardi Gras (dark ride)
  • Ray’s Bayou Boogie (tea cups)

  • Restaurant: Tiana’s Royal Palace



Tomorrowland

  • The Guardians of the Galaxy: The Ultimate Mix Tape (space mountain)
  • Star Wars Starfighters (aerial carousel)
  • Baymax: The Happy Ride (whip ride)
  • Sugar Rush Speedway (indoor electric speedway)

  • Restaurant: Galactic Café
 
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Miru

Miru

Well-Known Member
Disney Warrior said:
Let's start with Main Street, which would now be Mickey Avenue, as in Shanghai Disneyland. This land would be themed to Mickey and friends, of course, and it would add more IPs. The place where you can meet Mickey is now home to all of the Sensational Six. Don't worry, the railroad's still here. It's just that this land doesn't have a turn-of-the-century theme anymore.
Onto Adventureland, which has seen some changes. The Swiss Family Treehouse is swapped out for the Adventureland Treehouse from Disneyland, and the carpets would still exist. But unfortunately, the Tiki Room wouldn't exist. Instead, a new show themed to Moana (retelling the movie) would replace it. The Jungle Cruise would still exist (Disney's not that evil) but with more ties to SEA and random Disney character cameos. Pirates would still exist, except that it would be entirely based on the movies (and it uses the Shanghai ride system).
Frontierland isn't really unrecognizable, but in a way it is. First of all, Tom Sawyer Island wouldn't exist, it (and the Rivers of America as a whole) would be replaced by the Cars themed experience that they're adding in our world. Tiana's Bayou Adventure would be built, and Big Thunder Mountain wouldn't be built. It would be replaced by a coaster themed to Toy Story that only vaguely fits “Frontierland” (it would be themed to Woody's Roundup and have a design more suited for Fantasyland. The shooting gallery obviously wouldn't exist, and neither would the Country Bears (sadly). The latter would be replaced by a show featuring Mickey Mouse and friends (and possibly Toy Story characters too)

See what other changes are made in the next part.
Click to expand...
“Disney’s not THAT evil…”

That gets me thinking… what if Disney was that evil? How would the Magic Kingdom look if Disney was even more evil than today? Would every land be based on a single IP? Would they throw in Fox stuff despite it not fitting in? Would Mickey Avenue become Marvel Avenue? Galaxy’s Edge instead of Tommorowland?
 
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The Lochness Monsta

The Lochness Monsta

Well-Known Member
Miru said:
“Disney’s not THAT evil…”

That gets me thinking… what if Disney was that evil? How would the Magic Kingdom look if Disney was even more evil than today? Would every land be based on a single IP? Would they throw in Fox stuff despite it not fitting in? Would Mickey Avenue become Marvel Avenue? Galaxy’s Edge instead of Tomorrowland?
Click to expand...

They are definitely that bad. There's no way they'd do anything creative that wasn't tied to a IP. Eisner was right when he said Iger isn't creative enough to run the company.
 
MickeyMouse10

MickeyMouse10

Well-Known Member
Evilgidgit said:
The Magic Kingdom wouldn't be built today because Chapek would've cut the budget down to it being a DVC kiosk in Miami Airport.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't blame the Covid scapegoat for anything. Daddy Iger has been in charge of things for a very long time. The last Disney park to open in Florida was back in 1998, when I was still actually young.
 
Miru

Miru

Well-Known Member
MickeyMouse10 said:
I wouldn't blame the Covid scapegoat for anything. Daddy Iger has been in charge of things for a very long time. The last Disney park to open in Florida was back in 1998, when I was still actually young.
Click to expand...
The last park to open under direct Disney control period was 2001
 
MickeyMouse10

MickeyMouse10

Well-Known Member
Miru said:
The last park to open under direct Disney control period was 2001
Click to expand...

Yep, that's true. DCA in California. Which was opened up by Eisner as well.

Since then Mr IP (Iger) has reused and destroyed everything in the cupboard. And for some reason he hasn't fired Kathleen Kennedy despite her obvious incompetence.
 
Mr. Sullivan

Mr. Sullivan

Well-Known Member
MickeyMouse10 said:
Yep, for some strange reason they want to get rid of the Old West theming too. I heard it's because of slavery, but that would mean anything before 1865 can't be used.

Walt must be rolling over in his grave.
Click to expand...
I don't think it's because of that, I think it's because most people really don't care about the old west anymore because it's been done to death and you can see a version of it at practically every theme park. The "old west land" is a staple of theme parks all over the world, and they all offer pretty much the same style of stuff, Disney included. It's boring.

Plus, there's a lot more to the frontier than the cowboy thing that Frontierland's been limited to this entire time. They've been missing out on some really interesting things by limiting themselves to the desert, rocks, and the wild west. There's a reason Frontierland's often the worst part of every castle park! It's so limited in scope. I actually think they'd do much better inventing Frontierland today because they wouldn't be nearly as tunnel visioned on the one aesthetic. It's one place their current hodge podge of things approach would work well.
 
Miru

Miru

Well-Known Member
MickeyMouse10 said:
Yep, that's true. DCA in California. Which was opened up by Eisner as well.

Since then Mr IP (Iger) has reused and destroyed everything in the cupboard. And for some reason he hasn't fired Kathleen Kennedy despite her obvious incompetence.
Click to expand...
Now even the TV animation department has been destroyed, and Pixar are likely next on the chopping block… Marvel are making a comeback at least.
 
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MickeyMouse10

MickeyMouse10

Well-Known Member
Mr. Sullivan said:
I don't think it's because of that, I think it's because most people really don't care about the old west anymore because it's been done to death and you can see a version of it at practically every theme park. The "old west land" is a staple of theme parks all over the world, and they all offer pretty much the same style of stuff, Disney included. It's boring.

Plus, there's a lot more to the frontier than the cowboy thing that Frontierland's been limited to this entire time. They've been missing out on some really interesting things by limiting themselves to the desert, rocks, and the wild west. There's a reason Frontierland's often the worst part of every castle park! It's so limited in scope. I actually think they'd do much better inventing Frontierland today because they wouldn't be nearly as tunnel visioned on the one aesthetic. It's one place their current hodge podge of things approach would work well.
Click to expand...

I don't think that is true, but you have a right to your own opinion. If it is upto Iger we'll have 1927 New Orleans and Modern Cars in Frontierland. Does that sound like the right person to be running things?

Look at what they did to Epcot "the Community of Tomorrow" too, adding in Moana which takes place about 2,000 years ago.
 
MickeyMouse10

MickeyMouse10

Well-Known Member
Miru said:
Now even the TV animation department has been destroyed, and Pixar are likely next on the chopping block… Marvel are making a comeback at least.
Click to expand...

I think Pixar will be okay, because they are just going to keep doing sequels. Reusing characters that they came up with under Lasseter.
 

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