There were a lot of cool announcements at D23 yesterday. Here’s a link that discusses all of them
All of this was announced as “real” projects, not “blue-sky”, so this could be really cool. It looks like most of them are slated for the 2025-2027 time frame
Summary of the biggest points:
MK will be getting a Carsland AND a Villians land (the latter to possibly feature a “serious” coaster.
HS will be getting a Monsters Inc. land featuring the long fabled/rumored “Doors Coaster”
AK will be getting the already announced Tropical Americas land featuring an Encanto dark ride and Indy, both with new stories that involve animals. There will also be a carousel
EP - Nothing announced other than a few minor updates on the new Test Track.
The CA parks will also get a lot of expansion, as will some of the overseas parks, but you can read about them in the articles in the link.
Cars land is apparently going to be a mini land within Frontierland, which i think is asinine. Even worse, the rumor mill is already claiming Rivers of America will be drained and Tom Sawyer Island will be demolished. The Liberty Belle is just as iconic as the WDW Railroad, and TSI/Fort Langhorn is the best place to find some peace & quiet to rest in the entire park. Besides, Cars would fit better at DHS; its the next logical step after Toy Story Land. If you want a racing attraction at MK, how about finally getting rid of the worst attraction at the park (Tomorrowland Speedway) and replace it with electric cars, and theme it to Sugar Rush!
My thoughts exactly. I was going to write the same post. Tom Sawyer Island is one of my fondest memories of my first WDW visit as a 12 year old. Alas, I can see why they would want to repurpose it. But leaving Tomorrowland Speedway intact with no plans for demo seems ridiculous to me. TLS is perhaps the worst theme park ride in all of Florida.
I have a few memories of TSI as well (DLR’s version not MK) with the family I was born in, but I have a ton of great memories of TLS with the family I made. The thought of doing anything with TLS hurts my heart. Everyone has different attachments.
All these announcements come right after I just read MSN published 6 days ago. Len’s in there saying they have nothing in the pipeline and I’m surprised both at the timing of the article, especially knowing D23 is right around the corner, and with him not having any heads up that any of this was happening (other than Dinoland, which we all knew was coming thanks to the furious rush to liberate Dino’s).
But I was of the same mind that this rush was instigated by low attendance numbers and the perceived excitement of Epic’s opening next year. I thought they had assumed Tianna’s would be enough.
I understand your points, but the counterarguments are:
(1) While I prefer original non-IP rides, the business reality is that WDW isn’t going back to those so anything new in Frontierland is going to have an IP theme.
(2) Cars is supposed to take place in the Western US so while a stretch, it is kind of Frontierland’ish (at least the scenery could be made to go with BTMRR).
(2) TSI and the Liberty Belle are iconic parts of WDW history, but terrible uses of square footage within the park in terms of the number of guests who use the space per square foot per hour. The existing parks need more attractions and there is a limit to the number of expansion locations in each park.
Thank you for the solidarity. I mean, Imagination is bad, but its also so cheesy its charming. And TriceraTop Spin is a dud that belongs at a carnival, but at least it barely takes up any space. The Speedway is loud, smells, and the queue is excruciatingly slow.
To continue with my critiquing:
I’m on board with Monstropolis/the “Door Coaster” at DHS. As i said in my previous point, its the most logical place for any Pixar additions. The question is, will the park be expanded to accomodate a new mini land? Or is someone going on the chopping block? If RRC was adjacent to TSL, i might be worried for them. Fortunately, theres still plenty of abandoned buildings in Animation Courtyard that can be repurposed (buildings that i will always complain should’ve housed MMRR, and allowed the GMR to be preserved)
I’ll always remember it being the setting for “The Great Outdoors” number sung by the Country Bears, in Disney Sing-Along Songs!
Also making out with my middle school girlfriend on a class trip but i digress…
While i still maintain that Dinoland could’ve been saved if they were willing to invest in it, i suppose Tropical Americas is the best we could hope for. And assuming we’re getting a unique Indiana Jones adventure, i can see it being themed to something more indicative of Incan (for example) culture, rather than just treasure to steal. Maybe even a small museum. As an easter egg, you can also include some dinosaur fossils of species discovered in South America.
I’m a little more hesitant about Encanto, but barring a Colombia pavilion at Epcot i don’t know where else it would fit without clashing (maybe a dinner theatre at Coronado Springs?). However, i do have a controversial opinion of where it should go. The obvious answer would be on the grave of Chester & Hesters. Thats a possibility. But as great a show as it is, I’m thinking move Finding Nemo to DHS. The theatre in the wild is the emptiest section of the park. No one uses it as a bridge between Asia and Dinoland, they always backtrack to Discovery Island. A new major attracrion will help divert the flow of traffic
If it was just a clone of Radiator Springs, i might agree with you. Although Route 66 stretched from LA to Chicago, it is most identified with the Southwest. However, it was emphasized that this is not the case. Whatever this new mini land is, its part of the bigger world of Cars. In addition, while myself and others have already commented on the obvious clash in styles with the rest of Frontierland, don’t forget that this is also being sandwiched up against Liberty Square. Thats an entire second century of difference! And the sound of modern racecars is going to ruin the atmosphere at Haunted Mansion. I still dont understand why this couldnt be built on the other side of the tracks
I consider this a “no news is good news” situation. Other than a new lounge, we don’t have to worry about any mor3 cartoonification at whats supposed to be the more mature park.
From some of the material I’ve read (likely rumor/speculation) the most likely location will be the mostly unused Animation Courtyard with expansion onto new ground beyond
Actually, I use it every time I tour AK - but I hate to backtrack if I can help it. But I agree that it’s the most deserted portion of AK. My issue with the theater is that it takes up a LOT of real estate for a show that is only scheduled a few times per day - and even at that is often cancelled; I’ve had the show in my TPs twice, and both times I’ve gotten there to find that it was cancelled.
From the sound of things, it doesn’t look like there will be a Liberty Square after this. Or a RIvers of America. Or a Tom Saywer Island.
The artwork seems to show that LIberty square is still there. In fact, you can make out the building where the Hall of Presidents is.
It really is a question of Frontierland. Should it retain that name? They mentioned the idea of exploring the “Wilderness”. Either this is a definition of what it means for the name Frontierland, or it hints at a coming name change that will encompass the exploration of the Bayou, Thunder Mountain, and whatever Wilderness Cars takes place in.
A damn shame.
The foreign parks always seem to get more free reign to be creative.
Do you mean the Swiss Family Robinson’s treehouse is located there as well? I dont think I’ll ever be able to afford to visit France, so I’ve never put much research into it like i do stateside
ADDITION: I held off on posting until i could check out “Adventure Isle”. That sounds goddamn awesome.
quote=“ErikTheRed64, post:16, topic:101052”]
The foreign parks always seem to get more free rein to be creative.
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It has nothing to do with free rein to create. It’s all to do with the fact that the foreign parks are locally funded and the building cost does not come out of Disney budgets. And they are willing to spend a lot more on park expansions than Disney is willing to spend on domestic parks. But this might be changing…
A lot of rumors swirling that the Muppets area will be razed to make way for Monstropolis. Disney has not confirmed this, but people analyzing the artist’s concepts are seeing the area’s buildings similar to what is in Muppets Courtyard right now.
Disney now own DLP fully. And are the ones behind the WDS expansion plans.
But more is also expected as their share of the $60m budget, since Lion King is simply a replacement for Galaxy Edge “Lite” that was meant to be coming. Sadly it’s likely that the relatively muted initial response to GE in the US is the reason why it was cancelled.
Really?!