Cars area coming to Magic Kingdom

[Parkscope Joe]

The Liberty Belle could have been docked permanently down by Tiana's as a dining location, or even a highly themed lounge.

The old Jim Hill rumors about Villains Land incorporated this, though in that story the villains had comadreared the boat and crashed it.

 

[mccgavin]

Not sure if ive missed the boat on this but wanted to express something that i havent seen articulated, and if Disney does read this forum it might be worth seeing.


I grew up on Disney. My family crossed the Atlantic multiple times a year just to be there. It wasn’t just a theme park, it felt alive, like it existed even when I wasn’t there. The nostalgia was powerful, and we kept coming back. Even when I turned 18, could have chosen anywhere, I went with my mates, Disney was the focal point of the trip. So even when I was an adult (kind of) i still chose disney, that is a powerful hold.

But I haven’t set foot in a Disney park since 2018. Every time I go to Florida now, I stay on Universal property. And with the removal of Rivers of America, that shift feels permanent. When I have kids, they’ll grow up on Universal, not Disney.


Thi isn’t just about one attraction being removed. It’s about Disney losing the plot entirely. The park was never just about rides. If I wanted pure thrills, I’d go to a Six Flags (well probably just Uni now although i dont even like traditional theme parks). Magic Kingdom was special because it felt like a place that existed beyond the moment you were standing in it. The detail, the atmosphere, the way it felt like a living, breathing world, that’s what made Disney Disney. That’s what made generations of families commit to it.

Disney doesn’t seem to get that anymore. It’s not about creating immersive worlds, it’s about slapping an IP onto everything and calling it a day. It used to be that an IP was just a tool to build a world, to create that sense of place. Now, the IP is the attraction, and everything else is an afterthought. It’s lazy. It’s short-sighted. And it’s why people like me, who should have been lifelong customers, are checking out.

If Disney keeps making these kinds of decisions, they’re not just losing a few visitors, they’re losing entire generations of families. My parents spent hundreds of thousands on Disney, and I probably would have too. But not anymore.

The thing is, they already had me. I was theirs to lose. They didn’t need to win me over, they had a massive head start, deep roots in my childhood. But now? Those roots will be in Universal instead. Anyway this is obviously anecdotal but i feel lile my family as customers, are the customers that may have the biggest impact. Like imagine 10-20 years of me taking my kids to Disney, there is a world where that would have happened.

What will be funny in 20 years from now, will be when Universal rips out the lagoon at Islands of Adventure. Will my kid be posting something just like this.

Edit: also looking at that mock up of the ride above makes me think universal needs to rip out kong and build a jurassic park jeep ride asap, and just make sure its better than cars, that would be a supreme move, expert trolling.

"Jurassic park off-road adventure."

I couldn't have said this better myself. Me and my family used to go to the Disney Parks years since I was a small child, but based on the constant stream of bad decisions they've made over the last few years, we mostly feel apathetic towards the parks and their future.

I used to think that the Universal Parks were "beneath" Disney, but I found a deep love and appreciation of UOR when I spent a year living in Orlando, more so than any other park in the area. Between going to Universal parks on both coasts, and engaging with these forums, it's refreshing to be excited for major theme park projects again, especially with the hype leading up to the opening of Epic Universe.

This whole thing reminds me of when Frozen at Epcot replaced a ride that nobody cared about until it was announced they were closing it, but Rivers of America isn't even really an attraction.

In hindsight, the conversion of Maelstrom to Frozen was a bad move, as it stripped the Norway pavilion of any sense of identity. While Remy was added somewhat tastefully, as to not disrupt the theme of France, Norway is now essentially just the "Frozen" pavilion now. This also prevent the franchise from getting a properly built-out land like in Hong Kong and France, which it arguably deserves based on its popularity.

If the ride didn't resonate with you, that's fair, but I personally miss it quite a lot, as it was once my favorite attraction within the park. It isn't as talked about as some other former attractions, but it certainly still has a fanbase out there.

 

[OrlLover]

I think it would've been an easier pill to swallow if they had picked a better IP to replace it imo. Personally I wouldn't have picked Cars. Something like Zootopia, Moana, Coco, Big Hero 6, Tangled... A lot of different options. I get Cars aesthetically speaking fits in the most for Frontierland but idk. I just hope it's worth losing this beautiful area of the park. If the land is just as beautiful and the rides are great people won't care anymore. I mean some will but there's just some people you can never please unfortunately

This is my opinion as well because I didn’t want to believe the rumors of Cars coming to the MK.

However if they are able to emulate what we see in the concept art I will be more than satisfied aesthetically speaking.

 

[AvoidTIMtation]

If the ride didn't resonate with you, that's fair, but I personally miss it quite a lot, as it was once my favorite attraction within the park. It isn't as talked about as some other former attractions, but it certainly still has a fanbase out there.

I didn't hate Maelstrom, my point was that this always happens when something new replaces something old (which i understand in some cases) and with RoA I guess it's hard for me to "get it". It feels like a lot of fans will truly never be happy. We all know Disney has gotten flak for *years* about resting on their laurels, not building anything new and talking about blue sky stuff that will never get built. Fans will say "we want new stuff!", they finally announce new stuff, and fans are like "wait no not like that!" LOL

 

[belloq87]

I didn't hate Maelstrom, my point was that this always happens when something new replaces something old (which i understand in some cases) and with RoA I guess it's hard for me to "get it". It feels like a lot of fans will truly never be happy. We all know Disney has gotten flak for *years* about resting on their laurels, not building anything new and talking about blue sky stuff that will never get built. Fans will say "we want new stuff!", they finally announce new stuff, and fans are like "wait no not like that!" LOL

Part of the annoyance in this case also comes from Disney -- during the previous D23 -- talking about major MK expansions coming "beyond Big Thunder," so the expectation was being set that big projects would be pushing out the boundaries of the park as we knew it.

Cut to two years later, and suddenly the scope has shifted to removing the aesthetic heart of Frontierland/Liberty Square (if not the entire theme park) instead of building fresh on the unused land they'd previously teased.

 

[mccgavin]

I didn't hate Maelstrom, my point was that this always happens when something new replaces something old (which i understand in some cases) and with RoA I guess it's hard for me to "get it". It feels like a lot of fans will truly never be happy. We all know Disney has gotten flak for *years* about resting on their laurels, not building anything new and talking about blue sky stuff that will never get built. Fans will say "we want new stuff!", they finally announce new stuff, and fans are like "wait no not like that!" LOL

When looking at the Disney Parks fandom as a whole, I don't think there is a general consensus of what the community actually wants. This is such a vast and varied community that spans many generations and demographics, and with a brand that is so heavily tied with nostalgia, different groups of people are going to value different things. Personally, the Rivers of America is a lot more important to me than MuppetVision, but I know many others would disagree.

As for expansion, I can definitely understand where the criticism is coming from, as there is not a compelling reason that many of these new projects are replacing beloved aspects of Walt Disney World when it has "the blessing of size". Mission Space, the current version of the Imagination pavilion, Tomorrowland (especially the Tomorrowland Speedway), and Animation Courtyard, feel like prime candidates for redevelopment, along with the unutilized expansion plots that exist at all 4 parks.

 

[Tobias]

Of course. Dynamic showed it off years ago and there's been no developments on it. Considering this is the company that brought us the VFX coaster are we shocked? I just don't think the technology is there yet for such a trackless ride vehicle.

Yeah, in the back of my head the trackless concept of this seemed like a nightmare in more ways than one. So I'm not bothered they're going for a tracked option.

As for those who are out there, it wouldn't be the first time that a project has undergone changes here and there, nor will it be the last. Granted, it would help if Disney didn't announce their projects way too early, but they honestly have the worst habit of doing that.

 

[OrlLover]

replacing beloved

Yes that’s very debatable but otherwise I agree with you.