Alright friends, this post has some pretty divisive thoughts, so bear with me.
At D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event, we got TONS of news about what we’ll see coming to Disney World in the coming years, and some of those announcements were focused on Magic Kingdom specifically. We got TWO major announcements that I personally am thrilled about, but very quickly it became apparent that a lot of people aren’t fans of these new developments. Here’s the thing though — I think there are a LOT more reasons to be excited than to be salty about these changes!
When we asked for hot takes on the AllEars Facebook page, reader Tom said, “It’s always changing so don’t get salty…get excited.” So, here are some reasons fans are excited about Magic Kingdom’s biggest expansion yet!
We’ve Been Asking For This
You may be yelling at your screen right now, “I didn’t ask for THIS!!” but I think we can all agree that we’ve been asking Disney World for new ideas and attractions, not just “blue sky” projects, which is Disney’s wording for things that they’d like to happen, but there’s not an official guarantee.
All of the announcements we got at D23 were things that ACTUALLY will be happening, and that’s EXACTLY what the majority of Disney World fans have been asking for for years. Especially for Villains Land — y’all, we’ve been asking them for that for as long as I can remember. And now it’s actually ON THE WAY!
Bottom line, it’s impossible for Disney to please everyone — literally, we’re all different people with different ideas and thoughts for what the company should do. It’s important for Disney to listen to their consumers and keep them in mind while making decisions, and this seems to be an example of that!
It’s What Walt HIMSELF Wanted!
And we have proof of this too! Walt described his dream (Disneyland Park at the time, soon to be Disney World as well) as “something that will never be finished” and imagined Disneyland itself as a place “that I can keep developing, keep ‘plussing’ and adding to—it’s alive.”
Walt didn’t mean that the park would be finished when he was no longer here — he said it would NEVER be finished, and therefore, if the parks stayed static and never evolved as the times do, Disney would be doing a disservice to Walt’s wishes. Even right after Disneyland opened, Imagineers were taking note of where people wanted to sit so they could place benches there, redirected walkways to better assist with traffic patterns, and so much more.
So it makes perfect sense that Magic Kingdom would continue to evolve with the times. Now, I understand that a lot of people feel that adding Cars to Frontierland will ruin the current feel of it, but here’s the thing…that may be the point! Just as we’ve seen new editions of attractions over the years, this may be a new version of Frontierland emerging that better suits Disney World’s current crowds and what consumers are interested in.
Does that mean it’s a very sad fate for the Rivers of America and Tom Sawyer Island? Absolutely, BUT they’ve been around for nearly 53 years and 51 years respectively, and that’s a pretty amazing legacy. And if Disney looks at it from a logistics perspective, both of these attractions aren’t bringing in many guests. Since they’re using the area behind Big Thunder Mountain for the Villains Land, they’ve gotta do away with something else to make room for the new and exciting.
It’s Not Like We EXPECTED The Parks to Stay The Same
Let’s look at this from a completely detached point of view for a second — pretend you have no emotional ties to anything in Magic Kingdom. We have a theme park that’s been around for nearly 53 years. If that park didn’t change AT ALL, if it was exactly the same as it was over 5 decades ago, would it be as popular and successful as it is?
The answer is, of course, a resounding NO! We get tied to attractions we adore, and that makes perfect sense, but if we look at things logically and realize that said attraction (in this case, Tom Sawyer Island and the Rivers of America/Liberty Square Riverboat) isn’t a huge seller for the company, they are filler attractions at best, it makes sense that a company needs to do away with them to make room for something that has a bigger draw.
Again, that doesn’t mean it’s any less sad, but those of you who have been around since the park’s opening, or remember the earlier days, you’ve seen the parks change countless times. Were all of them great decisions? Well, everyone has their own opinions, but we’ve definitely seen Disney make some choices and then almost immediately reverse them or change them to something else (aka the second edition of Journey into Imagination with Figment, which was called Journey Into Your Imagination and had NO FIGMENT — that only stuck around for, I kid you not, 3 years), but they’re human too! We all make mistakes, and Disney is not immune to them.
My point is: the parks change and we’ve KNOWN THIS for as long as we’ve been Disney World fans. Sometimes it’s a small change, like a menu item is added or taken away, and other times it’s larger, like changing a whole scene in Peter Pan’s Flight to better fit with today’s time. Change is hard, absolutely — I struggle with it a lot myself in everyday life — but it’s also a big part of life that no one can avoid, even Magic Kingdom.
But don’t worry! We’ll be keeping you updated on all the latest Disney World news so you’re as prepared as can be for your upcoming trip, so be sure to stay tuned to AllEars!
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Are you looking forward to these new additions to Magic Kingdom? Why or why not? Tell me in the comments!
Walt wanted his parks to grow, but he had an overall vision that does not include destroying the esthetics of the parks. He purchased enough land so that future expansion would be possible. Expansion and change are necessary, I agree, but destroying what exists instead of creating from nothing is anti Walt Disney. He very deliberately separated the different lands in the Magic Kingdom right down to changing the music so people could immerse themselves and be transported, leaving the real world behind. This was very important to him. esthetics have always been important in everything having to do with the four parks. Attention to detail, back story, setting the mood. This was never meant to be the ultimate “thrill ride” capital of the world. It was to be so much more. In the rush of a Disney vacation, it is refreshing to come upon the rivers of America and pause to catch a breath and just take in the moment. Ambiance. They’re getting rid of all of it that exists. There is nothing wrong with preserving the past. The past can coexist with the future. Respect and preserve Walt’s vision.
So those who don’t like the changes in Magic Kingdom AREN’T TRUE Fans then??????????? There are some who feel the Disney Corporation has so much undeveloped lad they could make another park rather than take away some of the rides (for those of us who aren’t into roller coaster rides or fast moving ones!!!!
I realize the Disney Parks are going to change over time (and they have to), but this latest round of announcements is SO MUCH at once and just feels like a desultory, knee-jerk reaction to Epic. It’s like they’re telling the world, “Pay no attention to what’s going on up the street…we can build shiny new things, too!”
This article is spot on! Great perspective and very realistic. No one is booking a trip to WDW for TSI, and the current target audience would rather have an area more suited to the majority of children. I’m sure if you asked any kid today whether they want Disney to build 2 new Car attractions or keep TSI, they would 100% choose Cars. No one goes to TSI, and arguing to keep it because no one goes to it, makes zero sense for a theme park – the point is for people to go to it. If you’re trying to get away from the crowds, choose a different vacation destination. Frontierland evolving into a newer version/perspective is true as well. Some people can’t see it for some reason, but it makes a lot of sense to repurpose an unused area, and I’m looking forward to this exciting change!
I agree with JGH. Filling in the Rivers of America is a bad idea. You lose so much of the easy-going, nature-filled ambiance of Frontierland. And what’s wrong with NOT having all attractions be headliners? As someone who doesn’t enjoy crowds, JP, you can probably recognize the appeal of having access to a less crowded, low-wait time, and peaceful journey on the Mark Twain Riverboat. It’s a great break and change of pace. Yes, it’s nice to see new attractions. But Disney envisioned future parks as ever-evolving with the addition…or plus-ups…of new areas and attractions. I doubt he would approve of bull-dozing charming, classic areas. (At Disneyland he lived to have breakfast at the River Belle Terrace to enjoy the beautiful views of Rivers of America.) You know what could make people happy? Keep the beloved, classic attractions and add a fifth Gate where the Imagineers can go crazy.
While Villain’s land is a welcome addition, it is an addition. You are wrong about Car’s land.
Cementing in the river to cram a completely out of place IP land is a bad idea. The new land really belongs at Hollywood studios but if WD Co. feels it has to be in MK then they should make it an expansion like the Villain’s land. That was the point of buying over 25,000 acres in Florida wasn’t it, so they could expand?
Expanding is always great, especially with all those acres available, but leaving something around that’s no longer as profitable as it used to be due to waning popularity is not good business sense, as the operational costs associated with keeping it open can become gratuitous and harmful to the company’s bottom line.