I actually said the same thing during the presentation the other night to a friend. I really don't want to see HoP removed (I know that would be another controversial thing) but if it must and we get a Muppet AA show, I think it could be kinda cool.
Cars area coming to Magic Kingdom
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- Oct 10, 2017
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I find it hilarious that people are upset over a river getting replaced. That area is literally a dead zone. I’ve been to MK countless times and I have never once given it any of my time. Good riddance. Bring on Cars Land!
Frontier in the USA has always been an ever changing element as settlers/pioneers pushed westward. Heck, I live in the Pittsburgh area and this was the original 'wild frontier' as settlers crossed the Appalachian Mountains. Nearly every original western Pa. settler was killed in the raids and wars that ensued. And the Settler/Indian wars were larger here and Ohio than they ever were further west. Cedar Point, Ohio has a replica Fort Sandusky that was a few miles from the park and was the furthest extent of settlement at one point in time. Davy Crockett's (featured at original Disneyland) first Disney TV adventures weren't in Texas at the Alamo. Those riverboat scenes happened much further east. Bottom line is that the Frontier Land could be anywhere in the USA. Louisiana was once frontier too...even Jamestown and Salem would qualify....It's really as broad based as 'Adventureland', 'Fantasyland', and 'Tomorrowland'. 'Frontierland' fits as well as any of those other original park lands.....Some peoples concepts of 'Frontier' are based more on old cowboy movies than any real history.
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Jason Cochran (travel writer for Frommers) does a great job explaining why this is a bad move:
The point I like most about his article is how Disney continually drains the Theme Park profits to finance underperforming areas of the company, instead of channeling enough into the parks to increase capacity. I've been saying that for years, and I fully agree with that part of the argument.
This was the original plan for Frontierland. You started from Liberty Square (late 1700s), made your way to the Mike Fink Keelboats and Davy Crocket Canoes and Liberty Bell representing the "alligator-men" of the Mississippi/Appalachia, then moved into the cowboys of the Old West. The street numbers correspond roughly to the years as they pass. Of course, the whole thing was screwed up at open when it didn't go on to Tomorrowland (in the 1950s/60s, the moon program was sold as "the New Frontier" with astronauts portrayed as modern cowboys), and adding ca. 1870s GA in the middle of ca. 1880s Old West didn't help. Then the pre-cowboy references were largely removed. So at this point, sadly, I'm ok with subdividing the land, as long as the resulting attractions and mini-lands are solid. Something near perfect like Radiator Springs is better than a compromised Frontierland.
It doesn't work like that. If I am in MK and I wanna take a break and chill, I am not going to exit the park and go to a hotel or Disney springs. You'd want some place close to you to do that.
Theming/Atmosphere is just as important as attractions in the theme park experience. All of the rivers/jungles in Animal Kingdom are critical to the park's experience/goal. Remove them in favor of adding retail/attractions with no regard to aesthetics, and you ruin the park.
A good example of taking abandoned/low-attended areas is VelociCoaster. It completely changed IOA's skyline, yet resulted in increased capacity and interest in areas of the park previously empty.
A good example of taking abandoned/low-attended areas is VelociCoaster. It completely changed IOA's skyline, yet resulted in increased capacity and interest in areas of the park previously empty.
This is a situation with eerie parallels for me (though not on the level of significance or impact as ROA at MK). I know everybody tends to have the consensus that VelociCoaster improved the atmosphere and aesthetics of IOA, but I don't see it that way. I think the (quieter) jungle atmosphere of Jurassic Park was very important to the park.
But I won't get into that here!
Yeah VC, to me, is an example of taking an area like TSI and adding a reason to go there as the waterfront area is still there but just not quiet as it use to be.
The loss of aesthetic value is certainly going to be more pronounced at Magic Kingdom, unquestionably.
I can still go down by the lagoon in Jurassic Park if i want to (there's too many people and a coaster is constantly screaming by, so I don't want to much anymore... but at least I could!).
I can still go down by the lagoon in Jurassic Park if i want to (there's too many people and a coaster is constantly screaming by, so I don't want to much anymore... but at least I could!).
