Disney announces a ton of attractions and cruise ships at D23 fan expo

Well, yes, this rendering does make it appear it is in the river. That does surprise me.

Sharpel007:

And as Jeff said there is nothing but swamp to the north and west of MK, unlike at DL.

To this I would simply say...it was all swamp once. That doesn't feel like the excuse for why they wouldn't go north or west.

Ironically this means it’s not even Beyond Big Thunder…

I feel like they will make something up about infrastructure… I just don’t get wiping out a picture esque attraction and setting you already spent millions building and designing, when you have all the undeveloped swap in the world.

I have not gone near WDW news today or Parks YouTube today but can only imagine the reaction.

When is the last time you went to the island? Heck, when is the last time Aunt Polly's was even open?

The island is dead space in the world's most popular theme park, and if they pull off anything even close to New Fantasyland in execution, picturesque will not be a problem.

Villains Land is the "beyond Big Thunder" project. Cars was announced as being part of Frontierland, which we can now see to be true. I was expecting them to leave the front loop of the River from Tiana's to HM but clearly I was wrong.
Also, people should lower their expectations on the big ride being RSR east. RSR's footprint would fill all of the real estate shown in the concept renders, so this ride is going to be about 1/2 the size of RSR.

I don't think anyone here is expecting it to be Radiator Springs Racers.

I'm not surprised or even upset about the Island itself (though just because I haven't been on it in a while doesn't mean it wasn't enjoyed by others). I rarely saw empty rafts going to and from the Island during the day, so plenty of people were still enjoying the attraction.

I'm more surprised with the loss of the river. I can't imagine Disneyland without Main Street and I feel like the Rivers of America (with the paddle wheeler meandering long) was just about as iconic. I'm not upset, nor will I lose any sleep. I'm just surprised. It is a bold decision by Disney, and I just assume they thought it was necessary.

On the upside, getting around that area of the park during a parade can be a nightmare at times. Assuming this creates new "midways" that provide alternate means to get around if you don't care about the parades, this is probably a good move.

What are the odds that Disney could sneak a casino onto one of its new ships? Zero?

I'm not a cruiser, but I was under the impression that Disney cruise line's theaters take up the square footage that would be devoted to casinos.

Losing the river will be a big change to the area, but as you point out (and unlike Main Street), no one can walk on it*.

I hear you on the rafts being busy, but (a) they only run in daylight, (b) often don't open with the park, and (c) don't move that many guests on/off the island per hour. That's a HUGE amount of space devoted to placemaking plus the guests on the boat/visiting the island. I am confident that they can come through on the placemaking bits some other way.

Re: casinos. They are flagged in the Bahamas, so I assume they can if they want to. So far they haven't wanted to--given the limited real estate, each sq. ft. that goes to a casino doesn't go to something else, and Disney has invested in e.g. very large kid spaces. [Edited to add: and as pointed out, the theater] However, ESPN has gone all-in on gambling (see what I did there) in just a few short years. So it's not as unthinkable as it once was, but my money says they won't (ibid).

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*: Well one guy could, but he's not around these days.

bigboy:

I don't think anyone here is expecting it to be Radiator Springs Racers.

I am kind of expecting Radiator Springs Racers Racers: Drift Edition.

Regarding there not being casinos on the ships, I commend Disney for that. I feel like they can be eyesores, and that would especially be true on ships that are exceptionally beautiful just the way they are and don't really have any wasted space to begin with. Leave the casinos to the other lines.

Disney doesn't seem interested in Royal Caribbean style megaships, which look hideous to me from the outside. That's the weird thing, that on paper it seems like there would be less to do on DCL, but even on a 10-day itinerary on a ship I'd been on a dozen times, I never feel that way. It's not that they need to make room for a casino, they just choose not to have one.

I also don't think it would be heavily used. I've said this before, but because of the mix leaning toward families with children, "adult nighttime stuff" is not very busy relative to what I'm told is common on other lines. If families turn in at 9 or 10 because of the kids, the bars will not be busy. I've closed Skyline at midnight (Dream/Fantasy) with two other people in the bar, and have gotten to know so many bartenders that they remember us.

If Disney Cruise Line needed a casino they would have one already.

I commend Disney for not being interested in the megaships, and I commend them for that. I've seen one of the Oasis-class ships in person, on top of many photos and videos, and it almost seems like there's just too much going on with those. I'm a bit put off by the Disney Adventure because of its megaship nature, but given how far away it'll be based, it's not like it's bumping one of the nicer ships out here.

Also, I agree that a casino likely wouldn't draw too much of a crowd on a Disney ship. I don't have much lounge experience, but I too have never really noticed any being particularly busy. I would suspect that it would be similar with a casino.

I don't think I'll ever see the Adventure in real life, and I'm skeptical that they'll make enough meaningful changes for it not to feel like the ship it was originally designed to be. It will always be the bastard child of the fleet.

And yeah, after 27 cruises (another in a few weeks), I love the quality, attention and intimacy of the adult scene. We've met and stayed in touch with so many great people over the years. Heck, one of the cruise directors lives nearby when between contracts, and we know common people. It's all the opposite of what I'd expect from a product owned by a huge multinational media conglomerate that makes cartoons.

A few minutes of armchair speculation got me to this. Yellow is cars. Purple is villains.

I wonder if using the river and island for cars is an attempt to stay inside the railroad. Seems like there's plenty of room to build without removing anything if they go beyond that. Something about the blessing of size.....

From the concept art, the path into the heart of cars land comes from the haunted mansion side, but I can't see it outleting anywhere. I hope I'm wrong about that.

Similarly, my villains land is a big old dead end. It would be great to link around to Gaston's, but there's a bunch of stuff in the way, particularly the utilidoors entrance.

Just one man's thoughts.

I’m not feeling both Cars and Villians at MK….they seem just thrown in there haphazardly. Cars to me feels much more appropriate at Studios. I had hoped Villians could be it’s own park but I could also see it as an extension somehow connecting the stories between Fantasyland and Liberty Square (stories from Maleficent to Legend of Sleepy Hollow connecting the transition makes sense to me.)

Pure fantasy but we’ve discussed managing Magic Kingdom with a mirrored version. Imagine if they could have made another Magic Kingdom that the villains took over and made their own. 😀

Anyhow. There’s a lot of land that can be used if they think beyond the river and train constraints. The imagineers are creative people. I guess if we see a new lagoon being dug nearby soon we will have our answer.

I wonder if using the river and island for cars is an attempt to stay inside the railroad. Seems like there's plenty of room to build

This looks like the plan, which makes sense the train was just down how long for Tron? and maybe don’t want to extend utilidoors?

Also once the island is gone so is the dry dock and all that backstage space, so with that land, and the adventure land spot where moana was supposed to go they still have all the room close, on top of all the cushion swamp.

If you look closely at the Villains land art there is a coaster train underground in the bottom of the image. I also hear they want to build a Mansion themed restaurant on the way back to villains.

but I can't see it outleting anywhere. I hope I'm wrong about that.

if you look back by BTM there is a group of trees between the kids ride and the main ride, I bet there is a bridge back there to BTM, but even if not, there is now a loop in Frontierland. Just instead of Galaxies Edge at DL it’s now western cars land.

I see a-lot of bitching about the mountains facing the Frontierland streetscape but are people really dumb enough to not realize the Rockies and Dakota's also were part of the old west? Deadwood? McCabe and Mrs Miller?

Im also curious what they do to the back of that massive show building thats faces Tianas now.