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WDW Magic Kingdom: General Discussion

I might not have been on the ride but my views are shared by people who have.

Although you can never truly judge something until you've been on it, I think it also has to be acknowledged that rides aren't like films, in which everyone has the chance to go and see them on opening day. If someone has to ride an attraction before they can join the discussion this would be a very boring forum to be on. A trip to somewhere like WDW is not as easy for most as taking a day off to go to Alton Towers.
 
I do think it looks great but haven't visited WDW because poor, but comparing POVs I can understand why those who have been on it might feel a bit disappointed or underwhelmed. I like the indoor sections and use of screens, and the animatronics look awesome, even if they all do that 'im conducting an imaginary orchestra!' sort of movement haha. It was such an iconic ride that I can totally understand how jarring it might be to big fans of the previous incarnation.
 
Any guesstimates as to when Tron and Guardians will go to Standby Lanes?

I’m going in October and hoping they’ll have gone that way by then, otherwise it’s a case of potentially having to pay for lightening lanes if all the virtual queues sell out before I can get one.
 
There are currently no rumours of it happening currently. They did do a survey about Trons earlier this year and did ask people thoughts on it vs standby etc. Guardians has had it now for two years and expected it to have moved to standby by now. It did work well when I went in 2022 and managed to get a slot 3 times over 3 visits to the park. Also if you don’t manage to get one in the 7am queue. Both rides now aoutside real peak days are easy to get at the 1pm VQ and are often available for hrs after 1pm. You do have to be in the park at 1pm though and it’s also likely to be later that evening when you will get to ride it.
 
Maelstrom said:
There are currently no rumours of it happening currently. They did do a survey about Trons earlier this year and did ask people thoughts on it vs standby etc. Guardians has had it now for two years and expected it to have moved to standby by now. It did work well when I went in 2022 and managed to get a slot 3 times over 3 visits to the park. Also if you don’t manage to get one in the 7am queue. Both rides now aoutside real peak days are easy to get at the 1pm VQ and are often available for hrs after 1pm. You do have to be in the park at 1pm though and it’s also likely to be later that evening when you will get to ride it.
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Thanks.

Presumably this is another way to lure people into paying for lightening lane tickets then hence why they’ve been on VQ for so long?
 
Llama said:
They're soooo close to just going full circle back to the name Fastpass
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I really think they should have just started by stating "we are now charging for Fastpass+" rather than than attempting to rename to start with. No changes to the system, name or anything, just introduced charges.
 
jon81uk said:
Genie+ is becoming Lightning Lane multi pass and will go back to being like FastPass+ where three things can be reserved in advance.

disneyparksblog.com

Updates Coming to Lightning Lane Entry at Walt Disney World

This summer, changes are coming to the Disney Genie+ service and individual Lightning Lane entry, including new ways to plan ahead.
disneyparksblog.com disneyparksblog.com
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Just been reading up on this to get my head around the changes. During the Fastpass+ days our rare trips to WDW would be onsite, and so having the option to select fastpasses 60 days ahead and go into the holiday knowing we had secured shorter waits for at least the headline stuff was a huge bonus, especially since the cost of the holiday was high.

At first this new LL Multi Pass sounded positive - especially the bit about being able to make selections 7 days ahead of the full 14 day trip for onsite guests instead of needing to be up at 7am each day as it was with Genie.

However it now appears that you can only make advanced LL Multi Pass purchases and ride selections from within the USA. So for us international guests the perk of booking ahead is not applicable. We would only be able to start making selections after landing in Orlando. The same goes for off site guests of course - so instead of being able to book 3 days ahead for the length of your 14 ticket, you can't. This puts international guests at a disadvantage and the chances of being able to secure the rides you want will be significantly reduced.

Crazy that Disney have done this, yes US guest will make up the majority of visitors, but overseas guests often stay longer and therefore spend more due to more favourable holiday entitlements and the fact they are travelling further and so stay longer to maximise the travel time. Effectively excluding them from this perk seems like a big misstep.
 
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AT86 said:
Just been reading up on this to get my head around the changes. During the Fastpass+ days our rare trips to WDW would be onsite, and so having the option to select fastpasses 60 days ahead and go into the holiday knowing we had secured shorter waits for at least the headline stuff was a huge bonus, especially since the cost of the holiday was high.

At first this new LL Multi Pass sounded positive - especially the bit about being able to make selections 7 days ahead of the full 14 day trip for onsite guests instead of needing to be up at 7am each day as it was with Genie.

However it now appears that you can only make advanced LL Multi Pass purchases and ride selections from within the USA. So for us international guests the perk of booking ahead is not applicable. We would only be able to start making selections after landing in Orlando. The same goes for off site guests of course - so instead of being able to book 3 days ahead for the length of your 14 ticket, you can't. This puts international guests at a disadvantage and the chances of being able to secure the rides you want will be significantly reduced.

Crazy that Disney have done this, yes US guest will make up the majority of visitors, but overseas guests often stay longer and therefore spend more due to more favourable holiday entitlements and the fact they are travelling further and so stay longer to maximise the travel time. Effectively excluding them from this perk seems like a big misstep.
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Yes, I’m really hoping they will have a fix by the time I go in November 2025. As you say it will put international guests at a significant disadvantage and removes a benefit of staying onsite. Even if it is just that the pass is purchased from the website not from the app.
 

Magic Kingdom announcements from D23​

Cars coming to Frontierland​

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Two new Cars themed attractions are coming to as an expansion to Frontierland. Crucially note, this is not in place of. Disney are referring to this as a sub-set area of the existing Frontierland, with the Cars area offering another perspective on the West.

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The headline attraction sees Cars leaving Radiator Springs for an off-road, rally-style experience, heading into the mountains with “mud-pits” in particular called out, suggesting some sort of splashdown element.

In addition to this there will also be a second, smaller attraction, though no further details were really shared. I wonder if this will be a small flat ride or similar, perhaps akin to the Cars Four Wheel Rally at Paris Studios or Swirling Saucers over in DHS.

Construction begins early 2025.

Villains Land​

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Yep, it’s finally happening! In what is being touted as Magic Kingdom’s biggest expansion yet, the park will see a new, sinister area themed to Disney villains.

The area will include two new major attractions, as well as the expected shopping and dining amenities, but beyond that details are vague.

It’s suspected that this will be part of the “Beyond Big Thunder Mountain” plan that has been talked about for the past few years, and permits were apparently filed to build on that plot of land earlier this year. This also ties in with the fact that Encanto has been confirmed for Animal Kingdom, ruling them out for that site. It would probably make the most sense that this area is going there, though with Cars coming to Frontierland as well, it does make me wonder…

Interestingly, it was reported back in June that Disney have also filed a permit for an extended closure and refurbishment of Big Thunder Mountain. Whilst it would make sense that work would be needed in that area to prepare for a park expansion behind it, it’s not clear if we’ll see BTM completely rethemed to match one of the new areas, or simply updated to modernise it and support the transition from the current park boundary to a new land.

The new land was described as “a fearless new vision for what a Disney experience can be.” Naturally, this is Disney so let’s temper our expectations. I don’t think we’re going to be seeing Halloween Horror Nights levels of fear here, but Disney have proven with Tower of Terror that they can create an intimidating but still fun vibe before, so I’m interested to see how this one plays out!

As I say, permits are already in for the BTM plot of land, so work could be starting imminently.


Other announcements include a new nighttime parade and Pirates of the Caribbean themed tavern, both set to open in 2025.​

 
The MK Cars Land announcement is probably the biggest surprise of the event. And I'm not sure how I feel about it. Looks cool but I don't see this fitting within the Magic Kingdom, and especially not as a sub-land of Frontier Land. Areas like Zootopia, Monsters Inc, Cars and anything else in which Humans are not naturally a part of that world do need to be there own area's to make sense.
Thinking about it if Disney wanted a park like Epic Universe (portals leading to different themed worlds) having the world being literal places that humans shouldn't be in would be a really cool idea.
 
So it’s been confirmed that Tom Sawyer and Rivers Of America are going to make way for the Cars Attraction.

Now I’m a massive Disney fan, and I know change has to happen but I don’t know how I feel about this? All that river being filled in for another attraction? I used to enjoy looking out over the river at the island it’s going to be a massive sight line change!

For reference can see Tiana and BTM in the background.
 

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The thing I’m most curious about, and it’s annoyingly not really shown in the above concept, is Haunted Mansion.

Looking at the bottom left of the above image it looks like there may be some planting done to create a woodland area between the HM queue and the Cars development. I really do hope they screen it off appropriately, as it would really kill the vibe of Haunted Mansion having a mountain sat right outside of it! On the flip side, some really dense planting could help make it feel more secluded than it currently is, which would be a positive in my eyes.

It’ll be a shame loosing the river as it’s one of the very few areas that feels open and breathable in what is a really quite cramped park (compared to Paris at any rate). I was hoping they might expand Tom Sawyer island and infill the back part of the river whilst preserving a bit around the front, creating a sort of moat. I’d have thought it would provide a much nicer transition between the existing Western style Frontierland and the new what I’m referring to “Rockys” area.

What this does make me wonder, however, is how big Villains Land is going to be. Looking at the concept art it seems to suggest a major walkway that follows the path of the river from Big Thunder, round to Haunted Mansion.

Overlaying onto a satellite image I’m assuming the red area will be Cars and the yellow Villains.

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When you consider the size of BTM for scale, it makes me wonder how big the guest accessible areas of the Villains Land will be… Unless of course they’re going to re-route the waterway at the very North to follow or go above Floridian Way (this is WDW we’re talking about. Stranger things have happened!).
 
The one thing I have learned following this industry over the last 20 odd years is Disney fans do NOT like change at all and especially anything that involves replacing existing attractions.

Can't say I have any attachment to Tom Sawyer Island or Rivers of America myself so I won't really miss them. What can't be denied is Magic Kingdom needs a lot more high capacity rides to handle the crowds at peak times and I think Disney knows this too. 2/3 more E ticket rides should make a hell of a difference.
 
Based on that concept this isn't being added to Frontierland, this is replacing it. And Liberty Square too most likley, with the Haunted Mansion being perfectly located to join the Villains land.

I can see this going one of two ways:
The bad way: they try and hold onto the remnants of Liberty Square and Frontierland and end up with a complete mess of an area.
The good way: go full in and fantasise the whole of the area. This'll sadly mean loosing the realisem of Liberty Square and Big Thunder. But it sets a new distinct direction for the Magic Kingdom, setting it apart from Disneyland.
 
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