Originally Posted By brotherdave Ok, after poking a little fun in an earlier post, I actually have thought a little more about what I'd love to see by WDW's 50th. Magic Kingdom - As the park that would be the centerpiece for the celebration, I would imagine that they might copy some of Disneyland's more successful 50th anniversary elements into the MK's celebration. Gold painted vehicles of opening day attractions, HUGE fireworks celebration, etc. What I'm hoping in the years leading up to 50th though, is a complete upgrade of the entire park. It's been sitting stagnant long enough. - At least one, if not two new E-Ticket attractions for the park - Redevelopment of Fantasyland into a much larger, more inviting land. Extend it all the way back to the train tracks to fill it out more. Add at least two more 'C' ticket dark rides (101 Dalmatians and/or an updated Mr. Toad or Alice in Wonderland, perhaps) and at least one 'E' ticket spectacular to the mix (ie. Little Mermaid). A major 'Mountain' attraction would also be a great fit (such as an innovative water coaster themed to the Villains might work). - Tomorrowland - I'd love to see a major E-Ticket added here. I know that the Carousel of Progress is often slated for demoliton by many, but my feeling, leave it here, especially for the 50th as a tribute to Walt. Just update it in appropriate ways, possibly adding a fifth stage (if possible) to represent the present (or future). Build the new E-ticket in the 'parking' area that once was the home of the Galaxy Theatre. As to what it can be, well, I almost hate to see more 'toon' related attractions in Tomorrowland, but perhaps the once proposed Incredibles robocoaster attraction might be a good fit here. EPCOT Center - Return the original name, first and foremost. - Wonders of Life - Redevelop this attraction building into either an updated 'Stormchasers' attraction, focusing the entire pavilion on weather forecasting and/or disaster preparation. Another possibility is to update it to a newer high-tech Adventure Through Inner Space. They could re-use the Body Wars simulators to match the newer theme. But they could also utilize other facets of the building to offer shows and exhibits about new developments and inventions from chemical research. - Journey Into Imagination - A fourth retooling of the ride to make it more similar to the original, but with fantastic new effects to help 'spark' the guests' imaginations. A new 3-D movie that raises the bar yet again in interactive 3-D movies, perhaps starring Figment and Dreamfinder. - World Showcase - At least ONE new country! (Can we get at least ONE?!? It's been 21 years since they've added one!) Anyway, I really don't care which country may get added, but something like Brazil, Greece, Russia, or India might be ideal. Whichever gets added, it should contain at least one major attraction, hopefully an impressive dark ride. I'd also love to see Germany finally get it's Rhine River dark ride, and perhaps one other existing country get a major attraction. (Mt Fuji coaster in Japan would be sweet!). - Disney Hollywood Studios - A major new land needs to be added, even if it is a Pixar themed land. Put in the Monster's Inc Door Coaster, but also add at least one more family C-Ticket non-interactive dark ride based on another Pixar movie. (Bug's Life or Wall-E maybe?) Of course, possibly redesigning the Catastrophe Canyon area into that park's version of Carsland, complete with Cars themed E-Ticket ride. Regardless, this park needs at least one major new attraction, and at least a few smaller attractions. My pick, an Indiana Jones themed water ride replacing the Stunt Show. Perhaps an exciting water coaster ride inspired by the military duck chase in the last movie, though I'd rather it not be based on that film, but a stand 'storyline' like Temple of the Forbidden Eye. Of course, if that's too ambitious, a clone of the Indiana Jones Adventure would at least suffice. - Animal Kingdom - This park needs to expand the most, simply to make it a true full day park, complete with it's own nightime spectacular (Rivers of Light, perhaps). Anyway, I'd love to see some more minor attractions for each existing land. Of course, the addition of Beastly Kindom would be ideal, with many of that lands proposed attractions finally seeing the light of day, with at least ONE E-ticket attraction, if not TWO! I'd also love to see an additional continent land added. Australia would be ideal, in that area to the north of Asia. South America would also be a good additon. Of course, whichever is added, at least ONE major attraction outside of animal enclosures and displays would be necessary. A few minor attractions would be welcome, too. In any case, this would be the ideal time to reroute the Wildlife Express to connect Africa, Asia, and the new continent together. Yes, we'd have to suspend belief about the train crossing oceans to do so, but who cares? It is truely needed as a transportation system within this ever sprawling park. Besides, there actually might be more interesting things to see than the concrete paddocks of the animals and Conservation Station along the way. Actually have the train go THROUGH some animal enclosures (similar to Kilamanjaro Safaris) to add to the appeal of the ride. Locate additional stations in Asia and the new continent in conjunction with the current ones. - WDW Resort - I also would love to see the monorails extended to the other parks and Downtown Disney. I doubt that would happen, but with gas prices inevitably going to rise again, it would be proactive (and greener) to go electric with the monorail vs busses. Anyway, these are just a few suggestions I'd love to see by WDW's 50th anniversary.
Originally Posted By CarolinaDisneyDad Can you imagine a monorail system that encompasses the entire resort and removes the need for buses? It would probably have the greatest impact of any addition. I know they can't just build it. But it would be great if they would just add a little at a time each year until they are done like with maybe a 15 or 20 year bulid period.
Originally Posted By CarolinaDisneyDad <<<What about something like the WEDway? easier? more/less expensive?>>> What is the WEDway? I also wondered, what if the parks were connected by gondola. It would take longer to get there but should be much cheaper to build. Then park hopping could be a ride unto itself.
Originally Posted By CarolinaDisneyDad In that case the WEDway would be great too. A smaller less expensive way to still link all the parks. I think I like that better than the gondolas ,although the view wouldn't be as good, it would probably be easier and safer to operate.
Originally Posted By bobbelee9 <<Now it's the TTA! She's just old school that all!! >> Yup, and I take the packet boat from the Polynesian Village to the MK. I don't understand the need to change the names of things.
Originally Posted By bobbelee9 It just hit me, you mean air gondolas, not the water kind. No thanks, I rode the Skyway once, stomach was not happy.
Originally Posted By brotherdave ^^Too much of a liability and they were not wheelchair accessable. They're also tough to evacuate in case of a power outage or breakdown. Many parks began removing them after some terrible accidents in the 70s and 80s including one at Six Flags St Louis where one of the arms in a tower broke off sending one bucket crashing to the ground killing 3 passengers. Disneyland even had an incident where a passenger fell out. Fortunately, he was not hurt seriously. (I believe it was the fault of the passenger doing something stupid.) Not many of these are left today. Cedar Point and both Busch Gardens parks still have their's. There are a few others still operating, but not like there used to be. Disney removed both Disneyland's and the Magic Kingdom's during the 1990s I believe. Yesterland.com has a nice tribute to Disneyland's here... <a href="http://www.yesterland.com/skyway.html" target="_blank">http://www.yesterland.com/skyway.html</a>
Originally Posted By CarolinaDisneyDad Thanks for the link brotherdave. Some of my fondest memories are cruising along in gondolas at 6flags over Georgia.
Originally Posted By dshyates May ski resorts still operate gondolas. And the newer types are quite nice. I have said for years that they should put one low in the tree tops around DAK. Not over the Safari ride of course, but as a transpertation system around the park. Similar to how Busch Gardens in Williamsburg uses theirs. A big circuit with stops at Camp MM, one in front of Dinoland near the Nemo show one in Asia near the dird show then one at the entrance of Africa. Then back to Camp MM. One like this one: <a href="http://www.onthesnow.com/ots/images_u/dp/36_18770_dp.jpg_p.jpg" target="_blank">http://www.onthesnow.com/ots/i...pg_p.jpg</a> With air conditioning and onboard music could easily be used without the liability of someone falling out.
Originally Posted By CarolinaDisneyDad Exactly, especially since there is no train or transport around the park other than foot power
Originally Posted By trekkeruss <<Too much of a liability and they were not wheelchair accessable. They're also tough to evacuate in case of a power outage or breakdown.>> Not sure I buy into those arguments. Ferris Wheels have most all those detriments, and probably a far worse track record in terms of accidents. Yet there are plenty of Ferris Wheels in operation. Also, if Disney really removed them for those reasons, why was the MK version operated for five years after DL's was closed?
Originally Posted By brotherdave ^^^Ferris wheels are not usually classifed as transportation, so you don't actually need to load a wheelchair onto it as long as the guest can transfer from their chair to the ride gondola safely. They will still return to the same loading platform that they started from. However, most sky rides are a form of transportation that take you from Point A to Point B, usually resulting in a 'one-way' trip. Most of the older park gondola sky rides just are not equipped to carry a wheelchair, even a folded one. I'm sure some of the newer sky rides might be capable of this, but I don't recall a newer model sky ride added to a theme park in the U.S. in the last 20 years or so. Maintenance of the sky rides may play a factor, too, as to why they're less of these than Ferris Wheels. But emergency evacuation is certainly an issue for why many parks removed their existing sky rides. Perhaps that is not as much of a problem with Ferris Wheels, I'm not sure. But there are many more Ferris Wheel type rides still in operation and being added than sky rides, at least in the U.S. As for the five year lag between Disneyland and the Magic Kingdom removing theirs, I'm not sure why. The main fact is that both were removed from the parks within a relatively short time span of each other. Come to think of it, I now recall that the Magic Kingdom's skyway may have had a fatal accident involving a cast member near the end of it's operation. If I remember correctly, the cast member's clothing got caught on a gondola and was dragged out of the loading platform when the gondola was dispatched and fell.
Originally Posted By brotherdave ^^^Just to avoid confusion with my last line, the cast member fell, not the gondola.
