Fantasyland is already seeing a lot of work being done with its expansion. All-in-all, I am pleased with the plans for the expansion areas featuring a Beauty and the Beast restaurant, Little Mermaid dark ride, Seven Dwarfs’ Mine Train, and Dumbo’s Circus area. There is actually nothing I would change about the expansion that is taking place because I feel that it offers a little something for everyone.
That being said, the old part of Fantasyland still needs some work. Much of the changes I would make would not be to the attractions themselves, but rather to the aesthetics of the land. Magic Kingdom’s Fantasyland pales in comparison to the Fantasylands at the other Disney parks. First, the exterior of Peter Pan’s Flight would get a major overhaul to give it more of the appearance of the one in Disneyland Paris.
For Mickey’s Philharmagic the exterior would likewise get a facelift to look like what was originally planned to be a shop called Mickey’s Music Store that would have been located in a proposed land called Mickey Ville (a Medieval-style Toontown) in Tokyo Disney.
Finally, the Teacups would get revamped to look similar to the ones located at Disneyland Paris, which are much more visually appealing.
One major change I would make concerns the area that is currently Snow White’s Scary Adventure. With the addition of the Seven Dwarfs’ Mine Train with the Fantasyland expansion, this attraction is set to be removed and replaced with a meet and greet area for the Disney princesses. I would still remove Snow White’s Scary Adventure, but in its place I would bring to Magic Kingdom a classic dark ride that is found at Disneyland in California, Tokyo, and Paris.
Pinocchio’s Daring Journey tells the story of Pinocchio’s misadventures along with his conscience Jiminy Cricket. Guests board a vehicle themed to a woodcarver’s cart and pass through memorable locations from the movie including Geppetto’s Toy Shop, Stromboli’s Puppet Theater, Pleasure Island, and even have an encounter with Monstro the whale. Like all things in Disneyland Paris’s Fantasyland, the exterior of this attraction is absolutely stunning and would serve as the model for Disney World’s version of the ride.
Tomorrowland:
In my opinion, of all the lands in Magic Kingdom, Tomorrowland needs the most work. There is actually very little “tomorrow” in Tomorrowland. It has become a land where the attractions really don’t mesh together with what the theme of what the land is supposed to be. Attractions such as Stitch’s Great Escape, Monster’s Inc Laugh Floor, and Buzz Lightyear do not belong in Tomorrowland. Another problem with having a land themed after Tomorrow is that it can become dated very quickly. I see two possible solutions to this. First would be to theme the land to a tomorrow that will never exist with more of a sci-fi feel. The second, and my preference, would be to theme it after a tomorrow that was envisioned but never came to be.
My vision of Tomorrowland is much more akin to Discoveryland at Disneyland Paris. Discoveryland presents a vision of the future as seen through the eyes of such visionaries as Leonardo da Vinci, Jules Verne, and H.G. Wells. It is a much more timeless theme because it presents a view of a future that never was and never will be. This would require a major overhaul of all of Tomorrowland’s attractions and the land’s overall appearance. The modern, streamlined feel of the land would give way to a more classic feel with a warmer color palette of gold, bronze, and copper.
The first change would be to the rarely used Tomorrowland Terrace Noodle Station. I have only seen this counter service restaurant open on a handful of occasions and I have always found this transition from Main Street to Tomorrowland to be a little odd. In its place I would put a restaurant that was originally planned for Disneyland Paris. The Astronomers Club was a sit-down restaurant that would have allowed guests to dine in an opulent Victorian setting, smoothing the transition from Main Street to Tomorrowland. The restaurant would be themed after an observatory, with giant telescopes, star fields, and murals. Inside this restaurant, actors portraying famous astronomers throughout history, including Galileo and Leonardo Da Vinci, would wander amongst the guests, entertaining them with comedy, poetry, and tales of the stars.
Combined, the space occupied by Buzz Lightyear and Monsters Inc Laugh Floor is quite large and in place of these two attractions I would create a new dark ride themed after Jules Verne’s “Journey to the Center of the Earth.” The look and theming of the attraction would be very similar to that found at Tokyo Disney Sea’s attraction, but the ride system would be different. Whereas Tokyo Disney Sea’s Journey to the Center of the Earth uses a ride system very similar to Test Track, this attraction at Magic Kingdom (due to space limitations) would be more of a traditional omnimover-style dark ride. Nevertheless, the show scenes would be visually impressive, taking guests past flora and fauna, crystals and waterfalls, and even an encounter with a lava monster.
In place of Stitch’s Great Escape I would bring back an attraction that was once part of Tomorrowland, the Timekeeper. In this 360-degree movie guests encounter a robot known as the Timekeeper who takes them on a journey across the world and through time from the age of the dinosaurs into the future. This attraction would fit very well in this new Tomorrowland because at one point we encounter Jules Verne and H.G. Wells and actually transport Jules Verne into the future along with us. Instead of calling this attraction Timekeeper, as it was so named in the past, I prefer the name that the attraction had at Disneyland Paris and would therefore call it Visionarium.
I would keep Astro-Orbitor, but I would give it a new color scheme and style similar to the Orbitron found in Disneyland Paris.
Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Café would likewise get a retheming, both exterior and interior, to make it similar in appearance to the Videopolis counter service restaurant in Disneyland Paris. In Paris, the Videopolis building is modeled to be a large airship hanger and the craft docked here is called the Hyperion, which is actually the name of the airship in a little-know Disney film from 1974 titled “The Island at the Top of the World.”
Another big change would come with the removal of the Tomorrowland Speedway. This attraction has never really fit with the theme of Tomorrowland and takes up a prime piece of real estate within Magic Kingdom. In its place I would bring back the 2000 Leagues Under the Sea attraction, but instead of making it like the submarine voyage that used to be at Magic Kingdom, the attraction would be more along the lines of the one found at Tokyo Disney Sea, which is much more efficient, easier to load, and has a far greater guest capacity.
Space Mountain would get a major overhaul to make it more similar, in appearance and in the ride itself, to Space Mountain at Disneyland Paris, which is based off the Jules Verne classic “From the Earth to the Moon.” Space Mountain at Disneyland Paris is actually more akin to Rockin’ Rollercoaster and guests are launched up the exterior of the building and into the blackness of space through the top of the mountain.
I love Carousel of Progress, but it does not really fit with the theme of this new Tomorrowland. I have always thought this attraction would be better in Future World at Epcot anyways (and this is exactly where I would move it). In place of Carousel of Progress, but still utilizing the circular-shaped building, I would put an attraction that first debuted at Disneyland but has since been removed. The Flying Saucers attraction was a part of Disneyland’s Tomorrowland from 1961 to 1966. The ride was akin to a giant air hockey table where guests rode in flying saucers and could crash into one another like bumper cars. Of course, this attraction would be themed to fit in with the rest of the land and would give this area of the park of more kid-friendly attraction to make up for the loss of the Speedway.
I would also remove the stage that was originally built for Stitch’s Supersonic Celebration and has since been used only for dance parties. Its location in the middle of Tomorrowland makes it more of an intrusion that anything. I would also bring back the Tomorrowland Theater in its former location between Carousel of Progress and Buzz Lightyear, which is now just being used as a parking lot. I would not have any set show to be performed at the stage, but it would be useful for special events like the Halloween and Christmas parties as well as Disney Magic Music Days performances.
This major retheming of Tomorrowland into an area similar to Disneyland Paris’s Discoveryland would breathe new life into this section of the park and also create a land that is more cohesive in theme and more timeless in nature than the current version of Tomorrowland that we now have.
This concludes my plan for the Magic Kingdom. Up next I will begin my re-imagining of a park that has always been one of my favorites, but has diverged from what the original theming of the park was meant to be. Big changes are in store for Future World in Epcot.
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