This is a series of articles that are what I’d personally love to see Disney Imagineering do with the Disney parks. The Imagineers know better than me, and I’m sure they have some ideas in store that are far and away much better than mine, but with that being said it is fun to speculate, create, and draw up plans. These ideas will probably never come true, but I’m thinking of this series of articles as a sandbox in which I want to be as creative as possible. I’m a Disney nerd, and since you’re reading this you probably are too, so I’d love to hear in the comments which of these ideas you liked, and what else you think Disney should add to the Magic Kingdom.
Above is my master plan for the Magic Kingdom. The first thing I did was look for areas in, and outside the park that I believe Disney Imagineering has to work with. These areas are either unused land, or areas that could be improved upon.
New Orleans Square – Marked In Red
When Disneyland in Anaheim, California was being developed and constructed in the early 1950s there was originally supposed to be two side streets called Liberty Street and Edison Square. Right now the Magic Kingdom has a back bypass pathway that they open up when the crowds are heavy, but I think there is the potential for a completely themed area back there. These themed side streets never came to fruition, but I think Disney Imagineers should take this old idea of having a side street, and bring Disneyland’s New Orleans Square to Disney World’s Magic Kingdom. I’d love to see some fun New Orleans shops and restaurants added to the Magic Kingdom. Even if there wasn’t enough space for an attraction I still think this would be a great idea!
New Adventureland E-ticket attraction— Marked In Orange
Unlike Disneyland, the Magic Kingdom’s Adventureland doesn’t have a big thrill attraction like Indiana Jones Adventure. There wasn’t a lot of room, but I found a space for a future attraction just south of Splash Mountain, and north of Pirate’s of the Caribbean. It is the current location of the Golden Oak Outpost. While having our own version of the Indiana Jones Adventure might be nice here in Florida, I was thinking it would be even better for Disney to create something completely new and original. Maybe a Lilo and Stitch’s Hawaiian Roller Coster Ride attraction? That would fit in perfectly with the theming, and now that Stitch’s Great Escape is leaving Tomorrowland, this would be the perfect place for him to find a new home.
New Land or Massive Tomorrowland Expansion – Marked In Yellow
When the New Fantasyland expansion had it’s grand opening in 2012 it was the largest expansion of the Magic Kingdom ever. With how compact the Magic Kingdom is, I wasn’t sure if there was room for Disney to ever have an expansion of that magnitude again, but by looking at an aerial view I found out how much space Tomorrowland Speedway takes up, and in combination with the massive amount of land that sits next to Space Mountain there is the potential for Disney to create a whole new land, or possibly a massive expansion to Tomorrowland. The skies the limit with what could be done with this area. A million and one ideas popped into my head when I cleared out this space. This could be a possible space for our own version of TRON Lightcycle Power Run that exists in Shanghai Disneyland, or even a villain themed land of the park, designed to be their hideout in the Magic Kingdom.
Annual Passholder Parking – Marked In Lime-Green
Outside of the park I saw the potential for one massive upgrade for annual passholders. Obviously this change only pertains to a smaller group of people, but nonetheless I think it would be a great improvement. To the east of the Magic Kingdom I marked off a large lime-green area, which I think Disney could use for annual passholder parking. Currently nothing sits on this land. The time it takes to get from your car to the Ticket and Transportation Center, and then to the Magic Kingdom, can take around 20 minutes. This amount of time isn’t too inconveniencing if you are only visiting the Magic Kingdom once or twice a year, but when you’re visiting a couple times a month as an annual passholder it starts to become an annoyance. Having a parking lot that annual passholders could walk to the park from would be great. Right now a lot of annual passholders try and park in places they shouldn’t, like at the Magic Kingdom area resorts, but this just fills up the parking lots for guests at these hotels. While annual passholders shouldn’t be doing this, it is going to continue until Disney gives them a better alternative.
Photo Credit: Disney
