Final Shots: Last Weekend to Enjoy Frontierland Shootin' Arcade at Disney World

8 days ago in "Frontierland Shootin' Arcade"

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Frontierland Shootin' Arcade overview 2024

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Posted: Saturday June 22, 2024 7:45am ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

This weekend is your last chance to experience the Frontierland Shootin' Arcade at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom before it permanently closes at the end of June 23, 2024, to make way for a new Disney Vacation Club Member Lounge.

Frontierland Shootin' Arcade overview 2024

Disney announced in early January that construction on a brand-new Disney Vacation Club Member Lounge in an unspecified location will begin in 2024 at Walt Disney World. Disney said the new lounge "will be a great place for members to relax and recharge during their day of fun!" The closure of the Frontierland Shootin' Arcade was confirmed by Disney on June 13.

The Frontierland Shootin' Arcade is a classic attraction located in Frontierland at Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World. Opened in 1971, this interactive experience allows guests to test their marksmanship skills in a Wild West-themed setting. The arcade features over 90 targets, each triggering different animated effects when hit. Using replica rifles, guests aim at targets such as bottles, tombstones, and animals in a detailed Old West scene. The attraction operated on a pay-per-play basis, but is now free.

Frontierland Shootin' Arcade overview 2024

In addition to the new DVC lounge, a number of changes are in store for Frontierland, including the new Country Bears Musical Jamboree opening this summer, and a likely retheme of Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn and Cafe into a Princess and the Frog tie-in with the nearby Tiana's Bayou Adventure.

Disney recently said in a post on its official blog, "Hold your horses, we're not done yet. We have a lot of growth and investment planned for our theme parks in the coming years and look forward to sharing more announcements about Frontierland … so y'all come back now, ya hear?"

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pdude814 days ago

Sure there are other places this could have gone. But this was basically unused when you had to pay for it, and sparingly used when free. And I hope that the other unused spaces prior posters were talking about get better attractions than Freestyle machines and an XBox or two.

DisneyFanatic124 days ago

Would it have been better if it went in an unused space? Yes. Have I seen the Shooting Arcade empty almost very singly time I walked past? Also yes.

aladdin20074 days ago

:) probably ... but I guess I meant the exterior.

TrainsOfDisney4 days ago

How dare you! They will hang up a black and white photo of Walt in a cowboy hat! Theming at its best!!!

aladdin20074 days ago

I bet they don't even make this look like it belongs in Frontierland, that's going to be the biggest problem, will see.

Beacon Joe4 days ago

I have many fond memories of the shooting gallery as a child in Disneyland, and then later at Disney World. Shooting with my parents, having competitions with my brothers. We still talk about it if we go out shooting silhouettes at the range. This removal and replacement is so flipping lame and lazy, it's mind-boggling. But it's also so downright lazy and uninspired it's to be expected. ETA: While I know my brothers and I will still occassionally reminisce until our deaths about making the ghost riders appear or making the tombstones creak or shooting the buzzards... I am perfectly certain that my own kids will never once reminisce about that halcyon day they they sat in a DVC lounge and got one "free" pack of gummy bears per hour or when they used a Coke Freestyle.

Bocabear4 days ago

Aren't there other spaces that are currently vacant that could have hosted the lounge? Wasn't there a sponsor lounge in Space Mountain, Enchanted Tiki Room, If You Had Wings? I don't know if these spaces have been converted to other things during the last 50 years, but they were there at one point...If the Pirates Bar is moving to Tortuga, why not in the old Pirate's League? While I hate to lose the shooting gallery, a DVC lounge would be much more appreciated by me and countless others. Yes! we need attractions, but the lounge would be a great perk... Hopefully we will get some new and better attractions...

disneyC975 days ago

We typically go in summers these days (2019, 2021, 2023) Will we stop in if there isn't a long wait? Sure. Was it necessary to take out an attraction for this? No. IMO of course. Others can certainly feel differently and that's fine.

pdude815 days ago

Have you ever been to WDW in the summer? I think you will enjoy the break from the heat, and can likely bring your sister and her kids in with you for a break from the weather there, along with an AHA water or some Pibb Xtra. I assume they are going to theme the inside of this and it won't open until MVMCP season, but that's just a guess. Have there been any rumors on when this space will open?

disneyC975 days ago

I'm a DVC member and unhappy about this change for many of the reasons others have noted. At the very least it reduces the MK attraction count by 1 and removes a small atmosphere attraction that Disney parks typically do well. If there was an attraction replacement here or elsewhere, fine, otherwise this is a net loss for the regular guest. I never saw no one using it. It provided fun (and shelter) for me, my sister and her children during a rainstorm a few times in recent trips. That said, since this is a done deal, I'm curious about what the lounge will be like. We've used the one at EPCOT, but there you have a beautiful space beneath the glass pyramids of Imagination, not sure if they will have windows here or what sort of feature besides a room with some free soft drinks and snacks, might make it special. I doubt it will be a space I feel the need to stop in.

erasure fan16 days ago

This is a good point. The problem is, how many times has it been updated? If I remember just once in the early 80s to make it infrared instead of pellets? The tech could be updated, it could still look and feel old timey, and make it more interesting to play. It's a ongoing Disney issue.