Things are about to go into overdrive at Magic Kingdom says Disney Parks Chairman Josh D'Amaro

Sep 09, 2023 in "Magic Kingdom"

Gallery / 4 Photos
Beyond Big Thunder Mountain Blue Sky concept art

Posted: Saturday September 9, 2023 10:54am ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

Bruce Vaughn, Chief Creative Officer at Walt Disney Imagineering, joined parks Chairman Josh D'Amaro for a special "Blue Sky" look at what's coming to the Walt Disney World.

Destination D23

According to Bruce, future expansion plans for Magic Kingdom in Florida are the largest ever for the park.

Imagineers are looking to tell stories "Beyond Big Thunder Mountain" similar in scale to lands like Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge and Pandora – The World of Avatar – adding new attractions, restaurants, shows, and more.

When announced in 2022, the proposed new land behind Big Thunder Mountain at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom would include experiences based on Disney animation stories including Coco, Encanto and villains.

Beyond Big Thunder Mountain Blue Sky concept art

Vaughn said, "last year, you said we're looking to tell stories beyond Big Thunder Mountain which is still true. I mean, there's a lot of room to play with around there. And we're looking at the possibility of adding new attractions, restaurants, shows, you dream it we're thinking about it. And like I said, the ideas are looking really great."

Beyond Big Thunder Mountain Blue Sky concept art

D'Amaro responded to Vaughn's comments, "There's still a long way to go. But I just want all of our fans to know that we are about to go into overdrive at the Magic Kingdom. And I am looking forward to spending more time with your team as we keep refining these ideas to create something really special that every single person in here is going to love."

Beyond Big Thunder Mountain Blue Sky concept art

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IncomudroAug 15, 2024

Excellent article.

IncomudroAug 15, 2024

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea...

DisoneAug 15, 2024

I could live with the above. Although as the following article states it seems odd that with the blessing of slides they would need to get rid of rivers of America. With the blessing of size it seemed like they would not need to get rid of anything. How about for once we just genuinely add? Apologies of this article is not typically allowed but it's such a good article. Spot on. https://www.frommers.com/blogs/arthur-frommer-online/blog_posts/disney-is-about-to-gut-magic-kingdom-fans-are-furious-and-you-don-t-have-much-time?utm_source=flipboard&utm_content=user%2FFrommersMag&fbclid=IwY2xjawErSgBleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHXAyq0g9od8Bk40SLDhCBvMSb-DzChXC5TVSsJw-7VU4g-iB0ij6ceT5GQ_aem_eUxZdCAmtbxFYB7CYHMEiQ

BuzzedPotatoHead89Aug 14, 2024

TDO won’t do that, don’t worry. It’ll sooner sit there as an empty plot of unused land a la Primeval Whirl, Tron, Animation Courtyard, or huge sections of EPCOT even if they delay the Villains project. Then they can chalk the savings to deferred construction costs.

UNCgolfAug 14, 2024

I don't know why anyone would even want to keep the back half -- the part that creates the waterfront at FL/LS is the only part that's really important. If they're going to eliminate that, go ahead and eliminate all of it and then create some new water features that fit into Villains (or whatever else eventually gets built up there).

Ghost93Aug 14, 2024

I don't like all of this chatter about keeping part of ROA because I have a feeling if that happened there would be less space for the Villain land (which I want to be as big as possible).

Haymarket2008Aug 14, 2024

It certainly looks like that could be a possibility when looking at the concept art.

DisoneAug 13, 2024

Me wonders if there's any opportunity at all to keep the back half of the rivers of America?

BocabearAug 12, 2024

not only losing the charm of the riverboat and the water, but spatially this area along the riverfront is going to feel very compressed visually... There will effectively be a visual stop just beyond the roadway where the river is... It will feel much more enclosed ...without that openness that the ROA and TSI bring, it may also have less air movement and be hotter.... So I imagine it will be a view similar to the view from Fantasyland looking at 7DMT... a fence barrier and rockwork and trees....

SirLinkAug 12, 2024

I will say this when someone says beyond big thunder, it sounds like it should expand beyond the berm but from recent developments it sounds like it won't which is why this Blue Sky pitch idea in 2022 was stupid.

SupernovaAug 12, 2024

I really need to see the sight lines for this from guest level at liberty square and Frontierland. An aerial makes it difficult to judge. If they can nail some beautiful views - a potential new mountain - and hide the cars from those sidelines in the park, I’ll feel more relaxed about this. Losing the charm of the riverboat is pretty devastating. As others have said, it’s not all about “riding” the riverboat, or making it out to the island. Just walking by and looking at it made me feel so content and immersed in that Disney magic

J4546Aug 12, 2024

Its really a Trucks land imo but we dont really know if there will be any type of cadillac range equivalent or not. we also dont know how much is outdoors....we really dont know much yet.

MerlinTheGoatAug 12, 2024

The art of the Cars miniland they're building at MK looks significantly less entertaining and massively less visually impressive than the DCA variant, even within the different environment. One of the big things that made the original Cars Land so incredible was the impressively large and well themed Cadillac Range. There's pretty much nothing to compare with that in MK's iteration aside from a relatively small mesa/hill/mountain looking thing awkwardly crammed up against the Frontierland/Liberty Square walkway. Not to mention the absence of the connecting Radiator Springs town. The original RSR also had a lengthy and impressive interior dark ride portion inside at the beginning taking up about half of the ride time, whereas this MK variant seems to be almost completely outside. There's an extremely small tunnel segment shown crossing underneath the track in one area, so maybe a couple seconds worth of an interior. I suspect it will still be compared to DCA's variant and considered the lesser experience regardless of it being "different".