Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom portal removal begins

JoeCamelApr 06, 2021

HIs name was Jonathan Ackley https://www.mobygames.com/developer/sheet/view/developerId,4791/

thomas998Apr 05, 2021

Good chance it was not even the original designer when it was at MK. The first version of it was at DL which was moved and changed a bit when it was pulled out of DL where because of that parks local nature would have a very short lifespan.

nickysApr 05, 2021

They’ve started removing the portals though. And someone posted here that it’s the maintenance of the game itself that’s the issue, not sure what it’s written in but I believe the designer has moved on.

uncle jimmyApr 05, 2021

The game was created for those who visit MK often or with the 16 month active player time limit(I believe thats what it was). Last time we were there we played for 3 hours and had to wait while others were playing. Which I was surprise by the fan-base that had people meeting up to play the game. I could see them moving the cards & screens to mobile devices, but have the hidden touch-points throughout the park(s) still.

thomas998Apr 05, 2021

Considering all the hardware wad installed for it and all that was really required wad having 2 or 3 castmembers to pass out cards this was not costing them much as they rarely made any changes to it. I suspect it had more to do with covid crap than anything else. If popularity of an attraction versus the cost of operation was what really mattered then things like people mover would have been yanked out long ago.

jeanericuser001Mar 31, 2021

That is wishful thinking. That is the same wishful thinking that some people have about many small attractions that fade away but alas over time things change. Disney was already spending a bloody fortune even before covid and as part of those improvements they were going to need to make some changes. Besides SOTMK was likely never meant to be a permenent attraction. Its similar to the kim possible game over at epcot. That also went belly up as have many other things. If they were to be permanent then much more resources would have been dedicated to that. Tron on the other hand is a major dedicated effort costing a massive sum to build and will undoubtably be at the park for decades while SOTMK will be just a distant forgotten memory of a lost mini attraction like the console game section of innoventions or the communicore before that. Small attractions like this come and go all the time. Who knows, maybe in the new play center at epcot they may have a new version of it there with a different design element. For now is just a relic that will happily reside in the warm memories of some just like the upstairs area of journey to imagination. As for those complaining about disney having unlimited resources, that is alas not true. Disney doesn't have unlimited resources. They don't have unlimited space. They don't have unlimited bandwidth for internet communication. They don't have unlimited funds. They don't have unlimited employee resources. Everything to some extent is budgeted and some times in order to make improvements in one place they often end up sacrificing something else. SOTMK was not exactly a simple free game using no resources. It needed technicians. It needed regular maintenance of its tech. It needed all these other little things that may not seem like much but when you add them all together it actually becomes costly. When something is no longer worth the profit expenditure disney will often close it down. You should honestly feel lucky it lasted as long as it did. I have seen mini attractions at innoventions that went under faster than that game did. Disney has need for new resources and this will just have to be one of those "necessary" sacrifices that will have to be made so new attractions can be brought in as replacements.

UNCgolfMar 31, 2021

Which isn't a reason to close what was already there, as long as it was still working (although the cameras were not working very well last time I was there when my GF played). Still added something more to do at the Magic Kingdom and although returning guests may not have cared about it, there are always new kids making their first trip. I absolutely understand wanting to replace it with something newer, but don't understand shutting it down and removing everything right now with no replacement on the way. Even if they didn't want to use it during COVID, they could have just left the portals in place but turned off for the time being.

pdude81Mar 31, 2021

Tron really has nothing to do with SOTMK, and if not for the pandemic we'd likely have both this year.

AmidalaMar 31, 2021

Still really disappointed with this move. Like others have said, I would be 100% ready and willing to move on if a replacement option was planned, but I doubt we'll be seeing one anytime soon. Yeah, the tech was a little antiquated, but not to the point of killing the enjoyability factor. SOTK was a fun way to explore the park, not just for kids but for APs, CMs, etc. looking for something different to do for a few hours. And I really appreciated the novelty of the free/collectible cards! Definitely preferable to Play Disney Parks for me. Also, Tron and SOTMK are kind of an apples to oranges comparison aren't they? Obviously an E-Ticket coaster will attract more guests than an interactive game, but there's room for both kinds of attractions at the parks. That's like saying Wilderness Explorers should be discontinued because DAK has Expedition Everest.

jeanericuser001Mar 31, 2021

A new attraction that will easily attract hundreds perhaps thousands of people eager to ride this new coaster. Yeah that sounds like a decent replacement. Its still a ways a way but patience is a virtue. Besides out of the major attractions SOTMK was a low tier attraction that was likely to get taken down eventually. Very likely disney may one day repurpose it for a mobile game similar to other mobile card games but for now like thanos its dust in the wind.

JoeCamelMar 31, 2021

It would have been special if it kept evolving through the years but when Jonathan was shifted to the ill fated game division SotMK was left static. The designer is gone so no one to pick up the work and no budget.

Dutch Inn '76Mar 31, 2021

I will miss SOTMK - I even collect the cards - but I think it has run its course. No one in my family had any interest in playing any longer. Folks new to WDW might have liked it, but my family was done with it.

Cmdr_CrimsonMar 31, 2021

I'm guessing A Pirates Adventure is next but, since the props fit the area no one would even mind that..

JoeCamelMar 30, 2021

AFAIK there is no support for the software so the game is static. They can do the special characters as that capability was built into the original design but no further development is possible without going back to square one and they might as well start fresh with a blank slate if they wanted that but we all know how many voices are lobbying for the limited budget dollars so not a priority. The hardware is tough to keep up as well, it has two full time techs assigned in the MK I think and a couple of people in Burbank so the labor along with the ones we see at the distribution stations adds up. RIP SotMK psst: anybody need cards?