Walt Disney World General
Topic: Tom Sawyer Island Endangered?

#	Author	Message
1	dshyates Wed 1/11/2012 4:28a	From Kevin Yee: "For some weeks now, rumors have swirled about a possible end to the Rivers of America and to Tom Sawyer Island. It sounds like sacrilege, but this is prime territory if you think about it, and a lot of land… and it’s not very highly used by visitors right now. If you took all of that out, you’d have a ton of space to work with. One rumor suggests a family raft ride (like Kali River Rapids) possibly themed to a frontier (Pocahontas?) design. If this happens, the Liberty Belle would be permanently docked, and the island might not be a destination unto itself (most of it would probably be demolished or repurposed). Nothing is announced, or in fact greenlit and funded, but that’s the rumor." http://miceage.micechat.com/ke...012a.htm So, what do you guys think?
2	wahooskipper Wed 1/11/2012 5:11a	Bummer if true. Disney should keep these...I don't know the word...tactile experiences. My kids are just getting to the age where I could take them both over there and they could have fun together without me having to worry too much. If they are going to take it out then I suggest they should come up with something a little more unique than a family raft ride.
3	HokieSkipper Wed 1/11/2012 6:07a	It's been talked about for a long, long time. In fact, this concept was passed over for the Fantasyland Expansion (a case of the lesser of two evils, IMO). I don't think it'll happen. Too much would have to go into it, and there are already other viable expansion plots in the park.
4	finallygoing Wed 1/11/2012 6:08a	I hope this isn't true..one of the reasons this is my favorite part of MK is because it is underused and to me it is a santuary from the hordes of crowds at the park. We have been going to the parks since my two, now teenaged, boys were small. They still insist on going back to the island every trip because of the great memories they have of it. Like most of us, I can go on an amusement ride anywhere in the country. I have a river rapid ride less than an hour away from my home. My family doesn't traval almost 2 thousands miles every winter to go on amusement park rides...we go through all the trouble and expense for unique experiences. Disney needs to remember this when they plan something new.
5	Kennesaw Tom Wed 1/11/2012 7:00a	Just a rumor that if someone like myself suggested everyone would be laughing. But when it comes from a known entity in the "Disney fan" community, everyone pauses. 1) The investment would best be spent elsewhere. The Disney company has always championed the MK at the expense of WDW's other parks. At this point the MK is the last of it's parks in WDW the Disney Company needs to be thinking about improving. Every other park at WDW with the exception of the MK is it bad need of rides/ attractions and are experiencing declining park attendance numbers. OK, so maybe you can argue the attendance numbers aren't as bad as should be expected during a recession. But, Disney has to offer constant bargains and deals, free room stays, free meal plans to keep the rooms at WDW and it's parks full. It is triage in the other parks at this point. And there is a direct correlation between new additional rides/ attractions and increased park attendance numbers. Attendance numbers in the MK are not lacking. Therefore Disney would be getting more bang for their buck adding rides/ attractions to it's other Florida parks with declining numbers rather than the MK. All of these parks have huge tracks of real estate ready to be developed, and planned to ultimately be developed that have been left abandoned in some cases for decades. 2) There is plenty of preexisting vacant real estate both inside and outside the tracks and empty building in the MK that tearing something down isn't necessary for future expansions. Disney is already in the process of a major investment in the New Fantasyland reclaimation project. We waited 20 years for the Disney Company to do something with the vacant land formerly used by 20K. Any discussion about draining the River's of America and bulldozing Tom Sawyer Island is in my opinion a bit presumptuous. Walt did a great job in mixing both land and water features in his park. The MK already lost one water feature in 20K. An act that forever changed the atmosphere of Fantasyland. Removing the largest water feature in the MK, although would provide a lot of addition land, would give the MK a "parking lot" feel especially when on a flat Florida landscape. At that point it would be more like a grandiose Six Flags. You can also use the same arguement for taking out any water feature in any park. Why not take out the river that goes around the castle? Why not remove the Jungle Cruise? The MK isn't hurting for land. There is still plenty of available space for additional rides/ attraction both inside the tracks and outside the tracks without even considering removing the River's of America or bulldozing Tom Sawyer Island. Not to mention the MK's already vacant and unused buildings. And quite frankly why not bring back the skyway. It requires little real estate since it travels about the park and would restore some badly needed additional mode of mobility between the stroller congested Liberty Square corner of Fantasyland and Tomorrowland. 3)WDW parks prevailing theme of developement has been that in order for something to be added, something else needs to be removed. I find it oddly ironic that for a company who's founder ultimately purchased a property the size of manhattan so they would never run out of land. The prevailing theme of expansion in any of it's parks is to remove a ride or feature in order to add something new. Horizons didn't need to be torn down in order for Mission Space to be built. World of Motion didn't need to be town down for Test Track to be built. There has been plenty of land around the preexisting pavallions in EPCOT for additional rides/ attractions. 4) It is very frustrating when as a fan of WDW you can see what badly needs to be developed, but Disney management takes a different course of action. So Disney builds a new sitdown restaurant in the Beast's castle and more shops all as part of the New Fantasyland reclaimation project. Meanwhile, other sitdown restaurants in the MK; Aunt Polly's on Tom Sawyer Island, Adventureland Veranda, Diamond Horseshoe in Frontierland and Noodle Station in Tomorrowland all remain closed and unused. I guess Disney management has never considered that instead of building new restaurants and shops perhaps opening some of it's closed restaurants in more optimal areas would make more sense. And Disney's adoring fans buy this hook, line and sinker. "Wow, we are going to be a new sitdown restaurant and some new shops". Never mind the five empty sitdown restaurants and shops you just passed to walk from Main Street to Beast's Castle. How many empty sitdown restaurants and shops is it going to take for most people to understand that perhaps viable, popular rides/ attractions and features in the various Disney parks need not be removed for something "new". I'm posing that question at Disney fans as at this point I firmly believe that the WDW management team is clueless. <rolls eyes>
6	skinnerbox Wed 1/11/2012 7:39a	Two words: Disney Legal I rest my case.
7	A Happy Haunt Wed 1/11/2012 7:52a	NO!!!!
8	HokieSkipper Wed 1/11/2012 7:54a	<<I'm posing that question at Disney fans as at this point I firmly believe that the WDW management team is clueless.>> Some are clueless. Some don't care. Some do. Doesn't really matter as long as the place is setup like a feudal kingdom.
9	Manfried Wed 1/11/2012 8:02a	One word: Sinkhole.
10	HokieSkipper Wed 1/11/2012 8:05a	^^^Yes. The sinkhole excuse has always been my favorite.

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