Disney's Dark Kingdom (Complete list on pg 24)

[Figment632]

Is there anywhere online to view this art?

Not that I know of I only saw one piece about 5 years ago.

 

[mcd2745]

I don't know where the first poster got his info, but IT'S TRUE. My great Uncle is an imagineer with Disney. I should probably not say his name though.

D79 missed two sections of the park though.

Mean Street USA and The Hollow

Mean Street: has buildings w/angry expressions
Pirates Cove: Hook, Curse of the black pearl, etc
Ghost Town: Stinky Pete's Roundup, Phantom Mountain
The Hollow: Headless Horseman's last ride, Nightmare b4 xmas, Boogey Manor
Villian Ville: Hoppers (Dumbo), Its good to be bad(dark/singing), Oswald's Revenge???
Witch Way: Salem looking village w/ various witch attractions

also the castle was supposed to have a dragon coaster

its not going to happen though because they decided to do expansions instead.

From a business standpoint, I can certainly understand the decision - it's clearly the right decision business-wise. However, that sounds like a great park, one that would generate a lot more excitement and anticipation than Avatarland, that's for sure. But from the guest/fan's perspective, it's a shame it will likely never be built.

 

[Faldred]

I don't know where the first poster got his info, but IT'S TRUE. My great Uncle is an imagineer with Disney. I should probably not say his name though.

D79 missed two sections of the park though.

Mean Street USA and The Hollow

Mean Street: has buildings w/angry expressions
Pirates Cove: Hook, Curse of the black pearl, etc
Ghost Town: Stinky Pete's Roundup, Phantom Mountain
The Hollow: Headless Horseman's last ride, Nightmare b4 xmas, Boogey Manor
Villian Ville: Hoppers (Dumbo), Its good to be bad(dark/singing), Oswald's Revenge???
Witch Way: Salem looking village w/ various witch attractions

also the castle was supposed to have a dragon coaster

its not going to happen though because they decided to do expansions instead.

Putting aside the fact that it is unlikely to ever see the light of day (or dark of night!), and just looking at it as if it were a real possibility... this is probably the intent, but it looks like this would work as a corrupted copy of the Magic Kingdom, with each of the permanent (not counting Toontown) lands having its evil counterpart:

Mean Street leading people in toward Malificent's Castle (Main Street USA/Cinderella's Castle)

Starting clockwise...

First to the left is Pirate's Cove. Adventureland has taken over by Hook and other pirates (such as those from PotC) turning it into the Disney version of free-wheeling Tortuga.

Continuing on, Fronteirland has now been abandoned and left to rot as a Ghost Town.

The dark side of Americana replaces Liberty Square with The Hallow. What would be humorous is if it had an "Unhaunted House" -- the only place in The Hollow where you can't find any ghosts... now to figure out how that would fit in...

Instead of a Fantasyland ode to Disney's fairy tales and princesses, Villain Vile is where many of the bad guys have taken residence, telling tales of their rise to power, or how things should have turned out, if all had gone according to plan.

Finally, Tomorrowland's positive vision of the technological future is supplanted by Witch Way, a land stuck in the superstitious past.

With the addition of the Dumbo-themed circus to Fantasyland, I could also see the idea of a corresponding Stromboli's Puppet Show area based on Pinnochio.

 

[Minnesota!]

nice timing!

Agreed!

From a business standpoint, I can certainly understand the decision - it's clearly the right decision business-wise. However, that sounds like a great park, one that would generate a lot more excitement and anticipation than Avatarland, that's for sure. But from the guest/fan's perspective, it's a shame it will likely never be built.

I agree with this, too! That sounds like a BLAST and one I would EASILY expand my vacation 2 days to visit!

I don't think it's so much that people DON'T want to spend more time in WDW to see the parks/new parks...it's that in corporate America...vacation time can be extremely limited. Hard to get away for 10 days in most instances.

While I would like to see the Dark Kingdom come to fruition, I would prefer to see expansions and rehabs at the existing 4. They are sorely needed. A pretty new park isn't going to take away the ugly old ones.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

I feel like i'm reading my way through the 4th dimension....

How and the heck do these stupid "new park" rumors get going all the time.

The sheer economics of them building new parks in the US makes it completely silly...not to mention the labor, overhead, saturation...and many other good points that others have addressed.

time off being a big one...as i think in the US you're going to see whats already a pitiful amount of time off fall almost across the board as the B's pull the strings to squeeze more outta those left in the workforce moving forward.

But really...i think your timeframe in ANY new parks in the US being somewhere between the range of "way long time"...20 years plus...and "never"...self explanatory.

I see the latter being more realistic.

 

[tjkraz]

OK so what's this "new info on page 14"?!?! Must be the message from the first time poster with the fictitious Imagineer uncle.

I agree with this, too! That sounds like a BLAST and one I would EASILY expand my vacation 2 days to visit!

Yeah, but would you do it EVERY TIME...year after year? Of course not. Whatever your historical vacation pattern might be--6 days, 7 days, 8 days or more--nobody can realistically claim they will extend that stay by an additional 2 days ad infinitum, no matter how great the park sounds or even how great it turns out to be.

Perhaps for a trip or two it would be new enough to prompt you to extend but before long you'd be back to a familiar duration with less time spent at the existing parks. Problem is Disney's then left running 5 parks for decades to come, with thousands of added workers on their payroll.

No matter how appealing a new park sounds, it would cause Disney's operating expenses to grow by 20-25% (that's after construction costs.) And none of us can honestly say we would spend 25% more on our vacations year-after-year to justify the added investment.

 

[Faldred]

OYeah, but would you do it EVERY TIME...year after year? Of course not. Whatever your historical vacation pattern might be--6 days, 7 days, 8 days or more--nobody can realistically claim they will extend that stay by an additional 2 days ad infinitum, no matter how great the park sounds or even how great it turns out to be.

Perhaps for a trip or two it would be new enough to prompt you to extend but before long you'd be back to a familiar duration with less time spent at the existing parks. Problem is Disney's then left running 5 parks for decades to come, with thousands of added workers on their payroll.

No matter how appealing a new park sounds, it would cause Disney's operating expenses to grow by 20-25% (that's after construction costs.) And none of us can honestly say we would spend 25% more on our vacations year-after-year to justify the added investment.

That's one side of it. On the other side, however, a 5th park would provide additional capacity, allowing Disney to expand what they really want in terms of making money: resorts and DVC units. But the only way this makes sense is if they're consistently filling their current resorts to capacity, and I'm pretty sure that isn't the case right now.

 

[Rence]

This is so clearly someone's "Wouldn't it be cool if...." ideas from a few years back - that turned into a rumor that won't seem to die.

 

[disneysource]

Starting clockwise...

First to the left is Pirate's Cove. Adventureland has taken over by Hook and other pirates (such as those from PotC) turning it into the Disney version of free-wheeling Tortuga.

Continuing on, Frontierland has now been abandoned and left to rot as a Ghost Town.

The dark side of Americana replaces Liberty Square with The Hallow. What would be humorous is if it had an "Unhaunted House" -- the only place in The Hollow where you can't find any ghosts... now to figure out how that would fit in...

Instead of a Fantasyland ode to Disney's fairy tales and princesses, Villain Vile is where many of the bad guys have taken residence, telling tales of their rise to power, or how things should have turned out, if all had gone according to plan.

Finally, Tomorrowland's positive vision of the technological future is supplanted by Witch Way, a land stuck in the superstitious past.

With the addition of the Dumbo-themed circus to Fantasyland, I could also see the idea of a corresponding Stromboli's Puppet Show area based on Pinnochio.

Very Nice, that's how I see it as well. I love the idea about the Stromboli puppet show, that would probably be in the Villain Ville part of the park. Beautiful.

 

[mcd2745]

Alright, since everyone pretty much acknowledges/agrees that a 5th gate makes no sense for Disney and wil not be happening for a very long time, if ever...how about demolishing most of DHS and replacing it with this concept!!!

I know this would never happen either, but it certainly would generate a lot more interest and visitors than DHS ever will.

 

[Dfan79]

Alright, since everyone pretty much acknowledges/agrees that a 5th gate makes no sense for Disney and wil not be happening for a very long time, if ever...how about demolishing most of DHS and replacing it with this concept!!!

I know this would never happen either, but it certainly would generate a lot more interest and visitors than DHS ever will.

People with lit torches would show up at the CEO's home.

 

[nytimez]

People with lit torches would show up at the CEO's home.

People with lit torches should show up at all CEOs homes, every night.

 

[mcd2745]

People with lit torches would show up at the CEO's home.

HA! I guess I didn't realize there was so much love for attractions like the Studio Backlot Tour.

 

[Dfan79]

HA! I guess I didn't realize there was so much love for attractions like the Studio Backlot Tour.

Oh I didn't realize you were serious. I thought the wink mean't you were half joking.

They've got 4 great rides Tower, Rockin, Toy Story and Star Tours. I agree though about Backlot tour, that and Streets of America stink.

 

[nytimez]

Oh I didn't realize you were serious. I thought the wink mean't you were half joking.

They've got 4 great rides Tower, Rockin, Toy Story and Star Tours. I agree though about Backlot tour, that and Streets of America stink.

The park has some great attractions. But it's just a mess overall and has a lousy layout. There's no pleasure in navigating DHS -- none at all. And yet two of the best rides in all of WDW -- ToT and RnR -- are not only in the park, but right next to each other.

This should be a better park. But it's just not.

 

[Dfan79]

The park has some great attractions. But it's just a mess overall and has a lousy layout. There's no pleasure in navigating DHS -- none at all. And yet two of the best rides in all of WDW -- ToT and RnR -- are not only in the park, but right next to each other.

This should be a better park. But it's just not.

I agree, I don't understand why they waste so much land. Everyone wants to go to the same spot. Because there's nothing on the left/back part of the park.

Also there should be a pathway near Rockin/Art of Animation.

 

[mcd2745]

Oh I didn't realize you were serious. I thought the wink mean't you were half joking.

They've got 4 great rides Tower, Rockin, Toy Story and Star Tours. I agree though about Backlot tour, that and Streets of America stink.

I was half-joking.

But thing is, you could actually easily incorporate RnRC & Star Tours (with some minor modification), and ToT into the Dark Kingdom/Vililains concept. That's why I said demolish most of DHS. TSMM...not so much though. That would be a much more difficult one to incorporate. Even Fantasmic! can fit in - after the villains rule the park for the day, at the end of F! Mickey and friends defeat the villains and "reclaim" the park. You can even use the projector technology they are using in MK for the MM&Y castle show to visually "transform" the park's bulidings and structures back to "good/normal" from their "dark" versions once Mickey defeats the villains in F!, giving everyone a nice, happy, Disney ending to the day.

It sure is fun to spend someone else's money isn't it?

 

[mcd2745]

The park has some great attractions. But it's just a mess overall and has a lousy layout. There's no pleasure in navigating DHS -- none at all. And yet two of the best rides in all of WDW -- ToT and RnR -- are not only in the park, but right next to each other.

This should be a better park. But it's just not.

I also agree that the layout is the biggest problem. You always feel like you are constantly doubling back through the same areas as you tour it. Plus, I think they could do a much better job with how they schedule all the shows. They don't make it possible to go from one to the other. Usually, one starts around the exact moment another lets out.

 

[Dfan79]

Its actually not that bad of an idea. I just don't think there's enough land at Hollywood unless they make a parking garage(ala Disneyland & Universal)

 

[Faldred]

If we're going to pile on DHS, I'll ad my two Disney Dollars:

In addition to the confusing and haphazard navigation, the park lacks any kind of consistency in theme, showing its evolution as just slapping things together over time.

They really need to step back to the drawing board again, re-envision what they want the park to be, and develop a long-term plan to get there.

Since it's no longer a working studio, the whole Studios concept needs to be looked at from a fresh angle. I would suggest redefining the park as an ode to all forms of entertainment, with the notable sub-divisions of:

• Stage: Broadway-style shows such as TLM and B&tB
• Silver Screen: GMR, a Star Wars land or "Lucasland", more
• Small Screen: ToT, Muppets 3D, attractions/exhibits focusing on current shows
• Animation: I'd break this into three subsets -- 1) classic animation (a real "toontown"), 2) Disney XD/Jr, 3) Pixar Place
• Radio: AI, RnRC, more

Ideally, related theme attractions should be located together, but existing layout causes problems.

Given unlimited resources, here's what I'd do:

• Relocate the sorcerer's hat outside the gates.
• Build Star Wars Land (SWL) -- re-do the IJ stunt show as something from Star Wars, retheme Backlot Express as the Cantina, add an E-ticket like the proposed "dueling Death Star" coster design from that guy in Virginia, add a Clone Wars themed attraction, and then theme the entire area in Star Wars style. Make the swath from GMR through SWL the "silver screen" zone, relocating the Sunset Boulevard theme to here and adding a couple of new attractions to pay more homage to the film industry.
• Bulldoze the backlot tour, LMA show, and "Streets of America" (move the Osborne lights first, though!). The part adjacent to the new Star Wars land back toward the AI Experience becomes the "Radio" area. Add in new attractions based on the music industry, theme the area based on classic Motown and/or Nashville (note on the latter, despite its current reputation for Country, Nashville was one of the biggest places for Rock&Roll as well). IF AT ALL POSSIBLE, major project to move/renovate RnRC to this zone.
• The remainder of the bulldozed area will be turned over to the Animation section of the park, which will extend through the current Pixar Place. Build a real Toontown and relocate Art of Animation and One Man's Dream back there. Add the proposed Ratatouille and Monsters Inc. attractions (and the Ratatouille restaurant!), as well as a copy of Cars Land. Build the XD/Jr subsection with attractions that make it easy to change the sets/content to reflect current shows while keeping ride systems the same; relocate the PHD (now DJ, I assume) live show here.
• Relocate the TLM show to the old Sunset Boulevard area, which is now Broadway, adding more Broadway-themed attractions and exhibits.
• Starting from ToT through the old Animation Courtyard, you now have the "TV" area. Relocate Muppets 3D and 50sPTC here. Add more exhibits and attractions, again with the concept that set dressing can be changed as shows come and go, while keeping the immersion and integrity of ride systems consistent through the programming changes.