Skip to main content

Featured Post

Are the Disney Princesses Good Role Models? Part 1: Snow White

Changes I Wish I Could Make to Magic Kingdom

Everybody has their own opinions on what would make the perfect park for them. In the Disney Parks community, there is constant discourse on everything from which attractions should come back and which ones should be replaced to what type of music should play in the background or what type of coffee should be sold. If I was magically CEO for a day, here are some of the changes I would make to Magic Kingdom park.

1. Scrap that disastrous paint job and restore the castle to its silver and sky blue glory. Add more (temporary) sparkles for the 50th anniversary.


2. Upgrade the monorails and monorail tracks. Before the park closures, it seemed like a high number of breakdowns were being reported.


3. Put in more seating options on the ferry. I know that having people stand makes it possible to cram more people onto the ferry, but it also makes riding it almost unbearable. And courtesy always comes before efficiency!


4. Change up the menu at Tony’s. I personally love it but it seems food critics don’t. I wouldn’t do anything drastic – maybe just change some recipes around and try to offer more authentic Italian foods. 


5. Add a nighttime parade. I never cared for the Main Street Electrical Parade but

nighttime entertainment is missing something. Since the 50th is coming up, they could plan out a parade celebrating Magic Kingdom. Although a full-blown parade might not be plausible due to a lack of budget, I'm sure things can be scraped together. Some combination of the character cavalcade and other floats they have in storage (like the candy one) could do just fine.


6. Merchandising would be land-specific. Recently all gift shops are starting to blend merchandise from all parks – you’ll find Epcot stuff at Magic Kingdom and Studios stuff at Animal Kingdom.  Things need to be park and land specific to keep with theming, The exception is the Emporium, which will have a little bit from everywhere in Magic Kingdom. 


7. More seating available on Main Street. This will be difficult as to not obstruct the flow of traffic. But more benches in the train station or perhaps stretching out from Casey’s Corner to Adventureland and from the Plaza out to the Tommorrowland Terrace. 


8. Open the Pirates League again. 


9. Add some sort of callback to the Rainbow Caverns to pad out Frontierland. Perhaps a dark ride to draw smaller kids to the back of the park. 


10. Change up the meet and greets at Princess Fairytale Hall. This is how the attraction was originally operating. But recently you can only see Cinderella and Elena on one side, and Rapunzel and Tiana on the other side. Merida has her own meet and greet location in Fairytale Garden. Ariel meets in her grotto by her ride. Jasmine can be seen with Aladdin in Adventureland. Belle interacts with guests in Enchanted Tales with Belle, and can also be spotted at Epcot. On occasion Aurora and Snow White will appear on Main Street. The other Princesses - Mulan and Anna and Elsa are all at Epcot. Pocahontas is at DAK and Moana currently doesn't have a permanent location.


Tiana should meet with Naveen in Liberty Square under the gabezo. Cinderella and Rapunzel should both stay at Fairytale Hall. Mulan and Moana should join them. I may be biased in my love for Mulan - but the fact is her meet and greet line at the China Pavilion is always overflowing. She is more popular than Disney big wigs know. Fairtyale Hall should be set up to where Rapunzel and Mulan are on one side and Cinderella and Moana are on the other. Aurora and Snow White can switch out with any of the Princesses if need be.


11. Switch out Joffree’s Coffee with something less horrible. Perhaps Caribou or another American-made coffee.


12. Create an expanded breakfast menu for Gaston’s (5 dozen egg omelet [not really 5 dozen eggs], cinnamon rolls, French toast, baked apples, vegan bacon, ect.) Before the park closures, many touring plans pointed out how there were not many quick-service breakfast options in the park. And one of the only options - Sleepy Hollow - was always backed up. Adding more options at Gaston's would help alleviate this.


13. Re-vamp Tommorowland. This is something most everyone agrees on - diehard Disney fan or average vacationer. I think Tron will be a much-needed addition. I have two visions for Tomorrowland - one more space-themed and one more green-themed. Either way, Stitch's Great Escape needs to replaced with a fresh attraction and Autopia should either be updated with environment-friendly cars or scraped and replaced all together.


14. Have an actual robot Wall-E roll around Tomorrowland


15. Have a permanent Stitch meet and greet in Tomorrowland


16. This one might be my most extreme suggestion: Halloween parties don’t start until after Labor Day. Add 3 more dates in September and 2 more in October to make up for it. Annual Passholders are barred from parties the week of Halloween. This will free up capacity for average vacationers. Tickets are discounted if purchased so many days in advanced ( a ticket bought the day of will be more expensive than one bought 4 months out). This will entice the public to plan ahead.

Okay, hear me out. I know why Disney has Halloween Parties in August. It's to entice the summer vacationers to spend more money on an extra ticket. But personally, I think it's ridiculous to offer fall festivities in the middle of summer. It ruins the novelty of it.


A huge complaint over the past five years has been just how crowded the Halloween parties have gotten. Meet and greets for special characters are hours long. There have been reports of lines just to buy snacks being 30 minutes long. And there have been reports of several rides not having reduced wait times as promised. Disney has been selling way too many tickets to make the whole thing worth it. The company is clearly making more money by upcharging and selling more and more tickets each year, but the quality of what they're offering has gone down. It sucks, but the reality is with a capacity cap is not everyone is going to snag a ticket before they sell out.


To make up for that, the week of Halloween should have select special meet and greets available all day, such as Jack and Sally, and the villains out. This would be similar to how during the week of Christmas, they run the parade during the day when normally it only runs during the Christmas Party at night. It gives more people the chance to partake in the fun.


17. Bring back Celebrate the Magic. Sure, it probably doesn't hold up if it's shown right before Happily Ever After. But dang it, I miss that show!


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

A Complete List of Disney Animated Movies

 So, you want to know or watch every Disney animated movie ever? Disney Darling Blog has a comprehensive list of Disney movies, broken. down by the studio from which the films were produced.   Disney Animation Studios When most people think of "Disney movies", they are probably referring to Disney Animation Studios films. These movies were made from Disney's official animation studio and theatrically released.  At the time of writing, Disney Animation Studios (DAS) has released 61 movies. In this list, these movies are broken down by era. The Golden Era starts off with the massively successful Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The movies in this era were critically acclaimed and helped establish Walt Disney as a serious filmmaker.  During WWII, the Disney movie studio struggled. To save money, many films were made up of a compilation of cartoon shorts. This era is referred to the Package Era, or sometimes the Wartime Era.  With the war over, D...

A Review of Tinkerbell

One day my friends decided to Disney Bound as the fairies. They asked me which one I wanted to be and I had no clue. I had never seen a Tinkerbell / Fairies movie despite that the franchise was already 8 years old. But after a brief description of the fairies from my friends, I decided to go as Silvermist, the water fairy.  That was a year ago. Just recently I decided it was about time for me to check out this franchise. So I sat down and watched 2008's Tinkerbell. It was not as bad as I anticipated. Sure, there were some cheesy moments and the animation was crude. The movie's strong point was the voice acting of all the different characters. Tinkerbell has an all star cast with Kristen Chenoweth, Lucy Lui, Raven Simone and Jesse McCartney. Tinkerbell is voiced by none other than Mae Whitman. I am a big fan of Mae and she did not disappoint. I also really liked all the different characters, each with their unique talents and personalities. I think little girls could easil...

5 Things I Will NEVER Do At Walt Disney World's Epcot

Epcot is a unique park to the Walt Disney World resort. There’s plenty of rides to ride, shows to watch, food to eat, and alcohol to be consumed. However, there are just some things that I choose to skip at Epcot. Here are the things that I will NEVER do at Epcot: Start in Mexico There is a great debate amongst Epcot fans: start in Canada or Mexico? I am firmly on team Canada. Mexico is a fabulous pavilion, and I like to end on a high note. Plus, the drunker you are, the more exponentially fun the Mexican boat ride is, so you have to save that for last. When it’s the Food and Wine Festival, I love starting in Canada to get some cheese soup first thing. I dream about that soup, and I don’t want to wait all day long to have it.  I also love starting in France from the International Gateway. As long as we don’t start in Mexico! Forget to thank the Phoenicians Did you know that the giant golf ball at Epcot has a ride inside? It’s called Spaceship Earth, and it’s the park centerpiece at...

Walt Disney World Parks: The Basics

Are you planning a trip to Walt Disney World? Or just want to learn more about the parks and don't know where to start? Disney Darling breaks down the basics for you! Disneyland vs. Walt Disney World Disneyland and Disney World are two different parks, located on opposite sides of the country. As mentioned in this post , it is a common misconception that Disneyland and Disney World are the same thing.  Disneyland is the first Disney theme park ever, opening in 1955. It is located in Anaheim, California, near Los Angeles.  Disneyland has two different parks: Disneyland Park (with the castle), and Disney's California Adventure (or DCA). Disneyland also has three hotels and the Downtown Disney shopping district.  Walt Disney World is located in Bay Lake, Florida, near Orlando. It opened in 1971, after Walt's passing. Walt Disney World has 4 different theme parks, 2 water parks, 28 hotels, and the Disney Springs shop...