Shanghai vs MK

WayTooExcited

A tad overexuberant with excitement...
Joined
May 5, 2016
I'm sitting at work, bored, and I got curious about Shanghai Disney, so I started watching a walkthrough on YouTube. Initial reaction: that place is HUGE! Not just in square footage, but the walkways/sidewalks are gigantic, there's so much room, the castle is ginormous...

It got me thinking... is there anyway that Disney might be able to expand MK? I know they kind of did a little with the new hub, but thinking on the Tomorrowland walkway and the path from Frontierland to Adventureland... I don't think the Disney folks accounted to for the population boom.

What do you think?

EDIT: I'm not talking about making it AS big as Shanghai, I know that's impossible. But I just kind of think Disney's bread-and-butter park should be able to fit a few more people. What do you think they could do? Get your imaginears hat on :)
 
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They could definitely get more creative, like DL California and add a lot more attractions.

For instance, DL figured out how to add the great Indiana Jones ride between Pirates and Jungle Cruise in basically the same space as WDW.
(They basically added a looong queue between those rides , and Indy is out of the park like Space)
Creative usage generally costs more per sqft, so it generally makes more sense using open areas when possible.

At least MK isn't facing the regular capacity issues they had before NFL opened.
 
I'm sitting at work, bored, and I got curious about Shanghai Disney, so I started watching a walkthrough on YouTube. Initial reaction: that place is HUGE! Not just in square footage, but the walkways/sidewalks are gigantic, there's so much room, the castle is ginormous...

It got me thinking... is there anyway that Disney might be able to expand MK? I know they kind of did a little with the new hub, but thinking on the Tomorrowland walkway and the path from Frontierland to Adventureland... I don't think the Disney folks accounted to for the population boom.

What do you think?

EDIT: I'm not talking about making it AS big as Shanghai, I know that's impossible. But I just kind of think Disney's bread-and-butter park should be able to fit a few more people. What do you think they could do? Get your imaginears hat on :)
Well Shanghai has a lot more open space compared MK. MK then has more attractions than Shanghai at this time. Look at their tomorrowland for example. They have two major attractions Tron and the Jetpack spinner and then launch Bay and a marvel meet and greet. MK tomorrowland has speedway, space, stitch, laugh floor, buzz, peoplemover, and CoP. MK makes better use of their space IMO.

MK did just expand their hub to allow for more space. New Fantasyland expanded Fantasyland to allow more space.
 
We visited Shanghai Disneyland a couple of months back. I loved the park and seeing all the lessons Imagineers learned from other castle parks. The Hub is called 'Gardens of Imagination' with enough space to watch shows and evening fireworks/projections without interrupting the foot traffic. Gardens of Imagination also includes beautiful landscaping (with the sounds of birds) and nooks to sit and relax with running streams. This all gives Shanghai Disneyland a charming quality even though the park is massive. In Magic Kingdom more and more landscaping is removed to become a concrete jungle. I would like Magic Kingdom to find a way to improve their landscaping without disrupting foot traffic. Disneyland certainly has managed to retain their gorgeous gardens.
 


Well Shanghai has a lot more open space compared MK. MK then has more attractions than Shanghai at this time. Look at their tomorrowland for example. They have two major attractions Tron and the Jetpack spinner and then launch Bay and a marvel meet and greet. MK tomorrowland has speedway, space, stitch, laugh floor, buzz, peoplemover, and CoP. MK makes better use of their space IMO.

MK did just expand their hub to allow for more space. New Fantasyland expanded Fantasyland to allow more space.
It's also been around for 45 years and added on, the MK slate was sorta bare when it first opened
 
It's also been around for 45 years and added on, the MK slate was sorta bare when it first opened
True however I believe it still had more than Shanghai opened with. Shanghai had a few things cut from its opening date lineup as well.
 
True however I believe it still had more than Shanghai opened with. Shanghai had a few things cut from its opening date lineup as well.
Yeah I'm not surprised. Disney as of late loves cost cutting their budget although shanghai was no small investment
 


We visited Shanghai Disneyland a couple of months back. I loved the park and seeing all the lessons Imagineers learned from other castle parks. The Hub is called 'Gardens of Imagination' with enough space to watch shows and evening fireworks/projections without interrupting the foot traffic. Gardens of Imagination also includes beautiful landscaping (with the sounds of birds) and nooks to sit and relax with running streams. This all gives Shanghai Disneyland a charming quality even though the park is massive. In Magic Kingdom more and more landscaping is removed to become a concrete jungle. I would like Magic Kingdom to find a way to improve their landscaping without disrupting foot traffic. Disneyland certainly has managed to retain their gorgeous gardens.
The thing with Disneyland is it's a locals park and doesn't have nightly fireworks. MK is a once in a lifetime destination for many and has nightly fireworks where people crowd up in the hub to see them. Each park has their own logistics to deal with.
 
Yeah I'm not surprised. Disney as of late loves cost cutting their budget although shanghai was no small investment
Shanghai also had the government investing not just Disney. Everest was one of those things cut from the original plans. Toy Story land was supposed to open with the park but instead is opening as expansion.
 
Shanghai also had the government investing not just Disney. Everest was one of those things cut from the original plans. Toy Story land was supposed to open with the park but instead is opening as expansion.
Are they still building an Everest out there or did they balk on it? Seems like a really big thing to cut both as an attraction and an icon
 
Are they still building an Everest out there or did they balk on it? Seems like a really big thing to cut both as an attraction and an icon
No idea. They could build Everest as they have room for it but I'm sure money is the big factor.
 
Disney could expand the MK if they wanted to. There is a lot of buildable land around the park, both inside and outside the train tracks that can be used for more attractions. However, they really have no incentive to do this as the MK has the highest attendance of all theme parks.
 
Disney could expand the MK if they wanted to. There is a lot of buildable land around the park, both inside and outside the train tracks that can be used for more attractions. However, they really have no incentive to do this as the MK has the highest attendance of all theme parks.
Yep. They'll try to fix some problem areas before they expand more most likely.
 
I always thought their should be hallways behind the stores on main street, like they have in DL Paris. This way the stores aren't so clustered with oblivious people.
 
I always thought their should be hallways behind the stores on main street, like they have in DL Paris. This way the stores aren't so clustered with oblivious people.

Those hallways are fantastic. We were there on a rainy night and people could gather there to wait for Illuminations instead of clogging up the stores.
 
I always thought their should be hallways behind the stores on main street, like they have in DL Paris. This way the stores aren't so clustered with oblivious people.
They do have the uncovered bypass at MK.
 
Those hallways are fantastic. We were there on a rainy night and people could gather there to wait for Illuminations instead of clogging up the stores.

Yeah, I've never been so envious of the French. There is plenty of space to construct it on each side of our Main Street. I don't have a clue why they haven't.

They do have the uncovered bypass at MK.

That's true, but it's only open occasionally and even when the pathway is it's not pretty looking. It feels like you're walking through a backstage area you're not supposed be in.
 
I've got some ideas on how to create space. Some of them you will definitely not agree with. But remember these are just ideas. Don't go Bat poop.

1. Fill in "The Rivers of America" and create rides and pathways (with new attractions like Western River Exposition)
2. Demolish "Jungle Cruise" and "Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse" and extend Adventureland towards the front of the park (with new possible attractions like Fire Mountain, Lilo & Stitch, etc)
3. Create a Tomorrowland expansion behind "Buzz Lightyear" (with attractions like Tron, Big Hero 6 and Incredibles)
4. Create pathways in the front of Main Street to get to Adventureland and Tomorrowland's expansions.
5. Create back hallways for Main Street U.S.A
 
I've got some ideas on how to create space. Some of them you will definitely not agree with. But remember these are just ideas. Don't go Bat poop.

1. Fill in "The Rivers of America" and create rides and pathways (with new attractions like Western River Exposition)
2. Demolish "Jungle Cruise" and "Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse" and extend Adventureland towards the front of the park (with new possible attractions like Fire Mountain, Lilo & Stitch, etc)
3. Create a Tomorrowland expansion behind "Buzz Lightyear" (with attractions like Tron, Big Hero 6 and Incredibles)
4. Create pathways in the front of Main Street to get to Adventureland and Tomorrowland's expansions.
5. Create back hallways for Main Street U.S.A

I don't know if you need to completely get rid of Rivers of America, maybe just make it slightly slimmer. I like the ferry there. Maybe get rid of Tom Sawyers Island. That'll free up a little space.

Also, I'm with you on getting rid of Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse, but the Jungle Cruise is one of those nostalgia things that I think should be kept. If they're going to keep Carousel of Progress, they should keep Jungle Cruise.
 

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