Earlier this week we announced on twitter that a 5 article series was in the works. This series will focus on bringing new attractions, mini lands, restaurants, shops and more to the Disneyland Park! Today we focus on the Wild West! So, let’s put on those imagineering hats and get to work!
Disneyland will never be completed. It will continue to grow as long as there is imagination left in the world.
Walt Disney
Land Masterplan
The land, as you can see from the image on top, will also include a new mini-land which we will discuss down below!
Frontierland
Being one of the best-designed theme park lands in the world, Paris’s Frontierland didn’t need a lot of work and what has been done had to be rather hidden than in plain sight so as not to diminish what’s already there. There are two major additions to this land and two relocated and slightly rethemed offerings plus some more retail space and toilets.
The two new attractions are the table service restaurant Ghostly Delights right next to the haunted mansion with an entrance/exit via the cemetery, and the addition of a nighttime show that for the purposes of this plan was just called Fantasmic! but could be anything really. During the process of imagining a “new” park it became apparent that we need a second nighttime show that will split the crowd between this offering in Frontierland and the fireworks display at the castle.
The highly themed haunted restaurant was such a no-brainer and I can’t believe no one’s done one yet in any of the parks around the world. In the vein of the original Haunted Mansions, it should be a mix of hilarious comedy and a spooky vibe with just that hint of a crazy museum of weirdness – rather than the equally great darker and more sinister approach of Phantom Manor, so as to have a slightly different offering and a more light-hearted approach for this dining venue. The idea is, basically, to add kitchen, dining room, and sitting room scenes to the main ride but instead of the doom buggy it’s tables and chairs and you also get served delicious and nicely themed food. What could be better?
Then there’s the train station and the playground which both had to move. The train station including the track had to go further to the northeast to create space in Adventureland for Indy, and the playground fell victim to the new Fantasmique viewing area. (More of Adventureland in the next article, coming soon!)
In this corner, there’s also a new passage that leads you under the train tracks into an entirely new Winnie the Pooh area. And fitting with this more animal-centred land, the playground was rethemed to Chip & Dale as to have a bit of a transition from Frontierland into the critters’ woods.
Critters Woods (Winnie the Pooh area)
This new mini-land with an upgraded version of Tokyo’s Winnie the Pooh ride at its heart – which is accessible through Winnie’s house – also includes the inevitable gift shop which took over Rabbit’s house, a snack service offering at Eeyore’s, and The Hunny Pot, a counter service restaurant that serves mostly sweet afternoon tea style dishes but also some savory options inside a honey pot that has a plethora of moving bees coming out of the walls and ceilings and circling over guests’ heads – and sports flowing honey on the walls, and honeycomb tables and seats.
The central icon of this mini-land is the larger-than-life central tree that serves as theming for the Octopus-style flat ride which propels bee-themed ride vehicles around and around the tree all day, guarding the precious honey in the beehives in the branches above from too eager silly bears.
The rest of the land is mostly shrubbery, two rivers, and the houses of the other inhabitants of the Woods that have no other purpose than to look good and provide backdrops for photos and character meet and greets.
This concludes today’s article! We hope you’ve enjoyed it!
Full credit to Wicket Mr. Wombat for the ideas and designs!
As always, That’s a Wrap!
Credit list:
Haunted dining room design
source: https://hips.hearstapps.com/hmg-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/images/oneifbyland-1571086745.jpg
Haunted dining room design
source: https://www.redbookmag.com/food-recipes/g29464485/haunted-restaurants-in-america/
Chip & Dale Treehouse
(Jim Shull, DL Anaheim)
source: https://vegalleries.com/art/disneyana/4282/disneyland-theme-parks/chip-and-dale-tree-signed-toontown-concept-art-print-id
Pooh’s Hunny Hunt (Tokyo DL)
source: https://www.themeparktourist.com/features/20190301/36706/behind-ride-poohs-hunny-hunt
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