Hear Me Out: I Like New, Shiny Stuff At Disney World, But There's A Big Reason Why I Changed My Opinion About Tearing Down Attractions

The one constant at Walt Disney World is change. Walt Disney promised that Disneyland would “always be in a state of becoming” and that sentiment has remained true, not simply for Disneyland but for all Disney Parks. (It also holds true for all the theme parks around the world.) There is always going to be something new in the parks, and frequently adding something shiny and new can only happen if they tear down something old.

In general, most parkgoers do not like to lose classic attractions, but between the two extremes of keeping everything the same, and replacing it with something new, I have always been on the side of championing the new. Losing old favorites is always sad, but it was a price I have been willing to pay to get the newest piece of creative theme park design.

However, I have recently begun to have a significant change of heart on this particular topic. Hear me out.

Theme Parks Are Not Museums, But Maybe Some Parts Should Act Like Them

The statement “theme parks are not museums” is an oft-repeated one. It’s a sentiment that in a lot of ways I would agree with. Museums are about looking at the past, and while nostalgia is absolutely a major element of Disney Parks, so is looking toward the future.

I can’t imagine a Disney Park in a stagnant state and never changing. The idea that you could visit Magic Kingdom decades apart and have an identical experience is about the most boring thing in the world to me. There’s always something new at Disney World whenever I visit and that’s part of what makes every trip feel new and fun.

Then I had the chance to speak with Joshua Bailey, director of the new documentary film Stolen Kingdom. While the majority of the new film deals with the urban exploring of defunct Disney World attractions and the black market for stolen goods, all of that is, at least to some degree, related to the feeling that classic Disney World attractions should be preserved. As the movie journalist Seth Kubersky says in the doc:

While I have always viewed themed entertainment as an art form, one that has some absolutely incredible artists, and incredible inventors involved in it, this line really did make me take a look at things in a slightly different way. Removing a themed attraction isn’t simply the removal of an experience that a guest can no longer have, it’s also the removal of a creative work put together by an entire team of artists and inventors.

As somebody who doesn't mind that the Star Wars Special Edition exists, but doesn't like that the original version of the Star Wars trilogy has been basically erased from existence, I would be a hypocrite if I didn't feel the same way about themed entertainment. Which brings me to what's realistic to expect.

Disney World Only Expanding Isn't Realistic

Themed attractions are art. That shouldn’t even be a topic of debate, but even if we are all on the same page about this, the preservation of that art is a complicated issue. How does one determine which attractions are worthy of preservation and which are not? If all attractions are worth preserving over the long haul, then how do you possibly grow?

Walt Disney World certainly has the gift of size and as such there is a lot of empty space that can conceivably be used to build new attractions. Magic Kingdom will be doing exactly that with the forthcoming Villains Land. Even Disneyland is planning a massive expansion even though it doesn't have nearly the space. However, the idea that all of the existing parks can be left alone and that everything new can just be added as expansion doesn’t work for me, either.

Disney World is twice the size of the island of Manhatten but making Magic Kingdom the size of Queens, while perhaps technically possible, isn’t realistic. For there to be new stuff there must also be the end of at least some of the old stuff, and that’s where the decisions get difficult.

A Balance Between Preservation And Invention At Disney World Will Always Be Difficult

In some cases, preservation is a bit easier. Upon announcing the closing of Muppet*Vision 3D at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Disney World said it was working on a way to preserve the attraction in some way.

It’s unclear right now what that means. On a simple level, it could mean releasing the film on Disney+ or even on Blu-ray so people can still watch it. At a more extreme level, it could even mean potentially reopening the attraction in a new location down the road. In the case of an attraction that is primarily a film, preservation is significantly easier.

However, when we’re talking about the removal of the Rivers of America from Frontierland, preservation becomes essentially impossible. I’ve already written about I’m actually excited for what is to come in Fontierland, as radical reinvention isn’t always a bad thing. Here, though, Disney World isn't simply replacing attractions, it's fundamentally altering the structure of the park and that has implications both good and bad.

It’s all but certainly too late for the Rivers of America. If there was ever a chance of it surviving, that likely ended as soon as the transformation was officially announced. I still hope the new Frontierland will be something special. I still believe it can be. But we will lose something with the transformation that we’ll never get back, and that is sad.

I Still Don’t Think Theme Parks Should Be Entirely Static

While I’m starting to change my tune on closing old attractions, that doesn’t mean I have an entirely different perspective. I still want the new attractions; I still think that the new attractions are necessary; I also believe that will sometimes require the closing of older attractions.

I don’t know what the solution is. I don’t know how to find the balance but I do think there needs to be a balance. Closing old attractions isn’t always the wrong choice, but replacing them with new ones isn’t always the right choice either.

There's a word, anemoia, which means "nostalgia for a time that you never experienced." It's a word I discovered specifically because I have always felt nostalgia for eras of Disney parks I never visited. While many Disneyland World and Disneyland attractions from opening day are still there, so many more are gone. I'll never get to ride them, but I will always wish I could have.

Losing theme park attractions is a loss of art that can never be recreated. It's a loss of an experience that will never be had again or may never be had at all. At the end of the day, I want Disney Parks to keep moving forward, but I'll also never forget again what they're moving away from.