I watched a vlog tour of Tom Sawyer's Island to remind myself of this fascinating attraction that's to be lost along with the Rivers of America redevelopment.
Mark Twain's books are part of America's rich history and the sense of adventure in the stories are echoed in this attraction. So it's beyond sad that it could be lost to everyone in favour of something like Cars.
But maybe that's not where this story ends. Amid rumours of a 5th Disney Park perhaps Disney could yet give the Rivers of America , the Liberty Belle and Tom Sawyer's Island a stay of execution.
Disney might consider building the 5th Park around this much loved area and allow further generations learn and enjoy their own history.
Thoughts ?
I just don't think Twain's works translate to the modern theme park anymore. Theme parks are all about action, kinetic energy, and excitement, which is not necessarily absent from the Tom Sawyer/Huck Finn (or even other Frontier-style myths), but those themes just don't work anymore in a modern setting. Perhaps if Disney revived their old "America" theme park concept, Twain stories could find a new home, but I just don't see a lot of appeal in such a concept unless it were as much a museum as it is a theme park, which clearly hasn't played well at WDW.
@ Fattyackin and Russell
I know you are probably right and things are moving on for the new generations of Theme Park audiences.
I'm just clutching at straws I suppose. If there is a 5th Park planned then Disney could've saved some money by retaining the Rivers of America.
Recent Park updates are proving to be unpopular with Tiana drawing only 50% of the crowds that Splash did. ( If the reported stat are correct )
So let's hope that they're getting this redevelopment right.
What will be interesting is to see how Epic, which may be the perceived model of future Park success at Universal, fares in the coming months.
Disney will learn from that when designing their new Park
"What will be interesting is to see how Epic, which may be the perceived model of future Park success at Universal, fares in the coming months."
And I think that's exactly why IPs like Twain works are unlikely to make a resurgence. If Epic (and Disney's recent trends) have shown us anything, it is that parks are only willing to invest heavily in proven, bankable IPs. It really seems like parks are trying to minimize risk as much as possible while choosing themes and stories that have the widest appeal.
While a TSI-style land could be utilized in a way similar to Epic's Celestial Park, I just don't think that era of American history and Frontier-era styles really lend itself to being the anchor of a new theme park or as an expansion to any existing park. Also, while I don't necessarily have an issue with the way the Frontier-era and Wild West themes have been presented in theme parks around the world, there is that association with aspects of North American history that could prove problematic, particularly with the taking of land from native inhabitants.
If we look at the history of theme parks, it's very easy to see that attractions of the style of TSI were really popular in the 1970s-1990s, but almost all parks that had play areas of this style have since retired the attractions. Liability is definitely one reason for it, but another is that for most theme park visitors they simply aren't a draw anymore. Even in California, where the park has a lot more regulars and the attraction was rethemed to tie into the popular Pirates of the Caribbean franchise and enhanced as part of building Galaxy's Edge, the river attractions are all in the bottom ten in daily visitation across the entire resort. Add in the fact that Twains works are, whether justified or not, considered more controversial than IPs Disney has publicly denounced and retired from their parks, and you've got a zero percent chance of any sort of revival in a new park.
The only way I could see any sort of river attraction in a future Disney park would be if the setup were similar to Disneyland Paris, where either a small island is accessible by bridges or an island housing an attraction has a scenic boat ride encircling it. However, I strongly suspect it will be strictly scenic waterways as it's much more space efficient, which is always a plus for the busiest theme park resort on Earth.
If that were to be true, then would it not just make more sense to save the Cars land for the new park and leave TSI be? As beloved as Tom Sawyer Island is by long time Magic Kingdom fans I just think that the stories are outdated for a modern Disney theme park, at least in the eyes of top company brass. It’s a sad loss, but ultimately a loss that only those of us born before, say, the late 80’s, are most likely to miss. I think a big majority of MK visitors like the look of it and the beautiful waterway but in reality it’s just not that big of a draw for crowds. I do hope that more serene places like this continue to find their place in the parks but theme park real estate is a premium.