Reimagining Magic Kingdom: An Armchair-Imagineered Blue Sky Build-Out of Walt Disney World’s Iconic Theme Park

LIBERTY SQUARE

Build-Out

We’ll start with Liberty Square. To me, Liberty Square benefits by having a “spoke” off of the Hub, so that if it’s entered that way, you pass through a true “town” in the sense that there are buildings on either side of you before arriving at the river. That helps to establish Liberty Square as a place that reads as “real” (versus Frontierland essentially just having Pecos Bills to represent an entire town that we don’t see and that doesn’t look lived in.)

Addressing points 1 and 3 above, I’ve gone ahead and expanded the boundaries of Liberty Square so that this land clearly and experientially wraps around the southern bend in the river. That also means papering over the gradual shift between the two lands (which I find “too clever by half”) and very overtly expanding the colonial red brick land to a definite end point where a rustic, wooden Frontierland begins in earnest.

It’s probably also worth acknowledging that – for better or worse – romanticism about America’s origins can be positive and negative. Patriotism takes on a very different form in an America of the 2020s than it did in the 1970s, and I’m not sure today’s Disney would even want to be arbiters of this kind of setting or its contents today. Don’t get me wrong: Liberty Square is nothing if not apolitical. But building off of the HAUNTED MANSION as the land’s unequivocal anchor, I think it would be interesting to use this setting as one to explore American tall tales, fable, and folklore.

For example, I’ve gone ahead and switched the rafts and the riverboat, meaning that Tom & Huck’s Rafts now carry you from Liberty Square to FOLKLORE ISLAND. Now, the same sort of “natural play” and spirit of exploration lends itself to getting samples of uniquely American fables. It seemed like such a perfect throwback to Magic Kingdom’s original Americana and the sort of timeless schoolyard stories and classics that come with being raised in the United States.

On Folklore Island, you can climb trees in Johnny Appleseed’s Orchard; explore the railroad tunnels of John Henry; visit Old MacDonald’s Farm and Petting Zoo; visit Rip Van Winkle’s sleeping tree; cross the fabled covered bridge from Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, which leads to the explorable Fort Wilderness, and more.

Speaking of which, the last major change here is that I’ve decided to retire the Hall of Presidents (Sorry Walt – it’s a different time) and replace it with THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW. Here, guests would enter through the historic facade of Pennsylvania’s Library Hall (original home of the Library Company of Philadelphia, founded by Benjamin Franklin in 1731) and step into the pages of the great American tale of Ichabod Crane and the Headless Horseman.

Drawing from Disney’s 1949 package film, The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, this new classic would see guests board carriages and travel through the town of Sleepy Hollow on a blacklit autumn evening, passing through the town’s tavern, schoolyard, and Halloween party as locals recount the tale of the legendary ghoul through the “Headless Horseman” song from the film. All would go quiet as the sun sets, leaving guests to travel with Ichabod through the countryside and cemetery, for a fiendish encounter with the Headless Horseman himself, and a lucky return across the rickety covered bridge. The ride would end with a return to town, and a chilling goodbye from rotting pumpkins…

Continuing south, we encounter the part of Liberty Square that’s “new” in the sense of being a takeover of the former transition to Frontierland. As part of that takeover, the Diamond Horseshoe (which weirdly belonged to Liberty Square anyway despite being the picture of an Old West saloon hoe-down?) becomes the GOLDEN EAGLE PUBLICK HOUSE – still a space for dining and performance. Likewise, the Frontierland Shootin’ Gallery becomes the HARBOR ARTILLERY.

Maybe most notably, I’ve taken the southern bend of the river – now entirely “owned” by Liberty Square – and given it a pleasant, terraced, multi-tier zone akin to Disneyland’s. By day this lovely wrought iron garden area would be a wonderful place to look out across the water, amble along, or sit beneath an umbrella to enjoy a snack.

At night, we may as well draw a bit from Disneyland tradition and use this built-in viewing area to do something spectacular on the water. I envision drawing from an unused plan from the archives that we dug into in our Modern Marvels: Fantasmic feature: a ghostly RIVER HAUNT where the spirits of the Haunted Mansion and Folklore Island coalesce by night, turning the Rivers of America into a haunting, misty showcase.

Finally, the last vestige of the old Frontierland has been repurposed, as the Country Bear Jamboree becomes THE MUPPETS PRESENT “WESTWARD HO!”. This singalong audio-animatronics show would cast the ever-regal Sam Eagle as our host, setting up the Muppets’ covering a number of iconic tunes from the great American songbook in hilarious vignettes. Rizzo’s yearning for the “Well’s Fargo Wagon,” Kermit’s folksy rendition of “The Big Rock Candy Mountains,” Miss Piggy’s oinking “The Yellow Rose of Texas,” and a grand finale mixing “Rainbow Connection” and “This Land Is Your Land.”

Now, just after the Muppets’ playhouse, we have a hard break from Liberty Square and an explicit transition to Frontierland. By passing beneath the wooden sluice of a gem mining operation, we leave the East Coast behind and flash to the far West, where new adventures await…

FRONTIERLAND

Of all of Magic Kingdom’s opening day lands, it’s definitely Frontierland I’ve made the most radical, structural change to. As we saw, the land now basically begins in the space where most guests enter it – arriving from Pirates of the Caribbean (now Plaza de Familia). That southernmost point of Frontierland has become a new landing site, orienting guests toward the small sliver of riverfront that Frontierland still owns.

You have to imagine how substantial I think this change would be. As it is today, the path between Pirates and Frontierland is sort of an uneven transition, with guests plopped down at the side of Splash Mountain (which is already not quite Frontierland-coded) with a dead end (and the land’s two side-by-side “Mountain” E-Tickets) ahead and the rest of the land to the right, even though “the rest of the land” doesn’t count for much.

Now, arriving from Plaza de Familia, I have guests landing in a path that more clearly orients them. To the left is a new pseudo-“weenie” for the space – Cascade Peak. An homage to the glorious, waterfall-gushing “mountain” once found at Disneyland, this natural form is built around a placid body of water, with a snack stand and a dock giving guests the chance to bask in its glory as a train (which we’ll get to soon) chugs around its base.

Directly ahead resides the river itself, with a new landing for the renamed LILLY BELLE RIVERBOAT. Yes, the old paddle-wheeler now calls Frontierland home, having switched places with the rafts that we ceded to Liberty Square.

And finally, to the right you’ll find Pecos Bill’s, now re-themed to FUENTE DEL ORO. Not only does this restaurant now help us effortlessly transition from Plaza de Familia – it also serves as a counterpart to Disneyland’s fantastic Rancho del Zocalo, giving Magic Kingdom a Quick Service Mexican eatery. Luckily, much of Pecos Bill’s dining space already works for this purpose.

But I’ve also emphasized another of my hare-brained desires for more outdoor dining at Magic Kingdom, creating a shaded patio and adjacent garden space. Again following in the footsteps of Anaheim’s Rancho, this wrought-iron dining space under colorful shade structures and amid burbling fountains and ornate tile work provides a lovely opportunity for guests to at least get closer to that underutilized river and breaks up the exhausting expanse of Magic Kingdom’s midway-like paths. (Yes, the parade route has been adjusted; we’ll see how later on.)

Anyway, the path deeper into Frontierland now departs from the water’s edge. Heading northwest, we of course pass BIG THUNDER MOUNTAIN RAILROAD as well as a revitalized launch for the DISCOVERY CANOES (one of those “hidden gems” that Disneyland still bothers to operate, but Magic Kingdom gave up on a long time ago).

Rounding Cascade Peak, we see CACTUS SPRINGS (a much-needed playground and splash area) and a new vista opens up: ahead, a true frontier town; the kind we picture when we think of the Old West.

Inspired by Knott’s Ghost Town or Disneyland’s Frontierland, this is the rustic, home-spun frontier we want to play in; an Old West that “never was, but always will be.” There’s a blacksmith; a candlemaker; a livery, each populated by real craftspeople practicing their wares.

Directly ahead stands the town’s centerpiece – a new station for the rerouted WALT DISNEY WORLD RAILROAD – and before it, a park-like space shielded with canvas shade structures all emanating from a small gazebo bandstand. To the right is the new PRICKLY GULCH SALOON – a swinging-door saloon serving the land’s new signature Jackalope Juice.

Meanwhile, to the park’s left is a new D-Ticket addition for the land: RAINBOW RIDGE MINE TRAIN. Emulating Disneyland’s own Mine Train, this sprawling, slow-moving family train ride exists to give Frontierland its own equivalent of the Jungle Cruise – a tour of the wonders awaiting in our national back yard.

Boarding from the historic settlement of Rainbow Ridge, the trains rumble their way through a blasted-out desert hill and emerge in Beaver Valley. A bridge guides the trains out around Cascade Peak (the segment we saw earlier), then across a trestle through Bear Valley, under the great arch into the Living Desert, and finally, for a trip through the hypnotic Rainbow Caverns themselves.

Though perhaps unwise, I also included the WESTERN RIVER DISCOVERY TRAIL – a legitimate “hike” for guests on-foot to explore some of the same environments (and unique ones) at their own pace, including the opportunity to walk over the red rock arch that the train passes beneath.

To me, this large attraction space seemed like a smart use of the park’s “blessing of size,” and adds a great, unique, and “old school” experience to the park – something on a scale and scope we don’t really see much of anymore.

The experience of Frontierland feels really transformed to me thanks to its shift in layout. But importantly, by pushing out the railroad and shifting Frontierland proper to the northwest edge of the park’s expansion pad, we at last end up with something that always seemed unlikely for Magic Kingdom: a clear path to access the space north of the (remember, now-shortened) Rivers of America… It’s finally time for us to head north…