Overview

For over twenty years now, I've been thinking about what I would do if I was in charge of building a third park at Disneyland.  I've posted brief ideas on Disney forums, but in 2015 decided I should really create a blog to describe it more fully.  I've recently gone through and updated it to include more recent Disney/Pixar movies.

 

My idea for a third DLR park would bear some resemblance to Epcot's World Showcase, but have enough differences that people would see it as unique.  It would be based on countries around the world and feature characters from Disney Animation - part World Showcase, part Fantasyland.  I originally called it "World Faire", but "ImagiNations" might also be a good name for this park.  Rather than being based on National pavilions, as World Showcase is, this park would be divided into six "continents". Also like World Showcase, there would be a central lagoon, but it would be much smaller than the one at Epcot.

It could feature elements from the World Showcase, Animal Kingdom, and Disney Sea - such as Arabian Coast and American Waterfront.  It would be able to incorporate a lot of different themes and characters, but with broad enough themes that new things could be easily added to it.  It could open somewhat small, with several relatively inexpensive clones, but then add more elaborate and expensive attractions over time.

The entrance and the northern most themed area would be Europe. On either side of that would be North America and Asia, then South America and Africa. The southernmost land would be Oceania, consisting of subareas themed to Australia, Antarctica, and Polynesia. This land could have a volcano similar to the one at DisneySea, which would serve as the "weenie" of the park.

It would feature a typical mix of rides, movies, and shows, along with themed restaurants and shops.  Although the exact mix of attractions would depend on what is popular or underrepresented at DL or DCA when it is built, as well as what new ride systems have or are being developed, in general any of the attractions from Epcot's World Showcase could fit, as well as some from DisneySea. 

In short, Fantasyland expanded to include the whole world, and not just northwest Europe.

More General stuff

This is a drawing I made back in 2000 for my proposed park.  I have been going to Disneyland since I was a young boy, and first visited Epcot in 1992.  While riding Small World one day, I thought about how it would be cool if the pavilions of Epcot's World Showcase were arranged like that.  The pavilions would flow together, and smaller attractions, shops, and restaurants could fill in between them to represent other countries.  Later I read about the proposed Wescot park and thought it sounded pretty interesting, but not without flaws.  

The pavilions would need to be smaller than those of World Showcase, and probably packed closer together.  I'm thinking that each could include either a table serve or counter serve restaurant, unlike at Epcot where they often include both.  Disney could also use forced-perspective more at this park than they do at Epcot, where they have the benefit of a lot of space.

Back in 2000 I proposed a seventh area, which would serve as the central hub, called the Global Village. Surrounded by the seas of the world, and connected to the other areas by bridges, it would also serve as the park’s Tomorrowland/Future World, and feature attractions with a modern or futuristic setting.  The other areas of the park would be most modern/urban near the hub, and would become more historical/rural away from it.   After more consideration however, I decided the park would be better without it.

This park is mostly designed for a third park in Anaheim, but with some modification, it could be built in Tokyo or Paris, as well as for a park in one of the China resorts.  It would not work as well in Florida, as it partly borrows from Epcot’s World Showcase as well as Animal Kingdom (although it has no live animals).  

I wanted a park that could focus would be on recent Animated Features, with attractions designed so that they could be easily updated to spotlight a more recent Animated Feature as needed.  Live shows and “Meet and greet” areas featuring the Animated Characters, which can be easily revamped to stay current, would also be highly featured in each area of the park.

The greatest strength of this park is that the themes of the lands are broad enough to accommodate almost any attraction, including existing ones from other parks.   For instance, if this park were located in Paris, successful attractions from parks in Anaheim, Florida, Hong Kong, and Tokyo could be added which are not at Disneyland Paris or the Paris Studios.  Also, the park could easily include any or all of Epcot’s World Showcase pavilions, or just parts of them, such as their films, which can also be updated periodically without having to revamp the entire attraction.  Further, if built in other countries, the continents could be rotated to highlight certain areas.  For example, if it is decided that a Chinese park should have a “Main Street USA”, the North American area could be used an entrance, while a Tokyo park could have an Asian one.  The basic layout would remain the same, and would be easy for visitors to remember since it is based on the actual globe.  While an encircling railroad would be too derivative of the Disneylands, transportation could be provided by a railroad within the park and/or by boat across the central lake.  

Since history doesn’t change, using a global history theme as a framework for the park means it would not require major revamps to stay current.  Adults would enjoy the “World Showcase”-like eating and shopping opportunities in each land, while kids would enjoy the shows, “meet and greet” areas, and basic kiddie rides.  Teenagers care more about thrills than themes, so use of basic designs for the thrill rides, with changeable cues, would keep them happy without spending a lot of money continually on updates.        

Thrill rides

Each of the six continents should have a thrill ride, except perhaps Europe, since it's the entrance area.  For Asia, two possible thrill rides come to mind - the first, a dragon themed roller coaster that travels along a "Great Wall" (I think something like this was proposed for Westcot); the second could be a clone of Everest at Animal Kingdom.  Africa could have a raft ride, themed to either the Lion King or Tarzan.  

For Oceania, the proposed Fire Mountain could work - a roller coaster through a volcano.  Alternately, I could see something like Journey to the Center of the Earth from DisneySea being Oceania's e ticket.  For South America, I envision a flume ride through the Andes, themed to Emperor's New Groove.  Lastly, I have thought of two possibilities for North America:  Geyser Mountain, or a wild mouse through a factory - the latter a ride that was proposed for Disney's America.

I also think they should include a few flat rides in most of the lands, rides suitable for younger kids.  Too many parks place all these types of rides in one area, but I think it works better when they are spread out, so younger children can experience these while their older siblings or parents ride the more thrilling attractions. 

I'd like to see the park start with at least 18 attractions, 3 for each land.  Better would be 24, with plans to expand to 30.  

 

Europe

The northern most area, Europe, would serve as the park’s Main Street.  Guests would enter a street of a medieval village of northern Europe (resembling the Norway and German pavilions of Epcot), which could spotlight films like Frozen, Prince and the Pauper, Mickey and the Beanstalk, and The Black Cauldron.  They would then enter a square, themed to Renaissance France and featuring attractions, shops, and restaurants based on Tangled, Beauty and the Beast and Hunchback of Notre Dame.  

Three paths could lead out of the square.  To the right (west), the path would become a Victorian London/Paris village which could feature films like Winnie the Pooh, Mary Poppins, 101 Dalmatians, Wind in the Willows, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, The Great Mouse Detective, and The Aristocats, and lead to the entrance to the North America area.  Straight-ahead (south), the path would be feature Spanish & Italian architecture.  To the left (east) the path would lead to the entrance to Asia, and two courtyards could open off of it.  To the south, a Hercules attraction could be located in an ancient Greece/Roman courtyard, next to a lake (the Black Sea).  To the north, a Russian pavilion could feature something like Peter and the Wolf. 

"Impressions de France" from the World Showcase's France pavilion would be an easy attraction to add to this continent.  When I was first thinking of this area, a Beauty and the Beast restaurant seemed like a natural, but since one has now been built at the Magic Kingdom, and other Disney movies have introduced additional princesses, I think the signature restaurant of Europe should be a princess hall, with various rooms themed to different movies, and various characters from those movies would visit while the guests dined.  

Europe would be the most built out land upon opening, but a few areas, such as an attraction set in England and the Hercules or Russian areas mentioned above, could be left out and added later.

North America

North America could include attractions, shops, and restaurants based on features like Pocahontas, Bug’s Life, Fox and Hound, Paul Bunyon, Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Bongo, and The Rescuers.  Entering this area from Europe, a northeast seacoast village, like that featured in Pete’s Dragon or the Cape Cod area of American Waterfront in Tokyo's DisneySea, would lie to the left (south), while a Canadian pavilion would branch off on the right (north).  The Canadian pavilion could include the Circle-Vision film from Epcot, or an attraction based on Brother Bear. 

 
From there the path could enter Liberty Square, the heart of the North America area, before splitting three ways.  To the right could be a wooded region like Frontierland, themed to the Rockies and the Pacific Northwest.  To the left the path could enter a New York/urban street scene, featuring films like Oliver & Company and Toy Story.  The Liberty Square area could borrow the Hall of Presidents from WDW's Magic Kingdom (I am thinking the American Adventure requires too much room for a smaller park), or it could have a show featuring the Muppets.  The wooded area could include a thrill ride like Geyser Mountain, or this thrill ride could be a roller coaster found in the urban area.    

 

Lastly the path would wander through a Mexican village before encountering Mayan and Aztec ruins on the way to the South America area. The Mexico area could include the old boat ride from Epcot, or even better would be a dark ride based on Coco.   

Asia

Located between Europe and Africa, Asia could contain a China pavilion featuring Mulan, an Indian village like that in Animal Kingdom, an Arabian courtyard featuring Aladdin, and a Japanese pavilion.  Asia should also feature a major roller coaster, either between the China and Japan pavilions or in the Indian village.  Besides the coasters mentioned on the "Thrill Ride" page, another option would be one based on Raya and the Last Dragon.  The “Black Sea” would separate Asia and Europe.

Entering from Europe, the China pavilion would be on the left, and could feature the Circle-Vision movie from Epcot's pavilion.  

 

To the right, adjacent to the central lake, would be the Arabian area.  It could feature several Aladdin themed flat rides like those in DisneySea's Arabian Coast.  Further on to the left would be the Japan pavilion, a scaled down version of the one in Epcot, perhaps featuring Meet the World.  The most southern area would be the India village.  It could feature the old Jungle Book show from Animal Kingdom, along with Jungle Book themed shops and restaurants.