Western River Expedition

Image: Disney

Another member of that Imagineering inner circle would of course be Marc Davis, an original Disney favorite who worked on everything from the character design of Snow White to the nuclear family at the heart of Carousel of Progress.

Within Imagineering, Davis was as hallowed a figure as can be, and his magnum opus was an attraction concept called Western River Expedition — a ride so beloved that, while it has never been built, it has seen its DNA transferred into nearly every square inch of Frontierland.

Conceived to be Walt Disney World’s answer to Pirates of the Caribbean, the Western River Expedition was a long flume ride on the same scale as Pirates. The difference, of course, was that it instead told the story of the expansion of the Western United States, as homesteaders and cowboys spread out toward the Pacific Ocean. Featuring a boatload of effects, dozens of show scenes, and multiple technological advancements, the ride’s cost grew so large that it was inevitably nixed — and in its place, Walt Disney World built its own version of the Pirates of the Caribbean.

But now, it’s 2018 — and there’s no reason not to take that original idea out of the mothballs and put it back into the sun.

Disney’s technological achievements are so vast that an updated version of this ride using the trackless vehicles used on some of Disney’s non-US attractions would be utterly magical. One of the great letdowns of Na’vi River Journey at Disney’s Animal Kingdom is its short length. An expanded version, featuring Davis’ original western story, would get even more massive crowds. Something in line with Shanghai Disneyland’s Pirates of the Caribbean would be perfect, and it would fit in well between Frontierland and Adventureland.

Ultimately, Disney is in a peculiar position. While we’re all waiting to see what Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge is really like, they must begin planning for a post-Star Wars world. What might that world look like? And what surprises do they have in store for us?

At Disney, good ideas never die. They only go into hibernation. Which ideas will wake up next?