Behind the Haunted Mansion

Disney’s Animal Kingdom got Avatar. Disney’s Hollywood Studios got Star Wars and Toy Story. EPCOT is getting Ratatouille and Guardians of the Galaxy. That means it’s the Magic Kingdom’s turn, and no, TRON isn’t going to be quite enough. The most visited theme park in the world needs more attraction capacity, but thankfully, there are a lot of places for the park to expand rather easily.

The most obvious spot is actually tucked behind one of the most iconic attractions in the world: The Haunted Mansion. It’s a bit deceptive, but the Rivers of America aren’t traveling deep through the Floridian wilderness before returning to Frontierland. They are, in fact, passing alongside a rather large but undeveloped tract of land within the berm of the Magic Kingdom. That land is large enough to house two full clones of The Haunted Mansion – or, more likely, one new attraction and a few shops or restaurants.

Now, as an armchair imagineer, we can let our imaginations run wild with this plot of land. To me, what seems most obvious would be a kind of Haunted Land expansion – maybe adding spooky-themed restaurants and shops and, perhaps, a Nightmare Before Christmas attraction.

But no matter what you do with it, the land is there, and it would be quite easy to develop.

Behind Pirates of the Caribbean

Similarly, down in Adventureland, Pirates of the Caribbean is hiding a nice spot of land upon which Disney could develop a new ride or land. Because of its unique layout, with the Walt Disney World Railroad passing alongside it and the attraction’s plunge necessitating a second show building, there is actually a lot of land to the south of the ride – accessible if Disney really wanted to use it.

The land is actually very similar to another Adventureland plot: the site of Indiana Jones Adventure at Disneyland. That attraction features an extremely long and detailed queue that takes guests out beyond the park’s berm to the show building. Something similar could be employed in Orlando to transport guests from the main walkway of Adventureland out to this particular spot of land behind Pirates.

Adventureland real estate is arguably the most prized piece of property in a Disney theme park, due to its loose-but-universally-loved theme. Nearly anything fits in Adventureland, so don’t be surprised if this is where the next new attraction comes to the Magic Kingdom after TRON.