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Acreage issues

Image: Disney

The dirty secret of Disneyland is that Disney doesn’t own enough space there. Whereas Walt Disney World is 27,000 acres in size, the company owns only 85 acres in Anaheim. Yes, the Orlando property is 318 times as large as the Anaheim one. For Star Wars Land to become a part of the Happiest Place on Earth, something had to give. To build a dazzling new 21st century attraction, Disney had to alter a ride beloved by Walt Disney himself.

Rey’s gain is Mark Twain’s loss.

The plan Disney Imagineers developed for Disneyland is that they would drain Rivers of America, their man-made body of water. Then, they would alter the landscape, thereby creating the space needed to add Star Wars attractions at the park. With such crippling space limitations, Disney has reached a point where they have to take something away to build something else.

The hot new thing at Disneyland is a turn behind the wheels of the Millennium Falcon, a hot meal at the galaxy’s most diverse cantina, and then a Star Wars adventure on an E Ticket attraction. Bringing these new attractions to life sadly requires sacrifice.

To their credit, Disney did show reverence to one of the most beloved rides of the company’s founder. Yes, the Mark Twain Riverboat and the Davy Crockett Explorer Canoes were shut down for a time since they couldn’t very well set sail on dry land. Disney has trumpeted their return in 2017. The paths won’t be the same, but Imagineers are constructing a new riverbank that will save the majority of the sailing path that you’ve known since you were a child. It’ll just be…different.

Image: Disney

That’s the brutal part of advancing the park into a new (and hopefully better) tomorrow. Disney has to make hard choices between the attractions that bring comfort to guests through familiarity and new ideas that could foster similar feelings in the children of today. A riverboat ride through waters similar to those of Walt Disney’s youth will always appeal to some. Sadly, that group of theme park tourists dwindles each year, as represented by the shrinking usage rates for the Mark Twain Riverboat. It’s now more of a way to get off your feet for a while than a ride appreciated for its sublime theming.

I suspect the knowledge of this would cause a tear to roll down Uncle Walt’s cheek, but he was a savvy, forward-thinking entrepreneur who understood that the times would always be changing. After a time, he’d appreciate that modernizing Disneyland more than 60 years after its arrival is a point of pride rather than a depressing change.

 
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