Disney World Replacing Rivers of America or Muppet*Vision 3D Would Be a Mistake

The other shoe dropped two days after Disney’s news-filled theme parks panel at D23. One of the new expansions coming to the Magic Kingdom at Disney World, based on the Cars franchise, would replace two opening day attractions: the Liberty Belle riverboat and Tom Sawyer Island. In addition the entire Rivers of America would be drained and filled in to make room for Mater and Lightning McQueen. 

On top of that, the following day Drew Taylor of The Wrap reported that Muppet*Vision 3D might be closing, too. The Grand Avenue section of Disney’s Hollywood Studios, which includes the Muppet*Vision theater and the Muppet-themed PizzeRizzo restaurant, is reportedly one of two possible locations for that park’s upcoming Monsters, Inc. land. (A West Coast version of Muppet*Vision closed permanently in 2014, and many have feared the original in Florida would inevitably follow it, too.) Its end isn’t as definitive as the Rivers of America’s, which was officially announced by Disney itself, but Muppet*Vision’s fate is apparently very much up in the air as Disney weighs where to stick Monstropolis.

Anybody who knows how Disney operates knew not to get too excited about D23’s announcements until they revealed exactly where the new additions would be built. Despite the oft-repeated Walt Disney quote about Disney World having “the blessing of size,” new additions at Disney World often replace something that already exists. Sometimes it’s an improvement—I’m sure many miss the audio-animatronic dinosaurs of Ellen’s Energy Adventure at EPCOT, but that amazing Guardians of the Galaxy coaster is definitely more popular than Ellen DeGeneres and Bill Nye from the mid ‘90s hyping up the oil industry. Other times, though, it’s simply Disney doing a quick fix on something that wasn’t even broken, or replacing an original concept with intellectual property, like ditching the Maelstrom for a too-short Frozen ride, or swapping out the Great Movie Ride with a (really fun) Mickey Mouse attraction that could’ve easily gone elsewhere in Hollywood Studios. Even with all the land they own in Florida, and all the unused space they’ve openly speculated about building on in the Magic Kingdom, Disney announcing as many new rides as they did at D23 confirmed that at least some existing attractions would be closing.

The Muppet*Vision news immediately spawned a campaign to save the show, which, beyond being deeply entertaining and the only real Muppet representation in the parks, is also the last project Jim Henson worked on before dying unexpectedly in 1990. Losing Muppet*Vision 3D would be a huge loss, not just of a great, hilarious attraction that is the best way to escape the heat at Hollywood Studios, but also of a piece of cultural history, as the final work of one of the 20th century’s greatest popular artists.

We shouldn’t overlook the Rivers of America, though, or the Liberty Belle riverboat. Their confirmed closure hasn’t received nearly the outcry that Muppet*Vision has, for understandable reasons; it’s not home to beloved and underutilized characters, it doesn’t have the historical significance of Muppet*Vision, the Liberty Belle is not an especially popular ride, and major Disney fans who travel to both Disneyland and Disney World know they can still see the original version of this concept at Disneyland. Far more than just a boat ride will be lost if the Rivers of America is drained, though—including, most crucially, part of the Magic Kingdom’s very essence.

You might think you’ve never used or enjoyed Rivers of America if you’ve never ridden the Liberty Belle or boated over to Tom Sawyer Island. The fact is anybody who’s ever been to the Magic Kingdom has benefitted from that man-made river. Perhaps you’ve appreciated the gorgeous views made possible by it—idly watching people bound across the island’s barrel bridge as you’re waiting in line at the Haunted Mansion, or gazing at Big Thunder Mountain’s reflection or the sparkle of fireworks shining off of it at night. If you’ve ever strolled alongside the river as you head from Liberty Square to Frontierland, or stared out at it as you ate a snack on its banks, it made a mark on your vacation. If you’ve ever just been glad to see a little bit of nature in the Magic Kingdom, something that doesn’t reflect the Florida heat back at you as the large expanses of concrete found in Fantasyland and Tomorrowland do, the Rivers of America has made your trip better.

Notice I didn’t really say anything about Tom Sawyer Island here. Look, I love the place—it’s on Paste’s list of the best Magic Kingdom attractions, ahead of a lot of the park’s newer, flashier, and more popular stuff. Exploring its caves and fort felt truly transportive as a kid, and I still get a kick out of revisiting it today. And Disney’s foreign parks still show how amazing a well-made walkthrough exhibit can be, from the multitude of walkthroughs at Disneyland Paris, to the amazing Fortress Explorations at Tokyo DisneySea. I am generally for more walkthroughs at Disney World, and not less. But I don’t think there’s any way to salvage Tom Sawyer Island at this point; its reputation is permanently soiled, its relevance almost nil, and if sacrificing it would help salvage at least a shortened Rivers of America and riverboat ride, that’d be totally fine by me.

Of course that opens up the problem of what to do with the smaller island that would exist at the middle of the shortened river; perhaps Disney could crib from Disneyland Paris, whose Big Thunder Mountain Railroad boards on the mainland and then takes riders under the river and onto the island, where the actual mountain sits, by using similar tunnels to have one of the new Cars rides make use of the island. That has to cost a whole lot more than just bulldozing the whole area and starting fresh, but I’m pretty sure Disney could afford that. 

Theme parks aren’t just about rides and attractions. When done well, all design elements of a park—its architecture, its interior design, its soundscapes, its natural beauty, and, yes, its attractions—work together to further the theme and, most importantly, create the unique identity and charm of a park. The Rivers of America is so fundamental to what Disney’s so-called “castle parks”—of which the Magic Kingdom is one—are trying to do that one without a river wouldn’t even feel like part of the same tradition. It wouldn’t just lose an invaluable feature that makes the park more pleasurable, it would lose a fundamental part of its identity. And Disney pretty clearly realizes this; when Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge was added to Disneyland in 2019, its Rivers of America was shortened but not closed. And Disney’s currently adding a major water feature to the soon-to-be-renamed Walt Disney Studios Park in Paris; after that’s done and the Rivers of America are gone, the Magic Kingdom would be the only Disney park without a large body of water in a central location. Even if the concept art for the new Cars land shows a number of smaller, disconnected water features, it doesn’t look sizable enough to preserve what makes the Rivers of America special, and Disney attractions often wind up looking noticeably different than their concept art, anyway.

It’s unthinkable, then, that Disney would get rid of a major defining landmark of its most visited theme park—even more unthinkable than, and just as tragic as, closing Muppet*Vision 3D. Both shouldn’t be lost to “progress” when there are other, unused places new attractions can be built. Disney should be adding to a park like Hollywood Studios, which already doesn’t have enough to do, even after adding two major new lands in the last decade, instead of replacing what’s already there. And they should be preserving the Rivers of America, without which the Magic Kingdom would be far less magical.

Senior editor Garrett Martin writes about videogames, comedy, travel, theme parks, wrestling, and more. He’s also on Twitter @grmartin.