'Beyond Big Thunder Mountain' Blue Sky concept revealed for Magic Kingdom

Sep 11, 2022 in "Magic Kingdom"

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Gallery / 4 Photos
Beyond Big Thunder Mountain Blue Sky concept art

Posted: Sunday September 11, 2022 3:07pm ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

In the final moments of the Disney Parks D23 panel, Chairman Josh D'Amaro revealed plans for a new "Beyond Big Thunder Mountain" Blue Sky concept.

Disney Parks, Experiences and Products Chairman Josh D'Amaro at D23 Expo

The new land, behind Big Thunder Mountain at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom, would include Disney animation IPs including Coco, Encanto and villains.

Here is a look at the art.

Beyond Big Thunder Mountain Blue Sky concept art

"Blue Sky" concepts refer to projects that are being considered with preliminary design ideas, but have not reached the stage of being green-lit for actual construction. Disney has a long history of Blue Sky concepts that have never made it to reality, so it remains unclear if the "Beyond Big Thunder Mountain" project will proceed, and what may be included in a final version. What is clear though, is that Magic Kingdom needs additional capacity, and Disney looks to be marking the area behind Big Thunder Mountain as the next expansion pad.

Beyond Big Thunder Mountain Blue Sky concept art

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Advisable Joseph10 hours ago

This is starting from Caribbean Way, in the back stage area, and not Maple Road farther south as reports of the water permit indicated, almost where Frontierland and Adventureland meet, correct?

Basil of Baker Street13 hours ago

Im playing catch up on this topic and at least seeing I'm not alone. RoA and TSI should have all be incorporated into a Princess and the Frog Land. What a wasted opportunity.

James Alucobond13 hours ago

It has a dedicated land, so … yes. I think most would agree since that’s a distinction only Star Wars and Avatar also enjoy at WDW.

mattpeto13 hours ago

I'm okay if they expand TSL, but that's it.

Basil of Baker Street13 hours ago

I may be in the minority but I feel Toy Story has enough at WDW. No more please.

MisterPenguin17 hours ago

Josh told people the water permit was done and, I think, soon to be submitted. When @danlb_2000 posts it, we'll see the scope of the land.

ChewbaccaYourMum17 hours ago

Ooh you're right! I completely forgot about Dreamworks Land. But yeah you're right. I think the main thing to note here is that both Disney and Universal in Orlando have been doing a good job at opening new things, or refreshing/replacing/retheming things over the years for us. There's a lot of debate if all the new things are good, or if the replacements are better than what was there before... but I don't think there's any reason for anyone to sit here and say that both aren't consistently having new things open throughout the parks. Which was the whole reason why I wanted to put these spreadsheets together, and I'm happy I did!

PREMiERdrum18 hours ago

There are a few plottings being sent around. The pre-phase 1 work is beginning W and NW of BTMRR... water management and facilities work. I anticipate we'll see access to phase 1 between TBA and BTMRR, around the mountain, and then back to existing FL via a boardwalk along the river. Phase 2 - if it were to happen - would then arch N and NE, clipping a bit of ROA, and connecting to LS around HM. The "14 acre" site they're already overpromoting (and likely overpromising) is the maximum border they can get from W of BTMM all the way around to HM. We'll see.

ChewbaccaYourMum18 hours ago

Yeah you're absolutely right! It really shows just how much is being done by Universal and Disney, and it's fun to do this research and put it all together. I converted them here. Sorry it's separate files. The reason I did that is because I wanted to be able to print them out on their own sheets and keep the decades separate as best I could. 1980s - Orlando Park History 1990 to 94 - Orlando Park History 1995 to 99 - Orlando Park History 2000s - Orlando Park History 2010 and 20s - Orlando Park History

JCtheparrothead18 hours ago

There's a big swath of land to the east of BTM. Maybe that is on the "time to repurpose" list.

Rteetz1 day ago

Google sheets suck. The PDF is great.

fgmnt1 day ago

I’m interested to see if it is real and the opening date they give for it. If it is a real thing it and they want to take a wave of capital projects in MK seriously it needs to be a Holiday 2026-Summer 2027 opening.

McMickeyWorld1 day ago

I personally prefer them to put Coco in Magic Kingdom rather than in Epcot, especially if it would only be a retheme of the Three Caballeros. I feel like the current version of the ride represents the country with more diversity, although I would like them to update the footage.