The future skyline of Magic Kingdom is beginning to take shape, and Disney is apparently checking its work before some of the project’s biggest structures rise above Frontierland.
Piston Peak National Park will introduce a massive new environment inspired by Cars (2006), complete with dramatic rockwork and mountains. Those structures will help establish the identity of the new area, but they could also become visible from other sections of Magic Kingdom.
Disney appears to be testing just how noticeable they’ll be.
A Red Balloon Appears Over Piston Peak
WDW News Today spotted an interesting detail in a recent photo shared by Disney Parks Blog.
Walt Disney World Executive Creative Director Jason Grandt appears in the foreground, while a red balloon can be seen floating above the Piston Peak National Park construction site behind him. Cinderella Castle is also visible in the distance.
The balloon appears to be part of a height test.
These tests give designers an idea of where a future structure will appear on the horizon before actually constructing it. In Piston Peak’s case, the balloon may represent the planned height of one of the area’s piston-shaped mountains.
Imagineers can observe the balloon from multiple locations and determine whether the proposed height creates unwanted sightline problems.
That’s particularly important inside Magic Kingdom.
Piston Peak Creates a Unique Challenge
Disney isn’t simply adding another building to Frontierland.
The Piston Peak landscape is expected to include substantial rockwork that could become part of Magic Kingdom’s skyline. Imagineers therefore have to think beyond what guests will see while they’re actually exploring the new area.
They also have to consider Main Street, U.S.A., Liberty Square, and other nearby locations.
Disney has previously indicated that it doesn’t want obvious Cars (2006) architecture intruding into those environments. That’s where carefully designed mountains, trees, rockwork, and other natural elements can become visual barriers.
From Liberty Square, for example, guests are expected to see appropriate rockwork and a large waterfall rather than unmistakable elements from the Cars world.
Imagineering Has Done This Before
Disney has pointed toward Mount Prometheus at Tokyo DisneySea as an example of how this approach can work.
The enormous structure can look very different depending on a guest’s location. From Cape Cod, the mountain can appear more like a rolling green hillside instead of the dramatic volcano guests recognize elsewhere.
Piston Peak could use the same basic idea.
Inside the new area, the mountains can establish an enormous Cars (2006) environment. From another land, those same structures can simply become part of the distant scenery.
Magic Kingdom’s Skyline Is About to Change
The test provides an interesting glimpse at just how much planning goes into a transformation of this size.
Disney can’t simply decide how tall a Piston Peak mountain should be based on how it looks from inside the new area. Imagineers also need to know what happens when guests walk hundreds of feet away and turn around.
Piston Peak National Park will inevitably change Magic Kingdom.
The apparent height testing suggests Disney is now working to ensure those massive mountains reshape the park without overwhelming the classic environments surrounding them.
