‘The Nuking of Magic Kingdom,’ Former Imagineering Attacks Company for Destroying Walt’s Vision

With Walt Disney World undergoing so many changes, it’s hard to get everyone to agree on something that they’ve only seen in drawings. However, no change has divided the Disney fans community more than the removal of Rivers of America and Tom Sawyer Island at Magic Kingdom.

A split image showcasing Tom Sawyer Island on one side with a wooden dock, barrels, and serene waters, and a rugged, red rock terrain on the other side with a rustic, old western-style wooden building. — Credit: Disney

Disney Imagineering recently received its permits to start filling in Rivers of America, an opening day Magic Kingdom attraction, to make way for the new Cars and Villain Land. While most Disney fans will agree that Magic Kingdom needs to expand, removing an attraction whose purpose is to add aesthetic beauty to the park is what is dividing the fan community.

There is also the argument that Cars Land does not fit into Frontierland’s timeline or aesthetic, and removing the water feature will create a large paved surface in the middle of the Central Florida heat.

Now, former Disney Imagineers are starting to weigh in on the current state of their former employer and the destruction of what they see as Walt Disney’s vision for the parks. Former Imagineer Jim Shull has been a frequent critic of Disney Imagineering since he left the company, but he was recently joined by another voice who took WDI to task.

Tom Sawyer Island at Magic Kingdom. — Credit: Inside the Magic

Val Usle worked for The Walt Disney Company for 40 years, starting as a monorail pilot at Disneyland and ending as the Executive Director of Sustainable Design for Walt Disney Imagineering. During his time with the company, he worked on projects at Tokyo Disneyland, Tokyo Disney Sea, Hong Kong Disneyland, Disney’s Animal Kingdom, and Disneyland Paris.

This week, Usle published an open letter to Disney Imagineering on his LinkedIn account, bemoaning what he called the “nuking of Magic Kingdom’s Rivers of America.” In the letter, Usle gave a scathing review of some of the recent projects completed by Disney Imagineering and the ideas for the future of the parks.

A large, green Mickey Mouse-shaped balloon floats in the foreground on the left side. In the background is the Rivers of America at Disneyland Park, with the Mark Twain riverboat. — Credit: Inside the Magic

He was especially critical of the new tower at the Polynesian Resort, EPCOT’s new CommuniCore Hall and Plaza, and the Haunted Mansion gift shop at Disneyland. These are some of the same failures that Disney fans have been attacking for months as they attempted to get Disney Imagineering to leave Rivers of America and Tom Sawyer Island.

Usle ended his letter with:

WED and WDI have never been perfect, but such missteps in the past have been few and far between – the exception being Paul Pressler’s version of Disney’s California Adventure. Now I can list several just in the recent years.

One wonders if Rivers of America can be nuked, what other foundational heritage pieces can be next – Castle, Main Street, Pirates, expensive Steam Trains or Monorails?

To fix such a mess, it has to be recognized as a mess, but I don’t see it happening. The Emperors at 1401 Flower Street are butt naked and don’t know it.

WED lives, just not at 1401 Flower anymore.

Concept art for a 'Cars' racing ride in Frontierland at Walt Disney World Resort. — Credit: Disney

Despite Usle’s pleas and fan reaction, Disney Imagineering does not appear to be halting its plans to fill in Rivers of America and replace it with a concrete space. There is only hope that what they produce instead will live up to the hype, but if the past is precedent, that seems unlikely.

Do you think Usle is right? Should Disney Imagineering rethink its plans to fill in Rivers of America?