Walt Disney World has received approval for a project that will expand the queue area and add a new dock to the ferryboat launch on the north side of the Seven Seas Lagoon. The approval comes from the State of Florida’s water management district, given that the project will impact portions of the Seven Seas Lagoon. While the project itself is interesting, given how much change there has been in the area over the past decade, what’s even more interesting is what it may signal.
Magic Kingdom Ferryboat Expansion Approved
We’ll start with the basics, including a look at the permitted plans. In addition to the screenshot of the Magic Kingdom ferryboat launch area below, there is additional work taking place along the shoreline nearby for wetland impact mitigation. There will be no change to the guest experience with that dredging, so we’ll focus on the ferryboat launch area and two changes that could be a signal for something much larger in the works.
We’ll start with the new, free-floating dock that will be added for Cast Member use. This dock will allow easier access to the small watercraft storage spot along the queue area for the Magic Kingdom ferryboat launch.
As you can see in our photos below, Disney will sometimes store some of the smaller watercraft along the edge of the Magic Kingdom ferryboat queue. Right now, Cast Members have to navigate a swinging gate and the guest queue when docking the boat. Adding a new dock here will make it easier for Cast Members to access the boats. There will be no guest loading or unloading in this area. The approved permit says that the dock is for “Cast access only”.
While I initially was more interested in the dock, it’s the plans for an expanded queue area that are perhaps foreshadowing bigger plans as the Magic Kingdom theme park expands. As seen in the permit below, Disney appears to be significantly expanding the queue space for the Magic Kingdom ferryboat launch area. The expanded queue will wrap around a currently landscaped area, creating a sort of horseshoe queue for when it gets really busy. Because this new queue will weave in and out of the security boundaries for Magic Kingdom, we expect that other parts of this project will adjust the security perimeter and walls to accommodate this newly expanded queue.
As to the why of this project, we have to look toward another Magic Kingdom project – the expansion of Frontierland and all-new Villains Land. Not only will these areas significantly increase the fire marshal capacity of Magic Kingdom, but they will also increase guest interest and visitation as a whole. All of that leads to bigger crowds.
Exiting Magic Kingdom and the end of the day, or after the fireworks conclude, is already a logistical nightmare on most nights. Massive crowds flood the courtyard area as Cast Members do their best to direct guests to buses, ferryboats, and the monorail. The queues are a maze, but it works…for now. Once Piston Peak National Park and Villains Land open to the public, Disney will need more space to put all of these new guests at the end of the day. That’s where this queue expansion project comes in.
That said, this work is at the tail end of a decade of improvements to the Magic Kingdom ferryboat logistics. Between a doubling of dock capacity more than a decade ago and more recent additions such as second-floor loading and unloading platforms, Disney has clearly been building for the future. Actually, there may be one more thing that they can build: a fourth ferryboat.
The queue expansion will provide an expanded area for guests to wait to board a ferryboat, but what if Disney could increase their fleet by 33% as well? Rumors have pointed to a fourth ferryboat being in the works for a few years, but the closer we’re getting to these Magic Kingdom expansion projects going vertical, the louder the whispers are growing.
To be clear, Walt Disney World has not officially announced that a fourth ferryboat is coming, but it would make a lot of sense that Disney would want to expand the fleet, especially given the inevitable increase in demand coming over the next five years. As the monorail fleet continues to age, the ferryboats will continue to be the real workhorses of transporting guests from the Magic Kingdom parking lot to the theme park and back at the end of the day.
I think the real question is not if Disney World will build a fourth ferryboat, but rather, what will it be named? Any thoughts?
As always, keep checking back with us here at BlogMickey.com as we continue to bring you the latest news, photos, and info from around the Disney Parks!
Calling it now -the Joshua D Marrow
I think this expansion has more to do with the Mass amounts of humanity that will be catching boats to and from the New 900 room Lakeshore Lodge when it opens next year… since that will be the primary transportation for that resort.
Disney Lakeshore Lodge will very likely not be utilizing the ferryboat dock. They will have smaller watercraft and utilize other docks