The next step for Disney's NextGen? 'Pirates Adventure: Jewels of the Seven Seas'

We've been talking about Walt Disney World's NextGen project . Most the attention has been to the resort new, unnamed advance ride reservation system for hotel guests . But NextGen includes in-park attraction elements, as well. And now I've seen plans for what might be the next implementation of NextGen in Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom.

It's called "Pirates Adventure: Jewels of the Seven Seas" and it will transform the Magic Kingdom's Adventureland into an interactive treasure hunt. Using RFID-enabled tap points, participating Disney World guests will be able to shoot the cannons on top of the Pirates of the Caribbean fortress queue, interact with animatronic idols, parrots and snakes, and search for and open a treasure chest which has been left somewhere in Adventureland.



There might soon be much more to do in Caribbean Plaza than shop and wait for Pirates of the Caribbean.

The adventure will take place in newly decorated scenes throughout the land, including sites inside merchandise shops, along walkways and near attraction queues. A fountain in Caribbean Plaza that was long ago converted to a planter would be restored - and stocked with animatronic piranhas, poised to attack upon your request.

The scale is intimate, much like the new Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom game, so that guests who aren't playing - and who haven't memorized every decoration detail in the park - probably won't notice any of the interactive elements. Unless someone's there activating them, of course.

Disney's not announced or confirmed any of this publicly, of course. And I don't have any inside information on whether this will be opened to everyone to play, like Sorcerer's, or restricted to invited hotel guests, like with the current Fastpass+ test. Nor did my sources provide me with any guess on an opening date.

But "Pirates Adventure: Jewels of the Seven Seas" would take Disney a step closer to that NextGen ideal we've discussed, where themed lands become platforms for customized attraction adventures, rather than simply serving as well-decorated location for rides and shows.

Thoughts?

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