Disney World’s New 2-Year Adventureland Permit Might Signal Start of ‘Project Cardust’

Walt Disney World has filed a construction permit with an extended 2028 expiration date for the central bazaar area of Adventureland outside Jungle Cruise. This is one of several new Magic Kingdom Notice of Commencements, constituting a veritable filing flurry. Here are details, plus our commentary about why this is interesting and could hint at a ‘Project Stardust’ style placemaking campaign ahead of Piston Peak and Villains Land.

It should be unsurprising that there’s a sudden surge of permits. Construction projects all around Walt Disney World are kicking into high gear, as part of a development cycle that will result in $17 billion of spending on new lands, rides, restaurants, and resorts. On top of Walt Disney World’s 5-year plan, there has also been an increase in routine refurbishments as Disney is finally doing deferred maintenance on attractions as the parks gear up for expansion to come online.

Permits being filed on a daily basis is nothing new and certainly not stop the presses news. It’s been happening for years, and most permits are wholly uninteresting and uneventful. Stuff like new signage, electrical work, and other ‘housekeeping’ projects not necessitating coverage. But with a mixture of regular refurbishments and expansion, we’re also starting to see more permits, and more interesting ones. We’ll circle back to this thread in the commentary, because I think that’s relevant to this Adventureland permit; frankly, the bigger picture is more interesting than this one specific permit.

WDW Permits 101

Let’s discuss some basics about Walt Disney World construction permits that apply across the board. Notices of Commencements are typically filed by Walt Disney World Resort, Facility Asset Management (FAM), or Walt Disney Imagineering.

The most interesting projects are typically (but not always) helmed by WDI, so that’s who to look for as the grantor name. If Imagineering is involved, it is usually (but not always) a creative project. By contrast, FAM typically handles routine refurbishments and more pedestrian projects. This isn’t always the case, though, and many ambitious projects involve both, or begin with FAM and involve Imagineering later.

The grantee is also important, as Disney works with a lot of third party contractors, and the same ones often come up repeatedly. Obviously, different contractors are capable of handling projects of differing scope and scale. The least-interesting permits often involve Disney’s in-house Buena Vista Construction Company (BVCC).

They typically handle smaller-scale projects of generalized nature, whereas big general contractors and those with specialized expertise work on new lands and attractions. The one-two punch of FAM and BVCC typically means maintenance.

Most permits do not contain a satisfying amount of specificity. In the general description of the improvement, you’re going to see a lot of “general construction” or “provide labor, material, and/or electrical for construction.” This is true even of projects that are larger in scale and scope.

I assume this is done for ease and efficiency (it’s a single line on the form), but also because Disney knows bloggers are watching this stuff and they don’t always want to tip their hand. In other cases, there is more detail provided, but it’s inconsequential, such as “install signage.”

The final detail of import is the expiration date. Unless otherwise specified, the default expiration is one-year from the date filed. The default 1-year timeline is never noteworthy, but shorter or longer ones always are, as they’re extended or reduced purposefully.

Extensions occur on projects like new lands or attractions, which will take more than a year to build. Others are shortened in the case of a refurbishment that Disney wants to make clear is being done on a tight timeline. Sometimes quick projects, like installing signage are left with the one-year default out of ease, despite it not even taking the government that long to install a sign.

Projects with extended expirations are almost always interesting, especially when filed by Imagineering and involved a big name contractor known for themed design work. The new Adventureland permits check a couple of boxes, but not all of them. Nevertheless, we think this is an interesting conduit to discuss something that’ll probably need to happen around Magic Kingdom over the next 2 years, anyway. Let’s dig into the details, followed by our commentary…

2-Year Adventureland Construction Permit

The new Notice of Commencement in question was filed by Walt Disney World’s Facility Asset Management team. It’s assigned to MLC Theming, Inc. and has a scope of work of “General Construction” at 4851 Caribbean Way, which resolves to the center of Adventureland.

The standout detail of this particular permit is that Walt Disney World purposefully overrode the default one-year expiration to extend its end date to August 31, 2028. As noted above, that’s nearly one year longer than most construction permits.

Equally curious is that the address corresponds, specifically, with the Adventureland Popcorn Cart. This stand is located between the outside of Jungle Cruise and Magic Carpets of Aladdin. At the risk of stating the obvious, it’s not going to take nearly two years to refresh a popcorn cart. Unless maybe they’re building some serious supply chain disruptions into the mix. Maybe popcorn turners are a hot commodity right now.

Another interesting tidbit is MLC Theming’s involvement on a FAM project. Their specialty is creating “extraordinary” rockwork, brick, and other architectural details, aging structures, and using trade and artistic techniques to accomplish the desired look of the project.

Their portfolio reveals lots of rockwork in Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort, New Fantasyland, Pandora – World of Avatar, along with other locations that feature purposefully-aged or weathered thematics. Absolutely nothing in their portfolio suggests they’re in the popcorn cart refurbishment business, unless it’s going to become themed to temple ruins or something.

Accordingly, it is our strong belief that this is not a project pertaining to the Adventureland Popcorn Cart, but instead, placemaking in this area of Adventureland. Just because the address on the permit resolves to that stand doesn’t mean that’s the only thing that the permit could encompass. The open bazaar doesn’t have an address, so Disney would use the closest proxy, and the cart is one such option.

As for what this permit could actually entail, there are a few possibilities…

Adventureland Permit Possibilities

We’ll start with the most exciting: Disney is finally going to put the Magic Carpets of Aladdin out of its misery. This may be an unpopular take with some of my fellow parents out there, and I say this as someone who is otherwise pro-flat ride: how many spinners does one park need?!

There have been rumors and/or wishful thinking about the removal of the Magic Carpets of Aladdin for years. With an empowered Imagineering Florida office, perhaps their time has finally come. I would not be the least bit surprised to see it happen before 2030, as I know there’s internal discontent over this spinner.

With that said, there are countless reasons why that is not the subject of this permit. For one, the carpets have their own address to which the permit would be assigned. For another, you’re not assigning demolition to contractor specializing in rockwork. That’s like having a blogger retile a bathroom (which I’ve done…and it shows!). Other reasons exist, but that’s enough to summarily dismiss this.

All of the alternatives involve various forms of placemaking given the contractor, and likely with the purpose of improved crowd flow. In fact, the whole reason this permit caught my attention in the first place is because it sparked my memory of Project Stardust at Disneyland.

For Walt Disney World fans (or anyone who doesn’t recall), Project Stardust was a major initiative at Disneyland in the lead-up to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. It was critically-necessary to make the now 70-plus year old park more conducive to modern crowd flow, while not sapping Walt Disney’s original magic kingdom of its charm.

Project Stardust was a concerted and comprehensive plan to ease congestion around Disneyland by improving the flow of walkways, expanding queues, creating dedicated stroller parking, relocating obstructive seating, and more. It increased the park’s ability to absorb crowds, while also refreshing various things around Disneyland. This was overdue, and yielded a mix of improvements, alongside necessary evils.

Magic Kingdom will be nearly 60 years old when Piston Peak and Villains Land open, and Disney will want to prepare for that influx of demand ahead of those areas. Although Magic Kingdom does not have the same issues Disneyland did back in 2018-2019, it’ll absolutely need its own comprehensive package of improvements a la Project Stardust.

Nowhere is that more evident than in Adventureland. This is one reason why the removal of the Magic Carpets of Aladdin is probably on the table in the first place, even if it’s not the subject of this particular permit. Let’s dub it ‘Project Cardust’, which has a certain understated stupidity that makes it a good fit for DTB. (Credit to James in the comments, who suggested Project Cardust over my original Project Pistondust, which was a real clunker.)

The upside of something like Project Cardust, beyond just the crowd improvements it would offer, is enhanced placemaking. With a dedicated funding package approved as part of the bigger picture Piston Peak and Villains Land expansion, Imagineering could (theoretically) obtain the resources for some ‘pet projects’ they’ve wanted to undertake for a while.

As for other possibilities for this particular permit, the worst case scenario is removing the Liki Tikis. These are a nostalgic fan-favorite and a fun spot for kids, but they also could be deemed not conducive to crowd flow. I hope this isn’t the case, but fear it might be.

Less exciting but much more likely is reconfiguring the pathways over here. Jungle Cruise has a set of stairs and a rampway leading to its entrance, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the former is removed and and turned into a stroller parking area. The stairs are already often closed on busier days when the queue spills out into this area, anyway.

Even more ambitious (and supportive of the 2-year timeline) would be a complete reconfiguration of this space to add even more stroller parking and widen the walkway. This could involve creating a parking area that actually does use temple ruins or whatever to conceal the stroller parking. This would require removing the current ramp and replacing the current stairs with a new ramp.

There’s a lot of dead space around the existing ramp, and between that and the defunct Shrunken Ned’s Junior Jungle Boats area, there’s room for a sizable stroller parking area that could also be largely concealed from guest view. The current stroller parking here is an eyesore, and makes the area look and feel even more chaotic.

A final unlikely possibility is creating a purpose-built snack stand in this area themed to temple ruins (or, again, whatever). Having a permanent, higher-capacity location for the Adventureland Spring Rolls would be a win. However, I cannot imagine that location would be here, right in the middle of the walkway.

There’s a reason that cart was moved outside the Adventureland entrance in the first place, and bringing back a bigger version of that to the main thoroughfare in the bazaar at a time when the park is on the precipice of seeing heavier crowds would be an awful idea.

This only happens as part of a comprehensive redesign that allows the stand to be offset deeper in the Jungle Cruise area. Perhaps as part of an expanded stroller parking temple ruins or whatever. Even then, it strikes me as unlikely. I truly do not believe this permit pertains to carts or snacking, period. It’s probably strollers.

Ultimately, that’s a lot of discussion for a construction permit that corresponds with a popcorn cart and probably involves purpose-built stroller parking. But sometimes a popcorn permit isn’t actually for popcorn or even only for stroller parking, and this is probably one of those occasions.

In all likelihood, we’re going to see a lot more projects of this nature on the western side of the park soon, and perhaps even an announcement of a Project Cardust or something like that at the 2027 Destination D23. I’m intrigued by the possibilities, especially in Adventureland.

Improving crowd flow in this bottleneck is badly needed and long overdue, and at the same time, I also think there’s a tremendous opportunity to improve the thematics and placemaking back here. The same is true in Frontierland and Liberty Square, so I hope Imagineering has the resources to fix longstanding issues in all three lands with the Piston Peak and Villains Land budgets. Stay tuned!

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Your Thoughts

Thoughts on potential changes Imagineering could make to the bazaar area of Adventureland? Expect this to be a simple and straightforward 2-year popcorn cart maintenance project. Or does it signal something bigger, potentially even the start of Project Cardust? Predictions about what this project actually entails? Agree or disagree with our speculation? Any questions? Hearing your feedback—even when you disagree with us—is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!