Take a last look at the Frontierland Shootin’ Arcade, an opening day attraction at Magic Kingdom that has closed permanently to make way for a new Disney Vacation Club lounge.
Frontierland Shootin’ Arcade
The Frontierland Shootin’ Arcade is near the start of Frontierland, past The Diamond Horseshoe. A wooden archway frames a bridge-like walkway into the DVC kiosk next door. The kiosk and the arcade look like they’re made of logs.
With the new lounge, the DVC kiosk might also change. The lounge will be “inspired by the bygone era of exploration and adventure.”
A boardwalk with stairs and ramps leads to the Frontierland Shootin’ Arcade. It’s set back from the main walkway. The pavement nearby has horseshoe marks.
A facade on the left is made out of green-gray stone. An animal skull with large antlers is mounted above a window behind the Frontierland Shootin’ Arcade sign. More antlers are on the roof.
The ramps and flowerbeds are lined with railings made out of wooden posts. The flowerbeds are full of simple grasses and shrubs. There are crates and barrels on a balcony of the stone facade.
A tree in front of the Frontierland Shootin’ Arcade sits in a large brown box that doubles as a bench.
Old-fashioned lamps line the edge of the roof. The columns of the overhang resemble tree trunks that haven’t been sanded down. The attraction’s sign features two crossed rifles.
Under the overhang is a concrete wall resembling brown clay or rock where the game rifles sit. Built into the front of the wall are panels for payment. The arcade has been free-to-play since September 2021 but it was $1 before that. When Disney still used ticket tiers, the arcade was a B-ticket attraction.
There are slots for coins labeled with the respective rifle’s number. After the game was made free, stickers reading “free” were added to the panels and “free to play” signs were hung on the nearby columns.
The rifles are made of brown wood with golden hardware and black barrels. They each sit on a red mat featuring a Western pattern. They have black elastic coils keeping them attached to the wall through the mats.
The guns originally shot lead pellets. In 1982, the system was updated to use infrared lights instead. This saved Disney a lot of time and money, as crews used to have to repaint the targets every night.
Beyond the wall is a tableau of props and set pieces inspired by Tombstone, Arizona, and a Boothill cemetery circa 1850. There are buttes on the sides and in the painted background. A vulture is on a small wooden bridge crossing a dried stream.
“Boothill” is painted in red on a wooden plank sign. Red, glowing infrared targets are visible on various props. One is on a shovel that moves in and out of an open grave. Shooting a target triggers an effect. For example, shooting the shovel causes a skull to pop out of the grave.
The foreground of the scene features the cemetery’s many graves. Near the center of the scene is a leafless tree. Two vultures are perched on the tree branches, and another is on the Boothill sign. An owl with large yellow eyes is in a hollow of the tree. Shooting the targets below these birds triggers movement and sound effects.
In the background are miniature buildings with lights glowing behind their windows. A train with targets on each car drives past the town in the distance. There are various types of cacti and other desert plants.
Shooting the gravestones will cause them to jiggle or move up and down. Though the guns no longer use real pellets, they still have shooting sound effects.
Shooting the Boothill sign causes it to light up. Behind the sign is a hill with openings into a mine. Shooting a target above one of the mine openings causes a mine car to roll between them.
The mine is Lucky #13.
Groundhogs pop out of holes in the ground. There’s a snake under the bridge.
There are large skittering spiders on the buttes that will run away if shot at.
Bats above a cactus will descend upon it. The horns on a large animal skeleton spin.
The detailed miniature town of Tombstone features buildings labeled “Hotel,” “Livery Stable,” and “Bank.” When the stable doors open, the shadow of a horse is visible inside. Other buildings feature the shadows of people in the windows.
There’s a coffin creaking open among the gravestones.
This cracked gravestone is dated 1855 and reads:
He loved to dance
He drank his fill
He drinks no more
He dances still
A skeletal figure shows up on this gravestone, which reads:
An arrow shot straight n’ true
Made its mark on Little Lou
There’s a bottle on top of this gravestone and a broken bottle next to it.
One last drink was his demand
Died a reaching
Red Eye Dan
Dec 21
Some of the grave markers are planks of wood on posts instead of the more traditional stone slabs.
A. Carpenter
Trapped when in his coffin he napped
A saw moves through the ground in front of this marker.
The letters look like they’ve been painted on the wood.
rest in Peace Henry Baker
he has gone to Meet his Maker
The front of this gravestone reads:
As I am now
You soon may be
So be prepared
To follow me
It spins, revealing a second epitaph:
To follow you
I’m not content
Til I know
Which way
You went
Six Gun Tex
Lies in this grave
Used his gun
For a closer shave
This tombstone spins if shot.
Six feet down
Lies Gabby Joe
His talk was fast
His draw was slow
April 17
As long as someone is playing, there is constant sound and movement at the Frontierland Shootin’ Arcade.
On the boardwalk next to the arcade are two pressed penny machines. These may be moved elsewhere once construction begins. Each machine offers three designs.
This machine has simple penny designs with the faces of Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and Goofy.
The other machine has themed pennies: Mickey as a cowboy, Woody from “Toy Story,” Donald as a cowboy.
There are two benches and a table in front of the stone facade. A checkerboard with no pieces is on the table.
There’s a wooden barrier between the seating and a set of props at the edge of the boardwalk.
There is a large crate, barrel, wheel, and board. This used to be a Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom location. The game closed permanently in early 2021. Disney removed the portal screen and added new posters to the bulletin board.
In the center is a purple and white poster for The Hoop Dee Doo Revue at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort.
It advertises the Pioneer Hall Players, fine singing, fancy dancing, and fun for all.
This poster reads:
Wind Wagon Co.
Sail Westward Ho
Wind and Horse Power
This is in reference to two films: “Westward Ho, the Wagons!” (1956) and “The Saga of Windwagon Smith” (1961). Westward Ho is also the name of a food kiosk in Frontierland.
This flyer advertises hundreds of acres of land for sale in Silver Hill, Colorado. That’s the setting of the 1972 film “Snowball Express.”
Contact Lincoln Costain for information about The Great South Sees Cattle Drive. Lincoln Castain is the main character of “The Castaway Cowboy” (1974). South Seas as a name has been used by Disney several times including for a club in “The Rocketeer” and a former shop at Disneyland.
Partially hidden under the Hoop Dee Doo Revue poster is a help wanted ad for the Rio Grande.
Another notice asks for gold miners. This features the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and Big Thunder Mining Company logos.
The world-renowned Doctor Terminus is in town with “remedies for instant relief and miracle cures from across the seven seas.” Doctor Terminus is straight out of “Pete’s Dragon” (1977).
Next to Terminus’ poster is one for pack mules and horses: “We tack ’em, you pack ’em.”
The Amazing Slue-Foot Sue is “the one and only catfish riding cowgirl” according to this ad. Slue-Foot Sue is a character from the Pecos Bill section of “Melody Time” and previously hosted dinner shows at The Diamond Horsehoe next door.
When in Quake City, shake things up at the Hard Times Cafe. This is in reference to “The Apple Dumpling Gang” (1975), with apple dumplings noted as a “specialty of the house” on the poster.
Sunday, June 23, 2024 is the final day to experience the Frontierland Shootin’ Arcade before it closes. Disney also filed a construction permit for the neighboring Frontier Trading Post.
Watch our video of the Frontierland Shootin’ Arcade at Magic Kingdom below.
Other versions of the attraction include Frontierland Shootin’ Exposition at Disneyland, Westernland Shootin’ Gallery at Tokyo Disneyland, and Rustler Roundup Shootin’ Gallery at Disneyland Paris.
For the latest Disney Parks news and info, follow WDW News Today on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
The post Frontierland Shootin’ Arcade Closes Permanently: Last Look at a Magic Kingdom Opening Day Attraction appeared first on WDW News Today.