Long overdue Magic Kingdom closure won't make fans happy with what replaces it

In 1971, Disney World opened Magic Kingdom. In Frontierland, one attraction not having anything to do with talking animatronic bears, was also opened. Now, that attraction is permanently closed and honestly, it is long overdue.

Frontierland's Shootin' Gallery was a Magic Kingdom original, and it hasn't changed much over the last 50 years. The shooting arcade allows adults and kids to fire off a gun to hit targets and earn, well, nothing really. In the earlier years, the guns fired bb-type projectiles that were later replaced with lasers instead. The attraction was never free, and guests had to put money into a machine to experience it. Now, it's over. June 23rd was the final day for its long overdue departure.

Did you shed a tear? I remember the original arcade, or at least what it was in the late 70s and early 80s when I was a kid. I remember also trying it out with my own kids a few year's ago and never going back. My youngest loved to run up and pretend he was firing away at the little red circle targets.

I'm not sad that Disney is closing this attraction. It was antiquated, outdated, and surely doesn't fit with the new "woke" culture that Disney is becoming. Aside from that, guns are not really a thing anymore at theme parks. What I don't get, however, is what they are replacing it with.

Smack dab in the middle of Frontierland, Disney has decided to make this area a, wait for it, DVC ownership lounge. Yes, that's right. Us every day, ordinary guests and AP holders won't get to experience what comes next. A walled-up former attraction that will allow Disney Vacation Club members a cool area to sit in and relax.

I'm all for a DVC lounge don't get me wrong. I'm all for the AP lounges that pop up from time to time around the theme parks but as much as I question the AP lounge at the Morocco Pavilion at EPCOT, I have to question why a DVC spot would pop up in Frontierland?

Outside of this, however, is one of those many DVC kiosks we see all over the parks promoting and enticing you to take a tour and get a free Lightning Lane pass for doing so. Maybe that is the draw. Regardless, it's an odd place to put it and maybe they should have places it somewhere in Tomorrowland as if saying, "Hey, in the future, you can be a DVC club member to and enjoy this little lounge!"