diff --git a/lib/jekyll.rb b/lib/jekyll.rb
index 3e8e639d..a90a5a0b 100644
--- a/lib/jekyll.rb
+++ b/lib/jekyll.rb
@@ -172,6 +172,7 @@ end
 require_all 'jekyll/commands'
 require_all 'jekyll/converters'
 require_all 'jekyll/converters/markdown'
+require_all 'jekyll/drops'
 require_all 'jekyll/generators'
 require_all 'jekyll/tags'
 
diff --git a/lib/jekyll/collection.rb b/lib/jekyll/collection.rb
index c4a1f456..f74ccf6f 100644
--- a/lib/jekyll/collection.rb
+++ b/lib/jekyll/collection.rb
@@ -170,14 +170,7 @@ module Jekyll
     #
     # Returns a representation of this collection for use in Liquid.
     def to_liquid
-      metadata.merge({
-        "label"     => label,
-        "docs"      => docs,
-        "files"     => files,
-        "directory" => directory,
-        "output"    => write?,
-        "relative_directory" => relative_directory
-      })
+      Drops::CollectionDrop.new self
     end
 
     # Whether the collection's documents ought to be written as individual
diff --git a/lib/jekyll/convertible.rb b/lib/jekyll/convertible.rb
index 016ff245..db34307a 100644
--- a/lib/jekyll/convertible.rb
+++ b/lib/jekyll/convertible.rb
@@ -210,13 +210,8 @@ module Jekyll
 
       while layout
         Jekyll.logger.debug "Rendering Layout:", path
-        payload = Utils.deep_merge_hashes(
-          payload,
-          {
-            "content" => output,
-            "layout"  => layout.data
-          }
-        )
+        payload.content = output
+        payload.layout  = layout.data
 
         self.output = render_liquid(layout.content,
                                          payload,
@@ -250,11 +245,11 @@ module Jekyll
 
       Jekyll.logger.debug "Pre-Render Hooks:", self.relative_path
       Jekyll::Hooks.trigger hook_owner, :pre_render, self, payload
-      info = { :filters => [Jekyll::Filters], :registers => { :site => site, :page => payload['page'] } }
+      info = { :filters => [Jekyll::Filters], :registers => { :site => site, :page => payload.page } }
 
       # render and transform content (this becomes the final content of the object)
-      payload["highlighter_prefix"] = converters.first.highlighter_prefix
-      payload["highlighter_suffix"] = converters.first.highlighter_suffix
+      payload.highlighter_prefix = converters.first.highlighter_prefix
+      payload.highlighter_suffix = converters.first.highlighter_suffix
 
       if render_with_liquid?
         Jekyll.logger.debug "Rendering Liquid:", self.relative_path
diff --git a/lib/jekyll/document.rb b/lib/jekyll/document.rb
index 528fed68..622f1180 100644
--- a/lib/jekyll/document.rb
+++ b/lib/jekyll/document.rb
@@ -38,12 +38,10 @@ module Jekyll
     end
 
     def output=(output)
-      @to_liquid = nil
       @output = output
     end
 
     def content=(content)
-      @to_liquid = nil
       @content = content
     end
 
@@ -181,27 +179,7 @@ module Jekyll
     #
     # Returns the Hash of key-value pairs for replacement in the URL.
     def url_placeholders
-      {
-        collection:  collection.label,
-        path:        cleaned_relative_path,
-        output_ext:  output_ext,
-        name:        Utils.slugify(basename_without_ext),
-        title:       Utils.slugify(data['slug'], mode: "pretty", cased: true) || Utils
-                       .slugify(basename_without_ext, mode: "pretty", cased: true),
-        slug:        Utils.slugify(data['slug']) || Utils.slugify(basename_without_ext),
-        year:        date.strftime("%Y"),
-        month:       date.strftime("%m"),
-        day:         date.strftime("%d"),
-        hour:        date.strftime("%H"),
-        minute:      date.strftime("%M"),
-        second:      date.strftime("%S"),
-        i_day:       date.strftime("%-d"),
-        i_month:     date.strftime("%-m"),
-        categories:  (data['categories'] || []).map { |c| c.to_s.downcase }.uniq.join('/'),
-        short_month: date.strftime("%b"),
-        short_year:  date.strftime("%y"),
-        y_day:       date.strftime("%j"),
-      }
+      @url_placeholders ||= Drops::UrlDrop.new(self)
     end
 
     # The permalink for this Document.
@@ -278,8 +256,6 @@ module Jekyll
     #
     # Returns nothing.
     def read(opts = {})
-      @to_liquid = nil
-
       Jekyll.logger.debug "Reading:", relative_path
 
       if yaml_file?
@@ -353,21 +329,7 @@ module Jekyll
     #
     # Returns a Hash representing this Document's data.
     def to_liquid
-      @to_liquid ||= if data.is_a?(Hash)
-        Utils.deep_merge_hashes Utils.deep_merge_hashes({
-          "output"        => output,
-          "content"       => content,
-          "relative_path" => relative_path,
-          "path"          => relative_path,
-          "url"           => url,
-          "collection"    => collection.label,
-          "next"          => next_doc,
-          "previous"      => previous_doc,
-          "id"            => id,
-        }, data), { 'excerpt' => data['excerpt'].to_s }
-      else
-        data
-      end
+      @to_liquid ||= Drops::DocumentDrop.new(self)
     end
 
     # The inspect string for this document.
diff --git a/lib/jekyll/drops/collection_drop.rb b/lib/jekyll/drops/collection_drop.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..30c9f865
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/jekyll/drops/collection_drop.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+# encoding: UTF-8
+require "jekyll/drops/immutable_drop"
+
+module Jekyll
+  module Drops
+    class CollectionDrop < ImmutableDrop
+      extend Forwardable
+
+      def_delegators :@obj, :label, :docs, :files, :directory, :relative_directory
+
+      def output
+        @obj.write?
+      end
+
+      private
+      def data
+        @obj.metadata
+      end
+
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/lib/jekyll/drops/document_drop.rb b/lib/jekyll/drops/document_drop.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..4d7207d5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/jekyll/drops/document_drop.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+# encoding: UTF-8
+
+module Jekyll
+  module Drops
+    class DocumentDrop < ImmutableDrop
+
+      def output
+        @obj.output
+      end
+
+      def content
+        @obj.content
+      end
+
+      def relative_path
+        @obj.relative_path
+      end
+      alias_method :path, :relative_path
+
+      def url
+        @obj.url
+      end
+
+      def collection
+        @obj.collection.label
+      end
+
+      def next
+        @obj.next_doc
+      end
+
+      def previous
+        @obj.previous_doc
+      end
+
+      def id
+        @obj.id
+      end
+
+      def excerpt
+        data['excerpt'].to_s
+      end
+
+      def data
+        @obj.data
+      end
+
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/lib/jekyll/drops/immutable_drop.rb b/lib/jekyll/drops/immutable_drop.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..51257cff
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/jekyll/drops/immutable_drop.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+# encoding: UTF-8
+
+module Jekyll
+  module Drops
+    class ImmutableDrop < Liquid::Drop
+
+      def initialize(obj)
+        @obj = obj
+      end
+
+      def [](key)
+        if respond_to? key
+          public_send key
+        else
+          data[key]
+        end
+      end
+
+      def []=(key, val)
+        if respond_to? key
+          raise ArgumentError.new("Key #{key} cannot be set in the drop.")
+        else
+          data[key] = val
+        end
+      end
+
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/lib/jekyll/drops/jekyll_drop.rb b/lib/jekyll/drops/jekyll_drop.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..c4009da0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/jekyll/drops/jekyll_drop.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+# encoding: UTF-8
+
+module Jekyll
+  module Drops
+    class JekyllDrop < Liquid::Drop
+      class << self
+        def global
+          @global ||= JekyllDrop.new
+        end
+      end
+
+      def version
+        Jekyll::VERSION
+      end
+
+      def environment
+        Jekyll.env
+      end
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/lib/jekyll/drops/mutable_drop.rb b/lib/jekyll/drops/mutable_drop.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..1551728e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/jekyll/drops/mutable_drop.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+# encoding: UTF-8
+
+module Jekyll
+  module Drops
+    class MutableDrop < Liquid::Drop
+
+      def initialize(obj)
+        @obj = obj
+        @mutations = {}
+      end
+
+      def [](key)
+        if @mutations.key? key
+          @mutations[key]
+        elsif respond_to? key
+          public_send key
+        else
+          data[key]
+        end
+      end
+
+      def []=(key, val)
+        @mutations[key] = val
+      end
+
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/lib/jekyll/drops/site_drop.rb b/lib/jekyll/drops/site_drop.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..77d6a416
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/jekyll/drops/site_drop.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+# encoding: UTF-8
+
+module Jekyll
+  module Drops
+    class SiteDrop < ImmutableDrop
+      extend Forwardable
+
+      def_delegator  :@obj, :site_data, :data
+      def_delegators :@obj, :time, :pages, :static_files, :documents
+
+      def posts
+        @site_posts ||= @obj.posts.docs.sort { |a, b| b <=> a }
+      end
+
+      def html_pages
+        @site_html_pages ||= @obj.pages.select { |page| page.html? || page.url.end_with?("/") }
+      end
+
+      def categories
+        @site_categories ||= @obj.post_attr_hash('categories')
+      end
+
+      def tags
+        @site_tags ||= @obj.post_attr_hash('tags')
+      end
+
+      def collections
+        @site_collections ||= @obj.collections.values.map(&:to_liquid)
+      end
+
+      private
+      def data
+        @obj.config
+      end
+
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/lib/jekyll/drops/unified_payload_drop.rb b/lib/jekyll/drops/unified_payload_drop.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..65733b20
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/jekyll/drops/unified_payload_drop.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+# encoding: UTF-8
+
+module Jekyll
+  module Drops
+    class UnifiedPayloadDrop < Liquid::Drop
+
+      attr_accessor :page, :layout, :content, :paginator
+      attr_accessor :highlighter_prefix, :highlighter_suffix
+
+      def initialize(site)
+        @site = site
+      end
+
+      def jekyll
+        JekyllDrop.global
+      end
+
+      def site
+        @site_drop ||= SiteDrop.new(@site)
+      end
+
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/lib/jekyll/drops/url_drop.rb b/lib/jekyll/drops/url_drop.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..047acacf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/jekyll/drops/url_drop.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+# encoding: UTF-8
+
+module Jekyll
+  module Drops
+    class UrlDrop < ImmutableDrop
+      def collection
+        @obj.collection.label
+      end
+
+      def path
+        @obj.cleaned_relative_path
+      end
+
+      def output_ext
+        @obj.output_ext
+      end
+
+      def name
+        Utils.slugify(@obj.basename_without_ext)
+      end
+
+      def title
+        Utils.slugify(@obj.data['slug'], mode: "pretty", cased: true) ||
+          Utils.slugify(@obj.basename_without_ext, mode: "pretty", cased: true)
+      end
+
+      def slug
+        Utils.slugify(@obj.data['slug']) || Utils.slugify(@obj.basename_without_ext)
+      end
+
+      def categories
+        category_set = Set.new
+        Array(@obj.data['categories']).each do |category|
+          category_set << category.to_s.downcase
+        end
+        category_set.to_a.join('/')
+      end
+
+      def year;        @obj.date.strftime("%Y"); end
+      def month;       @obj.date.strftime("%m"); end
+      def day;         @obj.date.strftime("%d"); end
+      def hour;        @obj.date.strftime("%H"); end
+      def minute;      @obj.date.strftime("%M"); end
+      def second;      @obj.date.strftime("%S"); end
+      def i_day;       @obj.date.strftime("%-d"); end
+      def i_month;     @obj.date.strftime("%-m"); end
+      def short_month; @obj.date.strftime("%b"); end
+      def short_year;  @obj.date.strftime("%y"); end
+      def y_day;       @obj.date.strftime("%j"); end
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/lib/jekyll/page.rb b/lib/jekyll/page.rb
index a62a9940..0644e1b6 100644
--- a/lib/jekyll/page.rb
+++ b/lib/jekyll/page.rb
@@ -117,12 +117,10 @@ module Jekyll
     #
     # Returns nothing.
     def render(layouts, site_payload)
-      payload = Utils.deep_merge_hashes({
-        "page" => to_liquid,
-        'paginator' => pager.to_liquid
-      }, site_payload)
+      site_payload.page = to_liquid
+      site_payload.paginator = pager.to_liquid
 
-      do_layout(payload, layouts)
+      do_layout(site_payload, layouts)
     end
 
     # The path to the source file
diff --git a/lib/jekyll/renderer.rb b/lib/jekyll/renderer.rb
index 529ff84b..09763cca 100644
--- a/lib/jekyll/renderer.rb
+++ b/lib/jekyll/renderer.rb
@@ -3,12 +3,12 @@
 module Jekyll
   class Renderer
 
-    attr_reader :document, :site, :site_payload
+    attr_reader :document, :site, :payload
 
     def initialize(site, document, site_payload = nil)
-      @site         = site
-      @document     = document
-      @site_payload = site_payload
+      @site     = site
+      @document = document
+      @payload  = site_payload || site.site_payload
     end
 
     # Determine which converters to use based on this document's
@@ -33,12 +33,10 @@ module Jekyll
     def run
       Jekyll.logger.debug "Rendering:", document.relative_path
 
-      payload = Utils.deep_merge_hashes({
-        "page" => document.to_liquid
-      }, site_payload || site.site_payload)
+      payload.page = document.to_liquid
 
       if document.collection.label == 'posts' && document.is_a?(Document)
-        payload['site']['related_posts'] = document.related_posts
+        payload.site['related_posts'] = document.related_posts
       end
 
       Jekyll.logger.debug "Pre-Render Hooks:", document.relative_path
@@ -46,12 +44,12 @@ module Jekyll
 
       info = {
         filters:   [Jekyll::Filters],
-        registers: { :site => site, :page => payload['page'] }
+        registers: { :site => site, :page => payload.page }
       }
 
       # render and transform content (this becomes the final content of the object)
-      payload["highlighter_prefix"] = converters.first.highlighter_prefix
-      payload["highlighter_suffix"] = converters.first.highlighter_suffix
+      payload.highlighter_prefix = converters.first.highlighter_prefix
+      payload.highlighter_suffix = converters.first.highlighter_suffix
 
       output = document.content
 
@@ -135,14 +133,9 @@ module Jekyll
       used   = Set.new([layout])
 
       while layout
-        payload = Utils.deep_merge_hashes(
-          payload,
-          {
-            "content" => output,
-            "page"    => document.to_liquid,
-            "layout"  => layout.data
-          }
-        )
+        payload.content = output
+        payload.page = document.to_liquid
+        payload.layout = layout.data
 
         output = render_liquid(
           layout.content,
diff --git a/lib/jekyll/site.rb b/lib/jekyll/site.rb
index 5e9402f4..4dc3ac84 100644
--- a/lib/jekyll/site.rb
+++ b/lib/jekyll/site.rb
@@ -259,25 +259,7 @@ module Jekyll
     #   "tags"       - The Hash of tag values and Posts.
     #                  See Site#post_attr_hash for type info.
     def site_payload
-      {
-        "jekyll" => {
-          "version" => Jekyll::VERSION,
-          "environment" => Jekyll.env
-        },
-        "site"   => Utils.deep_merge_hashes(config,
-          Utils.deep_merge_hashes(Hash[collections.map{|label, coll| [label, coll.docs]}], {
-            "time"         => time,
-            "posts"        => posts.docs.sort { |a, b| b <=> a },
-            "pages"        => pages,
-            "static_files" => static_files,
-            "html_pages"   => pages.select { |page| page.html? || page.url.end_with?("/") },
-            "categories"   => post_attr_hash('categories'),
-            "tags"         => post_attr_hash('tags'),
-            "collections"  => collections.values.map(&:to_liquid),
-            "documents"    => documents,
-            "data"         => site_data
-        }))
-      }
+      Drops::UnifiedPayloadDrop.new self
     end
 
     # Get the implementation class for the given Converter.
diff --git a/lib/jekyll/url.rb b/lib/jekyll/url.rb
index 6e8042b0..b338c23a 100644
--- a/lib/jekyll/url.rb
+++ b/lib/jekyll/url.rb
@@ -59,6 +59,14 @@ module Jekyll
     #
     # Returns the unsanitized String URL
     def generate_url(template)
+      if @placeholders.is_a? Drops::UrlDrop
+        generate_url_from_drop(template)
+      else
+        generate_url_from_hash(template)
+      end
+    end
+
+    def generate_url_from_hash(template)
       @placeholders.inject(template) do |result, token|
         break result if result.index(':').nil?
         if token.last.nil?
@@ -70,6 +78,12 @@ module Jekyll
       end
     end
 
+    def generate_url_from_drop(template)
+      template.gsub(/(:[a-z_]+)/) do |match|
+        @placeholders.public_send(match.sub(':', ''))
+      end.gsub(/\/\//, '/')
+    end
+
     # Returns a sanitized String URL, stripping "../../" and multiples of "/",
     # as well as the beginning "/" so we can enforce and ensure it.