Then and Now - WDW Comparison Photos

[MagicMike]

Well, I've successfully wasted an hour at work.

Seriously though, for some reason to seems to be "difficult" for people to give any praise to the current state of the parks (and sometimes rightfully so) but I feel like these photos really show how well the parks have aesthetically progressed over the years.

 

[wdrive]

One thing that hasn't changed... It's still always closed. I don't think I have ever seen it open.

It was open at times over last summer at least.

 

[Goofyernmost]

Well, I've successfully wasted an hour at work.

Seriously though, for some reason to seems to be "difficult" for people to give any praise to the current state of the parks (and sometimes rightfully so) but I feel like these photos really show how well the parks have aesthetically progressed over the years.

I agree... not all change is bad.

 

[Raineman]

I agree... not all change is bad.

I agree as well. I scratch my head a bit at all of the comments describing how people do not like the fully grown trees that block views of the castle and other areas of the park. I'm on the other end of the spectrum-when I see the photos of the early years of MK, with the small trees and shrubs, it looks almost barren to me, almost too open. I think one of the reasons that I like DAK is all of the dense, lush foliage-it makes the park seem cozier, in a way.

 

[WDWtraveler]

Twenty-first photo pair. Then: May 1974. Mike Fink keel boats in front of the Haunted Mansion. The loading dock for the keel boats is at the building on the right (see cast member standing), which is still there. Note that the trees are shorter than the Haunted Mansion. The "front door" to the mansion in the center of the building stands out in this older photo.

Now: June 2015. Forty-one years later the trees have grown up around the Haunted Mansion. The awning for the queue to the Haunted Mansion has been extended. With the extended awning and trees, I'm not sure anyone even notices the "front door" to the mansion.

 

[EngineJoe]

Twenty-first photo pair. Then: May 1974. Mike Fink keel boats in front of the Haunted Mansion. The loading dock for the keel boats is at the building on the right (see cast member standing), which is still there. Note that the trees are shorter than the Haunted Mansion. The "front door" to the mansion in the center of the building stands out in this older photo.

View attachment 122104

Now: June 2015. Forty-one years later the trees have grown up around the Haunted Mansion. The awning for the queue to the Haunted Mansion has been extended. With the extended awning and trees, I'm not sure anyone even notices the "front door" to the mansion.
View attachment 122105

Too many tall treees. The tall trees make the buildings look smaller.

 

[The Empress Lilly]

Twenty-first photo pair. Then: May 1974. Mike Fink keel boats in front of the Haunted Mansion. The loading dock for the keel boats is at the building on the right (see cast member standing), which is still there. Note that the trees are shorter than the Haunted Mansion. The "front door" to the mansion in the center of the building stands out in this older photo.

View attachment 122104

Now: June 2015. Forty-one years later the trees have grown up around the Haunted Mansion. The awning for the queue to the Haunted Mansion has been extended. With the extended awning and trees, I'm not sure anyone even notices the "front door" to the mansion.
View attachment 122105

Wow, everything is wrong with the bottom pic.

A boat dock - without boats. A haunted mansion that has cartoonified the hauntingness away. Vegetation best described as 'unchecked tropical', instead of 'thematically correct Hudson River Valley'. No more Keelboats on the river. Ridiculous Rapunzel Tower looming over scary Hudson Valley mansion.

 

[Matt_Black]

Too many tall treees. The tall trees make the buildings look smaller.

This board.
*pic of Main Street without trees*
"Where are all the trees? WDW used to be full of trees? Sight lines for fireworks be darned! I want a nice shady Main Street.*
*pic of anywhere else in WDW with trees*
"BURN THEM! TREES ARE EVIL!"

Wow, everything is wrong with the bottom pic.

A boat dock - without boats. A haunted mansion that has cartoonified the hauntingness away. Vegetation best described as 'unchecked tropical', instead of 'thematically correct Hudson River Valley'. No more Keelboats on the river. Ridiculous Rapunzel Tower looming over scary Hudson Valley mansion.

Cartoonified? How is anything in that pic cartoonified? And you can barely see the tower. It's not exactly "looming".

 

[EngineJoe]

This board.
*pic of Main Street without trees*
"Where are all the trees? WDW used to be full of trees? Sight lines for fireworks be darned! I want a nice shady Main Street.*
*pic of anywhere else in WDW with trees*
"BURN THEM! TREES ARE EVIL!"



Cartoonified? How is anything in that pic cartoonified? And you can barely see the tower. It's not exactly "looming".

No need to be a Keyboard Warrior just because a bunch of people don't share your opinion.

 

[Goofyernmost]

Wow, everything is wrong with the bottom pic.

A boat dock - without boats. A haunted mansion that has cartoonified the hauntingness away. Vegetation best described as 'unchecked tropical', instead of 'thematically correct Hudson River Valley'. No more Keelboats on the river. Ridiculous Rapunzel Tower looming over scary Hudson Valley mansion.

A haunted mansion with unchecked growth around it? OK! The Mansion looks exactly the same in both pictures. If anything it looks more haunted now then back then. Cartoonified? Not sure how, please explain. I lived in upper New York State and Vermont for 63 years, I see nothing in the foliage that looks out of place. The Keelboats were stopped and the dock was removed. So no dock, no boats. The building that they were attached to is all that remains. Rapunzel Tower is visible only because of the camera angle. Many things would be visible if the camera was facing a different direction. BTMR comes to mind, the Riverboat or HoP as well, also comes to mind.

 

[SpaceMountain75]

This board.
*pic of Main Street without trees*
"Where are all the trees? WDW used to be full of trees? Sight lines for fireworks be darned! I want a nice shady Main Street.*
*pic of anywhere else in WDW with trees*
"BURN THEM! TREES ARE EVIL!"

I was chuckling to myself about this too, haha!

 

[SpaceMountain75]

A haunted mansion with unchecked growth around it? OK! The Mansion looks exactly the same in both pictures. If anything it looks more haunted now then back then. Cartoonified? Not sure how, please explain. I lived in upper New York State and Vermont for 63 years, I see nothing in the foliage that looks out of place. The Keelboats were stopped and the dock was removed. So no dock, no boats. The building that they were attached to is all that remains. Rapunzel Tower is visible only because of the camera angle. Many things would be visible if the camera was facing a different direction. BTMR comes to mind, the Riverboat or HoP as well, also comes to mind.

I agree. I think Haunted looks so much more ominous now that there are large overgrown trees, especially since it's in theme with the abandoned, run-down look that MK's was designed to have.

 

[Flippin'Flounder]

This board.
*pic of Main Street without trees*
"Where are all the trees? WDW used to be full of trees? Sight lines for fireworks be darned! I want a nice shady Main Street.*
*pic of anywhere else in WDW with trees*
"BURN THEM! TREES ARE EVIL!"

Because it changed, and changes is evil!

 

[Animaniac93-98]

You'd think after over 40 years they'd build something more permanent than a canopy.

The other detail missing is the lamposts along the queue's edge. They were removed when the canopy's footprint was extended in 2007.

 

[mergatroid]

Twenty-first photo pair. Then: May 1974. Mike Fink keel boats in front of the Haunted Mansion. The loading dock for the keel boats is at the building on the right (see cast member standing), which is still there. Note that the trees are shorter than the Haunted Mansion. The "front door" to the mansion in the center of the building stands out in this older photo.

View attachment 122104

Now: June 2015. Forty-one years later the trees have grown up around the Haunted Mansion. The awning for the queue to the Haunted Mansion has been extended. With the extended awning and trees, I'm not sure anyone even notices the "front door" to the mansion.
View attachment 122105

The only thing I'd personally change is to cut the trees a bit blocking the view of the front door, otherwise I like the look now more.

 

[The Empress Lilly]

This board.
*pic of Main Street without trees*
"Where are all the trees? WDW used to be full of trees? Sight lines for fireworks be darned! I want a nice shady Main Street.*
*pic of anywhere else in WDW with trees*
"BURN THEM! TREES ARE EVIL!"

There is never any call for 'tall trees' or 'small trees'. Trees and landscaping serve different purposes in different areas.

Vegetation should be lush, tropical and overgrown in Adventureland. On Main Street, the trees should be kept small so as to not disrupt scale, traffic flow, and views. In the hub (at least 1.0), trees need to be more park-like and mature. In Tomorrowland, landscaping is manicured.

 

[The Empress Lilly]

A haunted mansion with unchecked growth around it? OK! The Mansion looks exactly the same in both pictures. If anything it looks more haunted now then back then. Cartoonified? Not sure how, please explain. I lived in upper New York State and Vermont for 63 years, I see nothing in the foliage that looks out of place. The Keelboats were stopped and the dock was removed. So no dock, no boats. The building that they were attached to is all that remains. Rapunzel Tower is visible only because of the camera angle. Many things would be visible if the camera was facing a different direction. BTMR comes to mind, the Riverboat or HoP as well, also comes to mind.

The Keelboat dock is a warehouse structure. With big doors, hoist, a riverside dock. For it to lose its boats is akin to the EPCOT monorail station losing its monorail function. It leaves a pointless shell.

The addition is unneeded too and throws off the scale and view. Also, this area is / was a harbour area, complete with seafood restaurant. Theme and placemaking and all that, before it became Rapunzel's gateway to neogoth Mansion Merchandise heaven.

 

[George Lucas on a Bench]

In the past, The Haunted Mansion appears more imposing, looming over the river on hill. There was careful thought put into the planting of the vegetation, right down to the shrubs along the river. There were some issues in the beginning because you could see the building behind the facade, but as we can see, that issue was resolved within a couple years.

In the present, all of the vegetation in that region of the park (yes, even those shrubs along the river) seems out of scale with the building, which you can barely see.

 

[MagicMike]

The problem is, after a certain point, you can't really make trees smaller. Yes, you can trim and manicure, but only so much before it's dangerous to the organism. After that, the only way to make a tree "to scale" would be replace it with a man-made one that wouldn't grow, or replace it with another juvenile tree and let the growth process take place again.

 

[danyoung56]

Also, this area is / was a harbour area, complete with seafood restaurant.

I don't recall - what was the seafood restaurant?