prberk
Well-Known Member
Because I am talking about the wall itself, as I made clear by saying it was a mural on a plain wall. Victorian architecture was full of ornate woodwork — not plain. Murals and paintings are cheaper.
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News 1900 Park Fare at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort reopening in April 2024
- Thread starter DCBaker
- Start date
prberk
Well-Known Member
Exactly. People don’t seem to understand Victorian — and heaven forbid any actual architectural reference to the Flagler era in Florida upon which the “Grand Floridian Beach Resort” is supposed to draw inspiration.
prberk
Well-Known Member
I am mostly talking about the architectural details that are going away in the general de-theming of the resort.
Bocabear
Well-Known Member
Let's be honest...it's not really a mural but just a sign saying the name of the place you are in... It is a graphic....and it is lazy.
It is not a thematic detail to ooh and ahh over. I can't believe they even dropped that as a piece of PR.
Think about the name of the restaurant... Is any of what they are doing really furthering the storytelling of a Seaside fair at the turn of the century? The dawn of electricity...in a Gilded Age resort?... It was always a very hum-drum looking restaurant aside from the carousel pieces. It should have been designed to look like it was built out of that turn of the century Carousel, dripping in gold leaf, lights, kinetic mechanical gears...something truly magical and memorable...
It is not a thematic detail to ooh and ahh over. I can't believe they even dropped that as a piece of PR.
Think about the name of the restaurant... Is any of what they are doing really furthering the storytelling of a Seaside fair at the turn of the century? The dawn of electricity...in a Gilded Age resort?... It was always a very hum-drum looking restaurant aside from the carousel pieces. It should have been designed to look like it was built out of that turn of the century Carousel, dripping in gold leaf, lights, kinetic mechanical gears...something truly magical and memorable...
LittleBuford
Well-Known Member
I think it’s rather attractive and well done. What do you find lazy about it?
Bocabear
Well-Known Member
It's just a logo... It's just the restaurant name... I would not call the restaurant name a mural, nor would I create a PR release about it. So, while it has been closed for 4 years, rather than really refresh and invigorate the space with beautiful new decor, they added the name of the restaurant to a wall and created a press release... That is kind of what I would call lazy...
as a logo it's pleasant...
LittleBuford
Well-Known Member
A mural is a painting on a wall. It can be anything from The Last Supper to a Coca-Cola logo.
Did you actually read the announcement? It mentions quite a bit more besides the mural:
Just like before, carousel theming is woven throughout the restaurant — starting with the impressive new mural shown above, which will serve as the focal point of the restaurant’s entrance. In one of the adjoining dining rooms, you’ll find drawings of carousel animals inspired by classic Disney films like “Alice in Wonderland” and “The Little Mermaid.” Keep an eye out for other hidden carousel details when you visit!
The artistic touches continue throughout the main dining room, where you’ll also find twelve new portraits created exclusively for the restaurant by Disney artists. Each one, inspired by the impressionist art style of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, features a different Disney character as they hope, dream and wish upon a star (or even a magic lamp or a wishing well).
Whether it all turns out well or not is another matter, but why overlook all this information in your hurry to condemn the refurbishment as lazy? (I think I just answered my own question.)
1900 Park Fare Reopens April 10 at Disney's Grand Floridian
1900 Park Fare reopens at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa on April 10, and reservations open on March 5!
disneyparks.disney.go.com
disneyC97
Well-Known Member
I remember visiting in November 1988 and being underwhelmed by the decor based on the pre-opening description. So that has been the case from the beginning. Also, anyone else recalled that the Grand Floridian Cafe was originally going to be called "The Southernaire"?
prberk
Well-Known Member
“Murals,” “drawings,” and “portaits” do not equate to architectural detail. Art, yes; architecture, no. Especially when intending to represent a Victorian beach resort or a carousel from the Gilded Age…A mural is a painting on a wall. It can be anything from The Last Supper to a Coca-Cola logo.
Did you actually read the announcement? It mentions quite a bit more besides the mural:
Just like before, carousel theming is woven throughout the restaurant — starting with the impressive new mural shown above, which will serve as the focal point of the restaurant’s entrance. In one of the adjoining dining rooms, you’ll find drawings of carousel animals inspired by classic Disney films like “Alice in Wonderland” and “The Little Mermaid.” Keep an eye out for other hidden carousel details when you visit!
The artistic touches continue throughout the main dining room, where you’ll also find twelve new portraits created exclusively for the restaurant by Disney artists. Each one, inspired by the impressionist art style of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, features a different Disney character as they hope, dream and wish upon a star (or even a magic lamp or a wishing well).
Whether it all turns out well or not is another matter, but why overlook all this information in your hurry to condemn the refurbishment as lazy? (I think I just answered my own question.)
1900 Park Fare Reopens April 10 at Disney's Grand Floridian
1900 Park Fare reopens at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa on April 10, and reservations open on March 5!disneyparks.disney.go.com
That is what is lazy about it.
LittleBuford
Well-Known Member
How does that relate to my point?
prberk
Well-Known Member
That is what is lazy about it. They are not architectural detail, which is a hallmark of the era.
LittleBuford
Well-Known Member
But the post I was responding to claimed that what made it lazy was that it was merely a logo rather than a mural. That was the point I was addressing.
Others have already noted that the space has always been devoid of the kind of architectural flourishes you’re looking for, so the charge of laziness, if warranted, should be levelled against the original designers too.
Disone
Well-Known Member
It can be both.
1900 Park Fair was never an elaborately well designed space. Someone earlier in this forum described it like a box they didn't know what to do with once they finished building most of the hotel. Imo spot on! The theming and decor in the original 1900 Park fare was done on a buck and two cents and then came in under budget.
It did have a few carousel critters and Big Bertha, a self playing 1900 era band organ. It will still have that, as confirmed by the press release however it does stop short of saying it will still actually play music. Time will soon tell .....
But it's history aside, this feels like it's going to be only slightly more elaborate than the themeing they did for a carousel coffee at Disney's boardwalk, and only because 1900 Park Fair is significantly larger. But Literally carousel coffee is a plain Jane coffee shop with a picture of a carousel on the wall.
Lately it's the only thing Disney knows how to do in their resorts. Theme by art work. Definitely lazy.
So both things can be true. It could have been underdone from the very beginning and the redo is also being completely phoned in.
LittleBuford
Well-Known Member
I find it difficult to take such criticisms seriously when we haven’t actually seen anything yet of the redo beyond the design of the mural.
Disone
Well-Known Member
Fair enough..... Though I'm not sure it's criticism so much as it's educated guess based on their track record and what they have said, and what they have not said, based on the press release.
LittleBuford
Well-Known Member
But the posts in question aren’t merely predicting the refurb will be a lazy fail; they are stating it as if it were a known fact. That’s an approach I’ll never understand. It’s just indulging in—and whipping up—negativity for the sake of it.
prberk
Well-Known Member
Whether that space was well-designed before doesn’t affect that fact that it is lazy today — and that Disney used to be extraordinary at architectural detail and full theming. It was what made Disney unique, and anything but lazy. I just call it when i see today, because I want Disney to have the level of detail and theming that made them Disney — and different from an Orlando Marriott with a few paintings.
LittleBuford
Well-Known Member
You haven’t seen it today. None of us has. You may well turn out to be right, but your condemnation makes little sense at this stage.
prberk
Well-Known Member
That may be true, but their statement specifically cited murals, paintings, and portraits as the details that they highlighted. That is consistent with the overall de-theming and removal of architectural detail in exchange for plain walls with artwork (like a Marriott) that has been the hallmark of other recent Disney resort remodeling. If that is true of this remodel, my criticism holds. Maybe it is not too late.
It reminds me of the current over-reliance on screens — versus more complex audio-animatronics and physical sets — in attraction refurbishments. Can you imagine L’il Buford with a screen face when they could spend the time and effort to make a real face in the Country Bear refurb?
LittleBuford
Well-Known Member
How is that the case here when, as you yourself have acknowledged, the space has no architectural details to remove anyway? How can the addition of artwork be construed as detheming if nothing is being taken away?