So I've been thinking, lately, about how much I hate the Transportation and Ticket Center. It's the gateway to the Magic Kingdom, and gives you access to these really cool and unique forms of transportation (monorails and ferries!), and yet it has all the ambiance of a run-down commuter rail station in the suburbs. And people complain about the buses not being "magical" enough...
First of all -- all that concrete and those fluorescent lights have GOT to go. Ick. All of the great architects through the history of WDI, how did this get through?!
Plus, the signage is SO tacky. I'm admittedly critical here since I'm a designer by day, but ugh, these are terrible:
http://www.kippel.com/philip/images/portfolios/ttcentrance.jpg
http://www.guide-to-disney.com/magic-kingdom/transportation/photos/magic-kingdom-ferries2-big.jpg
Blocky shapes, colors straight out of the mid-90s, and unrefined fonts. I get that you need to be bold and clear when dealing with tourists, but this is just too much. Disney's designers get the balance right elsewhere (see: Epcot's heydey, Magic Kingdom's entrance plaza, the new DTD signs), why can't they here?
So what could be better? I'm kinda partial to the super-modern look of Hong Kong's Sunny Bay Station, which like the TTC, is kind of the transport gateway to the park.
http://www.aedas.com/Content/images/pageimages/MTRC-Sunny-Bay-Station-Hong-Kong-2.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3361/3475287740_dff7522320.jpg
The Hong Kong Disneyland station is really cool too, although it might be a bit too close to the Magic Kingdom station in motif. A classic, exaggerated Victorian look. Disney always nails this style.
http://www.disneybymark.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/IMG_0237.jpg
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_l_yk10bCu...AAj4/c1mfa4pCRuc/s400/Disney+Station+copy.jpg
What do you guys think? Am I just picking nits here? Honestly, the Transportation and Ticket Center is the single least "magical" place on property for me. Even the moving walkways from the Universal Orlando parking garage to CityWalk are nicer looking. It's just...cheap looking. There must be a better way.
First of all -- all that concrete and those fluorescent lights have GOT to go. Ick. All of the great architects through the history of WDI, how did this get through?!
Plus, the signage is SO tacky. I'm admittedly critical here since I'm a designer by day, but ugh, these are terrible:
http://www.kippel.com/philip/images/portfolios/ttcentrance.jpg
http://www.guide-to-disney.com/magic-kingdom/transportation/photos/magic-kingdom-ferries2-big.jpg
Blocky shapes, colors straight out of the mid-90s, and unrefined fonts. I get that you need to be bold and clear when dealing with tourists, but this is just too much. Disney's designers get the balance right elsewhere (see: Epcot's heydey, Magic Kingdom's entrance plaza, the new DTD signs), why can't they here?
So what could be better? I'm kinda partial to the super-modern look of Hong Kong's Sunny Bay Station, which like the TTC, is kind of the transport gateway to the park.
http://www.aedas.com/Content/images/pageimages/MTRC-Sunny-Bay-Station-Hong-Kong-2.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3361/3475287740_dff7522320.jpg
The Hong Kong Disneyland station is really cool too, although it might be a bit too close to the Magic Kingdom station in motif. A classic, exaggerated Victorian look. Disney always nails this style.
http://www.disneybymark.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/IMG_0237.jpg
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_l_yk10bCu...AAj4/c1mfa4pCRuc/s400/Disney+Station+copy.jpg
What do you guys think? Am I just picking nits here? Honestly, the Transportation and Ticket Center is the single least "magical" place on property for me. Even the moving walkways from the Universal Orlando parking garage to CityWalk are nicer looking. It's just...cheap looking. There must be a better way.