News Tron coaster coming to the Magic Kingdom

[sedati]

Is that a balcony on the upper level of the locker building? Exclusive Fireworks viewing? Corporate lounge? Sorry if this has been discussed and I missed it.

 

[DCBaker]

 

[lazyboy97o]

Is that a balcony on the upper level of the locker building? Exclusive Fireworks viewing? Corporate lounge? Sorry if this has been discussed and I missed it.

It’s a parapet tall enough to function as a guard, thus satisfying fall protection requirements.

 

[sedati]

It’s a parapet tall enough to function as a guard, thus satisfying fall protection requirements.

There's a difference between a roof and a balcony. Unfortunately the best image of what I'm talking about is on a site I can't credit. There is a cantilevered platform jutting from the castle-facing side. Here's a pic that got my attention a while ago, but you can see it much more clearly elsewhere:

Could just be a design feature, but I'm curious.

 

[James Alucobond]

Pretty sure it's just an awning for folks below entering the locker area. Note the ladders in your picture that are being used to climb over the lip of the main roof to access the space. There will be no door or gate to get to it once complete. Additionally, views from it would be awful. It looks straight into the canopy.

 

[sedati]

Pretty sure it's just an awning for folks below entering the locker area. Note the ladders in your picture that are being used to climb over the lip of the main roof to access the space. There will be no door or gate to get to it once complete. Additionally, views from it would be awful. It looks straight into the canopy.

Here's a pic from Bioreconstruct. It only juts out a few feet, so it won't make for much of an awning or shade structure. You are correct about access. Seems an odd feature though.

 

[No Name]

I don't care if they serve Starbucks coffee, I just wish they didn't have the Starbucks logo plastered all over everything. It's a distraction from theme to have the Starbucks logo on the signage and windows of the Main Street Bakery, for example.

Admittedly it could be worse than it is.

I’m not fan of Starbucks and wish it was just the original bakery, but I really think it’s very subtle. The main signage still says Main Street Bakery (DHS is also subtle with its Trolley Car Cafe). Quite honestly I can’t think of a chain location with less overt signage.

 

[MisterPenguin]

Here's a pic from Bioreconstruct. It only juts out a few feet, so it won't make for much of an awning or shade structure. You are correct about access. Seems an odd feature though.

Maybe the overhang is to protect whatever signage or video that will be there to give instructions regarding the lockers.

 

[lazyboy97o]

There's a difference between a roof and a balcony. Unfortunately the best image of what I'm talking about is on a site I can't credit. There is a cantilevered platform jutting from the castle-facing side. Here's a pic that got my attention a while ago, but you can see it much more clearly elsewhere:
View attachment 618375

Could just be a design feature, but I'm curious.

That’s all roof. Being cantilevered doesn’t really matter. It just provides additional protection from water directly at the opening to the building and visually reducing the mass of the building when looked at directly.

 

[UNCgolf]

I’m not fan of Starbucks and wish it was just the original bakery, but I really think it’s very subtle. The main signage still says Main Street Bakery (DHS is also subtle with its Trolley Car Cafe). Quite honestly I can’t think of a chain location with less overt signage.

That's why I said it could be worse.

It's still featured in multiple places, though. It's on the windows and hanging under the awning at the entrance. It's admittedly more visible at the Animal Kingdom location, though (and the EPCOT one was essentially just an outright Starbucks).

The menus on the wall in interior are pretty bad too. They are basically just standard Starbucks menus that you'd see at any location.

 

[Casper Gutman]

Sometimes, when playing Roller Coaster Tycoon, you’d just drag-and-drop a ride into a location it didn’t fit without thinking about it. Then, to get it running, you’d have to create an ugly, convoluted tangle of walkways and queues that meandered endlessly, crossed over one another on bridges or underpasses, and took lots of annoying counter-intuitive twists and turns.

I don’t know what made me think of all that…

 

[jaxonp]

Where are lockers in Shanghai?

I was just going to ask about where/if the lockers are. There is a small area of outside lockers under the canopy but I remember them being outside not in a building. In addition, there is a small compartment on the ride vehicles itself to store stuff but no backpacks will be allowed. I can’t remember if there are metal detectors in Shanghai or not. Been too long since I was there.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Sometimes, when playing Roller Coaster Tycoon, you’d just drag-and-drop a ride into a location it didn’t fit without thinking about it. Then, to get it running, you’d have to create an ugly, convoluted tangle of walkways and queues that meandered endlessly, crossed over one another on bridges or underpasses, and took lots of annoying counter-intuitive twists and turns.

I don’t know what made me think of all that…

What’s crazy is that thanks to the magic of SketchUp that actually happens now.

 

[FerretAfros]

Sometimes, when playing Roller Coaster Tycoon, you’d just drag-and-drop a ride into a location it didn’t fit without thinking about it. Then, to get it running, you’d have to create an ugly, convoluted tangle of walkways and queues that meandered endlessly, crossed over one another on bridges or underpasses, and took lots of annoying counter-intuitive twists and turns.

I don’t know what made me think of all that…

Fun fact: Despite being the closest guest facility in Tomorrowland, the distance from the exit of Space Mountain entrance of the Tron building (~955') is nearly the same as the distance from the Partners Statue to the Space Mountain entrance (~980').

As it currently stands, Space Mountain feels like an isolated outpost at the back of the land, with expansive open spaces between it and the nearest building of substance. Physically, it's barely integrated into Tomorrowland, and sticks out of the park itself like a bulbous growth. It's not near anything, yet is closer to so many other attractions, kiosks, shops, restrooms, and other facilities than Tron will be.

The walk between the Partners Statue and Space Mountain has several "zones" with distinct feelings that help make the journey seem shorter than it is, with constantly changing scenery. First you pass through the open pavement of the hub itself, then across the bridge over the hub moat, then through the heart of Tomorrowland past all the other attractions, and finally through another wide open area to get to the farthest reaches of the east side of the park, right by the railroad tracks.

You'll then have to walk an equivalent distance from there to get to the Tron building entrance, with only a locker building to break up the trip. Are there even going to be restrooms nearby?

And there are folks still claiming that this wasn't just a hastily-conceived copy-and-paste project (canopy facing the side of Space Mountain, and all)?

 

[MisterPenguin]

And there are folks still claiming that this wasn't just a hastily-conceived copy-and-paste project

I can't recall any poster making that claim. Everyone is on board that this is a clone.

 

[ToTBellHop]

I can't recall any poster making that claim. Everyone is on board that this is a clone.

Also, it wasn’t hastily conceived. They spent years debating the next addition to MK (whether it would go east or west in the park). As originally envisioned, TRON would have been better integrated into the land. I bet we will see changes at the Speedway in the next 5 years or so.

 

[UNCgolf]

One of the things that bothers me about this is the way it limits the ability to demolish the Speedway and replace it with something better.

The Speedway is now jammed in between a bunch of other things -- they obviously could still tear it down and build something else there, but with Tron right behind it, it's boxed in. Feels like there are a lot of restrictions on what they could potentially do there now in terms of keeping it easily accessible and also not ruining views from TRON.

Previously, all the land TRON sits on was available for some type of expansion that used the Speedway plot and that area.

 

[Casper Gutman]

One of the things that bothers me about this is the way it limits the ability to demolish the Speedway and replace it with something better.

The Speedway is now jammed in between a bunch of other things -- they obviously could still tear it down and build something else there, but with Tron right behind it, it's boxed in. Feels like there are a lot of restrictions on what they could potentially do there now in terms of keeping it easily accessible and also not ruining views from TRON.

Previously, all the land TRON sits on was available for some type of expansion that used the Speedway plot and that area.

Yup. Before Tron, demolishing the Speedway gets you enough room for a mini-land. Now it would be awkward to even put a building there, since it would block whatever view of Tron their might be and create a whole host of other logistical issues.

GotG has a lot of question marks and is likely a waste of a significant amount of inflated budget, but it holds some promise. Tron, in comparison, just seems like a waste in general.

 

[larryz]

One of the things that bothers me about this is the way it limits the ability to demolish the Speedway and replace it with something better.

The Speedway is now jammed in between a bunch of other things -- they obviously could still tear it down and build something else there, but with Tron right behind it, it's boxed in. Feels like there are a lot of restrictions on what they could potentially do there now in terms of keeping it easily accessible and also not ruining views from TRON.

Previously, all the land TRON sits on was available for some type of expansion that used the Speedway plot and that area.

The space available if they tore out the Speedway would be something like 150,000 sq ft.

The Haunted Mansion's footprint is about 46,000 sq ft.

I think there's plenty of room for a spectacular attraction -- maybe two -- in the Speedway's footprint.

 

[UNCgolf]

The space available if they tore out the Speedway would be something like 150,000 sq ft.

The Haunted Mansion's footprint is about 46,000 sq ft.

I think there's plenty of room for a spectacular attraction -- maybe two -- in the Speedway's footprint.

The size of the footprint isn't the problem. It's that basically that whole area is now customer facing because of TRON and pathways on all sides. Even the side facing Storybook Circus would be visible if there was an actual structure there.

That doesn't prevent them from building there (as I said), but it does cause logistical issues. Does current Disney really want to build something that needs full theming on all four sides? Previously, the TRON plot could have all been show buildings/backstage that customers wouldn't see.