News EPCOT's World Showcase concrete improvements move to the Japan pavilion

Club Cooloholic

Well-Known Member
Does something have to fall apart before it’s replaced? I can say there have been many mornings I have come into work at epcot where there had been patches of the promenade roped off as they had replaced/repaired a small section of it. Same with “wet paint” signs on items that got a fresh coat overnight. This often goes unnoticed by guests because usually by park open the area has dried and signage is removed. I’m not invested to go digging right now but the “other site” often has pictures in their reports of small squares of pavement ropes off in the mornings that had repairs done overnight and needed a little extra time to dry.
I wasn't saying that, just noting that some people were saying it was badly needed, but only had seen it mentioned now. I could care less either way , just get Tron open and the steam trains running already!
 

Green Fox

New Member
I haven't been to WS since the start of the pandemic, so I honestly didn't know the recent state of the concrete there. If the new concrete looks better, then that's great. I certainly don't want to criticize preventative maintenance, safety improvements, and other repair to maintain or improve show quality.
Many on this forum have complained about poor show quality (search for "disco Yeti"), so I think there is a desire among readers to improve show quality of existing attractions. I think the question is more along the lines of is the best way to spend $10,000 (*) of maintenance budget on this concrete replacement or would that same expense have had a greater impact somewhere else.
(*) - not actual cost.
 

Sir_Cliff

Well-Known Member
I haven't been to WS since the start of the pandemic, so I honestly didn't know the recent state of the concrete there. If the new concrete looks better, then that's great. I certainly don't want to criticize preventative maintenance, safety improvements, and other repair to maintain or improve show quality.
Many on this forum have complained about poor show quality (search for "disco Yeti"), so I think there is a desire among readers to improve show quality of existing attractions. I think the question is more along the lines of is the best way to spend $10,000 (*) of maintenance budget on this concrete replacement or would that same expense have had a greater impact somewhere else.
(*) - not actual cost.
I prefer if they also consider improving show quality when they do preventative maintenance like this. That's something that happens at the other parks a lot, for example during recent repaving work in Fantasyland at Disneyland Paris. From the sounds of it, a lot of people would have been happier if they had of gone the easy route of just replacing the salmon coloured concrete slurry and saved themselves the effort.

An example of how this usually plays out is the current refurb of Expedition Everest where they are working on the technical infrastructure and ignoring show quality. I am sure, though, the issue there wasn't that they were sitting around with a bunch of money thinking about whether to fix the yeti, open Tron a few months earlier, or replace the concrete at the Japan pavilion and went with replacing the concrete at the Japan pavilion. I think it's more useful to focus on where they are cheap and lazy such as the Everest refurb or the bizarre decision to repaint only some of the leaves on the briar patch and a section of Splash Mountain a different color on that refurb than to criticise them when they are more thoughtful.
 

CntrlFlPete

Well-Known Member
I do like the look of the grey concrete. I might be crazy, but I swear the grey does not radiate heat back up at you the way the pink does.

concrete.jpg
 

Sir_Cliff

Well-Known Member

World Showcase promenade improvements move to the Germany pavilion at EPCOT​

Germany_Full_47665.jpg
I'm not so sure about this one.

In the Japan Pavilion, the repaving seemed an improvement in terms of adding texture and detail to the pavilion. In this case, they seem to be replacing paving that's closer to what you would find in Germany itself with something that looks more like paving from a theme park.

Discussing these kinds of things is what my life has come to, I suppose.
 

mikejs78

Premium Member
I'm not so sure about this one.

In the Japan Pavilion, the repaving seemed an improvement in terms of adding texture and detail to the pavilion. In this case, they seem to be replacing paving that's closer to what you would find in Germany itself with something that looks more like paving from a theme park.

Discussing these kinds of things is what my life has come to, I suppose.
Really? This new pavement reminds me of Germany, especially some of the older areas.
 

Prototype82

Well-Known Member
I had a mini freak out session when I saw the old world cobblestone being replaced with something generic. But on closer inspection it turns out St. George’s square will indeed still be a gray cobblestone- just in a new pattern. This cobblestone seems to frame the porch of the caramel shop as well. My guess is this is an effort to have something cohesive up to to the water rather than have the cobblestone stop at the pink pavement. So we’re looking at a blend of textures much like Morocco.
 

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James Alucobond

Well-Known Member
My experience of particularly more historical towns and town centres in Germany has been more of cobblestones than these big pavers, which just look like theme park paving to me.
My experience has generally been that there’s a fairly organic mix that speaks to the evolution of the space over time. I am a bit mixed on this change as I liked the stamped fan pattern, but I think @Prototype82 is correct with regard to the fact that they just want a slightly more consistent and natural transition and will keep the charm of the stamped stone around the shop entrances and the back part of the square. I am kind of curious about how this will look when finished, though. There’s something that feels a bit geometrically weird about what they’re doing, but I’ll reserve judgment until they’re done.
 

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