discovery island

[matt9112]

so after watching the 2017 walk through HD footage of the island im curious. not why it closed but why was it done in such an overnight manner? the video shows things like coolers full of medicine and other machinery and such. paper work and the like is just everywhere. this wouldn't be strange to me if it was any other park but clearly it appears one day it was just done.

for cost reasons i totally understand why nothing was torn down but why wasn't anything cleared and or emptied?

 

[Pixieish]

so after watching the 2017 walk through HD footage of the island im curious. not why it closed but why was it done in such an overnight manner? the video shows things like coolers full of medicine and other machinery and such. paper work and the like is just everywhere. this wouldn't be strange to me if it was any other park but clearly it appears one day it was just done.

for cost reasons i totally understand why nothing was torn down but why wasn't anything cleared and or emptied?

Great questions! I'm watching the video now and am about 5 minutes in. I remember visiting in 1987...when you arrived at the dock area, it was a pristine, clean, white-sand beach with a long dock that went almost up to the edge of the woods (I think it went to the woods...that was 30 years ago, lol!). But I remember like it was yesterday how beautiful the beach was.

 

[John park hopper]

I too remember taking my boys when they were young to Discovery Island, it was a great place to relax from the hectic park. I beleive it covers 11 acres. I would think a prime piece of realestate Disney would do someting with it resort hotel, retheme it --such a waste

 

[Pixieish]

I also remember getting "spoken to" for picking up seashells on the beach, lol...they even told me Disney put them there because I was 15 and didn't realize SSL was man-made, so it made no sense to me for it not to be okay to pick them up and I thought he was just being silly and initially responded like "whaaaat?".

 

[Phonedave]

I too remember taking my boys when they were young to Discovery Island, it was a great place to relax from the hectic park. I beleive it covers 11 acres. I would think a prime piece of realestate Disney would do someting with it resort hotel, retheme it --such a waste

I don't know what utilities were in place when it was Discovery Island, but to run a resort you need sewer, power, communications, water, and gas. It's an island, that gets expensive to build and maintain very quickly. Granted its a shallow lake, and with HDD they could do so sort of easily, but still, a boat load of money.

-dave

 

[marni1971]

I too remember taking my boys when they were young to Discovery Island, it was a great place to relax from the hectic park. I beleive it covers 11 acres. I would think a prime piece of realestate Disney would do someting with it resort hotel, retheme it --such a waste

A regular hotel would be logistically tough - servicing, transport, supplies, emergency access - not to mention the risk of nowhere to go except into the water after a drink too many. For example.

 

[Master Yoda]

A regular hotel would be logistically tough - servicing, transport, supplies, emergency access - not to mention the risk of nowhere to go except into the water after a drink too many. For example.

It is also not all that big if I remember correctly being roughly the same size as the remaining garden wing of the Contemporary. Any kind of resort there would have to be well past deluxe to offset the logistical costs.

 

[marni1971]

It is also not all that big if I remember correctly being roughly the same size as the remaining garden wing of the Contemporary. Any kind of resort there would have to be well past deluxe to offset the logistical costs.

Indeed. Boutique and then some.

Even then the simple things like washing the bedding would need to be looked at. On site or off site? If on site is there enough room? If off-site how many more boats would be needed. And when. The list would be huge.

 

[Master Yoda]

Indeed. Boutique and then some.

Even then the simple things like washing the bedding would need to be looked at. On site or off site? If on site is there enough room? If off-site how many more boats would be needed. And when. The list would be huge.

Exactly. Amazing how a mere 400' of water can complicate things.

 

[JIMINYCR]

I heard a long time ago that when it was initially closed down, there was no real plan at the time as to what they might do with the area. Because of that there was no need to completely strip the area of items. Over time, as walkways and sections became rotted, the place also became overrun by snakes and gators, it became more and more unsafe. Now its safer to leave it completely abandoned with debris untouched until its decided to do something completely new.

 

[Master Yoda]

I heard a long time ago that when it was initially closed down, there was no real plan at the time as to what they might do with the area. Because of that there was no need to completely strip the area of items. Over time, as walkways and sections became rotted, the place also became overrun by snakes and gators, it became more and more unsafe. Now its safer to leave it completely abandoned with debris untouched until its decided to do something completely new.

As a general rule of thumb, you do not tear down unused or even abandoned commercial construction until you a ready to build again or are ordered to by the government.

Not only does it cost money to demolish what is there, it can potentially change the legal classification of any new construction from a remodel to new construction. Depending on the county or state, all you might need to salvage is the corner of a building and a new project can save 6 figures in impact and legal fees by being legally classified as a remodel.

 

[matt9112]

As a general rule of thumb, you do not tear down unused or even abandoned commercial construction until you a ready to build again or are ordered to by the government.

Not only does it cost money to demolish what is there, it can potentially change the legal classification of any new construction from a remodel to new construction. Depending on the county or state, all you might need to salvage is the corner of a building and a new project can save 6 figures in impact and legal fees by being legally classified as a remodel.

my curiosity was more so the nn struture related stuff frozen in time. employee calendars....white boards. coolers full of medicine ect. some things were moved (video shows a pile of animal species signs) but the small stuff is my curiosity. other times this is common is during foreclosure or bankruptcy when something was not intended to close but is forced to so there is no prep time to clean.

 

[Master Yoda]

my curiosity was more so the nn struture related stuff frozen in time. employee calendars....white boards. coolers full of medicine ect. some things were moved (video shows a pile of animal species signs) but the small stuff is my curiosity. other times this is common is during foreclosure or bankruptcy when something was not intended to close but is forced to so there is no prep time to clean.

My guess would be that it was simply stuff no one cared to take. I would imagine the last CMs on the island were told to take their personal stuff and that was it. The rest was just left to rot.

 

[matt9112]

My guess would be that it was simply stuff no one cared to take. I would imagine the last CMs on the island were told to take their personal stuff and that was it. The rest was just left to rot.

so creepy kind of wish they did something. a resort is obviously too much of a hassle but a tom Sawyer style island on steroids for deluxe guests only? a hard ticket maybe even? take a boat out for an entire day or maybe 4 hours at a time (two departures a day) and the place is just an activity center on steroids.

 

[Master Yoda]

so creepy kind of wish they did something. a resort is obviously too much of a hassle but a tom Sawyer style island on steroids for deluxe guests only? a hard ticket maybe even? take a boat out for an entire day or maybe 4 hours at a time (two departures a day) and the place is just an activity center on steroids.

There have been a lot of ideas. The Isle of Myst was my personal favorite.

https://nerdist.com/myst-was-nearly-a-disney-theme-park/

 

[NYwdwfan]

Out of curiosity - what's the sight line to the MK fireworks from there? Would the Contemporary/Bay Lake Tower block the view?

 

[John park hopper]

Since the general thought is a resort is not cost effective, I am curious as to what people think would be a good fit on 11acres

 

[NYwdwfan]

Other than trees and the train station, it's wide open. The Contemporary is to the right of the island.

Wait - isn't Discovery Island over by Fort Wilderness Campground, across Bay Lake from the River Country site.

 

[Pixieish]

Wait - isn't Discovery Island over by Fort Wilderness Campground, across Bay Lake from the River Country site.

Ohhh...maybe. Let me look at a better map. I may have had a moment of senility.

 

[Pixieish]

Out of curiosity - what's the sight line to the MK fireworks from there? Would the Contemporary/Bay Lake Tower block the view?

Wait - isn't Discovery Island over by Fort Wilderness Campground, across Bay Lake from the River Country site.

YES. Baylake Tower would be smack in the way. Discovery Island is to the East of Contemporary. (I wish Google would do satellite overlays by default!)