Evilgidgit
Well-Known Member
DisneySky, eh? This might be an interesting read...
*five minutes later*
*five minutes later*
-
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DisneySky - COMPLETE & RESTORED
- Thread starter D Hulk
- Start date
We will find out on Saturday...
I chose to call the new structure Pinocchio instead of Pixar Pals. I prefer keeping the Walt connections alive!
Gateway Plaza
(Security Checkpoint)
Security concerns demand that Disneyland Resort maintain specific, controlled public access points. The Gateway Plaza is the primary eastern entry point into the resort security perimeter. The challenge is to make this necessary step as magical as possible for guests, with a permanent and pleasing checkpoint area.
The Gateway Plaza sits on a second-story level shaded in the mornings by Seven Dwarfs Parking Deck. The parking structure’s soothing facades make this area inviting. Separate dedicated checkpoints exist for Transportation Center guests and Seven Dwarfs guests, each open air “Mictorian” sheds much like Disneyland’s entries and ticket booths.
Video screens over these checkpoint gates provide engaging Disney music and show previews for attractions throughout the resort. For as efficient as Disney security can be, these elements will help entertain guests in line.
"Mickey the Apprentice" fountain statue, presently found at the Tokyo Disneyland Hotel
Finally, both checkpoints lead to the main Gateway Plaza. Centrally located here is a photo-op fountain and a new icon for the resort, much in the tradition of the entry fountains at Shanghai and Hong Kong Disneyland. Titled “Mickey the Apprentice,” this fountain features a central bronze statue of “Sorcerer” Mickey in his famous Fantasia garb atop a fantastic crag. Fountain “waves” splash below, simulating a raging ocean dancing to Mickey’s magic. Bronze brooms circle the fountain’s perimeter, each with a bronze bucket emptying more flowing waters into the fountain.
From here, guests can easily access anyplace in the Disneyland Resort. Elevated pedestrian bridges head south across Disney Way to Rancho Disney and DisneySky, or west across Harbor Blvd. to the Disneyland Esplanade and Downtown Disney beyond it. Those who don’t wish to walk may instead take the Disneyland Resort People Mover, a resort-wide transportation option which replaces the need for staffed trams. (To be explored in greater detail tomorrow.)
“Hi Ho” Pedestrian Bridge
“Hi Ho” Pedestrian bridge is an elevated covered walkway crossing over Harbor Blvd. which connects the Gateway Plaza with the Disneyland Esplanade via the former Carousel Inn hotel property. (The ground level along this corridor is for official resort vehicle access plus a dedicated “good neighbor” pedestrian security checkpoint entrance.) This walkway is the primary connector between the resort’s existing features on the west side and its new DisneySky elements to the east. A similar elevated walkway travels south from the Gateway Plaza over Disney Way to DisneySky.
For pedestrians, the entire route is 1,500 feet long. Two parallel high-capacity moving speed-ramps help to shorten the distance. These ramps have an hourly capacity of 12,000, which is only likely to be tested during guest “rush hours” on peak days. Ramps can be redirected based on traffic flow, moving towards Disneyland in the morning and towards the parking structure at night.
Continuing the Seven Dwarfs Parking Deck theme, the walkway features cutout silhouettes of the Seven Dwarfs walking home after a day in their diamond mine. Hidden speakers play their song “Hi Ho,” along with park service announcements and other Disney music. Overhead, transparent glass shows the new Disneyland Resort People Mover rushing directly above. Again, gentle planting elements soften the space, with columns decorated like storybook trees to create a soothing pastoral setting.
As the walkway passes Disneyland’s southeastern edge, over the unseen cast member tram drop-off point, it gently ramps back down to the ground level before emerging into the Esplanade. This route connects to the Harbor Blvd. security checkpoint created as a concession to local businesses. Total time from parking your car to reaching Disneyland’s gate (including security checkpoint lines) should be under 20 minutes, and in ideal crowds closer to 10.
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DisneyManOne
Well-Known Member
I have heard that back in the old days, kids who lived in the Anaheim area could ride their bikes to Disneyland. I don't know if kids can still ride their bikes to get there, but would they have their own bike park?
Disneyland Resort People Mover
As the Disneyland Resort’s footprint expands, better transportation is needed to effectively connect the distant corners. While the resort remains entirely walkable, some longer distances (such as from westside hotels to DisneySky) are inconvenient. To that end, the Disneyland Resort People Mover is created as an automatic resort-wide transport system.
While the name recalls Disneyland’s former PeopleMover attraction, this new incarnation is instead a high-capacity automated guideway transit (AGT) system similar to systems used presently at many airports where capacity needs are even greater. The Skytrain at Miami International Airport provides a great example.
Miami's SkyTrain
Hourly capacity is over 10,000 riders. Loading is far more efficient than on existing Disneyland trams, as guests can board without needing to collapse their strollers or select a dedicated seat. Automated dispatches happen more frequently, like a light rail metro.
Tracks are elevated in order to minimize physical intrusion. People Mover trains stop at 6 dedicated stations across the resort. People Mover tracks replace existing Monorail tracks throughout the resort complex, using existing Monorail infrastructure such as stations whenever possible. The Disneyland Monorail is kept as an attraction within Disneyland, reverted to a single-station round trip scenic ride closer in form to its original 1959 incarnation before it was modified into resort transportation. Changes to a Disneyland classic will no doubt create fan outcry, which we can temper by appealing to nostalgia and history.
(A different transportation solution involves expanding the Monorail to service DisneySky as well as the resort’s parking structures. Sadly, Disneyland’s Monorail simply cannot handle the sort of guest capacity needed. Even as it stands today, the Monorail is more of an attraction novelty than a genuine transportation utility.)
Trains visually resemble the classic Monorail, with sleek contours and primary colors. The interiors are modeled after the Hong Kong Metro line servicing Hong Kong Disneyland. Where train cars connect, enclosed cases display “gold” statues of popular Disney characters. Windows are shaped like Mickey Mouse ears. There is ample seating along the windows, plus handholds for standing passengers. Pre-recorded voices welcome guests to the resort with park hours and enchanting Disney music.
The People Mover follows a clockwise route around the resort. Stops are as follows:
- Gateway Station (Skybound) - Access to Seven Dwarfs & WDTC
- Plaza of the Four Winds - Access to DisneySky, Rancho Disney & Hotel Cielo
- Gateway Station (Landbound) - Access to Seven Dwarfs and Transportation Center
- Esplanade (California Side) - Access to Disneyland and DCA
- Downtown Disney - Access to Downtown Disney and west-side hotels
- Mickey & Friends - Access to Mickey & Friends
- Esplanade (Disneyland Side) - Access to Disneyland and DCA
This route ensures the quickest trips from the most locations. Travel from any parking structure to any park takes no more than 3 stops.
Gateway Plaza hosts the People Mover’s Gateway Station, which sits one level above the above the plaza. It is accessible by elevator, escalator and stairs. There are two platforms at this station, providing one-stop quick access to both DisneySky's Plaza of the Four Winds and the Esplanade serving both Disneyland and Disney California Adventure. Visually, this station is modeled after London’s 19th century Crystal Palace, with its “Mictorian” roof and ornate brass trusses. Guests should be reminded more of vintage train travel than modern airports and metros.
(Every People Mover station uses automated gates as seen presently at Disneyland's Tomorrowland Monorail station, allowing guests to line up with train doors while kept at a safe distance. These gates allow riders to exit the train before others board.)
Leaving clockwise from Gateway Station (Skybound), trains parallel the pedestrian skybridge south over Disney Way. The route cuts through the Rancho Disney parking structure, fully enclosing the People Mover. This is a compression moment. The train exits the tunnel and turns left, providing panoramic views of DisneySky and its towering icon Mt. Helios accompanied with triumphant on-ride music.
The People Mover track terminates in a “Y” at the Plaza of the Four Winds station. (This station replaces the GardenWalk’s former Bubba Gump and Roy’s restaurants.) Guests exit on a northern platform, while others board from the south. This station resembles defunct “Mission Revival” Santa Fe Railroad structures in Pasadena, Monrovia and San Diego.
The return trip north parallels the southbound track. Past the Gateway Station (Landbound) stop, the People Mover travels the “Hi Ho” Pedestrian Bridge across Harbor Blvd. It reaches the Esplanade (California Side) station, which sits oriented north-south near the eastern ticket booths (with a design style continuing the Esplanade’s “Mictorian” stylings).
Disney-made concept art for proposed Downtown Disney redesign with a new hotel. These plans constantly get approved and altered and rejected, so this DisneySky project mostly ignores these complications.
The route passes through DCA’s backstage and then through the Grand Californian hotel, just as the Monorail does now. The Downtown Disney station ties in with nearby on-again off-again hotel projects.
The People Mover replaces the Disneyland Tram route traveling north towards the Mickey & Friends Parking Structure. The Mickey & Friends station forms a “Y” in the current shaded tram loading plaza, maintaining the existing contemporary design style.
The People Mover travels south to its final Esplanade (Disneyland Side) station, which replaces the existing tram loading circle near Downtown Disney. After that it travels east, crossing Disneyland’s entrance and Harbor Blvd. back to the Gateway Plaza.
All these infrastructure improvements should be more than sufficient to improve existing and future resort transportation problems. They make resort access easier for offsite guests arriving either by foot or by vehicle. In addition, @DisneyManOne, yes the Transportation Center will include a bicycle access point. These improvements make travel within the resort easier as well, for both hotel guests and day visitors. The remotely-located DisneySky becomes an easy “park hopping” option only 2 stops away via People Mover. Altogether, the Disneyland Resort is modernized and better able to handle demand.
And that concludes Infrastructure Week. Hooray! Tomorrow we start looking at the Rancho Disney entertainment district as we slowly make our way south from the Seven Dwarfs Parking Structure towards DisneySky's entrance gates.
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Pi on my Cake
Well-Known Member
- In the Parks
- Yes
Nice use of the new Horizontal Line feature in your write up!
Disneyland Resort People Mover
As the Disneyland Resort’s footprint expands, better transportation is needed to effectively connect the distant corners. While the resort remains entirely walkable, some longer distances (such as from westside hotels to DisneySky) are inconvenient. To that end, the Disneyland Resort People Mover is created as an automatic resort-wide transport system.
While the name recalls Disneyland’s former PeopleMover attraction, this new incarnation is instead a high-capacity automated guideway transit (AGT) system similar to systems used presently at many airports where capacity needs are even greater. The Skytrain at Miami International Airport provides a great example.
Miami's SkyTrain
Hourly capacity is over 10,000 riders. Loading is far more efficient than on existing Disneyland trams, as guests can board without needing to collapse their strollers or select a dedicated seat. Automated dispatches happen more frequently, like a light rail metro.
Tracks are elevated in order to minimize physical intrusion. People Mover trains stop at 6 dedicated stations across the resort. People Mover tracks replace existing Monorail tracks throughout the resort complex, using existing Monorail infrastructure such as stations whenever possible. The Disneyland Monorail is kept as an attraction within Disneyland, reverted to a single-station round trip scenic ride closer in form to its original 1959 incarnation before it was modified into resort transportation. Changes to a Disneyland classic will no doubt create fan outcry, which we can temper by appealing to nostalgia and history.
(A different transportation solution involves expanding the Monorail to service DisneySky as well as the resort’s parking structures. Sadly, Disneyland’s Monorail simply cannot handle the sort of guest capacity needed. Even as it stands today, the Monorail is more of an attraction novelty than a genuine transportation utility.)
Trains visually resemble the classic Monorail, with sleek contours and primary colors. The interiors are modeled after the Hong Kong Metro line servicing Hong Kong Disneyland. Where train cars connect, enclosed cases display “gold” statues of popular Disney characters. Windows are shaped like Mickey Mouse ears. There is ample seating along the windows, plus handholds for standing passengers. Pre-recorded voices welcome guests to the resort with park hours and enchanting Disney music.
The People Mover follows a clockwise route around the resort. Stops are as follows:
This route ensures the quickest trips from the most locations. Travel from any parking structure to any park takes no more than 3 stops.
Gateway Plaza hosts the People Mover’s Gateway Station, which sits one level above the above the plaza. It is accessible by elevator, escalator and stairs. There are two platforms at this station, providing one-stop quick access to both DisneySky's Plaza of the Four Winds and the Esplanade serving both Disneyland and Disney California Adventure. Visually, this station is modeled after London’s 19th century Crystal Palace, with its “Mictorian” roof and ornate brass trusses. Guests should be reminded more of vintage train travel than modern airports and metros.
(Every People Mover station uses automated gates as seen presently at Disneyland's Tomorrowland Monorail station, allowing guests to line up with train doors while kept at a safe distance. These gates allow riders to exit the train before others board.)
Leaving clockwise from Gateway Station (Skybound), trains parallel the pedestrian skybridge south over Disney Way. The route cuts through the Rancho Disney parking structure, fully enclosing the People Mover. This is a compression moment. The train exits the tunnel and turns left, providing panoramic views of DisneySky and its towering icon Mt. Helios accompanied with triumphant on-ride music.
The People Mover track terminates in a “Y” at the Plaza of the Four Winds station. (This station replaces the GardenWalk’s former Bubba Gump and Roy’s restaurants.) Guests exit on a northern platform, while others board from the south. This station resembles defunct “Mission Revival” Santa Fe Railroad structures in Pasadena, Monrovia and San Diego.
The return trip north parallels the southbound track. Past the Gateway Station (Landbound) stop, the People Mover travels the “Hi Ho” Pedestrian Bridge across Harbor Blvd. It reaches the Esplanade (California Side) station, which sits oriented north-south near the eastern ticket booths (with a design style continuing the Esplanade’s “Mictorian” stylings).
Disney-made concept art for proposed Downtown Disney redesign with a new hotel. These plans constantly get approved and altered and rejected, so this DisneySky project mostly ignores these complications.
The route passes through DCA’s backstage and then through the Grand Californian hotel, just as the Monorail does now. The Downtown Disney station ties in with nearby on-again off-again hotel projects.
The People Mover replaces the Disneyland Tram route traveling north towards the Mickey & Friends Parking Structure. The Mickey & Friends station forms a “Y” in the current shaded tram loading plaza, maintaining the existing contemporary design style.
The People Mover travels south to its final Esplanade (Disneyland Side) station, which replaces the existing tram loading circle near Downtown Disney. After that it travels east, crossing Disneyland’s entrance and Harbor Blvd. back to the Gateway Plaza.
All these infrastructure improvements should be more than sufficient to improve existing and future resort transportation problems. They make resort access easier for offsite guests arriving either by foot or by vehicle. In addition, @DisneyManOne, yes the Transportation Center will include a bicycle access point. These improvements make travel within the resort easier as well, for both hotel guests and day visitors. The remotely-located DisneySky becomes an easy “park hopping” option only 2 stops away via People Mover. Altogether, the Disneyland Resort is modernized and better able to handle demand.
And that concludes Infrastructure Week. Hooray! Tomorrow we start looking at the Rancho Disney entertainment district as we slowly make our way south from the Seven Dwarfs Parking Structure towards DisneySky's entrance gates.
I loved infrastructure week and can't wait to see what comes next!
Suchomimus
Well-Known Member
I'd argue that Douglas is some of Disney's most elite imagineers reincarnated.
Suchomimus
Well-Known Member
I can easily imagine that if you Douglas or anyone were to draw some of SKY's attraction posters that would be stylized as vintage airline destination posters.
Twilight_Roxas
Well-Known Member
Btw is there any SKY connections in Disneyland, and DCA’s Grizzly Airfield & Soarin?
While I haven’t actually made any yet (that would be a really fun project) exactly these posters are of course mentioned in the DisneySky entrance section. I thought of everything!
Oh no, it’s something I didn’t think of!
Twilight_Roxas
Well-Known Member
Because if you need help I could suggest Tomorrowland & Grizzly Airfield.
RANCHO DISNEY
Entertainment District
The independently-operated Anaheim GardenWalk open air mall presently sits between the proposed “Eastern Gateway” site and the “Strawberry Fields” Disney Sky third gate location. To best benefit DisneySky to the south, the Disneyland Resort needs contiguous acreage connecting all its assests. To that end, part of our infrastructure project involves purchasing the GardenWalk and converting it into the new Rancho Disney shopping district.
The GardenWalk, located directly east of Disney California Adventure, has suffered from low occupancy and insufficient foot traffic ever since its opening in 2008. The present Disneyland Resort layout makes GardenWalk out-of-the-way and unattractive for most resort guests. At times when Downtown Disney is jam-packed, GardenWalk remains a ghost town. Walking through it feels unsafe. It leads to nowhere. Up to half the shop space at any given time is abandoned.
The Anaheim GardenWalk is pleasant enough yet it under-performs and sees low crowds
The GardenWalk's transformation into Rancho Disney will correct all those issues. It will function as a complement to Downtown Disney, not a competitor. With DisneySky at the district’s far south end, guests have a reason to pass through. Rancho Disney will be contained within the resort’s security perimeter, guaranteeing safety and vibrancy. The confounding multi-level layout will be corrected. Dated “contemporary” architecture will be rethemed. Suddenly Disneyland Resort will have a nightlife district on par with Disney Springs, revitalizing the area leading up to the third theme park!
Theme
Rancho Disney improves upon the Downtown Disney model much in the way Disney Springs has done. Like in Florida, Rancho Disney creates an extensive backstory about a historical centuries-old settlement and its eventual transformation into a modern day outdoor mall, giving the entire venue a believable foundation.
So the story goes, Rancho Disney began as a Spanish land grant in the era when Europeans first started to settle California. Like many L.A.-area land grants, it grew over generations as a small community centered around agriculture. Even once the orange groves were removed - victims of the development which Disneyland itself brought - the central small town of Rancho Disney remained and flourished.
Rancho Disney concept art
Every place guests look they sense the Rancho’s deep cultural history. Entering from the northern Gateway Plaza skybridge, guests pass under a crumbling mission arch. Iron bells line the rafters. Rancho Disney stretches out below, full of red tile roofs and finely-carved woodwork. A new bandstand in the courtyard plays host to thematic performances such as mariachis or charros or dancing señoritas. Contemporary musical acts also perform here.
The entirety of GardenWalk is redressed to show off this rancho theme. Walls are repainted as crumbling adobe. New terraced landscaping all around consists of crops like agave, grape vines and maize. Plants line upstairs iron balconies. Succulents and sagebrush grow from dry desert soil. Willows and pepper trees provide shade. Colorful streamers and flags stretch across the sunbaked corridors. Walkways are repaved with cobblestone. Fountains gurgle. Imagine a colonial pueblo exemplifying the romance of Old California, much like Olvera Street plus a bit of inspiration taken from Mexican towns like Guanajuato and San Miguel de Allende.
Infrastructure
The former GardenWalk’s infrastructure is modified so that it seamlessly becomes part of the Disneyland Resort. Pedestrian pass-through from north to south is improved, transforming a cavernous maze into a grand passageway leading to DisneySky. Parking and street access are altered in order to maintain the resort’s security perimeter. Existing GardenWalk tenants are largely kept, both for convenience and as a show of good faith. Their interiors are redressed and rethemed to match the Rancho Disney rebranding, with details to follow.
Note that most of the land immediately west of Rancho Disney on the same city block is owned by separate businesses. Mostly these are private party “good neighbor” hotels. Notably, the newly-opened JW Marriott is the first non-Disney AAA four-diamond rated hotel in Anaheim. It is 12 stories tall and contemporarily styled. Despite sitting adjacent off-property, Disney plans to partner with Marriott much like they have with the Westin-owned Swan and Dolphin hotels at Disney World. The Marriott’s well-to-do guests will enjoy a specialized security entrance into Rancho Disney (and hence the greater Disneyland Resort).
The mall’s main north-south exterior corridor is boldly remodeled to improve pedestrian pass-through. A new northern pedestrian entry is set on the second level, accessed exclusively via skybridge leading from the Gateway Plaza. The underutilized southern sidewalk on Disney Way is no longer an entrance. Terraced stairs lead downwards from this entry to Rancho Disney’s main level, while many of the upper level walkways are removed entirely.
The crescent-shaped plaza further down is redesigned as an open-air patio, complete with a central outdoor bar like Downtown Disney’s Uva Bar. Continuing south, the extraneous upper level pathways are removed. Upstairs shop space is converted to become additional square footage for ground level tenants, while many shop interiors are opened up as inviting high-ceiling atria.
GardenWalk’s southernmost edge is mostly altered to allow for transition to DisneySky’s Plaza of the Four Winds esplanade. The mall corridor provides off-center views of the park’s Mt. Helios framed by adobe storefronts. Pedestrian paths curve towards the west, joining with the People Mover station where Bubba Gump once stood.
The multi-floor flat wall which directly faces the DisneySky entrance plaza is redecorated so that it isn’t an eyesore for guests exiting the park. Green space before it receives a large agave-themed sandstone fountain. Large trees are planted in front of the wall, which receives faded brick theming.
Parking is now exclusively accessed from Disney Way on the north. Due to Katella Ave.’s new below-grade route, it no longer provides vehicle or pedestrian access. The existing western parking structure is still used for Rancho Disney guests. A portion of this structure on one level is transformed into a People Mover tunnel. Parking rates and validations are revised following the Downtown Disney model, which resolves a major customer complaint about GardenWalk. From the parking structure, a unique atrium-set security checkpoint provides access to Rancho Disney.
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Twilight_Roxas
Well-Known Member
Bet there’s Sky connection in Rancho Disney.
Suchomimus
Well-Known Member
Diesel Bay could be referenced in Adventureland and Discovery Glacier possibly in Main Street.
Suchomimus
Well-Known Member
I bet that this would something that @TheDesignPirate would love to do.
Twilight_Roxas
Well-Known Member
True even if Sea is in Adventureland as well. Discovery Glacier could be in the Matterhorn.
DisneyManOne
Well-Known Member
Will any of the restaurants and shops of the GardenWalk remain as part of Rancho Disney, or would most be replaced with new ones? I'd keep Harley Davidson, given its presence at Disney Springs, and P.F. Chang's is still a popular chain; and personally, I'd say the House of Blues would remain a good part of the area, especially given that the Downtown Disney version has closed, and that the Disney Springs version is still delighting guests. Plus, you could easily turn Go VR into a second location for the Disney-owned The VOID: Step Beyond Reality.
Suchomimus
Well-Known Member
Excluding Bubba Gump and Roy's Restaurant, as those will be demoed for the new station.
DisneyManOne
Well-Known Member
Thank you, Suchomimus. I guess I must have missed that part. But, maybe Roy's Restaurant and Bubba Gump could be re-built as part of Rancho Disney?