Epcot New York

larryz

I'm Just A Tourist!
Premium Member
My number one concern is passenger safety. I found a lot of sources that claim monorails have the best safety records out of all forms of transportation!
They're safer because it's practically impossible to have a multi-vehicle collision on a monorail. (As we all know, it CAN happen...)
When a monorail beam breaks under load with a full train on it, or in Florida's case, a sinkhole swallows a support pillar, you'll see those opinions revised.
 

Vinny

Member
Original Poster
A journey and tour of a greater place and higher level of intelligence
THE NEXT WORLD

559f84c4483cf-simworx-flying-theatre-ride-1.png

 

dizda

Well-Known Member
@Vinny - I appreciate your enthusiasm and your creativity in proposing an Epcot New York. Scale may be one of the greatest problems, though. Are you familiar with Walt's proposal to build a scaled-down, indoor theme park in St. Louis following the success of Disneyland? An Epcot-like variation on that idea might be a more achievable goal for a New York project, especially with the need for mostly indoor pavilions to address winter weather concerns for year-round operation. Regardless, you should keep dreaming.
 
Given the fair, which even today was considered a wild success, only returned investors between 12-16 cents on the dollar, I don't think you would ever get a sensible company to build something of this magnitude. Couple it with the location, which is a nightmare to get in and out of on an ordinary basis (I've utilized LaGuardia Airport enough to say that it would take anywhere from 90 minutes to two hours to get into Flushing Meadows on a normal workday just from North of Manhattan), I don't think this would be anything more than a dream. This is not even speaking to the cost of doing business in New York, taxes alone make these ventures unlikely.

I love seeing the Americana when I head into the park, but the future of these types of attractions lie in far more accessible places that would cost far less to build in.
 

Vinny

Member
Original Poster
Developers were able to built this in Abu Dhabi and make it an extremely profitable theme park:
Ferrari-World-Abu-Dhabi-Roof.jpg

We should be able to build with the same dream inspired passion here in New York. For those who are not familiar with this mostly indoor theme park, this is Ferrari World. It's creation is a example of what leading developers who are breaking the mold and moving our world forward can produce. Over 50 acres of this theme park are indoors, to protect visitors from the hot desert climate. Ferrari World is pretty awesome and features state of the art attractions, including the world's fastest roller coaster, Formula Rossa.

At the top of the photo you can see, the building of the Yas Mall (now finished and open), a 2.5 million square feet retail and entertainment complex. That's about sixty acres of retail and entertainment floor space.
 
Last edited:

Vinny

Member
Original Poster
I can see how you could be concerned about size, but with smart architecture, Epcot New York can definitely be built to be the same acreage as a normal size theme park or the original Epcot theme park. It depends on the master planner and how intelligent that chosen person is. There are extraordinary opportunities at this chosen site of Flushing Meadows park.
LaGuardia Airport is only 1.5 miles away and is currently being completely rebuilt and updated. $450 million dollars of public money has already been set aside for a public mass transportation rail project to connect the airport to the subway station that is directly in the middle of the proposed Epcot New York site, Citi Field Stadium, and the USTA National Tennis Center. There have been many proposals to build enormous convention centers and entertainment complexes like Disney Springs in this adjacent area as well. That would also be very awesome and would continue to add economic success to this project. There is additional space for those projects as well, if they build above the subway rail yard just like the master planner of the enormous Hudson Yards development decided to do. That happens to be the largest private real estate development in the history of the United States.
What really needs to be built, for the huge airport redevelopment project also, is a connection to the main branch of the Long Island Rail Road, which also has a station less than a half mile from the southern end of Flushing Meadows Park. The by far most optimal mass transportation design would be building a monorail to connect LaGuardia Airport; then the area near Citi Field, the National Tennis Center, and the subway station; and of course Epcot New York; all to the Jamaica Long Island Rail Road station. This station has a connecting "Air Train" also to JFK Airport. Over 20 years ago they proposed building an "Air Train" in this exact route. Although it was rejected because the Air Train makes too much noise. A monorail would definitely not cause that problem.
There would not be automobile traffic problems like others have claimed before; because the Long Island Expressway, the main superhighway that travels from Manhattan to the end of Long Island, travels right through the middle of Flushing Meadows Park. As long as the master planner directs traffic properly using a double lane exit and builds the proper access roads to the parking structures there will be no backed up traffic. Epcot New York's actual park architecture can be built beneath the highways to connect each area of the park, and visual and noise barriers can built so visitors won't even realize that there is a highway near where they are. It's all about architecture, proper master planning, and the willingness to build something beautifully and correctly. I believe its worth it. Only for the important reason that this park has a mission, and that mission is to educate people about the potential of our world when we focus and place value on the right things that will progress our world forward.
 

raven

Well-Known Member
You do realize that Flushing, Queens (where the fairground is located) is rather far from the heart of New York?
About 15 minutes by train. Takes longer than that to get to MK after parking your car.

The area needs a fresh start but this idea would be WAY to stressful on it's current situation. (That's not even mentioning the fact that the park itself is alot smaller then it may seem...)
Flushing Meadows is 897 acres. Epcot is 300 acres. So there is nearly 3 times as much space.

Also, the 1964 World's Fair ran for 2 years, year 'round, and featured 140 elaborate indoor pavilions on 646 acres of the 897 acre park.

And Epcot-style park there would fit ideally if you don't make it an "amusement park" but kept the World's Fair theme. Also, Epcot was designed to be a permanent World's Fair to begins with so that area has already had that kind of attraction...twice! (1939 and 1964).
 

Vinny

Member
Original Poster
The Extraordinary Ability of the Walt Disney World Monorail's
S
ilent and Non-disturbing operation
Here is an awesome interview of Bob Gurr, one of Disney's most legendary engineers who designed the Walt Disney World's and Disneyland's Monorails. In this interview Bob explains about the Disney World style monorail's probably most beneficial factor of being the chosen form of mass transportation used in a densely populated urban area, it's undetectable vibrations and extremely silent operation. About a minute and a half into the video, Bob explains about a really cool experiment and its outstanding results, he and others performed when they were building the Walt Disney World Monorail.
 
Last edited:
About 15 minutes by train. Takes longer than that to get to MK after parking your car.


Flushing Meadows is 897 acres. Epcot is 300 acres. So there is nearly 3 times as much space.

Also, the 1964 World's Fair ran for 2 years, year 'round, and featured 140 elaborate indoor pavilions on 646 acres of the 897 acre park.

And Epcot-style park there would fit ideally if you don't make it an "amusement park" but kept the World's Fair theme. Also, Epcot was designed to be a permanent World's Fair to begins with so that area has already had that kind of attraction...twice! (1939 and 1964).

The Fair ran from April to October each year.

It also approached insolvency twice before it opened and was only rescued with bonds issued by the State of New York (mostly because the state had already invested so much to not have it actually open). Many countries did not come because it was not an officially recognized worlds fair.
 

Vinny

Member
Original Poster
Here's an idea on how to make the already appealing appearance of the monorail system even more architecturally beautiful. Use architecturally decorative columns:
6062378.jpg

These are actually originally from our United States Capitol Building! The architect of a new monorail system should use possibly this type of classical column design or maybe columns that are wider and have a curved contour, and then continue to modify them to look more modern in order to have them matching with an ultra modern train design.

Here's an example of a not exactly matching, but it is a beautiful new ultra modern looking train:

BYD-skyrail.jpg

It was made by BYD, Build Your Dreams. Could THEY be the company that will bring the next level of better monorails to the world? I really hope so. Bombardier and Hitachi have been sitting on their hands for way too long. The world needs safer and better transportation options that appeals to the masses and fits perfectly into urban settings.
 
Last edited:

Vinny

Member
Original Poster
201612160153595751.jpg

Here's Leo, now BYD brand ambassador, with a model of the Skyrail!!

byd-skyrail.png

Here's another picture of the BYD Skyrail, it looks awesome! Although, they could use some design input on those columns and the safety walkway. Here's the valuable lesson in short: The're not a visual obstruction if they're cool to look at.
 
Last edited:

Vinny

Member
Original Poster
See, the imagineers love me!! Well, at least my idea!
145.jpg

look familiar?
bg_splash2opt_0.jpg

Maybe it's just the dreamer in me? but i think that's a real really awesome sign!!
 
Last edited:

Vinny

Member
Original Poster
Horticulturists are Imagineers, and you may see a maypole, but I see Mickey, Pluto, Minnie, and Daisy holding four guy wires to support a tensile roof system in front of Spaceship Earth at Epcot, to symbolize their excitement and cheering on of the idea of building an Epcot in New York that will be protected from New York winters by a seasonal, retractable, tensile roof system
parking-transit-header-image.jpg
 

Register on WDWMAGIC. This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.

Back
Top Bottom