Fountain View Ice Cream closing in early April for Starbucks conversion

[Mike730]

This is the outside of building... with verandas...on water....
How is this supposed to represent what the inside of Starbucks is "supposed" to look like??

CommuniCore / Innoventions isn't the 'non-themed' EPCOT area, not a place where you meet Toy Story characters because the brochure told you pics of kids with toons is what Disney is about. CC isn't an ugly traffic square, from where you get to the 'fun, themed' areas of EPCOT.
No, CC is the beating heart of the center of EPCOT Center, which itself is the center of the entire Florida Project.

We now have a concrete square, with silly tarps, a fountain ruined by a temporary stage that's not been used for twenty years, and a pin shop and a meet and greet and Orlando's 260th Starbucks which doesn't even have the courtesy to at least look good.
And they ask why we complain.

It's pretty clear from this post that the Starbucks Design isn't what irks you, but instead the fact that its something that doesn't deserve to be new in a dead FutureWorld. This, I wholeheartedly agree with.

Having said that, I'd still take this over the ice cream place. IMO there's a lot more in FW that needs to be fixed besides the Starbucks.

And just so you know where I'm coming from....

That makes me want to go all guerilla fanwar on WDW. For a diversion, one of us collapses on the middle of MS after a collision with a SUV ECV. As the local CM's rush towards him, I lift somebody else on my shoulders, pass the paint, and before security understands what's going on, he's got those planks painted in the right white.
Then we'll dump the white paintbrush on Tom Sawyer Island and promise our Thunder fastpasses to whomever retrieves it.

This is something I legitimately agree with.

 

[Cmdr_Crimson]

So if I want to get a starbucks coffee do I have to waste one of my 3 fastpasses in epcot?

I'm just surprised it hasn't come to this....Yet..

 

[redpill101]

I'm just surprised it hasn't come to this....Yet..

Bravo!

 

[tirian]

No, that's the old Electric umbrella. CC Plaza (Innoventions plaza) originally had water features and lots of greenery. Everything was bulldozed and filled with concrete in the 90s to make room for nonexistent crowds expected to flood the *new* Innoventions. (They didn't.)

To answer your other question: they're Imagineers. IT'S THEIR JOB to come up with a solution. 80s-era track lighting isn't the answer.

Unless my eyes are deceiving me...isn't that a picture above of the Odyssey Restaurant that has been closed now for close to two decades? That was the now wildly popular Epcot design called empty building theme.

Yes, it probably lacks the regular Epcot theme but that would make it an empty building. Places like the restaurants can only be themed externally to blend in with it's surroundings because other then that there is no related thing to theme it too. Like the buses it is strictly a service location to satisfy a basic human need, that of thirst. How would anyone theme a place like that in a place like Futureworld Epcot? What would be the answer? Any suggestions?

 

[The Empress Lilly]

If your biggest problem with Communicore East and West these days is the new Starbucks ... wow. Just wow.

I couldn't agree more. I do however don't think we'll find anybody who would argue such a thing.

 

[The Empress Lilly]

Unless my eyes are deceiving me...isn't that a picture above of the Odyssey Restaurant that has been closed now for close to two decades?

The picture is from the Stargate. Indeed, as Tirian points out, the forerunner of what is now The Electric Umbrella.

Yes, it probably lacks the regular Epcot theme but that would make it an empty building. Places like the restaurants can only be themed externally to blend in with it's surroundings because other then that there is no related thing to theme it too. Like the buses it is strictly a service location to satisfy a basic human need, that of thirst. How would anyone theme a place like that in a place like Futureworld Epcot? What would be the answer? Any suggestions?

The Three Broomsticks makes short notice of your suggestion restaurants serve only a utilitarian function. As does the Liberty Tree Tavern. Or the Sci-Fi.

As for a possible theme. The answer is connected to your quibble about empty space as EPCOT's theme. Namely, that before empty spaces, before diluted themeatic and aesthetic harmony, FW DID have a clear theme. From fonts to logos to landscaping to architecture to music - FW oozed style, and its very own at that.

I shall not play armchair Sotto and spare you all my ideas for a great FW coffee shop design.

 

[The Empress Lilly]

It's pretty clear from this post that the Starbucks Design isn't what irks you, but instead the fact that its something that doesn't deserve to be new in a dead FutureWorld. This, I wholeheartedly agree with.

No, I dislike the design. Which I think bland and uninspired. Fit for the departure hall of a small Midwest town airport.
Maybe the designers - in an actual commendable act! - were modest and trying to be mindful of the Starbucks' surroundings, trying to make it blend in without sticking out too much. Maybe. But the end result is rather bland.


I am not vehemently opposed to a Starbucks in FW itself. EPCOT, from the earliest conception to the EPCOT Center that was build, was always conceived of as a showcase for American industry. Perhaps it can even be argued that a Starbucks is more 'EPCOT', and a great orginal design more 'theme park'.

However, Starbucks is not in FW to showcase anything, but is there as part of a larger invasion of WDW, in lieu of WDW having the ambition or ability to come up with an original coffee shop concepts of its own. And no, Sbux did not invade WDW to introduce good coffee - that is what the Joffrey's deal does.

The end result is a painfully unambitious, poorly designed, barely-themed, ordinary coffee shop in the heart of EPCOT. If anything irks me, it is the mediocrity of it all.

 

[Goofyernmost]

No, that's the old Electric umbrella. CC Plaza (Innoventions plaza) originally had water features and lots of greenery. Everything was bulldozed and filled with concrete in the 90s to make room for nonexistent crowds expected to flood the *new* Innoventions. (They didn't.)

To answer your other question: they're Imagineers. IT'S THEIR JOB to come up with a solution. 80s-era track lighting isn't the answer.

Unless...are you ready for this? Track lighting is coming back. You'll feel pretty silly when it does I'll bet!

 

[Goofyernmost]

No, I dislike the design. Which I think bland and uninspired. Fit for the departure hall of a small Midwest town airport.
Maybe the designers - in an actual commendable act! - were modest and trying to be mindful of the Starbucks' surroundings, trying to make it blend in without sticking out too much. Maybe. But the end result is rather bland.


I am not vehemently opposed to a Starbucks in FW itself. EPCOT, from the earliest conception to the EPCOT Center that was build, was always conceived of as a showcase for American industry. Perhaps it can even be argued that a Starbucks is more 'EPCOT', and a great orginal design more 'theme park'.

However, Starbucks is not in FW to showcase anything, but is there as part of a larger invasion of WDW, in lieu of WDW having the ambition or ability to come up with an original coffee shop concepts of its own. And no, Sbux did not invade WDW to introduce good coffee - that is what the Joffrey's deal does.

The end result is a painfully unambitious, poorly designed, barely-themed, ordinary coffee shop in the heart of EPCOT. If anything irks me, it is the mediocrity of it all.

OK, maybe you just need a nice refreshing Venti Caramel Frappuccino Light Blended to calm your nerves. Just kidding with ya. You just seemed a little tense.

 

[Goofyernmost]

Doesn't really matter...based on the rate of decline spelled out by those in the know around here in about 30 more years this will be WDW.

 

[The Empress Lilly]

OK, maybe you just need a nice refreshing Venti Caramel Frappuccino Light Blended to calm your nerves. Just kidding with ya. You just seemed a little tense.

Tense?

ME TENSE!?!?

I AM NOT TENSE!!!1

...uh...I mean, I am not tense. I just don't varnish my opinion when reviewing something. That is something I learned - rather embarrasing to admit - from Beavis and Butthead. They taught that something either sucks or rules. If it is good, then it is great and you worship it. If it is not, then it stinks and is a waste of time.

 

[Pumbaa1222]

I could care less about the aesthetics. The ice cream was ugly as well. My bigger concern is the lack of seating!! Not much of a "fountainview" as you are shuffled thru a line. I have spent more than one afternoon storm in the Fountainview with the big windows it was a great place to actually watch the fountain and sit out the storm. Coffee is a much better way to sit back and relax than ice cream, but I guess not anymore.

 

[Goofyernmost]

The picture is from the Stargate. Indeed, as Titian points out, the place that is currently The Electric Umbrella.

The Three Broomsticks makes short notice of your suggestion restaurants serve only a utilitarian function. As does the Liberty Tree Tavern. Or the Sci-Fi.

As for a possible theme. The answer is connected to your quibble about empty space as EPCOT's theme. Namely, that before empty spaces, before diluted themeatic and aesthetic harmony, FW DID have a clear theme. From fonts to logos to landscaping to architecture to music - FW oozed style, and its very own at that.

I shall not play armchair Sotto and spare you all my ideas for a great FW coffee shop design.

I agree, but it wasn't silly themed. It was futuristic themed. I don't, for example, see anything, knock me off my feet, about StarGate. The architecture of the external building might have been "futuristic" (hard to tell) but internally it consisted of tables, chairs, trash cans, condiment tables, and restrooms. If that was themed in the sense of future how would we have known. We weren't there yet. Perhaps, the current Starbucks is themed for a future thought as well. We don't know we aren't there yet either. I know it's a silly argument, but this whole discussion is silly in my mind. The Starbucks location is not an attraction. I don't see it as one and since I don't drink coffee, I will never see it or it's internal design so, I'm sorry, I cannot get all excited about it no matter where it is located. I believe that there is an old song entitled "Walk on by"! That is exactly what I intend to do.

 

[articos]

I took this picture for you when I went to WDW a few weeks ago...



And this...



As you can see, they still have not painted the white boards installed for the new sign / light fixture! <grin>

sigh. New Disney. No attention to detail.

 

[articos]

Unless...are you ready for this? Track lighting is coming back. You'll feel pretty silly when it does I'll bet!

There are many in Imagineering who will spend days searching lighting catalogs when there's no budget for custom fixtures in order to find fixtures that are non-standardized and fit the theme. Those track lights are lazy/young/outsourced Imagineers without oversight.

Although a much better use than the former Ice Cream shop, it looks pretty basic as a renovation. Also, of all the places to have video display menu boards, the team didn't put them in here? It would have added some kinetic motion to the space, visible from the exterior through the glass.

 

[RSoxNo1]

There are many in Imagineering who will spend days searching lighting catalogs when there's no budget for custom fixtures in order to find fixtures that are non-standardized and fit the theme. Those track lights are lazy/young/outsourced Imagineers without oversight.

Although a much better use than the former Ice Cream shop, it looks pretty basic as a renovation. Also, of all the places to have video display menu boards, the team didn't put them in here? It would have added some kinetic motion to the space, visible from the exterior through the glass.

A while ago, @eddiesoto posted a link to a lamppost distributor that was used frequently by Imagineering. I found it fascinating to look through the catalog.

 

[COProgressFan]

There are many in Imagineering who will spend days searching lighting catalogs when there's no budget for custom fixtures in order to find fixtures that are non-standardized and fit the theme. Those track lights are lazy/young/outsourced Imagineers without oversight.

Although a much better use than the former Ice Cream shop, it looks pretty basic as a renovation. Also, of all the places to have video display menu boards, the team didn't put them in here? It would have added some kinetic motion to the space, visible from the exterior through the glass.

Not only does that fixture not belong on Main St., it literally looks like it could have been purchased off the shelf at Home Depot.

 

[The Empress Lilly]

Not only does that fixture not belong on Main St., it literally looks like it could have been purchased off the shelf at Home Depot.

Home Depot has them as a square, $19.97,

...or octagonal. Prettier than the Starbucks one, but $29.97.
http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc...sp=d-flyout-OUTDOOR_LIGHTING-Ceiling_Lighting

Also at Home Depot, a bucket of off-white ceiling paint: $29.95. Shall I come and paint it for free for you, Disney?
http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc...flyout-INTERIOR_PAINT_and_STAIN-Ceiling_Paint

 

[mickeysbrother]

Timmy's is such a Canadian institution that we even had an outlet outside our Kandahar military base for 5 1/2 years.
http://www.ctvnews.ca/tim-hortons-closing-shop-at-canadian-afghan-base-1.730698
Horton's vs Starbuck's - there is NO comparison.

Love timmy's

 

[COProgressFan]

Home Depot has them as a square, $19.97,

...or octagonal. Prettier than the Starbucks one, but $29.97.
http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc...sp=d-flyout-OUTDOOR_LIGHTING-Ceiling_Lighting

Also at Home Depot, a bucket of off-white ceiling paint: $29.95. Shall I come and paint it for free for you, Disney?
http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc...flyout-INTERIOR_PAINT_and_STAIN-Ceiling_Paint

Ouch. If I were the Imagineer who designed this, I'd be embarrassed. And / or fired.

But no one seems to care anymore anyway. The fact that no one involved with the project thought the light fixture was a problem, or had no issue with the mismatched paint on the ceiling is quite telling about the state of Imagineering and Disney park management these days. Shouldn't a maintenance manager see the paint and realize it doesn't match? Or a manager at the Starbucks? Even a random CM? The Starbucks corporate folks? Shouldn't Phil Holmes demand it be repainted? Or George K? Bueller? Anyone??

It's just embarrassing how clueless and/or incompetent they are.