lazyboy97o
Well-Known Member
This isn’t even close to true. Many attraction facilities have basements.There is a reason almost no ride (with the exception of Transformers, and that was a hold-over from California, and the underground is maintenance) has underground portions in Florida.
What you describe pretty much fallls under typic architectural services. It is nothing outlandish. Being service areas is irrelevant as the waterproofing needs don’t change and it’s not likely that all or any of the exterior walls and floors of the current building will be finished.Now, say they did want to build their very first subterranean roller coaster and sunk it a story, two stories down. This coaster has a massive footprint - one of the largest pours Disney has done. The removal of the dirt alone would be prohibitively expensive for an already expensive project. Not to mention the thousands of man-hours that would now need to be put in to engineer solutions to all the problems that would arise from the building being built below the water table. Reinforced walls, protection from flooding, pumps to get any water out that may get in - just a nightmare. Maintenance would constantly have to worry about an increased risk of flooding and water damage, alongside the upkeep that normally comes with coaster operation.
Again, pretty standard architectural services. Theming doesn’t have to be a bunch of crap glued to the exterior. It can just be an simple form with simple materials and still have visual interest.Finally, a themed building. This would be unique, as it'd be something that could be seen from half the park. Using "abstract geometry" and "a simple form and finish" may not be enough for a building of this prominence. Even the solution of painting it right now has found that a single color isn't even enough.
Going the themed route would be difficult - you'd have to find something future-worldy enough, but also not anything that would be too crazy while in the World Showcase. You'd also have the issue that the majority of the building is covered by other buildings and shrubbery while in FW. Really, the best views of it are in the parking lot and on the opposite side of the world showcase. So they spend all these resources theming a building when the theming can only be useful from a distance.