Iconic Purple Directional Signs Being Replaced

LittleBuford

Well-Known Member
The road signs are not attributable to cheapness. I think they’re more attributable to the fact that Disney is determined to attract folks with a lot of cash and has fixed on the stereotype that theming, bright colors, and entertainment architecture aren’t “classy.” As with the resort makeovers, it’s an absurdly misguided attempt to make WDW “fashionable.” Like so many other problems, it’s born of the fact that management has no notion of the very specific needs of the Disney brand and is instead versed only in general, one-size-fits-all “business principles.”
I would say that Disney’s aesthetic choices have always been responsive to the tastes of the day. Note the very ’70s font here, for example:

1985_JC_entrance.jpg


I don’t fault them for updating their new signs to better accord with today’s fashions. I just happen to prefer the ’90s aesthetic (and not everyone does) and to dislike the fact that the new colour scheme reminds me of British motorway signage.
 

lazyboy97o

Well-Known Member
And as regards tasteful - there has never been a single moment in their collective history when anyone who mattered thought anything about any of the Disney parks was “tasteful.” Quite the contrary, they have always been held up as glaring examples of a distinctly American “tastelessness.”
This is not true. They have been regarded as tasteless by some but the how and why isn’t even consistent.
 

peter11435

Well-Known Member
It does look like the purple in the old sign is getting bleached out by the sun.
View attachment 677425
These signs are periodically replaced as necessary. Name changes, additions, damage; and age. They are not all the same age and are certainly not all in need of replacing. That is a particularly bad one pictured, most do not look like this and have years of useful life left.
 

Disstevefan1

Well-Known Member
These signs are periodically replaced as necessary. Name changes, additions, damage; and age. They are not all the same age and are certainly not all in need of replacing. That is a particularly bad one pictured, most do not look like this and have years of useful life left.
Hey, I don’t want them to spend money when they don’t need to either. Who knows? Maybe one of the executives nephews is in the sign business and got the big money contract to replace the signs whether they needed it or not and uncle gets some cash on the side from the nephew.
 

UNCgolf

Well-Known Member
Does anyone know what the signs looked like in the ’70s and ’80s?

I'm not sure but maybe just standard Florida attraction signs? I have a vague memory of seeing photos of brown signs.

There wasn't anywhere near as much there at that point, though. Just the Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, River Country, and a few hotels (plus the golf courses). It wasn't close to the massive complex that exists now.
 
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correcaminos

Well-Known Member
I'm not sure but maybe just standard Florida attraction signs? I seem to have a vague memory of seeing photos of brown signs.

There wasn't anywhere near as much there at that point, though. Just the Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, River Country, and a few hotels (plus the golf courses). It wasn't close to the massive complex that exists now.
They were brown road side signs and green state signs depending. Definitely not as many as now but they really didn't stand out. There are quite a few if you google Disney brown road signs.


Even some signs from not long ago show the green from a few miles out

 

Sir_Cliff

Well-Known Member
And as regards tasteful - there has never been a single moment in their collective history when anyone who mattered thought anything about any of the Disney parks was “tasteful.” Quite the contrary, they have always been held up as glaring examples of a distinctly American “tastelessness.” Trying to make them “tasteful” is a fool’s errand. At least when Eisner tried to make the parks “fashionable” - I don’t think he ever really reached for “tasteful” - he did so by getting interesting architects to design interesting things, not by futilely ripping away theming.
I understand that for some people themed entertainment will always be considered tasteless, but I would think of this in the same way Walt Disney had to explain that Disneyland wouldn't be like the amusement parks people were used to. At least within the sphere of themed entertainment, Disney was always the subtle, detailed, and tasteful version compared to, say, Las Vegas or roadside attractions. If Disney built an Egypt-themed hotel, for example, you would hope it would be to the Luxor what Disneyland was to a run-of-the-mill amusement park in its day.
 

eddie104

Well-Known Member
Yes, I agree.

With some of the new rooms and perhaps the new road signs, I think they are trying to more more tasteful rather than fashionable. That doesn't bother me, as I think Disney at its best was always more tasteful in terms of its theming than other places in the sense that they put thought into the use of colour, shapes, designs, etc. It just so happens that what is considered tasteful changes over time, and a lot of the stuff being replaced now is from 30 or more years ago.

As for them being all over the place, the counterpoint would be exactly something like the Contemporary rooms, which are far from tasteful.
Exactly…. so when these changes are made they are considered very dramatic and major because Disney hasn’t been consistently updating these places over time. Instead their doing huge renovations to catch up to modern times.
Yep I wish things were that simple on this board.
 

BuddyThomas

Well-Known Member
The next time I get perplexed and annoyed at people whining about a ride that hasn’t been built yet or complaining about a movie that hasn’t been released yet, I will just need to remind myself that there are 36 pages and counting of people crying about the color of a road sign.
 
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Casper Gutman

Well-Known Member
In another 30 years, Disney will change the blue and yellow to another colour and people will go, "Hey! I preferred the old colour like it was in the 2020s! Bring it back!"

Tastes change, styles change. The current trend for minimalist hotel rooms will turn into another trend entirely in 10 years.
This assumes the current WDW is building a substantial new generation of fans and that the signs will be perceived by those fans as a distinct enough part of “the bubble” to matter.
 

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