Island in Epcot Lagoon

[kevinwyld]

Forgive me in advance if this has been answered elsewhere.
I was at Epcot this evening, and noticed that the island at the west end of the lagoon (near the UK and France) had been cleared apart from the trees, and some structures that I could not make out.
Does anybody know what is happening?

 

[TURKEY]

Sorry, it's late and I'm not understanding your post.

Are they clearing the trees and putting up buildings? If not, could you please try and explain it a little better for me. I've been working on reports all day and my brain is no longer functioning.

 

[DisneyCP2000]

Go here. It's the 'tweaked' photo that I posted. Now imagine a small wooden fort in the middle of the island.

I've seen it too and I'm just as clueless. could they be using it for a shelter during the show?

 

[disneyreports]

The islands in the lagoon are cleared off because for the most part they are burned out... Fallout from the fireworks often falls onto the islands and starts small fires which are quickly put out... The wooden walls on the islands are there to prevent laser beams from straying off and reflecting into any guest area... They are afterthoughts, and that's why they look kinda strange on the islands...

 

[RobFL]

I'm used to the typical brown boxes for "Blinds" o hide the mechanical stuff that is on the islands, but lately I think they've gotten a paint job or soemthing. I think they had green stripes. perhaps an attempt to blend better.

-Rob

 

[kevinwyld]

Presumably, therefore, the grass, bushes, etc., will be restored? It looks kind of bare at the moment.

 

[RobFL]

Oh, you mean the grass and bushes?

Those things are always comming and going at Epcot.

They're constantly tearing up grass, replanting, stuff like that.

Interesting fact: The ground at Epcot is solid clay after a certain depth because it was built over an old swampy area. Trees and shrubs can only grow to be a certain height before they die and have to be replaced.. The massive squared hedges of Future World East used to cover the entire area and extend to all of the pavillions within it in an intricate patternwork, but most died off because of the shallow bed.

-Rob

 

[WDWGarden]

If you look at the island near China, you will notice that it is completely replanted with Plumbago and Jasmine. over the next week or so, the others will be planted too. Some poor plant choices and the fact that the shrubs on the island have to be pruned very short so as not to inhibit views to Illuminations have caused plants to die and the result has been bare islands for a few months. Fires are actually pretty rare on the islands. The big boards are laser backboards.

As for the clay soil theory, where did you hear that from??? I've not found that to be true. The massive sheered hedges of old East future world were mostly removed due to design changes. There are lots of original trees throughout Epcot that have been there for over 20 years and continue to thrive.

 

[DisJosh]

If the clay theory is true...how long will it take for those hideous rocks in front of Spaceship Earth to die?

 

[RobFL]

Well, it's just a theory then I guess, i can't really confirm it, just what I remember being told by someone who would have a relatively good idea

I know NRG's plants can't grow too big because they're planted inside of old fountains.

Why does NRG and the TTC have plants which are very dangerous (as in extremely sharp thorns) along their walkways?

If i remember correctly, when I learned about the clay "problem" it was because I was wondering about the lines of shurbs behind the innoventions area and why we didn't have any others like it anywhere else. Thinking about it.. The tallest trees are palms, which have shallow root systems, no? Then the next largest are the flowering trees over the Horizons courtyard. Everything else in the area has been planted recently (from the looks of old photos). Then you have the super hedges only remaining in that one spot.

I think it makes sense, but just how true it is, i'm unsure.

 

[Pioneer Hall]

Might sound dumb, but what is NRG?

 

[AdLibSean]

Yea when we were there in mid- July there were no plants save the trees and flat wooden structures painted to look like trees and bushes. I thought that they were just there because they were replanting on the island...

 

[AkiraRaptor]

I took the Gardens of the World tour last year, and the guide, who works in the hornacuture department commented on how it was such a pain to mow the grass on that island 'cos the had to use boats to get all the equipment back and forth.

He never said anything about a clay layer, and he talked about how they moved old 15-20 year trees around all the time.

 

[Passport]

They were doing a whole bunch of planting there today.