Lights of Winter not being displayed this year (2009)!?!

dgp602

dgp602

Well-Known Member
prberk said:
That's cool, and something I never thought of. I wish I could go. Do you have any pictures?

For others interested, remember that you can access Fort Wilderness easily by water taxi (boat) from the Contemporary's dock Bay Lake. A boat goes regularly (like every 20 minutes) from that dock to the Wilderness Lodge dock, and to the Fort Wilderness dock, then back to the Contemporary.

That dock is on the waterfront of Fort Wilderness at the Settlement. An internal FW bus (Purple or Orange) goes back and forth to the front (Outpost) area of Fort Wilderness, which is the main entrance parking area.

When you refer to the "RV parking area," do you mean the Outpost parking area? Or do you mean the part of the campground closest to the Settlement, where campers (including RVs) usually camp? (As opposed to the FW cabins loops, which are closer to the Outpost.)
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I think it's the campground closest to the settlement, but the FW cabin loops do it up pretty cool as well. Two distinct styles. The cabin loops remind you of old fashion neighborhood decorations. Some cabins have families in side by side cabins and some have family renting multiple cabins on the same loop and those families really go all out! I was amazed! Trees in the windows, crazy outdoor lights!! The RV area has a lot of the small mini MK models and use their limited space to really cram a lot in! We really enjoyed it.

I don't have a lot of pictures, just a long video of all of it. But I did a Google image search of FW Christmas and a ton of photo's came up!!!
 
prberk

prberk

Well-Known Member
dgp602 said:
I think it's the campground closest to the settlement, but the FW cabin loops do it up pretty cool as well. Two distinct styles. The cabin loops remind you of old fashion neighborhood decorations. Some cabins have families in side by side cabins and some have family renting multiple cabins on the same loop and those families really go all out! I was amazed! Trees in the windows, crazy outdoor lights!! The RV area has a lot of the small mini MK models and use their limited space to really cram a lot in! We really enjoyed it.

I don't have a lot of pictures, just a long video of all of it. But I did a Google image search of FW Christmas and a ton of photo's came up!!!
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Wow! You are completely right.

Here is just one blogger's set of pictures: http://land.allears.net/blogs/guestblog/2012/11/christmas_at_fort_wilderness_1.html

The campers really do it up right. I wish we had thought of this the last time I was there around Christmastime. It looks like the campers do up their own sites more festively in some ways than even the MK! And I would think that the carriage or sleigh ride tour of FW would be great after dinner at the Trail's End!
 
dgp602

dgp602

Well-Known Member
prberk said:
Wow! You are completely right.

Here is just one blogger's set of pictures: http://land.allears.net/blogs/guestblog/2012/11/christmas_at_fort_wilderness_1.html

The campers really do it up right. I wish we had thought of this the last time I was there around Christmastime. It looks like the campers do up their own sites more festively in some ways than even the MK! And I would think that the carriage or sleigh ride tour of FW would be great after dinner at the Trail's End!
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I forgot to mention the part about the golf carts! Absolutely fabulous and creative!!!
 
I

Ignohippo

Well-Known Member
xdan0920 said:
That would be an example of Disney kicking away the pennies and grabbing the dollars. See what I did there?

Anyways, I like this idea. Drive business to Disney Springs. While also improving the guest experience.
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That's exactly it. I've heard it's actually been mentioned to potential retailers as a selling point as well. The new two to three story buildings at DS are uniquely suited to take the display and they want it there to help bring crowds to the new areas and promote the new shops. The walkways have been designed wide enough to accommodate the crowds as well (if they decide to move it there).
 
Sped2424

Sped2424

Well-Known Member
Ignohippo said:
That's exactly it. I've heard it's actually been mentioned to potential retailers as a selling point as well. The new two to three story buildings at DS are uniquely suited to take the display and they want it there to help bring crowds to the new areas and promote the new shops. The walkways have been designed wide enough to accommodate the crowds as well (if they decide to move it there).
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But the losing draw is Disney doesn't have folks paying 92 dollar admission to the see the lights. Now everyone can see them for free. They know the lights are a huge draw for holidays in the parks. Why move them out of the parks.
 
I

Ignohippo

Well-Known Member
Sped2424 said:
But the losing draw is Disney doesn't have folks paying 92 dollar admission to the see the lights. Now everyone can see them for free. They know the lights are a huge draw for holidays in the parks. Why move them out of the parks.
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Unfortunately, the reality is that there won't be any place for them at the Studios when/if Streets Of America goes away.

So, it's either spend the money to have them redesigned and moved to Disney Springs, or get rid of them altogether. Disney Springs will be the only viable option if SOA is demolished.
 
Horizons1

Horizons1

Well-Known Member
Ignohippo said:
Not sure why you would say that, but I trust the person who told me this 100%. It's the most likely destination at this point if SoA goes away.
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One reason really: Disney LOVES money! They are not going to give up on charging money to one of their premier Christmas events.
 
Sped2424

Sped2424

Well-Known Member
Ignohippo said:
Unfortunately, the reality is that there won't be any place for them at the Studios when/if Streets Of America goes away.

So, it's either spend the money to have them redesigned and moved to Disney Springs, or get rid of them altogether. Disney Springs will be the only viable option if SOA is demolished.
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Streets of america is the best option. But perhaps they could move em to epcot somewhere? But I am sure the countries wouldn't like that much. You are right the only option seems to be Disney springs. At mk it's not plausible given the already crazy attendance, Animal it doesn't fit in ANYWHERE, and epcot more or less the same.
 
CDavid

CDavid

Well-Known Member
Ignohippo said:
So, it's either spend the money to have them redesigned and moved to Disney Springs, or get rid of them altogether. Disney Springs will be the only viable option if SOA is demolished.
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Huh? If only Disney had another theme park in the central Florida region, which was open for business during the holidays, then seemingly Disney Springs would not be the only viable option...

Or perhaps if they had a park which wasn't ordinarily open several months of the year, but had a Christmas theme for which a light display would be right at home and to which you could sell admission...

All you really need are facades to hang the lights upon - like Residential Street or New York Street, but also something which - if necessary - could be constructed at modest cost pretty much anywhere. I'm not saying you aren't correct and the lights won't show up over at Disney Springs, just that it's hardly the only option or necessarily even a good one.
 
Sped2424

Sped2424

Well-Known Member
CDavid said:
Huh? If only Disney had another theme park in the central Florida region, which was open for business during the holidays, then seemingly Disney Springs would not be the only viable option...

Or perhaps if they had a park which wasn't ordinarily open several months of the year, but had a Christmas theme for which a light display would be right at home and to which you could sell admission...

All you really need are facades to hang the lights upon - like Residential Street or New York Street, but also something which - if necessary - could be constructed at modest cost pretty much anywhere. I'm not saying you aren't correct and the lights won't show up over at Disney Springs, just that it's hardly the only option or necessarily even a good one.
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Animal kingdom the lights don't fit in anywhere. Epcot the only viable option would be the world showcase and that probably wouldn't work out for the best. Magic kingdom does not and should not get anything else that would boost it's holiday attendance. They have enough trouble as is. Blizzard beach is closed on random dates when it's too cold so that would be a terrible choice for them to put the lights in. Also only charge for the lights? That is a plan that is downright bad and wouldn't work and Disney even knows that. The lights are a plus and a draw but folks aren't going to pay admission to an empty water park to see a light show that lasts about 5 minutes. At most you could spend an hour there but then what? Doesn't sound worth the price disney would draft up, not to mention blizzard needs whatever downtime they get. Your plan has a few holes. Disney springs really is beyond epcot the only other viable option.
 
Kman101

Kman101

Well-Known Member
Honestly, why demolish Streets of America at DHS? There should be plenty of room where the backlot area is and other unused space. What would they put in that section. The only viable replacement would be walking down Route 66 to Radiator Springs and we don't even know if we're getting more than Toy Story Land at this point. They can build up the facades a bit at DHS to make them look more complete. I don't see why they need to go.
 
DC0703

DC0703

Well-Known Member
Ignohippo said:
Unfortunately, the reality is that there won't be any place for them at the Studios when/if Streets Of America goes away.

So, it's either spend the money to have them redesigned and moved to Disney Springs, or get rid of them altogether. Disney Springs will be the only viable option if SOA is demolished.
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Remember, we don't know exactly what their plans are for DHS yet. Even if they demolish SOA, it is still possible that the light show will be changed and worked into the park somehow. I would expect that they would try and keep them at DHS, since the whole reason they are giving the park a makeover is to draw people to it. I can't imagine they would remove an attraction that already acts as a draw.
 
Sped2424

Sped2424

Well-Known Member
Kman101 said:
Honestly, why demolish Streets of America at DHS? There should be plenty of room where the backlot area is and other unused space. What would they put in that section. The only viable replacement would be walking down Route 66 to Radiator Springs and we don't even know if we're getting more than Toy Story Land at this point. They can build up the facades a bit at DHS to make them look more complete. I don't see why they need to go.
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I agree no need to demolish, now convert them into something else....
San-Fransokyo.jpg

COUGH COUGH
 

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