Main Street Fountain Removal

Magic Feather

Well-Known Member
There are a lot of operational hold ups for making a Western Bypass on Main Street. That area is used way more, from parade staging, to Main Street Vehicles, to Food and Bev (Casey's+Crystal Palace does a lot more than Plaza+Starbs+IceCream, not even considering that they are usually in low demand in the evenings (when the bypass is open) while the opposite is true for Casey's and Crystal). Really, the only way that I could see some type of semi-permanent bypass would be if Harmony Barber Shop gets knocked out, with a bypass that hugs the backsides of the Western facades, and would be super small anyways. Probably so small that it would cause more harm than good.
 

Movielover

Well-Known Member
Well, if they build it, people will come...

Except to DCA 1.0...

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MisterPenguin

President of Animal Kingdom
Premium Member
My fix would be to add bleachers and a fake astroturf baseball field in front of Casey's. The bleacher seating could be used for castle shows and would fit the 30s baseball theme of the area

There's already a small astroturf area in front of Casey's for upsale viewing. Not much room for bleachers. If you want to soak up huge amounts of people for fireworks, see the link in my sig below...
 

Phil12

Well-Known Member
Well, if they build it, people will come...
In reality, they won't. Baseball in the United States has declined in popularity. Attendance is falling, the World Series has poor ratings and there are no nationally recognized stars in the game any longer. Casey's would be better off if they switched their theme to NFL football, professional wrestling or mixed martial arts.
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SplashJacket

Well-Known Member
In reality, they won't. Baseball in the United States has declined in popularity. Attendance is falling, the World Series has poor ratings and there are no nationally recognized stars in the game any longer. Casey's would be better off if they switched their theme to NFL football, professional wrestling or mixed martial arts.
View attachment 451576

Popularity has no effect on it. Main Street USA, is set at the turn of the century, a time when baseball was relevant.
 
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Phil12

Well-Known Member
Popularity has no effect on it. Main Street USA, is set at the turn of the century, a time when baseball was relevant.
Baseball was not very relevant at the turn of the century. There were only eight professional teams and two of them were in New York city (Brooklyn Superbas and New York Giants). Baseball was primarily played in the northeast. The St. Louis Cardinals was the most western team.

But I agree with you in that popularity has nothing to do with the issue. The important thing is sales. How many food items can the vendor sell is the important fact. Peddling hot dogs with a worn out sports franchise can and does work. I just think sales would be better if linked to some popular professional wrestling stars. I mean wouldn't you rather have an undertaker hotdog?
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GymLeaderPhil

Well-Known Member
There are a lot of operational hold ups for making a Western Bypass on Main Street. That area is used way more, from parade staging, to Main Street Vehicles, to Food and Bev (Casey's+Crystal Palace does a lot more than Plaza+Starbs+IceCream, not even considering that they are usually in low demand in the evenings (when the bypass is open) while the opposite is true for Casey's and Crystal). Really, the only way that I could see some type of semi-permanent bypass would be if Harmony Barber Shop gets knocked out, with a bypass that hugs the backsides of the Western facades, and would be super small anyways. Probably so small that it would cause more harm than good.
This times 100. The area that the eastern bypass was built on was never utilized for anything special - unless you count executive parking.

Backstage on the west side has always been hopping with activity like Magic Feather shared. There is such a limited amount of real estate since you have Caribbean Way sandwiched between Pirates, Jungle Cruise, and the Railroad.

Any attempt to recreate the size needed to support another means of “themed” egress would be much more costly.
 

N2dru

Well-Known Member
Would it be possible to build a smaller arcade on the westside of MS similar to DLP? Center St is already filled by the Emporium on the west so basically it would be a walkway through the store down to Casey's.
 

_caleb

Well-Known Member
That fountain has been a problem in the past wetting the sidewalk and causing a slip hazard along with blocking the way. It is very nice and I wish it stayed but with the negatives I can see why it would be removed.
What is it with WDW and fountains? Wasn’t uncontained spray (and the resulting slip hazard) the big reason the Tomorrowland fountain spires were removed a long time ago? Is it a problem with the waterfalls in the Canada Pavilion? Was that a reason they filled in the Muppets fountain in HS? Not trying to be negative here, I’m genuinely curious why this seems to be a recurring theme.
 

Bocabear

Well-Known Member
That fountain has been a problem in the past wetting the sidewalk and causing a slip hazard along with blocking the way. It is very nice and I wish it stayed but with the negatives I can see why it would be removed.
That fountain has been there for 48 years with no problem... The water pressure was always kept very low to keep down thw splash spray, but it was always a lovely little set piece...
Seems more like they are removing the fountains to reduce maintenance costs....but who knows. There used to be fountains everywhere in the park...
 

JoeCamel

Well-Known Member
What is it with WDW and fountains? Wasn’t uncontained spray (and the resulting slip hazard) the big reason the Tomorrowland fountain spires were removed a long time ago? Is it a problem with the waterfalls in the Canada Pavilion? Was that a reason they filled in the Muppets fountain in HS? Not trying to be negative here, I’m genuinely curious why this seems to be a recurring theme.
Costs money to maintain and guests let their kids play in them. Not the best practice imo
 

larryz

I'm Just A Tourist!
That fountain has been there for 48 years with no problem... The water pressure was always kept very low to keep down thw splash spray, but it was always a lovely little set piece...
Seems more like they are removing the fountains to reduce maintenance costs....but who knows. There used to be fountains everywhere in the park...
Aquifers in Florida are under tremendous population pressure... fountains, even tho' they recirculate water, send the wrong message.
 

Disstevefan1

Well-Known Member
Now in the middle of a pandemic, all the parks closed worldwide, does anyone care about this fountain anymore?

My concern now is what will probably turn into an 8 week closure of the parks....
 

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